The Thrill Of You

Chapter 10

Stede's POV

I was conversating with Lucius, carrying out duties amongst the ship as others had brought things to my attention. I was doing my best for the crew, trying to have the first impression of being a captain a good one. It was only just a little after I had woken up, but the sun was fairly bright despite the clouds. It wasn't long after being relieved from a quick conversation that I heard a voice behind me, jumping a little and turning around to be face to face with Ed.

"Hey... Why didn't you wake me?" He whispered, his eyes still heavy with sleep but yet he stood there perfectly. Ed seemed timid for the first time that I had met him and I found it cute, though immediately it had sunken in that he asked me a question, which I had rushed to reassure him. "You looked too peaceful to wake up, besides, we've had a rough few days, escaping and all. Figured you would need the rest," I told him, though I had tried my best to not stumble with my words after having gotten a good look at Ed.

He was wearing a red robe, one that had an intricate design across the smooth material. I had seen him eyeing it before when we had been in the wardrobe closet, seeing that the sleeves engulfed his arms as they stayed at his sides. Bit of a shame really, his tattoos had been something I looked forward to in the day. I looked back to his face, having accidentally looked at his chest for a minute before I noticed he was smiling. Genuinely smiling. "Well... T-thanks, mate. Um- I'm gonna change. Could I borrow a set of clothes so I can air out mine?" He asked, to which I kind of delayed my answer while trying not to look down at his chest again, only barely having seen a tattoo peaking out from under his beard.

"O-of course, take your pick, I'll be with Roach helping with breakfast if you need me," I told him, smiling back as he nodded and trotted off. I shook the weird feeling off as I made my way down to the dining area of sorts. "Hey, need any help down here?" I asked, seeing the man named Roach with a towel swung over his shoulder. I guess time went by a little faster than I had thought as I saw that he was nearly finished. I had meant to help him and maybe learn a bit from him. "Nah, man, the guys just have to dish it out, and then chow down," He told me, to which I nodded, figuring a way that I could help.

"I'll tell the men that it's ready then, and I'll take care of the dishes," I proposed, seeing him take a minute to process my offer, after a while receiving a nod. I nodded back before going up and keeping a mental list of those aboard to let them know it was time to eat. I let Jim and Olu know first, having seen them on deck as soon as I came up, letting them know to tell anyone else if they came by the other men.

I walked about and found more of my crew, one by one, even finding Buttons in the crow's nest. "Alright, Wee John and Ed should be the last ones," I told myself, immediately finding Wee John tying up a rope that had supposedly come loose. I came alongside him when I found him just at the end of tying up the rope's knot. "Ah, breakfast is ready," I told, hearing him groan as he stood, nodding as he acknowledged me and proceeded to hobble off. With that, all I needed was to grab Ed, and then we could enjoy breakfast.

I wandered off to the captain's cabin, knocking on the door to see if he was in there. "Come in!" I heard from the other side of the door, slowly opening it and just stopping in my tracks. I shut the door behind me as Ed stood there, leaning against the chaise lounge as he nonchalantly rolled up his sleeves. I had no words for this sight. "Um- break- breakfast is done. It's- Roach finished cooking it, I mean," I sputtered out, seeing Ed look up before stopping his actions of rolling his sleeves. "Oh, great timing," Ed exclaimed, finishing the action of rolling his sleeve and pushing off the couch to stand, putting his hands on his hips.

"So, how do I look?" Ed asked, but there were no coherent words that came to my brain. I felt stuck in place, unable to look him in the eyes, a hot temperature laying across my body. But he asked a question, whatever was happening needed to be pushed away. "Y-you look great, it's- you look good in that... Outfit," I stuttered out, finding it hard for some reason to complete my thoughts. "You okay, mate? You look a little shaken and hot," Ed told me, walking forward and seeing him look at my face. "Today's pretty warm, maybe leave the overcoat," He told me, to which I nodded and went past him to the bedroom, quickly taking off the teal coat and putting it on its assigned hook.

I walked to where Ed stood, smoothening out my shirt and looking at him as he nodded. "Come on, before they wonder where we are," He whispered, a little smile going with his words as he opened the door. The few times I've seen him smile, it welcomes a sense of heat in my stomach, with no words to describe how it made me feel. I once again had shaken off the feeling and followed Ed down to where the crew was eating and conversating. The both of us sat around the table once we had grabbed some food, looking at the group and seeing everyone grow silent.

"Um, hello?" I mumbled, feeling like I was back in boarding school with all the boys where I was not welcome. "Shouldn't the captain- er, captains be eating in the captain's cabin?" Black Pete asked, to which everyone murmured in agreement. I looked at Ed, finding no words. "Uh, we didn't want to interrupt, I guess we'll go up. Roach, let me know when breakfast is over for dish duty," I announced, getting up and walking away, yet again, up the stairs. Ed followed behind me, trying to adjust something around the area of his shoulder. "First day as captain, we'll learn," He assured me, to which I kind of nodded half-heartedly. I was sure he was right, but I still felt like I had been out of place, not knowing what their expectations were.

Getting back into the captain's cabin, I sat along that table that had been a gift. I started to kind of stare off a bit, unable to really pay attention to anything. "What's on the agenda today?" Ed asked, bringing my attention to him as he was eating. I tried to think back to what needed to be done, taking notice of Ed's unwavering gaze. "I believe it's just getting out the working kinks of duties for now," I told him, trying to smile back as decided to eat. So far, it had been okay, everyone had figured it out a bit more than I had.

Hopefully, it wouldn't all go south.