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There are stories, and it’s not Lucius’ fault that he pulled a horror novel before anyone could notice otherwise, but it’s a far cry from the wooden boy, Stede began to think, worriedly, as this man Jonathan kept pressing on into the woods despite all the people saying he shouldn’t.
It was one of those story time nights where everyone piled up in blankets like kids, and Lucius got to the part of the story where it was real clear the good old chap was a vampire, and people started having questions —
“He must have known, now. This Jonathan fellow is even less observant than our good captain is, no offense — “ Said one.
“I’d think vampires would have some long-distance way of getting the blood, you know, some sort of suction cannon, or — “ Said another.
“You can’t just say suction cannon in polite company — ”
“Well we’re not polite, are we?”
“We’re trying!”
“Well, it’s not practical, they have to get so close,” someone else chimed in, and Stede’s cheeks started to heat up. This whole crowd of people he trusted (well, mostly), and he could only think of the rumors about how some of Blackbeard’s victims get bundled away to where the rest of the crew didn’t see, how closed-lipped some of the chattiest pirates were, and — ”
“Jonathan has to want him to bite him, at this point,” somebody said, and they were so sincere about it, all of a sudden.
Because it’s all subtle, tasteful, even. Like those other hints. Now, Stede wouldn’t wear Blackbeard’s accouterments to any high-class ball, but still, he had taste. Knew what worked for him and his environment. That ring Blackbeard had looked like a sapphire if you didn’t look too close and see the red-black of blood held forever on the edge of not quite congealing. People called Blackbeard a monster. Ed thought he himself was a monster sometimes, reveled in it or hated it in turn, but Stede couldn’t really not have noticed if …?
There was the whole trouble about the kraken, about how people swore they saw a monster alongside when Blackbeard boarded a ship, and couldn’t kraken arms high in the sky look a little like thin wings flapping?
No, of course not.
Lucius kept reading.
Stede asked Ed about it, later, after they’d grown closer. After he was comfortable enough to joke about it a little bit in private. So they joked about it, and (Jonathan has to want him to bite him, at this point) and going on like this Stede finally said, between kisses, “But vampires have to be invited, eh? They can’t just walk on anywhere and go in. Not a ship or a house or … is a ship a house?”
Ed considers this with a serious expression. “Or maybe the whole ocean is past the vampire’s threshold, and you’ve all come into my realm without even knowing it.”
And that, as much as anything else, seems … well, not reasonable. Not exactly. Very little here has been reasonable. But it isn’t going to stop Stede, no. He’s pretty sure there’s a happy ending to the story somewhere, blood-sucking fangs or not. Lucius just hadn’t gotten to it yet.