Work Text:
“Close your eyes.”
Such a simple command that required such an incredible amount of trust.
Deprive yourself of one of your senses for me. Make yourself vulnerable to whatever comes next.
Ed’s eyes fell shut in an instant.
“Now hold out your hands.”
Stede’s soft voice wavered with excitement and again, Ed complied, immediately and without question.
A soft, organic weight settled down on his hands, tubular and fluffy and strange, and the scent of fresh cut greenery and white flowers filled the air around him.
“Can I open my eyes now?” Ed asked, now powerfully curious.
“Yes, of course.”
In his hands was a crown of white flowers and ferns, woven together with a practiced flourish, perfectly sized for his head. It smelled utterly divine.
Ed looked up at Stede, who met his eye with a familiar look of nervous excitement, the one he wore when he wanted to surprise him but wasn’t certain how it would be received. One of these days, Ed hoped he could convince him that he didn’t need to be so nervous.
Not with him. Never with him.
“Well?” Stede asked, eyes wide. “Do you like it?”
“You made this?” Ed asked in a hushed voice. “For me?”
Stede nodded bashfully and Ed could not help but stare in adoration. If there was a day where Stede would fail to surprise him, it had not happened yet.
“I love it,” said Ed, smiling. “Put it on me?”
Ed watched Stede relax in real time, all smiles and sweet relief as he lifted the small garland out of his hands and moved in close to place it gently atop Ed’s head with the regal solemnity of a coronation.
He caught Stede’s hands in midair as they dropped away from his head and lifted them to his lips.
“How do I look?” Ed murmured against Stede’s knuckles before dropping a soft kiss on each hand. He caught Stede’s eye as he gave him another look Ed recognized—a look of such aching fondness that it never failed to rob him of the ability to speak.
“Like royalty,” Stede whispered, awestruck, and Ed felt his breath lock tight in his throat.
Ed pulled him close, the scent of lush greenery and the man he loved more than anything filling the air between them, and claimed his lips in a kiss that he hoped said everything he wanted to say.
Thank you.
I love you.
I trust you.
Always.
If the delirious little smile playing on his face as they parted was any indication, Stede had gotten the message.