Edward sighed leaning over the table in his cabin. He had spent all day just looking at the map trying to find any other way to make it to Tulum, as long as it was shorter than the way they were currently traveling, of course. Maybe he was actually trying to look for a longer route though, at this point he couldn't quite remember which one he was trying to achieve. He sighed, hearing a knock at the door.
"Come in!" He hollered, knowing already who it was. Even though the arrival of the person allowed him a break from studying the map, he refused to look up. If he looked up he knew that he was going to flash back to the dream he had last night.
"Kenway." His companion greeted him, his light footsteps barely sound even on the creaky floor of his ship.
"Kidd." He answered back pretending to be thinking hard about what was on the map. Edward strained his ears trying to listen for the footsteps of the younger man. He closed his eyes trying to gather his thoughts before turning around and looking at the boy. "Would you like something to drink?" Edward asked trying to loosen up a bit before James noticed that something was off about him if he hadn't already.
" 'course," Kidd replied walking closer to him. "I would like to thank you again, Edward, for bringing me to Tulum while my ship has been rather incapacitated." Edward watched as Kidd walked behind him to the chair that he was in earlier and still would have been if not for his restlessness. Turning around, Edward leaned back against the desk and looked at him for a second before nodding and reaching down to where he had set a full bottle of rum earlier. At that time, he had thought that getting drunk had been the right idea to get the boy sitting in front of him out of his head but when he went to take an actual sip he remembered what happened last time he had done that. He uncorked it quickly with his teeth and took a gulp before handing it to James. Grabbing it, he nodded his head as a thank you and took a gulp too. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, he leaned forward and put the bottle on the desk.
"So, Kenway, what were you doing in here for so long before I came in?" He asked curiously."Being stuck in this cabin all day surely can't be good for you, can it?" Looking up at him, James shifted in his seat until he sat completely sideways, legs dangling over one of the arms, head resting on the other trying to keep eye contact with Edward.
"Just thinkin'," He replied looking around the cabin trying to not make eye contact with him, knowing surely that if they did happen to make eye contact Kidd would read his mind. He always does so he would be insane to think that this moment would be anything different. "Of my wife." He elaborated.
"What about her?" Kidd asked. He knew that Edward was lying but decided it was best to get some more rum in him before prodding him to see what he was truly holding himself up in his cabin for. Grabbing the rum bottle, he took another gulp before holding it out to Edward.
"She still hasn't written me back and that's got me worried about her health." Grabbing the bottle from Kidd quickly making sure not to touch his hands. Putting his lips to the bottle, he blushed thinking about how just moments ago James's lips were in the same exact spot. Quickly, he took down as much as he could. Gasping he lifted his lips from the bottle and relaxed his arm down, letting the bottle's nozzle dangle in between his middle and pointer finger. His head followed his arm down and he glanced at the floor boards for a second before squeezing his eyes shut tight.
Kidd nodded, thinking and letting the conversation go down into a lull before swinging his legs around in Edward's chair and standing upright. He grabbed the bottle from Edward and took and swig before setting it back down on the desk. Putting one hand on Edward's shoulder, he gently grabbed his chin with the other, pulling it up so he could make eye contact with him.
"I'm sure everything's fine over there, Edward," James told him." She didn't respond to you the first time you sent her a message, so if I were you I would be more worried if she did send you something then if she didn't" Edward looked at James, eyes greedily staring at his face, trying to remember every scar and mark on it because he was sure that he would never get the chance to be the close to James ever again. "Now, are you going to tell me what you are really hiding up in here for or should I pretend that I believed that shite."
Edward flashed a small smile and glanced down for a second before looking back up at the younger man. He knew the second he spouted that lie that there was a big chance of James seeing through it.
"Have you ever met someone or seen something that had changed your life or how you viewed it before?" He asked.
"Yes," James replied finally letting go of Edward's chin. "I was in a dark place before I met the Assassins." He looked down for a second embarrassed about his past." Once I met Ah Tabai and he told me about the order I finally understood what I had to do." Edward looked down at him surprised. Finally, James had given him even a little of what his life was like before Edward came crashing into it.
"My reason for being in here is kind of like that," He said. "But not exactly." Edward stopped for a second to push himself up on the desk. "I hadn't realized what this said person made me feel like until recent events occurred." He looked over at James to see that the boy had a look of thinking and concern etched onto his face.
"Does this person know what these feelings are that you have for 'em?" James asked.
"No, of course not," Edward replied." I have had the suspicion for a while now that he is a sodomite too but have not had an actual chance to talk to them about it." James shook his head.
"The way you talked about it made me think that it might have something to do with that." He said. "You know what I would do if I were in your place though? I would tell 'em." James grabbed the bottle of rum, took a sip, and walked around to the front side of the table. Setting the rum back on the desk he leaned over it, putting most of his weight on them. "But until then you should tell me, let your closest friend in on the secret ya'know?"
"Fine," Edward groaned turning around to look at him. He mirrored his friend's body language by setting both arms onto the desk. "It's you. I never thought I could be in love with another man, but somehow it happened. Now I'm fucked because even though there have been rumors of you being a sodomite. We've never seen you with a woman, we've never seen you with a man either, leaving me to believe you just want to keep your life private which is totally understandable with our jobs. I also totally understand if you never want to see me again because you think I'm totally insane."James laughed for a second before looking down and shifting his weight. Looking back up at Edward.
"It's alright, mate." James told him." There's no need to worry the scandalous rumors are in fact true, I do enjoy men just as much as the next man enjoys women and if you feel the same way towards me who am I to knock you down?"
Edward nodded in return. In his mind there was two ways that this confession could have gone A. James would spit in his face be full of rage and hate him for the rest of his life or B. he would have confessed that he had felt the exact same way this whole time and was afraid of what Edward would think about it. Either way it went, he was fully prepared for, but just plain acceptance on from Kidd was something that Edward didn't know how to react to. Before he could say anything to him, James had somehow made his way over to him without him realizing it. Once they got toes to toes though James stopped. Edward didn't have time to question him before James kissed him.