Chapter Text
Izzy had noticed the man the moment he had walked into the tavern, but so had the rest of the people there. The man had been tall, blonde and handsome and his clothes had been colorful, expensive and more surprisingly, impeccably clean, which had made him stand out like a sore thumb.
He had also looked like the perfect victim in a place full of half-drunk pirates so it hadn’t taken long before one of them had pulled a knife on him to steal the noticeable bag of coins the man had been carrying. Big mistake.
The blonde man had known how to fight. In the blink of an eye the pirate had been knocked out on the ground and the stranger had simply straightened his outfit with a slightly annoyed look on his face, not a hair out of place.
The man had looked around the whole room with a cocky smile on his face as if daring any of them to try again, but before things could escalate, the owner of the place, a tough, short woman with more scars than many of the sailors in her business, had banged her fist on a table and had put a stop to it.
“Quarrels on the street!” she had yelled. “This is a serious warning!”
“Of course, ma’am,” the blonde man had said with a charming smile and a noticeable French accent. “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble, allow me to invite these gentlemen to a drink and put this unfortunate incident behind us. The next round is on me!” he had added loudly for the whole tavern to hear.
Everybody had cheered loudly and then they had gone back to their conversations and card games, ignoring the newcomer as long as they could get free rum. Izzy, who had been sitting alone in a corner while keeping an eye on his crew, had been ready to do the same, but suddenly the blonde man had appeared by his side and had offered him a drink.
Izzy had simply accepted it and god knew why, he hadn’t complained when the man had sat beside him, uninvited. Izzy had caught a glimpse of Bonnet’s frowning face and Lucius’ mischievous smirk then, but he had purposely ignored them as the man had introduced himself as Lestat de Lioncourt and had asked his name in that thick French accent of his, apparently unabashed by Izzy’s glare.
In the end Izzy had told the stranger his name and they had talked for a while and when a bit later the man had offered to share a room in the nearby inn, Izzy had looked at his silken shirt, his colorful jacket and the blonde hair framing the stupidly handsome face and he had said yes.
Still no idea why, Izzy thought as he walked back to the ship in the morning. He had been lonely, maybe. It had been too long since the last time he had allowed himself this, probably. So why the hell not? Right?
They had simply had a good time. The sex had been great and Izzy had enjoyed kissing that smug smile off his face and making him moan. The blonde man had been mindful of his stump, but hadn’t made a fuss over it and when they had parted ways he had not made it awkward or made cheap promises, he had simply smiled and wished Izzy safe travels before walking away.
So the thing was, why was Izzy feeling uneasy now, as he got closer to the Revenge? The image of Bonnet frowning at him kept coming back to his mind, but it was not as if the man, captain or not, could object to what Izzy did on shore leave. He did not have to, and he would not explain who he decided to spend the night with.
But still the image of Bonnet’s annoyed look persisted. Had he hated not being the centre of attention for once? Had he wanted the blonde stranger for himself? Well, it didn’t matter. He didn’t care. Or so Izzy kept repeating to himself as he reached the ship.