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[abbacchiohno]

A QUESTION FOR A QUESTION


YOU MAY KNOW EACH OTHER ALREADY - OR YOU MAY NOT. UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, YOU'RE NOW PASSING THE TIME ASKING EACH OTHER QUESTIONS. IT'S A GAME! A QUESTION FOR A QUESTION. YOU START OFF ASKING YOUR OPPONENT A QUESTION OF CHOICE AND IF THEY ANSWER IT, THEY'RE ALLOWED TO ASK YOU A QUESTION IN TURN. THE RULES ARE SIMPLE, ONLY AS LONG AS YOU ANSWER THE OTHER PERSON'S QUESTIONS ARE YOU ALLOWED TO ASK QUESTIONS YOURSELF, BUT THERE IS NO EXPECTATION OF TRUTHFULNESS HERE, LIE IF YOU MUST OR WANT, JUST KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING.

How to play -
1. Comment with your character's name, fandom and preference.
2. If you want, leave a question in the comment field that your character is asking their opponent. Or don't. I'm not the cops.
3. Pick other characters to question and have fun!

Comments

[realpirate]

[He winces a little, because he hates the idea. But wrong isn't the right word.]

No. No, I think that's a fair question to ask, given both of our... tendencies.

[At first he doesn't move when Ed's hand reaches his. In case some little movement could frighten the touch away again. But after a moment of it he closes his hand around those fingers. Just soft enough to feel him. Not nearly firm enough to keep him there if he wanted away.]

I like it too. A lot.[If he seems to whisper it's not because that's any secret so much as the breathless feeling that catches up to him listening to Ed.] I'd hate to... change a thing these days. Unless... something changed for the better.

[thekraken]

[Ed accepts the hand, first by nodding quietly to himself. Then by running his thumb along the side of Stede's hand. It's a good touch. Soft, yet sure of what it wants.]

What would changing for the better look like to you?

[It's a concept Ed wants, but he doesn't have the first idea at how to get there. For the first time in a long time he doesn't know how to navigate.]

[realpirate]

Oh. Ahm. That's a good question.

[He knows. Of course he knows he's just looking for a delicate way to say so. Carefully he turns his hand under Ed's until that thumb is tickling the lines of his palm.]

Things are good. Very good. Better than they've ever been really. But I still find myself thinking about... Finding something more. Not anything different. Not anything I haven't already got. Just more. Of what I love about being out here. Pirating. With you.

[And lest that thought be a little too obvious, he adds...]

I suppose I worry that perhaps I'm just one of those people for whom the grass is always greener, if you know what I mean? I'd hate my wanting for something more to be the ruin of what I already have.

[thekraken]

There's nothing wrong with ccwanting more.

[Ed straightens when he feels his thumb along the dips and curves of Stede's palm. He hadn't ever considered the man's hand like this. It's nice to get to know Stede better through every means, even and maybe especially small ones like this.]

We can do more together. More raids, more new places, more adventures in general.

[Ed deliberately runs his finger along the deepest line in the center of Stede's palm.]

But everyday is an adventure with you. And we wouldn't even have to go anywhere.

[realpirate]

Isn't there? You don't think it's a bit greedy, given all I have here now?

[It's such a soft little touch it puts a shiver in him. Partly because it tickles and partly because it feels like secret to know what gentleness Ed's hands are capable of.

He closes his hand lightly around Ed's fingers.]

Those are some of my favourite adventures. Right here with you.

[thekraken]

Not greedy. We gotta fill our days somehow, right? Why shouldn't it be with the good stuff?

[Ed curls his hand right back, closing it securely around Stede's. As he speaks Ed's face grows happier, more confident. ]

So we'll do it together. Doing all the shit we've always wanted.

[realpirate]

[Ed's so full of good points it's almost easy to forget why he's holding back from being plain about it. But the risk is still there that Ed's just talking about raids and sinking ships and chasing off the navy.

What if Stede's idea of good stuff goes all kinds of unwarranted places? It's damn hard to look at the smile on Ed's usually brooding face and be worried though.]

And what have you always wanted? Apart from outfitting yourself in the habit à la française and sneaking into snobby dinner parties.

[thekraken]

First of all, I have no idea what a habit thingy is. But I've kind of always wanted something that's mine. So much of what I've got now is temporary. I get it, that's the whole nature of piracy. You travel, shit gets blown up. It is what it is.

[He shrugs before squeezing Stede's hand. With any luck this won't be just another fleeting moment in his life.]

I guess... I want something to hold onto, to know it's always there.

[He shakes his head.]

That sounds so fucking stupid. But the bar and grill thing came from somewhere.

[realpirate]

Oh, it's an outfit. Fancy french name for mensware— itentirelydoesn'tmatter.

[He could not possibly dispose of that nonsense bit of conversation fast enough when Ed's here saying the kind of sweet, vulnerable things he usually only comes to after a crisis or an irresponsible amount of rum.]

Shh. That's not stupid. That's only human, Ed. Wanting a little something secure. Something you can rely on. [He tuts gently and folds both his hands securely around Ed's. His thumb rising and falling as it slides across his knuckles.] How do you mean came from somewhere?

[thekraken]

[Ed quiets, staring at their joined hands. Something to rely on. He likes that.]

I suppose I just mean in the sense that when I think about the future, whenever I can wrap my head around it at all, I find myself craving that consistency, you know. And not consistency in the boring "oh my god, it's Blackbeard, everybody run" kinda way.

[Whatever that future is to be, he knows he wants Stede in it.]

More like in the "I do what I want, when I want, with the people I want" kinda way. And I still have money.

[realpirate]

[Sometimes Stede has to wonder if Ed knows how charming he is when he's being candid, or if he's not had enough someone's to be candid with to learn that. Which ever the case it's a delight to be on the receiving end of these thoughts of his.]

What you want, when you want, with who you want hm?

[Stede's chuckle is warm and adoring as he runs his fingertips of the tender spaces between Ed's knuckles.]

You know... I think a lot of people would look at a man like you, or a man like Blackbeard, and think, Surely he has all those things.

[He tips towards Ed until their shoulders nudge and there Stede's smile is bright and curious, not at all looking to see Ed agree with that if he doesn't feel it.]

Which part of that do you feel like you're missing?