TRICK OR TREEEEEEEEAT! I gift you thoughts about Actual Kraken Ed having a little beach holiday and going for a fun swim where he can fully manifest all his tentacles and relax in the water with his loves (and or cause mischief with his super splashing abilities because you know jim would be behind splashing stede and out for blood the second he splashes them instead) šš
Ohhh heck yeah thanks buddy!!! I love this prompt SO much.
This is set in my "plumbing the depths" AU, which is Jim/Olu/Ed featuring literal kraken Ed (and background Ed/Stede).
The AU is smut, this lil snippet is not. It's T rated for non-sexual nudity. It got a little longer than intended, but that's fine!
"Oh yeah, this fucking hits the spot." Edward sighed and sunk into the cool water, letting everything but his head submerge. It was just the four of them - himself, Stede, Jim, and Oluwande - and no one cared that he'd stripped and thrown himself into the ocean before they'd even really settled down. It had been too long since he'd been swimming, and even longer since he'd been happy to let his tentacles loose. But he let them out now, unfurling into the water around him, inky and black.
There was nothing like being in the water. It made something in his heart sing, a return home that he always craved whenever he spent too long on dry land or aboard the ship. The sea was his home. In a bit he would really let his limbs stretch - head out a half mile, maybe take a little deep dive, let himself creep along the ocean floor - but for now he just wanted to relax.
It was a solid ten minutes of floating and basking in the water before anyone disturbed him. He'd been half listening to the conversations from the shore - Oluwande had found a coconut tree, and it sounded like Jim was scaling it for fruit. Stede's worried reminders not to fall made him smile, but Edward had seen them climb often enough not to worry. He kept his eyes closed, let the waves move him about. The sun was warm, the water was cold, and he was blissfully happy.
A loud splash behind him finally made Edward open his eyes and look back. Jim - just as naked as he was - was swimming towards him, wet hair plastered to their head. On the shore Oluwande was lying on a blanket, naked save for his shorts, basking in the sun. Stede, meanwhile, was wading along the shore, pants hiked up high, shirt still on. Poor man, he burned so easily.
"Hey," Jim grinned, swimming right into his space. "You good out here? 'S fucking cold as shit. Olu won't even come in."
His tentacles moved for them, twining around them easily as they curled a hand around his jaw and pressed a wet, salty kiss to his mouth. It wasn't a long kiss, but it still made him smile. "Yeah, man. I love cold water."
"Octopus," they said fondly. "Unfair. I want to just lie in the water too, but no, I get too damn cold -"
Edward grinned and reeled them back in with his tentacles, close enough that he could wind an arm around their waist, smudge a kiss to their mouth. "Guess I'll have to keep you warm then, hmm?"
He kissed Jim until they were both a little breathless. When they pulled away their eyes were bright, grin wild and free.
"Warm me up later," they panted. They looked towards the shore, and a slightly devious edge crept onto their smile. "I wanna go dunk Stede first, and I don't know how long he's going to be wading."
Edward snorted and shook his head, but unwound his tentacles from around their waist and limbs. "Good luck, mate, you're gonna need it."
"Luck is for the weak," they called - and then they were gone, sinking in until just the top of their head was visible, swimming stealthily towards an oblivious Stede.
Now, Edward had no problems about Jim dunking Stede. Hell, he would even gladly help, when they finally convinced Stede to strip and come swimming later on. But he thought it would be much, much funnier to foil Jim's plans than it would be to watch them drag Stede under water.
So Edward set off himself, even stealthier than Jim, moving with liquid grace through the water. Because unlike Jim, he didn't need to breathe underwater.
The water was clear enough that it was easy to swim behind Jim, tracking their faint splashing. They never noticed the big, black mass following them, and neither did Stede.
When Jim sank under water, clearly intent on swimming the last few meters completely submerged, arm outstretched as they reached for Stede - Edward struck. His tentacles lashed out, winding around both ankles. He stood up in the shallow water, dragging a spluttering, struggling Jim up along with him, laughing at the look on their face.
"Sorry babe." Edward grinned and hauled them into the air, tentacles growing thicker, longer, strong enough to dangle Jim by their ankles and hurl them back out into deeper waters. They flew spectacularly, screaming until they hit the water with a terrific splash, Edward's laughter ringing out over it all.
"Darling, what on earth was that for?" Stede splashed out deeper into the water, giving him an affronted look. "The water's not that deep!"
"Drops off a few feet out from here," Edward explained. He sank back into the water and winked, voice rising to a shout as he headed for where Jim was already flailing back to the surface. "I'm just defending your honour, my love! The vile pirate shall not dunk you under the waves to your gloomy death on my watch!"
Stede laughed. "So I should head back to shore, then?"
"Or just watch out for grubby hands grabbing for your ankles -"
With a loud war-scream, Jim sprung at Edward, cutting him off. Hands clung tight to his shoulders, their whole weight pressing on top of him, trying to push him underwater. It was kind of adorable - if he didn't let them, they didn't have the weight or the strength to dunk Edward either with or without his tentacles. But he still let them, sinking under, curling tentacles around Jim as he went, dragging them under with him. Holding them too him, while they struggled and thrashed and likely tried to curse even though they were under water.
And sure enough, they were cursing when Edward swam them both up to the surface, spitting water and trying to wipe wet hair out of their eyes. "Olu!! Come help me!! I'm being attacked by an octopus -"
Oluwande waved a hand from shore, barely moving. "I've heard kissing them helps!"
"You fucking traitor!" They tried to splash Edward, but he just wrapped more tentacles around them, plastering their bodies together.
Edward laughed at them, leaning in to kiss the curse out of their mouth. "Sorry babe," he said with a grin, "couldn't help it."
Jim's mouth was salty, wet, and so warm compared to the ocean. They grinned back, kissing him again. "I forgive you if you'll let me dunk Stede later."
"Deal." He winked, nodding towards where Stede was watching them, a fond smile on his face. "I'll even help."
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