Chapter Text
“Keep the blindfold on, mate. Don’t want you peeking.”
“Darling, I’m afraid I’ll trip over something.” Stede’s hand was clasped tightly in Ed’s, the linen over his eyes keeping him from seeing where he was going. “Is it really necessary to have this thing on?”
Ed shrugged, kissing his lover’s hand. “I felt like you’d appreciate a good dramatic reveal, yeah?”
Stede laughed. “Perceptive as ever, my dear. You’re right.”
The Revenge was bathed in moonlight, the rest of the crew having taken full advantage of their short shore leave. Ed and Stede were alone on the ship and Ed had prepared a surprise.
Ed snaked his arm around Stede’s waist as they walked down the cramped hallway below deck. Stede was warm, Stede was solid, and Stede was his home. He sighed lovingly, turning the knob of the door to the captains quarters. “Ok,” he whispered, eagerly focused on Stede’s face. “Remove the blindfold now.”
When Stede did so, he gasped at what he saw. “My love! You did this all… for me?”
The room was awash in the glow of a couple dozen small candles. The large table in the center of the room was home to what looked like some sort of poultry dressed to the nines, a beautiful salad with local greens, and a plate of fish.
“Roach helped me out. I’d like to say that I did this alone, but I only really foraged for the greens and caught the bird.”
Warmth filled Stede’s whole body. He grinned and looked at his boyfriend, unable to put his love into words. He did have one question on his mind, though.
Ed furrowed his brow defensively. “What? I forage. I’ve foraged loads of times.”
Before Stede had verbalized the question, Ed had answered it. Stede giggled. He fucking giggled. Nobody’d ever made Stede giggle as much as Ed did.
“Learn something new every day.”
Ed smiled, the corners of his eyes wrinkling up in a way that made Stede’s heart skip a beat. He put his hand on the small of Stede’s back and gestured to the table. “After you.”
His insides fluttered as Ed pulled out the chair for him. Whatever Stede had done to deserve this man, in this life or in one past, it must have been absolutely monumental. He sat down, unable to contain an excited laugh. “You remembered our cutlery lessons!”
The spoons and forks needed for this particular meal were laid out on some of Stede’s most favorite lace-edged napkins. Ed had remembered the difference between a salad fork and a restaurant fork. He remembered Ed commenting “Well why do you have a restaurant fork if you don’t have a restaurant.”
Stede had blushed. “I really fancied the handle design, so I nicked it from my favorite seafood place a couple years back. I’ve hardly ever used it, if that’s any consolation.”
It wasn’t, and Ed had told him that. They’d had a good laugh about it, though. Stede was now wondering if it wasn’t on the table because there weren’t two of them.
Ed had actually completely forgotten the difference between a restaurant fork and a salad fork for this meal, but by the process of logical deduction, he’d picked the style that he saw more than one of. At Stede’s compliment, he sat up straighter. “Well, yeah. I’m becoming quite the sophisticate if I do say so myself.”
Stede nodded, a proud grin on his face. “I agree, dear. I agree.”
“That being said, though, do you think I could forgo the pageantry and just fucking eat?“
Stede narrowed his eyes in consideration and smiled. “I think I can make an exception for this wonderful dinner you made me.”
Ed beamed at the compliment and Stede watched him as he served himself a leg of bird.
“What kind of bird did you catch, dear? Looks like some sort of duck.”
“Ah, fuck if I know, mate. Roach told me to knife a bird that looked worth eating and I did.”
Stede nodded, dishing himself some salad. “Is there any special occasion we’re celebrating? I don’t seem to recall any anniversaries or events of the sort.”
“Nothing in particular, love.” He dabbed at the corners of his mouth with a napkin. “I just wanted to spoil you for a night. It’s so rare we get time alone, I wanted to make something really special for you. Consider it...” he paused, “a date night.”
Stede blushed. “And what else will we be doing on this… date night?”
There was a flicker of something alluring in Ed’s eyes as his eyebrows lifted, interested. “What do you want to do?”
Stede grinned confidently, pausing to look Ed straight in the eye. “You.”
He was really lucky that he wasn’t chewing anything because he would have either choked or spit it out. Stede had never been this forward. Who had known that the road into Stede Bonnet’s pants was paved with acts of service and old fashioned romance?
He wasn’t affronted, he was just surprised. He was interested. Very interested. This is why he’d made time allowances tonight… to accommodate this attitude.
Ed shifted his posture to match his lover’s forward body language and grinned cheekily. “Oh, love, don’t worry about that part. The crew will be gone all night.”
Stede’s eyebrows furrowed into a question. “All night? Black Pete told me they’d all be back around midnight.”
“When did he tell you that?”
“I don’t know, yesterday afternoon?”
Ed grinned, looking back at his food. “They’ll be back tomorrow morning.”
Stede nodded hesitantly, slightly suspicious. “Did you pay them off?”
“Nah, mate.” Ed grinned, swallowing some fish. “I told them that if they come back before dawn they’d never be able to get the sound of us fucking out of their heads.”
A small gasp escaped Stede. He pressed a hand to his heart, as if trying to keep it in his chest. He eagerly served himself a chunk of meat and ate, trying to distract himself from the sheer romance of Ed’s foresight and his willingness to make a perfect night for him. “I think we need to have more of these.”
“Too bad I don’t know which fucking bird it is.”
Stede laughed, covering his mouth to prevent spillage. “More date nights, I meant.” He grinned. “We could take turns planning them.”
“Sounds all right by me,” Ed beamed.
They sat in a comfortable silence, surrounded only by the sounds of the waves and the clink of silverware.
After about fifteen minutes, the bird had been disarticulated, the meat fully consumed. Where there once was a salad there now were only a few bits of topping. The fish had been turned into little piles of bones.
Stede had never had a better meal in his life. He’d eaten everywhere, had tasted all the fine wines, dined with top chefs across the known world. Absolutely none of those experiences could compare to this, a meal planned and (partly) executed by his Ed.
When they’d both finished eating, they found themselves looking at eachother. The candles flickered as Ed reached his hands across the table. He was glad they were sitting on the long sides of the table because Stede was able to hold hands with him and touch him, and by the Gods how precious this feeling was.
Ed’s thumb ran idly over the back of Stede’s right hand. He spoke in a half-voice. It was intimate. “I hope you know how much I adore you.”
Stede swallowed, the right words hidden behind his tongue. “I feel much the same, my darling.”
Ed smirked. “Good. Because next date night is on you.”