DOMINO - Eustass Kid x Reader

CHAPTER FIFTY THREE: Morale

"Are you sure he's here..?"

Looking out over the bleak, craggy terrain, I wasn't really convinced. I had done plenty of research on the Red-Haired Pirates before, and they seemed to prefer more tropical islands to camp on, not stoney wastelands.

"Positive. I can smell 'im..." Kid smirked darkly as his hands closed tighter over the wooden edge of our ship.
"He mustn't bathe very much, then..." I muttered, unsure of the exact reason why I felt uneasy.

Sure, going up against an Emperor of the Sea was huge, but what unsettled me the most was the fact that this island didn't seem to have any vegetation at all, or any animals for that matter. It felt like some kind of warning.

"Oi, Boss, it's gonna take a little while to unload all that scrap. Should be done within the hour though." Bubblegum called up to the captain from where he stood on land. We couldn't exactly refer to it as a shore, seeing as there was no sand.

Kid turned to head towards his study, guiding me with a hand hovering behind my back. I just followed, taking more than one glance back at the odd wasteland we had sailed to.

Sitting down at his desk, he motioned for me to settle on his knee, which I was more than happy to do. Looping one arm around me waist, he used his free hand to point to the centre of the map.
"There's a canyon, about eight kilometres through, sixty feet high at the sides. If I station you above us, are you confident you can snipe?"

I stared at his finger as he thought. That was pretty damn high up, not to mention I didn't know the distance in which our enemy would fight from. Brow creasing, I turned to look into my partner's crimson gaze.
"Without a scope, I can't guarantee I'll be able to make any vital shots, not to mention we have no idea how many of them are here...or how they'll react to us. So many variables..."

I feel kinda queasy...

"You hit that Marine bastard square in the throat on a swayin' ship, so I'm not too concerned about your aim." Kid reminisced, but I wasn't too confident anymore.
"Yeah, but none of them were Beckman or Roux. They could shoot a drop of sweat off an ant..."

Kid shifted me so I was entirely straddling his lap, face to face with him. Tilting my chin up, he made sure I was giving him my complete undivided attention.
"You're better than them."

I just stared back at him, my face likely screaming the precise level of my confusion and disbelief. He wasn't serious, was he? Had he inhaled too much steel dust?
"Uh...no? I'm a rookie..? They have years of experience, and the notoriety to prove it. Why would you even think that to be remotely true?"

Keeping hold of my chin, Kid's expression didn't change, but there was a fiery passion burning in his eyes, hotter than it already had been over the past few days.
"Because I fuckin' said so."

He's lost it. I love him, but he finally lost it...

"If I say you're better than them, then you're better than them. We're better than them. Shanks, Beckman, Lucky Roux, they're has-beens. We're the best, and we just need to let everyone else know it." He truly believed what he was saying, and I so badly wanted to agree.

"Your confidence is honestly scary." I half chuckled, gently swatting his hand away so I could rest my forehead against his. "You know I believe in you, in everyone, but you can't blame me for being worried. I've only been a pirate for a little less than a year."

Kid's face softened a little, but not entirely, his hands interlocked behind me at my tail bone.
"Just follow my plan, and you'll see. I'll prove it to you." Again, his words were worrisome, but that was just how he was. A confident brute who would never back down. It was one of the many reasons I had fallen for him.