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Edward had slept comfortably this night. He had woken up a few times, but even then he was well off, for each time he would hold you closer to him.
He woke up feeling your warm body pressed against him, tangled with his legs and asleep, and he felt the peacefulness of having a warm body snuggled against himself. He was tired and relaxed and he didn't want to get up or even open his eyes yet, he didn't want to stop basking in your warmth. Your arms were snuggled tight around the pillow by your head and his arm was resting around your body with his fingers softly digging in to your hair.
Eventually, he did open his eyes to look at you. He was happy to see you next to him, the gentle rise of your chest and face relaxed. She's so close,she's right here, he thought. His heartbeat sped up a bit at the increasing urge he felt to kiss you.
You were beginning to stir, you stretched your neck and your legs slightly.
"G'morning." Edward spoke silently.
"Good morning." You whispered tiredly.
"Sleep well?"
"Yes." You opened your eyes to smile at him, you were still very tired so you closed them soon again.
After a moment Edward spoke, a bit nervous, but he couldn't stop himself. "Can I kiss you?"
Without opening your eyes you nodded, it was something you couldn't say no to and you almost wanted to giggle out of nervosity and excitement.
He moved his head slowly towards you and cupped your cheek, he then pressed his lips to yours carefully, both of your hearts were beating hard and you inhaled his scent through your nose quickly when the kiss deepened, your tongues meeting slightly. You slowed your embrace and you pulled apart too look at eachother and you smiled.
"That was a good wake-up call." You managed to utter after a second.
His smile widened in response. "Are you busy today?"
"No, I shouldn't be... Why?"
"I was just wondering if you would want to grab something to eat and drink tonight." He asked with hope.
You gave a short chuckle. "Yes, we can do that."
After you and Edward ate breakfast together you decided that you would meet by the docks that evening to have dinner in his cabin. On your way out from the bureau you saw that a letter had arrived addressed to you. You read the letter on the way down to the docks, smiling to yourself at the words, when a voice interrupted your reading.
"Y/N!" Edward shouted from a small side-street next to your path.
"Edward." You exclaimed, surprised to see him pop out of the blue like that. You should have been used to it by now.
"What are you looking so happy about? Another secret admirer?"
You chuckled nervously at what he said, feeling a bit flustered that he would suggest or suspect such a thing.
"No. It's from Tulum." You couldn't stop smiling. "Ah Tabai is offering to make me the new bureau leader here in Nassau, next to Upton of course."
"About time, don't you think! You'd make a fine leader Y/N."
"Thank you." You answered, amused.
"Are you hungry?" He asked as you put the letter into one of your coat pockets.
"Yes."
"Let's see what my chef has conjured up shall we?"
Edward already knew what had been conjured up of course, he was the one to buy the food and the wine himself. When the two of you entered his cabin a batch of dried meat, fresh fruit and berries and two bottles of an Italian red wine were set up on the table in the middle of the room. You sat to the opposite of eachother and you ate, drank and talked.
"Y/N, how many Assassins are there in Nassau anyway? I reckon you could be the bureau leader by yourself."
"I wouldn't want to steal anyone's position like that." He smiled. "And how many Assassins there are here varies a lot. This place is relatively safe for us, there are many allies here, so it's only natural for the bureau to be so important."
"And how do you like it here?"
"It has it's charm, although some of the businesses may be a bit lacking compared to places like Havana..."
Edward had never experienced any of the stores in Nassau as lacking, even though the blacksmith was important to both of you, you must be visiting different places.
"I've found that we have most things. What would you be looking to buy that could be so peculiar?" He asked amused.
"Oh, it's nothing important..." You chuckled and tried to divert his interest but he was still waiting for you to explain with a smirk on his face. "I used up some of my best water-paints a while ago and can't seem to find anything like them, that's all."
"You paint?"
"A little bit. Sometimes. When I have the time and the mood is right."
"Well, if Havana is flush enough to have these paints then perhaps we should follow suit. I know this place isn't as accomplished as it could be, but we're working on it. And so are you, aren't you?"
"If you mean keeping Templars away, then yes, I suppose so. Although I can't say you pirates aren't helping." You smiled playfully.
"We're actually preparing to set sail in a few days, I'll let you know if we run in with any." He said merrily.
"Are you going anywhere in particular?"
"Southward, we might have a stop at Grand Cayman, but we won't be away for more than a month."
"Grand Cayman?"
By now you both had finished eating and were still enjoying the drink. "It's a fisherman's village. Let me show you." He motioned with his head to the other side of the table and got up. You pursued him to look over the map displayed on the table with your glass of wine in hand.
"We're going to go down here..." He pointed to the map. "And then over to the west, here."
"Wait I know that place..."
He smiled. "I thought you might." When you gave him a confused look he responded; "I met an Assassin on this side of the island, then over at Grand Cayman. Opía."
That's curious. "When was this?" You asked, and sipped your wine.
"Just a few months back. I helped her out and she helped me out."
"Is that why I'm here then? To help you out?" You smiled slyly.
"No..." He grinned and looked down briefly and stepped closer to you."There are no Templars around this time, love." He was standing close to you.
"That's a good thing." You answered softly, looking up at his eyes.
They moved down your face, from your eyes to your lips and up to your eyes again and you could feel a faint stirring tickle in your stomach. It reminded you of the way he looked at you that morning when you woke up.
His fingers lingered on your upper arm gently and moved down slowly to take the glass out of your hand an put it on the table next to the map. He then moved in to support your jawline and put his other hand on your waist as you waited to see what he would do.
"Aye..." He whispered while bending his head down to yours.
You put your hands on his shoulders and tried to keep your breathing steady, you closed your eyes and leaned forward somewhat and your lips met softly. He gave a small moan as the kiss quickened and he moved his hand from your jawline to hold the back of your neck and the other one around your body to hold you closer. Your arms were resting around his neck and you kissed fiercely, he moved both of you so you were almost sitting on the edge of the table and he held both his hands on your waist and leaning over you as much as he could. The kissing slowed swiftly and he pulled back his head to look into your eyes.
You were almost out of breath and you could hear that he was too when he spoke. "Do you like kissing me, lass?" He asked confidently.
You giggled silently. "Yeah."
He kissed you again and between pecking your lips he said; "Yeah?".
You hummed a "mh-hm" in reply and cradled the back of his neck and hairline.
He moved back again. "I like kissing you too."
Almost one month later you were walking down to the harbormaster to ask him if he had tools you could borrow and to buy some wood. Now was the perfect time to spare to fix up the bureau a little bit; some of it's walls had seen better days and one in particular would be easy to swap out for better planks in less than one day.
Strolling down the path to the docks you saw a familiar brig in the water; the Jackdaw. Finally. You recalled how Edward and you had grown to be a bit more than friendly just before he left and you smiled to yourself. You were excited to see him again, but you assumed he must still be busy if they just recently arrived, so you went on with your own business.
You had also accepted Ah Tabais offer immediately after Edward left and talked to Upton. He was very happy for you, and you suspected he was relieved to not have to be the bureau leader in Nassau all alone. He had always shared the job with his brother before, and after his betrayal he was happy to have some company too.
You were now hammering away on the new planks on the backside of the building. The harbormaster had all the tools you needed, for rent, of course, but he had been kind enough to tell his novices to help you carry all the planks to your destination, so you couldn't complain.
You had thrown your coat into the grass behind you and had the nails in a little box on one of the stands for the planks.
"Y/N? Hello?"
You quit your hammering for a second to look to the side. "Edward! You're back! I didn't see you there." He was leaning on the corner of the house and smiled at you, surprised to find you building a wall of all things. You finished the nail with two last blows and then dropped the hammer down in the grass and walk over to him.
"You're hard-working I see." He said with a smile and a gesture to your handy-work.
"Ah, I had the time to spare to fix up the place." You smiled. "So, was the trip rewarding?"
"I'd like to think it was." He nodded and stood up straight and put his hand on your cheek. "Come here." He said and leaning in and you kissed. "I came here to give you this." He held up a familiar small, flat box between you and motioned for you to take it.
You couldn't believe it, it was your paint. You looked at him with a shocked expression. "What?"
"To make up for the lacking shops here in Nassau."
You gave a little nervous laugh. "Thank you."
He smiled and kissed you again.
You had gone down to the docks that evening to use your new paint. He had been so kind to you, first the dinner and now this. You wanted to do something for him in return. So you did the only thing you could think of; to paint. And what was better than a watercolor picture of his own ship?
You thought you might run in to Edward on your way down to the docks to return all the tools to the harbormaster. But carrying a makeshift bag with a saw, a hammer and a box of nails while also carrying two wooden stands wasn't the easiest but you were getting there, slowly but surely. When you got down to the docks and could see the harbormaster you could see your blond pirate talking to him and you moved just a little faster, one last spurt.
You were breathing a bit heavy when you approached. "Edward... A... Little help?" You asked from behind him. "Hi, by the way."
"Hello Y/N." He chuckled and helped you carry the two wooden stands over to the harbormaster.
You left all the things with the man and thanked him for the service. You then walked lazily off with Edward.
"So, how did your wall turn out?" He asked.
Suddenly feeling a bit shy, you answered him; "Oh, just fine... Actually, I have to get back now immediately, or Upton will fly off the handle." You excused, and took the little painting out of your coat-pocket. "Sorry." You said and kissed him briefly, while slipping the paper in to his hand. You then scurried away quickly so you wouldn't have too see his reaction, well at least not from nearby.
He was confused with how you were acting, it wasn't like you to take off like that; normally you would let him walk with you all the way up the island. He looked down to the paper in his hands, and smiled. That makes sense, he thought. This was better than any kiss. And he loved kissing you. He walked back to his ship slowly and thought about how happy he was with where things were going with you.