"You can't honestly be planning to go with your beard looking like that, now?"
Edward frowned, looking down at his sleeve as he adjusted the cuff of his newly adorned jacket. He rotated his arm in admiration of how the gold embroidery swirled across the fabric much like his tattoos did across his arm. Initially he'd thought the jacket looked like it would be hell to suffer through a dinner party in, but much to his surprise it hugged gently across his shoulders.
"What's wrong with my beard?" He lifted his chin upwards, as if he could bring it within his own view, "I think it looks fine."
Indeed it was not. Not by the standards of the company they'd be holding. The burly mass of pepper and salt would be an affront to a crowd so… delicate as the upper class. They'd be able to pick the two pirates out immediately, and would jump on them with their words bared like the teeth of a pack of rabid dogs.
Stede fretted his hands at the thought.
"Maybe I could just–" His hands stopped just short of combining through Edward's beard, hovering a moment until he felt the other man's soft breath on his fingers. After hesitating for what felt like minutes, but in reality was only a brief moment, he redirected to lay his hands firmly on Edward's shoulders with an encouraging squeeze.
Meanwhile Edward hoped that he hadn't noticed he'd been holding his breath during that moment.
"Why don't we try accessorizing?"
They settled on two small ribbons that were to be tied to either side of the beard. Edward gave up tying the little bows when his hands only managed to blindly tie a knot within the waves of rough hair. He couldn't directly see what he was doing after all.
"Mind giving me a hand, Mate?" Edward asked, once again lifting his head, but this time as an invitation for Stede to help him. To touch him. His eyes trained on Stede's hands expectantly, watching them as his own shoulders raised with a slow breath. The other man obliged of course- he was a Gentleman. Once the ribbon had been loosened to be tied once again, those dark eyes broke away, looking instead to the man's face that was but mere feet away from his own.
Stede breathed shallowly as he maneuvered his fingers to create two delicate bows, level with one another on each side of the mass of dark gray. This time he allowed himself to pull his hands against the beard, shaping it downward and neatly with his fingers acting as a gentle comb. Though it was rough, there was something soft about the waves in the thick hair, much like those of the ocean on a rocky night on the ship.
He couldn't help but move slowly with the task, relishing in the close proximity the two men currently shared. They often shared the same space, crossing over the invisible boundary most people would have around themselves, but those times weren't quite as intimate as this.
For a moment, Stede thought of his daughter. Sweet but hard-headed Alma. Many mornings back home started much like this- tying those small ribbons into her intricately braided hair, as the family readied themselves for yet another high-class outing. He did miss her– and of course he missed Louis as well– but he definitely did not miss having to attend those pompous events. He'd never really belonged there, among those folk. He belonged here, on The Revenge, with his crew. With Ed.
As he tightened the second bow, in exact symmetry with the first, Stede smiled proudly to himself and looked up to take in the entirety of the other's face. He was surprised to make eye contact with him at such a close range.
It was a surprise to Edward as well, who had taken to watch the concentration that had taken over the man before him. The way his eyes creased as he bent forward to focus better on the small strands, the way he hummed to himself with each twist of a knot. The way he took this game of dress up so seriously on Edward's behalf. Not once was his eagerness to dress up and attend some party with the upper crusts taken lightly. He wouldn't belong there, but here was Stede, helping him to look the part. It was rather endearing
The two men blinked as their eyes met, unsaid words swirling in the small space that their shared breaths took up. Their gazes held, as they stumbled over each other to break the silence.
"Thanks for that–"
"There we are–"
They shared a smile, Edward's hidden behind his newly groomed beard but for the way his eyes pinched in the corners, and Stede's comfortable on his lips, much unlike the way his hands returned to their previous fretting state. And then like that they both stepped back with polite nods, and the space between them was parted once again.
