Partner

Dress

Fingertips brush over your skin gently, making you stir. You open your eyes, gazing up at Crocodile sleepily. "Good morning Crocodile." You smile softly. He offers a smile in return.

"There's something I must ask you when you wake more, Daz has already started on breakfast." He informs you.

"Okay but I guarantee you the answer will be yes." You muse stretching. He chuckles at your response.

"See you soon." He breathes before heading out. With a smile you get up and dressed before heading out after him to the dining room. Crocodile already sat at the table. You smile going over and snaking an arm around his neck, touching your cheek to his jawline.

"You smell good by the way, new cologne?" You hum pulling away and taking a seat near him. He blinks a few times before seeming to relax, giving you an odd look.

"... Yes." He manages looking down. Daz brings in the plates, raising an eyebrow at Crocodile briefly before looking to you and smirking.

"Good morning Daz/___." You greet each other with a nod.

"So, what was it you need to ask me?" You look to Crocodile expectantly.

"Right, one of my sources have agreed to meet me at some ball they're having, and I need a date." He peers at you carefully. You blink a smile.

"So I get to dance with you again, when is it?" You inquire.

"Tonight, I apologize, I should've brought it up yesterday." He says as you start to eat.

"No worries, we were distracted yesterday. We'll just head to town after this then." You hum.

"We?" He echoes raising an eyebrow at you.

"Yes we, as my appointed best friend you are obligated to help me pick out clothes and prepare for events such as dances, parties, weddings and what not." You say simply. He gaps at you briefly.

"I don't recall agreeing to that." He responds.

"And that's why I said appointed." You smirk. Daz smiles marking in his little booklet that he's started to carry around since you joined them.

"She got you again Sir." He rumbles.

"You're not helping." Crocodile grumbles to him. You sneak your hand over Crocodile's hand making him stop and look at you.

"Come now Crocodile, don't make your partner go off alone." You smile at him. His fingers twitch, and you swear you can feel his heartbeat pick up.

"Alright you win." He breathes, and Daz marks in his notebook again. "I don't know what you keep writing but knock it off!"

You frown, catching him looking around the street with a frown. "Alright. Go back then." You sigh moving ahead. He blinks and looks at you.

"What? Just like that?" He huffs in surprise.

"Yes. I don't feel like dragging around a grumpy child." You respond folding your arms. "If you're not going to be the man I wanted to bring with me then just go back.. I don't have time for boys." You give him a slight glare. He gaps at you and swiftly blinks back.

"Alright alright, no need to speak to me like that." He says carefully stepping closer. "I'll come along, don't be angry." He rests his hand and hook on your shoulders gently. "I'm sorry." He adds. You meet his gaze and relax watching him.

"Okay then..." You murmur touching his hand briefly before leading into a dress store. In all honesty, you didn't care for dresses, they were hard to fight in. And for someone who's fighting style is based on speed, dresses proved to just slow you down. But you had no problem wearing them to show yourself off. In this situation you were in now, you just wanted to make Crocodile's jaw drop, and eyes glint with adoration.

A smile creeps onto your lips as you grab some dresses and start for the dressing room. The thought really did excite you. "Come sit down Crocodile." You motion to the chair before going into the dressing room.

Crocodile sits down, glancing about briefly. It's not that he didn't want to be here- he did, he really really did. In fact he enjoyed the thought of watching you try on dresses. But, the thought also made him nervous. Mostly because of the affect you had on him even when you weren't really doing anything. When you glared at him and told him he was acting like a grumpy child a few moments ago, it just made him admire you so much more.

Such confidence. He's soon brought back to the present as you step out in one of the dresses. He blinks at you and swallows, the color didn't suit you, but that didn't mean you were any less breathtaking. You examine his face briefly. "Nope." You hum going back into the dressing room. Crocodile blinks and shifts, this was already bad, and he knew you've barely begun. Damn tease.

Your smile grew with each dress. Crocodile was becoming more shifting by each display, you had to finish this soon. So you decide to skip to the dress you had already picked from the beginning. It was perfect, and fit like a glove. You look at yourself in the mirror and smile more before stepping out. Crocodile totally freezes, jaw dropping slightly, unable to look away from you.

"So that's a yes?" You inquire. He blinks a few times before meeting your gaze and offering a small nod, biting the inside of his lip. "Good." You smile before going back in changing into your clothes. You go out and Crocodile pays for the dress and whatever else you pick to go with it.

On the way back to the hideout, he didn't speak, until you decided to play in the snow. "___, get out of the pile of snow, you're going to catch a cold again." He says with a small smile, he seemed to handle you better when you acted like this. You smirk at him.

"Make me." Your response made him pause in surprise and he gives you a look. You just give a childish grin and dive into a even bigger snow pile.

"You sure are challenging me today ___." He rumbles going over to the pile. You poke your head out and giggle lightly. He reaches for you to pull you out of the snow, only to suddenly find himself laying in it with you looming over him. His heart skips a beat, trying to recall what just happened.

"You should be careful around me Crocodile. Letting down your guard like that is tempting." You whisper against his ear. He refrains from swallowing, fingers twitching again.

"Now what are you playing at ___?" He questions. You smile and kiss his cheek.

"Nothing really, I just like surprising you like this Crocodile. Your reactions are surprisingly cute." You giggle, hand trailing down his chest. He meets your gaze, trying to remain level headed though you made it so damn difficult. You pull back helping him to his feet. "Sorry, I hope that didn't make you angry."

"I need to stop underestimating you. I keep getting backed into a corner." He mutters. You smile and he looks at you, deciding to get you back for today. He tips your chin after dropping his cigar and crashes his lips against yours. Now it was your turn to freeze, eyes widening in surprise as a cute little sound escapes you. He smirks against your lips before pulling back before you can recover. "And you shouldn't underestimate me." He adds before carrying on.

You blink after him in a daze and grin. "Mm things are finally getting good." You mutter following him.