The Captains' Bed - Our Flag Means Death (EdxStede)

The Captains' Bed

For the first few days of co-captaining, Edward and Stede slept apart. But by day four, the lanky bearded pirate was invited to share all the perks of leading the Revenge - which included the ludicrously comfortable captain's bed.

"Are you sure?" Ed asked as he stood in front of Stede.

"Yes of course! Don't be silly. There's plenty of room. And you're much too tall for the couch."

There had, in fact, been a montage-worthy series of tumbles where the sway of the ship had knocked Ed out of bed, or Stede had run into his feet in the dark on the way to the chamber pot. Several bad nights' sleep had weighed on him, in fact, to the point where Stede had noticed dark circles under the other man's eyes.

Like several finishes on the Revenge, the couch was built for form over comfort.

Now, Ed stood in front of Stede, who was dressed in his nightclothes, perched on the very edge of the bed, smiling in a slightly awkward, slightly dopy way up at the bearded pirate. "Just one question: do you want the inside of the bed or the outside? A warning: I do have a bit of a fussy bladder so if you take the outside, you may find me clambering over you in the middle of the night."

Ed tilted his head and for a moment, something short-circuited in his brain with that mental image. It took him a good few moments for him to realize that the foppish little man meant that in an entirely innocent way.

The volume of his beard hid the pirate's microexpressions, but his lips twitched and warmth grew in his dark eyes. "You take the outside, then."

"Then it's settled! A share in the captaincy in all ways, including its comforts," said Stede as he stood to allow the other man access to the nook that held the bed.

Ed eyed the luxurious bed a bit suspiciously. Even on his own ship, he had a rather threadbare cabin. It wouldn't have done for a fearsome pirate to be seen luxuriating, after all. He eyed it as if he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Then he started to climb in, and Stede stepped in front of him.

"Aren't you going to change into your bedthings first?" he asked.

Ed looked down at his leather clothing. "What's wrong with this?"

"Well, for one, your suit has little metal pointy bits all in it. That can't be comfortable. A captain needs a clear head, which means a good night's rest. And all that leather is going to be a bit warm to sleep in, don't you think? When we switched clothes, I'm pretty sure I was wet as the ocean when I finally got out of it." Stede grinned awkwardly, once again unaware of just how suggestive his words were.

Ed shrugged a bit shyly. Sometimes being in Stede's presence made him realize how little he knew about how other people lived - especially a gentleman.

But he very much wanted to learn. To be more than he was.

Stede, sensing Ed's hesitation, strided purposefully across the cabin. At that moment, the ship swayed a bit, and his completely impractical-for-a-ship slippers caused him to slip and reach out to grab hold of the edge of a wall sconce for purchase. He straightened himself up and flashed a smile at Ed, then pulled the secret lever to access his closet.

He returned a moment later with a near-identical nightgown to the one he was wearing, except it had a trim of red ribbon around the edges. "Here. Wear this."

Ed hesitated and took the soft cotton garment from Stede. He fingered it, looked unsure, then reached up to unzip the leather top.

Stede watched for a moment as the other man undressed, revealing how the tattoos on his arms continued onto his chest, and how new ones were revealed by the process. He had never seen tattoos before his choice to become a pirate. He found himself as fascinated by it as by any gallery piece he'd been privileged to witness.