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Stede breathed deep. Ed was safe, they were both safe. After all they’d gone through, they were together again. Ed’s arms were around him, faces buried in each other’s shoulders. Stede had promised himself he wouldn’t cry.
He wasn’t doing a very good job of it, if he was totally honest.
The crew had the decency to try to look busy (admittedly, they were also not doing a terribly good job of it). After a moment, Ed reluctantly eased off his iron grip a little, and whispered in Stede’s ear.
“Maybe we should, uh, take this to your cabin?”
“And talk it through… as a crew?”
“As co-captains I guess, yeah.”
“Capital idea.”
Stede stepped back again, reluctantly letting go of Ed, and addressed the crew.
“Ahem, right, well, jolly good job, chaps, carry on, as you were, um, splice the mainbrace and whatnot…”
Ed snorted, and dragged him back towards his cabin door.
“C’mon, you daft bastard.”
As soon as they were in Stede’s cabin, Ed spun around and pinned him to the wall, kissing him fiercely, then broke off, with a broad grin.
“You don’t even know what a fuckin’ mainbrace is, do you?”
“Um…”
“You just told them to all take an extra ration of rum.”
“Oh. Well. Yes, obviously. Of course, they deserve it!” Stede thought he’d covered up his mistake marvelously.
“I’m in love with a fuckin idiot,” Ed sighed, and kissed him again.
He grabbed Stede’s lapels and tugged him gently backwards towards the bed, unwilling to break off the kiss, then once Stede had the idea and was following along with fumbling steps, Ed began to shrug off his jacket, then helped Stede shove off his own, letting it fall to the floor. Ed pulled at the stock around Stede’s neck to undo the knot, letting the fine material slip through his fingers, before casting it aside as well, then clung onto his love’s shoulders to stop himself falling when he felt the back of his legs hit the edge of the bed.
They paused there, still grasping at clothing and trying to shed as much as possible, while trying to avoid breaking off the kiss as much as they could. Ed broke off reluctantly, not wanting to let go of his love so soon after having been reunited with him. But he did so anyway to tug his shirt off over his head, exposing his abdomen then his chest, both covered with various scars and tattoos. Stede had admired both secretly ever since they’d met - at any opportunity when Blackbeard had been shirtless or changing, but there was something new. He stared at it.
Ed, noticing Stede’s stillness, paused, confused.
“What?”
Stede reached out hesitantly, fingertips just brushing against the warm skin of Ed’s stomach. Ed shivered involuntarily, breaking out in goosebumps at the touch.
“This is new,” Stede commented quietly, stroking a small tattoo. The ink was still fairly fresh.
Ed glanced down.
“Uh. Yeah. It is. Um…”
He looked up, and their eyes met again.
“I did that one myself,” he offered, feeling awkward.
“Any particular reason you chose that design there?” Stede asked, a slight smile playing on the edge of his lips.
Ed looked down again, an unfamiliar blush suffusing his face. The new tattoo was small, a simple heart shape, perfectly framing the scar from where he had instructed Stede to stab him during his swordsmanship lesson.
“First time you stabbed me,” Ed confessed.
“You wanted to mark the occasion?” Stede’s fingers brushed over the mark again, lingering playfully.
“Yeah, kinda did.”
“So you said the first time, does that mean you’d like me to stab you again?”
Ed broke out into a sly grin, and his hand slid down to caress the growing bulge in Stede’s breeches.
“I’d kinda like you to sheath your sword in me, yeah.”
Stede caught his breath at the contact, but couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Honestly, Ed, that is the cheesiest, most hackneyed bit of prose I’ve ever heard, are you sure you’re not secretly one of those authors who writes those cheap erotic literature books?”
Ed looked momentarily taken aback, before noticing the playful glint in Stede’s eye, but still wasn’t sure what to say. Stede sighed and kissed him.
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it.” He shoved Ed back onto the bed, then shed his breeches and climbed on as well. “Now, I think it’s time you showed me how we go about some of this more advanced ‘swordplay’.”
“Now who’s being cheesy?” Ed chuckled, grabbing Stede’s shoulders, pulling him down and rolling him over. “I’ve a feeling you’re going to be a natural, but we can have lots of fun sparring to find out.”
Up on deck there was a faint cheer as someone broached a fresh cask of rum for the crew.