Like is…a word choice. Lucius had been a lot of things aboard the Revenge. Mostly a pain in Izzy’s arse. A direct opposition in more ways than feel comfortable counting.

Lucius is tall, broad, delicate outwardly but, Izzy knows first hand now, carried by an iron core. He speaks his mind, he makes space for vulnerability, funny, charming when he wants to be, he is everything Izzy Hands is not. And under all of that, between them, was…is something charged and primed. He would have said electric if they had such a thing. Izzy never knew what the fuck to do with Lucius, or how to keep the boy from cutting his knees out from under him.

It had taken months and something called ‘trauma bonding’ here, to figure out what to do with Lucius was to lay him on his back.

Izzy looks slightly guilty before rebuffing the barb for being exactly that. A barb. Like he can’t just say yeah, actually, I do like him. He’s funny and simple and it’s easy. He gives incredible head. Let me have this.

Besides, Edward said he killed him. That’s big talk. Way more important and way too dangerous to answer with the concept of Izzy Has A Friend. That friend, specifically, which apparently now a problem. Love that.

“He has his uses.”

Tactful, look at him go.

“It’s been a long go, here. I keep him close.”