#please never have ed and stede name anything after izzy

[littlefingies]

I need to thank @celluloidbroomcloset for planting the phrase "Izzy Hands is an angry incel" in my head because that is truly how I see him. It's the entitlement; the violation of boundaries; the jealousy; the creepy love confessions; the fury at not getting what he wants; the centering of himself in other people's stories; the constant lying and manipulation; culminating in him positioning himself as a romantic hero to save Ed from himself.

He's Yolanda to Ed's Selena. He's Joe Goldberg. He's only saved from that path by moving on and accepting community from the crew.

Like, imagine any other context:

"I love you so much that I decided to murder your lover because you don't know your own mind."

[super-who-locked-me-in-here]

Pieces of media my mom has seen and the popular MLM ships in them that she doesn't think are gay:

MCU - Stucky (note that she does get a kick out of Stony stuff and she believes wholeheartedly that those two hate fucked in a not-filmed scene of Avengers 2012 so this is not about her thinking "oh Captain America is so straight-laced because he's the ideal American man" or anything)

MCU - Poolverine (she's fully aware and accepting of the fact that both Logan and Wade are canonically queer characters but she thinks all the flirting Wade did with Logan in the newest movie didn't necessarily mean anything because "he talks like that to everyone". Side note though: while she believes Wade should be with Vanessa, she does think that Logan can and should shoot his shot with Wade after Vanessa inevitably dies since he and Wade are both immortal. It's just that she thinks Wade should get his happy ending with Vanessa first.)

MCU - Lokius ("Mama have you ever seen a man fix another man's tie like that" "No but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen! I wouldn't know though; it's been like 15 years since I worked a corporate job.")

Sonyverse/Marvel - Symbrock ("They literally have a symbiotic relationship. That doesn't make them gay." So I showed her the comics where Eddie calls Venom "love" and gives birth to Venom's babies and she said "Fine you win but please never show me alien man birth ever again."

Supernatural - Destiel ("They're like Steve and Bucky! They're brothers in arms! They've been through hell and back together!" Note that she only watched through season 5 but she does know about a lot of their later interactions because I told her about them)

House M.D. - Hilson ("Dot I watched that whole show and they were never anything more than good friends" "What about when House admitted to thinking about Wilson during sex? What about that whole episode where they pretended to be gay for each other to prove a point to a neighbor and Wilson proposed? What about that whole episode where Wilson had to furnish the apartment and House told him not to let a woman tell him what to do but Wilson let House tell him what to do? What about the whole ending?" "Why can't two men just be close enough friends to joke about that stuff with each other?"

Real life - Me and my best friend of the same gender orientation who I've kissed multiple times and have had a requited crush on for years that neither of us have ever persued for logistical reasons (I literally used me and this friend to try and prove my mom wrong about Stucky and Destiel. I asked her if she thought me and this friend were like brothers and she said yes with a straight face)

Sherlock - Johnlock (to be fair this is the BBC ship name, but she doesn't think any iteration of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are the slightest bit gay. "They're business partners and roommates.")

Our Flag Means Death - BlackHands (Should go ahead and say that I'm not really a BlackHands shipper myself; we both really enjoyed Stede and Ed's romance in the show. BUT it takes so much away from Izzy's character and his development if you don't acknowledge that he was jealous of Stede and in love with Ed, at least a little. My mom thought Izzy was just an extremely loyal first mate.)

Also, for the record, I'm not trying to call my mom out as homophobic. I'm queer and so are two of my siblings and she's very supportive of us. There are gay romcoms she enjoys like Our Flag Means Death and Red, White, and Royal Blue. The reason I'm making this list is because I think it's really funny how she doesn't understand the concept of queerbaiting (not that all of the above listed ships are queerbaiting). She thinks things are either explicitly straight or explicitly queer (whether it's gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc) and cannot comprehend the idea that some character relationships are deliberately pushing the boundaries of straight friendships into queer relationships to get more minority viewers and I think her explanations are funny.

[queerfandomtrifecta]

Bottle It Up: the most tangible theme in OFMD s2

So looking at s2 through the (super fucked up) lens that Jim asking Frenchie “How are you handling all of this so well?” And Frenchie responding by saying he puts all the terrible things in a box in his mind and never opens it again was the lesson everyone was supposed to learn this season and like, that’s there in the text more than anything else and I hate that.

Frenchie is handling everything well because he’s putting it in the box and never addressing it again.

Izzy finally says he has love for Ed, everyone is worried about him, the atmosphere is toxic and suggests talking it through and Ed goes on deck and points a gun at everyone as he asks them to talk about it, and when Izzy finally does address the reality of things and speaks Stede’s name aloud he gets shot in the leg.

Lucius isn’t talking about what happened. Avoidant about the Rat Boy name at first, says he fell off the ship, can’t remember when he picked up smoking.

Stede asks Lucius to talk to him about what happened after he was pushed off the ship, and Lucius starts to and almost immediately Stede runs away saying to save the rest for Pete.

Lucius says he talks to Pete and Stede says “please tell me you held back on some of the darker stuff” and Lucius confirms he did because Pete got nauseous and started crying.

Lucius tells Stede he should look past the man he loves and examine all the awful things he did, but Stede brushes it off and doesn’t do that.

No one will tell Stede they killed Ed. (Arguably this is for their own safety as well but it fits the whole “we’re not talking about the hard stuff” theme so I’m including it)

Ed finds out Stede went home to Mary through Anne Bonny. Stede begins to try to explain but instead, Ed smashes his chair against the wall and walks off. They have a very brief conversation without mention that Stede was kidnapped by Chauncey then watched him die.

Ed gives his influencer non-apology that was clearly written by Stede to the crew, and everyone but Lucius and Izzy seem to have forgiven him. During the “apology” Jim talks about how it made them feel and Stede shushes them so Ed can keep not apologizing. Afterward, for some reason, Jim says immediately says “I thought it was pretty solid for him” Archie says that’s how it goes in situations like this, Roach has never heard an apology before so they’re all good apparently now.

Lucius pushes Ed off the ship but isn’t okay yet. We’re addressing the trauma here and trying to make it right (even if it’s in a messed up way); we’re finally talking about it directly, but Lucius isn’t okay after this.

Fang tells Ed he’s not mad at him because he got it all out of his system when they beat him to death.

The whole Lucius/Izzy exchange “A shark did this to me. Dangling my legs over the side of the ship, served me right too.” “Okay, that seems healthy. Using a bit of fiction to cover up your trauma.” “Not moving on is worse.” (Another point at which Lucius wants to resolve trauma and he’s told no, don’t talk about it)

Lucius is clearly coping poorly and tries again to talk to Pete about how he almost died and Pete says he should find him when he’s no longer thinking about his trauma (“find me when Blackbeard isn’t living rent free in your head”) and that Lucius should talk about how he lived instead. Lucius then seems to decide that he’s fine, proposes to Pete, and is seemingly okay after that. (5th point in the story when Lucius tries to talk about something to heal and is told no in some way, and here is when he finally seems to moves on and is played as “better” after this)

Izzy’s drinking a lot even after he’s not totally dysfunctional like at the end of ep4.

The only Ed apology to Izzy is “Sorry about your leg.” With no eye contact as he’s walking away. To which Izzy responds “Fuck off.” After Ed’s out of ear shot.

Stede suggests Ed can absolve himself of everything by “turning the poison into positivity” and selling his treasure he got during the time he was abusing the crew to buy party supplies. Stede later says at the party that yes, Ed has achieved turning the poison into positivity, though Ed has done nothing by throw money at the problem.

Stede ignores Ed’s warning about not being able to come back from killing in cold blood and kills Ned Low.

Stede is visibly upset and Ed goes to check on him and begins to start talking, but Stede wordlessly grabs him and slams him up against a wall and then they have sex (which Ed has requested to wait on) instead of talking about it.

Ed decides he’s leaving to become a fisherman because Stede is infamous now and Ed’s been wanting out of that life so there’s a brief disagreement where not much is said and then he leaves.

“I’m sorry I was such a dick.” Is the biggest apology we’ve gotten all season. It’s immediately dismissed as “you’re not a dick. Life’s a dick.”

No one in the crew seems to be mourning Izzy’s death and we as the audience seem expected to move on from it very fast. Avenging his death is proposed by Zheng but then it cuts to nope, we’re done with that and we’re inn keepers now instead. Put the terrible thing you’ve seen in the box and never open it again.

I’m definitely sure I forgot some of these and it felt at first that these were being set up to be played negatively because this is the don’t-bottle-it-up/healing-from-our-traumas show but that just doesn’t play out. Like so much of it’s either dismissed without reason, played as a joke, or framed as acceptable and the fact that I could pull so much more of this stuff out of the text than I could any other potential thematic element does has me just so baffled. I don’t know what to do with it.

[adzeisval]

Buried Alive

Stede finds himself in a tight spot. Also on AO3.

Stede knew something was wrong. His head felt funny and he didn’t know where he was or how he had gotten there. Stede opened his eyes, blinked and frowned. He couldn’t see anything. He lifted his hand to feel his face but didn’t reach it; his hand hit against something. 

“No, no, no,” Stede mumbled as he felt around. He couldn’t move much and everywhere he felt there was wood and sand. He kicked his feet and felt the same thing. He could lift his head only a little before touching wood. 

A coffin. He was in a fucking coffin and he was buried in the sand. 

Stede tried to stay calm. He only had so much air right? That’s how that worked right? Stede felt like crying. He forced himself to think; how had he gotten there? Had he been taken? Had he been wounded and the crew thought he was dead and buried him? 

No. The crew knew he wanted to be buried at sea. They wouldn’t stick him in a coffin in the sand. He had to have been kidnapped. There was probably a ransom. Ed and Izzy would stop at nothing to find him and all he had to do was stay calm and wait to be found. 

Easier said than done.

He was aware of every breath he took and hoped that he wasn’t breathing too fast and that his friends had time to rescue him. They wouldn’t leave him to die. He knew that. Edward would tear through the seven seas until he found Stede and Izzy…Izzy was capable of an insane amount of violence to protect his family. 

They were going to find him. 

Stede focused on breathing slowly and tried to remember who had taken him and where they had been. The last thing he remembered was sailing away from Barbados and talking to Ed about needing to get more marmalade. 

After that nothing. 

There had to be a ransom. No one would bury him alive if they didn’t expect some sort of reward. Though they had been very stupid in thinking that Edward was going to just submit and give them money. Not without memorizing their names and where they were going so that once Stede was safe they could exact their revenge. 

Stede didn’t know how long he’d been in the coffin or how long he had before he was in danger of suffocation. He didn’t know how much time was passing. It was so hard to know anything in the small dark place. 

Stede took a deep breath and it felt like it wasn’t enough. He tried not to panic but… it was getting harder to breathe. His head was starting to hurt and he couldn’t get a good breath of air. 

Too late, they were going to get to him too late. By the time anyone got to him he was going to be dead. It was going to destroy Edward. Probably Izzy too. He would never see any of them again. He wouldn’t get to see his kids again. 

Stede’s chest felt tight and he tried to take even breaths but it was hard, so very very hard. The air was stale and hot and not enough. 

Stede thought he might have heard something. Maybe they were digging to get to him. He didn’t know how deep he was buried. If they were there how long was it going to take to get to him. 

“Please hurry,” Stede said, though no one could hear him. His chest hurt, breathing felt useless. He needed air.

He was…he was dying. He was going to die. 

Stede didn’t want to die. He didn’t want Edward to find his body. He didn’t want to hurt Edward. He couldn’t quite remember the last thing he’d said to Edward. Had he told Edward he loved him recently? Had he kissed him? Was the last thing he said something loving? It most likely was. And he was going to think the last thing Ed said was something loving as well. 

No air. There was no air. Fuck it hurt. 

There was noise from above. Was there noise from above? He wasn’t sure. His mind felt like it was full of cloth.

Please hurry, he thought and at the moment he wasn’t sure whether he wanted them to find him or whether he wanted to be done with dying. 

Stede was scared. He didn’t really want to die but it hurt, it fucking hurt. 

Suddenly there was bright light and air and Stede thought for a moment that he had died. Didn’t people see a bright light when they were dying?

Stede blinked and gasped for air and as things came back into focus he realized what was going on. 

“Just breathe love, just breathe,” Ed said and Stede realized he was in Ed’s arms. He looked around and saw several of the crew panting and holding shovels. Stede smiled. They had come for him. They had tried their best and he was alive because of it. 

“Ed…” 

“I’m here Stede, you’re alright.” 

Stede breathed and held onto Ed and he started to feel better with every breath he took. 

“I…I think I’m alright,” Stede said. 

“Can you stand?” 

Stede nodded and let Edward help him stand and get out of the grave, “What happened.” 

“You were kidnapped. Pirate hunters. Wanted money.” 

“Did you pay?” 

“No, tortured the information out of them. Ugh, heads up you might not want to ask Izzy exactly what he did.” 

“Noted.” 

As they approached the ship Stede saw Izzy pacing back and forth and looking like he wanted to murder someone. When he saw Stede he visibly relaxed. 

“I’m alright Izzy,” Stede said, “Thank you.” 

Izzy nodded, “It’s good to see you.” 

Stede gave Izzy a short hug, the most Izzy was comfortable with outside of the Captain’s cabin. In that moment curiosity got the better of him. 

“How did you get the information out of them?” 

“Cut them open and hung them by their intestines,” Izzy said.

“Eugh,” Stede made a noise and felt a little ill. Ed was right, he shouldn’t have asked.

[izzy-b-hands]

What if Stede returns to The Revenge with the rescued crew members, to an Ed that's in an exhausting, devastated, rage that has him sobbing his eyes out

Lantern in one hand, boots traipsing over gunpowder and anything else he could find as an accelerant

What if they fight, forcing everyone else to work together to try and end it, no matter their feelings about each other (Jim pulls Izzy out of the way when Ed swings the lantern nearly into his head, Izzy pauses just long enough for a look of confused realization to dawn on him, then returns to the mass of them all trying to pull Ed and Stede apart. His sword clangs against Ed and Stede's whenever they drift too near to any of the other crew)

What if the lantern falls, unintentionally, and it becomes a race to try and save the ship, a useless one but they try

Buckets of water passed hand to hand, panting in smoke that grows darker and heavier by the minute

Izzy pauses and begs Ed to start leading them to the dinghies, this is madness Edward and we will die here

Tears in his eyes because damn it Ed he doesn't want to die here and even more so he doesn't want Ed to die here and no heartbreak is worth sinking to the ocean floor for

And another painful blink of personal realization hits him and he starts to call the others towards the dinghies

What if Olu pulls Stede towards the boats too but he won't move, Olu there's Ed still here hang on

He motions for Olu to go without him and passes Izzy on the way to Ed

Standing on the rapidly burning deck in tears

Of rage and hurt and loneliness and from the smoke that's inescapable

What if Stede stands there and he begs Ed please you don't have to like me or love me again but I love you and I can't I won't watch you die here

He strides forward and pulls Ed into a hard kiss flames licking a hand as he moves but he doesn't so much as wince

Ed's forehead rests against his after the kiss ends and he finally beautifully blessedly smiles

And he reminds Stede that captains go down with their ships

--

What if they wash up in a sea cave

Alive but slightly singed and with a few burns Roach will need to tend to

What if Ed wakes first and pulls Stede from the low tide onto the sand at the edge of the cave interior

Begging every power he's ever even briefly cared about or believed in to make Stede wake up and smile and he looks so close to how he did when he was stabbed, dark circles under his eyes and pale skin and

What if Stede coughs and flutters open his eyes and smiles because

There you are Ed

I've been looking for you and missing you and I have so much to tell you

And I came up with our fake names Olu says they're too obviously fake but I think he's being a bit too critical and-

What if Ed kisses him and tells him he wants to hear everything after they find the others

After their wounds are clean and bandaged and they're resting together

Because this isn't a healed fracture not yet but

He thinks of kintsugi and golden lines forming like the stitching of a wound as the sun filters into the sea cave

What if in the distance they hear voices gone hoarse and ragged calling their names

(Izzy has never shouted himself fully hoarse before but he's barely audible when he rushes in with Olu and kneels by Ed to help them up adds on to Olu's reassurances that they'll get them up and looked after and things will be fine)

What if they limp out of the sea cave with Olu and Izzy but Stede asks softly

Looking into the distance at The Revenge her remains at least his dream that he made reality in wood and tar and people and

He hesitates but does ask if they can watch her finish burning before they go anywhere else because he created her designs and funded her birth so the least he can do is witness her cremation

What if they all join together on the beach and watch their ship burn

Exhausted and injured and leaning on one another as if making up for the loss of structure and foundation a ragged bundle of people who've rarely ever known a proper home but know it can occasionally be found among others

[bookshelfdreams]

Number 4 Stede and Ed

OR

Number 5 Izzy (maybe with Lucius)

Pretty please 🥺

whoops, this got angsty. Probably not what you were looking for but it's what you're getting (cw: death, somewhat graphic injuries) Thank you!

"I'm here, aren't I? Stop moping."

Ed stares ahead, not looking Stede in the face. He's perched on his desk - the one that had been too heavy to throw overboard - his feet dangling a little above the ground. One of his shoes has slipped off, and Ed can see his toes curl and flex in the white silk stocking.

When did he notice details like that.

"You're not", he tells Stede's foot. "You're dead."

"Hmm", Stede hums thoughtfully, like this is nothing but a fun thought experiment. "And who told you this?"

"Why the fuck's that important?" It had been a sailor on a ship they had raided, who had mentioned the name Bonnet and then, after Ed nearly pushed him over the reeling, mumbled out a hasty, confused story about a tiger and a piano, but Ed hadn't listened to that. All he heard was died months ago, and then he'd thrown the lad into the water despite the story, and the begging.

"I bet you killed the unfortunate person who told you this. Didn't you?"

"No." Not for lack of trying. Someone had fished him out. Ed is not grateful for that.

"Did he tell you about the tiger?" Stede chuckles, a sound Ed could drown himself in, would want to be the last thing he ever hears.

"Fucking stupid. I don't know why he made that up."

Stede laughs again. Maybe, if Ed can just sit here and make him laugh all evening, the morning will come a little easier this time.

"I don't know either." Ed can hear the smile in Stede' voice. "You know what happened though. Don't you."

Ed doesn't answer. Yes, he knows. He knows and desperately does not want to.

"Won't you look at me?" It's not a demand, just a question. Polite as anything, as Stede ever was. Ed had sometimes imagined what it would be like to see him again; how he would yell at him, full of righteous fury, and how they would make up, in the end.

But Stede is dead now, and Ed can't even be pissed at him anymore.

He looks up.

Stede is still smiling. He's wearing one of his fine shirts, white as snow, lace and ruffles, and over it a brown waistcoat that's lovely but almost sombre, for him. His hair is a mess.

There's a chunk missing from his face.

Ed can see where the bullet shattered his cheekbone and eyesocket, and where it took a good part of his skull with it on the exit.

"I wish you would not picture me like that", Stede says, a little self-consciously. "Maybe my face is still fine."

"What does it matter", Ed says, almost inaudibly. "You're dead."

"It's not your fault", Stede says, because even now, Ed cannot imagine him as anything but kind.

And anyway. It kind of is. When Stede failed to show up at the beach, all Ed could think - no. He did not even think, and that's the whole problem, isn't it. His head had been full of he's not coming and of course not why would you think he would, fucking stupid, and he left, of course he left, fuck.

"That wasn't very nice of you to think", Stede says conversationally. "I wish you knew that I would never abandon you."

Ed can only nod. He knows. And Stede hasn't. Because here's what happened: Someone caught Stede sneaking out, arrested him, put him on trial for desertion.

Shot him at dawn.

"You should have known I would never abandon you", Stede repeats quietly. "Why didn't you think something happened? Why didn't you come for me?"

"I -" Ed's voice fails. There are tears in his eyes, a horrible lump in his throat that's choking him. He didn't think, he did not stop his stupid fucking brain for one second to think logically, when it should have been obvious that something happened, and he didn't check, and it's his fault.

"I waited for you", Ed manages to choke out. "All night."

"Oh Ed." Stede's hand twitches, like maybe he wants to reach out. "So did I."

[downstarr]

This is an offshoot story of my novel-length fic, The Accidental Seduction of Edward Teach by Stede Bonnet, Gentleman Pirate. That fic is canon divergent and splits off around the end of episode 8 and assumes that Calico Jack and Izzy never betrayed the crew, so the slow burn of Ed and Stede's relationship continued.

This fic is sort of a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern moment that takes place around chapter 30, after Izzy has hooked up once with a man named Declan Finch. Declan was Stede's stable hand on Barbados and he followed Stede back to the Revenge after he went to tie up his old life. Declan holds a candle for Stede, but by this point has accepted he's with Ed.

I'm not sure how many people are interested in this side story, but it wouldn't leave my head. And since the other story is very strictly Ed's POV, this was the only way to tell it.

Smut implied, but not explicit.

-------

“Izzy. Izzy, psst…hey…”

Izzy Hands would rather pretend he hadn’t heard his boss, the man who went by Blackbeard but wanted everyone to call him Ed. Back in the day, only a select few got to call him anything other than Blackbeard, and even then, it was always Edward .

But not so since Stede fucking Bonnet.

“Yes, sir?” said Izzy as he turned to see Ed sticking his head out of the door to the captain’s quarters. His expression was bright and happy. His once full and imposing beard had been shorn down to barely an inch long. Ed had returned from an enforced island getaway with Stede with it shorn. The crew had conspired to drop the co-captains there - behind Izzy’s back - so that they’d finally admit their feelings for one another.

“Can you please bring us some food? Stede’s kind of…well, naked.” Ed giggled like a child and bit his lower lip.

Izzy grunted. “Yes sir,” He said tightly. He hated the short beard, and he missed his own. Although the stubble was slowly growing back, it would take time for Izzy’s to return to its former glory. The shave was punishment for getting in the way of Ed and Stede by way of a drunken kiss that Stede witnessed. That incident set back their blossoming relationship, and it seemed Ed hadn’t quite forgiven him for that.

Izzy stalked along the deck, searching the mostly-loafing crew for signs of Roach. Instead he found Lucius. “Spriggs!” He barked.

Lucius tensed and looked up from where he was half-heartedly taking inventory of a barrel. “Yes, fuck, what ? I’m right here. You don’t have to yell.” He folded a square of fabric and then leaned on the barrel and fixed him with a saucy look.

Izzy gritted his teeth and growled a little under his breath. “The captain wants food. Find Roach and have him send up two plates.”

“The ship isn’t that bloody big! Why don’t you ask him directly?”

“I am asking…” Izzy stepped forward, “...you. No, I’m not asking. I’m the bloody first mate and I’m ordering you. So step fucking lively.”

Lucius sighed and stomped his foot. “Fine. You know, I don’t like smooth Izzy. At least I expected attitude from beard-y Izzy.”

Smooth Izzy.

It was all Izzy could do to not manhandle the scribe or threaten to toss him overboard. That was the kind of nickname that had a tendency to stick. But he knew if he made a scene, it definitely would.

Rather than challenge Lucius, he stalked off across the deck.

—-

Some hours later, when Izzy was settled into his threadbare cabin, there was a knock on the door.

“What?”

“It’s me,” came a voice from the other side of the door. “Can I come in?” a pause, “...I nicked some wine from the stores. Also I think I forgot my coat in there last time.”

Izzy scowled at the door. “Fuck off,” he muttered. But then, he noticed there was indeed a jacket that didn’t belong to him hanging on the back of the door.

“Okay,” said the voice, which was slightly nasal and had the same accent as the captains. “Can I have my jacket at least? It’s getting kind of cold out here.”

With a grunt, Izzy got off the bed and opened the door. He had to crane his neck upward to properly look at Declan Finch, who was an inch or so taller than Edward - who already towered above his uncommonly short first mate.

Izzy picked up the jacket and handed it to him. “Now, fuck off.”

But Declan kept standing there. “But…I brought wine.”

Izzy stalked across the room. “Good for you. You’ll be lucky if Roach doesn’t make you peel sixty pounds of potatoes for stealing from the stores. That man keeps a careful inventory of our food supplies.”

Declan looked down at the bottle in his hand. “Are you angry? About the rash? You should be fine. The doctor said that if the cream made it go away, it was just a heat thing and nothing contagious. And it’s nearly gone.”

Some nights ago, when Izzy was drunk, he and the new crewmember had hooked up. It was stupid and a bad choice, but he was frustrated by Edward’s punishment and his growing closeness with Bonnet. Declan, who was at one time Bonnet’s stable boy, had returned with him after the man had gone to finally and properly settle things with the wife and children he had left behind.

Not long after that, Declan had announced to the entire crew that he had some kind of rash. It turned out the big man had slept with several of the crew aside from Izzy himself.

“You shut your fucking mouth about that,” said Izzy as he got up in Declan’s face. He closed the door not because he wanted to be alone with him, but because he didn’t want them to be overhead. “Remember what I told you?” he rasped.

“Ah, yip. If I tell anyone, you’ll gouge my eye out. You were very…uh…descriptive about how exactly that would go down. You’ve got a way with words, so it’s not the sort of thing you forget.” Declan quirked a little grin that revealed a prominent gap between his front teeth. Those teeth had left a deep impression on Izzy’s neck that still hadn’t entirely healed.

Izzy unconsciously tugged at his cravat and scratched the still-healing spot on his neck. “And you nearly did, when you were confessing to fucking half the bloody crew,” he snarled and paced away, though he couldn’t get very far away, as small as the room was.

Declan grinned a little and tilted his chin up. “Are you jealous?”

“Jealous?” Izzy snorted, “Of a stable boy? Bonnet’s sloppy seconds? A man who can’t sail and is only here out of charity?”

The truth was, Izzy found the other man very attractive. He and Ed didn’t look alike, per se, but they were of a type. Declan was tall, broad-shouldered and fit in a way that sailors often weren’t. There was bulk and heft to him, and he moved around the deck with a swagger in his step. Although he could wreck Izzy physically without breaking a sweat, he never challenged him on-deck. He was quick to follow orders, respectful and, Izzy grudgingly had to admit, a hard worker.

Declan might have been there because of unreturned feelings for Stede, but Izzy had to admit that he was suited to a life at sea.

“Well, that’s not fair,” said Declan a bit petulantly. “I’ve been learning and getting better. I can do rope stuff now.”

Izzy scoffed, then reached out to take the bottle of red wine. He uncorked it and took a swig.

He knew he should kick Declan out, but couldn’t quite bring himself to. His back was to the other man as he dug through a small chest of drawers out of a desire to look busy than to search for anything in particular.

He heard footsteps and felt Declan behind him, close enough that his body threw off heat. “I may have gone a little wild just because I’ve never…well, I’ve never had my pick of people to fuck before. Mostly I just had to take what I could get, and worry about my throat getting slit if I picked the wrong partner. I guess I just got a little excited to be on a ship full of people who weren’t going to shank me for liking dick.”

Izzy grunted. He could understand that. He had spent his entire life among pirates, privateers and brigands, but he’d made port in enough colonies that he knew the attitude there. He’d also sailed with many men who had escaped to a life at sea for the exact same reason Declan had. “You should save that shit for shore. We have enough drama with our captains. We don’t need more from you.”

“You don’t call them that often, I’ve noticed,” said Declan. He hooked his arm around Izzy’s side to snag the bottle of wine to swig from himself.

“What?”

“Captains. You mostly just refer to Ed.”

“I think we all know which of them is really in charge.”

“Don’t underestimate Stede. There’s a lot more to him than you’d think.” Declan tapped him on the shoulder with the wine bottle.

Izzy snatched the bottle back and turned, to find the other man very close, towering over him. He had a short beard that was black and threaded through with gray, long sideburns and collar-length full, dark hair that was only really gray at the temples. His eyes were where he most closely resembled Ed. They were the same deep brown with dark lashes, though Declan’s were set under a heavy brow.

He was used to being towered over by other men, but Declan’s proximity and the broad set of his shoulders made Izzy feel smaller than usual.

And although he’d struggle to admit it, he liked that feeling. At least…in private. Izzy tried to back away, but found himself backing against his chest of drawers.

Declan closed the gap and set the wine down. “If you ask…” he said as hands reached out to brace on Izzy’s hips, “...I won’t fuck any of the other crew. Just you.”

The small dog syndrome that dominated Izzy’s personality wanted to snarl and spit and shove the man’s hands off him. He wanted to order him out under pain of some humiliating manual labor. But all he could do was sort of sneer up at the other man and grip the wrists of the hands braced against his hips. “And why would I want that?” he asked in a low tone.  

Declan lifted a calloused finger to rasp along the short stubble along Izzy’s jaw. Then, he leaned in for a kiss.

“ Stop ,” Izzy rasped and pulled away as much as he could. “What did I say last time?”

“No kissing,” said Declan. He kept his hand on Izzy’s jaw and hovered close. “But that’s stupid. Kissing’s awesome. Here let me show you…”

Before Izzy could protest, snarl, or pull away, he felt Declan’s mouth hot on his. As much as he wanted to protest, he found himself yielding and slowly, kissing back. He felt a prickle down his spine and up over his scalp.

He didn’t want this. It felt too personal. All Izzy had wanted from sex was a release in pressure. He got it from Edward for a long time, then when his captain started spurning his advances, random strangers in port - sometimes at a brothel.

But Declan kissed him with something dangerously like affection. And Izzy knew the man was a dizzy romantic. Why else would he have chased Stede Bonnet from Barbados like a giant lovesick puppy?

And some part of Izzy was absolutely incensed that a man in love with Bonnet was attracted to him.

Some deeper part of him hoped that meant that one day, Edward might return to himself - return to the way they were together. If Declan could be attracted to both Bonnet and himself, maybe there was hope.

Izzy pulled back and turned his face away. “If you’re going to stay, just fucking get on with it.”

“You sure do curse a lot,” Declan mused, but then he slid his hands from Izzy’s hips to grab handfuls of his ass and pull their hips together.

“So I’ve been told,” rumbled Izzy. “Now, grab my dick or fuck off.”

“Yes sir,” said Declan. And he obliged.

—-

Declan may have been a romantic, but he also instinctively understood that Izzy didn’t want to make gentle love.

When it was over, Izzy had a new collection of bruises and bite marks, and he’d most certainly have trouble sitting comfortably for at least a few days.

Despite the rough nature of the sex, there was surprising care there as well. Declan had a talent for pushing things just far enough to please Izzy, but not so far that it crossed a line or became dangerous. And when he wasn’t sure, he asked .

Which was a shockingly new thing that Izzy didn’t quite know how to process.

Izzy’s bed was narrow and just barely fit the two men. He was lying little-spoon on the outside. Declan was behind him, arm and leg thrown over him due to the necessity of space. The man was fast asleep and snoring gently.

Izzy laid there in the darkness, feeling the big man’s bulk pressed along his back, feeling the pleasant aches and stings of rough sex, smelling the former stable boy’s soft musk, and feeling hot breath on the back of his neck.

And he found himself liking the sensation very much.

 “Fuck,” he muttered to himself. And then he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.