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 Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2023 2:14 pm
 Izzy startled hearing the voice, whipping around to glare at who disturbed his reverie. The icy look quickly melted away as he say the half asleep figure of Edward leaning against the frame.
"What are you doing up?" asked Izzy.
"She woke me up," mumbled Ed.
"She?"
Ed nodded towards the portrait. "It's happening again. The doppelgangers speaking to us from afar. She has whispered things here and there to me over the past few days. But tonight she woke me up saying my 'First Mate needed me.' And what do you know? I find you here in the dark staring at the painting."
"What has she told you about herself?"
Ed's gaze floated to the painting for a while before turning to look at Izzy, a spark appearing behind them, visible even in the flicker of the candles.
"Told me?" said Ed. "Or shown me?"
"Wh-what?" replied Izzy, flustered at Ed's suggestion that the lady of the portrait had done similar interactions with him.
Ed stepped forward pulling Izzy against him and started trailing delicate kisses down his neck.
"Ed," started Izzy.
"Shh," replied Ed, placing a finger over Izzy's lips. "Let's give her what she wants."
Izzy couldn't help melting as Ed continued to maneuver his hands over his body, managing to draw him closer to his body than he thought they would be able to.
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2023 2:38 pm
"What are we going to do?" breathed Izzy, as he stretched out beside Ed on the floor of the work room.
Many of the candles that he had lit flickered at their attempt to stay alight even as the last remains of wax in their containers disappeared in the heat. Just like his self-consciousness of doing such intimate acts with Ed in front of the portrait. Ed had been right - they needed to put on a show for the lady, as if she wanted it.
"Do? Do what?" asked Ed, glancing over at him.
"When Mary Anne finally decides to make her presence known to us," explained Izzy. "Personally. Not through a subtle hint through Stede."
"I don't know," said Ed, putting an arm behind his head. "We'll just take it one day at time. It's been years since she left. There might not even be anything to worry about now. She may have moved on like we've moved on."
"Our painted lady friend seems to indicate otherwise," said Izzy, tilting his head to gaze up at the painting. He couldn't help but feel like her green eyes gazed directly down, a faint smile on her lips as if pleased to see them in all their glory before her.
"She's quite the vixen, that's for sure," chuckled Ed.
"I don't blame my other self for falling for her charms," admitted Izzy.
"Nor mine," agreed Ed.
"Has Stede come up with a name for her yet? Like he did with the others."
"Not that I know of."
They lay there in silence for a moment, hearing the distant sounds of the city beyond their apartment. Then just as suddenly they heard the faint whispers of a song being sung. It was the same voice they had heard whisper to them before.
"Vixen?" said Ed, finally breaking the silence. "No, she's a bloody siren."
"I definitely think there's more to her than this portrait implies."
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2023 2:44 pm
Ugh... so hard to let the creative juices flow when I keep having residents coming up spouting off a bunch of nonsense. Like I love y'all but please stop bugging me about your random nothings.
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2023 2:46 pm
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2023 3:01 pm
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2023 3:24 pm
"Chai Latte for Townsend," called out the barista, setting a cup onto the counter.
Stede glanced over recognizing the name and saw the same woman from his shop, Mary Anne step forward to grab it.
"Oh!" exclaimed Stede. "Hello there."
She turned hearing him address her in confusion before breaking into a wide smile.
"Well, hello there. We meet again," said Mary Anne.
"That we have," said Stede, flashing her a smile in response.
"I hope things have been going well at the store," she said, shifting the brown cup band so the crease didn't dig into her palm. She then smirked mischeviously. "And Lucy is keeping up the good work."
"Oh, yes, business has been going quite well," confirmed Stede. "And Lucius... well... Lucius is Lucius." He fluttered a hand in the air.
"Two grande cappucinos and one grande black coffee for Bonnet," called out the barista.
"Oh, that's me!" said Stede, stepping forward to grab them. He looked a bit at a loss when he realized how many cups were before him and there was no carrier available.
"Need a hand?" asked Mary Anne, stepping to his side.
"It appears I do," replied Stede. "Do you mind grabbing the black coffee? It'll make it easier for me to remember which is which."
"Of course," she replied, grabbing the cup in question and followed him out of the store.
"I don't understand why they didn't provide a carrier," said Stede. "Usually they do."
"I overheard one of the employees state that their delivery got delayed, so they are out of stock on quite a few things right now."
Stede glanced over at her in shock.
"Including the drink carriers," added Mary Anne before shrugging. "Can't help overhearing conversations around me. Especially when you can read fliers only so many times before they become dull."
Stede hummed in acknowledgement as they continued on their way through the city. He glanced over at her occasionally when her attention seemed to suddenly be enraptured by something in the store windows they passed by.
"I didn't expect to see you again," said Stede, finally breaking the silence that fell between them. "I thought our meeting would be a one-time deal."
"Hmm?" said Mary Anne, tearing her gaze away from the latest trinket that had caught her attention. "Oh, I wasn't sure whether we would cross paths again either. That is not until I ran into Lucy the other day and he mentioned you knew Ed and Izzy."
"Why did he mention them" asked Stede, frowning.
"More like he spilled the tea when I kept pressuring him about it."
"Wh-what?" said Stede, coming to a halt and turning to look at her.
"I couldn't get those three paintings out of my head," said Mary Anne. "I mentioned the uncanny resemblance you had to one of them and Lucy mentioned that the paintings resembled 'all three of you' so much it was scary. Obviously, it caught my attention and I couldn't let him drop it."
Stede sighed as he looked around in uncertainty, not sure how to proceed the conversation from that reveal. Mary Anne chuckled seeing his reaction before looking down at the cup she was carrying for him and then back up at him.
"Shall we continue on our way?" asked Mary Anne. "I'm sure Z will give you hell if his coffee is delivered cold. That is... I would assume that the person you're delivering a straight black coffee for would be him."
Stede blinked at her before nodding slowly. "Yes. Yes, I suppose we should."
He continued leading the way, feeling like he was just going through the motions. Mary Anne knew Ed and Izzy were in the area and thanks to Lucius - which is wasn't sure whether to be grateful or annoyed by - she knew Stede had a close connection to them. And what was up with this "Z" business? He couldn't fathom Izzy allowing anyone to call him by that.
"Here we are," said Stede as they finally arrived at his front door. He tried digging his keys out and putting it into the lock to open but they slipped out and fell to the ground. "Oh, bugger."
"At ease, sailor," said Mary Anne, chuckling at his nervous energy. She stepped over putting her drink between her breast and arm to hold it in place and leaned down to pick up the fallen keys. He blinked as she inserted them into the lock and pushed the door open for him to walk through.
"Stede, is that you?" called Ed from within. "What took you so long?"
"I..." said Stede, barely able to get the words out. "I, uh..."
"He acquired an assisting hand," replied Mary Anne for him as she closed the door behind them.
Ed and Izzy quickly came into view from the living room as they stepped into the hallway. They stared down the length in shock.
"Mary Anne?" breathed out Izzy eventually.
"Black coffee for you," said Mary Anne in response, holding out his cup to him. Izzy took it from her grasp, staring at her as she turned to gently pull one of the cups from Stede's hand and back to Ed. "And a cappucino for you, it looks like."
"You're here," said Ed.
"Surprise!" Mary Anne replied weakly.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 9:43 am
Good morning everyone.
Sorry I didn't post anything stating I was leaving for the day. Stuff at work was going on that was irritating the hell out of me at the end of my shift, resulting in me quickly closing everything down slightly early to get some space because of it all.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 9:46 am
I'm just hoping I don't have a repeat of it for today. 'Cause I really am not in the mood to deal with it for a second day in a row.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 9:52 am
Not sure what I'm in the mood for doing right now.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 10:24 am
Ed shifted his weight, noticing the start of twinge of pain in his left knee, as he pulled his leather jacket closer around him. Considering it had been snowing only a few days ago, the weather had been rather comfortable during his visit in town. Well, that was until it decided to rain and a breeze that seemed to favor the street he was waiting in line at moved in this evening. He glanced over at the two other pirates standing in line with him, deep in a private conversation. Although he had grown rather close to the two and considered them friends, he still couldn't shrug off the feeling of being an outsider when hanging out with them and the rest of their crew.
He turned to watch as one of the women waiting in line behind them squealed in excitement and ran past him to glomp a figure in a full leather outfit coming out of the venue he was hoping to enter for the evening's entertainment. Ed found himself looking the individual up and down, and subconsciously licked his lips. He grasped onto the spark of warmth that the person's presence brought, driving away the chill that threatened to make him shake like a leaf. He was Blackbeard for goodness sakes! He shouldn't be brought to his knees by a cold wind.
Ed had seen several individuals in a similar attire earlier in the day at the festivities that brought him to the area but there was something about this person who captured his notice. He wanted so much to call out in greeting, just to have a moment of the person's attention on him but he was too respectful and didn't want to interrupt the conversations they were having with the various individuals coming up to them.
"It's going to be good!" exclaimed the individual, waving at everyone as they turned to go back inside. "You're going to love it. It'll be worth the wait!"
I bet I will if you're there, thought Ed. He blinked as the individual disappeared from view and quickly looked over at his companions to see if they had noticed him swooning over the person. But they didn't seem to have been phased by the events taking place around them, still immersed in their hushed conversation.
The brief moment of excitement of seeing the individual was quickly overshadowed as his portion of the line got to the entrance of the venue, only to be informed by individuals coming out that the room used for the event was fully packed. Ed felt a flash of annoyance at this; if there was limited space, the runners of the show shouldn't have bothered saying there would be tickets available for sale at the door, especially knowing how popular their theme was going to be. After getting confirmation of there being no more room, Ed turned to his companions to see what they wanted to do and as he expected, they were just going to return to the inn they were staying at. Ed walked away from the venue, racking his brain for what to do for the rest of the evening but ultimately decided to return to his own room.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 10:33 am
Ed tried his best to contain his excitement at seeing so many pirates together in one place. He couldn't help looking at each one's outfit, seeing if there was some trinket or manner of putting their look together that he could borrow for his own. As more trinkled into the area, Ed's attention was captured by a orange-styled barrette holding an individual's hair back on the backside of their head. He could feel the urge of wanting to have the barrette for himself, especially with how well the colors stood out against the black hair. Would it look the same with his salt and pepper hair?
He gasped when the individual turned around just enough for Ed to see their face.
It's them!
Ed couldn't believe his eyes. He thought the leather clad individual he had seen the night before would be a one-time deal. That like the tide, they had come and left his life just as quickly. And yet... here they were only yards away.
Once again, events didn't allow Ed to approach the individual further than what that initial glimpse had allowed. His frustration at being unable to make acquaintance with the individual was quickly drowned out as the gathering's events unfolded and the surprise arrival of big name pirates gracing them with their presence. Ed may have made quite the name for himself as Blackbeard but his deeds paled in comparison to these three.
And soon the day came to a close where Ed's thoughts reflected back on the second close encounter with the individual that had made such an impression on him. He knew that the chance of remedying the missed introduction would not happen. He would be leaving town soon and there was no other events taking place during his last moments here that he could imagine would entice the likes of the individual to make another appearance.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 10:45 am
Edward placed a clinched hand in front of his face, hiding the wide grin that spread across his face. Though there was no reason for him to hide it; he was the only person in the cabin.
Through some research of connections, Ed had managed to find word of the individual he had seen several weeks ago. Izzy. Izzy Hands. That was the name of the individual he kept having missed chances of saying hello to. And now he not only had the person's name but was actually talking with them.
Ed glanced away from the letter he was reading to look at the sparkling water outside of the open window. Why was he acting like a little schoolgirl with a secret crush whenever he heard mention of Izzy? It wasn't like he had any claim on them. Sure, they were exchanging communication now and discovered they shared similar interests. Hell, he even took the time to check out a book Izzy kept making reference to. And there was the fact that Izzy had mentioned there was already a significant partner in their life, so Ed knew the chances of being anything more than friends would be very unlikely.
But... they were pirates, weren't they? It wasn't uncommon for a pirate to have their main partner and various other husbands or wives on the side, whether it was for business or pleasure purposes. So, there could be a chance of a circumstance like that happening for him, right?
Regardless of the cirumstances, Ed couldn't help repeating the man's name in his head. Izzy. My Izzy.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 11:03 am
 I have such talented cosplayer friends.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 11:15 am
charming-cherry:Good luck sending me mixed signals, I dont even understand the direct ones.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 11:42 am
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