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“Er – Captain?”
Stede turned back from a moment of staring out onto the horizon. The salty sea breeze ruffled his hair and he had been so focused on the distant cry of seagulls mingling with the crack of water against wood that he almost hadn’t heard the intrusion. He found Lucius standing before him looking a tad harried. He’d been a lot calmer recently, but suddenly the lad was downright pale with fright.
Lucius stood there, his brows knitted tight and his hands fidgeting at his sides. What was causing such a panic? On such a lovely early evening, it seemed unreal that there would be any problems, even aboard a pirate ship.
“What is it, mate? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“No ghost. We do have an issue, though. Blackbeard, er – I mean, Edward is, erm, well, I think he’s quite ill.”
“What do you mean, ill?”
He had last spoken to Ed only hours ago, insisting that his co-captain go get some sleep, since he was looking quite peaked. His skin had been pale and clammy and his whole demeanor had just been ragged, like he was too exhausted. Oh. Or perhaps he was ill. In hindsight, that made more sense. After all, his skin had been positively ashen and his face had been all scrunched up with discomfort.
“He staggered into me and I honestly assumed he was drunk. Then, he demanded that I go fetch him one of your, and I quote, ‘obscenely soft blankets.’ Immediately.”
“And?”
“I got him one of your obscenely soft blankets,” Lucius quipped back, a bit of his old ferocity slipping into the words. “Too slowly, evidently, because he threatened to castrate me if I didn’t hurry it up. It was a gentle threat, though, I assure you. I gave him the blanket and he collapsed onto your bed. He’s there and he’s also burning up with a fever. I checked before I left… He was asleep, I think, so I touched…”
“Risky move.”
“I’m a risk taker these days. Anyway, the crew has their eye on the horizon, most everyone is up. Roach is making a soup and we’ll send some down for him or something… Get down there. He needs you.”
You didn’t have to tell him twice. Stede gave Lucius a cursory nod, then made his way below deck. In the center of their bed was a bundle of blankets. Ed’s hair was present at the top of the blankets, a tangled mess that was the only indication that the figure was human. He’d taken on a sort of bundled blob shape, blanket tucked around him.
“Ed?”
There was no answer, so Stede sat on the opposite side of the bed and gently curled a fist in the fabric. He tugged, attempting to pull the blanket away from Ed. Ack, he could already feel the heat coming off of the pirate in waves. Ed pulled back against his attempt, grumbling.
“No, ‘s my blanket,” Ed complained in a whine.
“Actually, it’s mine.”
He loosened Ed’s tight hold on the blanket enough to slip a hand under and feel a path up Ed’s chest. It was completely bare and slick with sweat. He noticed Ed’s clothing at the foot of the bed. Somehow he’d managed to wriggle out of his clothes while under the blanket.
“Oh darling, you’re burning up, aren’t you?”
Ed was unrecognizable under the blanket. Stede could hear his breaths coming in short, labored gasps. He was shivering too.
Ed laughed a strange laugh at that and Stede got the slightest glimpse into his eyes. They seemed lost, hazy. “No, that’s dumb. I’m not burning up. ‘m freezing. It’s so fucking cold in here…”
It wasn’t.
Stede carefully pressed the back of his hand to Ed’s forehead and it was absolutely on fire.
“Seems you’re sick, love,” he said, scooting so that he was on the bed beside Ed, half holding him. The dim light from the lantern cast flickering shadows across room. The bed creaked as he pushed himself closer. Ed relented his tight hold on the blanket to wrap his arms around Stede, holding on as tightly as possible. “We’re going to get you something to drink and Roach is making up a soup. We can brew that up and see if it makes you feel better. How’s that sound?”
“Bad.”
“Why?”
“You would have to let go of me to go get it,” Ed explained, so matter-of-factly that it tugged at his heart. Stede took a moment and brushed his lover’s hair back out of his face. A pang of worry knotted in his chest as he brushed back Ed’s hair, taking in his expression. He reached onto the bedside table for a cord to tie up his hair. “I can’t accept that.”
“I suppose I could stay here a little bit longer,” Stede conceded, carefully tying back Ed’s hair while combing his fingers through the tangles there, gently loosening them up. Poor thing was positively drenched with sweat. It was a bit awkward to do while half draped over him, but he got it up and out of his face. “We’ll make you feel better soon, okay? You’ll be right as rain and I’m here now…”
Ed rolled a little closer and positlvey latched himself to Stede’s side. He coughed and Stede could hear a rattling in his chest. Definitely not good. Ed coughed a few more times before half climbing on top of Stede and pressing his face into the crook of his neck. It would have been nice if he wasn’t fretting over his lover’s health. He ran a hand down his slick back.
“Mhm, don’t you get frisky with me,” Ed huffed. “I don’t feel good enough.”
The comment was enough to make him laugh. If Ed wasn’t in the mood, then it meant he really felt like shit. He let Ed hold him and just stayed still there, wondering if he would drift back to sleep. It was a very soft, intimate moment, Ed pressed into him, the blanket still wrapped tight around him. It was wonderful seeing him like this. It was wonderful being trusted to see him like this.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let temptation get the better of me,” he said, pressing a kiss to the other man’s head and holding him a moment. It was comforting.
After that, Stede stayed quiet, just listening to the sound of Ed’s breathing. The room was quiet except for the usual noises and Ed’s soft, labored breaths. His breathing was a bit congested, louder than normal, but it evened out as he dozed off to sleep again. He pressed another kiss to the top of his head and kept him there, wondering if there was any way to get himself disentangled. Holding Ed like that, running a hand down his slick back, he let himself take a few deep breaths.
His mind wandered, naturally. He had never been a man to sit still for too long. He wanted to get up, do something, help Ed feel better, but he was positively trapped in his position. His eyes closed as he rubbed the hand up and down Ed’s back, smiling sleepily to himself as the pirate practically purred in his arms.
A cough snapped him out of his quiet moment. He expected Lucius to be the one peering into the room, but to his surprise, it was Izzy. The grizzled old pirate actually groaned at the sight of them.
“What is it?” he asked, defensive.
“The lad told me Edward was sick,” he said, leaning on the doorframe. “I said heaven help us all. Had this thing with his ears once, years ago, and bit me when I tried to give him some medicine from a port doctor. Looks like you’ve got it well under control this time, though.”
Stede wanted to point out that he didn’t do anything except disentangle Ed from the blankets and hold him, but the look on Izzy’s face was one of almost approval. That almost approval was more than he could have dreamed of a year ago.
“He’s burning up,” Stede murmured. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Izzy stepped over, the prosthetic leg dragging as he did. He pushed a glass vial into Stede’s left hand and then tugged off the water skin he had slung over his left shoulder.
“Two drops of that and make the idiot drink some water. Crew is gonna send down the soup in about ten minutes. You’re doing alright, Captain.”
“I…thank you,” he said, trying, but failing to tamp down the gratitude. “You say he bit you?”
Izzy’s eyes seemed far away for a moment. His relationship with Ed was such a complicated one, but Stede was learning to recognize the genuine fondness there. He was a loyal man who had followed Ed through thick and thin. He hadn’t always done the right thing, but he belonged here, on this ship.
Casually, the man turned up his sleeve. To Stede’s shock, among the other scars that littered his arm was one that definitely looked like the crescent shape of a human bite. Izzy gave a slight smirk when their eyes met again.
“Take care of him.”
“Would you fuck off already, Izz?” Ed murmured, his words heavy with sleep. He rolled so that he was tucked into Stede’s side. “Wanna sleep and your voice is annoying.”
Stede snorted, surprised.
Izzy took it in stride.
“Gentlemen. See you later.”
“That was rather rude,” he said, stroking the sweat-slicked hair back from his lover’s face.
“I’m rather sick.”
“Did you really bite him?”
Ed looked up with a soft, tired expression. He seemed a bit more coherent, but still too tired for words.
“Which time?” he asked, snorting before bursting into a coughing fit. It shook his whole body, making him tremble. He eventually stopped though, Stede rubbing circles on his back. Ed groaned. “Hey, love?”
“What is it, darling?”
“Can we get another one of those blankets? This one’s all sweaty.”
Stede’s heart bounced in his chest. God, he loved this man.
“Absolutely.”