To Live on the Land We Must Learn from the Sea

Chapter 12

No, I have not abandoned this fic! Updates are just excruciatingly slow, which I am very sorry for! I will talk more about this at the end of the chapter.

Word Count: 4,503

  One thing Stede would not miss about being a merman was the lack of headaches. He had woken up with his head pounding. The light filtering through the windows forced him to cover his eyes with his hands. 

  "Ah, good ol hangovers," Ed's voice said from somewhere in the room. He heard the clinking of metal gliding across metal and the room darkened past Stede's eyelids. He squinted each open slowly to see that the captain had drawn the curtains, dimming the room to a more bearable state. 

  Ed held out a glass of water for Stede, who barely remembered to sign a thank you before downing it like a man in a desert. 

  Stede pointed to his own head, then to Ed as if to ask "what about you?"

  Ed was getting pretty good at reading him. "My body is used to drinking at this point. I woke up earlier and got some water. My headache is almost gone." Ed was surprised Stede hadn't woken up with him, given that he had to practically pry himself out of the other man's grip, which didn't seem to loosen overnight at all. "Anyway, I brought you some food. That should help with the headache." He held up a plate of bread, fruit, and a few strips of dried meat. 

   Stede sat up even more, reaching for a roll of bread. He tore a piece off, smiling at the buttery flavor. 

  "Oh! Roach sent this up with me. He found it in the back of a cabinet. Said it's for bread." He passed a jar and a knife to Stede, who read the handwritten label on the jar. Marmalade, it said. 

  Stede tore the roll in half and slathered some marmalade on with the knife, then squished it back together and took a bite. The sweet, citrusy flavor coated his tongue, making him close his eyes as he savored it. He held out the remainder of his roll to Ed. 

  The pirate chuckled. "That's alright, I'll get my own. Thanks, though." He took a roll from the plate and Stede passed him the marmalade and knife.

  Stede watched as Ed ate his roll, thinking back to the night before. His memory seemed to get a little fuzzy after he and Ed danced together. 

  The blond looked at the man across from him, who had finished the roll and was licking his fingers. He noticed a smudge of marmalade near the corner of his mouth and before he could think better of it, Stede reflexively reached out, wiping it off with his thumb. 

 Ed stopped what he was doing and looked at Stede, who just then realized what he had done. He blushed and signed a quick apology. 

  Ed laughed. "No worries, mate. I didn't even realize it was there." 

  Stede relaxed back against his pillow until the memories from the night before came flooding back. His eyes widened. I was supposed to seduce Ed last night! What happened!?

  He remembered feeling warm. Limbs entangled. Skin on skin. But none of that felt…sexual. He blushed.