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Izzy came back to himself slowly, stretching wrists and ankles that had been freed from rope. He’d been taken off the St. Andrews cross and was lying somewhere soft. He let himself drift for a while longer…
The hand that had been gentling over his hair moved, and he was aware of the soft fabric of jersey pillowed under his cheek; as his brain started kicking back on, Izzy realized it must be Ed’s sweatpants. The hand moved to his wrist, rubbing at the skin there.
Izzy let out a gentle breath, but apparently, that was all they’d been waiting for.
“Stede, I think he’s awake.” Ed’s voice was soft, which Izzy appreciated. He was still boneless, flopped on his stomach as Ed rubbed some kind of cream into his wrists.
The music that had been a gentle background increased in volume, something older coming out of the record player Stede had bought. Normally, he would play Taylor Swift all day if they let him (and Ed would certainly let him), but Stede had developed a taste for the sixties lately. Stede began singing along quietly.
“Wssat,” he managed. He tried to pry one eye open, but it was too bright, so he shut it again.
“I think it’s Frankie something…” Ed trailed off. Then, “Stede?”
“Hmm?”
“The music, what is it?”
“Oh! It’s a compilation of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons; they really are a marvelous band, aren’t they?” He went back to humming a tune Izzy could barely pick out.
Izzy made a noise, unintelligible even to his own ears, trying to fight the parts of his brain that were tensing up. Ed must have sensed it, because he asked, “Hey, I can do your back if you like now, mate. Didn’t want to wake you with it before.”
“Mmm,” Izzy answered, considering cracking his eyes open again. “Yeah, probably a good idea.”
He hissed as the cool of the salve hit his skin. Ed brought his other hand up to soothe through Izzy’s hair, and Izzy let himself get lost in the sensations. Pain flared to life in his back again, but muted under the steady pressure of Ed’s hands.
Breathing through it, Izzy looked around the room. Stede had been busy putting everything away, something that made his heart squeeze. He loved Edward, but the man lived in a hurricane of mess that Izzy inevitably ended up picking up. Stede did now too, after seeing how much it irked Izzy, to the point where he’d taught Stede where the floggers and knives and salves went.
Stede went so far as to label everything, which Izzy thought was unnecessary, but had decided to let it go.
“All done,” Ed said, interrupting his thoughts as the pleasant pressure disappeared, though the hand in his hair stayed. “Want to get up?”
Izzy very much did not want to get up, but he could already feel something under his skin itching for him to move, to do something aside from lie contentedly in Ed’s lap until he dozed off. So, instead, Izzy heaved a sigh and pushed himself up to sit beside Edward on the couch.
A familiar trumpet came on, and Stede began singing again.
“You’re just too good to be true,” he sang, slightly off-key as he turned away from their toy chest and locked eyes with Ed. “Can’t take my eyes off you.”
Izzy looked over to see Ed going all moon-eyed, and his fugue state dissipated instantly, replaced by a nasty hunger in his bones, a jealousy licking up his spine. He could tell his brow was furrowed, that he was scowling again, but the two fucking lovebirds didn’t seem to notice as Ed smiled and Stede knelt in front of him, continuing to sing.
As Izzy looked around, he spied orange juice, water, and an honest-to-God charcuterie board set out next to the couch. It must have been Stede’s doing, bustling around while Izzy was dead to the world, having soaked up as much pain as he could take.
Izzy snatched the orange juice first, drinking about half before setting it back and picking at the cheese.
He did usually love the care Stede took with the snacks after a scene, carefully choosing to Izzy’s tastes, cutting everything in precise bite-sized portions, but Izzy couldn’t find any gratitude for it with the way Stede and Ed only had eyes for each other. Stede reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind Ed’s ear, and Edward had the audacity to blush.
Twats.
Izzy drank some of the water before going back to angrily munching on the assorted cheeses and crackers, watching as Stede got up and twirled around inelegantly. He nearly fell and Izzy snorted at his antics.
That seemed to draw Stede’s attention at last, and he was grinning and looking directly at Izzy as he sang, “I love you baby, and if it’s quite alright, I need you baby.”
Swallowing thickly, Izzy looked over to Ed to see how he felt about his boyfriend switching targets, but Ed just joined in, his heavy baritone a compliment to Stede’s warbling tenor. “To warm a lonely night. I love you, baby; trust in me when I say…”
Heat crept up around Izzy’s ears and he could tell they were red as fire as he turned back to where Stede was now kneeling between his knees, rubbing hands up Izzy’s thighs. He could feel Ed creeping closer, penning him in on the other side until he was surrounded by their warmth.
He thought for a moment about squirming away, about telling them both to fuck off, but Stede reached a hand up to caress his face and Ed leaned in to gently kiss his cheek. Izzy couldn’t hold back the tears after that, letting them slip down.
“Oh, darling,” Stede said, ignoring the rest of the song. “Are you alright?”
“You — you both —” Izzy sniffed, looking away. “‘M fine.”
Stede hummed. “We weren’t paying enough attention to you, were we?” When Izzy shook his head, Stede continued, “I’m so sorry, dove. I got overexcited, but that’s no excuse.”
An arm snaked behind Izzy’s back, and Izzy let himself lean into it, into the bulk of Edward steadfast behind him.
“Sorry,” came the rumble from Ed’s chest, and Izzy couldn’t help but laugh wetly.
“It’s so stupid,” he said, continuing to look away until a gentle pressure tugged him back to look at Stede.
“It's not stupid. We’re sorry, sweetheart. It wasn’t right of us.”
Feeling foolish, Izzy turned to Ed.
Edward nodded. “He’s right. Sorry, Iz.”
“Alright,” Izzy muttered, feeling shy now that he had their attention, and still a bit foolish. He resisted the urge to squirm — he was a fifty-six-year-old man for fuck’s sake — instead reaching for his glass of water. “Just. Don’t leave me alone, yeah?”
“We would never,” Stede promised. He looked like he wanted to press their foreheads together or something, but Izzy took a sip of water instead.
Stede gave him a knowing look.
“Fuck off, Bonnet,” Izzy muttered, but as soon as he’d put the glass back, Stede took Izzy’s face in his hands and kissed him gently.
By the time Stede pulled back, Izzy could feel heat across his cheeks, but the warm, syrupy feeling was back. He breathed out, and Ed rubbed at his back.
“Better?” Ed asked, voice low in his ear.
Izzy nodded, letting his eyes slip closed, just for a moment. Stede began humming again, but his hands stayed warm on Izzy’s thighs, rubbing up and down. Izzy felt surrounded, as though love was curling out through Stede and Ed. He let himself float and found that he was able to drift off, trapped between the two of them, as he’d always wanted.