#lupete is cute we should adopt that one

[bi-naesala]

This is only their second go at a vacation - the one being that disastrous first attempt captain Bonnet forced them into, when they were still entertaining the idea of killing him at the first chance - but this is already going way better.

First of all, they know what to do now, which is already a great advantage: Wee John is blowing stuff up with Roach - though they promised Captain not to go too overboard with it - while Frenchie’s idly playing a song that Pete has never heard before, and he’s soon joined by the Swede, who begins singing some lyrics that everyone’s pretty sure he’s just came up with, and then Buttons, who’s having a lovely chat with Olivia - that what she was called, right? She’s the first seagull’s wife or something. Even Fang and Ivan have joined them, though they seem to just be chilling in the sun with no intention of moving a muscle - they said that before Bonnet came back to Blackbeard, they rarely had any free time. The only people unaccounted for are Captain and Blackbeard, who must’ve sneaked somewhere to fuck or something - that’s a tactic Pete and Lucius know pretty well - Oluwande and Jim who have probably done the same, and that fucker Izzy, who’s still rotting in the closet they’re keeping him in until they decide what they actually want to do with him.

At first, Pete decides to hang with John and Roach, because who doesn’t love seeing stuff blowing up? But then, when everyone suggests having a dip into the sea to have a chicken fight, which is a fight between four people, only that two of them stay on the others’ shoulders and have to push each other off - Blackbeard taught them that, though he wasn’t able to explain what chickens have to do with this whole thing - he refuses, deciding to go back under the palm trees for some shade.

 Everything’s perfect, or well, should be perfect, if only…

“Hey, love,” Pete says once he’s close enough to Lucius, who’s sitting under one of the trees and who, as soon as he hears his voice, smiles, turning his head towards him.

“Hi baby,” he greets him, scooting a bit to the side so that Pete can join him. “Had fun blowing stuff up?”

Pete is so proud of him: before, even just mentioning any kind of violence would’ve made him pass out, but now he’s gotten so used to it that he can ask him if he had fun blowing things up, and carry a whole conversation on that topic. That’s great, he’s great. Pete loves him a big deal.

“You know, the usual…” he shrugs then, because as much as likes to talk about shenanigans - or really, anything with Lucius to be honest - this isn’t why he’s there.

His gaze moves from him to the crew having fun at sea. “Do you want to join them? We were going to do a chicken fight.”

Panic flashes in Lucius’ eyes, but it last only a moment before he shakes his head - still, it doesn’t go unnoticed by Pete. “No… No, don’t worry about me. You can go join them if you want, I’m fine here.”

 This is weird, and adding this to Lucius’ behavior as of late makes everything even weirder: Pete has noticed how, when they’re all on the ship, he tends to avoid exposing himself near the railings, or any other places where he could fall outside, or that the only times he seems to get in contact with water are when he needs to wash himself.

They’ve had plenty of occasions to have fun just like they’re doing today, when they could’ve gone for a swim, or even just have one of those splashing wars that Pete adores, but Lucius has always refused to join them, not to consider the fact that once, when he decided to try it, but still remaining as close to the shore as possible - a decent compromise - he still looked like he was going to pass out at any moment, and when Roach jokingly splashed at him he panicked, beginning to scream for help and that he was drowning, which prompted them to take him to solid ground in the hopes that he wouldn’t feel like that anymore. He calmed down only once they gave him a dry change of clothes.

 He never acted like this before, which is why Pete was having a hard time trying to figure out what he should do about this at first, how he could help Lucius overcome this.

Why would he even be so wary of water now, in the first place? They’re pirates! This isn’t exactly a great conundrum.

  For a while he’s been left wondering, only for Lucius to reveal the truth to him after a particularly bad nightmare, while Pete was holding him into a tight embrace.

“Ed-- Blackbeard threw me off the ship,” he cowered, so close from crying that it broke Pete’s heart. “It was so cold, and I couldn’t… Couldn’t… There was so much water. I-I couldn’t breathe… I… F-For a moment…”

He broke down, in the end, and Pete tried his best to soothe him, assuring him that everything was alright, that he was safe, that Pete wasn’t going to let something like that happen ever again, even at the cost of him own life.

Eventually, Lucius had managed to calm down and fall back asleep, but the same couldn’t be said for Pete, who was too busy trying to make order inside his head; on one hand, he knew that Lucius must’ve been banished somehow, or else they wouldn’t have found him stranded on an island when they were looking for the Revenge, though Lucius always refused to clarify what happened - for what reason, Pete had no idea. Now, however… Now he knew.

He couldn’t believe that Blackbeard would’ve done it for real; someone this cool would never do something like this, right? And yet, he had no reason not to believe what Lucius had said. Maybe it had been an accident, maybe Blackbeard didn’t really want to do it. Maybe he saw some dangerous insect make its way towards Lucius, and in swatting it away he caused him to fall; yeah, something like that.

 Well, whatever the reason was, that wasn’t the right moment to think about it, and Pete’s focus shifted again on Lucius and on the fact that, in the end, everything had turned out well, which, knowing this now, feels like nothing short of a miracle.

If something bad had happened to him, he… he didn’t know what he would’ve done, but he surely wouldn’t have been pretty.

  As he watches Lucius, now, with his gaze is trained on the rest of the crew having fun, he can’t help but to be overwhelmed by a big sense of melancholy, watching the longing in his eyes; he knows Lucius would love to join them, but if he did, he would probably panic again, just like he did all the other times he tried it. Captain said that some wounds are slow to heal, but Pete still can’t help but to wish that it would take them less time, so that Lucius can be fully happy again.

 At some point, Lucius turns towards him, an unreadable expression on his face. He seems to be studying Pete, just as Pete’s trying to study him as well, to get what’s going on inside his head, though soon they get lost in each other’s eyes, and for a moment, there’s nothing else besides the two of them.

They inch closer and closer, drawn to each other by an unstoppable force; their lips are about to touch… only for Lucius to turn his head back, gaze trained to an unspecified point in the distance.

“I know you want to join them. Don’t let me hold you back.” He turns towards Pete and flashes him a smile, an obviously forced one. “I’ll watch from here.”

It’s with extreme tenderness that Pete takes hold of Lucius’ hands, so that he can bring them closer and kiss each palm, making him swoon a bit - it’s great receiving such a positive reaction for every sweet thing he does.

“Chicken fights are nice, yes,” he says then, “but I’d rather be here with you.”

He’s not even lying: he genuinely enjoys Lucius’ company. Besides, he’s not going to abandon him when he knows that his presence brings him comfort; what kind of boyfriend would he be if he does that? A shitty one that’s for sure.

 At that, Lucius gasps. “Awww, baby!”

Before Pete can even say something, Lucius drags him closer by his shirt, and now they’re kissing, kissing and kissing again, held tight in each other’s embrace and with no intention of parting any time soon.

 Yeah, this is so much better than chicken fights.

#ofmd #our flag means death #lucius spriggs #black pete #do they even have a ship name? #lupete #luciuspete #???? #lupete is cute we should adopt that one #my fics #mine #ofmd spoilers