#The smiles and the touches and the way Ed continues to hold Stede well after the fact

[saltpepperbeard]

Happy Anniversary to the Kiss of All Time

[dreamingticklee]

You Make Me Happy

A/N: just a lil ficlet of fluff! but we’re pretending stede not meeting ed at the dock and ed going back to his blackbeard ways doesn’t happen after this because i said so :)

Fandom: Our Flag Means Death

Pairing: Blackbonnet, Switch!Stede, Switch!Ed

Word Count: 833

Summary: When the first kiss turns into a tickle fight...

...

"So, I reckon what makes Ed happy...is...you."

Stede's eyebrows raised and a soft smile eased onto his face. Sitting here on a beautiful beach with Ed by his side, being told that Stede is what makes him happy, made his heart swell. Overcome with loving emotion, Stede took in a deep breath.

"Well that's, uh...that's-" Stede's fumbling words were cut off when Ed's lips were suddenly pressed against his. Stede felt so light and airy as he kissed Ed back, their lips softly meeting for the first time, and it felt as if his whole body was sparkling with joy.

Ed brought up a hand to gently caress the side Stede's face, their lips quietly lingering as they took in the sweet moment. Sweet like seven sugars.

Starting to slowly pull apart and looking into each other's eyes, there was a warm tender air that hung in between them.

Ed's eyes crinkled at the corners and he smiled. "I've been wanting to do that since the day I met you." And in his new excitement, Ed leaned back in for more, now kissing Stede with a little more enthusiasm. Stede gave a happy hum and obliged.

It was like a dance that they both already knew, the rhythm of their mouths flowing with the sound of the waves. Neither of them knew that a pirate's life could feel like this. The kissing continued on for a minute when, in a lively motion, Ed's lips made a sudden detour and started to kiss their way all around Stede's face. This sent Stede into happy giggles.

"Eeeheheed!" 

Encouraged by Stede's delight, Ed's kisses began picking up pace and moved their way down Stede's jawline and started to land on his neck. This caused Stede's giggles to go up in pitch and he let out a cheerful squeal.

"Eeeheheheee! Ed thahat tihihickles!"

Ed chuckled. "Oh, it does, does it?" Wanting to hear more of Stede's laughter, Ed brought his hands into the mix and started squeezing at his sides.

"Ahahaa! Edward!" Stede playfully started to grab at Ed's hands as they became a tussle of limbs. Seeing an opportunity for a counterattack, Stede reached his arms towards Ed, his hands finding purchase wiggling into his tummy. 

Ed gave a surprised squawk as his torso jumped back, but Stede followed and leaned forward, keeping his hands adventuring on Ed's midsection.

"Steeeheheeed, nahahaaa!"

"A bit ticklish, Ed?" A smug smile graced Stede's face.

"Nnnnoooohoho!"

"I think your laughter says otherwise." Stede's fingers proceeded to tickle in a sporadic pattern, jumping from tummy to sides to ribs, keeping Ed on his toes not knowing where the touch was going to be next and turning him into a giggly lump.

When Stede's fingers began digging into his belly in a claw-like motion, Ed shrieked and his hands came clamping down onto Stede's wrists. Borrowing some of his Blackbeard strength, he managed to pull Stede's hands away and get both of them held in a firm grasp in one of his. Ed shifted and knocked his weight against Stede, successfully pushing him over and into the sand.

"Oh, shihihiit!" Realizing his predicament, Stede couldn't hold back his giggles of anticipation while looking up at Ed's face above him.

Ed tried to give his best menacing glare, but it was washed out by the joyful smile on his face. "You thought it was a good idea to tickle me?"

"Mhmhmhmhh, yehehees!"

Ed laughed at Stede's honest response. "Is that so?" Tightening the grip on Stede's wrists, he brought his free hand down to squeeze at Stede's hip and side. 

"NahahahaAHHAH!"

Stede broke out into fresh laughter, squirming around in Ed's hold, his bubbly squeals sounding like music to Ed's ears. Ed thought to himself that if he could live in this moment forever, he would. He just felt good. He felt happy.

Stede makes him happy.

Ed continued his tickling while falling into a gleeful fit of laughter himself, succumbing to the ecstasy. His hand holding Stede's wrists slowly started to loosen and, as his tickling came to an end, he let his body happily topple on top of Stede.

A pile of giggles in the sand, Ed and Stede felt like they were the little kids they never got to be. Happy little tingles vibrated in their souls, bringing a new excitement about this life they now got to spend together. Everything just felt simple and easy with each other. They could be themselves.

With their laughter dying down, Ed got up off of Stede and returned to sitting in the sand next to him. Stede rolled forward to an upright position and, after brushing some of the sand off his shirt, scooted his way closer to Ed and leaned over to press against him. Ed reached an arm out and slipped it around Stede's shoulders, letting him snuggle against his side, as they both returned to looking out at the waves of the ocean. At peace.

"...You make Stede happy."

[i-am-a-hog]

On Healing Festering Wounds

Post Canon one-shot where they run into each other bc of course they do.

1.2k words

Read on AO3

---

Ed’s beard is growing and he is dying it. Izzy tells him it looks good but Ed doesn’t love it. He continues to do it anyway - his face feels weird without the beard, and not dying his beard... just wouldn’t feel right. For unspecified reasons. Whatever.

And as surely as Ed’s beard grows, so does the ache inside his chest. It started as a sharp pain when Stede left, like a stab wound that was reopened every time he thought about the man, but now, a month later, it feels infected, like it's festering and feverish and killing Ed slowly from the inside. All he can do to lessen the pain is drink. The alcohol washes away the melancholy and brings out the rage. His anger is justified, for fuck's sake! Ed doesn't understand why it's not there when he's sober.

They plunder a ship. It goes alright. Ed orders the ship to make a stop at the Republic of Pirates. A bad idea - he knows that, but they need to sell their loot, and anyway, Ed doesn't need to justify his decisions - he's the captain.

His legs feel unsteady when he steps on shore. His legs feel unsteady a lot these days. There’s an ache that he drowns in alcohol and the alcohol in turn makes his legs lighter. A small mercy, but disconcerting when he has to adapt to solid land. He does alright, he thinks.

He avoids stumbling drunkards and mysteriously no one bothers him. Maybe it’s the makeup - if so, it is doing its job, because the last thing Ed wants is to talk.

There’s a secret beach that Ed has told Stede about. Now he wishes he hadn’t, because even at this safe place, he isn’t safe from Stede. He goes there nonetheless.

Strips off his clothes and takes a dip in the sea.

His mind is fuzzy and numb - Ed didn’t bring a drink, but his habits are such that his inebriation never really lets up anymore.

Pants back on, Boots back on. Hair drying in the sun, the rays warm on his chest. He thinks about Stede (when doesn’t he?) and hears his voice.

“Ed?”

Ed brings the heels of his hands to his temples, tries to rub away whatever insanity gripped a hold of him.

“Ed?”

It doesn’t work. The voice is more insistent now. And then there are footsteps behind him and Ed is lunging for his knife but he misses by an inch, warm sand running through his fingers as he looks up.

“Hi,” Stede says, and Ed’s resolve lasts all of two seconds before he feels tears shoot into his eyes.

“You left,” he says inelegantly. His voice is hoarse; he’s been shouting and drinking and crying for a month. “You left me.”

Stede looks good. Of course Stede looks good. Stede always looks good. Ed thought he looked good when he first met him - stabbed and hanged; more dead than alive. And now, Stede is definitely alive and Ed wants to stab him to change that.

But then, Stede’s smile vanishes and his eyes meet Ed’s and Blackbeard - the resurrected puppet he has embodied these past weeks - shrinks back into his grave. “I am truly sorry, Edward.”

Stede is on his knees next to Ed within a second, his hands are fidgeting, carefully not touching Ed, even though that’s what he needs. Doesn’t Stede know?

Ed lunges forward then, unthinking, acting on his first impulse, throwing his arms around Stede’s shoulders, burying his face against the base of his neck and starts sobbing. Stede’s arms wrap around him, his hands settle on his back, but otherwise he doesn’t move.

“I’m sorry,” he says again, and Ed pulls back to look at him because it sounds like he is crying as well. “I couldn’t. I don’t know...” Stede’s words drift off and the festering ache in Ed’s chest reaches out its rotten tendrils, gripping his bruised and battered heart in a painful clutch. That’s when the thoughts start - never a good sign.

Is this Stede’s way of saying good-bye? After he already abandoned Ed? One last twist of the dagger, or even an attempt at cleaning the festering wound?

Ed’s head is buzzing with questions, as he clings on to Stede like a lone rock at sea. He tries to speak but not a sound leaves his lips. He doesn’t know how he can ask a question whose answer will destroy him. He knows that if he hears Stede say the words, he might never get up from this beach again. His legs will stop working, harmed by grief more than all the alcohol in the world ever could.

“No,” he grits out between clenched teeth. Before he will let Stede do this to him, he would rather hack off his legs himself. Stede has no right... no right -

There are tears on Stede’s cheeks and his brows are knit tight in a worried frown. But his eyes shine out at Ed and the festering thing inside Ed rears its ugly head against the light.

"No?” Stede repeats softly, one of his hands settles on Ed’s shoulder, the other wanders down his back, coming to a rest on Ed’s hip.

This makes the panicked buzzing in his head stop. This was not how breakups were supposed to go. Stede wasn’t supposed to come back at all.

“Why are you here?” he finally asks.

Stede’s confusion etches deep lines into his forehead. It would be endearing if it wasn’t infuriating. Like so often in the last month, Ed’s sorrow and pain morph into anger.

“Have you come here just to make a point? To make sure I’m suffering? What is it you want now?”

As soon as the words register with Stede, he pulls back, scrambles away from Ed. He is sitting on the sunny beach and if the situation was any different, Ed would soak up this moment and treasure it because Stede belongs on beaches, with a drink in his hand preferably, and a wide-brimmed hat on his head. But the thought hurts, because the reality is drastically different. This Stede, the real Stede is only here to bring Ed pain.

“I love you,” says Stede and Ed huffs out a sob, or a laugh, he’s not quite sure.

“Yeah right,” is all Ed manages.

“I came to stay. I never meant to leave, I just... something happened. Got under my skin. I’m sorry I left.”

He keeps saying he’s sorry. Ed is starting to believe it, despite himself, because Stede doesn’t lie about things like this. Stede is good.

Too good for him.

Why is he back?

Stede’s fingers knock against the back of Ed’s hand. He involuntarily jerks away.

“Can I stay?” Stede asks, his voice small and his words sincere.

Ed slumps in on himself. He knows he can’t deny Stede anything. The ache inside him is treacherously calm. Ed nods.

When Stede’s fingers find Ed’s again, minutes later, a tear escapes his eyes and he lets it roll down his cheek. He rests his head against Stede’s shoulder and feels a kiss pressed to the crown of his head.

The ache inside him is being suffocated now, the wound is burned out. Now, it can start to heal.