The Thrill Of You

Chapter 17

Stede's POV

One week later

It had been somewhat of a cool day, with gentle breezes, but it still had been all but calm. Ed had been stressed, for even if he had told Roach, that was all who knew, except myself. I sighed as I saw Ed practicing walking without pulling on the stitches, which we had fixed eventually so he would quit bleeding through the bandaging. "Ed, do you think it would help if you took a relaxing bath? You seem stressed a bit, maybe it could also help with the wound?" I asked, seeing him quirk his head a bit to face me while not turning his body, still being very weary of his stitches.

"I-I guess if you think it would help. But um- I can't really bend much, you think you could lend a hand?" Ed whispers a bit, barely moving to turn my way. I began to, what I know now as, blush and began stuttering but no words would come out. It clicks for Ed at that moment and I just stopped attempting to talk. "Oh! No, not like that! I- uh, I can't work the thing," He clarifies, and if not for his beautifully tanned skin, I would have been sure that he was blushing.

I shake my head, putting my book on the table before standing. "No, no, don't worry Ed. I can run the bath for you," I assure him, making my way into the bathroom to go draw a bath. After disappearing, and starting the bath with this weird contraption that allowed the sun to heat up what would be a tub's worth of water and putting in some soap to make bubbles, I left to tell Ed. "Hey, Ed, the water is warm," I told him, seeing that he already stripped himself of half of the shirt, which must have been done while I was drawing the bath.

"Let me know if you need any help," I told him, getting out of the doorway and going back to the couch to continue my book. I looked over briefly at his body, meaning to look respectfully to just peek at the tattoos that adorned his chest and arms. But the more I stared as he shrugged the rest of the shirt, I began to blush and averted my gaze when he walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind himself. I had never felt that with Mary, not being able to keep my eyes off of him, but then I shook my head. Comparing him to Mary? Where did that come from?

"Stede? A little help?" I heard Ed's voice come through the door, albeit muffled, I heard it. I quickly stood and ran toward the door, bursting in to see that there were more bubbles than there had been before when I left. "Is this... Relaxing? Am I doing it?" He asked sheepishly, holding out a pile of bubbles to gesture to the tub, to which I stood there dumbfounded for a second. He apparently figured out how bubbles worked.

"I-I'd think so, but um- do you know how to wash your hair perhaps?" I asked, seeing him shake his head as he slumped into the bubbles, almost disappearing. "Here, I'll show you," I offered, shutting the door behind me and taking the stool from the corner, only having seen his head nod a little. I sat down and grabbed the tiny cup off of the floor that was for bathing, dipping it into the water that I couldn't see under the bubbles, and moved to slowly pour the water over his head, feeling his long hair begin to wet down over time.

After lathering up some lavender soap into his hair, I began to massage it into his skull gently. I heard the slightest noise, a pleasant hum of sorts before I went to pull my hand back, getting it caught in some of the long locks of his hair. I didn't expect to hear him yelp, pulling against my hand and accidentally jerking my hand into the bubbles with another small yelp. But this one sounded different. "I'm so sorry, Ed, I didn't mean to tug on your hair," I apologized, carefully removing my hand so I could rinse his hair. "Oh- no. No problem... Sensitive scalp, don't worry," Ed assured, though he sunk into the bath a bit more.

"Ah, well, alright. As long as you aren't hurt," I sighed, looking around for the cup and seeing that Ed had been messing with it. "Would you like me to leave so you can rinse your hair?" I asked, seeing a slight nod as he sat up a bit. I nodded back, stepping out carefully but quickly. I had only asked because I realized the bubbles started to slowly dissipate and I was already rather in the know of his tattoos, but at the moment, that was all I wanted to be in the know of to let Ed have privacy. He didn't have much left given that I had sewn him up and seen him nearly shirtless. 

"Hey, Stede... I accidentally got the bandages wet," Ed announced, opening the bathroom door slightly while holding a rolled-up hunk of soaked bandages. "Ah, that's fine, I'll go grab some from the infirmary, below deck," I told him, avoiding staring at his chest for too long. I left and went down the stairs, passing up Black Pete sitting on a barrel, looking as if he was waiting for someone. I brushed it off, going down more steps and finding the bandages, making a sound of victory before I was about to retreat to Ed and I's shared quarters.

"You know, you'd make a good couple, the two of you," I heard an anonymous voice say before I spotted Lucius and nearly jumped out of my skin. "Geez, man, don't scare me like that," I whispered, hiding the bandage in my pocket and carefully retracting my hand. "The crew can see it too ya know," Lucius told me as he was exiting back up to the deck, eyeing me as I kept my pocket from eye's view. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my quarters," I asserted, walking away to climb the small set of stairs. "Sure... Your quarters," He taunted, though I ignored it and went to the door without another problem. After entering, there stood Ed, drying his hair before looking at me as I came in. I stood in place for a minute with a brain malfunction sort of moment, looking at the tattoos on his chest, though I did my best to snap out of it. "G-got the bandages," I murmured, looking away as I tried to hand them to Ed, though he looked at me with a confused expression.

"I uh- can't bend, at all," Ed mumbled, still looking at me as I held the bandages. "Oh! Right!" I exclaimed a little too loudly, moving to put it around his torso while he moved his hair. I went all the way around, making sure it was tight enough to not fall off but still loose enough to be able to move about. I was face-level with his stomach, still looking at the tattoos that I could see, from most days, he kept the silk robe on to make it more convenient to be clothed, still including pants for the "just in case" factor.

I finished the bandaging process quickly, stepping back and moving to allow Ed to move about freely. "Get some rest if you'd like, I'll handle everything today," I told him, seeing him nod as he slowly put on his favorite robe. "I think I might just do that," Ed told me, though it surprised me that he finally would rest. It felt odd, Ed allowing himself to have a break, but he really deserved one. No one, except Roach and I, knew of the sort of injury, so he just kept pushing himself. Just earlier, he was learning how to walk normally without pulling on the stitches. I smiled and picked up my book, looking at Ed that rested against the window once more before sitting down, opening my book, and reading just as I had been doing before.