Stede laid in his quarters, slipping in and out of consciousness. He felt a burning sensation in his stomach and he winced as he took a deep intake of breath. Another presence was in the room with him, sitting by the bedside and comforting him with gentle touches. "There there love. Take it easy, yeah?" Stede looked up to the voice, his eyes slowly coming open, and noticed a blonde woman smiling softly down at him. He looked to her curiously as if trying to figure her out and she kept smiling gently at him. "The Spanish did a number on you. But it's a good thing my captain kept a close eye out."

"Spanish...? Oh god, my crew!" Stede sat up abruptly, aggravating his wound and hissed through his teeth. The woman's hand came to gently lay him back down and she shushed him softly. "Your crew is fine. I promise, they're taken care of. Just relax before your stitches come undone." Her voice was soft and reassuring, making Stede comply and relax a bit.

It was silent and awkward between the two until the woman spoke again. "I'm sure you probably think it's odd that a strange woman is tending to your wounds." She paused to put her hand out for him and smiled. "The name's Rosemary."

Her hand was taken and the gentleman managed to smile back, shaking it gently. "Bonnet. Stede Bonnet."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I assume you're the gentleman pirate, hm?"  Stede nodded slowly at her enquiries, eliciting another smile from her. "Ah, I figured. You're definitely not like other pirates and I can see why my captain took interest in you."

Stede had a curious expression upon his face, quirking his brow. "Your captain is...interested in me?"

"Yep. Blackbeard doesn't get interested in many things, but when he does he goes for it." She was taken aback by mentioning the fact and was quick to explain. "We're not going to pillage you by the way."

"Oh, I didn't think so, considering you saved my life. But Blackbeard? That's quite an honor to peak his interest." Rosemary nodded, smiling slightly at his response. "Yeah, it definitely is. It's strange though, most people go pale in fear when Blackbeard is spoken of. You must be very new to the pirate life."

Stede nodded and carefully moved so he sat up on his elbows. "Yeah, and it looks like I'm off to quite a terrible start at being one..." He sighed softly, and Rosemary shook her head. "Nonsense. You're doing a lot better than most blokes I've seen. Hell, you survived a stabbing. That's pretty badass for a rookie."

The compliment, though unexpected, made Stede smile to the point where he subconsciously blushed a bit. "Well, thank you. That's very kind of you to say."

"And it's pretty true." She smiled back to him then sighed softly, looking to the door then back at Stede who completely settled back into his bed. She stood in her place and continued to smile at him. "Well, I should go see what the crew is up to. It was nice meeting you, Mr Bonnet. Rest easy now."

"I will. Thank you."

With that, Rosemary turned his back to him and stepped out of the room to leave him to rest, shutting the door gently behind her. She let out another sigh and began to walk around the ship, when she ran into her captain. "Is he all patched up?" He asked, and she gave him a quick nod. "Yeah, he's doing a little better. He's got consciousness too."

"Great. I'll go and check on him myself. You go and watch his crew for a bit."

"Yes, captain."

The two parted ways, and she had noticed her fellow crewmates, one of them bossing Stede's crew about. She rolled her eyes, letting him do his thing and went to find Braham, who sat at the edge of the dock to look out at the vast ocean. He turned around and noticed her, smiling after a moment. "Hey. How was he then? Are Izzy's assumptions true?" He asked and Rosemary shrugged, chuckling softly as she leaned against the ship's railing. "I don't know about this one yet. He puzzles me, and I still can't wrap my head around why Ed wanted to meet him."

Braham shrugged as well and let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, neither can I. He's never steered us in the wrong direction though, so Bonnet might be worth our time."

"Hopefully..."

************

It had been a while since Rosemary had seen Ed around. But being the polite first mate she was, she didn't want to bother and instead got to know Stede's crew. She met with a few, including Lucius, Jim, Oluwande, Roach, Pete and Frenchie, whom she already bonded with like they were her own crew. She sat with them and Braham on deck just chattering about when she caught a glimpse of Ed coming out on deck, catching everyone else's attention.

He wore fancy kind of clothing and he made quite a dramatic entrance, flailing his arms about and giving a bow. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your captain, Blackbeard!"

Stede then walked out holding onto his stomach and wearing Ed's leathers. Rosemary couldn't help but let out soft giggles at the sight and the rest of the crew sat there confused confused. Ed had demanded the crew to applaud Stede and they did so promptly.

Things were said, but for some reason Rosemary had tuned it out. She was just as confused as the crew, but she was a mix of curious and distracted. The shenanigans that ensued had fascinated her, and made her wonder what prompted it. Another thing had struck her as odd, which had been Ed's change in demeanor, among other things.

She pulled herself from her thoughts once she noticed Ed and Stede leaving and the crew dispersing among the ship. She then went off to do her own thing for a bit, talking amongst the crew, and eyed Stede for a moment, smiling to herself.

************

A good while had passed and Stede was back in his regular clothes and in his quarters resting once more. Rosemary had felt obligated to check on him and knocking upon his door, she was immediately granted entry. She opened the door and poked her head in, smiling before she walked in completely, shutting the door behind her. "Hey, how're you feeling? I got a little worried about you when you put on that little show." She said, walking over to him.

"I'm alright. The leather was a bit tight on me and it pressed against the stitches but all's well besides that." He said reassuringly. Rosemary nodded, the weight of her worry coming off her shoulders. "That's good. And yeah, I get that. Leather can be a real bitch of a material to wear."

She moved to sit at the edge of the bed and she smiled down at Stede, a curious expression coming about her face after a moment. "So, I'm just wondering what the hell prompted the two of you to do that." She said and Stede shrugged, letting a soft chuckle escape his throat. "I have no idea honestly. It was all Ed's idea and I just went with it." Stede looked up to her with a smile, looking more chipper than he had been. "You know, for a blood thirsty pirate, he's quite a delight to be around. I'm glad I got to spend some time with him."

Rosemary smiled at his comments and nodded. "I'm glad you think highly of him. He'd be delighted to hear that." She smiled then looked over to the window for a moment before turning her gaze back to Stede. "I should get going and see how everyone else is and let you rest. I mostly just wanted to check in and see how you were doing."

"Right then. Hope we can talk more under better circumstances. Once I'm healed up a bit that is."

She nodded. "Yeah, sounds great. I'm looking forward to it. See you around." With that, she had left him alone for the night and went to her cabin for some alone time.

It gave her a good bit to think about what had happened since the previous night. Being in his presence for a good while definitely changed her mind. Now, she definitely sees why her captain was perusing Stede Bonnet, the gentleman pirate.