Chapter Text
Chapter 1:
the prince and the pirate
The foreboding sound of heavy boots clicking against the deck echoed, getting closer and closer with every step setting every nerve in Steve’s body ablaze. The salt-soaked ropes pulled tight against his wrists and tore at the top layer of his skin, stinging at his frustrations. The instinct to struggle and pull against the restraint only reddened and bruised his freckled skin. His knees scuffed mercilessly on the worn wood of the ship as it tipped with the waves, swaying his body and making him aware of even more rope, wrapped around his torso and arms. He had his arms pinned down to his back making his shoulders ache at the stretch. Overkill , he scoffed to himself, whoever these people were, they saw him as a threat.
“Rejoice lads!” A dramatic boom of a silky voice came from only a few feet away from where Steve had been thrown down to his knees. He turned his blindfolded eyes in the direction his ears were picking the noise from almost like he couldn’t help trying to see who the velvety voice came from.
“Lady Fortune of the tides have smiles on you today” The voice was closer now, the shifting of Steve’s crew on his right made him inflate his chest in defiance knowing the voice was most likely looking them up and down. He needed them to know that even though he was only their captain because his dad had bought his position, it didn’t mean Steve wasn’t going down without a fight, even if they had lost the first fight almost instantly he thought sulkily.
“We have so graciously relieved you of your… more weighted cargo and you will be free to sail on your merry way” The voice was practically right in front of Steve now, he could almost feel the man’s smile in the air, could feel his breath of amusement on his face. Oh wait, was that actually his breath?
Steve had just enough time to think before a hand gripped at his chin in an oddly gentle way. The hand was thin and wiry but strong as it tilted his head up, letting small beams of sunlight peak over the dark cloth covering his view of this man. The hold continued to be pretty gentle as it turned Steve’s head back and forth in interest, pressing the large cold rings into the side of his cheek.
“Now what’s this pretty thing?” the voice coed tauntingly, the fingers moved to experimentally trace along the corner of Steve’s lips. Steve took this opportunity to snap his head forward, biting harshly on the finger that dared to venture so freely. But unfortunately for Steve, the man was too fast, pulling his hand pack quickly with an electric laugh.
“Ha! We got a feisty one, boys!” the voice quipped back even more entertained now.
“Cap’em, look here,” a new voice said with curiosity. At the same time, a small hand was dragging across his chest to peel the gold chain out from the open ruffles of his shirt. As Steve felt the cold metal tingle against his skin he mentally cursed himself, shit, now I'm dead. “Hey, hey didn’t your mother teach you not to touch what's not yours?”
He had known better to remove his usual adoration of rings and jewels when he had set foot on the ship his father had gifted him in hopes to toughen up or even get rid of his only son. Steve knew his father hated him and he certainly wasn’t afraid to voice how much of a disappointment he thought he was. Steve had easily gotten rid of all reminders of his father. But he hadn’t had the stomach to remove the simple golden coin inlaid in the gold necklace his mother had given him when he was 10, saying to always be proud of his name. Steve never understood what she meant because so far that name had only brought him trouble and misery. Same as it would right now.
A small gasp was heard from the younger voice as the coin was exposed from his shirt.
“That’s the royal crest Cap, only an heir to the throne is honored with this symbol,” the boy said as he trailed off, flooding the deck with silence at the news.
Damn this kid knows his stuff , was all Steve could think before the blindfold was roughly ripped from Steve's head. It painfully pulled out a few sandy brown hairs from the back of his head. “Hey, man watch the hair” Steve tried to joke but the bright midday sun blinded him instantly as the voices started to speak again before Steve’s vision was even close to recovering.
“Tell us, pretty boy, are you royalty then? Or a thief huh?” The hand was back on his chin gripping more roughly this time to yank Steve’s head right into the handsome face of a dark-haired pirate.
Steve couldn’t respond. His breath was stolen by the puppy brown eyes that now bore into his soul. The rest of his features and clothes were now slowly coming into focus as the dark waterfall of curls cascaded down from a hat that was blocking the sun. The tip of the tricorne hat brushed at Steve's hair with how close the man was to his face, tipping the accessory up to reveal the red bandana protecting his salt-fluffed curls from the rough fabric. The man’s skin was scared and white but tanned from labors in the sun, splotched with hidden freckles along his nose. Steve’s eyes continued to trail down the rest of the man's wiry form to take in the washed-out red shirt that was cut deep at the neck and lazily laced back up paired with some impossibly tight black trousers. Heavy black boots that looked like they had never seen a day's rest in their life, were torn and loudly flopped against the calf-length black coat that draped over the broad shoulder of the man. The only accents to his red and black attire were the obnoxious amount of silver jewelry. The luxuries embellished everything from his slender fingers to his studded sword and back up to the multiple mismatched piercing on his ears. His entire appearance was rugged and masculine and yet somehow refined and feminine all at once making Steve’s heart stutter helplessly against his chest. What the hell was that reaction? Steve had always appreciated the beauty of men from afar, thinking it was normal but to act on his desires was just a luxury he could not afford with his title. This pirate was making him think that luxury was worth all the gold in the world.
His awe was interrupted by a new line of thought as he realized he had now started to recognize the man. The legends of the pirate with the hair of a woman and the mercy of the devil himself had spread quickly after the young captain had taken out an entire British fleet on its way back from the islands. He had proceeded to free every 1500 slaves on board the ships instantly making him the number one nuisance of the king and an enemy of the modern world earning him the name Edward ‘the Banished’.
Edward “the banished” Munson’s face was now contorting into something of a mock disappointment as he pouted his bottom lip. Steve’s eyes darted down to the puffed lip with the sudden urge to grab it and roll it around the pad of his thumb.
“What will it be then, pretty thing?” Edward asked again, taking Steve out from his self-indulged tour of the man that still had a hand pressing his head up at a painful angle. It took a moment for him to remember the original question but when Steve did, he just set his jaw and gave his capture a thin-mouthed smirk of defiance. “Wouldn’t you like to know”
“Let go of me you foul createns!” A pitched yell came from the cabin at that very moment as a familiar head of brown locks was dragged out onto the deck by two boys that looked strangely young.
“Rob!” Steve exclaimed in fear as his best and only friend was roughly thrown to the ground alongside him and promptly tied up as well. Robin had refused to let Steve go out to sea on a boat of strangers for god knows how long and instead had shown up the morning of his departure with a boy's haircut and a wardrobe of stolen men's clothes. Now she was being yanked up to her knees by her collar as Captain Edward released Steve’s chin to show a mild interest in the disguised woman. As the towering man bent down to inspect Robin a little closer she spit directly in his face. It didn’t really surprise Steve.
“How dar-'' an outraged cry came from a younger voice that Steve could not pinpoint but was cut off quickly with the rise of Edward’s hand meant to silence the outraged voice. Robin flinched at the movement, thinking he would hit her and Steve reacted as such before he realized that was not the pirate's intention. It was too late though, the damage was done. Edward had seen the way Steve had flinched forward and tensed at the reaction.
“Hmm, interesting indeed” the curly-haired man hummed in thought, bringing a hand up to scratch at the light stubble on his chin. And before anyone could even see him move, that same hand roughly wrapped into Robin’s collar and ripped her to her feet.
“Hey!” Steve started to protest but Robin was on it first
“Get your filthy hands off me!” she yelled, but before she could get another word out Edward dragged her stumbling feet across the deck and threw her unstable weight in front of him, flying her out and over the side of the boat with ease.
“No!” Steve yelled, flinging his weight forward landing him flat on his face. He turned his head so quickly he thought it might have given him whiplash as he pressed his cheek into the wood just in time to see Captain Edward's hand hold fast to Robin’s shirt, keeping her hovering over her watery grave.
“Answer the question big boy or your-” he turned to take in Robin’s disheveled appearance with a scoff “your poorly disguised mistress gets it”. He said with the now familiar smile that meant he was amused once again.
“Ha, he wishes,'' Robin snapped, almost making Steve laugh. How she was able to keep her nerve while being dangled over an untimely death was a mystery to him. Robin’s comment only seemed to entertain the captain more. But Steve was still too horrified to laugh let alone speak and comprehend everything, it was all happening too fast.
“Five seconds” the dark-haired pirate called, obviously losing his patience. Steve could only flick his terror-struck eyes back and forth between the two.
“Five” Steve looked to Robin who was sporadically shaking her head, willing him with her eyes to stay quiet.
“Four” They both knew he would be executed or worse, taken for ransom if this particular pirate who was known for his hatred for the throne found out about his relation to the monarch that had banished him from the land. Steve would honestly rather die than give his father the satisfaction of getting taken by pirates but he knew his father would kill him himself if he had to pay a ransom for the son he never wanted but his mother's bloodline needed.
“Three!” But Steve could see the fear behind Robin's fierce glare. He couldn’t let the only person he had left in the world die for his sake. Or his stupidity.
“Two!”
“Okay, Okay, Wait!”
“No Steve don’t!”
But Steve was already taking in the breath he needed.
“My name is Prince Steven Harrington the third, my mother is Annette Harrington, sister to King Henry the fifth himself and if you harm one hair on her head you will feel the wrath of the royal fleet by sundown mark my words pirate .” Steve spit out the last word as it tasted of bile and vomit. His bold speech was suppressed by the press of his check into the deck from where he had fallen but his words still stunned silence over the entire boat.
Captain Edward just looked like the cat that caught the canary before sighing to say “I always knew I had an expensive taste” the sly off-handed compliment made Steve bristle and blush, the direct eye contact seeming like the quip was only meant for his ears.
“Henderson!” The instant snap away from his eyes made Steve blush even harder with how entranced he had been. A boy who couldn’t be more than 16 with a surprisingly quaffed head of curls turned to attention, invading Steve’s vision instead.
“Make sure everything has been secured in our brig then set the fuses, we set sail with hast!”
Steve’s mind reeled, fuses?
“Sinclair and Wheeler! Take our new guest to the PuppetMaster. Secure him however until I can attend to his- Highness ” Edward finished giving his orders with a sneer
“Wait, Captain- Sir- Whatever- Please!” Steve started and Edward's golden brown eyes fell back onto him making Steve stutter
“It’s Captain Eddie Munson, at your service” Eddie interrupted as he walked Robin back to her spot next to the prince giving a mock bow of introduction. He then bent down out of Steve’s sight to grab at the rope on his back and pull him up to his knees once again.
“Captain Munson, I will go willingly but please spare my crew, they didn’t sign up for this, they didn’t even know of my title” He let his desperation slip into his voice. The crew had really no idea who Steve was and certainly didn’t want to go down for him now that they did.
“Hmm, I could get used to you begging on your knees for me” Eddie practically purred into Steve’s ear, leaning to grab at Steve's chin again but this time from behind him, still holding the back of the ropes. His arms were pulled tight and his back was pressed feverishly against the older man's torso making Steve gasp slightly before Eddie continued to speak. “But don’t you worry your little head princess, the fuses are to release your crew after the horizon has swallowed our path. They can all return home with the news of your capture and the price for your ransom.”
Steve felt some relief at the Captain's words and pushed aside his discomfort with the position to turn to Robin. Hoping she had heard Eddie’s words Steve meant to reassure her but was only met with the body of a tall white boy, lanky with black fluffy layers of hair, reaching to grab at his ropes. The second pair of hands appeared on his other side, hoisting him up and away from the line-up. The second boy had skin too dark to have been from sun exposure and small fro of hair peeking out from a dark blue handkerchief. The pair was now easily dragging the prince to his feet and across the wooden bridge.
“Steve!” Robin called, in a panic now.
Steve promised he wouldn’t fight but he couldn’t help but pull at the two young boys' grasps to turn to Robin once more. “Rob!” Her male nickname seemed to suit her better, even in dire times. “Just do whatever he says, you’ll be fine and I’ll see you soon okay? I promise” He yelled trying to convey some security but it was always so hard to lie to Robin, he just hoped since she couldn’t see him that she would believe him.
And then Steve just let himself be tugged and shoved across the wooden planks connecting to the ship that was so ominously named The PuppetMaster. The two boys Eddie had called Wheeler and Sinclair were almost as tall as himself and surprisingly strong as they prodded him into the cabin. They took a sharp right into a velvet maroon hallway with a single thin door displayed in front of them.
“Is this the part where you show me your super secret sex chamber?” Steve joked nervously and instantly regretted it, not knowing how old these boys were. Neither of them responded and only moved closer to the door until one of them could reach the door handle with one hand still on Steve. And as the door swung open it did not reveal a room, but a small closet, Steve’s heart dropped to his feet.
The closet was dark and tiny, probably only big enough for Steve to lay down if his knees were curled to his chest. The walls were littered with small hooks and nails making him assume it used to be used as a weapons locker up to this point.
“Hold on okay don’t you have like- a cell or something below deck? This is starting to feel a little personal fellas” Steve attempted to joke once again but his voice was already betraying him to his utter terror.
“We don’t believe in taking anyone's freedom” the one wearing the blue handkerchief started.
“You might be the exception though” the boy with the wolf cut butted in a real quick almost thoughtfully way.
“ So- Cap'n had us tear out the bars in the hold since we would never need the use of them” he finished seemingly annoyed by the interruption and started to push a panicked Steve into the small space.
Memories from Steve’s childhood started flooding his brain and flashing in his vision. The lonely darkness and hours of scratching his nails raw, pleading to be let out. The panic attacks forced on by the enclosing walls choked his breath until he passed out and only to wake up still locked in the suffocating torture of his father's choice. Of course, his father could never punish him in ways that left evidence of his abuse to be found by his mother's royal family so he had taken to teaching him lessons in other ways. One time when his mother had been away, his father locked him in his bedroom closet for two days until he remembered that humans need food and water. Steve had been 8.
“Whoa whoa wait kid, there’s gotta be another option here, maybe a post you wanna chain me to or something or- just- come on” he was blabbering now, the mind-numbing dread taking over his brain. “I’ve got a thing with closed spaces man just- please-”
“You’ll be fine,” The long black-haired boy said, sounding bored.
“He sounds pretty freaked dude, maybe-” the more sensible of the two started to say before he was cut off again
“Cap said secure him, you got a better idea?” the answer must have been no because the slightly taller boy just stayed silent.
But Steve thought a better idea was to just throw him into the ocean “The mast!” He suddenly thought out loud. “Tie me to the mast! Come on dudes, anything better than this, seriously I’ll take the ocean at this point” He said now more than hysterical. But the boys seemed to be done arguing.
“So you can see exactly where we are going? Yeah right we aren’t that stupid” with that, the boys gave him one final shove making the prince land painfully on his shoulder.
“Wait, no, no, Please!” Steve practically screamed and rolled to try and throw himself in the way of the closing door. But it was too late. His hurt shoulder just slammed sorely into the shut door. No , his face was pounding with blood and his lungs suddenly felt restricted by the rope still around his body and arms that hadn’t felt so tight just a second ago.
“Fuck, fuck, FUCK!” His throat burned in defiance as the scream left his lips only to fall on his ears. His breath was quickening by the second until he was gasping like a fish that had been slapped on the docks. The dark foreboding room, if you could even call it that, was closing in around him making the space feel impossibly small and like the walls were closing in around his throat.
“HELP! PLEASE!” he knew it was futile but he couldn’t help the alarming cries as the tears started to swell over his eyes and stream down his cheeks without permission. No, no, no, this is not happening, I am stronger than this! He wanted to scream at himself but he knew there was no turning back from the frightening way he couldn’t breathe. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to escape the shifting walls and tight darkness but the black of his eyelids only made the world swim.
No, No, NO, he couldn’t tell if he was saying the babbling cries out loud but either way there was no way he could have heard the heavy boots making their way up the hallway over the pounding in his ears.
“Would you-” a familiar voice started and then faded as the dim light of the hallways rushed over the shaking mess of a person on the floor. Steve was all too grateful for the blinding heavenly light, blissfully unaware of the strong hands lifting his body off the dank floor and sitting him against the wall of the hallway.
“Look what you did to him!” Eddie’s voice came ringing in his ears, snapping short with malice until the strangest switch happened.
“Shh, your okay sweetheart, your okay now just breath, deep breaths” it was almost an entirely new voice and yet it was most definitely Eddie’s. The soothing command made Steve want to listen, want to obey and so astronomically different from the usual theatrical tone of the older man.
“I- I can’t- can’t breath- I-” Steve tried to stutter out the best he could but his lungs still wouldn’t cooperate.
“I know- I know just breath in big for me okay?” a knife was suddenly cold and metallic, pressed to his stuttering chest and Steve’s only thought was, ``This is it, I’m going to die now.
Then the rope fell, pooling on Steve’s lap. He took the biggest breath of his life, gasping embarrassingly as if he had just breached the surface from the depths of the sea, throwing his head back against the wall to just breathe dramatically.
“Captain, are you serious? It could be a trick!”
“You better shut your trap Wheeler if you know what's good for you” Eddie snapped, not turning to give the kid a second thought.
“He did try’n warn us” The other kid, who Steve could assume was Sinclair now, said sounding ashamed.
Steve was just now starting to take in his surroundings as he made eye contact with the golden brown eyes of his capture, looking more gentle and endearing than ever. His hands were steady on Steve’s shoulder as he took a deep breath for Steve to follow. His first instinct was to continue following the breathing instruction from the beautiful pirate but the thought alone made Steve realize how humiliating this entire situation was.
“Get off” Steve snapped, rolling his uninjured shoulder to release Eddie’s gentle touch. Steve found he immediately missed the grounding touch
“Ah he’s back” Eddie chuckled and waved before standing as another lanky white boy appeared in the hallway. This one with sandy brown hair and an overgrown bowl cut that flipped and stuck out messily on his neck.
“Fuses are set Captain, Dustin awaits the order,” he says, eyeing the crumpled prince on the floor. “Is he worth as much as they say?” he questioned, looking to Eddie for the answer. Steve expected Eddie to snap at the question of his decision-making like he had with the Wheeler boy but he did no such thing with this softer-looking kid.
“If Dustin is right, and unfortunately for his ego, he normally is,” Eddie joked looking back at Steve like he was clueing him in on an inside joke. “Then yeah, he could set us for life” Steve scoffed at this earning the attention of all four of the guys in the small hallway.
“Something funny about that?” Eddie asked without malice and sounding surprisingly genuine. Steve smiled manically mostly to himself and rolled his head against the wall, earning a confused look from his audience, making the hallways feel cramped.
“Yeah, no, you won’t be getting a ransom for me, sorry to burst your bubble” Steve paused to chuckle and let his head fall forward, his hands still painfully tied behind his back. Even though the rope around his chest was gone now he could still feel the tightness in his chest like a ghost of his previous panic. This only made him a little lightheaded and maybe a little more loose-lipped than usual as he continued. “My dad has been itching for an excuse to get rid of me since I was born, he will agree to your terms for appearances but something will undoubtedly go wrong during the trade, and in the chaos, I will conveniently be caught in the crossfire” Steve finally looking up to see the expressions of frustration he was expecting only to be met with brown eyes of sympathy, still he continued. “My father is a clever but predictable man, he will go home with his money and the tragic story of his only son he tried to save, whether he will let you survive is beside me, but I know that he would rather have my death on his sword than to bring me back alive after this disgrace”
Steve held Eddie’s gaze searching for the satisfaction of his frustration with this new knowledge but still only found what might have been tired sympathy. So instead he let his head fall back against the wall and let the exertion from the day seep into his bones, he was so tired but the throbbing of his shoulder and rope-burned wrists were buzzing in his head.
“He has to be bluffing right?” Sinclair was the first to speak, sounding almost horrified.
“Hmm” was all Eddie’s response was, seemingly deep in thought. “Tie him back up in my quarters, give Henderson the orders for cast off and tell everyone to convene for a vote at sundown” A vote? Steve thought dizzily, what kind of ship is this captain running? before Eddie continued. “And as for you princess, we will find a use for you yet”
The words send a chill down Steve’s spine, what did that mean?
Steve woke up with a start.
The room Steve had been placed in was not small by any means but compared to others and Steve’s Captain's quarters, it was certainly on the smaller side. A large wooden bed was up against the back wall of small windows creating the center of the room with two embellished trucks lazily thrown against the far wall. The walls were sporadically adorned with maps and small pieces of parchment that had a combination of artwork, notes, and what looked like musical notes. The most prominent part of the room was the wall opposite the bed that had two large bookcases filled with leather-bound books but also a chaotic collection of jars and trinkets. Pinned between the two bookcases was a long desk that matched the rest of the wood in the room. The collection of small treasures and personal curiosities impressed Steve but not as much as the books did, there were so many that some even littered the floors. Most sailors never knew the luxury of literature, let alone pirates and it made him question what kind of person Eddie had been before his life of banishment.
The handsome Captain had officially piqued Steve’s interest.
The same two boys from before, Wheeler and Sinclair, had quickly tied his hands to the wooden leg of the desk and made a hasty exit, not before Wheeler had given him the eye saying “Don’t get any ideas” Of course Steve had immediately fallen asleep before fully taking in his surrounding like he was now. He shifted his weight slightly to paw his foot at a book only to feel his hands and most of his forearms had fallen asleep.
The door slammed open, causing Steve to jump and kick the book away, his shoulder throbbing against the quick lurch of his nerves. Maybe it was dislocated? He couldn’t tell anymore.
“Well for better or worse, we are going through with the ransom Princess,” Captain Eddie said, sauntering over to the desk, not bothering to look at the tense form tied to the leg of it.
“Would you stop calling me that?” Steve replied, groaning to try and sit up more and regretting it the second the pins and needles came back into his hands. Eddie still didn’t bother looking at him, seemingly lost in thought. He shrugged off the long black coat, throwing it onto the velvety desk chair before removing his large hat with his embellished slender fingers. The action was not inherently sexual but felt provocative, sending a twist into Steve’s stomach that he swallowed down slowly. Steve had never allowed himself to indulge in the fantasy of being with anyone but a woman his family hand-picked and still Eddie was the definition of enticing as he slump into the chair, removing his red bandana in an exhausting run at his hair, releasing the unruly thistle of bangs onto his forehead. He looked so much softer like this.
Eddie finally turned to look down at Steve, making him turn away blushing profusely at his own open staring. Steve just pretends to wiggle his hands and fingers like he had been trying to get the feeling back into them and not gawking at the royal courts' number one enemy.
“Stop fidgeting, it will only make it worse,” The older man said to Steve’s surprise, not commenting on his obvious blush
“My hands are numb, I think your boy’s dislocated my shoulder” Steve snapped back, trying to hide his annoyance.
“Shit, why didn’t you say something sooner?” Eddie was up and untying Steve's hands in a heartbeat.
“Sorry, should I have said something during my embarrassing meltdown or when I was stranded alone for however long it’s been?” he replied letting his words drip with sarcasm
“Ha, he has jokes too” was all Eddie said before moving back to let Steve pull his hands forward to inspect the bruising but was stopped by a hiss from his mouth. “Shit- my shoulder is definitely dislocated” he grimaced through the pain trying to work through the throb to grab at his arm and try to lift it back into his socket.
“Whoa whoa what are you doing?” the older man crowded back in front of Steve to grab at his opposite shoulder. “If you put it in the wrong you could lose your arm darling, let me” he gently grabbed onto Steve's forearm making eye contact with him for permission. Steve just rolled his eyes.
“Where do you even get all these pet names?” Steve asked, mostly annoyed with how the names always shot a jolt of humiliation up his neck. Eddie was gripping his injured arm tightly now, slowly raising it just past his hip.
“It’s a natural talent” and then he yanked Steve's arm up and pushed down at the same time to shove the shoulder back into its socket. Steve practically screamed but bit down on the noise, turning it into a pained growl in the back of his throat. It hurt his sore lungs but not as much as the pulsating relief that was radiating from his back.
“Jesus fuck” he growled and if he was mistaken Eddie shivered as he quickly moved to the other side of the room. What kind of reaction was that? Steve thought as he stood to start rolling some movement back into his legs.
“You're not going to tie me back up?” He asked, taking the moment with free hands to run his hands through his hair, it was a true disaster and he cringed at the gunk that was sticking it together.
“Where are you going to go? Over the stern?” Eddie replied, sounding matter of fact as he shuffled to a trunk and started rifling through its contents.
“Don’t tempt me” Steve mumbled mostly to himself but the older man must have heard it because he scoffed.
“What if I attack you huh?” Steve questioned, now feeling a little cocky as he put his hand on his hip. Who was this guy to see him as such a little threat? But Eddie just scoffed again “Baby, you put up a good fight today but I saw your classical training from a mile away, you have no idea how to fight without a sword to protect you, plus I’m not afraid to get a little dirty” and then he winked, Steve bristled. Of course, he wasn’t wrong but he was still strong, toned from the years of sparing, and no match to this fidgety man when it came to brute strength. But Eddie didn’t give him a chance to argue. “Here,” he threw a few fabrics in Steve’s direction which he quickly caught.
Steve eyed the white lace-up without its usual frilly attachments and some thin brown trousers with suspicion like somehow Eddie had rigged them with gunpowder. Looking at Eddie, he moved languidly back to the desk to put his head down to his studies, Steve assumed this was the most privacy he was going to get so he moved to stand next to the bed. He quickly removed his shirt, groaning a little with the pain of lifting his arm again, before replacing the shirt, opting to keep his trousers on.
“You can take the bed too” Steve was surprised once again by what the curly-haired pirate suggested.
“What about you?”
“I don’t really sleep,” Eddie said with a shrug, contorting his body to sit sideways in his chair and turn his gaze back to Steve, the movement oddly graceful. “And someone has to stand watch”
“Don’t you have like, a cabin boy for that kind of thing?” Eddie frowned at his
“I’m not going to make my crew do something I’m not willing to do myself” Steve again, was not expecting this answer. Eddie was turning out to be a lot different than he had expected and it made his blood boil. Why was he being so nice? What did he want from him? Was he manipulating him? He wanted to hate this man and he was making it really really hard.
“Why are you being so nice?” Steve finally said, watching as Eddie’s face fell with confusion.
“Excuse me?” he sounded offended.
“I mean like aren’t you supposed to be chaining me up in a cell, torturing me for information? Why are you being so nice after you literally just threatened my best friend's life?” Steve was almost shouting now. He was frustrated by his feelings for this puzzling man. And Eddie just laughed, Steve wanted to hit him.
“She may be called the PupperMaster, but those who tamed her only cut the strings of masters, no man or woman should know the bite of chains,” Eddie said plainly and although Steve understood what he meant, it felt like he was still talking in riddles.
“See that’s just it!” Steve was taking steps towards the older man and he stood in response, leaning casually against the side of the desk. “You claim you're these freedom-fighting string cutters but you took me against my will, away from the one person left in my life. What do you have to say for yourself?” Steve had crossed the room now, almost right in Eddie’s face. The shorter man didn’t even flinch, his expression was hard like he was masking his real reaction and he was doing it too well. It only made Steve want to throw something.
“Oh boo hoo, Princess doesn’t get his way one time and you throw a temper tantrum, well guess what?” Eddie sounded mad now. “Those who hold the whip deserve to feel the sting of the lash every once and a while”
Steve grabbed Eddie by the throat.
“You. Don’t. Know. Me” he growled, the audacity of this man he thought, he’s a total hypocrite! But Eddie was grinning like the Cheshire cat, pushing into Steve's grip around his esophagus.
“What a little brat you are” Eddie purred condescendingly, drawing out the syllables like it was a hobby he was fond of. Steve’s body felt on fire, finally realizing how close he was to the toned man, he could almost smell the salt on his skin. But Steve was more than tired of being flustered by the pirate and instead leaned into the older man's ear.
“We both know you could deck me if you wanted and yet you stand there letting me practically choke you, I think we know who the real brat is,” He said trying to match the condescending tone he had just heard, growling so close to his ear he if he licks his lips he would taste him. Eddie’s entire body shivered and melted the slightest bit, Steve wouldn’t have noticed the change if his hand wasn’t pressed against his skin. Eddie just took a deep breath, closing his eyes to compose himself for a second before making Steve’s anger falter.
“Look big boy,” he said, “tensions are high, I get it, but as long as you follow my rules and don’t try a suicidal escape, you will be treated like any other member of my crew, how does that sound?” Eddie paused to raise a delicate hand to the wrist that was still clutched against his throat, which was now applying almost no pressure to the older man's neck.
“But” he continued, “respect is earned”, his hand was lacing onto the soft spot of Steve’s pulse point, slowly applying pressure against a bundle of nerves Steve hadn’t even known existed.
“It is earned with hard work and trust,” Eddie was looking dangerously into Steve’s wavering stare now as he continued his speech.
“So if you want to be treated as anything other than the spoiled princess you are?” Eddie’s grasp was starting to hurt as he pinched harder into a nerve that was making Steve’s hand involuntarily release its grip. “I suggest fixing the attitude and going to sleep” Steve gasped in pain as his hand was finally forced to drop away from any further attempts of gripping Eddie again.
Steve stepped back still struck by Eddie’s casual threat and the pain in his hand but a part of him knew the pirate was right. He had lost this fight, his ego bruised and body tight with the day's hardships. Steve sighed and moved to the bed, laying down on the hard, worn mattress, not bothering to pull up the blankets around him. He didn’t look over to see Eddie allow himself to rub his face in exhaustion before slumping back into his chair. He rubbed at the back of his neck once and then smiled coyly. “See ya in your dreams Princess”
“You wish Munson”
And then he let himself fall asleep to the lapping waves and the scribble of a quill.