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Izzy, foolish and stupid as he decided he was, tried. He stopped calling Bonnet Bonnet and started calling him stede. He stole the things they'd want;the stupid little foods and the soft clothing and the little knickknacks, tucked them on the shelves and tables when stede was out
He's not sure why he tries. They don't want him, they'll never want him; no one ever has, after all (But that wasn't true, was it. Edward wanted him as his first mate, got down on one knee and grasped his wrist and told him of the things they'd do together and he was caught.)
He'd never been able to deny Ed anything, after that, but now he found himself desperately trying to please both of them, despite the fact that Ed hadn't even looked at him or the crew in weeks. If not for Izzy, the ship certainly would've run aground or mutinied by now.
The crew, to be fair, seemed to have gained begrudging respect for Izzy. He, in turn, was trying to teach them how to actually work a ship. They had settled into...not peace, but it was nice to actually be listened to when he told people to do things.
After another successful raid, Izzy let himself into the Spanish captain's cabin. He successfully looted several bottles of good alcohol, a little statuette of a big cat, a few books (Did stede read Spanish? He wasn't sure), and a little jar that looked like something sweet.
With the crew still securing boxes in the hold, Izzy headed down to the captain's cabin, bag in his hands. They should still be on deck, he should have a moment and then they could assume the other was being nice or something.
That plan would've gone better if Stede wasn't sitting on the bed and Ed wasn't by the bathroom door. Izzy went very, very still.
"Oh! Hello there, Izzy" Stede waved and Izzy seriously considered running and/or throwing himself off the ship. "What do you have there?"
He took a quiet breath and opened his mouth to make an excuse and he didn't even get the words out of his mouth before Edward said. "don't fucking lie, Israel."
He had never been able to lie to his captain. "I. Thought you two would. Want these." He growls.
Stede came up and took the bag and Izzy was half out the door when Stede said, very softly, "Oh...darling, thank you so much!" And he shuttered, unable to stop from turning to stare at Stede.
He wasn't sure when the last time anyone had ever thanked him was.
"What'd he get?" Ed wondered. "Some lovely looking....alcohol?" "Orujo." Izzy whispered, entirely unsure why hes still standing here. "'s Brandy, it's good.
"Yes, that. And also a darling little lion statue, and some lovely books! Thank you so much, my dear, these are wonderful"
From this direction, with Izzy looking at him, Stede could see the way his eyes went soft under the praise. He'd never seen that look on Izzy's face before and suddenly he desperately wanted to see it more.
"Izzy"he found himself saying."Won't you stay and have some of this lovely Orujo with us?"
Izzy stilled, eyes flickering to Ed,but Ed's gaze was still expressionless and he didn't know what the right answer was but Stede kept looking at him *like that* and so he gave a tiny nod
He found himself on the couch, suddenly, a glass of Orujo in his hand. "So, have you been leaving all of them little things we've been finding?" Stede wondered idly and Izzy flinched; of course. This had to be some kind of trap.
"Yessir."
"You have such wonderful taste!Those little octopus statues were so charming,Ed loved them didn't you Ed?"
Izzy turned dark, terrified eyes to Ed, and Ed...Ed fucking *smiled* at him. "Yeah" His voice was soft, the kind of tone only bonnet got. "Yeah,those were fucking cute Iz."
Izzy visibly relaxed into the pillows, eyes going soft and gentle the way he'd used to look at Ed. It's fucking *addictive*. "Yeah, Iz." he murmured, again. "You did fuckin' great, Iz. That lemon curd you got us was fuckin' amazing."
"Ed." He choked out. "Ed, we don't have to do this...you don't have to pretend you still w...want...I didn't...that's not w...why I gave you them."
"I know." Ed's voice was soft. "You gave us those things because you're a fuckin' wonderful first mate, and you love me."
Izzy's eyes went wide and terrified. He slid to his knees, trembling slightly, and Ed tangled a hand in his hair and tugged him close.
"It's alright, Iz." he murmured. "It's alright. I'm sorry, I've been a right ass to you haven't I."
"Sir" "No. I have, Iz. I've been a right ass and you've been trying so hard. C'mere, put your head on my knee, there's a good boy." He stroked a hand through Izzy's hair, and guided him closer so he was leaning properly against his good knee, Stede watching with wide eyes.
"C'mere." Stede dropped down onto the couch next to Ed, shooting Izzy a soft smile. "This Orujo really is lovely! Have you had it before, Israel?"
"Yessir." he mumbled. "'s one of my favorites." "What? No, you like Whiskey" Ed tilted his head. Izzy flushed. "*You* like whiskey"
"Breakin' my fuckin' heart, Iz." Ed whispered hoarsely. "God, I don't deserve you. Never have." "Captain?"
"I'm gonna do better, Iz." He assured him, softly. Izzy slumped in relief, nuzzling his head into Ed's hand. It struck Ed that Izzy had thought he'd be asked to *leave*
"You want some food, Iz? I bet we got some lovely lemon curd left." Izzy's dark eyes focused on his face and Ed smiled down at him, sweet and soft and Izzy melted under the attention, going practically boneless against his leg.
"Stede, do we have any of that nice bread left?"
Izzy looked beyond content like this, at his captain's side, and Stede could barely make himself look away. They made a beautiful sight. Stede got some of the nice bread, added a generous amount of lemon curd, and left a plate at Ed's elbow and went to chat with Roach.
Izzy eats every bite Ed offers him, thankfully. He's lost too much weight since they stopped doing this. Ed had almost let himself forget about Izzy's food issues and god he felt so fucking guilty about that too.
"This stuff is real good." He nods at the curd. "Good find, Iz."
Izzy preens in delight under the praise, closing his eyes and relaxing into Ed's legs. A strong hand stroked through his hair and he let himself drift, like that; he hadn't been able to sleep well in months but like this there was none of the usual biting terror.
Stede's footsteps roused him; for once, Izzy had no idea how long had passed, but when he tilted his head up to look at them they were both looking so *gentle. "Got a treat for ya, iz." Ed cooed, holding down a bit of pastry. Izzy leaned up and ate it, obediently.
It was a soft, sweet pastry, full of lemon curd and chocolate, and Izzy gave a desperately eager sound. Stede laughed, but not *at* him, and then he offered a piece.
Ed stilled, but relaxed visibly when Izzy ate that one, too, still looking content as could be.
"one of you is going to have to explain this to me eventually" Stede murmured, and Ed shrugged. "Iz doesn' like making decisions. He likes orders. He likes it when I take care of him. I've been a right ass recently, ignoring him, so I'm taking care of him. We're."
"Alright," Ed murmured, after a little while. "Bedtime, sweetheart." Izzy slumped a little sadly and Ed was quick to curl a hand around the back of his neck. "No. You're coming *with* us, Iz. You're gonna fuckin' love the pajamas we've got."
Ed, in a fit of foolish hope that he could somehow fix how badly he'd fucked it up with Izzy, had bought Izzy a set when he'd gotten new clothes for Stede to make up for The Kraken throwing his out.
Now, he was delighted that he had.
They were soft, the deep blue of the ocean (Izzy's favorite color and, ironically, Stede's eye color) and Izzy melted under his hands as Ed dressed him in them. To be fair, He was pretty sure they could be polka dots and Izzy would still love them. Because Ed got them for him.
Ed's guilt was outweighed by the fact that now, he was going to get to *spoil* Izzy, and wasn't that a wonderful thought.
"c'mon, Iz. You're gonna fucking love the bed. Stede's a fuckin' lunatic, it's so comfy." Ed flopped on the bed, against the wall, and Izzy very hesitantly followed him on, glancing over his shoulder at Stede, who just nodded encouragingly.
Stede settled on his free side. Izzy was just far enough away to not be being touched and that wasn't fair, so Ed tugged him closer till he was half on top of the smaller man. Izzy sighed happily, sinking into the mattress under his weight.
Stede had decided this series of events was the sweetest thing he'd ever seen in his life.
Izzy was so happy.He had absolutely no idea what he'd done to deserve this, but whatever it was...this was the best he'd felt in years. "We're gonna take care of you, Iz." Ed promises softly and Izzy's heart sings at the promise. "You take care of us. Let us do the same for you."
"Sir..." "No Iz. You're gonna let us take care of you because you're my good boy." Izzy relaxed, snuggling his head into Ed's neck as Ed dropped his voice. "I'm sorry, Iz. I'll do better. I promise. I gotcha."
When Izzy woke up in Ed's arms for the first time in the better part of a decade, Stede still pressed securely to their side, well...he thought maybe he could get used to Ed being better after all.