Work Text:
The day was balmy, the sea was still, and the deck was blessedly quiet for late afternoon. Ed looked over at Stede, seated next to him on the sun-warmed wooden planks, legs dangling out over the sea from between the posts of the railing, and nudged him with his shoulder.
“Tell me something about yourself, Stede.”
Stede smiled and sipped his brandy, the crystal facets of the glass refracting little rainbows across his face. “What do you want to know?”
“Anything. Maybe a secret?”
“Oh, I’m not sure I have any of those.”
Ed placed a hand to the deck behind Stede’s back as support as he leaned in close, stopping inches from Stede’s face, commanding eye contact. He relished the little thrill that ran through him as he watched Stede’s breath hitch, watched his eyes dart briefly down to his lips and back again.
“That is exactly what someone with secrets would say,” said Ed with a conspiratorial wink that brought a pretty flush to Stede’s cheeks.
“Or someone very boring,” Stede countered.
“Well, I know you’re not that,” Ed said, savoring the pleased little smile his words brought to Stede’s face. “So…?”
Stede gazed upwards, clearly giving the matter some thought.
“I used to sneak out of the dormitories at night to borrow library books without telling anyone,” said Stede at last. “Is that anything?”
“It’s a start,” said Ed. “Not very juicy though, you fuckin’ nerd.”
“No, I suppose it isn’t,” Stede laughed. “What about you, Ed? Do you have any secrets?”
“Of course I have secrets,” Ed said, puffing up his chest. “I’m very mysterious, you know.”
“I do know,” said Stede with a sage little nod. “Tell me one of yours, then. Maybe that’ll help jog my memory.”
“Yeah, alright,” said Ed. “Robbed a priest once, when I was a kid.”
“Oh?”
“Yup. Cutpursed him. Didn’t know he was a priest when I did it, I was halfway around the corner before I looked back and saw him from the front,” Ed shrugged. “Oops.”
Stede gave a half-hearted little huff of laughter and scrunched his nose, unimpressed.
“Seriously? Nothing? I robbed a holy man, Stede.”
“Yeah, but it’s not exactly a surprising secret, though, is it?” Stede mused. “Stealing from a man of the cloth seems pretty on brand for you, actually.”
“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” Ed grinned. “You want surprises, do you, you book-stealing maniac?”
“I do like surprises. And books.”
Ed clucked his tongue and thought for a moment. “Okay, I’ve got a better one. One time, years ago, back when I was still on Hornigold’s ship? I managed to convince most of the crew that the galley was haunted.”
Stede’s eyes grew wide with interest. “Go on.”
“I set up some little booby traps at night to make weird noises, moved stuff around when no one was looking, that sort of thing. Then I started dropping some hints with the more superstitious types in the crew. That was all it took. They held a seance and everything!” Ed laughed. “No one ever found out it was me, I don’t think.”
“You did all that?” Stede asked, utterly delighted. “Why?”
“Because I was bored as shit and it seemed like it’d be funny,” said Ed. “And it was. Still is. You know, every so often, I still run into someone who asks me if the galley was really haunted?”
“And what do you tell them?” asked Stede breathlessly, his brandy sitting forgotten off to his side.
“I tell them yes, of course,” said Ed, basking in the glow of Stede’s attention. “Gotta keep the legend alive somehow.”
Stede laughed then, a melodic tinkling sound that filled the space around them, and Ed could not help but be moved to join him, adding his baritone chuckling to the music of their shared joy. Stede placed an affectionate hand on the top of Ed’s leg for support as he giggled, and Ed immediately covered his hand with his own, abuzz with the unexpected contact.
“Okay, that’s a great secret, Ed,” said Stede, wiping his eye.
“Mm-hmm, sure is,” Ed agreed. “Now you.”
Stede’s smile faded into something almost melancholy and he looked away for a moment, worrying his lip as if debating something. He glanced back at Ed, brow furrowed with uncertainty.
“I pulled a knife on my ex-wife’s boyfriend once,” said Stede quietly. “Did I ever tell you that?”
“No,” said Ed, sitting upright and squeezing Stede’s hand as he leaned in closer. “When was this?”
“After I left,” said Stede, not meeting Ed’s eye. “Before I came back.”
Ed felt a cold little knot tie itself in his stomach. They didn’t really talk much about that time now that it was behind them, a turbulent blip in their collective timeline that had long since righted itself and reoriented towards bliss once more.
Ed looked over at Stede, momentarily lost for words, and watched as regret and sorrow flickered across his features. He stroked Stede’s hand with the back of his thumb, as much for Stede’s comfort as for his own.
“What did he do to make you pull a knife on him?” Ed murmured. Stede finally met his eye, the clouds already beginning to clear as he gave Ed’s leg a grateful little squeeze.
“Besides sleep with my wife?” Stede asked with a wry grin. “He…well, he startled me.”
“What a monster.”
“...I might have been in the process of causing a scene at Mary’s art show at the time?”
Ed leaned back, eyes wide with shock. “You caused a scene? ”
“I did,” said Stede, grimacing. “In my very limited defense, I was drunk at the time.”
“You caused a drunken scene?” asked Ed, astonished. “Who are you?”
Stede laughed, and not for the first time, Ed wished that he could bottle it somehow, the silvery tinkling of his laughter, and save it for a rainy day.
“I surprised myself, if I’m honest,” Stede said with a sunny grin. “He came up behind me and grabbed my arm—not hard or anything, he was just trying to steer me out of there—and I’m afraid I just…reacted. Grabbed the knife from the cheese board and tackled him to the table with it.”
The mental image of Stede—his sunny, bitchy, perfect Stede—causing a belligerent scene in a room full of high society types before drunkenly pulling a cheese knife on some hapless chap just trying to diffuse the situation was enough to send him into hysterics.
Ed erupted with laughter, booming chuckles that echoed out over the still water and startled several sea birds into flight, kicking his feet with glee. From the corner of his eye, he could see Stede’s shoulders shaking as he tittered merrily alongside him.
“So, wait, Stede, wait wait wait,” Ed gasped, turning to look at him once more. “You pulled a knife on the guy just for being a good boyfriend and trying to haul your drunk arse out of there?”
Stede smirked at him. “Well, when you say it like that…”
A fresh wave of giggles washed over Ed once more and he clung to Stede’s hand for dear life, slapping his own leg with the other. Stede beamed at him as they both wheezed with laughter and Ed wished he could bottle that as well, the radiant warmth of his smile more satisfying than sunlight.
“He startled me, Ed!” Stede cried, winded from laughing. “What was I supposed to do? It was my finely-honed pirate-y instincts kicking in!”
Ed heaved out a breath, trying to regain himself, and shook his head fondly.
“I would pay real, actual money to have seen that,” he said, his laughter finally tapering off.
“I can’t lie, it was pretty cool of me,” said Stede. “Not the party crashing, I was very clearly in the wrong there, but the knife thing? Not bad.”
“Not bad at all,” Ed said with a friendly shoulder nudge. “Good secret, Stede. Thanks for sharing it with me.”
“You’re very welcome, Ed,” said Stede, and the softness in his voice was enough to unmake him, enough to compel him to release Stede’s hand at last, sliding it to his cheek to pull him in for a kiss as soft as Stede made him feel in that moment.
He wished he could bottle that too.