Inspired by a recent interview with Samba Schutte where he said one piece of fanart he hasn’t seen yet is the rest of the crew as kids.
Tried to keep it light because some of these guys probably had VERY grim childhoods…
I hope they do delve into their backstories in S2 though. What drove these guys to the sea? How did they sign on with Stede, of all people? Who taught Roach fine cuisine and also the fine art of 18th century surgery? How did a Swede get to the Caribbean?
Description: Heartbreak is one hell of a bitch. And one Edward Teach could tell you all about it. Yet thanks to Fate being a little trickster, there’s a person who enters his life to remind him of how nice it is of having someone he can confide in, someone he can care about, and someone he can trust. To remind him, what it means to have a friend for better or worse.
Part Summary: Buttons wasn’t your favorite member of the crew by any means, he was far from it, actually. But when the crew gets to know that he’s celebrating his 600th basking in the moonlight, you all decide to join this strange, exceptional ritual.
Word counter: 6.1 K
A/N:Yes. The name of this part is a clear reference to Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest. Also, I realize that the chapter is fucking long as shit and that ‘The Wellerman’ (a New Zealand shanty) was sung a century later (c. 1860-70), but I think that imagining the entire crew just standing there, singing it, that would be so fucking dope. Also, who the fuck cares about accuracy? The show itself ain’t accurate, and Taika, Rhys, and David don’t care in the slightest.
One last thing: I know using the term 'sea shanty’ isn’t accurate, but it’s just catchier and fun to use.
A month passed by just like that. A whole month of plundering, adventures, and all sorts of exciting daily activities. It was pretty usual to stop by in a harbor time you met on your way to replenish all the supplies you might need; whether it was a barrel full of oranges, food, or gunpowder. Each time you stopped there, Izzy was trying to sell you with all the desperation he had inside of himself; and yet, to Izzy’s bad luck, there was no slave-holder who’d buy your, and you quote, “fucking annoying ass”. Harbor days were your favorites when it came to breaking the blissful routine you and the crew often came across throughout your traveling; on a Harbor day, everyone was allowed to enjoy their time as they found appropriate before spending the afternoon finishing tasks.
As usual, you decided to join Olu and Jim on their endeavors through yet another strange town since it was often beneficial to have Jim by your side when the locals started to haggle with you in Spanish. Where did you take the money to even haggle in the first place? Oh, that was pretty easy - you sold off some of the jewelry the boys were bringing you from various raids. Usually, all your Harbor days looked pretty much the same - first off, Izzy was dragging you along with your wrists loosely tied together and tried to talk down anyone, literally anyone, to buy you. After his attempts came in wain, the three of you wandered around the town; sometimes, you decided for a beach trip to soak your feet in the old ocean waves and when the noon hit, you decided it’s time to pick yourself up to find you some food and, in Jim’s case, alcohol source. But this Harbor day was way different than the rest - this time, the entire crew decided to pay a visit to the local pub, ordering food and drinks left and right. Thankfully, Frenchie offered to pay for your dinner, which you accepted immediately since you had no money on you.
“I was talking to Buttons earlier this morning.” - Pete said loudly enough for all of you to shut up and pay him attention; John stopped himself from nibbling on his piece of chicken, sitting there with his mouth wide open and with his eyes piercing through Pete’s profile. Such a view made both you and Jim giggle, but upon seeing Pete’s serious expression, you both shut up and straightened up. “And you know how he sometimes gets, talking about his mumbo jumbo that no one understands, right?” - The man asked and everyone hummed back in agreement, muttering sentences like 'that’s so Buttons’ or 'yea, that sounds exactly like him’. - “But then he said a big number and so, I started to pay attention and asked him about what he’s talking about… And today’s a full moon, correct?”
“Oh, no.” - You moaned in despair, furrowing upon this realization. Jim patted your shoulder with an apologetic grin, and the rest of the men sighed; each member of the crew knew that seeing Buttons running around naked was a bit too much for your taste. The worst part was that this was happening monthly. To your bad luck, Buttons was also the most talkative during this period of time, so he was capable of coming up to you multiple times a day, telling you all sorts of information you didn’t even want to know. - “Is it really that time of the month again? Oh, dear, help me, Jesus.”
“We all know it’s a small problem for you, Y/N…” - “A problem? A small problem!? It’s a violation of my personal space! But whatever… You heard a big number and…” - You said quickly, prompting Pete to continue. “He said it’s his 600th basking in the moonlight. And I thought to myself: Woah, that’s a lot of basking. That guy might be a weirdo, but he’s our weirdo and I think we should, you know, show support and come there to share it with him.” - After he was finished with this speech, all of you simply stared at him, not finding the right words to say. In your mind, you started counting; if a year had twelve months, that meant… Six hundred divided by twelve… “Oh fuck!” - You squealed suddenly, looking at everyone sitting around the table; none of them seemed to connect the two dots, but again, you were the only one who could actually count. - “That means Buttons just had his 50th birthday, guys. Did any of you wish him?”
“Since when do you wish someone for having their birthday?” - Frenchie asked a bit pragmatically, offering you his palm with all the French antics he learned while he worked as a servant. - “I wish you the best for living long enough to become fifty years old.” - Then, the man stopped himself and furrowed, lowering his palm and shaking his head. - “That’s an awfully big number. Imagine living that long. Doesn’t most people die when they’re like… 30?” “Doesn’t most people die on small pocks, scurvy, plague, or starvation?” - The Swede chimed in. At that moment, you simply shook your head and already regretted the debate you started simply because you wanted to be nice to Buttons. - “… Or a bullet to the chest, to the head, hanging, blowing up… Or a very ugly ax hit, I’ve seen that before.” - Wee John continued, nodding as he finally nibbed on the piece of cold chicken in his fingers. Buttons, moon basking, and birthdays were quickly forgotten as the entire crew started to argue about the most common mortality. So far, of course, the pirate ways to go were strangely the most popular ones. - “… And that was when his finger fell off his foot. I don’t know what he had, but it was the most disgusting stuff I’ve seen so far…”
“Can you all just… Stop?” - You exclaimed and sprang to your feet, looking at everyone. You could feel your stomach turning upside down, and the food in front of you suddenly appeared to be disgusting. You fucking hated when the boys simultaneously started talking about such disgusting shit without being prompted to do so, talking about it until the very evening. “I think Pete’s idea’s great. We should celebrate Buttons’ 600th basking in the moonlight. Does any of you know what he likes? So we could give him a proper gift, perhaps?” - At this question, the men stared at you as if this was the first time ever saw you. How would they know what Buttons likes? This guy wasn’t exactly the one to share his hobbies or interests with the crew if you hadn’t noticed yet.
“Birds!” - Pete exclaimed after five minutes of utter, dead silence. - “I’m pretty sure he likes birds.” “That’s certainly… An observation. A good start, though. Come on, guys, you’re a part of one crew for a pretty long time. There must be something you learned about him, no?” “Mermaids, sea devils, and weird spells. He cursed Calico Jack and that guy just… Vanished. I think he’s a sea witch.” - Frenchie chimed in with another random, unfounded observation. At this observation, you nodded with visible disappointment, but you still brought yourself to pat Frenchie’s shoulder.
“He’s a very wise dude.” - Jim proclaimed out of nowhere, catching your full attention. This piece of information sounded very intriguing, especially coming from Jim. But with each new word they said after, the sparks disappeared from your eyes. - “He might not be able to read… To write… Or to count, but he has so much pirate knowledge. Maybe it’s not as bad that he’s this old because he can teach us a trick or two.” “Now that I think about it, he was helping Captain Stede with piracy in the begging a lot. Is that helpful?” - Olu asked seriously, making you stiffen for a few minutes there. “Sure!” - You exclaimed with the fakest smile on the planet; it didn’t seem that any of them noticed. None of that was helpful; what kind of a gift would he appreciate? A picture book filled with drawings of various sea demons and creatures? A parrot? A dead fucking mermaid dragged onto the deck? Huffing, you still kept the smile on your lips.
Truth be told, you’ve seen birthday celebrations rather rarely and knew a small amount of information about them. It was a pretty recent trend, to host a ball for someone’s birthday. And as usual, the ones inventing it were French. Your mistress threw a few parties as well, once or twice; she explained to you, all of her servants, that these small parties are more of a declaration of respect and honor than an actual birthday celebration. It wasn’t anything the French would be throwing to say it simply. So, you wanted something subtle and nice, to spend some quality time with all the crew members, and have a space to simply breathe.
“You know what? I think we should just bake a cake, cook some good dinner and buy a bottle of wine for the toast.” - With a sigh, you looked down on Jim and motioned for them to stand up. They looked back at you, visibly annoyed, and motioned towards the two remaining pieces of chicken on their plate. - “Stop being so dramatic, you said you don’t like the taste anyway.” “That was five minutes ago, I thought that puta spotted on my plate.” “Language!” - You squealed and shook your head, looking into the small leather bag hanging long your belt. You weren’t poor just yet, but you will surely need to haggle. Jim bounced their leg around a few times before sighing, putting their hat on their head, and pulling the coat off of the hanger. - “Roach, pick your ass up, you’re coming along.”
Just like Jim before, the man gave you a dramatic stare, throwing his palms around in a vague gesture. - “Olu didn’t make me a shopping list, you see? I have zero ideas what’s in the larder and what do we need to buy for the cake and the dinner.” It didn’t take you long to pay and to walk into the local market - if it even could be called a market, that is. It was more of a clamp of three separate stalls pushed together. That didn’t mean that the vendors wouldn’t be offering good quality goods, quite the opposite, to be honest. Just when you inspected the fresh shrimps, Roach leaned in, sticking his head right beside yours; naturally, it made you look him in his damn face. “You said you want to cook good food tonight, eh?” - He mumbled in a strange, suffocated tone, making you frown. - “Does that mean that I usually don’t cook well enough for your standards, or…”
“I’ve never said that your food is bad.” - Now, you were both standing straight, looking each other in the face. - “What I meant by 'good food’ is 'special dinner, you dumbass. I was thinking of shrimp with a lemon-garlic sauce or something like that, something with a LOT of vitamins. Mostly because Swede mentioned scurvy recently and I don’t wanna watch him pulling out his teeth, okay? That’s what you do to celebrate a birthday - you have a fun time and some special food.” “So, you think my food is good?” - Roach asked indecisively, making you sigh as you closed your eyes. You only decided to celebrate Buttons’ birthday half an hour ago and all of it was already causing you high levels of stress. But even though all the thoughts you had, you made yourself smile and nod. - “Of course. I love your food. Now, for the love of God, help me with picking everything we need.”
Jim’s trading spirit came in handy eventually. You and Roach stood behind them, watching them and the vendor spitting various Spanish hisses at each other; it almost looked like there was an argument in the air, but then the vendor smiled and started laughing. Jim, clearly taken aback by that, pointed at him and looked your way, making all of you laugh uncomfortably as well (even if you and Roach had zero ideas what was it about). He gave you everything you needed for a very low price, which was something you were endlessly grateful for. As Roach and Jim picked up the goods packed into two sackcloth bags, you handed the vendor the promised tiara; it was quite big, made out of silver, decorated with big pieces of some very valuable green stone.
All three of you made it back to the ship significantly earlier than the rest of the crew, making Izzy just watch you with a respectful furrow. As soon as you were off the radar, you walked into the kitchen and started preparing the cake as well as the dinner. Looking at the sun, you had about 3 hours to finish all the chores if you wanted any chance of actually celebrating Buttons’ birthday. Even before the other got back, you already started with cleaning the deck from various bird droppings spread all over it. Roach was almost furiously cooking 2 dishes at once, baking bread and cake, and even Jim themselves joined the efforts; they were cleaning up the upper deck. Izzy was watching all three of you suddenly working furiously, but he didn’t find any reason to scold any of you (which was weird, since he always found at least one vile remark that he spat right into your face).
Later that afternoon, when everyone got back and started finding their chores, you found yourself on the deck, folding the rigging. Pete was just polishing the cannons (and he didn’t miss a single spot) and Frenchie was more or less just… Hanging around, holding his old and broken lute. “Oi.” - Pete exclaimed suddenly, looking at Frenchie. - “Sing us something and we’ll join.” - He asked, shooting a gaze your way. Naturally, you didn’t protest against it, you simply nodded; by this point, it was normal for you to sing while doing your chores since it always seemed to flow much quicker that way. Sometimes, when you were all bored out of your minds, you just laid around and Frenchie sang you random snippets from all the songs and shanties he knew, making you either continue from where he stopped or guess the name of it.
As Pete asked, Frenchie did. First, he was just playing random chores, watching as you stopped yourself in your tracks, listening into it. When he stopped for a moment, you simply smiled and shook your head. - “Eliza Lee. You are making it easier and easier on me, Frenchie. Give me a challenge, come on.” “Maybe it’s just because you know all the songs by heart now, eh?” - The man answered with a snicker, making you grin as he sang the first words of the song. Both you and Pete soon joined him while finding your tasks; you tapped your foot in the rhythm of the song while Pete clapped his thigh.
Since you were so preoccupied with singing and tapping your foot, you didn’t even notice Buttons creeping up behind you, watching all three of you. When you finished Eliza Lee and Frenchie started to play other chords, you straightened your back and muffled a scream into your forearm; Buttons was right behind you with his eyes wide open and head tilted in the most Buttons way possible. Putting your palm on your chest, you closed your eyes and turned away, breathing the shock away. The man always did this to you; you couldn’t understand how someone could be as quiet and sneaky as Buttons was, but he crept on you each and every fucking time, giving you a heart attack.
“You need to stop doing that, Jesus fucking Christ.” - You muttered, still breathing through the scare. You were sure that Buttons is making you freak just for the fun of it at this point; there wasn’t no way around it, he was just doing it for his own pleasure. This time, though, he was watching you without blinking for so long that you figured out he has something on his mind. - “What’s on your mind? Did I fold the rigging wrong or something?”
“Naye.” - Buttons said decisively, making you alerted. Sure, you two never got along that much, but he usually came after you to show you how to do all that ‘sailor’ stuff right; it was him who showed you some of the basic tricks just so the crew would avert Izzy’s two-hour-long monologue about how lazy and useless all of you are. It was rather rare to have Buttons just come to… Have a chat. Or anything like that. “Olivia just wanted me to tell ye she likes ye singin’ shanties. All of ye. And she ain’t wrong in this kind of stuff, I like it too. It reminds me of the good ol’ days when I was young.” - With a hum, you nodded and mumbled a quiet ‘Fair’, looking away. So at least he acknowledged he isn’t the youngest as well, good to know. But then, out of nowhere, you opened up your lips and looked Buttons in the eyes, gasping as if you’d just discovered the Lost Arc.
“You like it when we sing?” - You asked in disbelief, staring at him with aggression. “Aye.” - Buttons nodded, opening his mouth. He knew you weren’t a sailor and that you had a lot of shit to learn, but he never noticed that you were also partially deaf. - “That’s what I just told ye.” “You like it when we sing.” - You repeated frantically, catching his forearm in your palm and squealing into the sky above you happily. This erased all your problems with not knowing what to give him; the crew could sing a song of his choice, appropriate to the dramatic tint of the moon backing. - “Hallelujah. Thank you, Buttons. Thank you.” - And after you pecked his cheek quickly, you ran off to the kitchen, telling Roach the good news. Buttons didn’t bring himself to move though; this behavior of yours was rather suspicious when he compared it to the way you usually behaved. Usually, you’d end the conversation as soon as it started and you wouldn’t touch him in no way. So he looked at Frenchie, motioning his head in your direction.
“Did someone jinxed her?” - The man hissed in a quiet, sinister tone, his eyes popping out of his skull even more now. - “I’ve seen it before. That’s how ye behave when ye jinxed… Or worse… Cursed.” “Y/N isn’t cursed, don’t worry.” - Pete defended you, almost laughing at the accusation. He did his best not to start howling, and so did Frenchie, who barely contained his grin as he leaned into the wooden railing innoncently, humming another melody. - “She’s just very excited. That gal is glad someone finally acknowledged how well she sings, isn’t she?” - He called out to Frenchie while putting another piece of wax onto the heated-up cannon. “Oh, yes.” - Frenchie nodded with a matching sense of drama; it wasn’t that far off. You knew the words now and your voice was much higher than theirs; naturally, it sounded very nice when you sang with them. - “She loves praises. Especially from a wise man like yourself.”
And as Buttons walked away, he eyed Olivia with raising suspicion - he didn’t remember any of them being so nice to him in a long, long time. Something was about to go down and because it was Buttons, he didn’t like being in the dark.
Later that night, you delivered the usual batch of tea to Edward; he seemed to be in a good mood that night. As usual, the cabin was nicely tidied up and he himself was also well taken care of. He groomed his stubble, combed his hair, and wore a nice, easy smile on his lips. As soon as he noticed your jolly mood, he knew that something must’ve happened to get you this thrilled. You were humming a song as you put the tray down, sitting in the enormous plush chair opposite him.
“It was Harbor day today, wasn’t it?” - The man asked with a huff of laughter and you nodded happily, sipping on the hot tea as you gently tap your foot accordingly to the rhythm playing inside your head. “It’s now 13 to me and 0 to Izzy, not that I’m counting.” - At that, both of you chuckled. Edward knew precisely what you were talking about; Izzy’s never-ending endeavors and efforts to sell you off. Now, Edward wasn’t as keen on selling you as he was a few weeks ago, but he still didn’t have the talk with Izzy. He was putting off the argument as long as he humanly could, as usual for him. - “And the entire crew had lunch in a local pub. That was also pretty fun. Not the part when all of them debated about the most common mortality, but the rest was lovely.”
“Sounds like a great fucking Harbor day. Would you give me a hand here?” - Edward asked and pushed one of his maps towards you, showing you a trading route located not too far from where you were at the moment. With a hum, you picked the map up, trying to read in it. - “It’s a Dutch trading route, an old one. Which could mean that they’ll be less vigilant since they sailed there millions of times and nothing happened… Yet. The Dutch are usually harmless and even more stupid than my men, so it should raise the spirits. Waddaya say?“
You continued to stare at the paper for quite a bit, almost making Edward believe that you were really thinking about the question he asked you. As time passed, the more trust you gained from him, the more he trusted you with sharing his future plans. Now, you probably knew more than Izzy himself, which was pretty hard to believe; Edward couldn’t quite believe himself, to be honest. He already went this route and where did it get him? His heart was broken in shambles, his spirits salvaged to bits, and into a deep depression and letargy. And yet, here he was again.
His reasoning behind all of this was pretty simple as well - he was worried sick about losing your company if you’d find him too boring. It was already a surprise that you still managed to find topics to talk about and stories to share. In Ed’s mind, entrusting you with his plans, was a way not to only show you respect and trust, but to also keep you occupied while spending time with him. But that night, something was different. You quite literally stared through the old, ragged map, and yet, it could be seen that you barely remembered a single piece of information as you mumbled. - "Pete and Roach will be thrilled. You know how they get all giddied up and excited about torturing people. John would love to blow something up, he hadn’t got his fingers on gunpowder in weeks.”
“You’re not entirely here tonight, are you, Y/N?” - Edward asked silently, rolling the map and putting it aside. With a sweet smile, you had to shake your shoulders while leaning closer to him. “I learned that tonight is Buttons’ 600th basking in the moonlight.” - With that, you wiggled your eyebrows as if that was supposed to mean anything meaningful to Edward. He tried to at least act interested before taking in a long breath.
“That’s… That’s a lot of basking in the moonlight?” - He tried to guess. “It also means that it’s his 50th birthday!” - You exclaimed. - “So, we decided to throw him a little party, to celebrate with him.” “Why would anyone celebrate fucking birthday? Shouldn’t he be already, yannow?” - With that, Edward pretended to have a noose around his neck, hanging on it. - “Fifty years old! Heh. That’s an awful age, I’ll tell you that much. Don’t people die in their thirties nowadays?” “Yea, they die at the of thirty because of plague, cholera, starvation, or leprosy - I’ve heard it all today, Edward, I don’t need to hear it again. The point is…” - You stopped him before he could go on an extended rant about how old Buttons was. - “The point is that Buttons is your bird guy, a deserving sailor, and a wise pirate on top of that. I think the celebration will be good not only for him but also for the crew. It will… Bring us together. I think this would be the ideal day…” - You leaned in, setting the cup of tea aside, looking him in the eyes as you caught his palm in yours. - “Ideal day to finally leave the cabin and join us. They will be so happy to see you, mainly Buttons and Pete.”
By the look on his face, you could say that you just hit a nerve, so you tightened the grip a bit. The look of a small, terrified boy was back in an instant; you have seen it so rarely nowadays that you almost forgot what it looks like. Edward’s breathing got shallow and quick while his eyes looked into yours. His palm was trembling and the color of his face and cheeks vanished. “Just think about it, okay?” - Now, you were whispering, putting your other palm on top of his as well. - “Truth is… I… I would love to see you there.” - You barely noticed the change in his gaze as you picked yourself up, leaving the room. Just before closing the room, you gave him one last encouraging smile as you then proceeded to make your way into the kitchen.
You would love to have him around for the celebration? This gave everything a new, fresh air - now he had something to fight his anxiety with, this might’ve been his exit strategy. Edward had a reason to leave the cabin, to spend time with his crew, and to bond just like they did before… When Stede was still aboard. With confusion, he turned around and looked at the painting of the lighthouse. You, on the other hand, were busy finishing the preparations - the cake was ready and it was looking even better than you’d imagine. Since you didn’t have any candle on board, you carefully stuck a piece of cannon fuse on top, choosing Wee John to be the one who lights it up if he promises not to destroy the cake. The dinner was also prepared and it was exactly like you and Roach envisioned it. The shrimp with the sauce and rice looked fucking delicious, you had to say.
Most of the crew was now hiding in the subdeck, trying to warm up their vocal cords - Frenchie was choosing random songs, making you sing all the notes and words perfectly. Jim was fucking annoyed to sit through this and even had a murderous gaze on their face; but they couldn’t make themselves walk out upon seeing your, Pete, and Roach’s enthusiasm. When the sky got finally dark enough, you moved to the kitchen; Swede and Olu grabbed the tray with old mugs and a bottle of good wine you haggled while you and Pete picked the cake up, letting John hold the fuse in the air. Walking on the deck, you were all giggling like little kids doing something naughty. That was also where Izzy stopped all of you, making everyone stare at him.
“What the fuck you think you’re doing?” - The man asked and pointed his arms at you. The blood froze in your veins; you worked so hard for this… If this fucking asshole destroys it… - “That old moron is running around naked as a newborn, the dinner wasn’t served yet, I doubt that you finished your duties, you fucking twats, and what’s this?” -The men stepped closer, looking at the cake unbelievably. - “A cake? A fucking cake. So this is what you were doing all fucking day? As soon as the captain gets to know, hooo-hooo…” - The man started cackling devilishly, pulling the sleeves of his black shirt up. You were in deep shit, weren’t you? All of that for nothing, heh? “You shouldn’t be so hasty, Izzy.” - A tired, ironic voice came from above you, from where the rudder was. Hearing it, you closed your eyes and started laughing quietly, thanking all the Gods. Edward was leaning into the railing nonchalantly, smirking down at his entire crew. - “They asked me beforehand. Let them be.” - “But captain…” - Izzy objected, having Ed frown in a very nasty way. He was fucking scary.
In the end, Izzy moved out of the way. Quickly, you and Edward exchanged quick glances accompanied by a warm smile, before you moved on. You found Buttons and Livy near the rudder, as usual; he was already half-naked, chanting, and his board was attached to the railing. Edward was soon to follow you, passing Izzy as he mumbled 'these fucking morons will lead me to fucking madness’. As you all waited for Buttons to exit the trance as he chanted, Jim walked to the captain, bowing a bit. - “Will you be celebrating with us?” “No, I came to stare at his naked ass.” - Edward answered with irony, making Jim raise their eyebrows. With a burst of quiet laughter, he patted their shoulder. - “That’s why I’m fucking here. Y/N invited me to come.” “I’ll go for one more mug for toast then, captain.” - They were giving him a calm, warm and big smile; the crew was still appreciating that he joined, even if they didn’t tell it right away. - “Should I ask your right hand if he wants to join us?” “Negative.” - He dismissed immediately; Izzy was upset at that moment, like a little kid who had his favorite toy confiscated by their mother because they were too naughty. - “He’ll sulk for a bit but he’ll join as soon as he feels like it.”
If Frenchie hadn’t sneezed, Buttons would probably never noticed you. As he stared at the entire crew just standing there, his gaze was getting more and more intense. “Waddaya want?” “You told me it’s your 600th moonlight basking today. And Y/N calculated that it means it was your 50th birthday as well.” - Pete explained, motioning towards the cake in your arms. - “We also wanted to be a part of your special basking.” “Aye.” - Buttons nodded, watching you all in horror. - “Why would I care about me birthday, eh? I should be dead by now, people die in their thirties nowadays.” - The man continued; but then he noticed your expression getting sadder and sadder with each second. That was why you all acted so weird that day? Because you planned him a surprise and were all excited about it? That’s what the damn kiss meant? Damn it, he couldn’t just tell you to fuck off now, could he? - “That’s nice of ye. All of ye.” - With that, Livy landed on his shoulder. - “What am I supposed to do now?”
And just like that, the jolly mood was back on again; first, Buttons blew the fuse while John was holding it, having you all laugh and clap as a party of little children. Then, each of the members toasted to Buttons, having Izzy joined as well. Edward was delighted to be outside of his cabin. The night air was a bit cold with a hint of salt and it felt so fucking… Refreshing. The sea was calm, the sky was clear… On top of that, it was so nice to watch all of you interact and chit chat, and laugh at one another’s toasts and jokes. Yet then, everyone got quiet as you stepped forward with a shy smile, looking at Buttons.
“And, as a gift, we’d love you to choose a song that we’ll sing for you since we didn’t come up with anything else.” “So that was the awful screeching coming from the subdeck.” - Izzy whispered in Edward’s direction, quickly putting the cup in front of his lips so wouldn’t see him talking. - “Your angels were singing. Wouldn’t you look at that?” - “Excuse me? Do you want us to sing about whales? Are you sure?” - You said at the same time, making both the man pay you full attention once more. - “You heard the man, gentlemen, and Jim.” - You sighed, walking back to your crew to join them. Frenchie stepped in front of all of you as your conductor, tapping his foot, and having you all repeat after him. - “What are they signing?” - “No idea.”
But soon, Frenchie sang the first words of the first verse, having you all join him during the chorus. - “Soon may the wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum. One day, when the tonguing is done, we’ll take our leave and go.” - And to both of their surprise, the harmony sounded really good, just as well as the rhythm. Your, Swede’s, and Jim’s voices were very high and velvety compared to the voice of Wee John and Pete, for example. You and Jim even stomped from foot to foot, swinging your hips. Just when Buttons got completely naked, just as you expected, you turned away to look at Edward with excitement, stomping on your way to him, mumbling the verse Frenchie was singing. As you offered him your palms, another verse came. The captain quickly looked at his crew before he reluctantly caught your palms back, having led him next to the ruddle while still singing the song. Just as the last chorus came, Edward noticed you were leading him to Buttons’ board and while singing the words, you leaned in and whispered. - “Live a little. Happy backing in the moonlight, captain.” - And with that, you stepped off the board, making Edward fall down into the warm, salty water as well. At first, he was irritated and almost angry with you; he was looking at you with confusion and fury in his eyes, his lips were sealed and he was ready to snap as soon as you look at him. Yet when you laughed, looking at him with sparks in your eyes and splashed water his way playfully, all the anger just… Defused inside of him.
More so, he could feel himself freezing on the spot as he heard the crew clapping and laughing, watching both of you covered in the moonlight. It didn’t take long enough for Pete to jump after all of you, laughing and screaming while doing so; Jim seemed to have the most fun with it, though. They rolled up their sleeves, dramatically approached the board, and reached out for Olu’s palm while 'fainting’, laughing as they hit the water. But Edward wasn’t able to look away from you. How beautiful you really were? And why didn’t he see it all before? Would he even notice it if he wouldn’t come out of the cabin to oversee Buttons’ celebration?
The man could feel his heart warm up a bit, he felt the corners of his mouth twitching as he almost started to smile at you. This would be the most genuine, felt-through smile he had given to anyone after months of solitude, but it would surely expose everything on his mind. Therefore, he just nudged your shoulder, making you cackle devilishly. “I’m dying of hunger. Want to see all the special delicacies that we cooked today?”
