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They were raiding one of the fancier ships today. Those Portuguese aristocrats with their posh wigs and haughty costumes were no match for pirates–even the ones that sailed under Stede Bonnet’s flag…s. The place was, as one would expect, a goldmine. The crew was having a field day not only with the cash and jewellery, but also the luxurious textiles and foreign foods.
It was no surprise to Izzy, then, that he found a piano below deck. It seemed to be the only thing of value in this particular room. Izzy struggled to remember the last time he played one of these things. Ever since he became Blackbeard’s first mate, his responsibilities had left no time to practise an instrument.
But in truth, he was quite good at it. Izzy couldn’t help but feel nostalgic. He checked his surroundings and shut the door but for a gap when he’d confirmed he was alone. He could leave the looting to the others: that was the one area where his critique was unwarranted.
He approached the piano, brushed his hand across the lid. No dust. He pressed a random key: pure and clear. It was well maintained. Izzy sat down and examined the keyboard. He recognised the entire register. He removed the glove on his right hand, trying to think of a shanty to play. Would he be able to do it by heart?
He gave it a tr–nope, wrong note. One more t–no, not that one. Dammit, he was out of practice. Izzy kept trying, but he either hit the wrong key or forgot which one came next. A grumpy sigh left his mouth. He looked around. Did they have any sheet music in here?
His eye fell on a small case on a nearby table. He opened it and found exactly what he was looking for. No shanties, obviously, but these pieces didn’t look too difficult. Izzy reseated himself and placed one on the rack. He studied it, hands resting on the keys. Alright. He could do this.
This was, by far, his most successful attempt. He couldn’t avoid a mistake here and there, but at least he was able to play the damn song. Izzy tried again, and again. He played until he got the piece down without a single flaw. He let the last note fade out, proud of his accomplishment. Time for the next one.
The sound of clapping made him slam ten keys all at once. He looked up and saw Lucius in the door. How long had he been there? And how had he been so absorbed in playing that he hadn’t bloody noticed?
With a smirk, Lucius said: “Didn’t know you could play, Izzy.”
“Get the fuck out of here, Spriggs,” Izzy snarled.
“Don’t you want an audience?”
An audience was literally the last thing he wanted. “Don’t you have a job to do?”
Lucius shrugged. “I tried. There’s only so many times one can write ‘we tried talking to the captain but had trouble with the language barrier.’”
“You have two Spanish speakers on your crew.”
“Spanish and Portuguese are two different things. Oluwande is trying, though. Jim had to be excused from duty; they almost stabbed someone in sheer frustration.”
Izzy rolled his eyes in aggravation. “Whatever. Just fuck off.”
“Do you really mind if I just listen for a bit?”
“Yes.”
With a huff, Lucius leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. “I bet you’d play for Edward, though, wouldn’t you?”
Izzy had to take his fingers off the keys to avoid damaging them. “His name is Blackbeard,” he snapped.
“But not to you?”
“Of course not. We’ve known each other for years.”
“Then it’d make sense if you played him a song, wouldn’t it?”
As exasperated as he was, Izzy decided the best thing to do was ignore him. Lucius was just trying to get a rise out of him by tapping into his feelings, as usual. He hated it when he did that, but expressing as much just gave the bastard what he wanted.
Without a word, Izzy swapped out the sheets and went back to playing. He hoped his reluctance to continue the conversation would persuade Lucius to leave, but he’d appeared to be genuine. He stayed right where he was, listening in silence. When Izzy finished, he clapped again.
“Impressive. Sounds really difficult.”
Izzy tried not to appreciate his praise. “It’s not. You just have to practise.”
“I bet you practised a lot, then.” Lucius walked in and stopped at his side, examining the keyboard. He exhaled a low whistle. “I wouldn’t know where to start.”
Izzy leaned away, taken aback by the sudden lack of distance between them. “Do you mind?”
“Well, no. If I just have to practise like you said, I–oh.” Lucius realised that wasn’t what he meant. There was that smirk again; the one he used when he knew he had Izzy flustered.
“Not particularly. Do you?”
Izzy wasn’t going to answer that. “If you want to hear me play so badly, get out of my face.”
“Actually, I just thought of something.” Without waiting for an invitation, Lucius plopped down on the bench next to him. “Why don’t you teach me how to play?”
Izzy shifted away so fast he almost fell off. “What–? Are you insane?”
“What’s the harm?” Lucius tilted his head in that way when he wanted to look cute. To Izzy’s annoyance, he always did. “I promise to be a good pupil, Mr Hands.”
The title made Izzy shiver. It was clear Lucius wouldn’t leave until he did. “Alright, alright,” he groaned in defeat. “But you better take this seriously.”
“I will.”
“Good. Now, here in the centre–this is the C-key.”
Lucius pressed one with his index finger. “This one?”
“No, that one.”
“This one?”
Impatiently, Izzy grabbed Lucius’s hand and placed his thumb on the right key. “This one, for fuck’s sake.”
“Right,” Lucius smiled self-consciously, “sorry.”
“Whatever. Then, to the right, there’s the D-key–”
“Sounds like my kind of key.”
Izzy wanted to slam this guy’s fingers under the fall board. “Get out.”
“Okay, I’m sorry, I was just kidding.” Lucius raised his hand defensively, then put it back in the wrong place. Thankfully, he recognised his mistake and corrected it before Izzy could blow up at him.
With a growl, Izzy pointed at the respective keys. “E, F, G, A, B. Then you start again from C. The whole set is called an octave. Left for low notes, right for high notes. Got it?”
“Got it,” Lucius said obediently, though not quite assuredly.
“Good.” Izzy grabbed the case with sheet music. He’d spotted something earlier that now came quite in handy. Ah, there it was: Piano for Beginners.
“Pay attention,” he said as he placed the book on the rack. He then proceeded to explain the basic scale to Lucius, as well as which notes connected to which key. Then, it was Lucius’s turn: he had to play the first assignment. It didn’t exactly go off without a hitch, but unlike before, Izzy was glad to see him take it seriously. Lucius was actually trying his best, and as gradual as it was, he showed improvement.
“Good,” Izzy commented when he considered his efforts adequate. “Next one.”
Lucius obeyed. To add some direction, Izzy joined in and instructed him to mimic his fingers. As they practised, he had to admit this wasn’t nearly as tedious as he thought. Despite clowning around earlier, Lucius succeeded when he put his mind to it. He’d promised to be a good pupil, and he was. Izzy stole occasional glances at his face, which was tightened with concentration. Even his eyes, usually so relaxed, radiated intensity. Now he looked cute in a different way. This wasn’t half bad.
“Izzy.”
They looked up. This time, Blackbeard was standing at the door. Thankfully for Izzy, he was already aware of his musical skills.
“So here you are. Come on up, I need you for something.”
He left, trusting Izzy to follow. That intuition was not misplaced; Izzy got to his feet immediately.
“Izzy,” Lucius called after him. He was already walking away.
Izzy turned. “What?”
“Don’t forget your glove.”
Shit, that’s right. He couldn’t believe he’d almost left it behind.
“Right.” Izzy took a step in Lucius’s direction, then eyed him cautiously. “And, Mr Spriggs…”
“I know, I know.” Lucius took the glove, kissed it, and held it out to him. “‘Don’t tell anyone.’” He winked. “It’ll be our little secret.”
Izzy felt his face flush, so he rushed to snatch his glove back and spin around. Despite the flirting, he was curiously sure that he could trust Lucius’s words. The guy may be an asshole, but he wasn’t a liar.
Our little secret, he repeated in thought, and he hurried out the door, not wanting Lucius to catch how the intimacy of those words made his heart flutter.