Who are Ed’s ‘absolutely two perfect people’, whilst Stede goes on about ‘a ship’?
They are speaking in abstracts, yet both know the meaning is concrete. That they understand, to varying degrees, what the other is saying is so beautifully presented and realised here.
I love how Ed turns towards Stede first, desperate to initiate greater connection, whilst Stede’s still pondering the idea.
It leads both down the same road to ‘Co-captain’, in which they mirror bodily, full eye contact, the word mostly in sync.
Ed’s character arc is ahead of Stede’s. Ed knows here, I think, and Stede ‘knows’.
The way Ed can’t hold Stede’s gaze straight after just kills me. He looks away, shy, overwhelmed, before managing to come back to clink glasses. Meanwhile, Stede’s just buzzing away confidently with happiness.
‘We said the same thing,’ - which they do often. They understand each other because in this particular situation, they’re both speaking the same language, though the depth of understanding each has is unclear.
They aren’t quite there yet emotionally to explore the true meaning of Co-captain, and that they’ve just entered a domestic partnership
