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It's the middle of the night, the moon is still high in the sky, shining its beams down on any observers, on the restful. It's anything but peaceful as the rays fall on a blood-soaked deck, wood stained by the copper-scented liquid, pouring endlessly from beauty, from love.
Pain spills so freely from a gash to his chest and neck, on his knees as he fades slowly. Gasps and pleading are heard, pleading for mercy, for peace, for healing, but it falls on deaf ears, he won't stop the pain.
Tentacles wrap around him, holding him back, keeping him away, he wants to hold him so painfully, he can feel it through every tear pouring down his face, through every muscle tensing and pulling towards him. The figure stands over his open bleeding chest with nothing but a smirk, a smile, a smile at the pain it's causing.
He breaks free, just for a moment, reaching out with a broken sob, with a whimper, but he's too far away, and he's too far gone to see him. The tentacles drag him back right as new red spills on the floor, spewing as his love, his world, his safety, spills out with it.
Slumping over on the deck as he watches in horror, in tears, watching as the life spreads out below him, soaking the boots of... It mahogany red. Watching It smile and laugh as he sobs, his heart practically slain at his feet.
There's nothing more to beg for, so It lets him go, he falls to the ground, right beside him, his face to Stede's lifeless one, and he sobs. He sobs and wails, nothing can make it stop hurting , nothing can wipe this fear away, not with Mama gone.
Shaken, so lightly, awake, he pulls away, as hard as he can, to escape It, to escape more pain, more torture.
And then he hears it, the gentle voice, the low fondness, the worry. Mama. he goes from pushing away to pulling and grabbing and emptying his hollow-full chest right there.
Mama's okay, Mama's okay, Mama's okay. he chants in his blanket strangled thoughts, head full of painfully soft things, painfully baby things.
"Mmaamaa!" He cries out, his breath catching in his throat, his voice failing him as he cries, he cries so hard, his wailing loud enough the gentle "shhhh, shhhh," from Stede Is lost to him.
Nothing is okay and everything is scary right now, he can barely feel Stede beside him, he feels like he'll float away if he looks away for even a moment.
He feels movement, strong arms around him and a gentle thud thud thud against his ear, safety. He drifts, his sobbing is still clear, but he's calming, he can hear him now, he can hear Mama.
"It's okay darling, Mama has you, you're okay now." He feels in a calming rumble against his face. Safe. Safe. Safe…
He wipes the tears from beneath Ed's watering eyes, so whisper soft, barely a brush of his thumb.
"Mama has you..." He says over Ed's whimpers and sobs, schooling his voice into the calmest he possibly can right now, he was so small... He had been woken by crying, so desperately, and a barely fighting force against him, it was heartbreaking.
A knock comes at the door, hesitant. "Come in!" He called over the hiccups as he holds Ed closer to him, closer against his heart as he shifts again to lean against the sill of their bed.
Lucius hesitantly walks in, clearly sent by others in the crew. "Uhm, Captain, is everything alright? I mean can I do anything to help?" He blurts out, shifting where he stands uncomfortably, nervous.
"We- I heard Ed crying and he hasn't stopped for a while." He finishes his half of the conversation, still, a tad awkward but less so as Stede gives him a kind smile. "I'm not sure, he woke like this and nothing I've said has calmed him much, could you make a bottle of warm milk perhaps?" Stede asks, his voice barely soothing the hiccups interrupting the silence between their words.
Lucius nods with a quick "of course," and quickly walks off, closing the door swiftly but quietly behind him.
Ed whines, tucking his head closer into Stede's chest as he pulls him up against him, his cries have mostly stopped, he tired himself out from crying, poor thing…
"I know sweetheart, I know, I'm not going anywhere, my sweet baby, my precious baby boy..." Stede whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of Ed's head, softly rubbing a hand above his heart, to let him feel he's there. To let him know 'Mama's here, Mama's not letting you go, not ever.'
Gently stroking his chest with a focused gentle weight, he holds him as he waits.
Surprisingly Lucius is very fast, so he suspects that the crew have been brainstorming amongst themselves for ways to calm Ed, even if he'd only just asked for the bottle moments ago. With a quick "thank you," he takes the bottle from Lucius, who gives a kind smile and leaves them again, and shifts yet again, moving so he can cradle Ed's head in his arm to feed him.
Receiving a whine, he leans down to press a kiss to Ed's cheek. "It's okay Dove, Mama's got you, I'm just gonna give you some nice warm milk, yeah? That'd be nice, wouldn't it Lovely?" He asks not expecting an answer, but rather to soothe with his voice.
While it's easy to get Ed to start drinking, Stede finds it hard to stay awake himself, he's exhausted. Despite this, his eyes are locked on Ed's as he gently suckles, small sniffles sounding less and less upset by the moment.
Nothing but those beautiful brown eyes of his and the pitter-patter of his heart against Stede are on his mind. Ed, his Edward, his darling...
"Mama.." Ed mumbles around the bottle, reaching a hand up to touch Stede's face with such innocence, such open admiration and trust. Gentle fingers brush past his cheek, across the lines of his face, his smile lines, as if to say 'I love you, I love you, I love you,' with each brush.
"That's right, my sweet dove, Mama has you," he whispers to Ed, sending his own 'I love you,' s back, nothing in this world matters more than this moment right now, nothing. It's just him and his dove, his baby, his precious Edward.
And slowly, Ed fades back into sleep. His eyelids waver with each blink, closing for longer and longer until they shut and the barely there suckling halts.
Setting the bottle aside and stroking away the remnants of his tears, he lays a gentle kiss to each of Ed's eyelids. As a silent 'rest well my darling, Mama loves you,' to his precious one.
It takes a bit of time and maneuvering, but he finds a good spot to lie, one where Ed can feel him and he can sleep.
With a final kiss to the crown of his darling's head, he too, drifts off into sleep, thinking of nothing but his small one.