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Pete was ill.
It started on Sunday.
He complained about being too warm.
Everyone agreed it was hot, paying no mind to the coughing and hacking that got progressively worse as the day wore on.
It ended with Pete being benched for the rest of the day.
While Black Beards men were very different from this lot in many ways, the one thing that took priority before all else was illness.
On a ship with already tight quarters, sickness spread like wildfire. As soon as Edward heard Black Pete was sick he made sure that Stede understood the severity of sickness on a ship.
Or at least, what he thought was understood.
This leads us to Tuesday.
Black Pete has been kept in isolation in the wreck room with no one else allowed in.
Not for lack of trying mind you. Within the first hour, they had Stede trying to bring him tea and marmalade as well as a book to read to Pete while he recovered.
Then Roach tried to bring some sort of concoction that he said would cure him, though more likely to stop his heart than anything.
Buttons showed up at one point trying to cast some sort of hex on him from what they could gather, this isn't even mentioning Lucius's visits.
At this point, realizing how stupid this ship was, Izzy had resided himself to sit outside the door all day knowing that this band of idiots would rather the entire ship die of illness than anything else.
Lucius had come by more than six times today just to yell at Pete through the door, getting a mix of coughs, groans, and mumbled words in response.
at one point bring a love poem to shout through the door, which got a wonderful reception of Izzy chasing him away with a dagger.
It didn't help matters when Lucius kept goading Izzy to try and allow him inside.
What had started as Izzy yelling at him to get the hell back to work with several colorful threats, has devolved into Izzy glaring at him until Lucius leaves.
By supper, Izzy was well and truly done with playing guard dog for the sick rat inside.
Beginning to contemplate simply murdering the diseased and moving on.
Had this been on their own ship a simple keep-out sign would have been enough to ward everyone away, but no.
Why would the threat of sickness and potential death keep them out?
When they had important things like tea, and bread, and the millionth sketch slipped under the door.
Where was Lucius even finding time to do all these drawings?
As supper rolled around, as expected Lucius showed up with a tray piled high with Pete's daily rations.
“You know what I’ll say,” Izzy said flatly.
The boy visibly deflated at that.
“Can I at least say hi?” he asked.
Izzy let out a long tired sigh, fully aware of what the hi would turn into.
“Listen, lad, I get you worry about your fuck buddy, but your better off with the crew until he’s better. I promise if anything happens, you’ll be the first to know.” Izzy said with more than a little annoyance in his tone.
That didn’t stop the hopeful look from crossing Lucius’s face.
“Promise?” he asked, with a look so trusting that it made Izzy a little ill himself.
“Yeah.” he nodded, realizing he meant it that time.
Lucius smiled, handing him the plate of food that had a folded piece of paper on top.
“Give him my regards,” Lucius said a little less dejectedly than before and walked away.
Izzy let out another sigh.
They were fairly certain this wasn’t anything deadly.
However, not anything they wanted to expose the crew to and risk them all being bedbound while at sea.
Still, Izzy tied the rag around his face and propped the door open, Pete currently resided in a pile of blankets on the floor in one corner. The entire room was wreaking of illness and sweat.
Walking in and set the food down before taking a large stick and pushing it over before prodding at the man on the floor to wake him.
“Whu- ugh, you again.” Pete huffed before seeing the food, looking at Izzy distrustfully.
“Courtesy of your sex toy.” Izzy chided, moving to leave before Pete spoke, voice raspier than usual.
“Can’t he bring it?” he asks in that same dejected tone Lucius held.
Izzy rolled his eyes at having the same conversation all day.
“If he brings it he’ll end up sick, and you don't want that. Focus on getting rid of this smog and you’ll be fuckin like rabbits in no time.” Izzy deadpanned.
“I’ve been locked in here for the past two days, it’s lonely.” he sassed beginning to eat.
Izzy understood the annoyances that came with illnesses at sea and could sympathize a little with the man, yet that didn't change the fact that it was better to be safe than sorry here.
despite that thought, Izzy kept his face schooled in one of his signature dry looks at the man's remarks.
“Can you stay?” Pete asked after a moment.
“You're still delirious.” Izzy sighed moving to leave.
“What? Are you afraid of a lil bug? Big bad pirate man worried about the sniffles?” Pete goaded.
Izzy sighed again, glaring over at Pete before sitting on the wall by the door, farthest away from him.
holding in a groan at how good it felt to finally sit down after standing all day.
Pete ate in silence, Izzy glaring daggers the whole time before the other man finally lay back down.
“Tell me about black-beard?” he asked. Somehow knowing the exact way to get Izzy to start talking.
Begrudgingly he obliged, telling several stories of he and Edwards traveling together until Pete’s snoring could be heard.
Izzy could have left by that point, gotten up, and gone outside. though the prospect of those outside wanting to come in and that same loop of questions being asked and answered again and again made him think differently.
not only that, he knew that going to his rooms would inevitably result in being roped into another of Ed's stupid ramblings about Stede, or one of his hair-brained plans because he 'needed a new experience.'
he buisned himself settling on the floor by the door, propping a plane under the handle to keep it shut, Izy set in for the night.
By morning when Pete woke, to everyone's relief, his fever had broken, and Izzy was done with guard duty, going about his business.
That is, until he started coughing as well, and found himself trapped in the same room with Pete playing guard instead.