#blackbearde

when stede had sent a message that he wanted to see his kids again, mary hadn't really had the heart to say no. they'd agreed to meet up in a place a distance away from barbados, so as not to have a dead man walking through town, undoing all of their hard work.

so when stede goes off with alma & louis, it leaves mary with this . . . ed is what stede had called him.

                    ♢    ♦    ♢          the  tension  within  his  chest  rises  as  the  fog  around  them.    fang  had  made  his  way  to  edward  as  soon  as  he  noticed  something  was  wrong.    he  can’t  quite  put  his  finger  on  what  exactly  has  him  on  edge,  but  he  knew  his  feeling  was  grounded  as  soon  as  he  found  blackbeard  peering  out  into  the  sea.    hand  gripped  firmly  around  the  axe  at  his  side,  fang  stays  one  pace  behind  edward’s  left.   it’s  a  position  that  comes  naturally  to  him  after  years  of  working  for  izzy    —    yet  he  finds  it  easier  to  fall  into  behind  blackbeard.

                    ♢    ♦    ♢          crazy?    yes.    free?    jackie  has  her  doubts.    she  looks  at  him  through  wary  eyes,  an  expression  not  commonly  seen  in  her  tavern    —    not  this  publicly.    the  rumors  about  blackbeard’s  grand  return  have  reached  her  before  he  did.    jackie  hadn’t  peticularly  cared  for  them,  as  rumors  more  often  than  not  were  just  rumors,  but  perhaps  she  should  have  reached  out  sooner.    she  looks  edward’s  features  framed  in  dark,  locks  hanging  and  beard  crawling  its  way  up  his  neck,  and  finds  the  black  face  paint  resembling  bars  to  a  window  that  would  usually  reveal  his  face.

“You were crying in your sleep.”

" i was? "   stede reaches a hand up to dab at his cheeks, faintly damp.  " . . . oh. "

he'd been having a nightmare. the nightmare. a splatter of blood, the voice of his father circling his head over and over, but this time, the blood had come from an eye of a man, impaled by a sword. his fault, and yet still he's nothing more than a pathetic, lily-livered -

. . . et cetera, et cetera.

" did i say anything? "   mary had told him that he often spoke in his sleep, he wouldn't be surprised if he had. he would imagine it would be something along the line of no, over and over, but he couldn't say for sure. actually he doesn't really care. ed is allowed access to every part of him, even that.

he rather wants to curl up on ed's chest, but unfortunately for him ed had to prop himself up to wake him, so he's stuck simply looking up. it's not so terrible a fate - the moonlight is streaming in through the window, casting a beautiful contrast on ed's face.

he sniffs twice, and wonders why his father ever called him pathetic. edward teach thinks he's wonderful and stede suspects that ed would be willing to insist on the matter.

“why the fuck would i ever trust you again?”

from @blackbearde ; prompt list.

stede bonnet is not a man well accustomed to trust, most take him for a simple fool or begrudge him the respect owed to trusting. yet there had never been any question that ed trusted him, even when he’d lain in his bathing chamber nestled beneath his battle robe. stede had never doubted as the first words of true friendship were shared, that trust was there as well. he’d had a much easier task in trusting, after all who wouldn’t trust ed? he was nothing if not a man of his word !

even upon a foundation of fuckery and mentions of doggy heaven they had found the groundwork’s of mutual trust. it continued through acts of grace, and ended when stede left ed to wait on his own. because he’d a tether to that life before he could not quite rid himself. a wife he ought to have loved, and children he’d cherished but never perhaps truly been a good parent to.

when he’d run back to that life, a man of misery and sowing more in his wake — destroying in easy flowing brushstrokes the life his wife had rebuilt. but there had been an awakening. a realization. it was not just trust he and ed had build, but love. and he had left it behind.

‘ i don’t think you should.

❝ i don’t think that’s a good idea, us being on the same team and all. ❞

" oh. . . " he may be right, but stede had been rather looking forward to his own plan - he'd been excited about it, really. his face twists into a frown.

he bounces back quickly though, because though his own plan wasn't viable   ( and it surely isn't for ed had said so and ed is rather good at this pirating thing )   now ed can come up with a new plan, or better yet, they can come up with a plan together!

" well then, what are we doing instead?  fire?  fuckery?  fff . . . flattery? "   the word fornication crosses stede's mind, and he thankfully suppresses that thought entirely before it can pass through his lips, let alone into the forefront of his mind.