out of curiosity. when stede brings ed tea in ep 7 and ed’s like “oh that’s perfect, you got it just right.” do you think ed just likes the way stede normally makes tea or is he approving of the way stede has perfected making their tea the way ed normally likes it.
before stede, ed’s always drunk his tea black.
that’s just been the way of it. has been since he was a kid, since tea could be had and sugar couldn’t. even if they had it, no one would waste seven sugars on a boy like edward teach. then he’s on ships, drinking grog more than tea anyway, and everything’s rationed again. a bit of milk and a couple of sugars for a deck hands tea is about as likely as a handful of diamonds.
edward teach grows up, though.
blackbeard is the sort of captain who can have a fistful of diamonds, and a dollop of milk and seven sugars as well, if he likes. but one thing ed’s always been good at is becoming what the situation calls for – he can be a devil or a god both, depending on who’s asking; he can be a navigator or a negotiator or a dramatist, depending on which way the winds are blowing.
the situation never calls for softness. the indulgence of a pirate captain isn’t had in comforts.
but then there’s stede bonnet, and stede bonnet is a bastard in a silk dressing gown, an enigma with gold curls and a library full of books he doesn’t even realise are special. many times, he says he’s read them, and ed can’t even imagine the indulgence of it – the timeall that reading must have taken, pissed away in nothing but stories. he reads to his crew every night, lets them share in the stories. ed sits next to him and smokes his pipe, and if he sometimes rests a hand on stede’s thigh, or a shoulder, or even his head, well. he still wears his sword and his gun, and the crew says nothing.
stede says everything. it’s incredible how much stede says; it’s incredible how much he has to say. he chatters constantly about what he’s doing, where he’s going, what decisions need to be made, how he’s making them. after a week ed gets used to it. after two, he craves it. misses the noise when it’s gone.
tea?he says, and then when ed says yes, milk and sugar?
nah, ed replies, automatic, but then – why not? actually, do it like you do.
stede smiles, the kind of smile he smiles when he’s got a secret, or when he’s sharing one. ed isn’t sure which it is; maybe both. he stirs in a dollop of milk and two sugars, and when he hands the cup to ed, it’s almost good.
huh, ed says, looking down at the cup. i’ve never really had this with milk and sugar before.
what, never? stede takes a sip of his own. takes a bit of the edge off it, i think. is it good?
tea’s never been good, per se. ed has drunk it for the ritual of it, for the heat, for the boost to his brain, but it’s not good.
almost, ed says now. sure.
stede waves a careless hand at the tea service lucius had laid out for them on the table. go on, then. make it however you like.
ed almost says he doesn’t know how he’d like, but perhaps that’s still too big of something to say. he stands at the tea service and sneaks sugars into his tea, one by one, until he finally takes a sip and thinks, ah. now i get it.
when he sits back down on the settee, his aching knee propped up by a pillow, stede is watching him, his grin turned almost smug. what?ed asks.
seven sugars, stede says, with not a little cheek. still just the dollop of milk?
oh sod off, i just–
stede laughs. not at all, no, no. i just wanted to know, you know. in case i ever was making you a cuppa.
oh. well. that’s all right then, isn’t it? ed takes a sip of his tea, running his tongue over his teeth; there’s almost a slurry of sugar at the bottom, but he likes it, likes the bite of it. the sharp sweetness reminds him of stede himself – derangement in a silk dressing gown.
yeah,ed says, meeting stede’s gaze in the firelight. yeah, all right then. dollop of milk. seven sugars. and you take yours with two. just, you know. in case it’s ever me making the cuppa.
stede’s smile crinkles his eyes at the corners. ed feels the warmth of the tea all the way down into his chest, and the sweetness, too.
