Archive of Our Own

Shortly after Lucius and Black Pete’s wedding, the entire crew of The Revenge made bets amongst themselves about how long it would take the newlyweds to reemerge from their night or nights of consummation. Wee John had the shortest bet of 28 hours, while Frenchie had the longest bet of 74 hours. 

“74 is too long, there’s only so much they could do.” Roach argued with Frenchie as he made his own guess of 32 hours. 

“Well it’s been like a year since they’ve seen each other.” Frenchie retorted “I bet they want to make up for lost time.” 

“Oh trust me they’ve been making it up for it.” Jim says, rolling their eyes annoyed. 

“Yeah, Jim’s hands have gone bloody from banging the walls trying to get them to keep it down.” Oluwande chimes in. 

Jim muttered something under their breath before leaving with Oluwande. While Frenchie, Roach, and Wee John kept arguing amongst themselves. 

“The little twat will be out by sunrise.” Izzy’s comment cut through the chatter like a knife. 

Everyone looked around to see where the voice was coming from. Sitting on a barrel next to the doorway to the crew’s quarters was Izzy whittling away on a block of wood to make a matching wooden figure for Black Pete.

No one knew how long Izzy had been sitting there, but clearly he’s been there long enough to know what they were talking about. 

“Oh come on, you don’t think they will be at least a whole day?” Wee John asked, moving closer to where Izzy’s sitting. 

Not that Izzy would ever admit it, but he had become quite familiar with the routines and quirks of the crew. Since the two crews merged, Izzy has been becoming more social but he still kept to himself the majority of the time. While Izzy has never been one to sleep in, he has found himself becoming more of an early bird since losing his leg. The phantom pain of his missing limb makes it hard to stay asleep. 

When Izzy wakes up before the rest of the crew, what he does each morning is different but his own routine stays roughly the same. He likes to find a nice spot to overlook the sea, one of his favorite spots on the ship is the end where the unicorn used to be; with another one being the very barrel that he’s sitting on. Most mornings he’ll just work on whatever he is currently whittling, but there is a rare morning where Roach will be up before him and the two will have breakfast together. 

Even though Izzy enjoys his new role on the ship, he still is getting used to the environment and likes a quiet morning to himself away from the chaos. 

“They’ll be up before the rest of you lot.” Izzy states, choosing not to elaborate on why or how he’s so confident in his guess. 

**************

It’s a rare occurrence when Jim is the first one awake. For some reason Jim felt compelled to escape Olu’s warm and cozy grasp and stretch out on deck. Before heading out to the deck, they scavenge the mess area for something to eat and seem satisfied with some marmalade and crackers. 

Peering through the doorway to the shipdeck, Jim spots two figures sitting who seemingly had the same idea as them of having breakfast on the deck. Jim contemplates just turning around and pretending they never saw anything, but they have to confirm their suspicions about the couple out there. 

A loud cackle breaks the silence, one that Jim is very familiar with; the only thing that’s different about the cackle is that there aren’t any walls to muffle it. 

“Mornin’ lovebirds.” Jim says as they sit next to Black Pete and Lucius taking a bite out of one of their crackers. 

“Morning!” Pete says excitedly. 

“Hey Jim.” Lucius says quickly, before going back to his notebook to continue scribbling something down. 

“What’s up with him?” Jim nods their head in Lucius’ direction. 

“He couldn’t sleep, because he’s been too stressed planning out our honeymoon.” Pete gives Lucius a pointed look which is lost on him, due to his focus on the notebook. 

“Ya know I would’ve liked to have just gone at each other for like 40 hours minimum, but this one over here was so stressed out.” Pete continued. 

“God I knew it!” Jim shouts out annoyed, earning a confused look from Pete. “How the fuck did Izzy guess right!?!” Jim continues, still annoyed. 

For the first time since Jim joined the newlyweds, Lucius looked up from his notebook. “What are you talking about? Guess right about what?” 

“Oh, as soon as you guys left we placed bets on how long you two would be fucking; and I would have been right if you weren’t so stressed about your damn honeymoon.” Jim says in the voice that they use to scare Lucius from time to time. 

Much to Jim’s pleasure Lucius flinches. 

“Look, I’m just trying to think of a nice place for us to go and get off the ship for a while.” Lucius snapped, the stress clearly getting to him. 

At this point Olu had woken up and joined them. 

“You have got to be kidding me-” was all Oluwande could manage before Lucius interrupted him. 

“Is the whole crew involved in this little bet?” 

“Basically everyone except Stede and Ed.” Oluwande answered softly, knowing that the answer would most likely set Lucius off even more.

“Great to know that the only people not betting on our sex life are the two people who are not on the ship.” Lucius rolled his eyes.

“What’s got him all worked up?” Olu leaned over to try and whisper to Jim. But failed when Pete was the one who answered. 

“He’s been trying to plan our perfect honeymoon. Even though anywhere we go is the perfect honeymoon, Babe.” Pete says nudging his shoulder into Lucius trying to get him to calm down. 

“Why don’t you guys wait until Stede and Ed fix up their new place and stay there.” Olu says nonchalantly. “Stede was telling me all about how he and Ed are gonna turn it into an inn with a bar. I thought it would be a nice place to go with Jim.” 

Jim doesn’t say anything but just smiles and nuzzles into Oluwande’s side. 

“Well I think that’s a great idea!” Pete beams, deciding that’s the best idea. “And it’ll be good to see Stede again.” 

“Sounds like a great idea.” Lucius closes his notebook and can feel a wave of relief washing over him. Lucius also decides that if anything goes wrong he can somehow blame Stede and Ed. 

**************

Lucius and Black Pete enter the crew mess to find Wee John, Frenchie, and Izzy sitting at the table. 

“Oh my god, the little fecker was right.” Wee John says glaring at Izzy. 

Roach yelled something from the kitchen but it got lost alongside the other noises coming from the kitchen. 

“I cannot believe this many people are betting on our sex life.” Lucius puts his head in his hands. 

“It sounds like something I’d do.” Pete laughs as he joins the rest of the crew at the table. 

“Hey Izz, how did you know that Lucius and Pete would be done so early?” Frenchie asked, turning his gaze to Izzy. Causing everyone else around the table to do the same. 

“Just did.” Izzy says bluntly in between bites of his breakfast, choosing not to elaborate. 

“You can’t just give vague explanations for things, especially when those things involve me and my husband.” Lucius said while getting up close in Izzy’s face. His tone is something that Lucius can only describe as channeling his inner Jim. 

“Ooh, tell ‘em babe!” Pete chimes in to support Lucius. 

All Izzy does is laugh before putting his fork down, and stares directly at Lucius.

“Not everything needs an explanation. Some things just are the way they are.”  

Izzy sits back down and continues his breakfast, as Roach comes out of the kitchen with the remaining portions of breakfast. 

“So what does Izzy get for winning, the bet?” Pete asks intrigued. 

The crew is thankful that Pete is having the opposite reaction of Lucius. It’s never been spoken out loud, but everyone has at least thought that the ship definitely isn’t big enough for two Lucius’. 

“Nothing yet, I guess we didn’t really get that far.” Frenchie admits defeatedly, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“How bout you Izz… what do you want for winning the bet?” Frenchie asked genuinely curious to see what the former first mate would say. 

Izzy starts to stand, it’s unclear if he is going to even answer Frenchie’s ridiculous question. 

“Fuck off!” Izzy waves his hand as he storms out of the room, or as best he can with only one leg. 

**************

It’s a little over three months after the wedding, when The Revenge docks at the Republic of Pirates. The crew arrived later than they wanted to due to a fight breaking out between Jim and Lucius about reading the map. Izzy won’t take sides about who was reading the map incorrectly, but Izzy can’t imagine a universe where Jim reads a map wrong. 

Since tensions are currently high, Roach decided that they should all go to Spanish Jackie’s. Hoping that seeing The Swede behind the bar would put a smile on their faces. 

When the crew enters Spanish Jackie’s it’s not as packed as it was the last time that they were there, but there was still a good amount of people. Roach was the one leading the charge into Spanish Jackie’s and as soon as The Swede laid eyes on them, his face lit up happy to see old friends. 

“Hiya guys! How have ya been? Please sit anywhere ya want.” The Swede’s voice chipper as always while he mixed drinks behind the bar. 

“Lookin’ good Swede.” Pete winked as he was one of the last ones to enter the bar. His arms linked with Lucius who blew a kiss in his direction. 

The crew gathers around the table, much calmer than they were before. Before they get the chance to order at the bar The Swede comes over with a tray full of drinks. 

“These are on the house. I made them with love .” 

Everyone around the tables raises their glass at The Swede. It seems that any turmoil they faced before coming in is long gone. 

The Swede leaves the crew to go back and tend the bar, when surprisingly he comes right back. This time he is clutching some sort of envelope. 

“Congratulations on being married, this is from The Captain and Ed.” The Swede hands the letter to Pete and Lucius. 

Upon further inspection, the cream colored envelope is addressed to Sir Lucius Spriggs and Sir Black Pete. It’s obvious that Stede wrote the letter due to the immaculate cursive. Lucius would never admit it but Stede fucking Bonnet has better penmanship than him. 

Flipping the envelope over, there is an elaborate red wax seal keeping everything closed. There is a moment of hesitation when opening the envelope, as if Lucius and Pete are scared of breaking the seal. 

Now that the letter is opened, it’s much longer than either of them expected. As to be expected, the letter is written in Stede's lovely cursive. 

Lucius begins to read the letter:

“Dear Lucius and Black Pete,

As a celebration of your union as mateys, Stede Bonnet and Edward Teach invite you as honored guests to the grand opening of Jeff’s Inn by the Sea.” 

Pete interrupts Lucius reading the letter aloud. “Who the hell is Jeff?”

“Did you guys ever meet anyone named Jeff?” Pete poses the question to the group, hoping that someone has an answer. 

“I think it’s supposed to be Blackbeard…” Frenchie trails off as the table looks at him. “When I was first mate, I was headed into his cabin and heard him arguing with himself and he kept saying Jeff.” 

It’s silent for a moment, everyone at the table is clearly trying to wrap their heads around what Frenchie just said. Lucius decides to break the silence by continuing to read the letter. 

“We are excited for your stay, and have gone ahead to book your reservation as a part of the VIP package which includes a room in the mermaid suite, an intimate dinner in our dining area, and much more!” 

A couple of oohs and aahs come from the majority of the table, basically everyone except Lucius, Pete, and Izzy. Once they all quiet down, Lucius reads the final part of the letter. 

“Words cannot contain our excitement to have you and eventually everyone onboard The Revenge. We wish you safe travels to Jeff’s Inn by the Sea.

Much Love,

Stede Bonnet and Edward Teach.” 

Lucius couldn’t help but smile after reading the letter, sure Stede Bonnet was a terrible captain and Blackbeard tried to murder him; but this felt genuine from the both of them. It seems like people can really change. The sudden change in penmanship from Stede’s elegant cursive to Ed’s bold sloppy print. 

Lucius decides to tuck the letter into one of his pockets. He makes a mental note to put it in one of his notebooks once they get back on the ship. 

**************

The Revenge drops anchor close to the island where the inn is, about a week after receiving the letter. Jim and Oluwande are currently rowing Lucius and Black Pete to the island. The ride to the island is pretty quiet. Jim and Olu were the first ones to volunteer to row the dinghy, as Olu had the brilliant idea to have a secluded picnic date with Jim. As much as they loved the crew, all four of them were excited to be off the ship for a little while. The weather for today is perfect, it was warm without a single cloud in the sky. 

The ride to the island didn’t take too long. Jim and Olu are surprisingly fast at rowing, without being motivated by the basket full of food sitting in the middle of the dinghy. Once they hit land the two couples went their separate ways. 

“Have a good picnic!” Pete called out as he and Lucius started walking towards the inn. 

“We’ll be back in three days!” Olu called out loudly as Jim was essentially dragging him towards the opposite end of the island. Jim is most likely eager for lunch, and also trying to avoid getting sucked into staying at the inn. Which will definitely lead to ruining Lucius and Pete’s already belated honeymoon. 

Upon heading towards the inn, both Lucius and Pete were shocked by how much work Stede and Ed put into the inn. When the crew dropped the two of them off at the island, the future inn was falling apart. Now, the exterior is fully repaired and there is even the beginnings of a garden by the entrance. 

Before they enter, Pete nudges Lucius and points to the makeshift fire pit on the beach. Four mismatched chairs form a circle around the pit. The remnants of a previous fire lay in the center of the pit. 

When they entered the inn, nobody was at the front desk to greet them. Neither Lucius or Black Pete minded, it gave them a chance to look at the heavily decorated front lobby. They could already tell that Stede was left in charge of decorating; it was a maximalist’s dream: the walls were covered in drawings, maps, and fabric scraps, handmade shelves were filled with remnants of Stede’s books from the original Revenge along with little trinkets that Ed and Stede must have picked up from their own adventures. 

When Lucius took a closer look at the drawings that lined the walls he thought he was going to pass out. Scattered throughout the lobby were different drawings that he had done of the different members of the Revenge. Although some of the pages were torn around the edges, they were still his drawings nonetheless. 

For once in his life Lucius was truly speechless, all he could muster was a soft “ oh my god .” which caused Pete to put down the trinket he was looking at and turn to Lucius. 

“What’s up babe?” Pete asked with a hint of concern in his voice. 

“I thought these were gone when I was thrown overboard.” Lucius’ voice is shaky, overcome with emotion.

Black Pete was rendered speechless as well. As arguably the more outwardly emotional one of the two of them, Pete could feel the tears about to well up in his eyes. He took a deep breath to stop the tears and pressed a big kiss into Lucius’ cheek. 

They were silent for a few moments longer until Pete broke the silence “Let’s check in.” 

Lucius nodded and they approached the desk. Ed or Stede were still nowhere to be found, so Pete rang the silver bell on the desk. Within seconds a familiar blond in a floor length purple robe came practically running to the desk. 

“You guys came!” Stede’s beaming with excitement and turns around back where he came from to call out “Ed! Lucius and Black Pete are here!” 

“This place looks amazing!” Pete says joining in on Stede’s contagious excitement. “Look at all the decorations! I-'' Pete continues before he’s interrupted by Lucius. 

“I can’t believe you kept my sketchbook, I assumed it was sitting in the bottom of the ocean.” Lucius let out a dry chuckle to hopefully show that he doesn’t mean anything bad, he’s just genuinely shocked. 

“Oh, those I found tucked into the pages of some of my old books. Ed told me he put some of them in there.” 

Lucius stood there dumbfounded, unable to believe what he was hearing. 

Just as Lucius was about to say something Ed walked out in a robe similar to Stede’s. The only difference being, the length ended at his hips and it was red as opposed to purple. 

“Oh hi guys. How was the trip here?” Ed’s voice was calm, you could hear that he was happy to see them but was nowhere near as high energy as Stede. 

Lucius skipped over Ed’s question and fired back with one of his own “Where did the drawings come from?” 

“I was digging around through Stede’s old things on our break and I found these, they’re quite nice.” Ed carefully approached Lucius and placed a reassuring hand on his back. Lucius was proud of himself for not jumping at the sudden touch. 

While Lucius and Ed were focused on their own conversation Pete was able to finish checking them in with Stede. 

“How about a grand tour!” Stede exclaimed, wedging himself in between Lucius and Black Pete and slinging his arms over both their shoulders. 

The first stop on their tour was the room they’re going to be staying in. The sign on the door reads “The Mermaid Suite” with a wooden mermaid figure attached to the sign. Inside the room is a Queen bed with a lavish bedspread. There are also extra bed linens and towels folded nicely on top of a trunk by the foot of the bed. It seems like Stede’s time in towels on Zhang’s ship paid off. 

The next stop of the tour was into the main dining area. The setup of the area was similar to Spanish Jackie’s, menus, a small plant, and an unlit candle were placed on every table. Much like the front lobby, there is a good amount of art covering the walls; but the sketches have been replaced by framed paintings. There is also a small raised platform mimicking a stage, flashbacks of the fuckery they once performed as a crew flooded both Lucius and Pete’s mind. 

“Well that concludes the tour! What do you guys think?” Stede smiles, excitement evident on his face. 

Pete manages to answer before Lucius “This place looks amazing! But how did you guys get so much stuff?” 

“I mean this place was pretty empty when we dropped you guys off.” Pete continues hoping that he hasn’t offended either of the innkeepers. 

“Oh you’d be surprised how much people are willing to donate when you turn on the ol’ Blackbeard charm.” Ed says a bit too casually. 

Both Lucius and Pete let out an awkward laugh and Lucius can feel a chill run down his spine. 

“And what about you Lucius?” Stede asks, trying to lighten the mood. 

“It looks great…Captain.” Lucius smiles and wraps his arm around Stede. 

“Well I’m going to start on dinner, for tonight’s menu we’ve got rabbit chops.” Ed says softly “Dinner’s at six, Stede’ll knock on your door when it’s ready.” Ed continues before heading into the kitchen. 

“I’ll let you guys get settled in, and make yourselves at home! What’s mine is yours!” Stede says beaming, before he looks away to focus his gaze on Ed. 

As Lucius and Pete are about to leave, Stede stops them. 

“I did a good job of cleaning your room before you came, but if you two need me to dispose of any spiders let me know.” 

Stede takes a second to make sure Ed is out of earshot, before continuing “Ed is terrified of the little fellas.” Stede whispers, as if Ed hearing the word spider would set him off. 

Lucius gives Stede a confused look “Doesn’t Ed have a giant spider tattooed on his hand?” 

“I know he does, but I think he just got it to make himself look cool.” Stede admits defeatedly. 

Both Lucius and Black Pete decide not to push the argument any further and just give Stede an understanding nod before heading into their room. 

**************

As soon as the door shuts behind Lucius and Black Pete, Pete flops onto the bed. 

“Oh my god babe you have to get over here, this bed is so comfy.” 

Pete was really just happy to be on a mattress. While the cabins on the ship weren’t terrible, nothing beat the comfort of a real mattress. Not to mention the absence of the repeated thud of Jim throwing their knives into the wall their cabin shares with Lucius and Pete. 

“Yeah, coming babe, one sec.” Lucius called out while digging through the wardrobe. 

Inside the wardrobe is a rainbow of clothes in all sorts of different fabrics. Of course everything is organized by color. Lucius is not going to question how the clothes stayed in such pristine condition after The Revenge went under, but he might have to give Pete a little fashion show later. 

Lucius shuts the wardrobe and joins Pete on the bed. “Oh this is incredible.” 

“It’s been forever since we’ve been alone.” Pete said as he scooched over to Lucius. 

“It really has…” Lucius leaned in closer to Pete “Did you hear that?” Lucius continued with a smirk on his face.

“No… I don't hear anything.” Pete answered a little confused. 

“Exactly.” 

Lucius leans in to close the tiny gap between his face and Pete’s. He places a passionate kiss on Pete’s lips. Pete’s moan is muffled by Lucius’ lips only causing Lucius to pull him in even closer. Suddenly it’s as if his hands have a mind of their own, finding any inch of Pete to grab onto while trying to find the hem of his shirt. As soon as Lucius feels his own shirt come off, he practically blacks out just letting his instincts take over.

**************

A knock at the door causes both Lucius and Pete to jump, they’ve been so focused on each other that they have completely forgotten about the dinner that was being prepared. 

“Dinner is ready! Come out before it gets cold.” Stede says loud enough to carry through the door. 

“We’ll be out in a few!” Black Pete says before he gets up to open the window. 

The air in the room has become thick, sticky, and about twenty degrees hotter than it was when they first entered. 

“Oh thank god, we need to air this room out.” Lucius grabs a towel off of the stack by the bed and does his best to wipe himself off. 

Lucius throws the towel across the room and opens the wardrobe back up looking for something to wear. He’s drawn to the various shades of blue in the wardrobe, and starts feeling the different materials trying to find which would keep him the most cool. Lucius finds a light blue tunic made out of linen. 

These must be the summer linens that Stede was always going on about when he first joined The Revenge. Back when Lucius was Stede’s designated scribe there was always a part of him that wanted to dress the way he did. Even though there was that one day when they first arrived at the Republic of Pirates where he was matching with Stede, that outfit managed to last a whopping five minutes before it became a bloody mess. 

“Ooh looking good babe.” Pete said as he came up from behind Lucius and wrapped his arms around him. 

Pete decided to join in on the fun and look through the wardrobe to find something to match Lucius in. Pete decided on a flowy dark green silk tunic. 

“How do I look?” Pete asked as he did a twirl for Lucius. 

“Fucking hot. I’m really loving all of this on you.” Lucius pointed at the shirt that Pete was wearing and made a circle with his hand to emphasize how much he loved Pete in that shirt. 

After Lucius and Pete finished with their little fashion show, they went down for dinner. 

**************

As Lucius and Pete entered the dining room they were taken back by the music that was playing. Up on the stage there was a small band consisting of two singers and someone playing the lute. All of the tables had their candles lit, but on the table closest to the stage there is a small place card with “Reserved” with a small heart drawn next to it written in Stede’s stunning cursive. 

Once they sat at the table, Stede came right over with a large pitcher of water. He plucked the place card off the table and started filling up the cups. “Ed will be right out with dinner.” 

“I like the band!” Pete said and Lucius nodded in agreement. 

“Aren’t they great!” Stede gave the band a thumbs up as he turned back to the table. 

“I didn’t realize how much I missed Frenchie’s playing until we got off the ship. But then I heard these guys play and practically begged them to play here. They call themselves The Three Musketeers.” 

Before either of them could say anything else Ed arrived with two plates of freshly cooked Rabbit and vegetables. 

“Enjoy you guys.” Ed says, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice.

Ed has only recently gotten into cooking, the only person who has tried his food is Stede, who for obvious reasons is a biased judge.

It didn’t take long for Stede and Ed to realize that they have never had to cook for themselves before. Stede had grown up around people to cook for him and then he married Mary who did all the cooking. Once he left to become a pirate, Roach was one of the first people he hired for his crew. While Ed knew how to fight for food, he never was the one to actually cook it. 

It was decided almost instantly that Ed would do all the cooking, when Stede almost set their inn ablaze within the first week of them living there. 

“These are uh… freshly cooked vegetables from the garden and seared rabbit also from…” Ed trailed off trying to find a better way to end this sentence, but he just decides to finish it when he can’t think of anything else other than “the garden.” 

A collective wince could be heard from the table causing Ed to feel himself getting warmer. He gave one final “Cheers” before scurrying back into the kitchen. 

There was something about seeing a nervous Blackbeard that made Lucius uncomfortable. Even though Lucius has made his amends with Ed throwing him off the ship there was still a little voice in the back of his head repeating the phrase “ the calm before the storm.” 

Lucius stared at the plate, stuck in his own head. He was so entranced in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice Stede leave. 

“Everything alright babe?” The worry in Black Pete’s voice was enough to snap Lucius out of trance. 

“You don’t think Blackbeard poisoned this… do you?” Lucius said without looking up from his plate. 

“Babe, look at me.” Pete said softly, placing his hand on top of Lucius’. 

“Ed did not poison this, I promise.” Pete used his freehand to pick up his fork and stabbed at one of the vegetables. 

Lucius didn’t say anything as he watched Pete eat. 

“You’re not gonna believe me, but these are actually really good!” Pete pulled his hand off Lucius’ to pick his knife up and start slicing into the rabbit. 

“There’s no way.” Lucius stares as Pete bites into the rabbit. 

“No! It really is, we have to tell Roach about this!” Pete gestured at Lucius’ plate for him to try some. 

“If I’m sick later, you’re never hearing the end of it.” Lucius lets out a small laugh as he points his fork at Pete. 

Lucius puts a few vegetables and some rabbit onto the end of his fork and takes a bite. Lucius almost chokes as it goes down. 

“Pete…” Lucius pauses for a moment trying to keep his composure.

“This has got to be one of the worst meals I’ve ever had in my life.” It takes every ounce of Lucius’ strength to not burst into laughter. 

“But definitely not poisoned.” Pete says, trying to contain his own laughter. Pete goes in for another bite. 

“I can’t believe you’re going in for seconds.” Lucius whisper-shouts, to keep Stede and Ed from hearing. 

“I don’t want Ed to be upset. Don’t you see how nervous he is.” Pete throws his hands in the air. 

Pete ends up clearing his plate and Lucius manages to finish half of his. While they were waiting for Stede and Ed to come back, Pete took his chair and moved closer to Lucius. Lucius took advantage of this and put his head on Pete’s shoulder. As they listen to the band Pete takes Lucius’ hand and intertwined his fingers in his. 

“I love you.” Lucius says just loud enough for Pete to hear, despite being the only guests in the dining room. 

“I love you too.” Pete bends down and manages to press a kiss onto Lucius’ forehead. 

“I’m really happy I’m here with you.” Lucius picks his head up and turns to Pete. 

Before Pete could agree, Lucius continues “It’s true! I’ve been happier than ever these past few months. You, the crew, the ship, just everything.” 

Pete couldn’t say anything but instead pulled Lucius in and kissed him deeply. Lucius took a moment to register the sudden movement, but then he instantly kissed back. Lucius didn’t mind Pete’s tear-stained face. He just kept kissing and twirling his fingers deeper and deeper into Pete’s hair. 

They pulled away when they heard footsteps approaching the table. Stede smiles at Pete and Lucius’ blush ridden faces. Stede took the plates before Ed had a chance to, so Ed would have a minute alone with them to ask about dinner.

“So how was the food?” Ed asks with more confidence in his voice than when he dropped off the meal. He couldn’t help but smile at the mostly empty plates. 

“It was delicious! I couldn’t stop eating!” Pete flashed a big smile. 

“He’s not wrong about that.” Lucius couldn’t help but mutter under his breath. Pete kicked him under the table. 

A wave of relief washed over Ed. He was happy that someone else besides Stede enjoyed his cooking. Surely, he’s no Roach but pleasing Lucius and Pete is a big deal. 

When Stede came back to the table Ed, Lucius and Pete were all laughing. Ed has even pulled up a chair and joined them at the table. 

“What’s everyone laughing about?” Stede grabs his own chair and joins them. He’s happy to see everyone getting along. 

“They were just catching me up on how the crew’s doing.” Ed threw his arm around Stede, any sign of nervousness has dissipated. 

“Ya know they made Frenchie captain?” Ed turns to Stede. 

“Oh I bet he’s a great captain! You have to send our congratulations!” Stede claps his hands together in excitement. 

“We will!” Pete practically cheered. 

“Oh you two should join us outside tonight! We were going to make a fire and see if there’s any shooting stars.” Stede leans into the table before continuing. 

“We met this woman today who says she’s a fortune teller!” 

Lucius tries to hold a snark in but fails. Stede turns all his attention to Lucius. 

“I’m being serious Lucius! This woman told me she can interpret the stars and that there would be shooting stars tonight!” Stede’s eyes were as wide as the moon. Everyone sitting at the table knew that Stede Bonnet is loyal to a fault. He’ll believe practically anything someone would tell him. 

Back in the early days of The Revenge, Roach had convinced Stede that he has cooked and eaten every type of animal on the planet. It took a week of Olu convincing him that it was impossible for Roach to have cooked and eaten half the animals that Roach had listed. Including but not limited to: sabertooth tigers, dolphins, and a horse. 

“We’ll join you when it’s darker, I think I need to lay down for a minute after such a great meal.” Lucius tells Ed and Stede. 

“Of course! We’ll clean up here and then set up a bonfire.” Ed says as he blows out the candle and gets up. 

Lucius and Pete get up and leave the dining room hand in hand. 

**************

Lucius dragged Pete into bed so fast, he practically ripped Pete’s arm out. Once in bed, Lucius let out a big stretch and slid himself closer into Pete, wrapping an arm around his stomach. 

They were only supposed to cuddle for a little while, just until it got dark. But somehow they both ended up falling asleep. Pete wakes up first, when he sees the moonlight creeping in through the open window he jolts upright. The sudden motion wakes Lucius. 

“You okay babe?” Lucius asks groggily. 

Pete hums and gives Lucius a quick peck on the lips. 

“Stede and Ed are waiting for us outside. I’m sure they got the bonfire all set up.” 

“We should go babe.” Pete gently nudges Lucius to wake him up.  

Lucius makes a noise that’s unintelligible, but he gets up. 

Neither of them bothered to change before laying down to snuggle so after a quick stretch, they headed out to the beach. 

**************

As they left the inn, a roaring bonfire greeted them on the beach. From behind they could see Stede and Ed cuddled together watching the fire. Stede’s arm up in the air pointing out different constellations. 

When Ed sees them he motions for them to sit. There’s an extra blanket on top of one of the empty chairs. Lucius takes the blanket and pushes the chairs closer together. 

It’s a beautiful night for stargazing. Dozens of stars swirled around the crescent moon. While the crystal clear sky is dotted by the occasional star. Lucius smiled as Pete rested his head on his shoulder. Lucius relaxed as he switched between watching the fire and the sky looking for any of the stars Stede is rambling on about. He sinks further into his chair completely at peace with his surroundings. 

A sudden swishing noise caught his attention. Ed was holding an almost empty bottle of some sort of dark liquor. 

“Want some?” Ed extends the bottle over to Lucius. 

Lucius thanks him and takes a hearty drink. The liquor burned a little going down, but during his time overboard and crew hopping, his alcohol tolerance has increased tremendously. 

“This is nice.” Lucius says as he hands Ed back the bottle. Ed makes a noise in agreement before taking another drink. 

The bottle goes back and forth between them for a couple rounds. Both Ed and Lucius are quiet, preferring to let Stede’s celestial knowledge and the crackle of the fire be the predominant soundtrack of their evening. 

At this point, Lucius is starting to feel the liquor, he can’t tell if his face is hot from the fire or the drinks. As he takes the bottle from Ed, he can’t help himself as a quiet laugh escapes his lips. 

“What’s that?” Ed says, as he is finally starting to feel the effects of the booze. His tolerance is higher than Lucius’ but he also has been out here drinking for longer. 

“Nothing…” Lucius’ voice trails off as he tries to distract Ed with the bottle. 

Ed takes the bottle, but Lucius’ plan fails. 

“Oh come on, let it out. I know you want to.” 

Lucius lets out a sigh and takes a sip of the bottle before speaking. 

“I just can’t believe I’m here right now…” Lucius laughs again, this time a little louder and continues. 

“The day you and your crew came aboard the ship, if you told me that in about a year's time I would be thrown overboard, married, and drinking with Blackbeard while watching the stars with him and his boyfriend at their shared inn. Hell I might have saved you the fucking trouble and jumped off myself.” Lucius cracks himself up as he takes another drink. Partly because he can’t believe he just admitted all of that to Ed. 

“I know mate, life’s fuckin’ wild isn’t it.” Ed smiles and laughs as well. 

Lucius puts the bottle down into the sand and goes back to looking at the stars. Now that it’s gotten later,  the moon has faded into the darkness of the night sky and now the stars can really shine. The bonfire is about to die out, a few loud pops and crackles fill the space. Once the fire is done, the only noise between the two men are the soft snores of their partners.

“Thank you for coming, it really means a lot.” Ed says, breaking the silence. 

“I’m glad we came. I can tell this place is good for the both of you.” Lucius says sincerely. 

It seems like the perfect time for everyone to head inside, but any sudden movement from either Ed or Lucius would result in them waking up their respective partners. 

Both of them decided to stay out a bit longer in order to avoid an irritable Stede and Pete. It was a good thing they decided to because it turns out the fortune teller was right. A couple shooting stars dashed and danced across the night sky. Lucius had never seen anything like it. 

Lucius knew he had to wake Pete up “Babe you gotta wake up and see this.” 

He gently tried to coax Pete out of his slumber with a few gentle shakes. Thankfully Pete was a light sleeper and woke up almost immediately. Pete’s eyes blinked away and he adjusted the position he was in before rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 

Pete looks up and can’t believe what he’s seeing. 

The meteor shower is in full swing and there is a shooting star practically every minute. 

“The fortune teller told me to close your eyes and make a wish.” Stede quietly announced to the group. 

Everyone followed Stede’s directions.

Lucius made his wish and when he saw Pete’s eyes open he whispered “What did you wish for?” 

“I can’t tell you, that’s between me and the stars.” Pete shifted his gaze away from the stars for a minute and pressed his lips together for Lucius to lean down and kiss him. 

Everyone watched the rest of the meteor shower in awe. Ed and Stede took turns telling different stories to Pete and Lucius about their time opening up the inn. Ed was still a bit tipsy so his stories were a little more intense than Stede’s. After a couple of stories the shooting stars became more sporadic and everyone decided it was time to turn in for the night. Ed made sure the fire was properly put out and then each couple took their blanket and bid the other pair goodnight. 

When Lucius and Pete made it back into their room, they once again raided the wardrobe to find one of the night gowns he used to always sleep in back on the ship. Lucius struck gold and found a pair of silk gowns. Both Lucius and Pete stripped off their clothes and changed into the luxurious silk. 

Within seconds of hitting the bed they both fell asleep wrapped up in each other's arms. 

**************

The following two days of their honeymoon flew by. Lucius and Pete had spent the majority of the days with Stede and Ed. They spent the second day at the market looking for some kind of souvenir to bring back onto the ship. But, their mission was unsuccessful and everyone left the market empty handed. 

On the third day, they weren’t sure about when the ship would arrive at the island. Lucius and Pete just knew they had to be up early. Lucius opened the door to their room and was surprised to find a platter of breakfast sitting in the hallway. The platter consisted of toast with orange marmalade and some pieces of meat. Neither Lucius or Pete could tell what kind of meat it was, all they could figure out is that it tasted better than the rabbit they ate on their first night. 

Pete and Lucius quickly finished the platter, and headed into the dining area to drop it off. Lucius put the tray on one of the tables and with neither Ed or Stede in sight, they decided to look outside for them. 

It wasn’t hard to spot them sitting beside the firepit, sharing a very similar breakfast to what Lucius and Pete had. 

“Morning!” Stede greeted them excitedly. 

“I can’t believe you guys are leaving already. We’re going to miss you.” Stede gets up and wraps Lucius and Pete in a big hug. Ed joins in shortly after, giving everyone a big squeeze. 

Stede knew he started tearing up as soon as he started hugging his former crewmates. 

“Come back soon.” Stede chokes out. 

“We will! Promise Captain!” Pete says, managing to worm his hand free from the hug and rubs small circles into Stede’s back. 

Everyone lets go from the hug, and Stede wraps himself into Ed. Ed wipes the tears from Stede’s face and presses a kiss into Stede’s forehead. 

Ed and Stede sit back down at the bonfire and talk with Lucius and Pete to see what the plans for The Revenge are. They must have been sitting on the beach for longer than they had thought, because it seems like all of a sudden the ship was on the horizon. 

“Well I guess that’s us.” Lucius says awkwardly, Stede’s the only one who is actually listening. Ed and Pete are too preoccupied with talking about Pete’s grand plans for the ship. 

“I guess so…” Stede’s voice trails off, it’s been a while since him and Lucius have had a moment alone. 

“I’m glad you guys came.” Stede says as he slings his arm around Lucius’ shoulder. 

“Me too, this has been a fun little getaway.” Lucius smiled and pulled himself closer to Stede. 

Lucius leans in and whispers “I think you found your calling.” 

Stede didn’t know what to say, so he just gave Lucius the best squeeze he could with one hand. Just when he was about to say something he was interrupted by a collective group yelling his name. 

Stede looks over at the beach to see the entire crew of The Revenge coming towards him and Lucius. Almost instantly, he was surrounded into a massive group hug. As soon as the hug broke up, both him and Ed were ambushed by a flurry of questions. 

Stede and Ed try to answer them in rapid fire succession, throwing out answers like “We’re doing great!” “Yes, yes everyone is welcome to stay!” 

After the initial chaos calms down, Ed looks for Frenchie. He finds him laughing with Izzy. Ed mingles his way into their conversation. 

“Hey Frenchie, hey Izz.” Ed gives them a small wave. 

All Izzy has to offer as a greeting is a simple “Ed.” before he takes a step closer to Frenchie. Ed notices, but chooses not to say anything - remembering that moment to later tell Stede about later.

“Hiya Black- Ed.” Frenchie says nervously. 

“It’s alright Frenchie, I just wanted to congratulate you on becoming captain.” 

Frenchie visibly relaxes. 

“You’re going to be a great captain, you were a great first mate.” Ed continues hoping that Frenchie knows he’s being genuine. 

“Temporary first mate.” Frenchie tries to awkwardly correct him. 

“Listen Frenchie…” Ed slowly puts his hand on Frenchie’s shoulder before continuing. Frenchie jumps at his touch but the initial fight or flight feeling subsides quickly. Izzy shoots Ed a look. 

“The most important part is that you care about the crew, and that’s what makes a great captain.” 

“I do care about ‘em. Thank you Ed.” Frenchie says smiling before he walks off to gather the rest of the crew. 

Izzy hangs back to talk with Ed alone.

“Quite the setup you’ve got here.” Izzy gestures to the inn behind them.

“You’re welcome to stay here anytime.” 

Izzy scoffs. 

“I’m serious. You can even bring someone if you’d like.” Ed says looking past Izzy and watching Frenchie talk with various other crew members. 

“Fucks that supposed to mean?” Izzy raises his voice. Ed knew he was onto something.

“Oh come on Izz, I know you .” Ed gives Izzy a pointed look.

“I knew that the crew was hiding you, just from the smell of your rotting flesh alone. Of course I can tell when you’ve got feelings for someone.” 

“Nothing’s even happened yet.” Izzy rolls his eyes.

“Nothing yet .” Ed smirks at Izzy.

“Oh fuck off. I’ve got a crew to get back to.” Izzy tries to quickly leave, but he hasn’t really gotten the hang of using his new leg on sand yet. 

Ed catches him easily. “Wait, hold on.”

Izzy stops and turns around. Ed doesn’t say anything except he pulls him into a hug. 

Izzy doesn’t move and his body tenses up at sensation. Ed is about to pull away, thinking he made a mistake but before he can let go Izzy’s arms wrap around him. Ed lets out a sigh of relief before speaking. 

“Thank you for being the best first mate I’ve ever had. I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done to you.” Ed’s voice is just louder than a whisper. 

Izzy doesn’t respond right away, but Ed can feel him nodding in the hug. 

Izzy pulls apart from the hug “I’m proud of you Edward.” 

Neither of them say anything, but they don’t need to. Ed and Izzy have been around each other so long that they have become sort of telepathic. With them, sometimes silence speaks louder than words and this was one of those times.

**************

Everyone gave Stede and Ed one last final goodbye from the side of the ship. Both Stede and Ed waved and watched the ship depart. Shortly, The Revenge faded off into the distance and it was just the two of them on the beach. 

Ed and Stede decide to head back to the inn. While walking back, Ed stops for a moment and Stede turns to him confused. 

“I’m happy that I’m here with you. I love you Stede.” Ed says as he presses his lips against Stede’s. 

Stede kisses back and says “I love you too, Edward.”