Work Text:
Ed tells him that Izzy attended a monastery school and that would drop into a completely different, posh accent if you could get him drunk enough. Izzy can recite poetry, Ed told him, and had a great singing voice, but you had to get him really, really drunk for that one. Ed always smiles when asked about Izzy.
Stede thinks that, if he wasn't so much of an asshole, Izzy would be a fine friend. Under all of his posturing, he's a learned and cultured man. They probably have a lot in common, and Izzy could more eloquently describe a pirate's life than any average crew member.
When he's not menacing the crew into working or checking in on Ed to make sure he's eaten or brushed his hair or actually slept, which is really very kind of him, Stede has seen Izzy sitting in the dark corners of the deck. They tend to keep a wide berth around each other, but he really wants to add to his journal, and maybe they'll be able to learn to enjoy each other's company.
He finds Izzy in a shaded corner, but he's not alone. Edward is sitting on the ground in just his purple undershirt. Izzy is slumped against his shoulder, arms crossed and face slack. He's sleeping. Stede didn't even know the man was capable of being still, let alone sleeping.
Ed's eyes light up when Stede approaches, and it does something inside of his belly. He raises a finger to his lips. "Shhh… He hasn't slept properly in days. You need something?"
"Oh!" Stede sits closest to Ed. He does want to survive this encounter, and Izzy often looks like he's ready to stab him. "I was just going to ask Izzy about what it's like being a pirate, considering his upbringing." He whispers. The children had been sound sleepers as babies, but Mary insisted on silence. If he could keep from waking babies, he could do this too.
"If you want to get your head chopped off, mate." Ed smiles just barely as he rests his head against the wall. "It's like pulling teeth with him. Still takes me ages."
Stede decides to try again later.
He's noted that Izzy doesn't take breakfast with the crew. (He really doesn't do much with the crew.) He's also witnessed Izzy eating orange wedges without chewing them. Ed laughs and tells him that Izzy hates oranges but won't admit it.
The plan is simple. He excuses himself from breakfast with Ed and fills a bowl with "those little red fuckers," as Ed had so eloquently described the strawberries. Apparently, Izzy loves them, but they weren't exactly a staple on pirate ships.
He finds the man lounging on one of the tops with his feet dangling over the edge. Even as Stede clumsily climbs up and shakes the ropes and platform around him, Izzy’s plate and tea are perfectly balanced on his legs. He looks less than amused. "You'll get your fucking heels caught. Maybe you'll hang yourself on the way down."
Stede feels a chill run down his spine. He would like to put the memory of that incident behind him. "Just a little help?"
Izzy rolls his eyes. He takes Stede's journal and the covered dish. "Hurry the fuck up. What are you even doing up here? Shouldn't you be bonding with your crew or whatever the fuck it is you lot do instead of working?"
"I have brought an offering in exchange for a conversation." He chirps. Izzy clearly isn't impressed. He hands both items back with a bit of a sneer.
"I don't want shit from you, and I don't want a fucking conversation."
Ah yes. Edward had warned him about this. Unfortunately, Izzy does not take kindly to, well, kindness.
"Edward said you like strawberries." He opens the dish to reveal the fruit. Izzy's face actually softens for a brief moment. Stede can just barely hear him mumble, "He actually remembered..."
Stede takes it as a win. He doesn't sit too close if Izzy decides to give him a push. He doesn't crack his journal open yet. This will require some proper verbal maneuvering. "Yes, well... Edward speaks of you very often." He hasn't been pushed off the ledge yet, so he continues. "And told me you come from landed gentry?"
Izzy side eyes him. Whatever pleasure the strawberries were bringing him is completely gone. "Aye. Let that be known, and I will stab you in your fucking eye."
Stede lets out a nervous laugh without meaning to. He doesn't really fear Izzy under normal circumstances. However, he's never had a civil conversation with the man without Ed very close by and certainly never this high up.
"Of course! We all have our... secrets. Yes. We all have our secrets." He choked. "Alright, well, I want to ask you a few things. Your perspective must be totally different than the average pirate."
Izzy drops a strawberry hull and looks amused when it lands on Black Pete's head. "I have no reason to share anything with you, Bonnet. Fuck off."
"I have more strawberries." Stede offers after a moment. "You're free to use my library as well."
Ed told him that Izzy often kept a few books when they raided ships. They would go straight overboard once he was done with them for whatever reason.
"Without you fucking bothering me?"
"That can certainly be arranged."
Izzy doesn't respond. He throws another strawberry hull. Perhaps this is another good sign.
Stede cracks open his journal and takes out the quill and ink he'd very carefully stored in one of his pockets. "It will be just a few questions for my purposes only." Izzy throws another hull.
Stede learns that Izzy's full name is Israel Basilica Hands. He's a god-fearing man and had once considered becoming a priest. He was the only legitimate child running around his father's plantation. His brown-skinned siblings weren't allowed in the house.
"And what made you turn to piracy?"
Izzy tosses the final strawberry hull. This time Karl swoops into the air and catches it. "I will kill you if you repeat this." He holds the bowl out and flings it just right. The wind catches it, and it splashes into the water.
Stede scrunches his nose. That had been part of a lovely set... "Of course. As I said, this is just for my research."
"Pa caught me in the stable with a pirate." Izzy stares down at the deck. Ed is on deck watching the water. "He threatened an arranged marriage. I left that night and never looked back."
"So you left for love?"
He's never seen Izzy smile. It's as simple as his eyes softening and the corners of his mouth just barely twitching up. "Something like that."
There's a long beat of silence between them.
"Is your ring... from that time?"
Stede had read that pirates often kept jewelry as currency. Even Ed wore rings and necklaces like the rest of the crew. However, Izzy only sports a single gold ring above the knot of his tie. It was fascinating.
"Suppose it is. Fuck off now. I'm sick of your voice."
Ed wears a ring on every finger, with his favorite being a stone set with a fine gemstone. He lets Stede inspect them one by one, his expression amused. He pauses to look at one of the rings more closely. It's a simple gold band with a simple, dark stone. He's seen its match.
"An old flame." Ed supplies before Stede can ask.
Izzy loses the duel on a technicality of sorts. He's red in the face and ruffled. Then, for a split second, Stede can see that it's more than Izzy's foil that has broken.
Despite the pain of being run through, Stede can still hear them. So he risks turning his head, he can see them.
"It was over years ago, Izzy. You know that."
"If it fucking was, then you never fucking told me."
It's tears washing the gunpowder from Izzy's cheeks. His head is tipped down, his body is shaking, and Stede knows he should look away. Ed uses his thumb to brush away the tears. He tips Izzy's head up and leans in… Stede looks away. He hears a slap, the sound softened by leather gloves and a soft beard.
"Don't fucking touch me, Edward."
The next time he sees Izzy Hands is aboard the English ship. His eyes never leave Edward's form. He still wears the ring. An old flame.
Stede pities him.