Chapter Text
Thank goodness the storm hadn’t hit them by surprise, Stede thought, but still, after many hours fighting to keep the Revenge afloat, the crew was exhausted.
They had managed to get the ship ready and the sturdy vessel had resisted the huge waves and the high winds, but it had been a tough fight and now that the skies had finally cleared, the whole crew was trying to warm up on deck while they filled their empty stomachs with a noodle soup, the recipe that Roach had learned from Zheng’s cook and that they all loved.
Stede was helping Roach bring the last bowls of soup from the galley and when he looked around the deck his eyes immediately stopped on Izzy, who was very noticeably looking the worse for wear. He was as pale as a ghost and even though he was wrapping his arms around himself trying to get warm, the drenched clothes he was still wearing were clearly not helping the situation.
“Izzy!” Stede said as he rushed to his side. “My goodness, are you all right?”
“I’m fine, captain,” he replied, but his voice sounded too weak to be convincing.
Stede raised his hand to touch Izzy’s forehead, but it was immediately slapped away by the freezing cold hand of the annoyed first mate.
“He isn’t even eating his soup,” Frenchie snitched as soon as he swallowed the mouthful of noodles he had been hungrily chewing.
“Frenchie, mind your own business!” Izzy barked at him.“I’m just… not hungry right now,” he added weakly.
“That will not do, you have to warm up or you’ll catch pneumonia, Israel,” Stede chastised him. “Don’t we have another blanket around here?” he added looking around.
They had brought a few blankets while Roach cooked the soup for them, but apparently there weren’t enough for everybody. Oluwande, Jim and Archie were sharing one, as were Lucius and Pete, but probably the obtuse first mate had decided he didn’t need one. Well, he obviously needed it and Stede knew where to find quite a few.
He was about to go to his cabin to fetch a blanket when he saw a shiver shake Izzy’s frame. The man looked fragile and Izzy Hands never looked fragile, it was a disturbing sight.
“Come with me, Izzy,” Stede said. “I have some spare blankets in my cabin. You also need to get out of those wet clothes immediately.”
A chocking sound distracted Stede for a moment. Apparently Lucius had found some trouble while eating his noodles and Pete was hitting him firmly on the back while stifling a laugh for some reason.
“Bonnet, I don’t need-“
“That’s an order, Izzy,” Stede replied, using his best captain-voice. “I won’t have my first mate dying from a cold out of stubbornness. So let’s go, chop-chop.”
Stede took Izzy’s untouched bowl of soup and with a last warning look at Izzy, he started walking towards his cabin. With a resigned sigh, the first mate stood up slowly and started following him, limping lightly.
Before closing the door to the deck behind him, Stede took a last look at the rest of the crew and noticed that not only Frenchie, but also Lucius, Pete and Fang were smiling encouragingly at him and giving him the thumbs up. That was a bit disconcerting. Had they thought he wouldn’t care about Izzy when he clearly looked so poorly? Their animosity had died long ago and Stede had thought it was obvious he was quite fond of the angry little man now.
As he walked down the corridor towards his cabin, he had another worrying thought: what if Izzy himself didn’t think Stede cared about him? That surely couldn’t be, right? He had to know he did care… or maybe he thought Stede still held a grudge against him?
Stede didn’t have much time to dwell on it because they had already reached the cabin and Izzy was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room while shivering noticeably.
A warm bath would do wonders for him, Stede thought. And Roach probably still had the fire going after making the soup so it wouldn’t take too long to warm some water.
And indeed it didn’t take long. Stede asked Roach to fill the bathtub and when some time later the cook told him it was ready Stede still hadn’t managed to convince the stubborn man of the need of a hot bath. Izzy had wrapped himself in one of the blankets and insisted it was all he needed and Stede had to use all his authority to stop him from leaving the room.
“Now the bath is ready, Izzy,” Stede decided to change tactics. “You wouldn’t want to waste resources, would you?”
“Maybe the captain could use it then,” Izzy hit back. “Since it’s actually the captain’s bathtub.”
“Well,… we can both use it!”
Izzy’s eyes widened in surprise and at his back, Roach had a coughing fit. Smoking was such an awful habit, Stede thought as he turned to see the cook hitting his chest while still holding his lit cigarette.
“I’ll be going now,” the cook wheezed as he walked towards the door.
“Yes, thank you for everything, Roach,” Stede replied politely.
Turning his attention back to Izzy, Stede noticed the first mate was now staring at him with a strangely guarded expression on his face.
“As I was saying,” Stede continued. “Even thought the bathtub is in my quarters, there’s no reason why any other member of my crew can’t use it if needed. And you need it, Izzy, don’t try to tell me otherwise.”
Izzy blinked slowly and seemed to falter.
“Please, Israel,” Stede said softly. “Just… if not for yourself, could you do it for my peace of mind?”
Izzy’s shoulders sagged in defeat. He nodded lightly and Stede guided him towards the bathroom before he could change his mind.