#cg blackbeard

[tasteofdeathao3]

(idk if tumblr ate this ask or not?? pls feel free to ignore it if it makes you uncomfy!!) may I propose: izzy avoiding ed like the plague after he eventually accepts stede as a caregiver bc he doesn’t want ed to see him being vulnerable/weak until he has no other choice. misunderstandings & hurt/comfort ensues

I think Tumblr must've eaten this bc I didn't see it before! very sorry!

but yes! There's already a few regressors on board, and once Stede works out that Izzy is also one of those regressors, he's got his heart set on helping out Izzy.

It takes a while, and a lot of conversations with a very cranky Izzy, but eventually he lets Stede take care of him, learns to let his guard down around him and be vulnerable and weak - Stede tells him not to call it that, because 'feeling little doesn't mean you're weak, Israel, don't be mean to yourself'.

But Ed? He can't possibly see him like this. He can let Stede bathe him and change him and read to him and put him down for naps and swap out his knives for wax crayons and feed him weird yummy mush instead of his usual stale rations, but he just can't let Ed see him act so weak and scared, especially after years of being his ironfisted first mate.

Ed had taken care of him, years ago of course, but they'd just stopped one day and that was enough for Izzy. He's too old for this anyway, he can't be the ship's first mate while also being the captain's little nap-needing mush-eating baby boy. It's embarrassing, most of all, for someone as cool and smart and strong as Blackbeard to have to watch his own first mate play with bubbles in the bath.

Every time he slips around Stede, he's completely relaxed and happy until Ed comes in. The second his captain walks into the cabin he quickly flips his drawings over, pushes his crayons off the table, pulls himself to sit up properly instead of flopping and sliding all over the chair.

Ed, of course, notices every time.

Stede had told him when he first thought Izzy might regress, and he'd confirmed it, that they'd used to do that together all those years ago until Izzy had just stopped one day. Stede keeps him updated, because why wouldn't he tell his husband everything?

He wants to look after Izzy, desperately. Stede had described him as being so young, when he'd only felt like a little kid when he'd regressed around Ed all those years ago, told him in detail how cute he was when he was trying to speak around his knuckles in his mouth or with mashed fruit spread over his face.

But every time he goes near Izzy he just goes rigid, goes right from calm and relaxed to almost petrified, gets up and runs out of the room the second Stede doesn't have a hold on him.

It hurts. a lot.

He can't possibly understand why Izzy would avoid him, because now it's not just when he's small, but also when he's big, and now he doesn't know what he's done for his first mate and best friend to avoid him like the plague.

Stede tells him to just try and talk to him, but Izzy will do almost anything to stay several metres away from Ed at all times, it's completely pointless to even try talking to him at this point.

Ed, of course, is moping around everywhere because he thinks his best friend hates him and now he's bringing the whole ship down with his sad songs and laying face down in random places across the deck, but now Izzy is affected too, unable to regress fully because he's so afraid that Ed will pop out around the next corner and see him playing with Stede's yummy bubble bath or acting out stories with his carved wooden statues, and he just can't have that.

Eventually, after Ed refuses to corner big Izzy and just talk to him and Izzy starts crying every time the door to the cabin opens, Stede takes matters into his own hands.

He tucks Izzy up into his cot in his own room, since recently Izzy's been too on edge to sleep anywhere in the cabin - in the bunk, on the chaise, even in the auxiliary wardrobe - and sends Ed down to go have a chat with him.

He knocks on the door quietly and steps inside, closing and locking the door behind him, like Stede told him to, so that Izzy can't get up and run away again.

Izzy presses up against the wall of his cot, tugging the blankets up to his chin in an attempt to hide himself from Ed.

He sits down on the edge of the cot beside Izzy, wringing his hands, and begins reciting the speech Stede had help him practice.

'I don't understand why you're avoiding me', he says, voice cracking a bit, 'But I want- I want you to know that I'm not angry at you or ashamed or anything. I'm just feeling... sad. because I don't know why you don't want to be around me. I love you so much, Iz, I don't want you to leave me. I'm sorry for what I did, I don't want you to be scared of me. You're my best friend, I don't want to lose you.' By the end of it his eyes are wet, voice wobbly, and he's practically sobbing between words.

Izzy is watching him, both nervous because Ed's with him and he's small, but also because big strong cool Ed is sitting on his bed and his crying because he thinks Izzy doesn't like him anymore.

He reaches out to hold Ed's wrist and squeezes very tight, Ed turning to look at him with red eyes and quivering bottom lip.

'Sorry.' He whispers, his own eyes growing damp now. 'Love you too.' he chokes out, voice catching on a sob as he begins to cry in earnest.

'Oh, Iz,' Ed sighs, turning around to take Izzy up in a big hug.

Izzy eventually explains what he's been worried about, and even with his limited vocabulary, Ed manages to get an understanding of what's going on.

'I'll always love you,' he says, cuddling Izzy close to his chest. 'You'll always be my favourite person, my strong first mate and my smart talented best friend. I don't care, I don't care, I just want you to be happy, let me take care of you. Like we used to.'

Izzy nods, sniffling into Ed's collar bone.

'It'll be better now,' he says, kissing Izzy's hair, 'It'll be so good. Me and Stede both love you. We both need you, we both want to look after you,' he pulls Izzy away from his chest to look him in the eye, 'Will you let us?'

Izzy takes in a deep breath, letting Ed wipe his tears and snot away, and nods.

Stede finds them a good few hours later, unlocking the door with his stolen key and watching the pair sleep, cuddled up in Izzy's cot with Izzy pressed into Ed's chest and Ed wrapped up around him.

[strawberrysteeth]

Jumping on the iPad kid Izzy bandwagon because it's my favorite modern Little Izzy headcanon.

Whenever he's not watching YouTube on his iPad, he loves playing Toca Boca games.

Izzy is a Toca Boca kid change my mind.

(if you don't know what Toca Boca is, highly recommend checking it out, they have some great games)

[tasteofdeathao3]

Ed being used to being Stede's baby and Izzy's big brother but not both at the same time. When Izzy begins to regress around Stede, Ed just doesn't know how to handle it.

He's been Izzy's big brother for a long time, looked after him alone and with Stede for a while now, but it feels almost wrong to be small with Izzy while Stede is there. He just always feels selfish for making Stede care for them both on his own, because that's not fair, him and Iz can be hard work for just one person, and he loves Stede so much, he doesn't want Stede to feel bad or tired because of him!

Eventually Stede does pick up on how Ed seems to slip halfway when Izzy is small - not quite an adult but refusing to join in any games, change into comfy clothes, being careful to correct himself whenever he accidentally lisps on a word. After Izzy's put down to bed, he and Ed have a talk and discuss all the big scary feelings that make Ed feel like he can't be small when he needs to be.

Stede is very kind and pulls Ed up into his lap, smoothing over his wild hair. He explains that it isn't Ed's job to look after Izzy, especially not when Stede's around, and Stede is a big boy that can take care of other people and make his own choices, that he wants to take care of Ed and wants him to be calm and safe and happy, that Ed is also always his baby and should always feel safe to be small and tiny around him

[tasteofdeathao3]

Ficlet | Duckies

"Come, darling, hold my hand please!" Stede wiggles his fingers at the end of his outstretched arm.

Izzy takes his hand with a tight squeeze, fingers clammy and cold.

They're out on their property, a good few acres away from the house. The grass out here is much softer, much thicker, but also squishy enough that Izzy, clumsy as he is when he gets all small and soft like this, could easily trip.

The air is colder, settling into the cooler months, and Izzy's cheeks show a rosy red flush from underneath the scarves and beanie and earmuffs that Stede had wrangled on him on the drive over. The thick wooden sweaters layered on him seem to prove against the rattle of the cold air, his oversized bottle-green coat shielding him far better than Ed's worn leather, which he's trying to hide his shivers behind.

They walk, slower for Izzy, across the patchwork swathes of grass that cover the huge arching hills all around them. The grass thickens into patches of weeds and plants that dance in the wind with a sort of fluff sprouted out the top of each stem. Izzy reaches out to grab it a multitude of times, and eventually Ed swoops in from beside and takes his other hand, dug out from the warmth of his cotton lined pockets, to keep him from tracking any back into the car or the house.

Tucked back behind the sweeping masses of yellow budded weeds, the rounded edge of a still pond sits untouched, smooth enough to show the sky in a glazed reflection.

"Baba was out here, and he found something he wanted to show you, Angel boy."

Izzy pouts up at Stede as they pad through the soft patches of grass. He's still not a fan of his sweet and sugary nicknames, even now.

He turns to Ed. "Why were you out here? 'S cold."

Ed nods. "For sure, it's cold. I came out here for a walk. I wasn't feeling very good and thought a walk might help me."

Izzy's face twists up in a mixture of confusion and mild disgust that makes Ed giggle. "Walking doesn't make me feel better," he says, looking back down at where his gumboots kick at the camp clumps of grass in front of him.

Ed huffs a small laugh. "No, no, I know you don't like walking, I'm not gonna make you go on a walk."

Izzy nods, punctuating Ed's sentence with a petulant hum.

"What we're actually here for," Ed says, swinging his and Izzy's clasped hands, "Is so that I can show you something I found out here."

Izzy's head falls to the side in an open show of confusion. "Like... a scavenger hunt?"

"No, bug," Ed laughs, inky hair cutting through the icy wind, "I don't think so."

Izzy nods, seemingly satisfied, and keeps quiet.

"Stede, did you...?"

"Oh! Yes,"

Stede rummages around in his back pocket and produces a tightly packed paper bag, rounded at its stuffed edges.

Before Izzy can even really look at the damn bag, let alone decipher what might be inside, Ed it already tapping at his cheek, trying to garner his attention.

"Come here, follow me," he says, taking both of Izzy's hands and leading him down closer toward the fraying edge of the meeting grass and water. Ed crouches the closer he gets to the pond, and so Izzy does the same, crouching down so that he has to walk funny to keep up with Ed.

"Look, look, look," Ed splays out his pointed finger, close to Izzy's eye-line so that he can also follow in the same direction. "Down in the reeds, Iz, can you see it?"

Izzy squints his eyes, peering closer at where the tall stalks of reefs cluster around the edge of the pond.

Ed looks up to Stede, excited grin obscured by a bitten lip, and is met with an equally excited smile as Stede's dart between Izzy, Ed, and the base of the reeds.

Izzy's focused gaze turns sullen, wide sad eyes peeking up at Ed over a little pout. "I don't see anything." He whispers. The deepening curve of his frown paired with the obvious note of the lump in his throat made Ed's heart twinge.

"Nah, keep looking, bub, look over there!"

Izzy tries looking again, though not without an indignant little huff, and grumbles in the back of his throat.

"Baba I don't-" his whining is cut off by a little gasp.

Ed grins "See?"

"Baba, Baba, look!" Izzy squeals, flapping his pointed finger over towards the reeds.

"I know, I know!" He stage whispers, wrapping one arm over Izzy's shoulder and the other taking his waving hand and holding it still against Izzy's tummy. "Shhhh, baby, we gotta be quiet."

Izzy nods, mouth hung open in unadulterated glee, and Ed listens to his rushed breath with an ever growing grin.

Across the sleek edge of the pond, tiny ripples begin to break the surface of the water. Between the tall dark stalks of reed comes a flurry of yellow. a gaggle of little ducklings paddle out into the water, dipping their heads down into the water and shaking it off their beaks with quick twitching movements.

Six or seven slip out from between the browning stalks, some purely yellow and others spattered with greying feathers. Behind them follows a white duck, spotted grey feathers spread down across its back and tail.

"Baba!" Izzy whispers, hand fisted in the front of Ed's shirt and knees splayed out in the wet mud. "Duckies."

"I know!" Ed giggles. He appears almost more excited about the ducklings than Izzy.

Ed glances up to Stede, out of Izzy's view, and gestures quietly.

"Oh! Yes!"

Stede timidly steps over, much more careful of the mud and dew than either Ed or Izzy, and crouches down on Izzy's other side.

"Do you know what this is, pumpkin?" He asks, holding open the little paper bag for Izzy to peer down inside.

"Pellets." Izzy mumbles around the finger in his mouth.

"For?"

"Duckies."

"Good job!" Stede gives Izzy's cheek a fluttering kiss. "Can you hold out your hands for me? Together, please,"

Stede pours a good portion of pellets into Izzy's cupped hands, folds the bag and puts it away. If all goes well, they might be able to come back again.

"Here, bub," Ed murmurs, taking a small pinch of pellets and throwing it out over the glassy surface of the pond.

Before Izzy can even begin to complain about Ed stealing his duck food, the ducklings one by one begin to flock to the trail of floating pellets, swimming closer and closer as they chase crumb after crumb.

"Here, here, baby, hold our your hands," Ed grasps onto Izzy's wrist and gently helps him lean forward. Stede hooks his hand in the hood of Izzy's coat and holds on tight, if only to stop him from plummeting face first into an icy pond.

Izzy's cupped hands are thrust out over the water, lowered down slowly for the gathering flock of chirping ducklings to curl around the edges of his palms.

The soft overlapping chirps of the little ducklings is like white noise, filling up the empty air around them as Izzy smiles and squeaks under his breath. He looks up over to Ed every few moments, searching for reassurance and finding it in Ed's resounding returned smile.

Izzy hums under his breath - almost an excited squeal with the pitch it's at - when the mother chitters and takes her own turn at the food piled in his hands, soon dwindling.

"Mama duck..." Izzy hums, craning his neck to view more of the spotted white duck.

"Yeah, that's the mummy duck," Ed whispers, tucking a stray lick of hair behind Izzy's ear.

"Look, precious," Stede murmurs, pointing back over to the reeds where a dark duck floats idly, "That's the daddy duck."

"Why's he over there?" Izzy chirps, gaze trained religiously on the ducklings around his hands.

"He's watching over his family," Stede explains, hand tracing over the edge of Izzy's shoulder. "He's making sure they're nice and safe."

"We're not gonna hurt them." Izzy states, like it were fact, which they suppose it is, as Izzy is too timid to hurt a fly let alone one of these little ducklings.

"No, we're not," Ed says, petting Izzy's shoulder, "But he's watching just in case. Daddy has to protect his baby duckies, doesn't he?"

Izzy nods firmly.

"Can we... can we feed the daddy?"

"Sure, kid, do you want to do it or do you want me to do it?"

Izzy inspects the twittering ducklings eating out of his hands, brows furrowed. "Um..." he looks between the ducklings and the dark brown duck across the way, "Can you?"

"Sure thing, bub," Ed nicks a small handful of feed from Izzy's hand and tosses it across the water. The dark duck paddles forward and dips down to scoop the feed up in it's bill.

"Does he feel better now?"

"Yeah, I think so," Ed says, knocking his forehead against Izzy's, "It would be hard work protecting all those babies, but now he's got a nice treat."

"Uh huh."

"Are your hands all empty?"

Izzy frowns as a few of the little ducklings float back away from his cupped hands.

"Oh," he pouts, "I think so."

Ed pats his back. "That's okay," he says reassuringly as the last of the feed is snapped up by a particularly hungry duckling, "Now that your hands are empty, would you like to pat one?"

Izzy hums happily as he tips the last of the crumbs into the water, dusting off his hands. "Yeah," he hums, chewing on his bottom lip.

"How about that one, precious boy," Stede points out a pale yellow duckling, still trying to scoop up the slowly sinking crumbs of feed.

Izzy timidly reaches his hand over to the little thing and gently brushes over it's bill, then softly pats the space between it's eyes.

He's usually very quiet like this, even when he's old enough to hold an actual conversation, but he hums delightedly as he pats down the duckling back, downy wings. spread out and flapping excitedly.

Ed eventually reaches his own hands out and delicately scoops the little bird up and out of the water, setting it in Izzy's cupped hands.

"Ew," Izzy giggles squeakily, "It's all wet on me."

Stede laughs. "It's just water, darling, it's not wee or anything."

"Okay." Izzy huffs, eyes focused on how the little duckling pads around in his hands on wobbly little feet, cuddling up against his thumb.

"Isn't he cute?" Stede whispers. "Such a little darling."

"Yeah..."

"Do you like the duckies, Iz?"

"Uh huh..."

"You wanna come back, bug?"

"Yeah,"

Ed and Stede share a laugh as Izzy's responses grow shorter and shorter and his fixation of the little duck grows.

After a while of Izzy's breathy humming and gentle petting of the little duckling, the big white duck begins to quack loud and fast, kicking in the water and slowly beginning to float away.

The ducklings gathered close to Izzy and Ed follow after her in a flurry of rushed motions, slipping over each other as they follow their mother away.

"Mummy duck says that it's time to go," Ed whispers, clearing the confused look on Izzy's face and replacing it with a much more solemn one, "Put your ducky back now, ducky needs to go home with it's family."

With help from Ed, Izzy lowers the little duckling back into the water, and it chirps brightly as it joins the end of the line behind it's mother.

"Bye bye," Izzy waves, "Goodbye."

"Good boy, Iz," Ed coos, giving his cheek a fluttering kiss, "Nice work."

"You're such a smart boy," Stede continues from behind them both, "So gentle and kind with the ducks."

Izzy hums again, leaning into Ed's chest and squishing his cheek up.

Ed traces his fingertips over Izzy's cheek as they watch the ducks swim away, Izzy half in Ed's lap and head tucked under Ed's stubbly chin.

[tasteofdeathao3]

Ed, Iz, and Stede going to a fancy dinner party and, naturally, Izzy is standoffish and grumpy, until halfway through the meal when his grumbles turn more whiney and petulant and they realise that they've got a little boy on their hands!

Small Izzy is even more picky and choosey it comes to food, and just pushes food around on his plate and refuses to eat it, no matter how many gentle reminders and forkfuls at his mouth Stede gives him.

he's all wriggly in his seat, and slumps down in his seat so you can barely see his head over the table! (Stede taps his shoulder and reminds him to sit up every time though, it's a bit rude and will hurt his neck)

he doesn't mind dessert, he gets a special treat instead of the gross fancy stuff the grown ups are eating, but Ed doesn't really like it either so he steals scoops of Izzy's treat (ultimate dad move)

They leave a bit earlier than they probably would have liked, Izzy leaning heavily on Ed's shoulder with Ed's arms wrapped around his waist, helping him walk around on his sleepy shaky legs.

He falls asleep on the way home, cuddled into Ed's lap, on his way toward an early night and a very early morning (which both Ed and Stede are dreading)

[strawberrysteeth]

Ed steals Stede's clothes and Izzy steals Ed's clothes confirmed. Confirmed by who you might ask? Me. I said so, it's canon now.

Baby Izzy in oversized clothes cause he's just a lil guy. He also sleeps with Ed's jacket sometimes as a type of security blankie.

[strawberrysteeth]

GUYS LITTLE IZZY AND DUPLOS OMG LITTLE IZZY AND DUPLOS CAUSE HE'S TOO SMALL FOR LEGOS CAUSE HE'S JUST A BABY

WELP THIS IS THE FIC NOW

[strawberrysteeth]

Had this idea before my last fic (about little Izzy doing t shot) of little Izzy recovering from top surgery and Stede & Ed being top notch caregivers but thought that might be too "me projecting onto a fictional character" but the last fic got really great comments so I might end up writing it after all

Working title is "Oh you thought I was projecting before? Hahahaha"