He wakes with the sunrise, stretches, kisses his men on their cheeks.
He makes a tea, one sugar, no cream, like a sensible person.
The wind is blowing and the skies are clear when he goes on the balcony to enjoy it.
It'll be a slow day. Izzy loves them best, now. They joke he's a house husband, but he can't help that the thought brings a smile to his face. It's true really, and he loves that he has the freedom to care for them and everything else can fuck right off.
He's proud he keeps them happy. He doesn't dwell on before.
He reads a novel until he hears them wake. It's a romance Fang had recommended about an orc with a coffee shop. It's cute, he likes the characters.
Stede comes out on the balcony, asks him to come back to bed.
He gives an unnecessary wink, and it's perfectly ridiculous. He puts his book down and Stede takes his hand. Ed is already flushed and panting, stoking himself to hardness.
Izzy thanks his lucky stars for the millionth time.
"He wants another kiss, Dearest." Stede whispers.
Izzy climbs into Ed's lap, kisses him hungrily and replaces Ed's hand with his own. He feels Stede behind him trailing his fingers down his back.
Stede leaves then returns with slick fingers at his hole, stretching him quick and efficiently, the way Izzy loves.
Before long, Ed is in his cunt and Stede in his ass, and he feels full and so fucking loved. They whisper sweet words and foul ones and they're equally tinged with fondness.
It's nothing new, nothing novel, this is his life, now.
They collapse into each other when they finish.
It's a playful fight for the shower. They share it anyway. Ed washes Izzy's back, Stede his hair. He helps them in return.
Breakfast is eggs and toast with marmalade. They make it together, dancing around each other in the kitchen.
After, they decide to stay in, have a home day.
Izzy picks his book back up and Ed sits next to him on the couch, Izzy's feet in his lap. Stede disappears to the office for a bit then returns with fresh tea.
It's an easy day. No arguments, no strife, no misunderstandings. Just the three of them existing in their home together.
#rizzy
Thinking about Izzy having a sick day. He's sniffly and coughing and generally feeling awful. He tries over and over to get up from his cot, but every time the cabin seems to move under his feet, so he lays back down. After dozing for a bit, he hears a knock on the door.
His "yes" isn't as loud or forceful as he means it to sound, but it's so much rougher. The door opens a crack at first, and Izzy knows that means it's Jim. He's not surprised. The door opens a little more and Jim steps in, closes the door behind them.
"Sick, then?"
Izzy nods.
Jim nods back and leaves, and Izzy figures that is that. They'll inform the captains, the rest of the crew. They'll mock him for it a bit, Dizzy Izzy rearing its head again. So it's a shock when a bit later an insistent knock is on his door, and Roach barrels in.
"Careful there, mate. Got a nasty scrape I'm gonna patch."
Roach looked down quickly, the movement sending pain through the whole of his body.
"Fuckin' just lay there!" Izzy said, pushing him back down gently.
"Bring me rum and gut. I'll do it myself."
"I've done this plenty times before. You'll be fine."
Somehow it sounded more reassuring than Roach thought Izzy was capable of.
The cut was on his side, it'd be hard for him to reach on his own anyway.
"Fine, at least give me some rum....and put some on the needle!"
"I know, Roach. I've got this, really."
Izzy layed a hand on his forehead. It seemed so warm.
"No fever, not yet at least."
He held the bottle up to Roach's lips and helped raise his head carefully for him to drink. Roach took a long pull and gestured he was done.
Izzy rises first, always. Too many years of late nights and early mornings for it not to stick. A jaunt to the gym for weight lifting and a smoothie that tastes awful, then home to find his partners still cuddlee in bed.
Pancakes and tea, one to wake Ed and the other for Stede. Sunday music is Simon and Garfunkel, Fleetwood Mac, Grateful Dead, Hall and Oates. The men wake up rumpled and smiling, kisses on the forehead for Izzy, murmered thank yous, darlings, love, gorgeous, starving, genius.
Izzy takes it all, takes everything they give him.
Stede compliments Izzy's cooking as he eats, more ludicrous moans than last night.
"It's just pancakes, twat." Izzy replies smiling. Stede just gives him a syrupy kiss and says "delicious."
#izzyisme
Izzy's been sleeping shittily for so long he doesn't remember what it's like to be rested. He's tried all the things they say to do to sleep well; going to bed early, no screens in bed, limit blue light, keep a consistent sleep schedule, no caffeine in the evenings.
Nothing seems to help. He lays awake at night, trying and failing to empty his head. Eventually he falls asleep and then wakes what seems like mere moments later, eyes tired, head pounding. He lays in his bed as long as he can, hoping somehow he'll feel better.
Every day and night the same thing happens, and the bags under his eyes just get darker, his attitude bleaker, his attention fractured.
And at first the crew is annoyed, Izzy's not pulling his weight anymore as a manager, but then they start to worry.
The boys believe highly on the importance of parallel play. Ed sits on the couch playing Fortnite, yelling and hooting and generally keeping a running commentary. Stede sits on the floor in front of the sofa, leaning against Ed's leg putting together a puzzle of birds.
Izzy says in the armchair cattycorner, earbud in one ear listening to a Parltrick O'Brian book while he wrestles with the sweater he's knitting. Every so often he holds it up and makes Stede come over to measure it against him. It's Stede's favorite colors and smiles each time.
It doesn't matter if they talk to each other. It doesn't matter what they do or if they do it alone. It's enough to share the space, breathe the same air, exist in proximity to each other.
Ed has become a bath guy. With all the soaps and oils and lotions Stede has been acquiring, everyday he smells a bit different. It's relaxing and decadent and Ed could spend hours just soaking his worn body.
"Stede! Come join me!"
When thr seas are calm and empty, both captains can hide away for a bit, and lately that means a soak. They've tried to get Izzy to join in, but he resists still with honestly solid reasons.
"Awful waste of fresh water"
"What if we're boarded while you're covered in bubbles?"