InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Shh! Can you hear them?"

Blackbeard (saltpepperbeard) wrote in chaosisland,
@ 2022-09-08 01:43:00

Who: Ed and Stede
What: Talking, TBD
Where: Starting on their boat
When: Just after sunrise Thursday
Closed/Ongoing/No warnings yet

Ed slid himself up against Stede’s back, chin on his shoulder, one hand around his middle while the other held a delicate teacup. They were on the ship now and though many things about it, and himself, and Stede had changed, the teacups had been replaced just as they had been. There were some things Ed didn’t want to lose, even if he didn’t actually like tea all that much.

He stared out over the water from his perch over Stede’s shoulder, wondering if they were looking at the same things, what the world looked like through Stede’s eyes. He thought it must be beautiful, but also wondered if maybe it was boring by now.

“You miss it?” he asked bluntly. He hadn’t really intended to, the words just fell from him at the whim of an overactive mind, but he had been wondering. Ed was all too willing to settle, to leave the life of wild adventure and piracy behind, but he’d barely ever known anything else. He was tired of it. He had always assumed he’d die long before a life of calm and routine would be even an option. But Stede had only just started his adventure, had already known a life of domesticity and island living. Where the only thing Ed missed was a handful off people (and even having that was a new concept to him), Stede had a whole life he’d worked for taken from him. Sure, they had the ship and the sea, but there was little pirating to be had and they could only go so far before finding themselves forced back. And even that they couldn’t do often as it was exhausting to actually sail the ship with just the two of them.

But he kept doing it. Because he knew how much being on this ship had meant to Stede and didn’t want him to grow to resent being stuck here with him. “We could take her out again. My knee isn’t too bad and the weather seems alright.” He didn’t recognize the sky today, but the air felt right. “Or a nature walk?” Stede seemed to like those, he thought, as long as they didn’t go too deep into the green island.

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stedebonnett
2022-09-14 07:31 pm UTC (link)

Perhaps all the quiet simply wasn't good for him. In the before, with Mary and the children, life had always been about noise. It had been lost to him in boredom before, but there had always been noise of people around - to finally have quiet he thought a revelation, an epiphany that entered his mind as if Stede had lost a part of himself to that noise. But he was slowly coming to the realisation that silence didn't suit him either. There had to be more to existence than simply waiting for something exciting to happen. Noise wasn't noise when you were part of the crowd shouting.

Still, he nevertheless felt anchored by the steadying weight of Ed's arms around his middle to center him back to their reality. Like it or not, they had to make the best of what they had instead of wishing for islands to explore and natives to barter with. Island life was still better than death threats and secrecy, after all.

"Perhaps you should stab me. Metaphorically speaking, I mean. We shouldn't simply waste away in boredom and booze, should we? Who knows truly where the boundaries of the ocean lie here, maybe there's a pocket of an escape route nobody else has found. That's something to look for, isn't it?"

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saltpepperbeard
2022-10-21 06:20 am UTC (link)

Ed's nose wrinkled a little. He didn't like the idea of hurting Stede, even metaphorically. He still remembered what he'd looked like the first time Ed had seen him in person, stabbed, hanged, half dead, and getting closer every second. He'd been so pale, looked almost hollow with dark shadows over his face. Nothing like the man Ed held now, sun-kissed and broader than ever, both of them having put on a little weight from the easier life full of sweets and chocolate and decadent dinners without the work to balance them out.

But maybe there were ways to inject some excitement without pain. Ed...wasn't sure he knew of any, but it was worth the thought. Stede seemed to want exploration, that should be easy enough?

"Maybe we can find a smaller boat," he suggested, still speaking mostly into Stede's shoulder. There were a few others on the water with them but they seemed to be owned by other residents and he thought it might be better not to piss off their fellow captives. "Or build one."

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