Thread by @fabuLizSup

~~~~
The next 5 days of shore leave are more or less normal for Izzy. Ed is a bit clingier than usual, but that's not too unusual for the rare occasions when Ed feels like he's actually lost an argument.

Once they are back on the ship in the open ocean, though, things start to

get weird. The first few days, Ed showers Izzy in compliments. Given how much Izzy thrives on praise and external validation, he is shocked to discover he does not enjoy it. They are tend to be absurd or shallow, or for such basic tasks that they border on condescending. At first

Izzy had just accepted them with a nod. When they didn't let up, he ignored them. When they /still/ continued, Izzy started arguing with Ed about them.
"Looking good today, Iz."
"I look exactly the same as I did yesterday and will tomorrow, Edward."

"Great work putting together

that fuckery!"
"Edward we've been doing that fuckery for 15 years; even with this merry band of idiots I could do it in my sleep what the fuck man?"

Finally Edward stops with the nonstop compliments.

But then the gifts start. Some of the gifts are nice; Izzy appreciates the

whetstone and scabbard. The mermaid paperweight just gets Izzy to raise his eyebrows questioningly at Edward. The flask is gifted whilst still empty, which makes Izzy think it's really from Stede, because surely Ed would never be so disrespectful. The last straw is the pipe.

"Are you dying, Edward?"
"What?! No!! Why would you ask that?!"
"Well you're apparently disposing of your belongings. You know I don't smoke pipe, why would you give this to me if not to remember you by?"
"Fuck Iz that's morbid. No man, it's just really well crafted and beautiful

and seemed like the kind of thing you'd appreciate!"
Izzy sighs and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, Ed. It is," Ed beams victoriously but his smile falters as Izzy continues, "I appreciated the craftsmanship so much that I bought it for you six years ago in North Carolina." Ed apologizes

profusely and then flees back to the captains' cabin. Altho the gift of the pipe definitely fell flat, Izzy does get a fair bit of joy as he hears Stede's horrified squawk of "REGIFTED HIS OWN PRESENT?!" on deck while he trims the sails.

After the gifts come the touches, though

Izzy /loves/ the touches; that's the problem. Ed is constantly touching Izzy, and it makes his head spin. Ed's trains of thought were never the easiest for Izzy to follow, even when his mind is clear; with Ed touching him Izzy finds it impossible to understand any of what Ed says

It also leaves Izzy extremely torn, between doing the work that /keeps them all alive/ and dragging Ed into a room with a lock and having his way with him. Izzy thinks he is doing a pretty good job of balancing these two urges, until /Spriggs/ of all people makes a comment about

it. "Love this for you, Iz, really, I do, but Roach is low on oranges, Feeney is behind on mending the sails, Pete needs more carpentry supplies, the Swede is asking ME about the rigging, please. I'm begging you. I'll call you First Mate Hands, I'll even call you Daddy if it'll

help get things in order."
"I am sorry, Mr Spriggs, are YOU complaining about how much work /I/ am doing?!"
Lucius makes an offended face, "you make me sound like a hypocrite!"
"If the shoe fits" Lucius huffs and walks off to do some work in an effort to prove Izzy wrong. While

thinking about how this is the first time he's seen the boy work in a week and a half and...well fuck if he's been letting him get away with that then maybe the little shit actually has a bit of a point. That's aggravating.

Izzy ends up having to ask Ed to stop touching him while he's working. He's humiliated by having to explain the how hot and bothered it gets him is making his work suffer. Happily he chose to have this conversation in private, with just the two of them and Stede at the end of the

day in the captains' cabin. This is good because the humilition at how aroused Ed makes him just further arouses him, making it a horny feedback loop.

It's a very good night.

That said, the next day Ed goes on deck with Izzy. "Just cuz I shouldn't touch you doesn't mean I don't

wanna spend time with ya, Izzy!" Izzy rolls his eyes but goes about his day. It's nice, honestly, to have Ed in his shadow after having spent so much of his life in Ed's.

Ed however, is in hell. Ed has always been a touchy guy, and these past few weeks of so much physicality

with Izzy had been intoxicating and addicting. He finds himself constantly having to actively hold himself back from reaching out to his first mate. It's torture. He had hoped to spend the whole morning hanging out with Izzy before going off in the afternoon with Stede. He only

lasts two bells, in the end.
"I don't know what to do," Ed moans to Stede. "I need him to know how much I care, to feel like I'm *choosing* him the way he's chosen me through the years."
"Well, the suggestion in my book is 'acts of service.' You could try that."

Ed ends up going to Fang and Ivan for ask for help. "So what I need are things I can do for Izzy to show him that I care about him."
"You mean like listen when he talks?"
"What, no, things I don't already do, that would be special!" Ivan and Fang share a look in response to that

Seeing it has Ed feeling rather defensive.
"Right, sure. Well umm, fixing the shit he's always bitching about might be a good start?"
"Oh brilliant idea, yes, thank you! What're his biggest complaints?"
"I mean if you are already listening when he talks you know, yeah?"

"ok fine you are both right I need to do better at focusing when Izzy is talking."
"To be fair Boss, I kinda think we all do. He just yells so much it becomes easier to tune him out."
"Oh my God that's it, you are a genius! Thanks boys!"

Ed runs back to Stede,tells him his plan

...
Later that night Izzy goes to the captain cabin with a glass of rum and tonic and a book of naval battles they'd recently plundered while the rest of the crew gather on deck for story time.
...

Stede clears his throat. "Alright crew before we get to the story of Rapunzel, we

Have something we need to talk through as a crew regarding our first mate and the respect and attention,or more accurately, lack thereof which he receives on this ship. Now I acknowledge that as your Captains Ed and I have failed to set a good example in this regard and we take

Full accountability for that. From now on we ALL will be doing a better job of listening to First Mate Hands and following his orders. If he is complaining about something that you cannot resolve or don't know how, you are to bring that issue to myself or Lucius. We will be

Keeping a list so that we will know in which areas we have the most room for improvement. Understood?"

~~~
The next day Izzy wakes to the smell of coffee. He blearily opens his eyes to see Ed smiling shyly at him, "Brough you breakfast, Iz."
Izzy grunts and moves to sit up as he reaches for the mug, not yet awake enough for words. Once Izzy is settled Ed surrenders the mug.

Izzy pulls the coffee mug to his chest, breathing deeply to inhale the steam, closing his eyes in satisfaction & sighing softly on his exhale. Ed reaches out, gently tucking a stray hair that had fallen into Izzy's face, an awed "beautiful" whispers past Ed's lips subconciously.

Izzy takes a long sip of the coffee, his face coloring gently, tho Ed knows if he asked Izzy would claim the the heat of the drink rather than the compliment is making him blush. Ed doesn't care, he's just happy Izzy is still un-caffeinated enough to mutely accept praise.

The hum of satisfaction Izzy makes after his first makes Ed want to kiss him senseless. That said, coffee is the one thing Ed has ever thought could compete with himself for Izzy's affections, and he does not want to test those ranking at this point.

Instead Ed gets up and returns with a plate of cranberry orange scones for Izzy. Izzy's eyes light up in delight when he sees them. "'s'all this, Ed?"
"Breakfast!"
"I can see that, but why?"
"Gotta eat, don't we." Izzy just shakes his head and enjoys his meal.

~~~
Izzy's morning with Ed (and later Stede, once Ed's moans had woken their boyfriend, resulting in Izzy smugly declaring himself the winner of their quiet game) had been perfect, even if it did leave him a bit sure and arriving on deck more than an hour later than usual

The day continued well. Izzy was sated enough to merely bark his orders rather than scream them and, by some miracle, they were largely obeyed promptly and with minimal complaints or backtalk. Izzy still grumbled to himself, of course. That was just how he worked; if he noticed a

problem that needed fixing, he'd mutter it to himself, having long since learned that he remembered his thoughts better if he said them aloud. Besides which, muttering to himself about the various ineptitude of the crew actually allowed Izzy to vent some of his many frustrations,

thus reducing the likelihood of him blowing up at them. Today, however, it seemed like whenever he found himself doing this, the crew member nearest him would scurry off. It was odd, but so long as it didnt interfere with the work the needed doing, Izzy decided it didnt matter.

"How was your day, darling," Stede asked Izzy while kissing below his ear in their cabin at the end of the day.
"Good. Weird, but good."
"Glad to hear it. I wonder if Ed and I could make it a little bit better, though," Stede's hands were wandering over Izzy's torso.

"What'd you have in mind?" Stede looked at Izzy with a glint in his eye that took Izzy's breath away.

Ed & Stede set about proving that yes, they *could* make what'd already been a lovely day even better. When Izzy finally fell asleep he was happier than he'd known was possible.

~~~
Izzy woke the next morning expecting the previous day to have been a wonderful, delightful aberration. Instead it followed roughly the same pattern: Ed bringing him coffee and a light breakfast of either a biscuit or bread or pastry, followed by gentle words and soft touches.

Once Izzy started his work, the crew was largely obedient, if a bit slower and sloppier in their execution of their tasks than Izzy would prefer. Still, it was oceans better than when they'd first boarded the Revenge, and it allowed the days to pass well, over all.

Evenings were spent with his captains, each man ensuring that the other two were /content/.

A few days into this new routine, and Ed and Stede started holding lessons and drills. Somehow, they seemed to have FINALLY realized that having an incompetent crew was a liability and

that as their captains they had a responsibility to remedy that. Izzy knew he'd been frustrated by how incapable the crew was, but he hadn't realized how much it literally weighed on him until he felt his shoulders relax in direct proportion to the crews growing proficiency.

An unexpected bonus was that as the crew grew to better understand the nuances of sailing, it seemed to dawn on them that Izzy wasn't just bossing them around for fun. It seemed they'd been under the impression that Izzy had just been ordering them about for the sheer pleasure of

shouting himself hoarse. Now that they grasped some of the reasoning behind his orders, they not only ceased grumbling at them but even began to anticipate some. The deck was being swabbed in regularly on accordance with the rotation that had been set; likewise the hull was

routinely scraped of barnacles.

Once Ed (and to a lesser extent Stede) had gotten the crew more or less competent, Ed began an effort to fix the ship's rigging and replace lines that had been frayed. Izzy hadn't seen Ed this involved in the minutiae of running the ship since

before he'd been named First Mate.

"Whatchya hummin', Izzy?" Frenchie asked one afternoon a few weeks into this new routine. Izzy looked up, surprised.
"Hadn't even realized I was, ta be quite honest."
Frenchie just grinned in response, "sing it for us?"
So Izzy sang, an old

song he'd learned before he'd even set foot on a ship, when he was just a lad doing odd jobs on the docks and dreaming of escaping to the open ocean.
At the chorus Frenchie joined in on his lute. At the second verse Ed's voice began harmonizing, startling Izzy. He hadn't even

realized Ed was above deck; generally at this time of day he was pouring over charts with Buttons or planning raids with Jim. On the next chorus the whole crew sang along.

After the song was over Ed sidled over to Izzy, laying his arm over his shoulder. "Hey Iz, haven't heard

you sing for a fuckin' minute, mate."
Izzy shrugged the shoulder not holding Ed's arm, smirking slightly, "just came to me, I guess."
Ed squeezed his shoulder gently. "Still sound good."
Izzy blushed. "Fuck'ff" Ed shrugged and ambled away, leaving Izzy with his thoughts. He was

hit with the realization that his humming had started because there was nothing for him to grumble about to himself. Indeed, in the past week only two or three times had a crew member scurried away at his muttering under his breath. It was surprising, but nice.

~~~
The next six months are the best of Izzy's life. Izzy had never been a morning person, but he begins looking forward to them, his chest swelling with the feeling of being loved and cared for as Ed greets him with a coffee as he opens his eyes. It makes him feel loved in a way

leaves him speechless, so he tries to use his mouth in other ways to convey his feelings. With the crew's improved abilities sailing becomes easy, even fun at times, and Izzy finds himself not constantly worried about keeping them all alive. Instead of anxiety, now his time on

deck is filled with shanties and ballads. Even better, now that he doesn't need to micromanage the ship, Izzy is able to spend more time with Ed and Stede. When the sun is high, beating down on the Revenge until it is sweltering, Izzy is able to retreat to their cool, dark cabin.

There they drink cool water, munch on fruit, and plan fuckeries, with Izzy trying to figure out how they can be best enacted while also to reel in their more outlandish proposals. This is the best time for it not only because it keeps them out of the sweltering sun, but also

because the heat is so oppressive that its the only time of day none of them want to touch each other. (Before he would agree to this routine, Izzy had halved the length of the shifts under the midday sun, forced Stede to surrender several of his hats to protect the crew's faces)

Once the sun is lower in the sky and the day begins to cool again, Izzy is back to working the sails and overseeing the ship. Evening are spent laughing over another incredible meal provided by roach before retiring with his captains to their cabin. Retiring is a good word for it

Izzy thinks, as he is usually fairly worn out from a long day by the time they get there, and yet his lovers never fail to tire him out all over again, in the hottest, most satisfying ways imaginable. For the first few months, Izzy had fallen asleep clinging extra hard to his

lovers, sure that tomorrow would be the day the spell finally broke and everything fell apart. Slowly, though, as things not only stayed good but bit by bit got even better, Izzy allowed himself to trust it. Even if shit hit the fan and everything went sideway, things were so

good now that things would probably STILL be better than they had been a year or two ago. Now, Izzy relaxes into his lovers holds, confident that tomorrow will bring more of the same.

~~~
Of course, Izzy thinks to himself about 7 months into the new status quo, all good things must come to an end. It hurts, of course, though Izzy has no one to blame for that but himself for being so stupid as to believe a man like him could be happy and loved indefinitely.

The changes start so small that Izzy nearly misses them. Ed and Stede begin spending more time with each other than with Izzy, which honestly Izzy doesn't even mind. He enjoys having a break from them, allows him to miss them a bit, and avoid being overwhelmed by just how /much/

they can each be individually, to say nothing of the pair together. No, it's not that, it's the way they seem to stop talking when he approaches. At first Izzy thinks it must be a fluke, his imagination, until the whispering starts. It's not just Ed and Stede, then, now the whole

crew is apparently watching Izzy like a flock of hawks, whispering amongst themselves but falling silent whenever Izzy approaches. Izzy tries to ignore it, and the pain it causes in his chest. He goes about his days. The ship is still running smoothly, and on the one hand Izzy

is grateful that this, at least, hasn't changed. But on the other hand he desperately wishes for something to demand his attention so he can stop THINKING about these changes. Its a late afternoon when Izzy decides that he may just need to accept that he has to "talk it through."

Begrudgingly Izzy finishes his task and heads towards the captains' cabin, swallowing down his anxiety and trying to gather his resolve. He stops when he hear Lucius's voice through the door "and soon! He is starting to suspect, I can /tell/ and this is NOT going..." Izzy turns

on his heel and retreats to the hold. They were talking about him. God, he had been trying to convince himself that it was all in his head, that his anxiety was lying to him as it so often did. But here was proof he had heard himself. Izzy find the entrance to a secret passageway

and curls into fetal position, trying to breath through the ensuing panic attack. He ends up crying himself to sleep. Eventually his growling stomach wakes him, tho he has no idea how much time has passed. He emerges from the passageway and starts to set about determining a plan.

Food, first, his stomach demands. He grimaces as he dusts himself off, determining a bath may need to be second. After that...well it'd be easier to figure out once he had food in his belly.

Izzy walks into the galley to find Roach preparing dough for the next morning. Roach

looks up at the sound of Izzy's entrance and runs to him. It is not what Izzy had expected. "Are you hurt? Concussed?" the chef - although Izzy supposes he's acting as the ship's doctor in this moment - asks.
"Err, no? Roach stop touching me, I'm fine, just hungry." Roach hands

him a plate of food at that, barking "good, then sit down and stay there." Then he is off, running and shouting at the top of his lungs "Found him! Call of the search party!" Izzy rolls his eyes at the antics and begins to eat, only to be interrupted by Stede and Ed rushing into

the room. "Oh darling are you alright? Where've you been, we were so frightened when you missed dinner" Stede rambles as he touches Izzy as though to confirm he is real and not some phantom. Ed hangs back, biting is lower lip in concern or concentration. He looks over Izzy

carefully, and Izzy doesn't miss how red and puffy Ed's eyes are.
"I'm fine, Stede, just hungry, please let me eat."
"Well of COURSE you are hungry, it's nearly midnight and you barely touched your lunch and entirely skipped dinner!" Izzy grimaces to learn what time it is. Maybe

they weren't all just being dramatic fuckwits. "Sorry to have worried you both. Didn't mean to disappear. Just needed a moment to myself, lost track of time and fell asleep. Won't happen again." Ed looks at Izzy closely, although what he is looking for Izzy couldn't guess. "Eat,"

is all Ed says, but he doesn't move, standing in the corner of the room watching. Izzy carefully. When Izzy finishes his plate Stede takes it from him. "I'll wash this, you go with Edward and get yourself cleaned up as well. Izzy nods and walks to Ed, who grips Izzy's upper arm

as though he's afraid Izzy is gonna run away. They walk in silence to the cabin's washroom. Ed passes Izzy the soap and then perches on the rim of the tub as Izzy lathers up a washcloth to begin wiping down his face and neck.
"So, hiding in a secret passageway, huh?" Ed asks

conversationally.
Izzy frowns, "that obvious?"
Ed chuckles at that, "they're the only places on the ship that get that dusty, and it's the only explanation why we couldn't find you after and hour and a half of searching."
Izzy looks at Ed, "Why were you searching?" It's the wrong

thing to say.
"Because you were MISSING you DICKFUCK!" Ed snarls. "You, who normally we can set our watches by your patterns, didn't come to dinner! So after dinner we checked the crows nest, but nope, not there either! We asked around and no one had seen you since the afternoon!

I had Stede count the dinghies to make sure you hadn't fled, then Stede made Lucious re-count them because he was so beside himself he didn't trust his own counting! Once we knew you hadn't left we figured SOMETHING had to be wrong so we started searching for you! What the hell!"

Izzy looked into Ed's eyes and could see the fear behind his anger. "I'm sorry, Ed, I didn't mean to worry anyone. I just...I got overwhelmed. Needed time to myself, to think."
Stede walks into the room as Izzy is talking. "Of course dear, we under-" he begins but Ed cuts him off

"You gotta let us know, Iz. Please. If you need time to yourself, fine, just...please don't scare us like that again." Izzy nods. He doesn't really understand what's happening. Ed & Stede seem so sincere, to care so much. It's reassuring but also confusing since Izzy had figured

they were on the verge of breaking up with him.
"I'm so sorry," Izzy begins, thinking maybe this is his chance, maybe he can fix things after all. "I didn't wanna frighten you. I'll be better," Izzy can't stop the tears from falling. "Please I wanna be good, please let me try."

Ed and Stede gather on either side of him, offering soothing sounds and soft touches. "Iz I'm sorry I yelled, I was just so scared, I love you so much, shh it's okay we are okay."
"There you are darling here drink some of this water, yes there you go, good boy, my lovely Polaris"

Together they ease Izzy out of his dirty clothes and into a soft, warm robe, and snuggle him to sleep.
~~~
The next morning Izzy rolls to cuddle up to Stede only to realize he isn't there. He jolts up, remembering the previous day. No. Fuck. No no no he had finally fucked it all

up, Ed wasn't in the room either, FUCK!
Izzy is just about to descend into a full panic attack when the cabin door opens and he is hit with the smell of coffee. Ed and Stede roll in a cart weighed down with the most sumptuous breakfast Izzy has ever seen. "Oh you're awake! Fab!"

Ed brings over Izzy's mug of coffee as Stede begin loading up a plate. "After the excitement of last night, we decided to take the day off, a bit of a vacation!" he announces brightly. "What would you like to do today, Israel?"

Ed helps Izzy to his feet and the two pad over to

the table. Izzy sits and grunts before taking another sip of his coffee.
"Depends, I suppose. Where exactly are we?"
Stede grins, "off the coast of a little island that is uninhabited, mostly. It's quite scenic, has a lovely little jungle with the most insane foliage. We could

certainly go ashore if you like, have a bit of a nature walk?"
Izzy ponders this as he bits into the bacon egg and cheese sandwich that Stede had assembled for him. "Could do, yeah. Roach mentioned wanting some coconuts recently, you reckon we could get some while we are out?"

"Of course! Speaking of tropical fruits, here try some of my drink, it's bubbly wine with orange juice I think you'll love it. Now is there anything else you wanted to do today, love?"
"Ship's in good shape," Izzy noted.
"Yeah, and it's a vacation day, remember Iz?" Ed nudged him

with his feet.
"Right. Erm. Well, we could spar, been a while since we've done that." Ed and Stede both lit up at the suggestion.
"Great idea! We can pack our blades, and maybe a picnic lunch! Let me go get ready while you finish your breakfasts, loves." Stede pecked them each

on a cheek then hurried away.

By the time Ed and Izzy had finished eating and cleaning up from their breakfast, Stede had a dinghy loaded with a satchel packed with their picnic lunch, swords, and baldrics, along with an empty bag to load coconuts and any other goodies they

might find along the way. Ed and Stede refused to let Izzy row which was odd but fine. The hike was long and hot but Izzy was equally delighted by Stede's enthusiasm for the local flora and fauna as he was by Ed's grumbling dissatisfaction with nature. They were both idiots in

their own ways, but they were /his/ idiots, and he loved them.

Happily, Stede had been guiding them to a lovely, refreshing freshwater pool, so they were able to shed their clothes that had grown sticky with sweat and cool off in the water. Even more happily, Stede had also

packed plenty of oil when he'd gotten together their supplies for the day. It turned out Ed was much more amenable to nature after being thoroughly ravished by his lovers. The trio worked themselves up an appetite and enjoyed their picnic lunch on the banks of the pool.

"Whar'we aszhing" Ed asked around a mouthful of food.
"Please, dearest, if you want an answer you really must chew and swallow if we're to have any idea what it is you're saying," Stede chided.
"I've swallowed plenty today," Ed argued, a gleam in his eye. Izzy huffed a laugh even

as Stede rolled his eyes.
"I asked, what are we waging, on the sparring session?"
"Besides your pride?" Izzy teased.
"So cocky."
"I'll show you cocky"

It took them twice as long as usual to finish their meal because of the incessant flirting kept leading to making out.

Finally when all three agreed they'd probably die of exhaustion if any of them got off any more, they washed up again in the pool & began packing up their stuff.
"Seriously though, I think we should have a wager on the match."
"Fine, Edward. If you are able to beat me, I'll allow

you to name a prize."
Ed grinned. "Perfect, lets go."

Sparring together had always been one of Ed and Izzy's favorite pastimes. Ed was brilliant and unpredictable but Izzy was fast and intuitive. Stede watched with rapt attention, cheering them each on. Izzy could tell Stede was

cheering slightly harder for Ed than for himself, but he didn't mind. He was the better fencer, so Ed needed more encouragement . Eventually, Izzy was able to disarm Ed and he yielded.
"So now I get to claim a prize from you, since I won, right?" Izzy asked, smirking devilishly.

"Dou-uh-ble," Ed panted, "Or nothing."
Izzy raised an eyebrow. "You really want to lose again?"
"I can win."
"No, you really can't, Ed."
"If Stede helps me I can."
"What?"
"Me and Stede against you, that'll even the odds."
"That literally does the opposite of evening the odds,

you utter twat."
"well considering you are the best swordsman in the Caribbean, it absolutely does even the odds. You're worth at least three of any other fencer."
Izzy rolled his eyes, "I know you are just flattering me to get your way, Edward."
"Yeah, but is it working?"
"There

isn't enough space here for three people to spar at once."
Stede's face lit up at that. "Oh! I know a place! A lovely little clearing I found entirely by accident what feels like a lifetime ago!"
"Well, Iz? Stede knows a place. Whaddya say. Double or nothing."
"If I win, you EACH

owe me two prizes. If you win, you can each claim one prize from me."
"Fair enough!" Stede agreed before Edward could try to further negotiate. "Now, follow me."

The clearing Stede led them to felt vaguely familiar, though Izzy chalked that up the fact that he found most land

looked more or less the same, "rocky & flat" as Frenchie would say, with some trees or ferns scattered about.

They each drank from their canteens of water before settling into a dueling stance. The sparring was fierce - Izzy had not seen Stede fight this hard or this well before

He fought like a man whose very soul was on the line. Ed too fought hard, exploiting every weakness of Izzy's that he'd learned in their decades together. And the way the two fought side-by-side was gorgeous and fluid. They must have practiced this without Izzy at some point.

Izzy probably still wouldve been able to win despite their coordinated attacks, except Stede tried to carve at Izzy's chest (ridiculous maneuver considering he was wearing his leathers) & Izzy realized suddenly the clearing didn't merely look familiar bc all land looked the same

They were standing in the exact same clearing where Izzy and Stede had first met, when Stede had pulled off the most absurd, half-witted fuckery in the history of absurd half-wit fuckers. The force of the realization stunned him, and the distraction allowed Ed to disarm him.

"We did it!" Ed and Stede crushed each other into a bear hug.
They were by an island that was "uninhabited, mostly," those were the exact words Stede had used. This had all been planned with far more care than Izzy had realized a few hours ago.
"Here, Iz you need to drink, can't

let you get dehydrated" Ed lifted the canteen to his lips. Izzy looked from Ed to Stede, dazed.
"Right, on to our prizes. Look Iz, here's the thing. Stede and I already discussed this and we want the same thing."

At the same time, Ed and Stede each fell to one knee. "A while ago, you told me that you wake up every day and chose me. Since then, I've done my best to show that I chose you, too. And if you'll let me, I'd like to spend every day for the rest of my life chosing you, chosing US,

and letting the whole world know that I'm yours and you are mine."
"Izzy, I saw the exact moment you realized where we were. But judging by your expression, I don't think you've yet realized why I wanted to do this here. The last time we were here, you told me, 'this isn't over.'

And as you may recall I responded 'Good, 'cuz I kind of enjoyed it."
Izzy's eyes watered, "oh my god are you trifling me?"
Stede beamed, lighting up the whole forest. "Not this time, my starlight. Izzy, if you will have me, I'd like for this to never be over. Like Edward, I wish

for nothing more than to spar with and spoil you every day for the rest of our lives. Because I truly enjoy it. I truly enjoy you."
Stede pulled out a box that matched the one Edward was holding, then looked over at Ed who nodded.

In unison they said, "Israel Basilica Hands, will you marry us."
Izzy tackled them to the ground, kissing them fiercely.
"Is that a yes?" Stede asked shyly.
"Yes you ridiculous twats! Yes we'll all get married." A seagull squawked overhead as Ed pulled out the last of the oil.

~~~
It was twilight as they returned to the dinghy and rowed back to the Revenge. The deck was sparkling with lanterns and colorful streamers. A feast had been spread on deck and a cask of ale had been pulled up from the hold. The whole crew was waiting nervously as Ed, Izzy, and

Stede climbed back onto the ship.
"Livvy told us to prepare the celebrations, was she right?" Buttons asked.
Ed grinned widely, "She was right, he said yes!" The crew broke into cheers and congratulations, everyone running to offer hugs and raise toasts. Soon the music began,

followed shortly thereafter by the dancing. The celebration continued on deck well into the night. It might've gone til morning except that Lucius and Pete, the little hypocrites, shout "GET A ROOM" at one point and so the three and tumbled back into their cabin and into bed.

The next morning Izzy woke again to Ed & Stede gone, but this time he didn't fret. He scooted himself up into a sitting position & by the time he was settled comfortably his fiancés were entering with coffee & fresh bread.

And they all lived happily ever after. #HappyEdIzzyWeek

My next roll was a 2 which landed me on the Marriage Proposal or Wedding prompt. #happyEdIzzyWeek

@threadreaderapp unroll