Toddler Izzy pausing (not stopping!) his campaign to send Stede to the moon when he realises Stede will do whatever will comfort Izzy, even if it’s something Ed is trying to remove from their routine. He’ll get a pacifier, a sippy cup, warm milk before bed, he can sleep between them, he can stay cuddled in the sling all day, he can be fed rather than encouraged to hold the spoon himself, he can suck his thumb if his hands are clean, he can trail his blanket around all day to keep it close. He essentially gets babied the way he thinks he should be all the time and has to decide if the extra attention and the comfort of it all is worth the fact it’s Stede doing it, not Ed.
So it takes a while before Izzy can be anywhere near Stede without screaming his head off, and then another month before he'll let Ed look at and talk to Stede without trying to cover his eyes with slobbery little hands, and even longer than that before he stops biting and spitting on Stede every few minutes without provocation.
After his attempts at fussing and whining to get Ed's attention backfire, he quickly learns that Stede is very very eager to please.
Ed is smart. Ed knows that if Izzy is refusing to eat, all he has to do is take away his plate for five minutes before he's desperate to eat anything on his plate. He can somehow tell when Izzy's pretending to cry (a mystery to Izzy) and tells him to go sit down in his spot again and try to calm down.
But Stede? Stede is desperate for Izzy to like him. Stede will do anything, he won't yell even if Izzy does something really bad, like ruin a very expensive and important book that didn't mean to bump off of the table and cover in black ink.
It's during one of his pretend crying sessions in his little crib (which he's been made to use recently after sneaking out of nap time far too often), while Izzy is waiting for Ed to come in and pick him up and kiss his forehead and tell him how important and special he is, when Stede comes in.
At first Izzy wants to spit on him, bite his hands when he reaches into the crib, scream so loud Ed will have no choice but to come in and put him in the naughty corner away from Stede.
But then Stede coos at him, picks him up and bounces him as they walk across the room and then - to Izzy's shock - slips one of his dummies into his mouth. One of the ones Ed had told him went missing a few weeks ago.
He hates Stede, hates his dumb voice and his stories that aren't anywhere near as good as Ed's, hates the way the fabric of his clothes feels against his skin where his cheek is pillowed against it... but Stede's bouncing him and cradling him to his chest like when he was little, and he's allowed to have his dummy and he's so sleepy he can't even keep his eyes open against Stede's jacket.
It's only when he suddenly blinks awake in his little bed with Ed in front of him, frowning at Stede, that he realises his new found power.
"He's not supposed to have this," Ed says to Stede, pulling the dummy out of his mouth. "He's never going to grow out of it if you keep giving it to him."
Izzy doesn't bother whining. The few times he's been caught with a stolen dummy these past few weeks have all been the same - it getting taken from him and him receiving a very disappointed look from Ed.
"Oh, darling," Stede frowns, "He was so upset. Poor darling needed a little bit of help to calm down, didn't you?"
Ed grumbles and rolls his eyes.
"He's only small, Edward. You can't expect him to go cold turkey, can you? It's only a dummy, how bad could it possibly be?"
Ed sighs and, to Izzy's immense shock, returns the dummy to Izzy's mouth.
"Enjoy it while it lasts, mate." Ed tells him, booping him on the nose.
It lasts a very long while.
Izzy wonders if Stede is somehow trying to get on his good side. Does he think Izzy's in on it? Does he think he's some secret mastermind?
Whatever it is, Izzy stops caring.
Stede manages to convince Ed to carry him around in his sling again. What was once Izzy's most beloved activity had been reduced to a treat only for Izzy's worst, and most genuine, nightmares. But here he was, strapped tight to Ed's chest with swathes of soft cotton that keep him nice and cosy as he's tucked against Ed's chest.
He gets to enjoy it for a few weeks, chewing on his hands and feet and batting at the air while Ed parades around on deck, but eventually Ed says that his back is hurting and that the sling needs to be retired for good.
Izzy is heartbroken - he thought he'd finally gotten his favourite ever object back, but it was being taken again all over again - until Stede pipes up with an offer to do it himself.
Izzy refuses. There is no way he'll spend any amount of time strapped against Stede, unable to wriggle away, but... he does love the sling.
Nothing comes of it until one day Izzy blinks awake and he's up on the deck, wrapped in cotton.
At first he just thinks Ed's finally relented in his war against the sling and cuddles in, wriggling happily in place, until he looks out across the deck and spots Ed right there, chatting to Ivan and Fang.
He looks up in confusion, finding a pale teal jacket, and above that, the face of Stede Bonnet looking down at him.
At first he wriggles, grunting and whining until he's sitting up inside of curled with his tummy practically against Stede's chest, but then he realises the warmth of Stede's hand holding him up through the soft cotton and the fingers scratching through the back of his hair, and he's not exactly excited to be pressed against Stede but so long as his hair is being played with.... he's not going to try to get down.
He ends up pressed against Stede, curled up in his little sling, with Stede's hand patting the small of his back and an incredibly grumpy pout on his face.
it only spirals from there.
Ed will walk Izzy back to his own little bed when he wakes up in the night, but Stede will scoop him up and slot him right in-between him and Ed.
Ed's been trying to make him use his spoon instead of his hands weeks, and refusing to feed Izzy himself for longer than that, but Stede will happily sit himself in front of Izzy and hand feed him, wiping off his face and hands after with a warmed cloth instead of getting Izzy to try and wash himself off in the basin of water at the far end of the table.
He gets to keep his pacifiers, gets to put his drinks in a sip cup instead of the big boy glasses Ed has been trying to tempt him with, and a warm bottle in the morning and the evening.
Of course- Izzy still does not like Stede. Every chance he gets he's spitting and kicking and screaming and whining until Stede leaves him alone, but the second Stede comes in with his evening bottle, he's all cuddle cuddle while Stede heats it over the hearth before snatching it and toddling over to his little bed to curl up with his warm drink.
