Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was early morning, the sun breaking in through the cabin’s windows. Stede was already awake and sitting up in bed, shirtless, with a book resting in one hand. The other hand was gently stroking a sleeping Ed’s hair.

A quiet knock on the cabin’s door, and then Izzy materialized from behind it. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted before he could say anything.

“Please don’t wake him, Izzy,” Stede pleaded in a quiet voice. “He looks so peaceful and precious like this. I can’t bear to wake him just yet – let’s let him rest a while longer.”

izzy stepped closer. “Aye, aye, captain,” he mimicked Stede’s hushed tone. “I wanted to inform you; we’ve docked at our destination. Some of the crew have already disembarked to scope out the area.”

“Thank you, Izzy,” Stede responded. “You are dismissed, if that’s all.”

Izzy nodded and made to leave, but then thought better of it, pausing. “Bonnet, I-“ He started, back still turned to Stede, who was waiting and listening patiently as he played with Ed’s hair. “I wanted to apologize, for my behavior in the past. It’s taken me far too long, but I see now, you’re good for each other.”

“Thank you,” Stede said once again. Which, weird. Thanking Izzy Hands twice in one conversation? That’s new. He paused for a moment, smiling fondly down at the ball of Ed curled up beside him. “I love him so much, Izzy.”

“I know you do, Bonnet. I’m happy for you. I really am.”

“I hope you find the same thing one day, Izzy. Perhaps Wee John? You two have gotten close since Calypso’s birthday.”

At this, Izzy turned his head so Stede could see his face. He smiled, just enough for Stede to clock it, and said “fuck off” before making his exit from the cabin once more.

Stede softly chuckled to himself, and carefully bent down to kiss Ed’s temple before going back to his book. He sat comfortably like that for a few hours, the hand unburdened by a book only leaving Ed’s hair to flip a page every couple of minutes.

Finally, Ed began to stir. He let out a yawn; shifting position from the little ball he was in so he was lying on his back, and blinked sleepily up at Stede. “Hey. How long have you been up?” He stretched, letting out an unholy noise as he did so.

“Good morning, angel. A few hours. Sleep well?” Stede bookmarked his page in the book, and placed it on the windowsill beside his rings.

Ed scrunched his nose up at this. “I’m not an angel. Slept ok.”

“Could have fooled me. You certainly looked quite angelic as you were sleeping. Ah, but you’ve got a bit of drool, there. I suppose even angels aren’t immune to that sort of thing.” He wiped a thumb carefully at the corner of Ed’s lips.

Ed reached up and grabbed Stede’s hand, placing a kiss onto the back of it. “How are you so sweet like this all the time?” He asked, his eyes huge like saucers. “It’s incredible, man. You charm the pants off me every time.”

Stede lifted up the covers and peeked under them. “Ah, yes, I can see that.” Ed rolled his eyes, but there was no vitriol behind it. “Well, my love, I am the Gentleman Pirate, that’s kind of the brand.”

“Well, you’d better not be THIS gentlemanly to anyone else. Blackbeard would have something to say about that.”

“I’d never dream of it.” And Edward knew it to be true.

He rolled over once more so that now his head was resting on Stede’s leg. “Could get used to this,” he said, as he drew absent-minded circles on Stede’s knee under the covers.

“I hope so. Izzy informed me earlier that we’ve docked, but I wanted to be selfish and let you sleep a touch longer.”

Ed craned his neck to look up at Stede. “We’re at the inn? Really?”

“That we are.”

“We’re really doing this?” Ed pushed himself up onto his elbows. “We’re retiring?”

“If that’s what you want, love, yes.”

“Oh, mate, are you serious? I love you so fuckin’ much right now.” Ed excitedly gathered himself to sit beside Stede, firmly planting both hands on either of Stede’s cheeks and pulling him in for a wet kiss. Suddenly, he pulled away, his brows furrowed. “Wait, what about the adventure?”

“Adventure? Pah. I’ve had my fun. You’re all the adventure I need.”

Ed melted. “Aw, mate, there’s that fuckin’ sweetness again.”

“And your pants are already off. Damn, I’m good.” Stede pulled a proud face.

“Yeah, you are. How much time do you think we have before they come looking for us?” Ed all but batted his eyelashes at Stede.

“Oh, I think we’ve got some time. Besides, if we make enough noise, Izzy will be too traumatized to even think about knocking.”

“Fuckin’ excellent. I love freaking Izzy out.” He made a face. “Okay. No more Izzy. Kills the mood.”

“I agree,” Stede shifted in the bed so that he was leaning over Ed, and kissed him on the lips. “To the future.” He declared.

“To the future.”