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Blackbeard was never one to care about his looks too much. Why would he? He never had a reason to. No one he wanted to impress or look nice for but with Stede it was a change he seemed to care a bit more.
He made sure his hair looked nice and his clothes were nice because Stede was a good looking man who dressed well and He was sure that Stede also cared that his Co-Captain also looked nice. At least that’s what Edward told himself. Deep down he knew he wanted Stede to think of him and how he looked. Oh how he wanted Stede to think about him.
They were going to some fancy party with a bunch of rich people, Stede’s people. Sure he left to be a pirate but he knew that he was a rich boy who would never fully want to be in Edward’s world no matter how much Edward wanted him to always be in his world.
“You like the colour purple, correct?” Stede called from the secret closet as Edward sat on the chaise lounge just outside of said closet.
“I do, how did you know that?” Edward asked. Stede and he had never discussed their favourite colours, Edward thought it would be a dumb conversation to have even though he wished he knew for certain which colour was Stede’s favourite. He wanted to know all of Stede’s favourite things, food, colour, story, person.
“I assumed since it’s the only actual colour you wear” Stede said the smile on his face could be heard from where Edward was. He stood up to finally see what Stede was doing and watched him go through the clothes in his closet grabbing a fancy looking purple garment then looking at Edward.
“This would look nice on you. Purple is a very nice colour. You wear it nicely, sure to impress people at the party for sure” Stede said and handed the garment to Edward before looking for more things in the closet, handing the clothing to Edward as he did.
“Here I’ll leave you to change then we can do your hair next” Stede said and smiled at Edward and patted his arm before leaving the closet closing the door behind him. Edward stood there for a second, thinking about how Stede smiled at him, before dressing in the fancy clothing. He looked in the mirror at the outfit he knew Stede had an eye for fashion and this proved it. He truly liked the purple and gold accents. He was never a fan of frills but knowing how Stede chose it for him he decided to ignore his dislike for them.
He stepped out of the closet to see Stede eagerly watching for him. The eager expression turned to joy after seeing him or most likely the outfit he chose. Edward doubted that Stede would look that happy to see him just walk into a room.
“Perfect come here I’ll do your hair next” Stede said and patted the area of the seat next to him and Edward complied sitting on the area. Stede began by brushing through his mildly knotted hair. Edward never really spent more than ten seconds on brushing his hair so it definitely needed a brush.
Stede made sure to be careful while he detangled the long hair. He then began playing around with different hairstyles.
“Have you done hair before?” Edward asked as he felt relaxed by the hands in his hair.
“Yeah there were times where I’d do Alma, my daughter's hair before school or for an event.” Stede spoke there was a hint of fondness in his tone but also some guilt Edward could sense. Maybe he should not have asked.
Edward sat quietly as Stede finished with his hair. He wasn’t sure what he had done to his hair but he knew something was put in it.
“Turn around for me would ya?” Stede requested and Edward obliged, turning to face Stede. He went to touch Edwards' beard.
“May I?” Stede asked and received a nod and Stede began placing purple ribbons in the beard with a faint grin. “Perfect” he said and brought a hand mirror to Edward showing him what he had just done.
Edward felt ridiculous. Blackbeard would never wear little ribbons in his beard or flowers in his hair for a bun but the look on Stede’s face made him smile.
“Looks great Stede.” He said and smiled at his Co-Captain. The smile quickly returned.
“I better go get myself ready. We don't have much time. Could you go check on Frenchie and Oluwande for me to see how they are getting on?” Stede asked before getting up and leaving into the closet. Edward sat for a second thinking about how nice it felt for Stede’s hands to be in his hair. He soon sighed and left the room to go do as Stede asked of him.