HIRAETH // Captain Puffy X Reader

16

The next morning, you were dragging a little - drinking had a habit of doing that to you - but so was the rest of the ship, so you felt alright about it. The morning sun was a little too bright on the sea and you had a mild headache; you had contemplated just staying in your hammock for a little while longer, but you were more scared Puffy would storm down into the hold and pull you from your bed. 

Your mind had been on her almost all of last night, ever since Gemma had told you that she didn't actually want to rip your guts out. 

Now, as you followed Gemma towards the bow of the ship to repair part of the railing that had given way last night, you spotted that now-familiar poof of white hair and found your eyes drawn to her at the helm of the ship. The rising sun fell on Puffy's face perfectly, ever the fierce figure. 

Her eyes slipped to yours and you smiled, waving slightly with your hand that wasn't holding onto the spare wood Gemma had handed you before you had come up here to fix the rail. She waved back hesitantly - like she hadn't been expecting it. You didn't mind too much - you already knew that she didn't actually hate you so much. 

Up at the bow, Gemma knelt down to inspect the broken railing. You set down the supplies you had brought with you, leaning against part of the railing that was still intact. Gemma ran a hand over the splintered wood, frowning slightly. "It's not going to look that good, but I think I can fix it."

"I'm sure you can." You said, handing Gemma one of the sanding blocks you had brought. She got to work right away, working down the rough edge of the broken railing. You turned around, leaning on the railing to watch the waves roll by until Gemma needed you - she would tell you when your help was required. 

"Morning Gem."

Gemma didn't even look away from her task at hand. "Morning Cap."

Puffy came to lean against the railing next to you, watching Gemma work. You forced yourself not to flinch away, instead just still watching the ocean in the early morning light. Puffy didn't say anything to you, so it was quiet for a moment - until Gemma stood back up from the broken railing, tutting. 

"I'm going to see if I can find some nails." She said, heading back towards the hold of the ship. 

Leaving you and Puffy, alone on deck. 

You didn't say anything, just folding your arms on the railing and leaning more over the edge. You were expecting Puffy to leave now that Gemma wasn't here, but she didn't - only fiddling with her fingers and the hem of her jacket. If anything, she looked nervous. 

You glanced over to her. "Feeling alright?"

Puffy pursed her lips. "I'm doing fine. Um. I wanted to apologize for the other day."

You were taken by surprise at that - you looked to Puffy out of the corner of your eye to see her looking out to the sea as well, worrying the bottom of her lip. "For what, exactly?"

"When I slammed the door on you." She said. "That was rude, and I feel like you really hate me - which you're perfectly entitled to -  but I don't want you to think that I don't appreciate the way you're teaching Tubbo his letters and spending so much time just playing games with him, because I do. As much as I don't like that you're part of the navy, I really do appreciate that you're spending so much time with him... and he really likes you."

You smiled. "That's nice to hear." You said, pausing for a moment. "And I don't hate you." You tacked on quietly. "You're... not that bad. For a pirate."

Puffy grinned a little at that, and you couldn't help but smile a bit as well. You had long since come to the conclusion that for better or worse, you liked these people. They weren't the ruthless bandits you had been told they were - no, they were some of the nicest people you had met. And now that you knew why they were here... you couldn't exactly blame them. 

Of course, a life of crime was perhaps not the way to go, but at least they were a little justified. 

"Really now?" Puffy teased. "When did that change?"

You laughed, but in the back of your mind you thought back to the first time you had met Puffy - when she had been standing across the narrow divide of sea, when you were still on the Blue Knave. She had been a storm of fury then, but then you had seen her balance Tubbo on her hip so that he could play with her hair, and smack Gemma's ass when she wasn't paying attention. She valued the members of her crew, and her crew treated her with respect and friendliness, and now, after being on this ship for weeks you couldn't help but begin to see a different side of her. 

No, you didn't hate her. You didn't particularly like her - she was still a pirate, and still got on your nerves sometimes - but you didn't want to jump off the ship every time she spoke to you now. It was mostly thanks to Tubbo, but then again, almost everything you had been able to do on this ship was mostly thanks to Tubbo.

"It's hard to hate you all the way when your son is so adorable." You said. 

Puffy laughed - bright and clear as the morning sun - and you smiled, resting your elbows back on the railing. No, she wasn't so bad. If you had been able to go back in time and tell yourself when you had still been stuck in that cell that you would be out on deck side by side with the woman that had put you there - you would have scoffed. 

But here you were. And it wasn't so bad.