#Stedes banyan

[bilboyagathechickenfootedhobbit]

Working on an OFMD diptych for an anniversary present.

Stedes canvas, despite its intricacy, was a breeze.

Ed’s, on the other hand……this is the third incarnation and I’m finally happy. Maybe. I better be; the date is fast approaching.

[womans-armor-workshop]

Please join me in welcoming for his regional debut the brigand of Barbados, the cream of the Caribbean, the Gentleman Pirate!

Or my take on the famous Stede Bonnet's costume. With a corset, of course.

[threadtalk]

Though I most frequently share gowns and dresses, that doesn't mean I'm ignorant to menswear. And especially not the magic of banyans--made recently even more popular by Our Flag Means Death. I've written rather extensively on the topic, but the short story is that from the 18th century to the late Victorian period, it became highly fashionable for men to wear at-home robes of glorious design. The word banyan (or banjan, or banian) has an interesting etymology, coming to English (it is posited) from the Tamil word vanigan, meaning trader or merchant.

Which makes sense because the existence of these robes is entirely due to colonization and appropriation. Essentially, the popularity of well-to-do men wearing silks in the style of the East was all the rage, just as it was for high status women to use patterns and elements (like the pashmina) in theirs. Just another part of the sordid history of Imperialism.

What's most intriguing about banyans, I think, is how delicate and lovely they are. Menswear took a pretty stark turn in the early 18th century, away from the decadent French fashions and color schemes for daily wear. But is certainly didn't get lost from banyans.

This one is a great example, and it dates from 1830. The figured silk is older than the pattern, having been recut to this shape from old 18th century dress silk (or even potentially another garment). Those florals! That cut! The collar!

From Kerry Taylor auctions.

[darkshrimpemotions]

Wait no I'm losing it all over again when Ed is going down the stairs after dumping his leathers there's a little flash of leg. Man is so naked under that banyan.

[dimity-lawn]

[fairfowl]

ofmd costuming comment:

stede’s nightcap in the scene where Mary tries to kill him is hilarious and very old-timey 

but

dude lives in barbados, in the caribbean, with full bedclothes, blankets, and another person

he’d already be sweating his blond balls off 

[omgthatdress]

Banyan

1720s

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Banyans were extremely popular at-home menswear in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Because they were stylish for such a long period of time, it's natural that they'd change with the times. This banyan from the 1720s is most similar to what the real Stede Bonnet would have worn.

[forpiratereasons]

good morning it’s been kind of a grey quiet day on the revenge and stede is feeling a bit mopey. ed’s been watching him out of the corner of his eye all day, watching him smile a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes and drinking tea he doesn’t seem to taste. 

ed’s asked about it twice, sliding an arm around stede’s waist, kissing his cheek, hey, what’s wrong, sweet? 

but stede had only leaned into him for a moment before pulling away and saying nothing, nothing’s wrong. before making his excuses and floating away. 

it’s not like stede. stede is big, and bold, and bright, and beautiful, and looking at him now, all hemmed in, makes ed feel panicky and unsteady. makes him want to pull the world apart at the seams, to make stede be happy so he doesn’t--so it isn’t--

ed swallows. watches stede listlessly nod while lucius tries to get him to care about something in that journal, watches as he drifts back out of the conversation before it’s even over. 

it isn’t helpful, he reminds himself, to take one low mood and extrapolate an abandonment. he’s putting words in stede’s mouth and actions in stede’s hands that he knows, he knows, stede would never again say or do. 

stede needs him, not his fear. 

all right. all right. 

ed knows what it’s like to have a low mood, and he knows what it’s like to be pigeonholed into just one thing when he’s overwhelmed with feeling like another. he definitely knows what it’s like to have a low mood he can’t explain, what it’s like to dip for no reason, or for reasons too tiny and varied to say why it’s all built up into something that just knocks him right down. 

and stede is down, so ed will wait with him until he’s ready to stand back up. 

he gives buttons and oluwande instructions to keep to a steady, calm course. he asks roach to do something easy and smallish for lunch. he asks lucius if there’s anything that absolutely can’t wait until tomorrow, and the two things lucius points out, he takes care of himself. he asks wee john and frenchie if they’d be so kind as to bring stede’s sofa up to the poop deck, where they can be outside but still a little secluded, and pete volunteers to distract stede down in the jam room until they finish setting everything up. 

then ed leads stede up to the deck and sits him where they can look aft, out over the sea, wraps him in a banyan, and lets stede be quiet for a while. 

eventually, when the sun starts to set, stede looks up from where he’s slumped into ed’s side. they’ve been quiet for hours, but stede now says, thank you. 

are you all right? ed asks. 

yes, stede says, and he sounds sure. yes, it’s just--one of those days, i suppose. getting too much in my head. 

ed knows those days. his heart aches to see stede go through them too. better now? did you sort through what you needed to sort through? 

stede nods. reaches up to press a kiss to ed’s jaw before settling back against him. all sorted. 

ed doesn’t ask. stede will tell him if he wants to. if he needs to. for now, ed wraps an arm over his shoulders and holds him close, and believes in him. 

roach brings dinner up eventually. finger foods, soft things that are easy to eat. rare at sea, but ed’s stopped trying to figure out how roach manages it. wee john and frenchie light the lamps. further down the deck, they can just hear lucius start to read the bedtime story. 

he doesn’t get the voices right, ed mutters into stede’s hair. 

and it’s worth it, it’s all worth it, when stede turns his face into ed’s neck and laughs. 

[saltpepperbeard]

Rated T | 4k | Complete He wrapped his banyan of choice a bit tighter around his body, almost as if he stood in some sort of cozy defiance. He would not be bothered. He would not be shaken. He would continue to glow as he had for months upon precious months. …But fuck, should he have known: nature was never a beast to be messed with. It was to be appreciated, and respected, but never, ever messed with. Fucking nature. Because it decided to be defiant right back. It decided to punch back even harder. A storm bears down on Ed and Stede's inn, and Ed is taken back to far less peaceful times. Thankfully, Stede is there to help slice through the terrible clouds.

Read on AO3 Here

[stargirl-and-potts]

I would love to see an analysis of the wardrobe colors this season. I thought we might see a return of the passionate velvet pink of the bird banyan, or the courage of the gold battle jacket banyan, but we didn’t. What we did see fascinated me: Ed spends half of the season in black and half in the palest range of shades.

What I’ve noticed so far is how Stede starts in his pale “new beginnings” poet shirt (increasingly grimy), adds a tattered little hopeful red fine-things cravat, gets put in Zheng’s (calm? authoritative?) blue, shifts to a wildly-in-love romantic red, and finally chooses a sea-dark (slate blue?) poetic pirate shirt, as he settles into his new peace of mind. Stede’s captain shirt isn’t black — not like when they switched clothes when he was wishing to be Blackbeard. It’s dark, though, while very Stede.

Meanwhile Ed. I was waiting for it, but we don’t see him actually wear his new-love purple again. But this guy, the “find out what makes Ed happy” guy, the unguarded cleanshaven fresh start guy:

And this guy, the penitent:

Are wearing the same new-beginnings act-of-grace color.

Then Ed tries out his armor again:

But it lasts only a day. He takes it off to be intimate with Stede. Then we see the only return of new-love purple via fireworks. Purple explodes over them both, along with courageous battle-jacket gold.

The morning after Ed puts on his first new color. He covered himself in Stede’s gold courage and pink passion for comfort, before; now he wraps himself in Stede’s rich velvet blue banyan to throw out his armor. Is blue the color of calm? Of peace? Is he sheltering himself in Stede’s new steadiness? Or is it the color of authority and he’s comforting himself with Stede’s protection as he gets rid of his?

(gif by @scruffyobiwan)

To go out, he puts on another fresh-start poet shirt, newly mended at the neck (Stede’s? His?):

And then over that he adds Buttons’ star shirt. That shirt has to be proof that not too long ago Ed watched him fly away, that one of them got free, that people can change:

It’s either the palest gray or a soft blue, almost as bright as the new-beginnings shirts. He’s not in Stede’s overly selfconscious “gentleman pirate” white — not the strict opposite of his pure black Blackbeard armor:

but he still could not be more of a contrast to Izzy’s proper pirate black:

And of course, finally, he wears this when Izzy tells him to let their Blackbeard die, and be Ed:

The shirt is almost identical in styling to Izzy’s, but it’s the palest cream, the color as bright and unarmored as it can get. There Ed accepts that he has been given his act of grace and freed again from being Blackbeard. That he’s loved. That he gets as many fresh starts as he wants.

(I’d also love to see an analysis of Ed putting the armor back on to watch the wedding and then go to shore. Is it because he’s accepted that part of himself? Is allowing himself to be Stede’s protector as well as lover? Will he wear it much ashore?)

Bonus Stede, believing at last that he’s really allowed the grace of a fresh start, putting back on his “new beginnings” shirt to go in search of happiness:

[selene-and-the-cold]

So, my incredible binge journey of OF/MD is over and I consider myself officially obsessed and hereby offer my first humble contribution to what is the very soft and very squee-worthy OF/MD snz-fic community.

This is really just a drabble and a first attempt of mine to get into the swing of things. Haven't done ANY fanfic writing in ages and never for these guys, so don't known if I matched the tone, but I humbly offer a short snipped of shy and awkward Ed and Stede cuddles blatantly inspired by that pillow-fort scene, but re-imagined into something soft, not the heartbreak-hell it is in the series.

Mostly awkwardness and fluff with a bit of snz.

There was a knock on the cabin door, but Ed chose to ignore it.

Another knock

“Go away!” Edward yelled. To his dismay, it sounded rather whiny. Thank God Izzy hadn't heard.

Silence.

Then the soft turn of the doorknob. For fuck's sake, why would anyone care to knock in the first place if they just decided to barge in anyway?!

“Ed?” Stede's voice drifted into the room. Soft and tentative. “Where... where are you?”

Stede stood in the room, looking about. Edward was no where to be found, neither at the desk, nor in bed or on the couch.

“I'b here... in the blanket fortress...”

“The..?” Following the lead of Edward's voice, Stede looked around to find a construct of throws and pillows behind a curtain to his library. He smiled, then pushed the curtain aside.

“Blue pillow's the entrance door... snfff” Edward hated how pathetic his voice sounded and he would have killed anyone who'd dare to intrude into his private affairs like this. Except Stede. It was kind of Stede's thing to intrude into his affairs and Ed had come to accept it. Come to like it even.

The blue pillow was moved away with a soft whoosh that revealed Stede's face and blond locks. His coiffure was adorably tousled and askew.

“May I come in?”

Ed shrugged. “Why ndot... if you like...”

“Of course I would!,” Stede enthused, his trademark-boyish grin lighting up his face.

Stede struggled to get in, trying it feet first, then thinking better of it and crawling in on his belly, head first, carefully dragging his feet in after himself until he was awkwardly half-lying, half-crouching next to Ed.

Edward himself was resting on a nest of pillows and throws. Upon closer inspection, Stede also spotted one of his silken banyans in the mix. The one with the floral pattern that suited Ed so well.

“It's nice in here.. Comfortable, solid pillow fort...,” Stede commented, looking around with an appreciative gaze, his face doused in the flickering light of the candle.

“... and umm.. may I ask why you built this, Edward?”

Ed gave a soupy sniffle that sounded incredibly wet and thick.

“Dunno... just.. felt like I ndeeded some space for mby-... hehhh... snnnf... mbyself.”

Firm knuckles hastily came up to squash a quivering nose. Now that Stede got a closer look, he saw the shadows that haunted Edward's face, clouding the fire in his eyes to a dull, blary gaze.

“I like it. It's like your own private cave aboard the ship. A true pirate's cave.” Another appreciative nod from Stede before an uncomfortably long pause set in, filled with Ed's involuntary sniffles and Stede's unspoken thoughts.

“We umm... we missed you at dinner,” Stede finally said, shooting Edward a meaningful glance. “You know, the crew and I....”

“Wasn't hungry.” Another deep sniffle, then the rustling of fabric as Edward pulled the blanket tighter around himself, avoiding Stede's gaze.

“Mmhmm... I see. And does this sudden loss of appetite perhaps have something to do with that raging storm we encountered a few days ago. You know, the one where you got drenched to the very bone.”

Stede had noticed that Edward had become more and more quiet over he past few days. He had even passed on a possible raid and had willingly left most of their co-captain duties to Stede – much to Izzy's dismay.

Then last night, Edward had kept tossing and turning in his sleep, the quiet of the night disturbed by stray, irritated coughs, and a few muffled sneezes. Stede could tell that Edward was unwell, but he seemed reluctant to talk about it.

Ed avoided his gaze, finding a sudden interest in one of the blanket's red tassels.

“Perhaps...”

Stede hummed sympathetically, then brought a hand up to Ed's hair, his fingers gently raking through the soft locks. Edward sighed, then relaxed back into his pillows, eyes closing as Stede's gentle touch travelled from his hair to his cheek, cool fingertips brushing over a feverish blush.

“How about I bring you a cup of tea into your pirate's cave?,” Stede suggested, his legs already shifting in preparation for him to wiggle out of the fort.

Suddenly, he felt the grip of a hand around his wrist, Ed's glassy wide eyes searching his.

“Ndo, don't go. I... I.. Hihh-ESSSHhhU!”

The sneeze shuddered through Ed's entire body, locks of hair falling into his face.

“Bless you, Edward!”

“Sniff... Thank you!” Surprised by his own sudden outburst, Ed snatched back his hand, letting go of Stede. “Sorry, I did ndot mbean to grab you like that.”

“It's fine,” Stede reassured him, awkwardly scooting closer. “Is there, perhaps by any chance some room for me under this blanket?”

“I think so,” Ed huffed, but his eyes were soft and warm as he moved his body so Stede could slip under the blanket next to him. They lay awkwardly next to each other for a few moments, Stede glancing over with a nervous smile, before Ed decided to fuck it all and just snuggled up to Stede, resting his head on the smooth fabric of Stede's waistcoat. Stede's arm immediately wrapped around him, and he felt the blond man kiss the top of his hair with such fondness that is made him smile.

“I could tell you a story while we rest,” Stede suggested, stroking the waves of Ed's hair as he pirate sniffled into his waistcoat.

“Ok,” Ed agreed with another pathetic sniffle, his head resting heavily on Stede's chest, eyes drooping close. “But only if you do the voices!”

[wisteria-lodge]

I know it’s very silly to talk about historical inaccuracy in ‘Our Flag Means Death’ (and related fanworks.) But I have been reading some fic, and here’s my little PSA anyway - 

1.  Izzy Hands almost always joins his first crew at 12, which is treated as shocking/tragic/far too young. But that’s just a normal age to start as a cabin boy. Like, on the younger side sure, but not in a unusual/remarkable way. If you want to make him start work tragically young, push that back to like 8.

2. Stede Bonnet likes to wear wrapping gowns, not dressing gowns (which are heavier and more quilted) or banyan gowns (which are more structured and tailored.) 

3. “Smallclothes” is a historical term that shows up in like, Dickens, but it means more “bottom layer” and less “panties.” Dickens will do things like have the lawyer Mr. Tulkingorn receive visitors in in his smallclothes as kind of a powermove, almost a ‘hi, yeah, I didn’t bother to get dressed up to answer the door,’ kind of way. 

Because they just... didn’t wear modern undergarments in the 1700s. That long poofy white shirt was your undergarment, it covered everything, and it was the only clothing item designed to to be washed all the time. So, yeah. The characters just aren’t wearing underwear. 

As far as I know, using the word “smallclothes” to refer to underwear is a George R.R. Martin invention. And I’ve got beef with that man about his lack of research re. pseudo medieval underwear. These descriptions of “he pushed aside her smallclothes.” Like come on man. She’s not wearing anything under those huge skirts. 

4. Izzy hands doesn’t wear fall-front buttoned pants like Ed and Stede. He has laces, because he’s just like that I guess. 

[threadtalk]

In another life, I wore banyans every day. What's a banyan? Well, the gorgeous dressing gown you're looking at is a very early example of one, dating from the early 1700s.

Banyans were popular among men in Europe, and the brighter the better. If you're watched Our Flag Means Death, you'll see how Stede really leaned into the trend. Banyans remained popular until they morphed into dressing gowns we're more familiar with today.

The design was based off of similar garments from India, and indeed are an example of immediate appropriation (read up on the British East India Company to get a sample of that) garments and designs.

This gorgeous example of a banyan is made of cotton and is similar to chintz in a lot of ways. In this case it's described as mordant painted and resist dyed rather than block printing, but they're very similar. Given the description from the museum, it appears the fabric was made in India and then assembled in the Netherlands.

Absolutely stunning piece of extant clothing, and still so vivid! From the Royal Ontario Museum, whose entries are the stuff dreams are made of (AND SO MANY PICTURES).

[darkshrimpemotions]

Thing is, they must have shared the bed after, right? I can't imagine Stede kicking Ed out of the bed (unless it was to go for round 2 on the floor), and Ed had on one of his fancy banyans when he was sneaking around tossing his leathers and putting together breakfast so like. They fell asleep together, yeah?

[jess-the-reckless]

Sorry about your gay pirates, pirate brainrotters. If it helps, here are some free gay pirates of my own to fill your pirate-shaped hole.

I liked Our Flag Means Death. I enjoyed S1, and I’m looking forward to seeing S2, particularly as I understand that Lucius lives, and Nathan Foad might be one of the funniest human beings on the planet. I liked its silliness, its cheerful disregard for historical accuracy, and how every ship seemed to become a sort of sartorial TARDIS for Stede Bonnet’s expansive wardrobe. It was a lot of fun, but it never succeeded in burrowing all the way down into my heart the way that other things do, because the gay pirate space in my heart was already occupied.

And the gay pirates in question were mine, so obviously I’m going to love them more. You’re always going to love your own children, especially when said child is a snarling transvestite monster-baby like Jem Exley.

I don’t know when Jem first appeared in my head exactly, but I can identify the fleeting larval thought that turned into the all-consuming brainworm of Reckless. I was writing something about reef diving off the coast of Florida, and the instructor character made a mention of pirate wrecks. And I saw them. A clear flash of the pirates. One was your typical romance novel sexy pirate, and the other was a fascinating binfire of a human being, flintlocked and loaded, gnarly eighteenth century cosmetics melting off his face in the Caribbean heat. I knew immediately that they were lovers – terrible, messy, co-dependent, and borderline backstabbing lovers – and that their story would come back and bother me at a later date.

And with that I forgot about them.

Sort of.

Jem kept coming back, though. He came back in clay pipes, banyan robes, in the shoes and combs and gloves I saw at the Fashion Museum in Bath. He wandered back by way of Monteverdi, Henry Fielding, and drag queen sass, and when characters keep popping back into your head like that you know you’re pretty much doomed to write the damned book.

So I did, and I had a fucking blast. I read pirate books, listened to pirate podcasts, wallowed happily in Baroque music. As a bonus, because the book takes place so early in the eighteenth century, a lot of the seventeenth century bleeds over into it, and I love the seventeenth century. Like most interesting times, it was undoubtedly horrible to live through, but I had so much fun making sure that the scars of the Civil Wars were still visible in both Jem and Henry’s backgrounds. The lively Restoration theatre scene makes an appearance at the start of the book, and the Duke of Monmouth – one of many seventeenth-century candidates for the ultimate Fuck-Around-and-Find-Out award – is namechecked multiple times as a plot point. Beady-eyed history nerds will also spot a hostile polydactyl cat named after a loathed seventeenth-century despot, who also – happily – fucked around and very much found out. (The despot, that is. Not to spoiler, but the cat lives and thrives, and goes on to beat up iguanas in the sequel, Code Noir.)

Ultimately, though, the fun I had with this book comes down to playing around with old romance novel trope of the virgin captured by the pirate. What if the pirate captor was the virgin in this story? It wasn’t too much of a stretch, especially since so many pirates were so very, very young, and that gave me the jumping off point for the character of Henry Dyer. He’s a kid, only nineteen at the start of the story. Yes, eighteenth-century nineteen is a lot different from twenty-first-century nineteen, but biology remains the same. He’s still going to be subject to the slings and arrows of outrageous hormones, even if he’s been at sea since he was fifteen years old. And he’s confused. He doesn’t fully understand why his dick doesn’t work properly in the brothels, although he hangs around and helps the girls with their book-keeping, since he always had a good head for figures.

It takes Jem – a cross-dressing sex-worker who is quite happy to be mistaken for a woman if he thinks it might suit his latest scam – to unconfuse Henry. Once he knows what he wants, he goes for it, and what you end up with is two uncompromising weirdos finding a way to be themselves in a world that wants them dead. I get into this more in the sequel, but I wanted to emphasise that this is a horrendous time to be alive if you’re not a straight, white male with a fat bank balance, and preferably some kind of title. Aristocratic Jem ticks several of those boxes, and yet still gets sent packed onto a ship for the colonies in the hope that he will die discreetly of yellow fever somewhere. Alive, in England, he’s an embarrassment who keeps doing drag, sucking dick, and stealing everything that isn’t on fire or nailed down. And not the respectable kind of stealing, either, the kind you do with an invading army and a Union Jack. No, this is the poor people sort of theft, the kind they hang people for.

Meanwhile Henry, originally groomed for the church but too clever for his own good, arrives at the reasonable conclusion that he’d rather not believe in a God who seems to keep letting people make such a mess of things in His name. He falls into piracy like so many others, when his merchant ship gets captured by a pirate crew who make him a much better offer. And he likes it. He’s good at it. Nobody cares if he believes in God or not. He gets to work with the things he does believe in, the things he can see and feel, like the wind and the tides, and it makes him a superb sailor. It also, when he gets there, makes him a superb lover.

And that’s what it’s all about, in the end. This story may be messy, violent, crime-riddled, and full of so much vomit that I actually put a content warning for emetophobes in the front, but it’s still a love story. And if the world isn’t going to let you love who you love? Well, you’re just going to have to be gay and do crimes. Lots, and lots of crimes.

And they do. (Spoilers: they’re pirates.)

[our-death-means-flag]

Floral Scented Hugs

Ship: Stede Bonnet x Reader (ambiguous, could be romantic or platonic) Notes: You ask Stede for a hug. He goes all out.  There needs to be more Stede love out here! He’s a darling. So, I wrote out the whole scenario from the Headcanons: Hugging the Revenge Crew post. Warnings: none

“Uhhh… Captain?” You questioned softly. You couldn’t help but feel kind of anxious. All you’d done was ask Stede if he wanted a hug and he’d gone silent. “You… uh… Don’t have to… I mean… If you don’t want-”

“NO!” Stede cut off, making you both jump at the unexpected volume of the request. “I mean…. Yes, I do want a hug. Just… I need to prepare!” Stede seemed to snap out of his stupor and was immediately rushing off. He made it all the way around the corner before seemingly remembering that you’re still there and excitedly peeked his head back out of his cabin with a huge smile. “Come back to my cabin in two hours! After dinner, alright?” You nodded. Stede grinned wider somehow. “Great! Fantastic! That’s… Great!! See you soon! Toodle-loo!”

Then he fully disappeared into his cabin leaving you standing on the deck, very confused. “Okay?” You mumbled, more to yourself than anything else. “Okay.”

Two hours later you found yourself standing at the door of the captain’s cabin. You weren’t really sure how to prepare for a hug but you had changed into something softer than your usual sturdy clothes. You weren’t really nervous per se. You doubted you could mess this interaction up so badly you’d get hurt (not physically at least, that wasn’t Stede’s style) but it was very strange. Then again, having Stede as a captain had generally been really strange. He didn’t really act like any captain you’d served under or even any you’d heard about. 

You took a moment to compose yourself, then knocked on the door. Then almost jumped out of your skin when the door opened almost immediately and without any warning. Had Stede been standing just inside the door? 

“Ah! Y/N! Good to see you! Come on in!” He beamed, smiling brightly as he quickly ushered you inside. You couldn’t help but notice that he’d changed out of the bright blue suit he’d been wearing earlier into something that looked more like pajamas with a very soft looking golden banyan on top. (Admittedly you had also changed, though it had been mostly in order to save Stede’s fancy clothes from getting dirty.) Being in the captain's cabin was still odd. You felt so terribly out of place amongst all the finery.

“I made tea!” Stede explained excitedly, passing you a small but gorgeous porcelain tea cup. With Stede looking at you almost expectantly you took a quick drink and found it was actually really good. “ It’s  chamomile. Supposedly helps you relax!” He explained before quickly, going into a really unnecessarily ramble about that particular kind of tea and where he got it.

You listened politely, regardless, letting him ramble for a bit and took note of the fact that he was very rapidly drinking his own tea, downing gulps like a drunk in a bar. 

After he seemed to finish his rant, you were about to say something, but we’re very quickly interrupted when he decided to run off to his closet. At this point you were so used to Stede’s strangeness that you didn’t even blink at the fact that he had a secret closet. He emerged moments later holding armfuls of banyans and robes. “Oh! You can borrow one of these if you’d like!”

You gently set down your tea cup and looked at the fabric Stede was holding. All of it seemed incredibly soft and comfortable but also expensive. “Are you sure you don’t mind if I borrow one?” You were already gently holding onto one, a soft ocean blue one with subtle details, but you had to double check. That one article of clothing was more expensive than anything else you owned.

“Of course! You’re more than welcome to!” Stede smiled as he spoke. “I mean, I’ll admit I’m a bit of a clotheshorse and I can hardly wear them all at once!” He gently took the robe from you and draped it over your shoulders, still smiling.

Stede immediately jumped into another monologue. You couldn’t help but notice that it seemed more stilted than usual. Sure he talked a lot, but it was usually some kind of passion behind what he was saying but he seemed very nervous. It sounded oddly formal.

When he paused, you finally got the courage to say something, “Stede, are you doing alright? You seem kind of nervous. We talk things through…” you prompted. 

“… as a crew.” Stede seemed happily surprised by you using his own catch phrase against him. But he sighed, busying himself by refilling his own cup and topping yours off. “I suppose I did get  a tad carried away. I’m not quite sure myself what one does before a hug… I wouldn’t know…”

That made you stare. What? Stede, the guy who’d gotten you a care package when you joined his crew, who’d been so eager to invite you into his luxurious cabin and who (despite his lack of experience) clearly cared about his crew, had never been hugged?

He seemed to notice your surprise. “I’m aware it sounds odd. You see in the circles I’ve lived in my whole life it’s been seen as rather improper.” He sounded almost ashamed, like a part still thought it was improper. “Not that I had many friends, even if it wasn’t…”  He was breaking your heart out here. Stede took a deep breath. “ I’m sure I’ve already fumbled this. This is ridiculous. I-I’m so sorry for wasting your time.”

You were quick to jump in to comfort him. “Hey no, don’t worry you haven’t messed anything up nor have you wasted my time.” You gave him your best comforting smile. “ Besides we’re pirates, and last I checked, pirates don’t care what’s improper.” He gave you such a soft hopeful look that you had to keep talking. “Honestly, I’m kind of looking forward to whatever you have planned.”

He looked up at you with huge puppy dog eyes. “Well, then.” His voice cracked a little bit but he continued confidently anyway.  Quickly jumping to his feet and offering you his hand. “I can hardly disappoint you at this point can I?”

You smiled. “Would be rather rude to do so, yes.” You replied as he took your hand and pulled you up. He sat down on the bed and patted the mattress next to him. Stede’s bed was undoubtedly the softest thing you’d ever touched in your life and it took self control to not sink into it.

After a pause, Stede chimed in with a strained but chipper, “So! Hugs? What… erm… How does one go about that?”

You smiled. “Well, may I take the lead, Captain?”

“By all means!” Stede seemed nervous but was still smiling.

You adjusted a little then gently pulled him into your arms. He tensed, his own hands resting against your back as little as possible. You were a little caught off guard by how strong Stede’s whole body felt, with how clumsy he usually was and how many layers he normally wore, you’d never noticed. You feel him relax. After a moment or two he breathed a deep sigh of relief and just melted into your arms, holding onto you tighter, not enough to be uncomfortable.. You realize that you’ve been running your hand up and down Stede’s back the whole time. You consider stopping but he hasn’t said anything about it so you don’t. 

“This…” Stede mumbles into your shoulder and if he wasn’t so close you definitely wouldn’t have heard it. “This is very nice.” He hummed in contentment, rubbing his face against your shoulder. 

After a nice long hug he pulls away. He’s smiling and his hair is a bit messy. It actually looks really cute on him. “Thank you!” He pats you twice on the back, probably a bit harder than he meant to, considering that you stumble a tad and almost fall in his lap. “Eek! Sorry!” He apologizes immediately, clearly looking concerned. 

You laughed a little. “Of course, happy to help, captain!”

“Stede, call me Stede.” He said quickly, eyes widening as he said it. 

You smiled. “Well then, thanks for all this,” You motioned at the banyan and the cabin in general. “Thanks for the lovely hug, Stede.”

He beamed wider than you’d ever seen. “Of course! I’m glad I didn’t mess it up.” He was almost sheepish.

“I’m no hug expert, in fact I doubt that exists, but I can say that it was a very good one.” You complimented. Stede puffed his chest out a little, clearly proud of himself. “Just say the word if you’d like to do this again.”

“Of course! Have a lovely night, Y/N!” You nodded and stood, already slipping the banyan off. “No, no.” Stede fussed standing alongside you and gently moving the fabric back in place. You raised a brow. “Keep it.”

You stared, stunned, as you toyed with the end of one of the sleeves. It was incredibly soft and comfortable. “I… Are you sure?” You could tell that just this one garment was worth more than everything else you owned combined. It was shocking enough that he let you borrow it but now he was letting you keep it?

“Yes, of course! It suits you incredibly well.” Stede patted you on the shoulder. “I insist!” His voice wasn’t commanding but you could tell that he wasn't going to take no for an answer. It was a very nice banyan.

You smiled. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” You made your way across the captain’s cabin, clutching your new banyan to yourself tightly. “Good night, cap- erm… Good night, Stede.” You fumbled, all your instincts telling you to call him captain. 

Despite that, Stede didn’t seem annoyed. He simply waved. “See you tomorrow.” 

“Of course! See you tomorrow.” You closed the door to the cabin carefully, not wanting to make too much noise and risk waking anyone. Luckily the crew was all asleep already so you wouldn’t have to explain why you were wearing the captain’s clothes sneaking out of the captain’s cabin after dark. The jokes that Lucius would make… But you could see him, fast asleep against Black Pete’s side. The only one awake was Buttons, who gave you a nod of acknowledgement which you returned (while keeping your gaze averted), and you doubted he’d care.

You made your way back to your cabin. You hadn’t expected to have your own cabin but the ship was huge and Stede was Stede so you ended up with one. It was definitely nice to have your own space. You gently took the banyan off and folded it nicely (even rubbing the spot on your desk where you were planning on placing it down as if to clean it). Sleepily, you changed into your sleepwear and almost collapsed when your attention was pulled back to the soft fabric on your desk. Before you could talk yourself out of it, you grabbed it and put it on before climbing into bed.

As you got comfortable, you realized that everything smelled nice. Like a soft but not overpowering floral smell. You confirmed your suspicions when you sniffed the banyan. It smelled like flowers.

You smiled and fell asleep surrounded by the smell.