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Out at sea for a few days after a rousing week of shore leave, Stede and Izzy came down with horrible colds. Stede thought back to the night they'd stayed with Ed at the inn, and how Ed had sniffled through sex with Stede and Izzy, then coughed itchily as they'd held him in bed. The rain dripping in through the still-unpatched roof hadn’t helped.
Frenchie sized them up and declared Izzy had to stay in bed (“till the bad spirits leave your face”) and Stede had to work half-time trying to do Izzy's tasks. (He had frowned at the thought that his typical tasks must have been less important, and at the memory of Frenchie's skeptical expression at the idea that he could complete Izzy's.)
Stede sneezed and sniffled his way through the morning, occasionally shivering, until Lucius tapped him on the shoulder. The boy held a cloth to his nose and Stede scowled. “It's just a cold, Lucius, not consumption,” he complained. “Izzy's running a fever and is in bed, so I have to pick up the slack.”
“You need to go back to your cabin,” Lucius said, eyes pleading.
“As I said, I’m filling in for–hedischhhoo!--for Izzy today–”
Lucius tightened his grasp around the cloth held to his nose and jabbed a finger into Stede's chest. “I don't care about your cold. But you're in rut and Izzy is in heat and the smell is killing everyone. I guess you can't smell it since you're both sick.”
“What?!” Stede said, wiping his nose with his sleeve and straightening up. “Izzy was in heat not even a month ago!”
“Yeah, well,” Lucius said, stepping back. “Fucking an omega’s brains out on the regular tends to make them go into heat more frequently.”
Pete emerged at Lucius's side, a bandana tied around his face, and another that Stede presumed was dipped in something scented (given the change in Lucius's facial expression) tied to his upper right arm. “He's right. I’ve gone into heat twice in five weeks. My husband's got a knot to die for.”
Lucius beamed. “Thanks, honey.”
Pete’s eyes crinkled. “Any time, babe. And I do mean any time.”
“Oh, this is terrible,” Stede said, pinching his nose and stifling a sneeze. “Izzy's always so crabby when he's in heat…and when he's sick.”
“Yeah…maybe don't bring that up with him. You’re no walk in the park either.” Lucius grinned from behind his cloth. “I'll have someone bring you all snacks and…tissues. Tea. Soup. But hurry up."
Stede sighed, every bone in his body weary. The burning ache in his stomach suddenly made far more sense. But surely he could tell a little bit if Izzy was in heat? His alpha senses weren't that dull, were they? He pondered this as he made his way to their new below-deck cabin, tripping a little bit over his feet at one point.
Inside, the first thing he noticed was that Izzy had piled every single blanket and pillow he could find on the bed and was buried beneath them. Stede had chalked this behavior up to Izzy’s fever, but a small moan that Izzy only made when he was in heat confirmed Lucius's declaration. As he made his way to the bed, a tired cough came from the nest.
“Izzy,” Stede said, taking off his boots and shucking his pants. “How are you feeling?”
“Why–heddighchoo!--why are you back already?” The lump wriggled, like Izzy was riding something.
“You're in heat,” Stede said, slipping off his shirt. He paused to find a handkerchief and blow his nose.
“Sexy,” Izzy said. He coughed again, thick and raspy, and Stede felt a ping of worry shoot through him. Izzy's colds always went to his chest. “I'll fucking kill Ed next time I see him.”
“I don’t know if that’s fair,” Stede said, untucking the blanket. “He's always got the sniffles now. We really should make him fix that roof.”
“Hed-ISCHooo! Sniffles, my ass,” Izzy said.
Under the covers, Izzy’s heat scent finally broke through to Stede. Izzy was naked, sweating and slick, on his stomach and frotting on a pillow. The muted notes of ambergris and vetiver made themselves at home in Stede's nose. Stede tried to breathe deeply, the smell making his stomach fill with heat, but only made a horrible snorting sound.
“Disgusting,” Izzy said, but he continued rubbing himself like he'd die otherwise.
“You look quite enticing with your ass in the air like that, despite the wet puddle under your face. And the fact that you're ruining one of our few pillows with your slick.” Stede swiped his hand under his nose and patted Izzy's bottom appreciatively.
“I'm fucking horny,” Izzy said. “Make yourself useful and get a knot in me. I don't care if it's yours or a dildo.” Izzy arched up and started to play with his dick furiously.
“Hmmm,” Stede said, frowning. He put his hand on Izzy's back, then pushed him down hard onto his stomach. Izzy sputtered, then whined. Stede stretched out next to him. The oxygen in the nest quickly running out, he flipped the edge of the blanket over their heads.
“Don’t be so selfish, Izzy. Your heat has me in rut,” Stede said, as primly as he could manage with his gravelly voice. He kissed Izzy indelicately on the mouth.
Izzy hummed into the kiss, half irritated and half longing. Stede felt Izzy’s hand move down and grasp his dick. “Not even hard for me,” Izzy said, then cleared his throat loudly.
“Oh, shut up. I'm not feeling well. I'll get there,” Stede complained. “Start stroking it.”
Izzy dipped his hand down near his cunt and gathered up his slick, then gripped Stede’s dick and started a lazy rhythm. Stede grunted, wrapping his arm around Izzy and drifting down to grip his ass. When Stede was erect, Izzy canted his hips and slid him in, sighing with relief. Stede gasped, then coughed, pitching his head over Izzy's shoulder.
Izzy was too busy to make a snide remark. His cunt, fever hot, fluttered around Stede as he thrust. Stede carefully moved Izzy so that their legs slotted together, Izzy's nub resting on his thigh, giving Stede a better angle. Izzy cried out and clenched around him with a rush of slick. “Fuck–Izzy–you always feel so good,” Stede said, stroking his face and daring to wipe away the bead of snot that had gathered at the tip of Izzy's nose
“C’mon, Bonnet,” Izzy said, sniffling then tilting his head so that Stede could cup his cheek. “Need that knot.”
“It doesn't just work on command,” Stede said, but he was already swelling as he felt his orgasm mount. He spilled in Izzy, then pulled him close, the two of them panting through their mouths.
Izzy slid his arm under the pillow, so that he could nestle comfortably on Stede's shoulder. He grit his teeth and shook through another orgasm; Stede cried out, another pulse jolting through him, too. Stede snaked his head to catch Izzy's mouth and kiss him. He had to pull away to breathe much sooner than he wanted to.
They came down as Stede's knot softened, kissing and biting at each other's necks. Stede wondered if Izzy's fever would make it more likely that he would leave a mark. As he slid out, he kissed Izzy on the nose. Izzy scrunched his face, then pitched forward and sneezed on Stede's chest.
“Eurgh,” Stede said, mopping himself up with the sheet.
“You know that sets me off when I have a cold,” Izzy said, more tired than irritated. He yawned.
“Don't go to sleep yet,” Stede said. “I'm itching to touch you. You've been rolling over and not letting me hold you in bed at night.”
“You're fucking sweaty when you're sick,” Izzy said. He flopped over onto his stomach. “You can give me a back massage. My sore spots are killing me.”
“You need to work on relaxing more,” Stede said. “Your stress goes straight to your back.” He rolled over to sit on the backs of Izzy's thighs. Izzy jumped when Stede's foot caught his nub, but then he eased as Stede rubbed it absentmindedly with his toes.
“You know where the knots are,” Izzy said, melting into the mattress.
Stede lowered his elbow to the first spot on Izzy's gnarled back where his muscles clenched when he was sick or stressed. He thought to the first time he did this, one of their first nights in this cabin, before they had even fucked in a bed. Izzy had started with cardinal directions (“You don't know which direction the head of our bed faces?”) and then guided Stede inelegantly with his own hand. Izzy's scars, which made Stede ill from sympathy every time he saw them, became a map he could follow to Izzy's tenderest, tightest spots.
“Fuck, Stede. God. Push in harder,” Izzy said, rough voice almost indecent. Stede dug his elbow in and rotated. “Jesus, yes, that's it. More, fucking damn it, I need more.”
“I'll bruise you,” Stede said gently, then sniffled.
“I do not fucking care,” Izzy said. Stede chose to move to the next knot, going in hard immediately. Izzy let out a moan so obscene that Stede felt his face flush. His nose scrunched and he sneezed, then fished around for a handkerchief. Stede put one in his hand. “Don’t fucking stop. I'm going to blow my nose.” Izzy intermingled gasps and moans with his foghorn-like nose blowing as Stede ground in his elbow. Afterwards, Stede collapsed onto Izzy’s back with crackly laughs that turned into a cough.
Before long, Izzy laughed too. After they gained control again, he commanded, “Did I tell you to fucking stop? Get back in there.”
“--Fuck, Stede, push in harder–”
Lucius glanced at Pete, who held the tea tray, and raised an eyebrow.
“Sounds like they're still going at it,” Pete said, leaning closer to the door to listen.
“I can't believe it. They're so old. And both of them are so sick. They must really love each other,” Lucius said.
“Or Stede's knot is to die for, too.”
“I hate to admit it but that's also a possibility." Lucius wrinkled his nose.
"What's up babes?" Frenchie asked, popping up beside Pete. "Oh, are they doing the deed?"
"Yeah," Pete said, smiling softly. "They are."
"I hope the fairies don't leap out of Izzy's face and into Stede's," Frenchie said darkly.
"What?" Lucius asked.
"It's just science." Frenchie pulled out a pocket knife and started cleaning his nails.
Jim, Olu, and Archie turned the corner. "Oh, are they finally fucking? Thank god," Archie said.
"I'll bruise you--"
"I do not fucking care--"
"Stede is so much better for Izzy than Ed, that fucking cara de culo," Jim said, snaking one arm around Olu and another around Archie.
"Is that Stede and Izzy?" Wee John said, sidling up next to Frenchie.
"I miss this room," Frenchie said.
"Well, now we have the really nice one. More than one sitting nook," Wee John said.
“--Don’t fucking stop. I'm going to blow my nose–”
Lucius shuddered and groaned. “Horrifying.”
"Circle of life, man," Archie said.
"That makes no sense," Lucius replied.
“How can someone so small make so much snot?” Pete mused. "And so much noise?"
All of them looked at each other with wide eyes as laughter erupted from the cabin. The Swede passed them in the hallway, stopping to listen, too. A bewildered look crossed his face. “Is that normal?” he asked.
“Absolutely not,” Lucius said. He leaned over to kiss Pete on the head. “Let's take this back to the kitchen to keep warm. We can try again in an hour. C'mon everyone--they'll hear us."