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„Baba?“
„Yeah, Squirt?“
„What’re you doing?“
„I’m folding socks!“
Izzy scrunched up his face in distaste. „Boring.“
„You think it’s boring? I think it’s kinda calming, actually.“
Ed did think that folding socks was kind of calming. Though to be fair he wasn’t really folding the laundry because he thought the activity was immensly entertaining. He was doing so because his knee was absolutely killing him today, forcing him to stay in bed with his bad leg stretched out. So. He might as well do something useful and help with some chores before he went insane with boredom.
Izzy was sitting on the floor next to the unlit fireplace, playing with the straw dolls they had gotten for him a while ago. He’d started to feel small sometime after lunch and had been brought to their cabin by Stede soon afterwards, with the gentle reminder that Baba had a big ouchie on his leg and if he could be a good boy and play without making him stand up or sit on the ground with him?
„Baba, play with me.“
He had been very good about playing on his own for about 45 minutes, making his dollies have an imaginary sword fight but apparently his patience was running thin.
„Sure, mate. You have to come up on the bed with me though, I can’t sit all criss-cross on the floor with my stupid leg.“
Izzy stared at him and chewed on his bottom lip, then back at the dolls. „Can’t.“
„You can‘t? Why?“
„Cause Dada says bed is for night-night and naptime, not play.“
Ah. Stede was very adamant about the bed being for sleeping and other activities best not mentioned in front of this childlike Izzy only. Resting when sick was one of the few exceptions and Izzy usually liked to stick to the rules Stede made. Lest he face the (in his eyes unbearable) punishment that came when he broke them, the naughty corner.
„Aw, c’mon now,“ Ed said and patted the space next to him. „I’m sure Dada won’t mind, I won‘t snitch on you.“
Izzy still looked conflicted though and clamped down on his bottom lip harder. Ed wondered whether he should bother getting up and giving him his pacifier before he accidentally bit himself before Izzy said: „Draw.“
„You wanna draw? The paper and pencils are in the big drawer in the desk, bub.“
Izzy nodded and clumsily got up to toddle over to the desk. It was fucking fascinating sometimes, how his speech and motor skills decreased when he got small like this, barely resembling the skilled swordsman he usually was. Ed doubted that he would be able to dodge if he decided to throw something at him, even with a warning. Not that he would do that. Kind of would be like stealing a sucker from a baby. He was fucking Blackbeard, he didn’t need to bully babies.
„What are you gonna draw? A pirate ship?“ Pirate ships were Izzy’s usual motive of choice.
„Mhm. Dunno.“ He answered and set to spread out some sheets of paper on the floor.
„Fine then. But you have to show me when you’re done, yeah?“
„Uh-huh“
Izzy got right into coloring and Ed got right back to folding socks, wincing when he adjusted his legs. He was kind of due for the next cup of that seemingly magical pain relieving tea Stede had procured at their latest stop at the Republic. Stede had left him with a whole pot earlier but since he wasn’t supposed to drink too much at a time it had grown mostly cold. And Ed couldn’t really bring himself to drink cold tea yet cause, in his opinion, it was disgusting and he deserved nice things.
He could theoretically ring or yell for one of the crewmates to come and take the pot to heat it back up, but considering that Izzy was very obviously lying on his tummy drawing pictures with wooden toy animals and puppets next to him that wasn’t exactly an option. Izzy was almost deathly terrified of other people finding out he slipped into this childish headspace, reacting with plain fear when he was small and asked about it and absolute sputtering rage when he was adult again.
When he had started to slip down today he had almost immediatly retreated back into his own cabin. Stede had gone after him obviously and ushered him to the Captain’s cabin where he knew Ed would be. It was not like Ed had anything better to do today than to watch him after all. And besides that, he liked to take care of Izzy when he was like this. It was oftentimes strangely entertaining and in its own way very rewarding to see him unwound and relaxed like that.
So, when Stede had told the crew that First Mate Hands would spend the rest of the day going over the ledger and back in the cabin asked Ed to change First Mate Hands out of his leathers and into more comfortable cotton clothes, Ed had immediatly inwardly geared up for a day of toddler activities.
He was lost so deep in thought that he didn’t notice Izzy standing next to him until he nudged him in the chest, holding two sheets of paper in his other hand.
„Oh! Are those your drawings, mate? C’mon now, show me, I’m so excited!“ He said and pulled Izzy’s arm to sit him on the edge of the bed next to him.
Izzy shyly held out the first drawing to him, holding the other face down so Ed couldn’t see it yet.
This one showed a flurry of black and grey scribbles, absolutely indecipherable to Ed. He was gonna try though, obviously.
„Aww, that looks really great, baby! What is it, a whirlpool? A forest?“
Izzy looked at him as if his Baba was a total idiot.
„You!“
Right. Black and grey and now he did notice the bits of purple in it.
„Well duh! Obviously! I just wanted to test you! It looks so good, you really did my hair well.“
Izzy puffed out his chest a bit, looking pleased as a punch. He handed the second sheet to Ed, telling him: „Dada.“
The drawing was a blob of pink and turquoise mixed together, as well as some yellow.
„Izzy, mate, you nailed it. It looks just like him! He’ll love it when he sees it!“
Stede really would. He kept everything Izzy drew, even the approximately 30 pirate ships.
Izzy was grinning by now and leant against Ed, resting his head on his shoulder.
„Baba, play with me now?“ He asked and looked up at him with eyes that seemed to become way larger and rounder whenever he was small.
Ed grimaced and wrapped his arm around Izzy, rubbing over his arm. „I’d love to baby, but I can only play with you on the bed. My knee hurts a lot, I can’t bend it.“
Izzy stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. „Bad knee.“
Ed hummed in agreement. „It is a bad knee. A real stupid knee.“
Izzy was quiet for a moment. The he leant down and pressed his whole face against Ed’s knee, mouthing against it.
Ed laughed and patted at his back. „What are you doing down there, you goose? Are you trying to eat my leg whole?“
„Kissies.“ Izzy said, muffled.
Ed’s heart clenched a bit in his chest. „Are you kissing my knee better? Like Dada does when you have a bump?“
„Yeah. Kissies.“
Izzy moved around a bit, lying down on Ed’s thighs instead, resting there.
They stayed like that for a while. Ed with his back leaning against the bed nooks wall, Izzy on his legs. Izzy loved to cuddle, but eventually even he tired of it and wiggled free, wandering back towards his toys. Ed sighed and reached for the teapot, pouring himself a cup. Screw the tea being cold, his knee was starting to honestly fuck with him again. He could get through it.
He slid down in the bed until he was lying flat on his back, pushing the folded socks to the side. Yeah, he had Izzy to take care of but he was confident that he would make a noise if he needed something. A quick nap never killed anyone, he would just rest his eyes a bit until the tea worked.
„Baba!“
He’d literally just dozed off, ugh.
„Yeah?“
Izzy was standing a few feet from the bed, a piece of fabric wrapped around his left knee like a bandage. He started walking towards the bed in an exaggerated limp, his left leg entirely stiff, not bending at the knee.
Ed gasped in mock shock. „No way! You have a bum knee too?! When did that happen?“
Izzy giggled and stalked towards him as Ed stretched out his arms. „Come here then! If you have a bad knee you belong in the bed!“
Izzy didn‘t let himself be asked twice flopping down on top of Ed, squealing when Ed squeezed him tight and maneuvered him so that they were lying side by side, Izzy on the windows side. Both caught their breath for a moment and Ed slowly tested his knee a bit, the tea was beginning to take effect.
„Guess you’ll have to stay here with me then. No more playing out on the floor for you. Love that.“ He muttered while Izzy shifted a bit, trying to get comfortable. This was nice. Adult Izzy craved touch just as much as small Izzy but was way harder to convince to have a good cuddle. Slotted together like two spoons in a drawer like this, Ed wondered how much of his behavior when small was compensation for the things he denied himself when big otherwise.
He only had a short moment to dwell on that though before something on the other side of the window caught his eye.
„Uh, Izzy, look. Do you see those clouds?“
Izzy squinted a bit. „Yeah.“
„What do they look like?“
„Um. Clouds“
„I know, bub, but what are they shaped like?“ He asked and rubbed Izzy’s arm.
„Mhmmm… Snakes?“
Now it was Ed’s turn to squint. „I suppose they do look a bit like snakes. I think they look like Frankfurters though, do you know what that means?“
Izzy gasped but didn’t say anything so Ed answered for him.
„That’s right, Frankfurters mean it will get foggy tonight. That’s perfect for asking Dada to read you a spooky story!“
Izzy made a happy sound at that and nestled against him. He loved spooky stories. Ed wasn‘t sure whether he actually enjoyed the content of them all that much or just the fact that they were the perfect excuse to sit on his or Stedes lap, snuggle real close during storytime and later spend the night in their bed, he regularly asked for them all the same.
„Yeah, that’s going to be so nice, huh? Spooky story from Dada.“
Izzy hummed in response and Ed could feel him growing limp in his arms. He probably shouldn’t let him sleep right now. A nap this late in the day would mean him staying awake way past the regular bedtime Stede had implemented for him when small. He felt kind of mean at the idea of making him get up and out of bed though. Besides, he was very warm and kind of like an oversized pillow for Ed to hold. And his own nap had been interrupted as well. Yeah. Stede wouldn’t mind. Probably.
He awoke what must be at least an hour later to evening light streaming into the cabin and Stede bend over him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
„Ed, you nut,“ he whispered. „How do you think the baby will fall asleep later?“
Ed hmm’d and turned his head so Stede could kiss his lips instead of his stupid stubbly cheek. „Guess you’ll have to read him a ghost story to tire him out. It’ll be foggy tonight. My knee is feeling way better now by the way, thanks for asking.“ He murmured, not able to resist the little jab.
„I’m glad,“ Stede said and began to squeeze into the little space between Ed and the edge of the mattress. „The tea helped?“
„It did.“ Ed said and shuffled a bit forward, hugging Izzy tighter while Stede slotted behind him. He couldn‘t resist a cuddle session, never could.
„Are we napping a little longer then?“ he asked, eyes already sliding shut.
„You’re napping and Izzy’s napping, love. I’ll have to think up a good ghost story, we’ve run out of the ones in the books.“