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Stede stays. Even after he comes back.
When Blackbeard wakes up in the morning, his throat is dry and tongue heavy on his teeth. Sitting up for a glass of water, the lump on the bed sends him jumping back almost off the couch, before the memories of Stede’s crew coming back into the ship floods back to him, washing a wave of relief over him. Blackbeard watches him for a long moment, more than a minute, too long. He can't tell if the body underneath the comforter is a mirage. Normally, mirages wouldn't make soft snoring sounds, which Blackbeard would never swoon at, or have solid edges, ones you could touch. Only the ones determined to trick you, make you desperate could copy what you longed for perfectly. But Blackbeard did not long for Stede Bonnet.
Now, convinced he must have jumped into the cold waves, and was now in an induced coma. Stede could not have been asleep, peacefully, just a few feet away.
Ed expected the man to be gone. Come back to see what he had done to the Revenge and go back to his own adventures.
Blackbeard notices a blanket has been draped over him. Instinctively, he brings it to his nose. It smells of lavender and sage. Reluctantly standing up, Edward pulled the blanket off of him to discard it and unfolded back onto the loveseat. Unsteady legs brought him over to the side of the bed.
It reminded him of when he and Stede first met, watching Stede sleep. Edward thought about grabbing Stede’s hand, the same way he did on that day. The man slept like a child. He didn't
keep a knife under his pillow, blissfully unaware about his surroundings. Edward wished he could find Stede’s peace.
Blackbeard leaves the room without daring to wake Stede up.
-
When Stede was gone, Edward would sleep in those same sheets. It was pathetic, pretending the man slept with him. In between his loss and a drunken haze, Edward could hardly care. In the night, he would toss and turn until the smell of herbs brought him to sleep. He supposed it was something like greif, keeping him hopeful, in denial.
Then, the bed started smelling of Edward Teach. Smoke, salt, blood, all unpleasant things. He didn't dare change the sheets. By the time the smell left, Blackbeard was sleeping everywhere but the bed, waking up with a rum bottle nearby.
-
Later in the day, Stede had not left.
Blackbeard wanted to go on deck, fresh air would do him good. But there stede sat, on a barrel, book in hand. What a silly thing to do, read a book on a pirate ship. Any other would find it inane. Edward likes to watch Stede read, it was charming.
With the new book came new emotions, and Ed watched as Stede’s face adjusted to fit the mood of the book. On one particularly shocking moment, Stede would gasp, like he was really there. The book was one Ed had picked up himself.
It was nice, until Stede caught his eye. Ed was offered a smile from the man, but in return Blackbeard returned a grimace. He left the door frame swiftly to return back to below the deck, and the warmth from the sun still tingled his skin, clinging onto him until it was replaced with cooling leather.
-
Edward Teach throws all the books off the shelves. A broken man and a broken room. It was fitting.
He needed Stede’s room to look ruined. He wanted to take it out on something, and he wanted to ruin Stede. Blackbeard took in the destruction, out of breath from redecoration. It didn't help him as much as he thought it would, Edward's face was still red, and muscles tensed.
After all of the books were thrown out, Ed regretted it. Maybe a part of him enjoyed it, sure, Stede would have been upset, and that was something. But now the room was desolate. No trace of Stede between the empty glass bottles and dirty clothes strewn around. It was just Edward Teach ruining beautiful things.
On the next raid Blackbeard makes sure to grab an armful of books to replenish the shelf.
-
During dinner, Stede is still there. Living and breathing on the boat.
It's awkward, everyone in silence getting their rations. The two crews are now seperated on their own sides of the table, Ed and Stede sitting at opposite ends. Like a married couple. Edward thinks of Mary, Stede must have sat across from her dozens of times. Blackbeard stops himself. He does not want to think about Mary.
Edward can tell Jim and Izzy want to murder everyone at the table. Ed cautiously takes a sip of his soup. He doesn't blame Jim, but does Izzy. He already knows what is about to happen before Izzy opens his mouth.
“Fucking crazy for you to come back, Bonnet,” Izzy hisses. He's a cobra rearing back, a frightened horse ready to kick. “You're brave, we should have shot-”
Blackbeard is up and reaching across the table before a sentence can be finished. Izzy sat next to him, the perfect place for a right hand man. From above, he has Izzy’s face pushed down into the table. Maybe he's putting too much pressure on him, but Blackbeard only presses him deeper down. He wants to break the table, to see Fang pulling the back splinters out of Izzy’s face for a week.
“What did I tell you?” Blackbeard admonished, looking down at Izzy. Blackbeard knows he's deadly.
A thought crosses his mind, in between the murderous intent and violence, Stede comes into veiw. He has never seen Ed like this, When Edward looks up, Stede is looking at him. Making eye contact.
He storms off, back to the room.
-
Edward Teach doesn't know if Stede has left.
He thought he might, now remembering the reason he was gone in the first place. Blackbeard was a monster. Stede must have been afraid, terrified of what he had fallen in love with.
A knock at the door, but Ed stays silent. Stede lets himself in. He makes his way to the side of the bed, staring at Edward wrapped in the blankets. The feeling of eyes on him twisted his gut unpleasantly.
There were far too many blankets, and now he was trapped between sheets of lavender. Every time he inhaled it was like heaven.
A hand brushes Edwards hair back, and Stede lingers for longer. There is the ruffling of sheets, and a pressure behind him. Ed is sure Stede has climbed in the bed with him.
“You've redecorated,” Stede was muttering, but Edward could hear him clearly. Despite the size of the bed, neither of them touched. A brush of skin would surely be a death sentence. An apology rushes to Edward’s throat, but Blackbeard stays silent. He hopes Stede feels bad, feels awful, Blackbeard wants the man to start sobbing into the sheets.
He doesn't, Stede is silent next to him. Edward is almost convinced he’s asleep.
“I'm sorry.”
-
When Edward wakes up in the morning, a warm figure lays beside him. The light shining through the satin curtains illuminated Stede’s blonde curls.
The sound of waves gently hitting the side of the boat was followed by gentle snores.
Ed wrapped his arms around the man in front of him. He could deal with everything else later, for now, holding Stede was enough.