🌹SDV Elliott HC 💃
Content warning: Americanized contexts ahead. 😅 Not pigeonholing SDV as American but I'm using Americanized regionalisms because that's the language I have to communicate I'm trying to portray. 🤷♀️
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It takes a high heart level and a moderate intoxication level to bring it out, BUT Elliott has had years of ballroom dance under his belt.
I'm imagining a southern old-money style upbringing for him (subject to change) and he started being trained in different dances bc he was involved in whatever the male version of debutantes is.
he wasn't big into it at the time but yknow mommy issues he was a diligent well-mannered young man so he learned enough to pass by.
enter university and Prince Slut (freshman year) is finding all kinds of ways to get the tender physical touch and affection he craved as a child make friends and finds the uni's ballroom dance club
his foundation of skill and reputation make him insanely popular within the club so it becomes a genuinely healthy outlet for him.
he never takes it seriously in terms of competition; he's just there to have fun and make his partner shine but you KNOW he's flaunting and flexing along the way, like executing daring moves with his partner, showboating, getting so overly sultry with it, etc.
he gets so many numbers and so much ass whenever he goes out, it's upsetting.
anyway tl;dr he spends so much time on that and other social activities in college that he barely passes most of his classes and it's actually a huge regret of his but that's a whole 'nother post
he stops dancing after uni for the most part as he has to reprioritize his life
but that doesn't mean that he lets it go, oh no.
get enough drinks in this man and enough room to move and he's 10years younger ready to sweep anyone off their feet.
He'll trot with the foxes, swing from one coast to another, cha-cha real smooth, give him tequila and he'll give you salsa, etc etc
of fucking course he can waltz but like 1) ya Basic, and 2) dinner and a movie first (and let's make it Viennese, for the love of Yoba)
he'd much rather rumba or tango tbh but only with someone he really cares about. poor boy'll catch feelings quick rocking hips like that.
which like. alternate ending to the 6heart scene has him inviting you to dance with him to blow off some steam. nothing too stilted or sensual, just an easy swing or something so he can move and move you and maybe even give you a twirl if you're so inclined 😉
(at 8hearts and above he's twirling you, dipping you, and rocking you on his hips during wrap-ins 🥴🥴 you've also unlocked private rumba, tango, and waltzes with him, and boy is it getting humid in this seaside cabin 🥵🥵)
it does take getting him at least buzzed to bring it out, but he has no shame once it's out, so it's like an open secret in Pelican town that he'll show anyone who's a good sport a good time
EXCEPT.
(and this is a big one)
he's so fucking judgey about what music people choose to dance to.
full on Big Sassy Gay energy.
"oh you want to slow dance to [Ed Sheeran]? yeah I remember being in middle school too."
"*Thinking Out Loud playing* is this the wedding song where people teeter back and forth like two rickety sideways rocking chairs with room for Yoba in between because your grandma's watching for three straight minutes? ...no yeah it's fine. I mean to their credit it probably functions as their run through for the consummation later too so good for them I guess"
*I Won't Give Up playing* "if you need to dance to a song where someone else declares how you're So Definitely going to be together forever, I'm sorry but I give it two years tops." "Elliott, this was Haley and Alex's song." "I said what I said. Next."
"*dramatic sigh* just because you can mathematically fit a 5 step into a 4/4 doesn't mean you can or should turn any bubblegum pop song about casual sex into a tango. It's NOT about sensuality, it's about THE CONFLICT THEREIN."
just take him home at this point. 😅 no one understands what he's saying but they know it's probably insulting.
anyway fast forward to domestic bliss and he's regularly pulling you in to show you how happy you make him
he's definitely singing any lines he thinks fit you under his breath while he dances with you. He'll bring you in close and murmur them into your ear or kiss them into your neck if he's got bedroom thoughts. 🌹
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Izzy's tits, at least one of Izzy's balls, retirement or a nearly one, talking it through as a crew then talking it through as painfully codependent friends/coworkers/would be lovers then talking it through as boyfriends all the way around.
---
"Fuck off, Edward."
Ed stared. "Sorry?"
"No," Izzy replied as he hopped to sit on top of a barrel. "I'm not."
Stede blinked. Then once more, then again just to be sure.
Izzy had only wandered out of his quarters now, hours after everyone else was up and working. It was entirely unlike him.
Just so as the incredibly short leather shorts he had on, the lack of shirt, and one of Ed's pipes smoking in his hand. He'd even forgone any shoes.
"Izzy," Stede said. "I don't mean to come off critical here, but I think one of your...well..."
"One of your fucking balls is literally hanging out," Frenchie shouted, shaking his head in apparent disgust and shock.
"Oh," Izzy took a drag off of Ed's pipe. "Well then, enjoy the view."
"I mean it beats my preconceived expectations," Lucius said. "Curious about the rest now, actually. That sketch offer is still open, by the by."
Izzy nodded. "This evening work?"
Black Pete leaned into Lucius' shoulder, shaking with silent laughter.
"That's a yes from Pete, and from me," Lucius grinned.
"What the fuck is going on?" Ed seemingly hadn't even blinked in the past few moments.
"You seem to have things all under control now," Izzy replied. "You admitted after Bonnet came back that you were only keeping me on here out of pity. Thanks for that, I guess. But if that's the case, then no more babysitting you. Bonnet, good luck with that. I've got notes for you as well to help navigate his moods better; I'll drop them by your quarters later."
Stede nodded. "Thank you? So, to clarify, you no longer wish to be first mate or bosun or however you wish to call it?"
"Yup," Izzy sighed as he hopped off the barrel. "I'm done. Just a regular crew member now. I'm going to do all of jack shit, and get paid for it anyway. Ed, you talked about retirement? And joked I wouldn't know how to retire? Well, I think you're right. This is as close as I'll get to retiring."
Ed took a step forward, but walked it back immediately. "But. Not your resignation, right? You're staying?"
Izzy laughed bitterly. "Yes, Ed. I'm staying. I don't understand why on earth it would fucking matter to you anymore, but I'm staying."
"You're still a friend to me in some way," Ed said awkwardly.
"Not how you made it sound as of the last few weeks," Izzy said. "And why would you want me as a friend anyway? You've screamed my sins back in my face enough times lately to remember them all in detail. Who would want a friend like that?"
He snagged an abandoned half empty bottle of rum as he walked past the rest of the crew, and up the stairs towards the empty deck space at the stern without another word.
"Holy fuck," Jim said. "What are you gonna do about that?"
"We're going to go talk to him," Olu offered. "Right, Captains?"
Ed was frozen, but he let Stede take his hand.
"I think that's a good idea, but maybe in a bit," Stede replied. "Technically, he's done nothing wrong. He gave himself a demotion, which is his right, if he wishes. Which he clearly does."
"Yeah, but I think he's sort of lost it," Jim said. "I mean. I don't like him. But he's good at his job, to the point that it's fucking irritating."
"He's very much a traditional sort of pirate methodology guy," Pete noted. "Not a bad thing per se, but it doesn't really fit the vibe here."
"Regardless," Olu said. "Of whether we like him or not, or respect him or whatever. He's still technically a crew member, so we have to at least give him that much. And that's gonna mean-"
It was like a switch flipped on Ed.
"Yeah, yeah," he cut off Olu. "We have to go scold him and slap his wrists. I could just toss him overboard, would that be better?"
Lucius raised a hand. "As someone who has been thrown overboard by you, I don't think that would be better. For him, or us."
"What the fuck is this then?!" Ed yelled. "You hate him, but you're worried on his behalf, but you want him to stop this new weird shit, what the fuck do all of you actually want?!"
"Ed," Stede said softly. "You're crying. Come here."
He let the crew disperse, still talking among themselves about everything that had just gone on. Ed sank to the deck with him, crying into his shoulder.
"I think maybe you and Izzy are overdue that talk Olu mentioned," Stede murmured. "What do you think?"
Ed nodded against him.
"Okay," Stede continued. "Then we're going to go have a break in our room, and in a bit we'll go talk with him. I bet he'll feel better then, and so will we."
--
Ed slept hard once he'd calmed down, but Stede was rattled. And at the same time, upset with himself for his reaction.
Technically, Izzy had been rude and brash and crass to them all, and downright disrespectful to Ed. But at the same time, he'd not acted that different from how any of the crew had described most average pirates. And hadn't they all had moments of rudeness themselves while on board the Revenge? The disrespect was more complex: it was wrong in the hierarchy in the traditional sense, but between two old friends, and with the added knowledge that Izzy regularly took disrespect as a first mate (according to Ed's stories, from their current crew as well as many past crews the two of them had sailed with)? That made it not exactly right, but certainly understandable.
That Izzy also definitely had feelings for Ed was apparent now, and had been so since he'd been back aboard. Suddenly all of Izzy's defensiveness and anger and asshole behaviour clicked. Again, didn't always make it right, but he could see himself doing the same after years of that.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door, and he extricated himself carefully from Ed to answer it.
"Here," Izzy pushed a large leather bound tome into his hands. "Every note I have professionally on him, since nearly day one of sailing. Might not ever need it, with you two pretty in sync now, but you'll have it just in case."
He turned to leave, and Stede reached for his shoulder.
"Izzy, hang on. I. Ed's rather upset, as I'm sure you heard."
Izzy turned back to him and nodded. He looked exhausted, and Stede wondered if he'd slept at all last night, or if he'd been up nervously planning his flamboyant announcement of semi-retirement.
"I think he thinks he's broken you, somehow," Stede continued. "He'd like to talk with you."
"He didn't break me; he wore me down," Izzy chuckled sadly. "Do you know, if he asked, I'd still get on my knees for him in a heartbeat? I don't think he's ever once figured that out."
"He's your friend, at least," Stede said. "I know that must still be important to you."
Izzy looked away for a moment, tears flowing as he looked back. "It is. But you don't get it, Bonnet. And that's not your fault. You went years without knowing how it felt, what you for sure wanted. That's how it goes for some. But I've had it dangled in front of me for years, and known it about myself for longer. There were times he talked about it, jokingly. I could recite most of those conversations to you, which is just sickening. But I've played them over and over again in my head all this time, pretending he's serious."
Stede wiped a tear from his own eye. "It sounds like a similar sort of hell, in terms of frustration."
Izzy nodded. "It is. And I know it won't be much better now. But at least I'll be able to busy myself away from Ed some of the time. That might help. And if not, he can always maroon me somewhere, and then we're both out of our misery."
Stede sighed. "You two are so fucking dramatic. I mean that kindly, but-"
"You're one to talk," Izzy scoffed.
"I know, but give me a break for a moment!" Stede yelled as loud as he dared. Ed didn't do more than roll over. "I know you didn't start out the bitter fucking asshole I met!"
Ed mumbled, but seemed otherwise still sleeping.
"And at first I didn't give a fuck how you got that way," Stede continued, one eye on Ed to make sure he wasn't disturbed. "But now, after everything that's gone on so far? I do! And I'd actually be interested to see what a not miserable version of you looks like! But you won't get that way by doing this and not talking to Ed. If you're really so convinced to close that chapter, then close it properly."
He trembled some, breathing hard at the idea of how Izzy was going to react.
He didn't expect the hug.
"You're the first person to notice or care," Izzy mumbled into his shoulder. "I didn't think I actually wanted anyone to do that. Turns out it's really nice."
"You should give Ed a chance on this," Stede said, patting his back, wincing at the noticeable sunburn. "I told him not even a few days ago I expected he might want to be shared with you, and he thought I was joking! I told him I wasn't, and he got very serious and thoughtful and I didn't get a peep out of him for the next half hour. Clearly, he's not as unemotional about you as you seem to think."
Izzy broke the hug, and nodded. "Alright. Come get me when he's ready. Though not between the next hour or two, Lucius has commandeered me for his sketchbook."
"He does a wonderful job," Stede smiled. "And for all his arguing and fussing with you, I think he does enjoy you in some odd way."
"He's grown on me, maybe I've grown on him," Izzy shrugged.
He walked away still sniffling, but seeming the most relaxed Stede had ever seen him.
--
"I ran and told Lucius to send him here once they were done," Stede said. The sun had started to go down just as Ed had woken, groggy and looking as tired as when he'd first fallen asleep.
"Sure," Ed muttered, leaning into Stede's hug as they sat side by side on their bed. "Sounds wonderful."
"He's giving you a chance, so you need to try and give him one too," Stede said gently. "As best you can."
Izzy wandered in then, in nothing but a black ratty-looking robe. "Shall we?"
"This is really what you want?" Ed asked. "I know I'm not always easy to deal with, but you really want to demote yourself?"
Izzy swallowed hard. "I think so. I don't see a better option presently."
"You'll still talk to me though, right?" Ed continued. "I mean, not just as crew to captain. As friends?"
Izzy sat in the nearest chair facing the bed. "Did you ever notice when I first stopped doing that? When I had to switch it into all business all the time?"
"I wish I had," Ed replied. "Stede, Izzy and I here started out just us. When we were young-"
"When my beard was actually black," Izzy interrupted him with a chuckle. "Same way you've always told it."
Ed nodded. "And it was the two of us, this rickety sailing boat we stole, and what little money we had with us. We spent it all on getting new clothes at the next port so we'd 'look more like a pirate', and had to rob our first little fishing vessel so we could find food."
"It worked though," Izzy said. "Slaughtered that entire crew and had fish for weeks."
"What about having bought a fishing pole and fishing yourselves?" Stede frowned.
They looked at each other, and burst into giggles.
"Never even crossed my mind," Ed wiped a tear from his eye.
"No, we went straight to raids," Izzy added. "The fishing rod might have been easier though."
"As if you didn't have the time of your life that first raid," Ed scoffed. "You remember how much fun that was?"
"My first stab wound," Izzy sighed with a smile. "Caused and taken."
Stede nodded along as they recounted more, and let his thoughts trail. First, it struck him how his path to piracy really had been different. Ed and Izzy had done it seemingly out of necessity, or to have been stuck on the island they'd lived on since they were kids. There were other legal routes, sure, but it seemed that those might never have held enough appeal for these two. Secondly, he was baffled how the two of them had flopped awkwardly and nearly romantically for so many years. He knew he was in no place to judge, but even so. Listening to them talk made it even more evident, as vulnerable and nostalgic as they were now.
Thirdly, and the one he was most reluctant to try to face, was that he liked this Izzy. Nervously vulnerable but open, at ease, the frown lines on his face replaced with crinkles at the edge of his eyes when he smiled. This Izzy made his heart pound like it did around Ed, and he would never have anticipated it in a thousand years. He'd meant the sharing idea before, and now considered if the sharing couldn't be all around between the three of them.
"Bonnet?"
He shook his head. "Sorry, what?"
"We've been asking you for the past minute and a half what you'd like as a thank you for forcing us to talk," Izzy said.
"We can't fix anything that's happened," Ed added. "And some of it was just not ever talking about things we should have."
"Your saying still makes me cringe," Izzy said. "But it isn't wrong."
Ed nodded. "I didn't realize how twisted we got around each other. No wonder we got bored and frustrated, keeping each other held down like that."
"So, we're keeping my demotion as is," Izzy said. "Though Ed has asked me to be on hand for the new first mate, which I presume will be Olu. He's basically already doing it, and he gets on well with the entire crew."
"I zoned out," Stede admitted. "Had a lot to think about and got lost in it."
"We figured, we asked you other stuff too and you only ever nodded," Ed said. "And you agreed to so much stuff."
"Funny," Stede bumped against his shoulder. "Don't hold me to all of them, since I don't remember any."
"Not even the sharing idea we asked you about?" Izzy asked.
Ed nodded. "We do need to know that one, no matter what the answer is."
"I already told him yes," Stede gestured to Izzy. "Why does no one take that seriously at first? If Spanish Jackie can have twenty-"
"Think it's eighteen or seventeen now," Izzy interrupted.
"Okay, eighteen husbands," Stede continued. "Then we could have us three. Together."
"Is that bias towards me on the employment side?" Izzy joked.
"Actually yeah, a bit I think," Stede replied. "But it's my ship, so if I want a little bias for us, then we can have some."
"He's getting better," Izzy grinned. "He'll be stabbing an eye out before we know it."
"Yeah," Ed agreed dreamily. "You always remember the first one."
"Very gory," Izzy frowned.
Ed nodded. "Fun in the moment but in the clean up you're going 'was it worth it?', and sometimes the answer isn't always yes."
"I think I'll skip that for now," Stede said. "But thank you for the confidence you have in my... eye-stabbing capabilities."
Ed yawned. "Of course! Fuck me, it isn't even that late, and I just slept!"
"It's been a long day," Stede said, patting his thigh. "I've got a story chapter to read to the crew before bed. Let's go back out before they start rioting thinking I forgot."
"Would be fair if they did," Ed said. "It's the voices, man. You've got a gift."
"He's right," Izzy said, wincing as he got up from his chair.
"Sunburn worse than it looked?" Stede asked.
"I haven't spent a whole day shirtless like that in a long time," Izzy admitted. "Might have forgotten to think anything of the sun."
"We'll have Roach take a look before bed," Stede said. "He's always got something on hand for me."
Truthfully, he figured Roach had probably already seen the state of Izzy's chest and back, and would already have something waiting, presuming they'd be asking for it.
But it could wait a little while longer. They were both waiting for him to lead the way out, the most at ease and happy that he'd seen both of them at once.
That, and the crew really was strict about keeping the next chapter read on time. For that too, it would have to wait slightly longer.
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