Smokedanced - Tumblr Posts
❝ you know, i actually thought you’d be dead by now. ❞ 🪐 — @smokedanced ▶ izzy hands for stede bonnet
❝ WELL, I'M SORRY TO DISAPPOINT YOU. ❞ stede can't help but puff himself up as he speaks, pride at the single successful raid they had carried out with the new crew configuration causing confidence to bloom in his chest. the crew themselves seemed to be adapting to the arrangement rather nicely ( & clearly there was no love lost between them & edward, given all they had endured these past months ), most of them now scattered across the deck divvying up the loot without complaint. izzy seemed to be the lone holdout, remaining stubbornly bitter & impossible to please — despite surprising stede with by voting along with the rest of the crew for ed to be banished from the ship. the look of perpetual irritation on his face had become almost comforting in its own way, a reliable constant to count on as they found their footing again.
not that he would ever say as much out loud. instead, he turns away from the other man to gaze out at the sea through his spyglass. the horizon stretches unbroken, not another ship nor a speck of land in sight. & even still basking in the glow of of his recent success, stede is starting to feel restless again. the truth is that concern about where ed is & what he might be doing seeps back into his mind the moment the action falls quiet, no matter what he does. but stede pushes the thoughts away with some force — ed simply couldn’t stay here, not when everyone aboard still distrusted him so. he knew that. but he also knew that they would find each other again. & for now, his place was here : with his crew.
yet despite being returned to his station as captain at last, despite a successful raid under his belt, stede finds he has little clue what he should be doing in these quiet moments when the sea is calm. with ed banished & buttons gone, izzy is certainly the most qualified sailor aboard. & loathe as stede was to admit it, the man was rather good at his job. the honest truth was that stede likely couldn’t do this without izzy's help. yet he doesn't know how to ask for such a thing, the man's foul attitude making any conversation challenging to broach. ❝ you know, it’s quite poor form for the first mate to be actively rooting for his captain’s death, don't you think ? ❞ he says, irritated & still unwilling to look at the man beside him. ❝ why even stay aboard if that's how you feel ? just hoping to be around to bear witness to my inevitable failure, is that it ? ❞