HIRAETH // Captain Puffy X Reader

5

You slept restlessly, waking every now and again to try and find a more comfortable position unsuccessfully. The rocking of the boat was familiar, but the hard wood floor underneath you was uncomfortable, and worn enough that the rocking of the ship was enough to send you sliding into the walls if it went too far. 

Needless to say, you didn't get too much sleep, and you got way too many bruises. 

You slipped in and out of sleep until the sun rose again, and streams of light filtered through your window, painting golden bars on the floor. You sat up, leaning against the wall of the boat, just listening to the patter of footsteps overhead as the crew came back to life after passing out for the night. 

You hated this. You hadn't even been here for a day and your mind was already screaming at you to break out - to tear down the bars and run through the ship until you could jump into the oceans arms and just pass away in peace, but you knew you would never get that far, even if you could break the bars apart. They would keep you alive in captivity - a different kind of torture. 

Your thoughts were disturbed when you heard uneven steps coming towards you - Puffy again probably, coming to torment you with food. Maybe you would throw something at her again-

A little boy came around the corner, gripping onto the edges of a tray of bread. He set the tray down in front of the bars, and turned curious brown eyes on you. He couldn't have been older than eight or nine, but he was the last thing you would have expected to see on a ship like this, what with his fluffy brown hair and sun freckles. 

But no. There, nestled between curls, were two little ram horns, not unlike the ones that stuck out from Puffy's hat. 

"Hello." He said, plopping down cross legged in front of the cell. "I'm Tubbo."

You peered around the corner best you could, sure Puffy was standing just out of sight. This was another trick, somehow - or a ply to get you to drop your guard. But if anyone was there, you couldn't see them. 

"What are you looking for?" Tubbo asked. 

"This is a trick, right?" You questioned. "Who sent you?"

Tubbo blinked at you, confused. "Mum said to bring you a new tray and take the old one back to the galley. She's mad at you for throwing fruit at her so she asked Aunt Gemma to do it but Gemma said she was being silly and then she asked me to do it."

You looked down at Tubbo again - so this was Puffy's son. And for some reason, he was here, on the ship with her, instead of somewhere safe. What an irresponsible parent - just another thing to add to the list.

Tubbo looked down at the tray of bread he had brought. "Are you going to eat it or are you going to throw it?"

You took a slice off the tray and bit into the crust just to humor him. Tubbo watched you - eyes scanning over your sailor's uniform with burning curiosity. 

"Are you a bad guy?" He asked. 

"What?" You said around a mouthful of bread. 

"A bad guy." Tubbo repeated, like it was obvious. "Mum said bad guys wear those clothes, and they tried to take our boat."

This poor child. This poor sweet child. "No." You said. "I'm not a bad guy. And we didn't try to take your boat - your Mum took a very important piece of paper from our king, so he sent us to go get it back."

Tubbo blinked up at you again. He didn't say anything, but when you reached for another piece of bread, he watched your hand. 

You sighed, and pushed the last piece towards him. "Here." You said. "You can have it."

Tubbo grinned, taking the bread. You ate together in silence, you enjoying the feeling of the gentle sway of the boat and Tubbo still with his eyes glued to you, taking in every aspect of your appearance. He had probably never seen a member of the king's navy this close before - seeing as you hadn't even known there was a child aboard, Puffy probably kept him tucked away when any battling was going on. 

Although you wouldn't have been surprised either if she had him manning a cannon below deck, blasting away to his heart's content. 

With the bread gone, Tubbo stacked the trays together and got up, looking down at you again - less curious now. "I like you." He said, like he had made up his mind. "Even if Mum says you're a bad guy."

You couldn't help but smile a little. "Thank you Tubbo."

He grinned, taking the trays away and heading back up on deck, his little footsteps fading away. As much as you hated being in this cell, you found yourself feeling just a little better after Tubbo left. It wasn't much, but you would take your small comforts where you could find them - lord knew you would need them for the upcoming days. 

There was no telling how long you would be here. There was no telling if you would ever leave. 

Still, you stood up and stretched, determined not to let the cell get the best of you. If you stood on your tiptoes, you could see through the little window and out onto the ocean - the waves looked particularly blue this morning, and the sunlight glittered on the crests. You closed your eyes and breathed in the smell of the sea - if you pretended, you could be back on the Blue Knave, and none of this could have ever happened. 

It was a nice daydream, but that was all it was. You still had bruises from sleeping on the floor, and there was an ache behind your eyes that wasn't going away anytime soon.