Do You Believe in Magic?

Chapter 8 - See Shells

It was still the middle of the day as Stede and Ed laid sprawled out on the bed in the tiny inn over a busy street.

"Part of me wondered if doing that might have popped us back into the right place," mused Stede.

"Oh..." Ed grinned a little. "Wouldn't we have felt foolish if that had been the case? If we'd just fucked sooner, this could have been all overwith?"

Stede chuckled and ruffled the other man's hair gently. After a quiet moment, he said, "One day I'd like you to tell me the story of these. If there's anything to tell." He flexed his bicep and turned his hand over to examine the tattoos.

Ed shifted up and ran his fingers over the ink. "Some do, yeah. Some of them, the only story was that I was drunk and there was someone who could do it."

Stede grinned and stretched out. "I look forward to both kinds of stories." A beat, then, "We should probably get up," he whispered.

"Probably," said Ed. Then he shifted a bit closer. "You know..." he began, after a moment, "...if the mushroom doesn't work, it wouldn't be such a bad thing to be you. But..." he looked up at the other man. "I wouldn't want you to be stuck as me. Having the curse of Blackbeard around you is a terrible thing."

"The curse of Stede Bonnet is a thing, too," Stede rumbled with his borrowed voice. "There's a lot of..." he hesitated, "...baggage. Maybe not a reputation that stretches across the Carribbean, but it's not like mine is an uncomplicated life."

"S'pose not."

Both men were quiet for a moment, just enjoying the feel of being in each others' company. Stede still hadn't fully processed the entire experience. And everything was still very jumbled up. He didn't know what were his own reactions, what was the effects of the spell, and what was inherent to Ed's body.

Ed was the one to stir first. "If Jessamine is looking for us, we don't want to keep her waiting."

"We could run away," said Stede.

Ed stopped, shirt in hand and gave Stede a questioning look.

"If we can't fix this. Start new lives."

The thought made Ed smile a little. He ducked his head a bit shyly. "You'd want to? With me?"

"I don't care where we are or what I look like, as long as we're together," said Stede.

Ed ducked his head and reached for Stede's hand. He pressed a kiss to the back of it. "I appreciate that. So much. But let's hope it doesn't come to that?"

—

"There you are."

Ed and Stede weren't dressed and on the street more than a few minutes before Frenchie found them.

"Any luck?" asked Stede.

"Jessamine has a lead, but they live back in the bush. She's on her way there now. But in the meantime, I found these." Frenchie opened his hand to reveal two bracelets made of curious iridescent shells. "They're made from shells found on Elysium. They should cut through the mental aspect of the magic. Or..." he headwobbled, "...so I was told. It's entirely possible that I was scammed. But in that case, at least they're pretty?" He winced.

Stede reached out and squeezed Frenchie's shoulder. "It's certainly worth a shot, and I'll see that you're reimbursed."

"Thanks, sir," said Frenchie.

It was then that Ed realized that Frenchie hadn't figured out what happened. He still thought that Stede was him, and that he was Stede. The man's skills of observation had sorted out that they'd been cursed but not what the curse was. Which would explain why he was acting like Blackbeard was being kind and caring, and not Stede, for whom that practice was ordinary.