Chapter Text
Early Summer 2002
Ed’s lab was tucked away in the front corner of the store, opposite the entryway. There was a long window that stretched from the front door all the way to his lab that let in sunlight during the day. Since the window was located up by the ceiling, there was light, but not much of a view. Sometimes he could watch the clouds roll by. Maybe, if he was lucky, an airplane would glide past, taking people somewhere far more interesting than the pharmacy Ed found himself stuck in, day in and day out. The funny thing was, if he could spend his days at his leisure, he probably wouldn’t spend a lot of time outside. But, having the choice taken from him, he longed to feel breezes and warmth and, well, really anything other than the chilly, electric hum of the fluorescent lights.
It was a Sunday evening and things were slow. Earlier he’d grabbed a stack of magazines and shuffled through them. According to Real Simple, he should have been organizing his closet by season with subsections for color and vibe. He’d put some thought into how that would pan out and realized that maybe he needed more color in his wardrobe to even begin to separate anything.
Cosmo had offered up a quiz on where to meet your perfect boyfriend, which he’d grabbed a pencil and a piece of scrap paper to take. A boyfriend could cure a little of the boredom he’d been experiencing in every aspect of his life these days. But, he’d scrunched his nose up, the quiz had the audacity to tell him he’d most likely come across his perfect boyfriend at work. He definitely needed to get out more. A few pages later there’d been an article offering up blow job advice for when you really wanted to make your man melt. He'd skimmed it, deciding he could probably offer the author more advice than they were sharing with their readers. Not that he’d had much practice lately. Cosmo had gotten tossed back on the stack.
He’d just settled in to read the cover story on the current issue of Rolling Stone when he felt the air shift. The front door whooshed open and golden hour sunlight ushered in his favorite customer, dressed in a bright pink polo shirt with its collar popped up. How a man with a popped collar had become the object of Ed’s fantasies, he’d never know, but it probably had something to do with the tight little shorts the shirt was tucked into or the legs that stretched all the way up towards a heaven Ed had never thought to believe in before meeting Stede Bonnet.
A bright smile greeted him.
“Edward! Have you heard from your mother yet?”
Stede had become a weekly fixture since he’d first appeared in early spring. He'd been bringing in nature photos, some for work, some for pleasure. They were always a lovely escape from Ed’s dreary little corner of retail hell. The man himself was pure sunshine too, lighting up Ed’s evenings with smiles and laughter.
Stede also had a penchant towards conversation. He’d been utterly delighted with meeting another Kiwi so far from their homeland and over the counter they’d discussed places and people left behind, and the lost little comforts you take for granted until you leave a place that’s a part of your soul. During the previous visit, Ed had mentioned that he hadn’t heard from his mum in a week or two and now, a week later, it was the first thing Stede brought up as he trotted up towards the lab. The thought that Stede had been thinking about him while they were apart made Ed feel like a whole host of butterflies had taken flight inside his tummy..
“Yeah mate, she’s good,” he returned with a smile. “She’s been busy prepping her winter garden. Been outside and all that.”
“Wonderful!” Stede’s eyes took on a certain glow that Ed had come to associate with any sort of plant talk. The man was a nut. “What I would do to see that! The longer I’m away, the more I find myself missing the comfort and beauty of home.”
Stede trailed off, looking upwards towards the muted late evening sun shining through the window. With a sigh and a small huff, he turned back to Ed.
“I have some film!”
“You don’t say!” Ed smiled in return. “I was hoping that you were just here because you missed me.”
“Always, Ed! My week isn’t complete without you!”
Ed’s breath stuttered at Stede’s declaration, full of wide-eyed sincerity and artless enthusiasm. He felt his ears burning and quickly turned to grab an envelope for Stede to fill out, hoping that by the time he returned to face the man, he’d look perfectly normal. Nonchalant. Cool. If Ed Teach was anything, he was definitely a very cool, normal person.
Apparently the four seconds it took to step away and back wasn’t long enough because when he looked back at Stede, there was the ghost of a smirk lingering on his face. Motherfucker! Was he being flirted with? From what Ed could tell, Stede was married. There were even kids! Cute little tiny versions of him and his wife. They all popped up in Stede’s pictures at various times, though not as often as the plants.
If this was how things were though, Ed could definitely play this game!
Reaching up to twirl a lock of curly hair around his finger, he turned on the smolder and delicately fluttered his lashes.
Stede froze.
Ed smirked back. Cosmo couldn’t teach this if they tried.
Stede licked his lips and looked down, blinking hard and taking a deep breath. The little display of photography-related impulse buys must have jogged his memory, reminding him why he was there, and he dug several rolls of film out of those skin tight shorts.
A hastily filled out envelope, a few more smiles and a wave, and Stede was off to the Mexican restaurant around the corner for a snack while he waited on Ed.
Ed settled into the rhythm that was his job, threading the three rolls of film through the developer and making sure he had everything set up for printing the photos while he waited. Several minutes passed and he found himself sitting down in front of the screen to scroll through the last week of Stede’s life.
Seeing the world through Stede Bonnet’s camera lens was as close as Ed expected he was ever going to get to experiencing what was happening inside the man’s head. The first roll was work-related, and he found a series of photos from what appeared to be the local botanical gardens, followed up by several pictures from Stede’s lab at the university. He adjusted the brightness and color values on the lab pictures so Stede wouldn’t have to look at the sickly, yellow cast fluorescent lighting left on everything it touched. The nature pictures were perfect though. He quietly sighed as he glanced back up towards the window and saw that the sunlight had mostly disappeared.
Having printed all of the first roll, he pulled the film out and hung it up on the rack beside him, grabbed the second roll and slid it into place. An explosion of color filled the screen.
Apparently one of Stede’s kids had celebrated a birthday last weekend. The girl, he thought, was the likely culprit as she was wearing a fluffy little princess dress and a sparkly little tiara. There were so many kids running around, it was chaos. On the second page of photos, there was a bounce house that looked like a primary-colored castle. Ed paused there for a moment because someone had taken pictures of Stede and the little princess birthday girl taking their shoes off and then, hand in hand, tumbling into the bounce house. Ed closed his eyes and counted to ten before scrolling to the next page of photos.
His jaw dropped. It was better than he’d imagined! Right there, on the screen, was Stede Bonnet in yet another pair of tiny shorts and with his socks pulled up to highlight his calves, jumping like he’d stepped out of Ed’s fantasies: legs akimbo, hair fluffing all over the place, and a huge laughing smile on his face.
There was no debate. None. He printed two copies of that image.
Moving onwards, he recognized Stede’s wife in the background of several photos as games played out in the foreground. She looked vaguely frustrated with the chaos, which, honestly, he could understand. This party looked like it was a lot. But it also looked like it was one of those things that would be a core memory for their kid. Flashes of color and joy that would cross their mind years later and remind them of the good ol’ days.
A man popped up a few frames later who Ed actually recognized. He was an art professor at the university and brought in pictures of his work and his students work fairly regularly. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure of his name, but he knew the face. Izzy would know who he was since he usually dropped in during the earlier shift when Izzy was working. Regardless, it seemed like the man was a friend of the family because he was holding the younger Bonnet boy and smiling in several different frames.
Reaching the end of the roll, he switched out the film again and moved to the third one where he found bright pictures of cake and presents and more games. Near the end of that roll, the birthday girl’s dress was in tatters, her crown was askew, and her eyes were glowing, looking so much like Stede’s when he found some small wonder in the outside world. Ed melted. The last photo was of the entire family, sitting on their deck as the sun set, the exhausted birthday girl sprawled over Stede’s lap while they sat in an adirondack chair. The wife and the son were cuddled up on a plush looking outdoor loveseat, everyone looking exhausted.
Ed sat and stared at the photo for a moment. As many fantasies as he may have had about this striking man, and as much fun as it was to flirt with him, the reminder that he was straight and married and had a whole family was one he needed to keep in the forefront of his mind.
Looking up at the clock, he scooped up the three different sets of prints, pulling out the one of Stede in the bounce house and sliding it into hit pocket. He might have to accept that nothing was ever going to happen between them, but those legs were a work of divine art and he wasn’t that much of a saint. He slid the others into envelopes and set about shutting the lab down for the evening.
Ten minutes later, Stede came striding back into the store with a little skip in his step and a bag in his hand.
“Hello again, Edward! Are you ready for me?”
Ed couldn’t help but melt at the return of that bright smile.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d eaten yet so I ordered an extra quesadilla for you! There’re some chips and salsa in there too.”
Stede paused and looked up at Ed with sudden wide-eyed concern on his face, “You do eat chicken, don’t you? And dairy? And flour’s ok? Was this a horrible idea?”
Stede’s face was rolling through a series of complicated emotions as he apparently imagined sending Ed into anaphylactic shock. And while Ed might be overwhelmed by the kindness of the gesture, he couldn’t allow Stede to feel like he’d done anything wrong. The man was so kind to him.
“No mate, I eat anything and everything! This is amazing. I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
“Oh, well, good! I was sitting there, thinking about you being stuck behind this counter and thought that if I were you, I’d love a little treat!”
Ed smiled shyly, “love a little treat every now and then.”
“You deserve daily little treats, Edward.”
Ed scoffed mildly at that and looked off to the side, towards the bins where Stede’s photos sat.
“Let me grab your pictures, mate.”
Handing the three envelopes over to Stede, he stepped back and continued his end of day routine while still keeping his eyes mostly on the man at his counter. Stede was shuffling through the first roll, admiring the pictures from the botanical gardens and making pleased little noises to himself over some aspect of certain plants that met with his approval. He set that roll aside. Ed knew by now that he would want to pay for those pictures separately since he could write them off as work expenses.
He opened the birthday party pictures and snorted a laugh at the chaos in front of him. Ed looked up and chuckled in return, which left Stede’s cheeks turning a delicate shade of pink.
“You heard nothing, Edward”
“Nope, nothing at all,” he grinned.
Stede looked back down at his pictures and continued flipping through the stack as Ed wandered closer and started tidying up the register.
A quiet, “What are Mary and Doug–” floated up from Stede, and when Ed looked over at him, his face was scrunched up with the bitchiest little expression. He shook his head though, and the expression dropped as he continued onwards, every now and then muttering about “Doug” or quietly laughing at his children’s merriment.
When he reached the last picture in the third roll, he paused and stared, much like Ed had done earlier in the evening.
“This was quite the day. My little girl turned nine.”
The tiny pleased smile that crossed Stede’s face was different than any he’d seen before. There was so much love written there, and Ed’s heart skipped a beat.
“Yeah? She have a good day?”
“I think so. It was a big day and Mary… Well, Mary thought I went a little overboard with the planning.” His voice took on a vaguely pained air, like this had been “a discussion” between them. He huffed a breath and straightened his spine, “But Alma needs to know she’s appreciated. Parents should be there for their children. They should let them be kids when they’re kids and let them have fun and–”
Stede stopped abruptly.
“She just deserved to celebrate being nine.”
Ed grinned at that, “You’re right. I bet she’ll remember this for the rest of her life.”
Stede looked up at Ed, directly into his eyes, “I hope so.”
Smiling again and offering a short nod of his head as the idea settled over him, Stede gathered up his three little stacks of photographs and handed Ed the envelope so he could pay.
“Thanks again,” Ed started, staring determinedly at the keypad as he typed in pricing information, “for, uh, you know, bringing me dinner.”
He flicked his eyes over to Stede whose face lit up.
“You’re so very welcome, Ed! It’s so nice to talk with someone who knows about home. Sometimes I feel like I’m drowning on solid ground with how much I miss it. And you’re just so kind. I know that sometimes you end up staying later than you should because of me. I don’t want you to think that I don’t appreciate that. I don’t want to be a bother.”
“You’re never a bother, mate. I promise.”
As Ed finished up the transaction, Stede tucked his photos under his arm and smiled at Ed. He started backing up, instead of turning to walk away, maintaining eye contact with Ed.
“I appreciate you Edward. And don’t forget to take your dinner with you when you finish up.”
“Stede–”
There was a bit of clattering and a quiet yelp as Stede backed himself into the kiosk that sat across from his counter, displaying film and disposable cameras. Ed briefly closed his eyes, grimacing.
“I’m ok!” Stede twirled around, dropping his pictures and waving his hands ineffectually at the small pile of cheap plastic cameras that had fallen to the floor, before whispering a quiet, “Fuck.”
That little whispered curse pulled Edward out from behind the counter as he jogged over to make sure Stede was ok. Reaching out, he put his hand on Stede’s shoulder, “Don’t worry about that, mate. I have to reorganize these anyway. They were a mess.”
He let his eyes drift over Stede, who’d straightened up beside him. “Are you ok?”
Red faced and slightly ruffled, Stede looked up at him. They’d never actually interacted without a counter between them. Stede was a few centimeters shorter than him. He smelled woodsy and fresh, like something citrusy mixed with cedar. His eyes… his eyes were a nebula. A few years previously he’d been flipping through a magazine and came across an article filled with pictures that the Hubble Space Telescope had taken in some distant part of the galaxy. The swirling colors and the sparkling brightness were all he could think about as Stede looked up at him. This man had an entire universe hidden away in his eyes.
Breaking eye contact, Stede dropped back down and grabbed his photos as well as a couple of the cameras from the floor. Ed gently reached out and placed a hand over his, “It’s ok. I can do this.”
The side of Stede’s mouth quirked upwards and he handed the cameras over.
“Sorry. I’ll be more careful next time.”
This time, when Stede left, he actually turned and watched where he was going, pausing at the door to offer one last smile and a wave. Ed waved back and watched Stede head out into the night.
The hum of the fluorescent lights felt overpowering as he turned back to the mess in front of him. He leaned down and started rearranging the display. It really was a mess. People never returned things to the appropriate place.
A short while later, Ed was gathering his belongings and heading towards the door. As he stepped out of the cool, air conditioned store into the humid June night, the glow of the Mexican restaurant reminded him that Stede had decided to feed him. The butterflies in his stomach took flight and he couldn’t help but laugh as he ran back inside and grabbed his dinner.