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“Stede?”
“Mm?”
“Are you listening?”
“Of course I am, Ed.”
“It’s just you seem pretty into that book, Stede.”
“Yes.”
“And less so into listening to me right now.”
“Quite right.”
Ed blinked, grinning with delight as his suspicions were confirmed.
Sometimes when Stede was reading, he would wind up in what seemed to Ed like a sort of fugue state—one lone corner of his brain had been deputized to stand vigil in reality, while the rest of his mind fully immersed itself within the world of the pages. The hilarious result of this was Stede being just mentally present enough to respond appropriately when spoken to—but not present enough to fully register what was being said.
Ed loved it when this happened.
He had made a game of it, in fact. He would say the most outlandish things he could come up with until he finally landed on something wild enough to snap Stede out of it. He knew he’d won (or possibly lost?) when Stede yanked off his reading glasses to stare at him, momentarily alarmed, before he realized what had happened and they both dissolved into laughter.
His record so far was seventeen. Perhaps today would be a new personal best.
Ed leaned against the unlit fireplace opposite the settee, rubbing his hands together with wicked glee as he began to speak.
“So, I’m thinking of packing it all in and starting a sheep and horse farm in Fiji.”
“That sounds nice, Ed.”
“I might change my name to Stevie McDanger while I’m at it. Seems like a cool name, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you know that lemons were invented by the ancient Greeks to clean their teeth?”
“No, I did not.”
“Oh, speaking of ancient Greeks, Izzy asked if he could borrow an outfit from you, says he’s having dinner with Poseidon on Tuesday.”
“Sure thing.”
“I’ve secretly been a creepy fish man this entire time, and frankly, I’m shocked you haven’t noticed.”
“That’s wild, Ed.”
That must be an incredible book, Ed thought, biting his lip to keep from laughing. What next, what next…
He felt his gaze begin to soften on Stede as the next thing he wanted to say coughed politely in the back of his mind, waiting patiently to be noticed—no firework of a thought, this, but a seed planted long ago, a tangle of limbs and shoots and fresh green buds starting, at last, to bloom.
Ed took a deep, steadying breath, steeling himself for the possibility of having to explain himself in a hurry if this was what snapped Stede out of it, and trained a nervous eye on Stede’s relaxed face.
“One day, I’m going to ask you to marry me,” Ed said in a hushed voice, “so you’d better say yes. Okay, Stede?”
He held his breath, his heartbeat thundering in his ears, waiting for Stede’s hand to fly to his face, for the spell to be broken—
“Okay, Ed.”
A barking sort of gasp escaped him then—half-incredulous laughter, half-sigh of relief—as Stede’s eyes remained trained on the book before him, serene and untroubled as ever. He shook his head fondly, his heartbeat slowing to normal, and pushed himself off the fireplace to amble over towards Stede.
Diverting as this had been—and always was—Ed was ready to collect Stede from his book world now. There would be other days for setting a new record; today, he simply missed him too much.
Ed reached down, smiling as he delicately pinched the corners of Stede’s reading glasses and carefully slid them off his ears, down his nose, and away from his face.
Stede blinked as if waking from a dream, smiling sunnily for a moment before his eyes widened, the realization settling in as he gazed up at Ed.
“Oh no,” Stede said, flushed with embarrassment. “I was doing it again, wasn’t I?”
“Little bit, yeah,” said Ed, amused.
“Did I miss anything important?” asked Stede.
Ed snorted. If you only knew, Stede.
“Nah,” he said. “I’ll tell you some other time.”