“ your right hand here, ” and stede takes ed’s hand in his, leading it to his shoulder, gentle as ever, “ and your left here, ” and stede takes ed’s gloved hand in his, holding their hands, clasped, out to the side. he places his own hand at ed’s waist, no more than an inch shy of what would be inappropriate, but they are friends, and they are pirates, so it only feels right.
( ed could also put both hands on stede’s shoulders, and stede could put his hands on ed’s waist, but the thought sends a flutter through his chest that he doesn’t particularly feel like falling headfirst into at the moment. )
“ now you don’t have to remember any steps for this one. you’ll just follow my lead, alright? when i step forward, you step back. remember, this is just practice. ” and there’s no one here to judge you but me, and i would never - could never find you wanting.
“ deep breath. relax. it’s just us. ” stede offers a little smile - it’s just us - and he makes a point to wait for a moment, to allow ed that breath, to hopefully calm down a little. it’s just us. nothing to worry about. maybe in a few minutes, half an hour, they’ll be enjoying themselves, laughing and smiling like usual.
“ ready? alright. ” and stede begins to move, ever so gently using his hands to nudge ed in the right direction, doing no more than taking one step at a time, directly on the beat, which, by the by, stede is counting aloud. “ one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, there you go. four, one - ”
with stede’s hand in his own, guiding the placement of his touches — soft and gentle — edward wasn’t entirely sure why the lump formed in his throat... although he could hazard a guess. brown eyes watched intently, focusing on where his hands were being positioned, and where stede decided to rest his in return. they were far closer now and — oh! — the gentleman’s hand on his waist caused the pirate’s heart to skip a beat. it was strangely intimate... scary, but it felt right.
ed nodded slightly as stede instructed him. no steps to remember, just following... edward could do that. he could let stede lead, surrender control to him. he trusted him.
❝ okay... ❞ blackbeard sighed. taking a deep breath, the kind that drew into his shoulders and filled the very depths of his lungs, ed shook away the stiffness and the tension in his body. he took that moment, closing his eyes and calming himself, letting that frustration roll out like the tide. stede was right, it was just the two of them. there was no judgement, no pressure to be good. there was no one watching. they were alone... standing close, bathed in the dim light of the moon and soft flickering of the oil lamps.
❛ ready? ❜ stede had asked, and ed only nodded in response.
as the other started to move, edward had his gaze locked downward once more, staring intently at their feet. for the first few steps he did stumble slightly, movements still a little clunky as the pirate adjusted to the pace that stede set. the counting helps, and ed found himself quietly mouthing along. slowly, he was starting to pick up the simple steps, relaxing more into the embrace.
the lines etched into his brow faded and, instead, a small smile started to tug at the corner of his lips.
