Chapter Text
Stede takes a deep breath before entering. The door dings as he steps into the small shop he was just in front of, the lighting dim with a smell wafting that Stede couldn't quite place. It wasn't unpleasant, just a sweetness he hadn't smelled before.
Stede takes in the shop around him - cases lined side by side on the floor held glass and electric items for purchase while the back wall was filled with baggies of different strains and food items. The back corner looked to be apparel - leather goods, lace items and rainbow flags.
Oluwande and Jim swore by this place. Swore it would help him relax, which is something he desperately needed. He wasn't even sure why he was so anxious in the first place - his divorce had been one of the most amicable his lawyer had ever seen, so he said, and the business was doing the best it's ever done from the repairs they've made.
Beginning again is never easy, though.
Stede hears chatter coming from a back room, causing his neck to almost snap in half to see where they were coming from.
“Izzy, I told you, Puff the Magic Dragon was, yes, a dragon but it was also…” The mystery character never finishes his thought, but that seems quite alright to him. Stede believes he's never seen so much leather in one room as he does standing right before him.
A man his height, grey waves of the softest looking hair since Stede’s, tied in a loose bun. His beard is finely sculpted and Stede wonders briefly if he could ever grow something that magnificent. Leather vest adorned with pins that couldn't be read from a distance, purple shirt, more leather, leather gloves?? Fingerless? Stede is intrigued immediately.
Next to leather daddy number one stood short and angry leather daddy number two, adorned in the same get up only his shirt was black and there were no colorful buttons to read later.
“Hellooo,” big beard says, eyes wide at the pale blonde consumer in front of him. Stede looks like every other guy who comes in on the daily - the only difference is this time this random guy made Ed’s stomach do a sick kickflip.
Stede shyly popped a hand up in greeting, and before he could stop himself, he spoke, “I don't mean to intrude but Peter Yarrow says the song is about the hardships of growing older, it was based…” mystery man cocks his head to the side, eyes narrowing, though not unkindly, “on a poem…uh. I need help relaxing, please.” Fascinating.
Izzy, the wee daddy, scoffs through Stede’s explanation. He gives Stede an annoyed once over before turning to his bearded companion, “I'll be taking inventory. I suggest you look into what I've asked you, Edward.” And he's gone.
Edward. He has a name.
“Sorry about him, mate. Hasn't gotten laid in years Or maybe he has and this is what he looks like happy.” Ed contemplates this statement for a little longer than he should. He knew Izzy for a very long time but did he actually know him? Has he ever seen him truly happy?
Ed smacks his hands together, almost like he's clearing the bad energy from their previous conversation. “First things first…” he trails off, giving Stede an expectant look.
“Oh um, hello. Stede. Stede is the name.” He holds his hand out to shake, as he'd always been taught to do, and Ed accepts - if only to admire the beautiful turquoise ring on Stede’s finger and the soft skin that was now gripping him like a vice.
“Stede.” Ed repeats and his voice is like silky smoke, a glorious deep purple, if colors had sound. “Have you ever smoked before?”
“I have not, but my partners swear this will help and I'm willing to try anything once.”
Partners. Business or pleasure? Ed could allow himself mental questions.
Ed kept his eyes glued to Stede, who was now staring into a case full of glass pipes. What a peculiar man. Blonde hair, scruffy in the face, aviator glasses that were definitely prescription and dorky to the nines but there was something insightful, even soulful in the way he spoke. Like his problems didn't bother him as much as everyone said they did. He looks like an open book. He also looks like he has some of the most bizarre hobbies. Ed can't wait to hear more.
Stede continues to speak as Ed stares, “they laid some names down and your business was the first so I stopped by. That pipe has a penis on it.” He speaks so quietly that Ed almost misses it. He's thankful he didn't.
“Wait until you see the bong with tits.” He teases, leaning against the counter to see which piece Stede is referring to.
Stede turns bright red but laughs regardless, his eyes darting back to Edward. “So…what do you recommend for a first timer, Edward?”
“Ed, mate. Just Ed.” He ponders for a moment before pulling a jar down from the shelf. “Smell this.”
And the crazy thing is that Stede does. He has no clue what he's smelling, or why he's doing it but Ed told him to and that was enough for him. “Oh yes…that's uh…what am I smelling?”
“Dunno, mate, just wanted to see if you'd do it. We have some food in the back fridge that we think might be expired, would you check it for me?” He sets the jar back on the shelf behind him before he bent down to grab something under the counter instead.
“Here. Edibles. HALF a gummy bear, wait two hours and if nothing happens you can take the other half.” Stede listens carefully to the instructions given, noting the tone Ed used when directing him to take only half. Stede reaches up to grab the bag to give it a read when Ed stops him, “seriously. Just half. Last thing you need is to fly too close to the sun.”
Just half. He could do that.
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“And then inside the case there…just right there, in the open, it had a penis on it. Who makes those?”
Stede, Oluwande and Jim are more than just partners in their business venture. They're friends and roommates, and on several occasions...well, nights were never lonely with a full house.
“Someone who does art, probably.” For Olu, half listening was a forte, especially when Stede gets so excited on a subject that it never dies. The fact that you could make erotic pipes to smoke substances out of was the newest fascination they could not outrun.
Stede holds his hands up while he's speaking, making a motion to describe the cock and shape of the balls, “but the level of care, Olu. Just the balls alone must have taken all night.”
“Stede, mate, did you do what we sent you to do?”
“Oh! Yes, there's the most lovely man who works there named Ed and he helped me out. He gave me bears!”
“Oh, was he lovely?” Jim eyes Stede carefully, because they weren't sure if he was serious. Ed? Lovely? Angry ol Ed and his little rat fuck Izzy?
Stede contemplates for a moment, because the Ed he met was lovely. He didn't mind when Stede inserted himself into his conversation, or the fact that he asked him what several different items in the shop were and he even looked amused when Stede told the story of when a friend of his tried to jump off of the diving board at the pool but slipped and took a header. He nods, “yeah, he was.”
There was a silence between them all for a moment before he mentally made his final decision.
He was going to see Ed again. And soon.