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The party was in full swing. Everyone danced, talked and drank whatever they could put their hands on, all while dressed to the nines. The party was the kind of loud they would have to apologize to the neighbours for come morning.
Ed had his long arms flung around Stede's shoulders, the two of them swaying slowly to the music. Finally together, happy and in love.
Everything was perfect.
One Izzy Hands thought so, as well.
It was the perfect moment.
The perfect moment to get off the stage.
He made his way back to the ship to collect his belongings. No one noticed his absence.
Well... Almost no one.
After the slow number Stede excused himself from the dance floor and followed Izzy under the pretence of going to the toilet. They will have thought he got it bad after appetizers, but never mind that.
Stede got there just in time for when Izzy was packing the sack containing everything he had into a dinghy. Stede didn't know it, but his outfit was all black, for once not reflecting the light of the moon one bit.
Izzy's back was turned to Stede, so his expression was a mystery to him.
"Izzy?" Stede asked, startling the man. "What are you doing out here?"
"And what does it look like I'm doing?" Izzy replied, his voice dripping in acid like Stede hasn't heard in a while, not without a note however that sounded unmistakably sad.
Stede took one more step towards Izzy.
"You're leaving? Is that what this is?" he asked.
Izzy laughed a strained, sharp laugh.
"You're very observant."
Stede suddenly felt very cold.
"You don't have to do this, you know?" he asked.
He heard another sharp laugh in response.
For a moment there was silence, when Izzy was preparing the dinghy to go down in a moment.
Then, he turned his head ever so slightly, as if he wanted to look behind.
"Stede?"
Stede perked up at the sound of his name coming out of Izzy's mouth. For so long the first mate insisted on calling him "Bonnet", it felt almost unreal to hear his name now.
"Yeah?"
Izzy gripped the railing. He could just go like this, without saying another word.
But no. He had to get it out.
"Can you promise me something before I go?"
Stede nodded repeatedly, although Izzy couldn't see it.
"Sure."
Izzy bit his lip. Hard. A bit too hard. He tasted blood in his mouth.
"Please... please love him, alright?" he managed to wring out, quietly. "Because for the life of me, I do not know how to do it."
Stede felt lightheaded. It all made sense now, even if long before now he could tell what was going on. Jumbled pieces he's been collecting in his head for months suddenly fell into place all at once, making him feel like he was going to be sick.
"I..." Stede tried. "I was already going to do that, actually."
Izzy nodded.
"Good."
Another beat of silence.
"He wouldn't want you to go, you know?" Stede then said.
Izzy breathed out of his nose.
"He won't even notice I'm not here."
It hurt. It hurt so fucking bad. Stede wanted to walk up to him, tell him how wrong he is and how much they need him here, how much he needs him here, and-
"Oh, and-" Izzy said once more.
"Yes?" Stede replied, a little too quickly.
"Please don't tell anyone that I went away just yet, alright? I don't want to spoil their fun. Let them... find out on their own. The later, the better."
"... Alright."
What else could Stede have said?
A gust of wind swept over the deck, making him shiver.
Izzy hopped into the dinghy, at long last facing Stede. He looked so tired. So frail.
"Well... goodbye, captain."
Stede couldn't get much more out. He simply managed to whisper back:
"Goodbye."
And then, with a nod, Izzy began lowering the dinghy. Soon enough it hit the water with a splash, though luckily for him the music from the party managed to drown it out just fine.
Stede stood there, looking over the water. He didn't purposefully look out for the dinghy, but when it came into view again, his eyes were completely fixed on it, and on the small figure nestled in the middle.
Before long, Izzy and his dinghy became one with the dark surface of the sea, and Stede finally forced his feet to drag him back to the party.
Music was booming, the lights washed everything in a warm hue, and Stede felt completely hollow.
"Hey" Ed said, appearing at his side. "You okay? Those clams must've really messed you up, mate."
Stede gave him a weak smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
"Good, good. Do you want to dance? I'll ask them to play something more lively."
"Sure."
Ed dragged him onto the dancefloor and everything was fine. It was just food poisoning.