#no notes there

i think at first - specifically with izzy - stede tries really hard to seem unflappable. not just during sex, but especially during sex. because, like, either izzy took a lot of wooing or else he seemed to just go with stede too because ed said so or whatever, so stede is nervous that he'll either decide stede can't handle him or he'll get scared off himself. so stede is constantly tamping down on his reactions and just acting like he's totally prepared for anything and everything izzy throws at him.

and! this actually does work! and doesn't backfire! incredible! because izzy is nervous that stede won't be able to handle him or won't want the full picture. and izzy is an in-your-face and rip-the-bandaid-off kind of person generally speaking, so he does basically "throw" all the parts of himself he thinks stede will find objectionable at him.

so instead of them sitting down and izzy saying "hey, stede, just so you know, i have a vagina" and stede saying "oh, thank you for letting me know, and i'm still looking forward to having sex with you equally as much" like normal people, izzy just kind of... lets stede. have a little treasure hunt in his pants and kind of stumble upon the cat hiding in the bush.

and stede is like internally screaming - both in a good way and a panicked way, because something a little unexpected is always thrilling but also historically stede doesn't have a great track record with pussies kasfklks - but! externally, he just kind of. briefly freezes, recalibrates, and continues on like there's no surprises here. which is honestly a huge relief to izzy because he doesn't want to talk about it god forbid, and it would suck if stede was put off but it would also suck if he was like too into it.

and then stede finds the piercing, and he freezes again but this time he also audibly gasps, and izzy tenses up in his arms, maybe he even growls a little bit because he's just as much of a freak as everyone else on this fucking boat lmfao.

and stede, not knowing what the fuck else to say, given what he wants to do is throw izzy down and tear his pants the rest of the way off and look, chokes out, "that must have hurt quite a bit."