Chapter Text
The island was magical, unlike anything Stede had ever seen in his life. Small images on the worn hide of the map were similar to the flora and fauna itself, but nothing quite did it justice.
From the moment he had laid eyes on this place, he knew they must not be in Kansas anymore. Heh, see what I did there? he thought to himself.
In the nighttime, with the glow of the moon illuminating down on it, the island glowed bright and colorful, almost like it was all covered in a layer of bioluminescent paint. Or like one of the many dance clubs Lucius had taken him to in his ‘putting himself out there’ phase after coming out, bright and colorful lights strobing and flashing with black lights to make outfits and the whites of people’s eyes glow in the darkness. Though, the island hadn’t been strobing, more of a pulsating glow that wasn’t noticeable unless you sat there watching it through binoculars all night, not that he would have any personal experience as to what that might be like.
Giant trees had risen up into the sky, wrapping their limbs around the clouds in a hug, surrounded by other trees that were much smaller, and looked nothing like the larger ones. The giant trees looked almost like mix between a mobile jellyfish and a stalked jellyfish! They had a steady pulsating opalescent glow in their stalk like trunks, as well as translucent strips of what looked like the tentacles and oral arms of a mobile jelly. After hours of staring, he hadn’t been able to tell if the leaves were multiple bundles of tentacle-like balls that rose off the various arms under the translucent dome were leaves or actual tentacles.
Part of him desired to get up close and examine every little detail of the large jellyfish like trees, yet another part of him worried that they were real jellies that fed a life source to the island or something like that. He was sure they were a main part of the root system underground, and that would be a whole different thing to explore that he didn’t quite have the technology to get to.
There were various other types of trees, a number of them looked like the trees Stede was familiar with, trunks, crotches and all, but others looked upside down. A whole lot of them were various long thin stem like trunks that wound around in different loops and patterns that had leaves and fruits growing off their strangely straight branches.
In the distance behind the trees, he’d been able to make out what appeared to be a mountain. Whether or not it was the erupting of an underwater volcano that had formed under the pressure of the tectonic plates to form an island, or it was man made was unbeknownst to Stede.
The island as a whole screamed science experiment made to see what kind of fantastical creations someone could bring to life from their over active imagination. The ocean life, and some of the reefs they’d seen off the shoreline through the clear waters, suggested that it wasn’t artificial, however. Either way, someone had to have been here before to have a potential treasure map of such a place.
Stede was no geologist (that was Oluwande’s specialty) but he was pretty sure the rocks looked relatively the same as back home. It was hard to say for sure when they all looked hard and, well, like a rock.
The grass had been relatively normal at first, green long from all the wild growth, but very thin and fine, almost like angel hair pasta. If he had to harbor a guess, he would say it looked like it was in the fine fescue family. As they’d walked the island a little more, they’d discovered a meadow filled with a luscious pink grass, blowing beautifully in the breeze; Stede had sworn to himself to go back to it later and get a better look at it.
For now, Stede was leading Ed and Lucius along a strangely man-made looking path through a dense forest area, his map in hand in hopes they might find some semblance of direction via landmark or some other strange markings on the map. He had been pointing and stopping to admire their surroundings on several occasions, hoping the other two would also appreciate the unusual sites around them as much as he was.
“FUCKING BUGS!” Ed swatted at the air, not for the first time since they set off and surely not the last.
“You know for someone who has experience in spending a lot of time outside you sure do hate the outside.” Lucius remarked snidely, his eyebrow raised.
Stede shoved some leaves out of his face, glancing down to reference the map again. Perhaps that bush over there is the same one right here. He squinted a little closer and frowned before brushing off the map, successfully wiping away the ‘bush’ on the map that was actually a piece of lettuce from his salad at lunch.
They weren’t having much success in terms of the map, and Ed seemed to be absolutely miserable. He hadn’t meant for this to be a miserable experience, and suddenly he couldn’t help but worry that if he didn’t make this better soon that Ed may never want to experience his company ever again.
“It looks like there’s a clearing a little ways ahead. Why don’t we stop there and take a quick break.” Surely he had some bug spray or something or other that was citronella in his bag.
He knew for a fact he had a citronella plant on board the boat, maybe he should’ve brought it with them. It was very useful for repelling bugs, and clearly that was something Ed needed at the moment. Clearly that deemed his plant useless, so they would just have to stick to the bug spray for now.
But for now they just needed to walk a little further to the clearing. So, Stede clutched a strap of his backpack in one hand and the map in the other and started marching with purpose, hoping the other two would get the picture.
“Should just turn around and head back to the camp.” Ed grumbled, It was immediately followed by an ‘oof.’
No matter, though.
He stepped around some more leaves, and some vines? They looked like vines, but were rather opalescent and shaped not unlike tentacles.
With a quick pause, he took note that the small protrusions on the vines appeared to be a fruit, clinging partially inside the vine, likely for protection.
“This is incredible! Lucius, are you getting this?” He called, not waiting for an answer.
It certainly couldn’t hurt to pick on and take it back to study further he thought to himself. It took some finagling, but he managed to pry two fingers between the fruit and the suction-y grasp of the gelatinous textured vine. Slowly he circled his fingers around, trying to release the seal around the fruit, and much to his delight was successful.
When he turned behind him to show Ed and Lucius his prize, he noticed them standing back where he’d left them. The two looked as though they had been mid-argument and froze when Stede looked. Lucius had a suggestive smirk that had him feeling rather unsettled, and Ed’s jaw was hanging open.
Stede could feel himself frowning, hoping Ed wasn’t hurt. “Is something wrong?”
Lucius glanced at Ed before elbowing him hard in the side, and his jaw immediately slammed shut like the lid of a treasure chest, and he stood a little straighter.
“’M all good, mate. Nothing wrong here,” Ed’s words tumbled out of his mouth, leaving Stede feeling rather unsure.
“Are you sure? If we need to turn back, we can—”
“He’s all good, Stede. Just a little overheated.” Lucius gave Ed a look that Stede couldn’t quite parse the meaning of. “Let’s just get to that clearing you mentioned.”
Right. Clearing.
“Well then. ‘Once more unto the breach, dear friends!’” Stede called out, and a few birds (at least he thought they were birds, they almost looked like snakes) quickly flew off out of the trees.
Lucius blinked at him and Ed was still looking a little stunned. Stede sighed.
This was not going at all how he had hoped. Exploring the island was supposed to be a way to spend some nice time with Ed, chatting and getting to know each other, while also looking for what their map led to, and also looking at flora and fauna in the process.
Since they’d ventured deeper into the trees, Ed had become increasingly more agitated, grumbling and complaining, and all around just in a generally bad mood. Lucius’s bitching was of no help. Combined, the two of them almost made him feel like it was one of his weeks with Alma and Louis. His two kids were constantly bickering with each other, even when they were getting along, and there was usually some reason or other to complain whenever they went somewhere.
Stede sighed to himself as he shoved the mysterious fruit in his bag before he kept walking. He could barely make out whispers behind him, and they didn’t sound very happy and friendly. Sure, they had just made land last evening, and moved all their stuff to the island today, but they could at least try to act like they were enjoying themselves.
Really, if they were going to be such downers maybe they should turn around and--
“Stede!”
He went to turn his head to see why they were shouting his name, but it was too late, his foot collided with something solid and before he knew it, he was going down. Stede squeezed his eyes shut and waited for impact as he tried to pretend he didn’t let out a rather embarrassingly girlish squeal.
It would be just like him to injure himself, or worse, make a fool of himself when he was on his first ever field mission. Stede was convinced this would go down in history as ‘The Gentleman Explorer’s’ first and last excursion. (He still wasn’t sure why Lucius said they needed to workshop the name, it sounded great.)
This was the longest fall he’d ever had, however, he hadn’t fallen in a hole towards his death before. There was a distinct lack of wind whipping around his face and in his ears, not that he had experience falling to his death, but surely that’s what a long fall would sound like. Not to mention, he could already feel himself in the cradle of death’s rather strong arms and--
He cracked an eye open before closing it again. They were rather stunning, well toned, tattoo covered arms; actually they kind of looked like Ed’s arms.
…
Wait.
Stede forced his eyes open and took in his surroundings, only to find his vision was surrounded by a curtain of the most beautiful silver curls he’d ever met. Right in the center of that curtain, was the most gorgeously bearded face and warmest brown eyes he’d ever seen, staring right back at his own.
“You alright, Stede?” Ed asked softly.
If Stede had fallen down a hole and died, he certainly wouldn’t complain if this is what death looked like.
“I think so, yes.” He wanted to wince at how small and fragile his voice managed to escape sounding from his traitor of a throat
Almost instantly, the concerned furrow of Ed’s eyebrows vanished and was replaced with those beautiful creases around the edges of his eyes that he got whenever he smiled. Stede could feel himself smiling back.
Ed’s arms shifted around him, tightening a little with his laughter, and Stede once again found himself laughing right back. Carefully he righted himself, wary of the strain Ed holding him must be putting on his knee, and placed a hand on Ed’s chest for balance. Ed’s own hands remained on his shoulders as the two of them laughed.
“You saved my life, and my dignity,” he managed through laughter.
Ed simply laughed harder and shook his head. “Couldn’t have you falling into the jaws of the tree stump and losing our fearless captain.”
“Good thing I have a fearless co-captain to make sure the crew makes it back okay if I die.” Stede grinned.
In that moment, something strange happened. Ed’s laughter started to die off, feeling a bit more forced, and his hands quickly dropped away from Stede’s shoulders like he had just been burned. His smile remained, but something about it felt less Ed and more… Well, Stede couldn’t quite place what happened to it. Perhaps it seemed more tired.
However, he began worrying that he had said something to upset Ed and quickly ran their conversation through his head again. He dropped his hand from Ed’s chest and took a step back, giving him space in case he needed it. A flicker of something flashed through his eyes and Ed also took a step back.
Stede found himself mourning the loss of closeness they’d had only moments before.
They stood there in silence now, neither making eye contact, and Stede found himself watching Ed’s feet, watching as they shifted back and forth a bit, his toe lightly kicking at the dirt.
What had he possibly said or done to make Ed suddenly want so much distance between them? He began replaying the events of moments before in his head for a second time, trying to recall if there has been anything in his body language that may have sent things sour.
Before he was able to analyze for a third time and come up with any solid solutions, Lucius broke the tension.
“Okay, well. I’m not sure what I just witnessed, but I’m going to walk the hundred feet or so more to the clearing and pretend like I don’t know you two.”
With a roll of his eyes, Lucius turned and started off.
Stede watched him go before turning back to Ed. He was just mustering up the courage to ask when--
“We should…” Ed nodded his head in Lucius’s direction, motioning his hands to indicate they should follow.
“Right. I’ll just…”
Stede reached down to pick up the map he’d dropped when he tripped over the actually rather large tree root, now that he was looking at it.
With a sigh, he dusted off the dirt from it, trying to be as delicate as he could, before turning to follow Lucius, Ed trailing behind him without a word.
----------
“Lucius, are you sure you don’t want some repellent?” Stede waved the can in his hand at Lucius before continuing to spray it all over Ed.
Once they had reached the clearing, they had all eaten some granola Stede packed in his bag and drank plenty of water. After replenishing their energy and relaxing on some strangely fluffy rocks, he had covered himself in some bug spray, pleased to note that there was a slight citronella scent to the spray. He hoped that meant there was some in it. Then, he had promptly begun covering Ed head to toe with it. Thankfully the smell wasn’t too off putting, but the residue it left behind on the skin meant both of them were likely going to want to bathe after they returned to camp.
“No thanks, I’m just fine without it.” The younger man’s face scrunched up in disgust.
“Well fine, more for Ed and myself then.” Stede paused his spraying to examine his work.
With a nod, he set his can down, noting to put it back in his bag before they kept going.
“You might want to rub it in a bit.” He advised before sitting back down and reclining against his cushion-y rock.
All tension that there had been between them after Stede’s fall had dissipated and Ed was back to being a little cheeky and playful.
“You could always help me.” That was a perfect example, and Stede felt rather conflicted.
Stede could feel his face burning when Ed winked at him, and thoughts filled his brain of him helping massage the spray into Ed’s skin until it dried. And, unfortunately, wearing his exploring hat meant that he couldn’t hide his blush with the excuse of a sunburn because the hat-protected his face, as well as the canopy of the trees.
“Oh no, it’s okay, we’ll just act like Lucius isn’t here.” Lucius grumbled, not even looking up from the journal Stede had given him for note taking.
He was beginning to think he should have brought Oluwande and Jim, Olu wouldn’t bitch at him the way Stede’s personal assistant does, and Jim was their best photographer on this journey. Why hadn’t he thought to bring them sooner? If only they had service out here, or maybe Stede should have remembered to grab some of the walkie-talkies he’d bought specifically for this.
They had been such an excellent deal, according to the man who sold them to him at the hardware store. Apparently, they were equipped with all the most advanced features you could get and had a range of a couple hundred miles.
“Lighten up, we’re just having a bit of fun! And you should really consider the insect repellent.” Stede offered Lucius a bright smile and picked up the can to wiggle it at him again.
“Please, this is torture enough, don’t add in fatherly reprimands to the list.” Lucius finally looked up from his journal and made hard eye contact with Stede.
He wanted desperately to stand his ground and hold his gaze, but instead he found himself unzipping his backpack again and examining the contents like he didn’t know what was in there.
“So what’s the plan after this, mate? It’s getting a little late in the day.” Ed had stopped rubbing in his bug spray, so Stede risked a glance over at him. “Don’t wanna be caught out here in the dark with our pants ‘round our ankles.”
Sure enough, Ed was standing there, observing some of the sky that could be seen through the trees in the distance.
Instead of answering, Stede found himself examining the fruit in his bag, and pondering whether or not the rocks were springy enough to jump on them like a trampoline. It was unlikely because even though they had more of a foam pillow quality to them, their jagged edges were still sharp and painful.
“Yes, Stede, what is the plan? Have you done enough exploring for the day?” Lucius added a flourish to whatever he was scribbling, never even looking at the page.
“Oh well I thought we might—”
“Oh my god, what the actual fuck is that?”
Lucius shot up from his spot on the ground, quickly moving to stand on his rock. Stede took note that even though the rocks looked like a cushion, they proved to be solid enough to hold shape under the weight of an adult man.
Within seconds, Stede glanced over and found Ed trying to climb one of the thin, spirally trees as fast as he could, looking at the forest floor like it was lava.
“What are you two talking about?” Stede looked around in the direction they were both eyeballing and frowned.
“You’re joking. Please tell me you’re joking.” Lucius hissed and looked like he was about to join Ed in the tree.
“I’m not joking I don’t see what you’re talking about!” He punctuated his irritation by aggressively zipping up his backpack.
“Stede, you seriously don’t see that… that thing?” The panic in Lucius’s voice was setting him on edge. “Look!”
And Stede saw it. Barely.
Just along the treeline of the clearing they were residing in, was movement. It was camouflaged against the trees, so it was no wonder Stede had missed it originally.
Walking along, minding its own business, was a giant singular pitcher plant unlike anything Stede had ever seen. The plant must have been three feet tall, and it was walking along like it was a human, no roots connecting it into the dirt or tendrils connecting it to a plant that was rooted in the ground. Just a walking pitcher. Its lid for the mouth was open while it walked, or more like waddled.
Stede found himself watching in awe as it stepped away from the treeline and came to a complete stop. He couldn’t help but wonder if this strange hybrid version of Nepenthes was carnivorous towards people or just insects and other small game meat. If it did eat humans, then surely Lucius and Ed had the right idea, get as far away as possible, even though it appeared to only be able to walk at a very slow speed.
“I think that I might like to get a closer look at it, actually.” Stede was unsure where this sudden burst of courage came from; he didn’t even know if the plant was dangerous, and confidence wasn’t always wise in the face of the unknown.
“Hey, Stede, that might not be a very good idea, mate.” Ed called from his spot up in the tree. “We don’t know what the hell that thing is.”
“Nonsense!” Stede set his bag down and slowly made his way over to it. “It looks like a Nepenthes.”
“A what?” Ed asked.
“A pitcher plant. It looks like a mega-flora, like a regular pitcher plant on steroids.” Stede held a hand out towards it, taking small, slow steps as he went. “It’s really unlike any pitcher plant I’ve ever seen! Especially considering it doesn’t even have a root system!”
“Oh boy, a giant walking plant.” He could tell by Lucius’s tone that he was frowning.
“That’s great and all, but aren’t pitcher plants carnivorous?” Ed called down.
Stede was about to answer when he was stopped dead in his tracks. A good fifteen feet between himself and the plant was a bubble slowly drifting towards him.
Really, it was quite strange. What could a bubble be doing in the middle of an island? Then again, they had seen so many strange things at this point, who was he to begin questioning the nature defying substances they’d run into on this out of place island.
The bubble was about four to five inches in diameter, and looked as such, a bubble. There was a small point, emerging from the bottom of the thin pearlescent cluster of bubbles that adorned the main, larger sphere, a proboscis of sorts. It floated slowly, seeming like it was drifting along in the barely there breeze, before landing on Stede’s outstretched hand.
Upon closer examination, he noticed a set of bright red veins flowing beneath the membrane of the bubble and branching off along the edges of it.
“OW! Dickfuck, that fucking hurt!” Ed shouted, startling Stede.
And suddenly there was a sharp pain on his hand where the bubble had landed.
“Ouch!”
Stede shook his hand violently, brushing at it with his free hand and shooing the cluster of angry bubbles away from him. It quickly flew off, or rather floated, and he quickly pulled his hand towards himself looking at it. There was a small red bump on his hand as though he had been stung by a wasp.
“Are you okay, Stedey?” When he glanced at Lucius, he looked like he was contemplating scrambling off his rock.
Ed had already jumped out of the tree and was rushing over to Stede. He quickly grabbed him, and tugged him towards the other side of the clearing, far away from the pitcher plant and the strange bubble that had just bit him.
“I’m alright, Ed are you okay?”
Stede did his best to glance over Ed and find whatever had hurt him, but was distracted by Ed holding his hand and examining it closely. His fingers were delicate over Stede’s skin and he had half a mind to turn his hand over in Ed’s own and lace their fingers together. That sounded like it would feel rather nice in comparison to the bite on his hand.
“’M okay.” Ed’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Got stung on the arm.”
Stede wanted to get a better look at Ed’s arm, examine his own ailment, but Ed had a firm grip on his hand. It wasn’t tight enough to hurt, but it was just enough to hold him in place. And Stede really wanted to hold his hand.
“Really, I’m alright. It just hurt a bit.” He huffed a bit.
Ed let out a soft laugh and nodded, giving his hand a squeeze before dropping it.
Immediately he found himself giggling as well. Truly, Ed had overreacted a bit about a simple bite, especially when Stede had a giant first aid kit in his backpack. You never know what you need to be prepared for when out in the field, so Stede was prepared for anything.
“Lucius, would you mind getting in my bag and grabbing the first aid kit?” He said through laughter.
That was odd. He hadn’t said anything funny, yet Ed was giggling too.
“No, thank you, I’m not risking getting anywhere near that thing.”
Stede glanced over at the pitcher plant Lucius was eyeing warily just in time to watch a bubble float in and the lid slammed shut.
Without hesitation, he snorted in laughter, which caused him to slap his hand over his mouth and laugh all the harder. Next to him, Ed was absolutely shaking with silent laughter, and wiping tears from his eyes.
“Did you see the way it just dropped closed with a thud?” Ed managed before laughing harder.
And yes, yes, Stede had seen that. For some odd reason, even though he wanted to study it, he found himself laughing even more, unable to control it. He felt light, lighter than he had in weeks, and he grabbed on to Ed’s shoulder in fear he might float away.
The thought was so ridiculous, he found himself laughing even more. Here he was, on a strange island, just bit by a mysterious bubble-like creature, and imagining himself being able to float just as it had. He felt like he was walking on air.
“Uh, guys?” Lucius called, his tone dripping with concern.
Both of them controlled their laughing long enough to glance over at Lucius. Stede didn’t remember being on higher terrain than where Lucius was perched on his rock, nor did he remember climbing a tree; here they were, though, looking down on Lucius who was standing firmly on his rock of safety.
Stede glanced down and saw they were no longer touching the ground and quickly threw his arms around Ed’s neck.
“Woah, hey, what the—” Ed started, but immediately cut himself off before looking down and coming to the same conclusion as Stede.
“We’re floating!” Stede cried out before busting out into laughter again.
Ed immediately joined in, wrapping an arm around Stede and using him as his only means of balance while they were in the air.
“We’re… bubbles now… too!” Ed wheezed out between his laughs.
Stede found himself laughing all the harder, burying his face in Ed’s neck as tears sprung to his eyes. Clearly they were on the same wavelength about being bit by bubbles, only to turn into them.
“What…. What even were those things?” Stede found himself letting go of Ed so he could double over and cling to his aching sides.
Ed calmed himself a bit, trying to regain some composure as he wobbled his arms in the air for balance.
“Dunno, but that little bubble bitch got instant karma.” Ed managed to stay calm long enough to say that before bursting into laughter all over again.
“That’s what you get Mr. Meany Rude Bubble!” Stede shouted in agreement, trying hard to catch his breath through his laughs.
Stede had flown in planes many times in his life, travelled all over the world while soaring thirty thousand feet in the air. Yet floating like this, slowly drifting higher into the canopy, was unlike anything he had ever felt before. His limbs felt a weightlessness unlike any other, and it was almost as though he couldn’t feel gravity holding him any longer.
He was a little bit afraid of heights, though, so he was doing his best to focus on Ed, who was now laying down in the air as though he were on a recliner. Stede almost envied his calm and shifted his weight in an attempt to try to drift closer to him once again.
“Really? Mr. Meany Rude Bubble?” Lucius called up in exasperation, and wow, they were much higher up now than before.
Looking down at Lucius, he found himself no longer laughing over some humor that was unbeknownst to him, but because he was feeling a little nervous. Ed was calm though, and Ed was cool. People liked him, so perhaps Stede should try to be more like Ed.
He shrugged his shoulders and tried to act all nonchalant, ignoring the panic he felt slowly mounting in his stomach as he started to wonder how he was going to get down. “I like it.”
“Me too, mate,” Ed grinned. Stede found his laughter bubbling back up in his chest, right alongside those nerves.
“Okay, well, I’m going to assume this is a side effect of whatever happened to you two.” Lucius paused a moment. “I’m a bit worried you’re going to float away into space, so could you guys like grab onto a tree or whatever, I don’t actually care.”
And okay. Maybe Stede had to agree that Lucius was onto something with that one. His own body felt like there was nothing there, all of it lighter than a feather. The way they had started floating felt strangely similar to watching a helium balloon you accidentally let go of drifting away into the sky. Except this time he was the balloon and the earth was slowly getting further from him.
“Alright, if it makes you feel better, Lucius.” Stede called down to the now very far away ground.
Admittedly very ungracefully, he flailed his arms in the arm like he was swimming, and much to his relief, successfully hurtled himself through the air to get closer to one of the fruit filled vines hanging from one of the many trees. As he clung to the vine, he glanced over in Ed’s direction, to find him still in a reclined position, but now with one hand gripping a tree branch.
Somehow, Ed made their current predicament feel like it was something he had done on purpose and did on a regular basis as a means of relaxing.
Stede found himself unable to look away from the way even Ed’s hair seemed to be defying gravity. It was spread out all around him, the ends curling up a bit higher than the rest, but most of his hair seemed to stay level with him. Perhaps it was the weight of his curls, though that wasn’t something that made sense to Stede if they both were floating and laws of gravity suddenly applied to only their hair.
Carefully, he risked a chance down on the ground where Lucius was looking rather miffed and holding his phone, practically a paper weight without any service, in his hand. His face was all pinched up as he stared at the screen and tried tapping it violently in an attempt to get it to do anything. Stede could only hope he was trying to call the rest of the crew for help, useless though it may be.
He was pulled out of his musings of weightlessness, Ed’s hair, and the rather disappointing lack of service they’d had since they left home by movement out of the corner of his eye. It hadn’t come from Ed’s direction so he turned his head to investigate.
Sure enough, there had been movement. Lots more movement. All around them were more of the floating bubble clusters, slowly drifting down from the tree tops towards the forest floor. Somehow it was all so familiar, like being surrounded by someone blowing soap bubbles with a bubble wand, but at the same time it was more magical than it could ever be with soap bubbles.
The light beams shining through the leaves at the top of the canopy reflected off the bubble like creatures, causing small rainbows to dance in their refracted rays.
Stede found himself immediately looking over at Ed, who had now closed his eyes and was smiling to himself. Some of the bubbles were drifting near enough to Ed that the rainbow lights danced across his skin, decorating his tattooed arms and bearded face in a collision of colors.
He was unable to look away from the beautiful sight before him.
“Hey, Stede,” Ed called, cracking an eye open. “I kind of feel like a cloud right now.”
Immediately, the two of them burst into giggles all over again. Stede had thought for sure they were past this part by now, but apparently the giggles were still in their system.
Really, it was quite an interesting thought. So far he’d considered himself in likeness with a bubble and a helium balloon, but not a cloud. Ed was onto something with that.
“What shape are you then?” He called back, feeling his cheeks hurt from how much he was smiling.
“Hmmm….I dunno. Maybe a skull.” There was a long pause of thought before he continued. “Or maybe a kitten with one of those little bell collars that jingle whenever they move so they can’t sneak up on you.”
Stede nodded thoughtfully, reaching up to scratch at the stubble he could feel growing on his cheeks. He ought to shave tonight before bed.
Somehow, Stede could see Ed being both a skull and a kitten with a bell collar. He was tough and cool looking, and absolutely gorgeous, but in all the time Stede had gotten to know him, he was really just soft. He liked comfortable things, and had quite the sweet tooth. All Ed seemed to want was just a place to be comfortable and himself, though he did have a playful, mischievous side, it was yet another part of Ed that Stede found himself so enraptured with.
“What shape of cloud would you be?” Ed asked, flipping over so he looked more like he was laying on his stomach, but floating.
He found there was no hesitation or second guessing as he answered. “I’m a dryocampa rubicunda!”
“A what now?” Ed snorted a bit, covering his mouth over another fit of giggles that had managed to force their way out.
“A rosy maple moth!” Stede placed his hands on his hips before quickly rethinking and clinging on to his vine again.
“A rosy maple moth.” Ed repeated the words to himself, smiling as he seemingly tried the words out on his tongue and swished them around in his mouth.
There was a long silence between them, and when Stede chanced a glance down at the very far away ground, Lucius had his phone out, and was grumbling about lack of phone service.
Stede looked back up at Ed, unexpectedly making eye contact with him.
“Do you think clouds ever get tired of floating?”
“I think so. That’s why they rain. Because they’re tired and looking for a way to land,” Ed mused, looking very earnest.
Stede felt like crying, just a little bit. All the laughter and giggles from before had faded, presumably a side effect of whatever had them floating, or merely a nervous reaction. Maybe, just like a cloud, if he cried, he would fall to the earth in little droplets of water.
“Ed?” Stede whispered, hoping Lucius wouldn’t be able to hear him. “Are you scared?”
“Absolutely terrified, mate.” Ed gave him a gentle smile. “I’ve no clue what’s going on, but I certainly prefer my feet firmly planted on the ground.”
For some reason, that was all the reassurance Stede needed. Ed was scared too, the calm and collected look was nothing more than a facade, and it was nice to know that he wasn’t alone.
What if they were stuck there forever?
What if they just suddenly fell back to the ground and died?
What if their hands got tired and they floated away into the stratospheric depths of the sky and froze from frigid temps while suffocating from lack of oxygen?
What if--?
“Hey.” Ed’s voice was right in front of Stede. “I’m right here. We’re in this together.”
Ed must have floated over during Stede’s panic as he was now clinging to a vine that was a couple feet away from him. Stede took that closeness and latched on to it, grounded himself if that voice that was familiar.
He felt weighed down with his anxieties now that the laughter was gone, and he could feel a heaviness in his chest.
Carefully, he tried to shift closer, but not so close as to invade Ed’s personal space. But oh how he desperately wanted to invade Ed’s space. Something about Ed made him want to talk to him, be near to him, cling to him in a way he had never felt when he had been married.
“Ed, I—”
“Hey, give that back!” Lucius shouted.
Both of them jumped as much as one could while being at least a hundred feet off the ground.
“Hey! What’s going on down there?” Ed shouted, and they both looked down at Lucius who seemed a little less far now.
“Nothing! Nothing! You guys just— I said let go!”
One look down was all Stede needed to figure out what had Lucius in a tizzy. The giant pitcher plant had waddled over to Stede’s backpack. There was a long nose like appendage coming out of its mouth with a wider more rectangular base at the end, and it was making its way toward Lucius who had the map clutched against his chest.
As the thing waddled closer, Lucius continued to walk backwards, trying his best to keep the map out of its reach.
“Just run, Lucius!” Ed advised.
“Yeah, I think I’ll do that!” He called back.
Just as Lucius turned to run, his foot caught on something. What exactly Stede wasn’t sure, but he watched in abject horror as the younger man went careening towards the ground.
In his attempt to catch himself, the map flew out of his hands and the vacuum hose tongue of the pitcher plant sucked it right up.
In the blink of an eye, the map was gone.