Chapter Text
How did Izzy get himself into this mess? Maybe it had started with the book.
“What do you think of this one?” Lucius asked, looking over the array in front of them.
“It’s a book,” Izzy answered, dryly. He wanted to get back to the Revenge. After their first successful raid after Stede’s messy return and the return of the Co-Captainship, the crew of the Revenge was treating the opponent ship like a shopping trip instead of looting.
Izzy had told Edward/Blackbeard/Kraken/Captain/Whatever-he-was-going-by-now that they should leave once they had collected everything of value. The ship was not handling well after the raid, the lower decks starting to fill with water, and within a matter of hours it would sink. But Ed was in something that Lucius had called a ‘honeymoon phase’ and had relented to Stede wanting to go through the spice rack with Roach like they were on holiday.
Lucius, who wavered wildly between being one of the most practical and the most foolhardy of the group, had found the Captain’s Library on board, and asked Izzy to keep watch for Stede, saying something about a ‘surprise.’
“Haha, very funny yes, but what do you THINK of it?” He held up the cover for Izzy to read, some history of a noble and his writings about birds or something. Lucius had insisted Izzy stay because other than the Captains, he was the only other person who could read.
That didn’t mean Izzy HAD to read, though. “Still a book,” He said. He’d killed a man this morning, brought the fear of God into him. And now he was being asked for literary suggestions.
“You–whoa!” the ship keeled, and the very wobbly stool Lucius had found nearly sent him over before he re-adjusted, “You know I meant for Bonnet! I want to get him something nice for his return, you know?” He smiled, oddly fond. He and Edward were still on shaky ground, but the return of Stede meant Lucius no longer had to hide in the walls like a bilge rat. So he was grateful.
Izzy was…he would say, neutral, on the situation. Yes, maybe he’d been….PARTIALLY responsible for the fact Stede left, what with the whole English incident, and then maybe another bit responsible for Ed going off the deep end into a murder spree that even Izzy couldn’t control and ended up being worse off for most people. Stede’s return meant Blackbeard was back to some of his snivelling…but at least he had some humanity to him. So Izzy had stayed, even when he didn’t really like it.
And of course, he could show how he didn’t like it whenever possible. “Maybe you should think less about presents for Bonnet and more about your own fucking balance.” He could just walk away, he reminded himself. But Lucius would find some way to get himself killed while bookshopping.
He couldn’t quite find the reason for why that was a bad thing, but he stayed anyway.
The ship keeled again, a sign they should LEAVE, and sent Lucius wobbling, but he stayed upright. “I’ll have you know, my balance is perfectly fine. I blame this stool.”
“Oh yeah. Blame the stool.” It was a bad stool. But also, again, the ship was SINKING, so he still blamed Lucius.
“You know you don’t have to be a dick every day!” Lucius cried out the last word as the stool gave another sudden lurch, this one that Lucius couldn’t correct.
Izzy looked up just in time to see Lucius heading for the ground, his head sure to crack up on the wooden planks. Damnit, he hated being right!
He jumped forward, a lifetime of piracy allowing his body to move at lightning speed, grabbing hold of Lucius’ shoulders and waist to stop his fall.
The ship slowed, a moment of calm, where they just heard the wind and the waves outside the porthole.
Lucius opened his eyes, realization washing over him that he was not dead. His eyes instantly latched onto Izzy’s, and he looked…surprised wasn’t right. Awed. He looked awed. By Izzy Hands.
Izzy realized all too late that his body had in fact, betrayed him, because while he’d caught Lucius, the man was a bit taller than himself and the movement had put Lucius face way too close to his own.
“Hey,” Lucius said, softer than Izzy had ever heard him.
Izzy swallowed. “I tried to tell you,” he said, trying to look away, but there were not many good options.
“Yeah, but you caught me,” He said, as though he was just as surprised at the events as Izzy was. Which. He supposed made some sense.
Izzy tried to think of a defense for himself, but had none. “Yeah, and now I’m dropping you.”
He pulled his arms away quickly, Lucius falling safely to the wooden floor, but in his panic he miscalculated. In the dip, Lucius was actually acting as a counterweight for him. When it was suddenly gone, Izzy fell too.
His arms flew out to stop him, but it was too little too late. They ended up on either side of Lucius head, barring him in. If Izzy thought they were too close before it was nothing to now, where they were nearly nose to nose. Izzy could feel Lucius surprised breath on his face. He himself had stopped breathing.
“Uhh,” Izzy said smartly, trying to think of anything, any small ray of thought that was not the man in front of him, below him. Or rather, looking for any thought as to why he shouldn’t lower himself further, taking advantage of the opportunity that fate had given him and actually gone through with kissing him.
Lucius himself seemed equally at a loss for words, which Izzy hadn’t thought possible. He stared up at him, blinking. When he blinked, Izzy could see every eyelash on him, strangely dark and…almost inviting. Izzy could feel himself lowering, ever so slightly as Lucius tilted his face upwards.
“You guys, I found this fantastic–OH!”
They were both pulled violently out of the moment they were in as Stede entered the room. With the fall Izzy had failed in his lookout duties.
Lucius came back to himself first, “Oh my god, hi,” he twirled his little scarf, back to the flirtatious scamp the crew knew him as.
Izzy immediately remembered every reason that this was BAD and he SHOULDN’T and worst of all what others would THINK of him, “No, no, no, it’s not what you think!” he said, forgetting that saying that would immediately confirm to Stede that it WAS what he thought.
Stede gasped in delight like he’d seen a pair of puppies. “I’ve got to go tell Ed!” he said and ran off at surprising speed.
“NO! No, no, do NOT tell Ed, do NOT–” Izzy raced after Stede onto the deck, leaving Lucius and his strange little books behind.
Stede did tell Ed, and Ed was thoroughly delighted. “That’s great, mate!” Ed said, shaking Izzy’s shoulders, “See? Love can…it can open us up to wonderful new possibilities.”
Izzy could HEAR Stede smiling behind him. “Fuck off, Bonnet,” Izzy said.
“You sure?” Stede asked, though he wasn’t really asking Izzy.
Ed waved him off “Yeah, I got it, you go handle the crew for a bit.” Izzy didn’t look but he heard the doors to the Captain’s quarters close.
Izzy felt like a fish in the sights of a hawk with the way Edward was staring at him. He tried desperately to not look at him or give any signs of weakness, anything that might allow him to strike. He felt Edward beside him, breathing heavily, waiting him out.
Finally, he couldn’t help it, and his eyes slid over to him, trying to gauge his facial expression. “So you and Lucius, huh?”
“Fuck off,” Izzy said, more as a self defense than actually thinking it would work. Besides, now he was caught.
Ed giggled like a fucking teenage girl, “Come on, Izzy! This is great! He’s a good guy, he’ll be great for you.” Ed had kinda gone overboard in trying to make up to Lucius for…well, for throwing him overboard. Stede had told Izzy, as if he cared, that Ed saw that moment as a turning point for him and so making it up to Lucius was symbolic of trying to erase his old pain, or at least deal with it. Izzy had told Stede to leave him the fuck alone.
“He will not be, because there’s nothing fucking there,” Izzy said, and he felt like he was melting into Stede and Ed’s lounge cushions. He and Ed had slowly been replenishing the Captain’s quarters with things they had taken together from raiding other ships. It was painfully domestic.
“Izzy,” Ed said, “Open yourself up a little. Having feelings is not a bad thing.” Ed put a hand on Izzy’s shoulder. Izzy brushed it off like a bug.
“I have feelings,” he said, still brushing as Ed tried to push his hand on him, “Just not for fucking…” He had been about to say Lucius, but he realized that would have been weirder, “Spriggs.”
“Hmmm,” Ed hummed, staring at him. He had him and Izzy knew it but that didn’t mean he had to acknowledge it.
“Besides,” Izzy said, trying to push past, “He already has Black Pete and half the ship under his damn thumb.”
He heard it, he heard it as soon as he said it, a weird pang of loneliness in his voice. He tried to ignore it, but he knew Ed saw right through him. “And what’s stopping you from being one of those under his thumb?”
Izzy snarled, hating that he didn’t hate the thought. “Dignity?”
Ed hit him like they were children play-fighting. “You should go for it, man. Live a little. Don’t know how long we’ve got, might as well try and be happy.”
“I’m happy,” he grumped. Ed raised an eyebrow at him, “And I’m going to go be happy somewhere else.”
“Give love a chance, mate!” Ed called after him as Izzy stormed away.
The whole CREW it seemed had been told of what Stede had found on the raid, or so Izzy could assume from the looks he got on deck. He used to inspire fear. Now he inspired giggles.
On the far end of the deck he saw Lucius. Lucius who was talking in low voices to Black Pete and Frenchie. They seemed to want something from him, and he was smiling, pushing them away.
He stared just a moment too long. Lucius caught his eye, and it was like he was back on the raid again, trapped in a weird moment of longing.
Lucius was the first to look away, mercifully releasing him. There was a snort. Izzy glared over to the side, to see Fang, Ivan, and Wee John quickly looking away from him. “Back to work, the lot o’ ya!” He shouted and marched below decks to hide–no, no, to stay and work in his room.
He knew he’d been attracted to Lucius. For some time now. Attraction he could handle, he’d been at sea for long enough that he’d forgotten the exact years now, and he could temper himself.
But the way Lucius acted around him these days, with a strange sense of…of FONDness. This was new. This he didn’t know how to deal with.
He thought back to only a month (or so, he hadn’t counted) ago. Back when Blackbeard was taking the word ‘overkill’ extremely literally. Back when Izzy thought he’d been given everything he wanted, only to find it was so much worse than what he had before. Blackbeard had been so upset and angry and took it out on everything and everyone and Izzy…Izzy couldn’t deal with it. He thought being vicious again would make Blackbeard happy. It had only made him more miserable.
After a day of being harangued by Blackbeard, shouted at and threatened, he went to the kitchens late in the evening to get a drink. Only to come face to face with Lucius, who he’d been told was dead for several weeks now.
Lucius had stared at him, blankly, as if he could stay still enough, Izzy would forget he was there.
Izzy knew what he should do. What a good first mate for Blackbeard would do. He could sound the alarm, yell and tell Blackbeard about the stowaway who had been stealing from their stores. Blackbeard would no doubt handle the problem thoroughly, maybe take out some of his anger at the helpless scribe instead of Izzy.
Izzy was too tired for this shit. He went to the cupboard, grabbed his port, and turned on his heel. By the time he was out the door, he caught a glimpse of Lucius sneaking back into a hidden panel that Izzy hadn’t known was there, and disappear.
He didn’t go far. In fact, he sat out in the mess. If Blackbeard ever did what he had just done, he would be angry. Izzy didn’t know if he could handle any more of Blackbeard’s anger. So he laid out on the table and slept there.
He did that for 3 nights, and his back gave him no thanks at all. He was not a young man anymore, and he didn’t care what anyone said, sleeping on planks was not good for you.
He muttered to himself about it, when a voice sounded. “So why don’t you sleep in your own bed?”
“Jesus Christ, you fucking…” he trailed off, sitting up. He saw Lucius, leaning on the doorway to the kitchen. Like he was waiting for him.
Lucius smirked, waving him away, “Sorry, sorry. Just curious, you know?”
Izzy tried to cover his face, like he was sleeping. But he just didn’t want to see Lucius there. “Curious about what?”
He heard a bit of a shuffle, like Lucius was coming closer. He tensed up, but didn’t move. “You haven’t slept in your bed since you found out I was living in here,” Lucius said, a tease in his voice paired with honest curiosity.
Izzy snarled, on the defense as always. “Maybe I’m scared you’ll come in there and murder me.” A ridiculous situation. He was pretty sure he hadn’t seen Lucius lift as much as a pen knife. And ridiculous as it was, Lucius chuckled. Izzy flinched, hating the sound. Or hating how he liked the sound. He wasn’t sure. “What are you laughing at?” he demanded.
Lucius muffled his laughter best he could. “There’s no way you are scared of little old me coming in to kill you.”
Izzy knew he was right, but he was feeling contrary, especially because of the awful sleep he’d been getting. “You don’t know what I’m afraid of,” he said, “I could be afraid of…clowns.” Clowns? He yelled at his brain. What the hell are you saying? He had know idea, it was like his mouth had developed a brain of his own.
Lucius was right beside him now. “You know what I think?” he said, kneeling beside the table, and Izzy felt way too warm.
“What?” He said, not capable of anymore witty banter.
“I think you sleep near the kitchen for little old me.” Lucius said, smiling in that stupid toothy smile like he was going to eat Izzy whole.
“Hmm?” Izzy swallowed. He was too close.
“Because if Edward were to find out I was on the ship again,” Lucius continued, “he would just throw me overboard.” He would do well worse than that, and they both knew it. “It’s almost as if you want to protect…me.”
“Fucking ridiculous,” Izzy said on instinct, not daring to look away, but also not able to stand looking at him.
“Then go sleep in your bed,” Lucius challenged him.
Izzy swallowed, “No.
Lucius’ smile widened, and he felt like he’d lost rather than won, but it was hard to tell when he didn’t even know the rules. “Thank you,” Lucius said, so genuine it broke through his outer defenses and swirled warm around a heart Izzy had forgotten he had.
Izzy was the one staring at him blankly now, unable to move. Lucius took mercy on him, which was worse than any attack. “Alright, I’ll get my food and leave you alone.”
Izzy turned away from him, like he was already asleep. Lucius shuffled away, and he heard the whine of the secret panel slip open. “Sleep well,” Lucius said, “Dizzy Izzy.”
The words haunted him the rest of that night.
The words haunted him a month later as he recovered from dealing with Lucius, Stede, Ed, and everyone else in the world.
He’d had the chance to leave, when Stede came back and there was all that heartfelt emotions and duels and blood and crying. As Stede broke the Kraken down piece by piece, leaving a scared little man behind. And instead of crushing him, like any sane pirate would do to a man trying to kill you, Stede had encapsulated him in his arms and given him love and helped to build him back up stronger.
This new ship, this new life they were building together, had no place for Blackbeards’ dog, the one he let loose to do his killing, the one who’d been loyal to him through everything. But Izzy stayed anyway. He could not put into words why, except that he was still loyal to Blackbeard, and didn’t…didn’t hate the way Stede and his crew did things anymore. Especially now that he’d seen up close how much worse the opposite had been.
And Lucius…Lucius went back into the open. He went back to his friends. They didn’t talk secretly and quietly in the kitchen anymore. There was no need. He didn’t need Izzy’s protection. Except from wobbly stools and tall bookcases.
He kept to himself the way he normally did. He stood at the bow, searching the horizon for bad weather, for ships to avoid or conquer, for…well, for anything to get his mind off annoying Captains and clumsy scribes.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when a pair of people came and sat beside him. Honestly if he had an hour to guess who would dare come interrupt him, he might not have guessed the united forces of Black Pete and Jim. “Look at us,” Black Pete said leaning on the rail, “Blackbeard’s badasses right here. The real fighters of this crew.”
Izzy felt a weird sense of kinship with Jim as they looked at Black Pete in confusion and a little disgust. “And it seems,” Black Pete continued, either ignoring or not noticing the looks, “That you and I have something more in common now, huh?” he elbowed Izzy laughing. Jim swore under their breath in Spanish, looking away.
Izzy snarled, and was satisfied that it at least got Black Pete to pull back a little. “I don’t know what Spriggs told you–”
“Lucius hasn’t said anything,” Jim said, pulling themself up to sit on the edge of the hull, holding a rope for balance. They stared daggers into Izzy’s soul. “Which is why we came to you. What exactly are your intentions with him?”
“I don’t fucking have any fucking intentions,” Izzy said, trying to put his focus back on the telescope, “He’s part of the crew, and he does fucking little to contribute in anyway on my end of things, so my intention is not to have any fucking thing to do with him.”
Jim and Black Pete hummed in harmony, suspicious. “You’re saying ‘fucking’ a lot,” Black Pete said, “Maybe he too much doeth protesteth?” he said leaning in. Izzy gave him a look again. “What? I know Shakespeare. Captain read some to us, it’s great, full of blood and stuff!”
“Look, we can all see the way you look at him,” Jim said, still glaring him down. Izzy went cold. How was he looking at Lucius? He didn’t even know, which means either Jim was lying, which seemed weird for them to do, or Izzy wasn’t in control of himself like he thought, which was too terrifying to think of. “He’s my friend,” Jim said, “He’s the first friend I had after Olu. And I worked DAMN hard to keep him alive on a ship with fucking Blackbeard trying to kill him. So I don’t want you doing ANYTHING that is going to hurt a single finger he has left, comprende?”
Izzy was smart enough to admit, he was a little intimidated by Jim. Could he fight them and live? Probably. But would he win? He didn’t want to take that bet. “I don’t have anything to do with him,” he lied, “So I’m not going to hurt him.”
“You could have something to do with him though,” Black Pete said, giving him an annoying elbow nudge again, “Look, I know Lucius can be kinda intimidating ‘cause of his sharp words and all that, but he’s actually a sweetheart. He LOVES to be romanced. Sweet words, gifts, all that fairytale stuff. Total sucker for it.”
Izzy frowned at him. “Are you…trying to set me up with your boyfriend?”
“I don’t own him,” Black Pete said, “And he isn’t sharing all the gossipy details, which means he’s getting a little embarrassed himself. Which means he LIKES you-likes you, not just wants to fuck you.”
The words rang around in his skull a couple of times. He stared at Black Pete for a long moment, as Pete nodded, giving him weird eyebrow gestures.
Izzy swallowed going back to his telescope, “Get back to fucking work or I’m cutting both your rations.”
He heard Black Pete leave, but Jim lingered a moment. He felt something in his side which felt oddly like a dagger. “Not. A fucking. Finger,” Jim said, and then followed.
Izzy stayed at the bow for the rest of the evening, but honestly he didn’t see a fucking thing.
Back in his berth he was writing up accounts by candlelight, going over the records of what was in the stores, and what they would need. Some things you couldn’t necessarily plunder from other ships, so they’d need to make port and buy things with their stolen money, or trade with the goods they collected that weren’t of any practical use.
With each word he wrote, he flashed to Lucius, scribbling continuously in his stupid little notebook. He was always writing, recording of the goings on of the ship. He’d even recorded what he’d seen behind the walls when he was in hiding.
He liked Izzy. Or so Black Pete said. Why would Black Pete tell him that? Maybe to make a fool of him. Maybe Lucius had put him up to it. Maybe it was some plan of theirs.
But Jim wasn’t much one for teasing or pranks. Jim spoke the same language as Izzy, threats and knives. Jim wouldn’t take part in it, he thought. Maybe. Maybe he was just…hoping.
He shook his head, trying to focus on the numbers. Even if it was true, there was no point in thinking on it. Izzy wasn’t going to do anything about it. He wasn’t Ed, he didn’t need some soft little ponce to curl up with in weird domesticity. He was happy alone, he needed his space.
But Lucius had others, when Izzy would need space, he thought to himself. He wouldn’t cling to him the way Ed and Stede clung to each other, stifling him. Maybe he could just be there…sometimes…
He took a breath, his mind carrying him away like the tide, thinking of what might have been if Stede hadn’t come in. If he’d been allowed to taste those lips, if he’d…indulged. Just a little. Not a lot. Just enough to know what it was like.
He flipped the page, thoughts coming to him, crashing against his skull that he desperately needed out of his mind, but didn’t dare speak them.
So-so.
Who gave you that impression? What comparison made you think so?
Among all men you are a prince. Alone on the sea you are Apollo.
A face like the sun and smile like a song and words sharp as an arrow.
I am pierced with a look, never before been made low.
Why do you affect me? A mystery I may never know.
He took a deep breath, the words released from him finally. It was late in the evening, he flipped back to the page with their supply needs, pushed it back on the desk, and blew out the candle, tossing and turning the rest of the night with thoughts he would never claim.
He woke to seagulls. There was always Olivia, Button’s new bird. But this was more than just the one gull, this was a port full. Which meant they were near land.
He shot out of bed. They weren’t supposed to arrive in port until midday. He looked to his desk. The book was gone.
He barely paused to get dressed in his traditional garb before running up to the deck, finding it mostly empty except for Ed and Stede, standing to the side and looking out into the ocean, laughing about something quiet and secret. As he feared, they had made it to port.
“Where the fuck’s my records?” Izzy shouted out, breaking up the Captain’s lovefest.
Ed didn’t look too put out, glancing up. “Ah, Izzy! Glad to see you’ve finally re-joined the world. You were out like a light, must have had some trouble sleeping, hmm?” He grinned, his eyebrow going up.
Izzy glared at him. “You took my records?”
Ed shrugged. “Thought you needed rest, so i gave the instructions to the crew to get the supplies,” he pulled out the book and tossed it back to Izzy, the page with the supplies torn out. The supplies…and the poem.
Izzy swallowed, knowing the answer but he had to ask, “who has the list?”
“Well, Lucius of course,” Stede said, “He’s the only one of them who can read.”
Izzy barely heard the end of the sentence before running to the edge of the ship and practically jumping down the ladder to hit the docks.
He was relatively fit, but he ran out of breath running around the town, trying to find the crew. He knew it was going to be too late, if Lucius had seen it, his entire reputation was done for, he may as well put on Stede’s robe and start singing strange songs.
It took way too long for the panic to subside enough for him to use logic, heading for the shops where the crew would most likely visit for their errands.
Which is how he found Lucius, staring at him across from the marketplace.
He was alone, none of the other crew around him, just standing there…with the damn piece of paper in his hand. Izzy gulped, staring back, unable to move if he tried.
Mercy or curse, Lucius broke the moment, running forward and folding the paper up. “Izzy, Izzy come here, I need your help,” he said.
“Spriggs,” Izzy said coolly, then processed what he said, “What’s wrong?”
Lucius stopped in front of him, looking a little panicked. “Ok, so here’s what I need you to do,” he said, “Start gesturing really angrily, maybe look like you’re yelling at me a bit.”
Izzy crossed his arm, “What the fuck are you on about, Spriggs?”
“Good, real good,” Lucius said, looking over his shoulder, “Now, I’m going to bring you over, and you can do the angry glare thing at this dingbat, ok? This is important: Don’t say a word! Don’t react to what I say, either, just keep glaring–yes, just like that. When I say the word ‘frijoles’ I want you to stab the booth with your knife and turn the intensity up to 100. Got it?”
“I’m not in the mood for your games,” Izzy said, but Lucius was really in his space, and his hand had ended up casually on Izzy’s chest. People had lost hands doing things like that. Izzy couldn’t focus.
Lucius grabbed Izzy’s hand, and pulled him to one of the booths. He quickly let go, and Izzy did his best to look threatening. It wasn’t usually hard, he did it without thinking, but he was a bit distracted at the moment. “Gents, this is my Captain, Raphael de Michaelangelo. I’ve told him your arguments, but I’m afraid he’s fairly insistent.”
Ah. A con. Ok, it wasn’t really Izzy’s forte, but he’d been the one to help Blackbeard with his fuckeries more than once. He could keep up a good glare.
The men in the booth cleared their throats, trying desperately to keep eye contact with him. “Captain Michaelangelo,” the one in front said, “We appreciate you thinking of us, to fence your…lovely goods,” Lucius said something to him in rapid Spanish that Izzy was fairly certain was not a translation, “But the market value of this silk is only 1 dubloon a piece. We can go as high as 3, but–”
Lucius slipped in the word ‘frijoles’ to his fake translation, and Izzy drew his dagger, stabbing it halfway into the booth. Even Lucius seemed genuinely taken aback by the force. Maybe he overdid it.
Lucius awkwardly swallowed and said, “I’m sorry, gentlemen. I suppose we shall take our goods elsewhere–”
“Wait, wait!” the man said, panicking, “5 dubloons. That's all I can do!”
Lucius and Izzy walked away with a hefty bag of gold, finally having unloaded Stede’s old silks he didn’t use anymore. “What was it you were saying?” Izzy asked, trying to delay asking the question that was burning in his brain: had Lucius read the paper?
Lucius smirked, “Jim’s Nan’s empanada recipe. Frenchie and them pulled a similar con once. Saw you and thought I’d try it out.” Lucius stretched his arms. He pulled a couple coins out of the bag and put it in his pocket, “For my salary,” he said, smiling at Izzy, “We finished up with the rest of the shopping, Wee John and Roach were loading it back on the ship. Rest of the crew’s at the pub, if you want to join.”
Izzy felt himself swallowing again. Fuck he could use a drink. But he said, “Watching a group of imbeciles get drunk is not my idea of fun.”
Lucius shrugged, “Your loss,” He patted Izzy’s chest again, “See you later, Dizzy Izzy.”
Fuck he hated that nickname. He hated the way Lucius said it. He hated the way Lucius swung his hips with a bounce in his step as he walked away. He hated the way he felt a small weight on his chest where Lucius had touched him.
Wait, there WAS something where Lucius had touched him. Putting his hand there, he found a folded up piece of paper…THE folded up piece of paper.
Below his poem he hadn’t meant to write was writing in a different hand.
Your words are sharp yourself, sweet hero. I didn’t know you knew the Classics.
I long to read more of them, and maybe even hear them one day, when you’re ready to speak.
Also: They were out of eggs.
Izzy’s mouth quirked. He quickly remembered where he was, swallowing down the emotion in front of the marketplace. He marched back to the ship, ignoring Roach and Wee John, ignoring the Captains who called after him confused, and went to his berth to read it again.