Of all the babysitter choices, Buttons is surprisingly good at looking after little Izzy! Peace and quiet while Izzy plays under the sea witch's watchful eye.
In my mind every crewmember takes turns babysitting their little first mate so everybody gets a chance to spend equal amount of time with him. There was some concern when it came to Buttons' turn. After all it shouldn't be possible to look after a tyke when you're quite literally a 4 pound bird. And yet...
Buttons' babysitting is nothing less than magical.
The energy surrounding him is peaceful like the sound of gentle waves crashing on the beach. In the familiar and comfy cabin it keeps Izzy relaxed. When Izzy gets upset from the built up stress and starts spiralling into his thoughts, all it takes to snap him out of his head is Buttons' soft squawk. He sits with the little guy and lets him stroke his feathers until he settles and relaxes again.
Oftentimes other seagulls make appearances, flying in through the cabin window and jump to first exchange greetings with Buttons before going to Izzy who's delighted at the visit. The feathery visitors always bring little bits and pieces for Izzy's collection of trinkets or crafts. All the seagulls crowd to Izzy and make him giggle while playing.
Whenever is time for a snack or dinner, all it takes is a moment of turned attention before a meal seems to miraculously appear out of nowhere. Getting Izzy to eat seems to be easier with Buttons too. Izzy takes turns eating one bite of the food using his hands before feeding Buttons or one of the other seagulls the other bite over and over until the meal is gone (Izzy is too focused on deviding the portions to notice the sheer size of his plate). Izzy is eating well and Buttons can't complain about going hungry himself, so dinner table manners are counted as a fair price.
If Izzy reaches for something dangerous that's been accidentally left out in the open or he wants to do something he's not supposed to, Buttons squawks in alert at him and flaps his wings or gently nips his sleeve with his beak to stop him, turning his head to give him a look. When it comes to listening to warnings, Izzy seems to react more at the bird shaped man, than the other crew (the crew in question lament over that but think it's fair since they also note Buttons' warnings more, and besides it's not like Izzy causes much trouble)
When it's finally time for a nap, Buttons ushers Izzy to his cot flapping his wings before jumping on himself, sitting and tucking his beak into his wings blinking at Izzy until he follows. Once in bed, Izzy softly pats Buttons' feathers until he finally falls asleep. If the shapeshifter's feathers are a bit mussed later, he doesn't so much as squawk his displeasure, and if somebody comments at the untidiness of his wings, they're sure to get a stinkeye.
Most often when Buttons is in charge, Izzy busies himself with drawing or crafting using all the trinkets the other seagulls brought him. He quietly sits with his tongue sticking out, focused on his creations occasionally showing them off to Buttons for a squawk of approval. Buttons keeps a careful eye on everything and catches all the colorful little rocks and beads that roll on the floor every time the ship shifts on the waves with his beak. It's pretty good at catching all the tiny pieces and he often passes particular objects to Izzy when he has trouple spotting what he needs himself.
It's after a day of arts and crafts like this that Izzy presents the experienced sailor with a bracelet made of the seagulls' gifts. Of course, Buttons can't quite wear the bracelet how it's supposed to be worn but he puts it on his neck and wears it proudly around the deck the rest of the day (it later gets added into his nest high up in the rigging for safe keeping to not accidentally loose it during flight. It becomes an important part of the nest, neatly secured on a sticking out nail for extra safety)
getting on the Izzy snake bandwagon because I'm obsessed
In my mod AU Ed and Stede live out in the countryside (in my mind it's just off the east coast of Australia but that's just because that's the same area we lived when I was little) which of course means snakes. everywhere.
So of course when Izzy comes up to visit at some point he catches a glimpse of some kind of snake (presenting all sorts of issues for Ed and Stede).
warning: there will be pictures of snakes below the cutoff!
Thankfully, though they live on a lot of land intended for livestock, they only have the one or two that Ed insisted on purchasing as pets, so an infestation of mice, and the Eastern Brown Snake that follows (the second most venomous snake in the world), isn't very likely.
One day, unfortunately during one of Izzy's extended visits, Ed goes into the garage to get his car and he finds a Diamond Python all cuddled up around the wheels.
(This actually happened to me once!)
The car isn't as much of an issue - he can just take Stede's - but the garage connects to the house with a very flimsy door, and even if it's non-venomous and and docile, he really doesn't want it slithering inside.
He leaves the garage door open while he's at work, but the thing is still cuddled under his 4-wheel drive, so he and Stede have to call WIRES and distract IzY somewhere far away from any windows (because if he sees the WIRES truck he'll know there's a snake and throw a tantrum if he can't go down and pet it (which will not be happening under any circumstances)).
One day while walking in the undeveloped bush on their property (which is a lot, full of birds and plants and life) Izzy randomly perks up out of his little sulk and excitedly begins tugging on Ed's arm, pointing down to a little patch just off of the track.
There's a Red Bellied Black Snake (which I reckon would be one of Izzy's favourites) coiled up in the sun, staring right at them. Ed yelps and grabs Izzy's hand.
He tries to tug Izzy back down the path (because he knows those things, and those things bite) but Izzy wants to sit and watch it and dogs his heels in. Ed has to resort to hauling Izzy over his shoulder and booking back out of the bush.
(look how cool these guys are! they're venomous but not very aggressive, and give birth to live babies! we used to see them at school a lot)
Occasionally little harmless snakes will slither up into the trees beside their houses, and Izzy will sit right in front of the window, watching it intently.
He's so obsessed with it that he refuses to leave until it does - meaning Stede has to drag his play mat to whatever window he's situated beneath and get him his iPad and blankie so he doesn't have to take his eyes off of the snake, and Ed has to feed him his dinner and change him while he's just staring at the poor little snake trying to have a sleep beside him.
(non-venomous, a non painful bite, and calm around humans. they're a gorgeous snake)
The worst, and the only time Izzy didn't yell and cry until he could go and see the snake, was when there was a brown snake on the roof.
Ed had been outside feeding their chickens when he'd spotted it, splayed out on their roof.
He heads straight inside after locking the chickens up, putting towels over the cracks under the back doors and putting the grate over the fireplace in case in somehow manages to slip down the chimney (typically they don't go inside houses, but Ed isn't taking any chances).
Stede goes out to take a look when he gets home with Izzy, but Izzy dutifully sits in his little chair and watches warily as Ed and Stede call WIRES.
Stede scoops him up and takes him away while the snake handlers come and get it, but they watch from an upstairs window as they load it into the truck and drive off of the property.
(Brown snakes are the second most venomous snake in the world, aside from the Inland Taipan (also an Australian native). They typically live in populated areas, and while they prefer mice to eat (making farmland perfect) they will sometimes slither onto suburban properties and hang out. They are aggressive, and should be left alone.) Someone I grew up with had this happen to them when we lived in the city!
Izzy is so ready to nap at all times that if Ed is supposed to be getting a task done he asks Izzy for a quick cuddle and is guaranteed to have the excuse of 'I can't move, if I wake the baby he'll cry for hours'
