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The coughing fit is rougher than usual this time, leading to a large pile of sea grass at Izzy's feet.
"Fucking hell," he whispers.
Mermaids and their fucking curses. It's night and he is at the deck, and Izzy has to clean this mess himself because nobody else is around. He leaves to fetch a broom, hoping to swipe the grass away into the sea before anyone else sees them, but when he hurries back, his blood runs cold when he sees Blackbeard kneeling by the pile.
"Oh, Iz." Blackbeard stands up, holding up one yellow flower in his hand; Izzy's grass always has flowers in it, as if to further embarrass him. Blackbeard squeezes and strokes the flower's wet petals, trying to straighten them. "Your sickness always surprises me. A tough creature like you, spitting up grass and flowers over a love lost."
Izzy shrugs. "What can I say? When mermaids hate you, they really fucking hate you." It had indeed been a misfortune for Izzy to piss off one, and that's why his captain now knows that he's weak. His only relief is that Blackbeard doesn't know that Izzy coughs and hacks over him.
May he never find out.
"You bear your broken heart well at least." Blackbeard lifts the flower up so he can see it better in the moonlight, staring at it for a moment before glancing at Izzy. He gives him a crooked grin. "We should all strive to be like you."
Blackbeard steps over to the railing, tossing the flower into the sea below.
"You can dream," Izzy says, grasping his broom tighter as he strides towards the pile.
Blackbeard moves out of the way, stepping into the pile as he does so, crushing the remaining flowers. He smiles at Izzy as he passes him by, patting him on the shoulder.
Izzy looks down at the sea grass on the deck, now further squished by Blackbeard's boot. This is how it's supposed to be; this is how Blackbeard will never love him back, and Izzy will cough sea grass to the end of his days. Izzy wouldn't want it any other way.
Still, he can't deny it stings.