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"Well that"s, uhh… that’s—"
A hand against the back of Stede"s neck and the brush of soft lips against his cut off his rambling words. Ed—his co-captain, his confident, his friend—is kissing him gently on the beach and the pieces begin to slide into place.
So this is how this should feel.
Of course he and Mary had kissed a few times; they were married after all, and it was sometimes expected of them at appear as such. Those had been quick and awkward, and he assumed maybe that"s how it was supposed to be. That maybe kissing was not really for him. But this... this was crackling fire, lighting on the wind of a summer storm, the cooling breeze off the sea at night. This was the darkest ale and the sweetest cake. This was right.
Stede leans in and their noses brush as they push into the awkward angle of their kiss. Blackbeard, the most fearsome pirate of the sea, is kissing him on the sandy shores of their act of grace. They’d only known each other a few weeks and yet every moment felt precious to him. Who could have known a few sword fighting sessions and dining etiquette lessons could be the most fun he"d ever had in his whole life? Every late-night drink and story shared became moments Stede hadn"t even known he"d been cherishing. He probably should have realized that tingle in his gut each time he saw Ed wasn"t due to the boat pitching with the waves. Should have know he’d come to see Ed as more than just his friend. Most people don’t think of their friends every waking second, excited to share the day with them. Friends don’t gaze into each other eyes, hands tied behind their backs, their ship in chaos around them as the British round up their crew, and slowly nudge their feet towards each other just so they can stay touching. Just friends don’t voluntarily sign their lives away to the enemy so the other’s will be spared.
He should have known, but how could he.
They part slowly, and as Stede gazes into the stormy eyes of the man who turned his world on its head, he breathes the first thing he thinks.
"You make Stede happy."