Chapter Text
The parking lot to Blackbeard's Bar & Grill & Other Delicacies & Delights & Fishing Equipment is so full that people are parking at the chiropractor's office next door just to get a chance to get in, the line of people waiting threatening to spill out the front door and onto the drizzly sidewalk outside. Stede doesn't have to wait, of course, ducking through the doors and holding a hand up for Oluwande, who waves him in and points to where Ed is sitting at one of his own tables, talking to a dark-haired young woman who's typing away on her laptop.
Stede doesn't want to interrupt, but when Ed sees him he waves him over, legs stretched out in a relaxed sprawl where he's leaned back casually in his chair. Stede has to navigate past a mangle of full tables and rushing waitstaff to get to them and some of the cheering after Frenchie ends his set is so loud that he has to repeat himself just to be heard. "Hello!" Stede says to the reporter. "Take your time, really."
"We're just finishing up." Ed gives him a small smile.
"Alright." She says, scrolling down on her computer. "I know you said you only wanted to talk about the food, and don't worry, that's what ninety-eight percent of the profile is going to focus on, but is there any way I could ask one miscellaneous question?"
"I've a sneaking suspicion I know what it's about." Ed says, waving a hand. "Yeah, you can ask."
"Great! So, as you've undoubtedly heard, the British Museum Heist that took place at the beginning of the summer has been compared to the ones you used to orchestrate back in the day, especially because of the high volume of Māori artifacts taken. Obviously no one is accusing you of anything because there is a suspect in mind and you've more than done your time, but: do you have any on-record comments you'd like to provide?" She says it all in a rush without taking a single breath, leaning forwards to make sure she gets his quote exactly right.
"I have some off-record ones." Ed jokes. "—No, um, what I will say is this: The British Museum have over three-thousand Māori items listed on their website. They also have a section of their site for 'contested items' where they list the things that other cultures want back that they're not planning to return. On that list are Nigeria's Benin Bronzes, Egypt's Rosetta Stone, Greece's Parthenon Marbles, and Rapa Nui's Hoa Hakananai'a and Moai Hava, and that's just the ones I can remember. If I'm condemning anything, it's that. That's my comment."
"Thank you very much, Ed!" She says, typing rapidly away.
After she leaves, Ed stands and gives Stede a proper hello. "Too much, do you think?" He murmurs, guiding him through the crowd with a hand on the small of his back.
"Nah, that was perfect." Stede beams. "You ready to head out?"
"Absolutely, should I grab the others?"
"Mhm. They all have what they need?"
"Yeah, they're good. They're going to love it."
𓊝
The first time Stede stepped foot on The Revenge again, he cried (which made for an even more awkward bargaining session with Chauncey Badminton than it already was). The first time he sailed it again, he also cried. The first time he sees most of the people he cares about (along with a few he doesn't) on it, which is now, he thinks he might cry again.
He tries to commit every little vignette to memory: Wee John teaching Frenchie how to tie the right knots, Calico Jack getting stoned with Buttons and Evelyn, who both seem to be warming up to him at least a little (though Buttons is still keeping Karl far away from him, like he knows something nobody else does), Jim deftly peeling an orange with a knife for them and Oluwande to share, their legs dangling over the railing, The Swede and Ivan trying to climb the ropes together, Fang helping Roach overcome his obvious discomfort about being out in open water, and Black Pete and Lucius re-enacting as many scenes from Titanic as possible while Izzy scowls and takes pictures for them.
Ed is next to him in the crow's nest, eating grapes as he gazes out at the sea, looking straight out of a renaissance painting. Stede takes the bunch and holds it up for him, letting Ed pull the grapes from the stem with his teeth and doing a terribly good job at distracting Stede from anything or anyone else but him. They stay up there for hours, mostly just talking and stealing the occasional kiss, and it isn't until the sun begins to set that Stede interrupts the relative reverie and has everyone gather around on the deck.
"You actually brought an itinerary?" Ed asks, peering over his shoulder at his bit of paper.
"I thought it might be nice to have a guide! I think that, seeing as how this is our first official meeting since everything, that we should all go around and give an update, yeah? Make sure we're all on the same page?"
The Swede goes first. She's almost done getting the rest of the individual jewels out to different buyers, but there's only so many languages she can speak before it looks suspicious, so they're staggering her sales. When asked what she's planning to do with her cut, she smiles to reveal a gold tooth. "I kind of want to do all of them, but would that be too much, do you think?"
"Up to you, really." Stede says as supportively as he can. "Looks great!"
Then is Roach, who shrugs. "I got a haircut."
"Anything else? Any grand plans?" Stede prompts.
"We might add a sushi bar to the restaurant." He says, tentatively excited. "So it'd be something like Blackbeard's Bar & Grill & Other Delicacies & Delights & Fishing Equipment & Also Roach's Sushi Bar."
"Don't forget the gift shop." Ed adds.
"Right, and gift shop."
"Wow, really rolls off the tongue!" Stede encourages.
Wee John is next. Him and Ivan are considering opening up a joint 'drest' company for John's dresses and Ivan's vests.
Stede is delighted. "Just like I suggested!"
"No." Ivan says. "It's completely different."
"How so?" Stede frowns.
"You suggested we make drests, but we're selling dresses and vests, no overlap."
"I thought we are doing drests?" Wee John contests.
"We are?"
Wee John nods.
"...Alright. A little like you suggested."
Fang is next. He's still workshopping an idea that he claims is the "perfect union between dog training and hacktivism", which Stede thinks sounds perfectly promising.
Buttons wants to open a joint yoga studio, healing clinic, bird sanctuary, dispensary, and psychic shop, and he promises to give them all free readings, even Izzy, who he offers a free "soul cleansing" to because he thinks he really needs it.
Evelyn says she's upscaling her own existing small business, which is either focused on supporting women-made art or a cover-up for more husband-murdering, but probably it's both. She's planning on exhibiting some of Mary's paintings, though, so Stede supposes he doesn't much mind either way. Ed is so interested that he takes four different business cards just in case he loses the others.
"Can I get in on that?" The Swede asks. "I can make jewelry!"
Evelyn gives her an assessing look. "Ever hidden a body?"
"I'm a quick learner!"
"You're in."
Next is Jim, who tells Stede that how they spend their money is nobody's business but their own, and Oluwande, who's mainly just planning on paying off his debt and moving to a nicer neighborhood, maybe doing some travelling with Jim (who begrudgingly confirms that that's how they're planning on spending it.)
Black Pete says he's been doing "cool stuff" with his, which could mean anything, really, but seems promising, and Lucius is planning on getting a studio to make art in and writing a stage production that he'll use the money to finance.
"The show isn't about this, though, right?"
Lucius wrinkles his nose. "It's not…not about this."
"You're going to need to refract it through, like, fifteen different metaphors, then. Make us aliens or pirates, or something." Ed says, crossing his legs. "And maybe call my character something like Redbeard or Purplebeard."
Frenchie's ventures are particularly broad, mostly in funding cryptid hunts for his podcast and funding an album of his music, but he also wants to continue spending part of his time as Adam Abioye, because, as he puts it, "rich crypto-dudes are the most gullible marks on the planet." He also kind of needs to maintain the persona at least a little bit to avoid suspicion after accidentally doing an incredible job networking at the gala.
Next are Izzy and Calico Jack. Jack has already gambled half of his away, which Ivan and Fang confirm is what he usually does with payouts. Izzy is even more tight-lipped than Jim about how he's spending it, but he does give Lucius a raised-eyebrow look that Stede can't even begin to parse. He's happy for them, though, even after how close Izzy came to mucking everything up for no reason at all. His more intimate relationship with Lucius and Black Pete seems to have mellowed him, a bit, and when Lucius makes a particularly explicit joke about the three of them testing out how many people the below-deck hammock can hold, he barely looks uncomfortable and almost, almost looks amused.
All that leaves is Ed, who just smiles slightly, knocks his shoulder into Stede's, and says simply "My restaurant kicks ass now."
"Right, well, that just leaves our Nigel update! Frenchie?"
"Well, since we had him sign all of that paperwork when I became his advisor he basically can't sue me, so he decided to keep me on because he still doesn't understand NFTs well enough to get that I fucked him over on purpose. He mostly just rants about how he knows Stede had something to do with it even though he can't prove it and how annoyed he is that all of his favorite conservative telly hosts are all using him as an example of 'the radical left' in their shows. Pretty standard stuff!"
"What are his odds looking like?"
"His brother selling the boat back to you gave him enough money for a good lawyer, so he probably won't get that long, but it is looking like time. He doesn't have enough proof to take any of us to court."
"Can we toast to that?" Lucius asks, digging out two champagne bottles and lining up a row of glasses.
"I would love to toast to that." Oluwande says with gusto, disentangling his legs from Jim's to help hand out glasses.
Lucius holds up his champagne. "To Bonnet's Sixteen?"
"Bonnet-and-Teach's Sixteen." Stede corrects, holding his champagne up. "To us!"
After much, much, more champagne, half of which is consumed by Calico Jack, Stede shows Ed the Captain's quarters for the first time, which leaves him genuinely kind of speechless. "They had fully-stocked bookshelves and two chandeliers and loads of lit candles on eighteenth century pirate ships?" He asks, spinning in a slow circle to take it all in.
"They should've!" Stede says brightly, finishing lighting the last candle. He turns towards Ed, slightly mischievous. "Can I show you something else?"
"Please."
Stede pulls the little lever to open his auxiliary wardrobe, biting his lip to keep from full-on beaming.
Ed looks slowly from Stede to the wardrobe and back again, shaking his head with a laugh. "Stede fucking Bonnet." He ducks his head into the wardrobe. "Hey, d'you think we could—"
"You want to do it in the wardrobe, don't you?"
"...Yup."
"Alright." Stede grins, grabbing Ed by his jacket and pulling him the rest of the way in.