Work Text:
When you get to the Blackbeard Incorporated office building, you find Izzy slumped over his desk. With one bent elbow resting on the desk, Izzy holds his head up with one hand while the other loosely holds a pen. He isn't writing anything though, instead he's just staring down at the desk with a slightly pissed off look on his face.
You figure out why in the next moment, when Ed comes sweeping into the room with his mouth going a mile a minute. He’s clearly in the middle of a conversation that, by the looks of things had barely, if at all, paused when he’d walked out of the room sometime before your arrival.
"And Stede had this amazing idea for the-" Ed’s face lights up when he notices you standing there. "Oh, hey y/n! When did you get here?"
Before you can answer, Ed gasps. "A hair tie! That's what I needed." Before disappearing back into the other room.
You give Izzy's hunched over figure a sympathetic look. "Hey Izzy, long morning?"
He tilts his head just enough to meet your eyes and give you a tortured look. "He's been rambling on like this all morning. I don't think he even cares if I say anything back- he's certainly not pausing long enough to give me the chance."
You let out a hum that's part sympathy, part amusement.
Izzy cuts a pitiful figure with his disheveled hair, no doubt from running his fingers through it in frustration, and the way he’s pleadingly gazing up at you.
Stepping closer to Izzy's chair so Ed can't accidentally overhear, you drop your voice to a low murmur. "Want me to take Ed out to grab a coffee or something? Give you a chance to get some work done in peace?"
You may not know Ed quite as well as you know Izzy, but the two of you became fast friends after Izzy reluctantly introduced you to each other.
When you first got together, Izzy would grumble about how he just knows Ed is going to be insufferable once he finds out Izzy’s seeing someone and how he'll no doubt break out the embarrassing stories within minutes of meeting you.
Obviously, your meeting was inevitable, but that didn’t mean Izzy was eager to start the ball rolling. Unfortunately, there was no way in hell that Izzy could have kept your relationship a secret for very long, even if he had bothered to try. For as oblivious as he can be about some things, Ed is like a bloodhound when he can tell you're trying to keep something from him.
Izzy sighs. "Would you mind? I'd say he doesn't need any more caffeine, but I doubt it could make a difference at this point."
You squeeze his shoulder gently. "No problem. We can have some bonding time." You don't tell Izzy this, but this will actually be a good opportunity to talk to Ed about Izzy's upcoming birthday.
"Teach!"
Ed appears in the doorway, still in the process of pulling his hair back into a ponytail. “Yeah, mate?”
“Want to take a walk down to the coffee shop with me? I’ll buy you a drink.”
Ed’s face lights up. “Yeah, ok.” He turns to look at Izzy. “You want anything, Iz?”
Izzy gives him a small but genuine smile, exasperation fading in the face of Ed’s unexpected consideration. “I’m fine, thanks. Try not to bankrupt y/n with whatever crazy drink you get,” he teases. He turns to look at you. “I swear Ed could even give Lucius a run for his money.”
You laugh. “Probably.”
Lucius is fun to hang out with, you’re glad you wound up meeting him through Ed’s boyfriend Stede. Whenever Lucius is around Izzy, he loves to play up how extra he is since he knows how it exasperates the man. The whole thing amuses you more than it probably should.
After Ed double checks that he has his phone, the two of you head out.
One thing you love about the office building is that there’s a little café located just down the street. It’s a great place to meet with Izzy after work, or for the two of you to hang out during lunch breaks.
Ed holds the door open for you when you get there and the two of you head up to the counter.
You decide to order your go-to drink, while Ed asks for their newest specialty iced latte that comes with whipped cream and sprinkles on top. His order makes you smile inwardly.
Izzy has told you a bit about what things were like before Ed and Stede met. Before meeting Stede, Ed would have been too afraid of damaging his tough guy reputation to order a drink like that. Instead, he would usually get a regular hot coffee and sneak an obscene amount of cream and sugar into it when no one was looking.
With the way both Izzy and Ed grew up, they quickly learned to build reputations for themselves that would keep anyone from messing with them.
You still don’t know everything about their biker-gang days, but you’re alright with that. It’s Izzy’s story to tell and you’d rather he be comfortable, than dredge up a past that you weren’t a part of. Izzy has been gradually opening up to you and you’re happy to let him continue to do so at his own pace.
One night while you were lying in bed together, Izzy confided in you that while it took him a while to accept it, being with Stede has changed Ed for the better in a lot of way. Ed is much happier these days, less self-destructive.
After your drinks are ready, the two of you grab a table.
Ed takes his first sip of his drink and hums happily.
“I have to confess; I had an ulterior motive for stealing you away from work.”
He gives you a wide-eyed look of surprise. “You’ve finally decided to leave Izzy and run away with me?”
You snort. “Stede would have a hit out on my head before we managed to cross state lines.”
Ed laughs. “Yeah,” he says fondly. “Probably.” He takes another sip of his iced latte. “So, what’s up?”
“Izzy’s birthday is coming up, and I don’t know what to get him. Every time I try to hint around about what he might like he just insists that he doesn’t need anything.”
Ed hums. “Yeah, Izzy’s like that. I usually just take him out for drinks or something- probably will this year, too.” Ed grins, suddenly remembering something. “For Izzy’s first birthday after Stede and I started dating, Stede threw him a huge birthday party and invited all our co-workers and Stede’s employees.”
You make a face. “How did that go?”
Ed laughs. “Izzy hated it. My point is, anything you could possibly get him would have to be better than that.”
“Thanks Ed,” you roll your eyes, “that’s really helpful.”
He sighs. “I don’t know, mate. What about a new pair of boots? I’m pretty sure he’s had the pair he wears now for over a decade.”
“I don’t know, I can tell he’s proud of how well he takes care of the ones he has now. Did Izzy used to have any hobbies before I knew him?”
“Uhh… sometimes he used to read when we were younger?”
“Ok, what did he like to read?”
Ed scrunches up his face like he’s thinking hard. “…fiction?”
You sigh. This may take a while.
At least Izzy will have plenty of time to decompress and take care of some of that stack of paperwork you noticed on his desk.
For the next half-hour you and Ed sip your drinks while you alternate between spit-balling gift ideas back and forth and just generally catching up about this and that.
At one point Izzy sends you a text asking if the two of you got lost, and you jokingly pick up Ed’s running joke.
You: Ed finally convinced me to run away with him. He said he’d make me dinner and you know I can’t resist free food.
Izzy: Perfectly understandable.
Izzy: Bonnet has been teaching him to cook lately. Last week he called me ecstatic over how well his Japanese stir fry came out, said it was almost as good as Stede’s.
You: God, don’t tempt me. Maybe I’ll see if I can subtly implant the idea for Stede to bring food in for everyone at work.
Izzy: Shouldn’t be too hard. Just appeal to his ego. Maybe let him overhear you dramatically sigh over how you could never cook as well as him.
You: You’re a genius.
Ed is giving you an amused look when you look up from your phone.
“What?”
He shakes his head with a grin. “You’ve been smiling at your phone for the last few minutes. You guys are cute together.”
You duck your head. “Shut up.”
Ed snickers. “You and Izzy really are alike.”
-
Having long since finished your drinks, you finally toss your empty cups in the trash and get ready to head back. It’s a good thing that Ed co-owns the company, because your coffee break wound up being awfully long.
It’s as you’re walking down the sidewalk, that Ed’s head suddenly snaps towards you. “Oh! I just remembered something. Iz used to have those Lord of the Rings books. They were just beat up copies that he picked up from secondhand shops, but he read those things all the time.”
“Do you know if he still has them?” You haven’t noticed anything like that while you’ve spent time at Izzy’s apartment, but he could always have them stored away somewhere.
Ed shakes his head. “He lost them when we got kicked out of one of our apartments. I don’t know why, but I don’t think he ever replaced them.”
Setting aside how sad that story is for the time being, you consider where you might be able to buy Izzy a new set. Maybe you can find some nice collectors editions or something.
After texting Izzy to let him know that you’re actually going to take off but that you’ll see him tonight, you walk Ed to the front of their building before continuing on your way.
With nothing else to do for the afternoon, you figure you might as well start the hunt now. Izzy’s birthday is still about a month away, but you want to make sure you leave enough time in case you wind up having to order the books online.
On your walk back to the office building, you talked a bit more about Izzy’s book collection. Ed explained that Izzy used to have a whole shelf dedicated to his Tolkien books, but Ed couldn’t remember what titles he had besides the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit. Getting the trilogy, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion will probably be a bit pricey, but you decide that you’d really like for him to have at least those five.
-
After leaving Ed, you drop by a couple bookstores that you’ve been meaning to check out for a while now. Unfortunately, the first one winds up being a second-hand bookstore. Normally that would be just fine- even preferable when you’re buying for yourself, but you’d rather gift Izzy new copies. The second one sells new books, but apparently, they’re having a permanent closing sale so their remaining stock is rather limited.
Even though they don’t have what you’re looking for, you do pick up a couple books for yourself, so the trip isn’t totally wasted.
-
After a little research, you find a place in the next town over that looks promising. You don’t get the chance to check it out until the following weekend, but once you do it’s like the stars align.
One of the employees happily directs you to the fantasy aisle and you find the Tolkien section prominently placed front and center, right at eye level.
There are a couple of shelves of individual books, but up on the top shelf is a beautiful box set. It has all three Lord of the Rings books, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion. Much to your surprised delight, the set also includes a dictionary full of various names and words from Tolkien’s Middle Earth.
The box is heavy when you take it down from the shelf. Checking the sticker on the bottom, you’re unsurprised to find that it’s a little pricey, but at this point you’re committed.
When you get up to the counter you find out that they offer giftwrapping, which you happily take advantage of.
Now the only thing left to do is keep the books hidden at your place until Izzy’s birthday.
-
The big day rolls around.
Of course, Izzy tries to insist on working, but Ed manages to convince Izzy to stay home. You still don’t know what Ed said to convince him- probably with some sort of blackmail, judging by what you know of their relationship.
You and Izzy have a lovely morning of sleeping in followed by getting food delivered for a late brunch.
After you both finish eating Izzy gives you a look. “Alright, where’s my present?”
You widen your eyes innocently. Even before you start speaking, you know that Izzy is going to see right through you. That man is way too good at calling you on your bullshit.
“What do you mean? You said you didn’t want anything for your birthday, how do you know I got you anything?”
Izzy just rolls his eyes. “Yeah, that’s why you brought your duffle bag with you and shoved it over in the corner as soon as you got here. I know you can’t have needed it for anything else, since most of the shit you could possibly need is already here.”
His words may sound harsh, but Izzy was the one who fairly early on in the relationship, cleared out a drawer in his dresser for you without prompting, explaining with a casual shrug that “you could use it for any shit you don’t want to have to cart back and forth.”
You may still technically live in separate apartments, but since then so much of your stuff has migrated to Izzy’s that Ed likes to tease Izzy about how the two of you already live together and Izzy just hasn’t noticed yet.
The first time Ed made a comment like that around Stede, the man had jumped into gently chastising Ed about how “he shouldn’t make such assumptions less they upset Izzy by implying some level of commitment that he isn’t ready for yet,” a comment that you’re pretty sure was half genuine concern and half a dig at Izzy.
Izzy had responded by grabbing you around the waist and pulling you into a passionate kiss that lasted nearly an entire minute before shooting Stede a challenging look and growling “Does that look like commitment issues, Bonnet?”
“Alright,” you laugh and get up to grab the bag. “You know me, I couldn’t just not get you anything.”
You set the wrapped gift on Izzy’s lap and then sit beside him on the couch. You watch as Izzy picks the package up and tests its weight. “You better not have spent a fortune on whatever this is.”
“Stede can buy you expensive presents, but I can’t?”
As much as Izzy tried to protest, Stede still insists on getting Izzy gifts. For his birthday this year, it was some fancy wine subscription service where every month they send you two different bottles of wine each month.
Izzy snorts. “Bonnet has more money than sense.”
He starts tearing the wrapping paper off. You watch as Izzy’s eyes widen as soon as he realizes what books he’s holding. Izzy stares down at the books for a few moments before looking up at you with a disbelieving look that quickly morphs into a smile. “Do I even want to know what you paid for these?”
You shrug. “Maybe. Probably not. Do you like them?”
Izzy looks down at the books in his lap and strokes his thumb across one of the spines before looking back at you. “Did Ed tell you that I used to read these?”
“Yeah. I asked him for advice and we spit-balled some ideas. He said you used to have some of Tolkien’s books but you lost them in one of your moves.”
“That’s right. Did he tell you that my sister gave me my first copy of The Hobbit when we were kids? She gave it to me for Christmas one year. That was the first book that really got me interested in reading.”
You smile, heart warmed by the fact that he’s trusting you with the memory. “No, he didn’t. We weren’t sure which books you had, but I thought you might like to have these again.”
“I love them, thank you.” Izzy sets the books down on the coffee table and pulls you into a kiss. “I can’t wait to read them again.”
“Maybe you can read to me sometime.” It’s no secret that you love Izzy’s voice, it’s actually something that he’s rather smug about.
Izzy grins. “Anytime you want.”