Work Text:
Eat Israel. Eat it.
Take what Blackbeard gives you. You have to accept everything from him, good, and especially bad things. You are made for this purpose, you know, right ? You're a follower, you're the second in command... You don't want to be a captain, you hate the idea of being a captain, because you know that you'd be terrible at it. You are a follower, you're a weak that need to be under someone else control. You seak for power in others, you seak for greatness, for genius and creativity. Everything that you're not. Everything that Blackbeard is. He's the most beautiful man you ever saw, you knew from the beginning that he was gonna do such incredible things, that he was gonna be a legend. You don't want a legend for yourself... Who would care about Israel Hands, the former sailor and Jew immigrant ? You don't care about it, yourself. Ed, he's interesting. Ed deserves to have a name, to be scared by the Sea. Ed deserves to have someone like you, to help him build his legend, his life..
Ed hates you. Remember ? He despises Blackbeard, and so he despises you, the creator. You don't care to be loved by him, right ? You just want to be near to him, near to the sun. Love is a weakness anyway, love has always been your weakness, Israel.. this is why you need to chew harder, and to swallow that toe, that gift from your Captain. This is the price to have Blackbeard back, being hated by him. Being punished by him. Eating your own body for him.
It's not the first time you're physically hurt by or for him : your body is full of scars to prove it, and the bruise on your neck testify about the most recent incident. It's not the first time Ed hurts you mentally either. He always did, without even noticing it. He never treated you the way you shamefully hoped. You are weak, Israel, Blackbeard will never want to be close a weak one. Only Ed does, because he's also weak. And you hate Ed. You hate the fact that your strong Blackbeard could also be a weak man. You hide from this reality, persuading you that Bonnet is the one that made him this way, when, deep down, you know it's not true. You've seen weakness in him for so many years, you saved him from it, from his dark thoughts, multiple times. So many times that it made you forget your own dark thoughts.
You are weak Israel, you're a weak first mate, working under a weak Captain. And both of you pretend to be strong for each other. You know it can't last.. not anymore, not after Ed tasted the beauty of weakness with his pansy boyfriend... You know Israel, that in the end, he will leave you, and you will be weak all alone.
Eat, come on, you can do it, eat well, and come find your boss, like he ordered you to do..
Eat Israel...
Good boy