it'll all work out

by lovinfries4

ci

Preface

It'll All Work Out (I'm Sure Of It)
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/38152204.

Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Category: M/M Fandom: Our Flag Means Death (TV) Relationship: Blackbeard Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet Character: Blackbeard Edward Teach, Stede Bonnet, Israel Hands, the gang's all here - Character Additional Tags: Post-Season/Series 01 Finale, Getting Back Together, First Time, resolutions, Apologies through violence, Everybody Lives, Idiots in Love, Swearing, so much swearing, Happy Ending Language: English Stats: Published: 2022-04-04 Words: 5,554 Chapters: 1/1 It'll All Work Out (I'm Sure Of It)

by RiverDeNile

Summary

"Can we speak? Somewhere more private, perhaps?"

"We can speak right here, mate. In front of the crew and god and this cherry masted ship and anything else that might be watching. You abandoned us all, so whatever you need to say, you can say to us all."

"I love you."

"That," Ed said in a flat voice, "is a hell of a fucking thing to say."

Notes

I am living and breathing and dying over this show. I need season 2. I NEED it.

Unbeta'd, we die like that guy under the piano.

See the end of the work for more notes

It'll All Work Out (I'm Sure Of It)

In retrospect, it's possible that Stede should have listened to his rescued crew and formed a better plan than 'let's get back on the Revenge and I'm sure it'll all work out'.

Unless somehow 'it'll all work out' involved a sword pointed at his guts by the man he loved.

A man who clearly had not learned to apply kohl with a delicate touch. Not that he should judge, of course. A man, certainly a pirate, could approach maquillage with a heavy hand, if that was his choice. Stede had dabbled with powders and rouges in his time but had finally decided that the full Parisian look was not for him. It made him look like he was covering up signs of the lovers pox, and Mary also had told him that it rubbed off on his clothes and that just wouldn't do. A little powder to reduce shine, sure, but a full painted face was rather gauche, he had decided.

Ed was not gauche, of course, but the kohl was rather much. Perhaps too much. It gave him a very hard look. Also the murderous rage in his eyes and pulling at his lips contributed to that look as well.

Someone in his crew, who were now fanned out on either side of him, just over the ship's railing, cleared their throat rather pointedly and Stede decided he was focused far too much on the face paint and should instead turn his attention back to the man he was in love with. Who also had a sword pressed against Stede's stomach. (The tip was pressed against his left side. He took this to mean he still had a chance at redemption.)

"Ed," he said and the man in question flinched.

Stede noticed the flinch because the sword tip, which was currently pressed against his abdomen, dragged against his skin, but he imagined it was invisible to everyone else.

"My name is Blackbeard."

"Yes," Stede said as he looked at him. Ed's eyes were hard, none of their usual sparkle, but there was a quiver to his lower lip, which might once have been hidden by the messy salt and pepper curls of his 'black beard', but was now clearly visible to anyone watching for it. "You certainly look like Blackbeard. And I had heard that Blackbeard was in command of my ship."

"When something is abandoned, it's not yours anymore."

"Oooohhh," exclaimed several members of the crew on both sides of the ship and someone near the back of Ed's side stage-whispered, "Me-ow." Stede assumed it was probably Lucius who seemed to be hiding in the back of the crowd wearing Jim's old wide-brimmed hat and beard.

"Shut up!" Izzy snapped from where he stood near the wheel on the quarterdeck. He was clearly trying to loom in a dark and intimidating way. "All of you. And you especially!" This he said pointing at Stede. "Prisoners don't get to speak."

Stede raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. "Are you the captain of this ship?"

"Not… not currently."

Stede pursed his lips and nodded. "Then would you shut up and let me speak to the captain?"

Someone in the crew barked a laugh, quickly cut off when Izzy shot them a death glare.

Stede looked back at Ed, whose lips were pinched shut.

"Can we speak, Ed – ward. Edward. Blackbeard. Somewhere more private, perhaps?"

The point of the sword dug a little deeper and Stede winced.

"We can speak right here, mate. In front of the crew and god and this cherry masted ship and anything else that might be watching. You abandoned us all, so whatever you need to say, you can say to us all."

"Right," Stede took in a deep breath and felt the press of the sword. His eyes flickered over Ed's darkened face, from the new growth of beard to the sad, limp fall of his hair and finally, he looked up to meet his spiritless eyes. "Right. Well. I love you."

The sword scratched down his skin again and the ship was silent, breathless.

"That," Ed said in a flat voice, "is a hell of a fucking thing to say."

"I've been a coward. Such a coward. I was so afraid of… of everything. And I've made such a mess of everything because of it. But that Stede is gone, I swear. I killed him. I mean, rather literally, I left a body behind to be buried under my headstone." Ed's brow creased and Stede shook his head. "That's besides the point, really."

"You don't get to step onto my ship and lie to my face."

"I'm not lying to you!" Stede moved forward and halted the movement when the sword tip split his skin and sunk in. "Ouch. I have never lied to you. Never."

"You said yes. And then you fucked off. You left me waiting for you on that beach. Like a dog." Ed frowned and clarified, "Bit better than a dog. Because a dog wouldn't have been able to row the dingy. No hands. But you left me more or less like a dog, and you said yes when you didn't mean it, so that's lying."

"That is lying, yeah," Oluwande said, to Stede's left, and Stede nodded at him as several others of the crew murmured their agreement.

"Thank you for validating Ed's feelings. You are right. I did say yes. But I meant it. I was terrified, but I meant to be there. And I would have been there if it weren't for Badminton. Chauncy, not the other one."

"What the fuck are you saying? What does that twat have to do with anything?"

The sword was still buried a few millimeters into his stomach, but Stede didn't think backing up was good form, in the situation. Best to stand and face it all head on. For once.

"He pulled me out of bed, gun to my head. Took me out to the trees. He said… Well." Stede swallowed deeply and glanced around at all the faces watching him closely. Even Izzy seemed to be waiting on him, likely hoping he'd hang himself on his own words. Stede met Ed's eyes again and said, "He told me I defile beautiful things."

Ed swallowed as well. "Bullshit he did."

"He did. He told me I'm a monster. I destroyed his family. I destroyed my family. And he said, he said I brought the world's greatest pirate to ruin. You, Ed. And I… I believed him. I know you told me you'd been happy, those last weeks, even under the British. Even then. But I had taken everything from you. A ship. A crew. Your beard. The entire ocean. How could I stand myself when I had taken everything from you and all I had to give you in return was me?"

"All I bloody wanted was you," Ed whispered and cleared his throat. He looked around and noticed Izzy glaring down at the two of them. "So now I have the ship and the crew and the ocean and my goddamn beard again, so why are you here, mate?"

"I'm here to beg for your forgiveness. I was wrong. I want to make amends, in any way that I can. I left everything else behind. I have nothing to my name, nothing except my love for you, and I will do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to prove to you that I, Stede Bonnet, love you, Edward Teach. I love you the way the sun loves the sky and the wind loves the ocean. Please. Let me prove it to you."

"Yeah?" Ed had tears running tracks through the black on his face. "How exactly do you intend to do that, after I run you through and throw you to the sharks?"

"Well. Likely I won't be able to, after that. That's a bit final. Maybe you could feed me my toe instead? I hear that's a laugh."

"That's enough! Shut up. Shut him up, Edward." Izzy hobbled down toward them and only then Stede noticed his cane and bandaged foot. It was tracking little smears of blood along the deck and Stede wrinkled his nose.

Izzy pulled out his pistol and said, "Finish him. He's a disease, Edward. A cancer. Lance him and throw him to sea before it goes all dreary and pathetic again."

"Oh, darling, is that true? I'm so terribly sorry I hurt you so badly."

"Fucking shut up, both of you," Ed snapped. "All of you. No one say anything or I'll cut out your tongues!"

Stede opened his mouth and Ed glared at him.

"I will cut out your tongue."

He closed his mouth again.

He wasn't entirely sure how to protest his innocence, not being allowed to say anything more, and without a tongue, he'd be far worse off.

He glanced down. The sword was still pressed against him. Really, Ed had such focus and dedication to keep it aloft the entire time. Very impressive muscle strength. Probably from all the rope climbing.

He frowned at the blade.

He had met Ed after a stab to the gut. He had then put a sword through Ed. And then he had taken a sword for Ed. But he had never taken a sword from Ed.

Before he could think himself out of it, because it was probably a completely daft idea, he stepped forward into the blade.

It sank further into his skin and Stede sucked a whistling breath through his teeth.

"What are you – ?"

Before Ed could finish, Stede launched himself forward. The thin blade split him, sliding through muscle and past organs, until it pressed through the other side of him, and Stede came to a gasping stop mere inches from Ed's wide-eyed face.

"Holy shit," Izzy said and stepped back from them.

Stede didn't say anything. He still didn't want to lose his tongue. But he pressed one trembling hand to his chest and then reached out and pressed that same hand to Ed's heart. He tried very hard not to show just how painful the entire movement was, but he wasn't sure he succeeded, especially since he was pretty sure he was letting out a slow, high pitched whine.

"You lunatic. You absolute lunatic." Ed stared down at the sword impaling Stede. "You fucking lunatic. Why did you do that? You fucking walked onto my sword. What the complete hell, Stede."

Stede tried to shrug, the only nonverbal communication he thought he could manage without hurting himself further, but he was very, very wrong about that and instead let out a little, manly gasp that probably did the job anyway.

"You fucking lunatic," Ed said again, but softer, and he lifted a hand to cradle Stede's face. "You fucking lunatic. That is really going to hurt coming out."

"I know," Stede whispered back, chancing his tongue. His fingers clutched into Ed's leather jacket. "But important things hurt sometimes, right?"

"You fucking nutter."

"I love you, Ed."

"Yeah, I fucking see that, Stede. I wasn't going to throw you to the sharks, mate. I was going to, like, be a bit mean to you for a while. Maybe spit in your grog. Or give you a wet hammock to sleep in. Fucking loon. Now you've got a bloody sword in you."

"Oh," Stede said. "You, ah. You forgive me then?"

"Well, maybe! Probably. I mean, I'm in fucking love with you. So probably!" His thumb stroked Stede's cheekbone and then he called out, "Okay, someone get Stede something to bite down on." He leaned in. "This really is going to hurt."

"Oh, I know. Not my first impaling."

Ed grinned at him as Frenchie came over to them and stuck a wooden dowel between Stede's teeth. Stede sucked in a whistling breath and tried his best to relax.

Once the sword was out and Stede collapsed onto the deck, Ed hunkered down next to him and bit his lip.

"Now, you're worried about me forgiving you, but I think the reverse is where we're really going to get stuck."

"Oh?" Stede panted as he tried to keep pressure on both sides of himself. His shirt was going a bit red. Thankfully, it wasn't his best shirt.

"Well, I threw your books overboard."

"All of them?"

"All of them. Just about. I kept the one about me."

"Okay, well. Other ships have books. We saw that before. We can pillage more."

"Also, I ripped up some of your clothes. And I hacked some of your furniture into kindling."

Stede bit his lip. "Oh dear. Well, again, we can get more. I hope not my summer linens? They're Irish."

"Even your summer linens, yeah."

"Damn. I'm sure I can replace them in time? We'll encounter plenty of textile merchant ships, right? Everyone appreciates a good linen, after all."

"Also, this bit is worse, but I killed Lucius."

Stede glanced over Ed's shoulder to where Black Pete had inched his way over to the figure wearing Jim's old hat and beard.

"I don't think you did, love."

"No, I did. I pushed him overboard."

"Well, darling, I don't think it took." He nodded over Ed's shoulder and the man turned.

The figure in the hat and beard gave a little wave and Ed's shoulders sagged a good few inches.

"Well, fuck me. I thought I'd killed him."

"He's hard to kill. He cut off his own finger."

"I'd been wondering who that guy was. I figured he was a stowaway. Anyone who stows away on a pirate ship is best left to their own devices, I've found."

"Darling, I hate to be a bother, but I'm bleeding rather a bit and a bandage or two would not go amiss."

Ed looked down at where blood had spread across his dingy shirt and he said, "That's barely a scratch. But yeah, guess we'd best patch it. Up we get." He hefted Stede back to his feet, gallantly ignoring the pained wheeze that Stede released.

"Lucius! Now that you're not dead, and sorry about that, by the way, fetch us some bandages and any good booze that I didn't already drink."

"I hate you," Lucius called back and coughed as he inhaled a bit of the beard. He pulled it off his face and rubbed his nose. "But I still like Stede well enough, so fine."

"Should I push him off the ship again, you think?"

Stede shook his head as Ed led him away toward the captain's quarters. "Better not. He's one of the only ones who can read and write. Very useful."

Izzy slid between them and the door, his cane stamping into the deck firmly. "Edward, I can't believe you're giving this little pampered dog another chance after everything he did! He can't win every fight by getting stabbed! What kind of pirate is that?"

"A gentleman pirate, thank you."

"Shut up! Do you know what you did to him? He went soft! Wearing a fucking kimono and singing sad songs in the moonlight. Blackbeard doesn't mope about a little soft rich boy like you, he guts them and hangs them from the masthead! You fucking ruined him and you'll do it again!"

"How attached are you to the rest of your toes, Izzy?"

Stede patted a hand against Ed's chest. "Let me speak to him. Just hold me up a bit so I can look dignified. Thanks love." He settled himself against Ed's chest. "Now, Izzy, if I'm hearing you, you feel that I'm having a negative effect on Ed. I imagine you feel that I am ruining his fearsome reputation as the dreaded pirate Blackbeard?"

"Don't tell me how I feel!"

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. But it's only that Chauncy Badminton agreed with you, just before he tripped and fell on his own bullet, so I want to validate that you aren't alone in your opinion. But, I do think that both you and Chauncy and myself as well, when I let fear drive me away, were forgetting one very important factor."

"And what, exactly, is that?"

Stede smiled. "What Edward Teach wants."

"Oh for fuck's sake."

"Now Izzy, you want what's best for Edward, don't you?"

"Of course, I fucking do! He's my captain."

"Wonderful!" Stede smiled at him, delighted. "So why do you feel that Edward is incapable of deciding for himself what's best for him?"

"Don't put fucking words in my mouth, you… you… lapdog! He's Blackbeard! The most feared pirate in all history!"

"Ohh, I see," Stede resettled himself in Ed's arms. They really were very strong. "Blackbeard has had a formative impact on your growth as a pirate and as a man, hasn't he? You want to be as fearsome and respected as he is. You even dress yourself in all black leather the way he does. I think it's really very sweet. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, after all. I imagine it can be quite threatening to the very foundation of your identity to learn that the man you admire so much is changing, perhaps even outgrowing who he used to be."

"Oh, that's good, yeah. You do dress like me, Izzy. People have said that before."

"They have?" Izzy glanced around himself and noticed Ivan and Fang, who nodded and shrugged. He glanced down at himself.

"Izzy, I think that you might have an attachment to Blackbeard as a symbol, rather than as a man. Symbols don't change, but men do, so I think you might need to look deep in yourself and decide if it's okay for someone you admire so very much to grow and become a happier, maybe even better pirate. Just think of how many more ships you can pillage with a captain who's got a good work-life balance. He'll have a renewed sense of job satisfaction, I think."

"Oh, no doubt, yeah. Nothing like being well laid to get me raring for a good hunt. Plus, we'll need to restock your books and linens. Can't do that without pillaging a few dozen English ships. Maybe even some Portuguese and Spaniards. Can't take down a Spanish galleon without Izzy Hands as my right hand, don't think."

Stede smiled gratefully at Ed, even as he flushed at the idea of being well laid. He didn't even know what that might entail. Mary had always just sort of laid back and closed her eyes while Stede thought about shopping for new clothes. It was likely going to be an entirely different beast with Ed.

"So what do you say, Izzy? Do you think we can all work together?"

"Oh fuck it. Yes, fine. But I'm not to be made to throw any more talent shows."

"Oh!" Stede exclaimed. "The talent show! How did that go?" He caught sight of Ed's face. "Not well? Not at all. Oh, no bother. We can try again. I'm sure you have a number of talents, Izzy! You're really very good at stabbing! Maybe you can put together something with that."

"Oh my fucking god," Izzy groaned and walked away.

Lucius stepped aside to let Izzy past and he came forward to hand them a bundle of rags and a bottle of what appeared to be wine. He lifted his eyebrows, mostly still hidden by the large hat. "Your bandages and booze."

"Oh thank you. I really do think I'm bleeding a lot."

"It's not that bad, mate. I've cut myself worse shaving."

"Really?" Stede asked.

"No. I've only shaved that one time and I did a really good job of it." He smoothed a hand over his new, short beard. "C'mon, let's go get you patched up and then maybe we can make out a little, if you're up to it."

Lucius waggled his eyebrows at Stede and left to go find Black Pete again.

Stede swallowed heavily and let Ed carry him further into the ship.

"Oh," Stede said as they entered the captain's quarters. It had been stripped of nearly everything, everything that wasn't a part of the ship itself. The books were all gone. His furniture was mostly gone and seemingly fed into the fireplace. At least the bed was still there.

"Yeah, like I said, might have gone a bit overboard. Ha. Overboard. But seriously, not much is left."

"You kept Mary's painting." Stede gestured to the lighthouse painting and Ed pulled a face.

"Yeah. Needed to remind myself not to crash on your rocks."

"Ah." Stede turned as well as he could in Ed's arms and braced himself against Ed's chest. "I really am so very, terribly sorry, my darling. My only defence is that I am rather an idiot, in most things. Especially matters of the heart. I think the only good thing I did for Mary was dying. Which I did. Faked my death. She was not best pleased to see me again. I'm glad I didn't ruin things for her and Doug. They seem very happy together. Very happy."

"Mate, honestly, I'm glad you're back and I'm going to overlook how you broke my heart and made me lose my mind for a bit, but I'd much rather not hear about your wife."

"Ex-wife, I should think. I'm properly dead now and the vows are until death do us part. We're both free of any attachment or commitments to one another."

Ed sat him down on the edge of the desk, which hadn't been hacked for kindling, thankfully, and pulled Stede's dirty shirt upward.

"Let's see to that stab," he said even as Stede sucked in a sharp breath as Ed's rough fingers traced the skin of his abdomen. "Hurt? Have some wine."

Stede took the bottle from Ed's fingers and took a deep mouthful. It was a deep red wine, tasting of blood red cherries and deep spices, with something almost like leather. It was like taking a mouthful of Ed himself and Stede flushed red at the thought of it.

Ed took the bottle and took a swig of himself before putting it down on the desk. "Let's see now," he murmured and his fingers traced Stede's skin again, sliding around the back of him to check the exit wound. Something shivery slid all across Stede's body and his breath caught in his throat. "Barely bleeding anymore, mate. Let's patch this up."

Ed pushed his knees apart and stepped into the vee of them, unspooling the wrapping of bandage around Stede's torso, his rough fingers gentle as he laid the cloth flat and smooth along Stede's skin.

His breath caught in his throat again, his heart fluttering in his chest, and his legs pressed in, holding Ed close between his thighs. He could feel himself hardening in his thin breeches, without having to think about shopping or adventure or anything other than how close Ed was and how his hands felt against his skin.

"There," Ed said as he tied it closed. "I think that will hold." He looked up at Stede's face and breathed, "Oh, your eyes have gone all – "

Stede grabbed his face and brought their mouths together, gasping and drinking deep, like a man finding water after too long without.

Ed groaned and grabbed Stede's wrists, as if Stede might try to break away, but that was the last thing on his mind. He had had two kisses before in his life – the one on his wedding day and the one on the beach with Ed – and so he had no idea how to go about it, but he found it was rather like piracy. Too much thought only got in the way.

"I missed you, oh," he moaned into Ed's mouth. "I'm so sorry, my love, my darling." He gasped and tossed his head back as Ed's lips traced down his jaw and neck.

"Water under the hull," Ed said breathlessly and took a small nip as Stede's shirt slid down to expose his collarbone.

"Bridge, I think," Stede gasped.

"More water under a ship than a bridge," Ed explained and pulled at Stede's shirt, lifting it over his head. He tossed it to the side and put his hands on Stede's knees and slid his hands up his thighs, pushing them further apart.

"Oh Ed, I do love you so much. I love you. I should, oh. I'm sorry, I know I talk too much. I should stop talking so much."

"Don't ever stop talking," Ed said and his leather creaked as he slid down to his knees.

"What are you – oh." He stuttered to a stop as Ed began to unlace his breeches and he sucked in a deep and nearly painful breath as Ed gently brought him out into the air. He was firm in Ed's hand, firmer than he had ever been in his life, so much so he felt faint with it. Ed slid his rough, calloused thumb up and over the head and Stede's eyelids fluttered and his vision went rather spotty along the edges.

"Oh darling, you are so – ah!" He let out a sound he'd never made in his life as wet heat engulfed him and he reached out blindly and wrapped his fingers in Ed's long curls. This was nothing like Mary, and he imagined this might be rather what he had witnessed between her and Doug, because the sounds that poured from his lips were not unlike hers had been. He looked down and Ed looked up at him, and Stede watched as his, ah, his member, his prick? He thought he had heard Ed call it that before. He watched as his prick slid back and forth between Ed's lush lips and suddenly, it was all rather too much, like every moment of pleasure and joy he had ever had in his life had piled themselves together, and he called out his joy loudly as he came into Ed's beautiful mouth.

He collapsed back onto the desk and said, "Ouch," as his wound hit the wood, but it all felt rather distant, hidden behind pleasure and joy and love. He lay panting for a moment, as his world realigned itself into something so full of colours and beauty, he could not believe how gray things had been before. He tried to sit up again, realising that Ed was still down on his knees, forehead resting against Stede's knee, but he groaned a rough and pained sound as his muscles refused to cooperate and said, "Ed, love, please. Help me up, please."

He heard the creak of leather again and then Ed's arms wrapped about his shoulders and pulled him back up sitting.

"Oh," Stede panted as he tilted his forehead against Ed's and breathed for a moment. "I probably shouldn't have stepped into that sword, I don't think."

"No, love," Ed said and Stede felt himself go all fluttered as the endearment was used. "No, probably not."

"That was…" Stede trailed off and kissed Ed again. He tasted bitter salt and realised that was himself and not the ocean on Ed's lips, and he gasped a little. "That was lovely, darling. That was… I've never felt anything the like before. Never. Please, let me do something for you. Let me touch you."

"Not stopping you," Ed said, not relinquishing his tight hold on Stede and he continued to press kisses, even through Stede's words.

"I can't," Stede fumbled at Ed's clothing. "You have too many buckles, I can't…" He ran his fingers along the line of exposed skin between his jacket and his trousers, and then slid his hand down to cup against the hard bulge under the dark leather.

Ed, without stopping his kisses, began tearing the jacket from himself, tossing it to the side to join Stede's ruined shirt. Stede helped pull the purple cotton shirt over his shoulders as Ed deftly undid the clasps on his trousers and Stede, far too hungry to think of what he was doing, thrust his hand into the opening and Ed gasped and pushed himself into Stede's palm.

"Oh darling, I have thought about this. I didn't think I should, but I thought about you. About this. About us, together. I can't believe I nearly ruined everything. I am so stupid, darling, such an idiot, such…"

"Nope," Ed gasped and mashed their mouths together in a kiss that was more teeth than lips. "Wrong kind of talking. Stop that."

Stede pulled him in with his legs again and slid his hand, as much as he could, up and down the length of Ed's prick. It was warm and heavy in his hand, more slender than his own but longer too, and he used his other hand to feebly push at the leather trousers again. He needed more room. He wanted to see. He wanted as much of Ed as he could get.

"Help," he said. He was not nearly dextrous enough to do both movements successfully and he wanted his other hand for more important things.

Ed shimmied, a delightful moment, and his trousers finally dropped down past his knees, to be kicked off into the depths of the dark room.

"Oh, darling, you are so beautiful," Stede told him. He had lean muscles and his skin was rough and mapped with scars that detailed the history of his piracy, illuminated by tattoos and with a thin dusting of graying chest hair. His prick stood long and firm in Stede's hand, pale and reddening at the tip, and Stede had never, never seen anything more beautiful.

"No, I'm not," Ed protested but Stede began stroking him once again and used his other hand to trail over scars and tattoos. He followed a line of a kraken's tentacle as it ran over Ed's ribs and bent forward to kiss the rise of a pectoral muscle, just under a tattooed sparrow in flight.

Ed gripped at Stede's thigh and Stede decided against uncertainty and shame and kissed a nipple. Ed gasped and clutched him tighter, so Stede did it again and then traced his tongue delicately along it and when this seemed to be received very favourably, he latched his lips about it and gave it a firm suck.

Ed moaned and rocked into his hand and clutched at him as if he were adrift in the sea.

"I haven't been able to think of anything but you since we met, Ed. You fill my thoughts, every moment I'm awake and when I'm asleep, and everything in between. I was so, oh, I was so jealous of Jack, he said you… it doesn't matter." Ed panted against the top of his head as Stede mouthed kisses down Ed's skin. "I was so jealous of him, and of Izzy, fucking Izzy, and the fucking British when you seemed to fit in so well there, and even my ship, because it loved you when I couldn't."

"You can love me, please do," Ed gasped.

"I do love you. I love you with everything I am. How could I not? You are so good. So good for me. So perfect. You are so, so good, Ed."

Ed sucked in a deep, startled gasp and came against Stede's hand. He shook with it and Stede wrapped him in his free arm and held him close.

"Oh love, oh darling. Can I… Oh, can I stay? Right here? With you? Forever?"

"Don't fucking leave. I will string you up by your balls, right from the crow's nest, if you even think…"

"I won't, I couldn't." He kissed Ed's soft mouth. "I'd string myself up before you'd have to. I died away from you, darling. I mean, quite literally. There's a body and everything."

Ed huffed a laugh and pulled back with shining eyes. "Do you need to tell me the story about this death of yours? I'm getting the feeling you need to tell me the story."

"Oh, can I? It really was an amazing piece of fuckery. You would have been so proud."

"Let's get you to bed and you can tell me the whole thing, love."

"Let me clean your face, first. It's streaked all over. We can fix it again later, if you'd like to continue on with it. It's a very intimidating look."

Ed let Stede run a cloth (a scrap of his summer linens, by the looks of it) over his face. It turned black with charcoal and Stede turned it every which way until it finally came away clean. Stede pressed kisses to his face as the clean skin was revealed and Ed allowed this with a tender look in his eyes.

"You know," Stede said as Ed finally tucked him into the nest of clothing and bedding, smelling of lavender oils and marmalade, "Oluwande said I should have more of a plan, before coming to the ship, I mean, but I thought, well, darling, I thought it would all work out. And look. It has."

"Yeah, Stede." Ed kissed him and curled around him, as the ship rocked them on the waves. "It has all worked out."

Stede smiled and Ed smiled back at him, a little soppily, and when they were fitted together, limbs curled around one another, Stede began, "Firstly, there was a leopard."

Afterword

End Notes

I'm on Tumblr (RiverDenile), if you want to come talk queer pirates. Or if you love Jim. Or Lucius. Or Mary. Or anyone from this show, honestly. I'm so far gone on it.

Your kudos and comments are buttons to my skeleton flag.

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