HIRAETH // Captain Puffy X Reader

4

You settled into the holding cell as best you could, making yourself as comfortable as you could against the rough wooden wall of the ship. You had been in worse conditions during your training to become part of the force, and at least you weren't dripping wet anymore - the sun through the little window had dried you out for the most part. 

You dozed off and on - partially giving in to your body's exhaustion from the fight, partially paranoid that at any minute one of the pirates would come back downstairs and say that their captain had changed her mind and was going to throw you overboard. Eventually though, as time progressed, you gave in to the urge to sleep fully, knocking out against the wall of the cell.

You woke up when something dropped to the floor outside the bars with a clang - your body immediately going into fight or flight. It took you a minute to realize where you were again, but once you did, you scowled, looking up through the bars at the captain, where she had dropped a tray of food within reach.

"You don't have to look at me with such distaste." Puffy said, her lip curling slightly. 

"You didn't have to take me prisoner on your ship." You said, glaring. Your stomach ached for the food - it looked delicious, grilled meat and sliced fruit - but you didn't dare reach for it until Puffy left. It would be a sign of weakness. 

Unfortunately, Puffy didn't seem to be leaving any time soon. Instead, she pulled a stool forward from where it had been leaning against the side of the boat and sat down, resting her elbows on her knees as she peered down at you. 

"Your hair's a different color now that it's not wet." She noted absently. 

You shifted, lifting yourself up from where you had been leaning against the wall to sit up more, strangely self conscious as Puffy looked down at you from her stool. It was strangely intimidating, even though she hadn't said anything outright mean. 

"Stop looking at me." You said. 

Puffy rolled, her eyes and looked up to the ceiling above your head. "You don't have to be so rude you know - we basically saved you from drowning-"

"I would have rather, anyway." You said. 

Puffy's eyes dropped back from the ceiling and she raised an eyebrow. She said nothing, but you could hear the question anyway. 

You frowned slightly. "If they knew I was alive, they would call me a traitor to the crown." You said. "They would discharge me from the navy - dishonorably probably." Just thinking about it was making you anxious. "So yeah, I would rather be dead."

Puffy had the audacity to laugh at that - at it wasn't even a pity laugh either, she genuinely found it amusing. "Because being a crown traitor is the worst thing in the world."

"Of course you wouldn't think so." You sneered. "You've probably never been loyal to anyone but yourself your whole life."

Puffy laughed again, leaning forward even more to leer down at you - you could see the gold fang in her mouth again. "Loyalty, huh? You don't think I'm loyal to my crew and my ship?"

The question made you pause - she was obviously mocking you, at least a little. It was there in the teasing grin, the way her eyes glimmered in the low light streaming in through the window. You decided to answer anyway, even if it was kind of a trap.

"I don't." You said haughtily. "I think you're the kind of person who would backstab everyone in your life who cares about you just to get what you want."

That made Puffy laugh again, and she rocked back and forth on the stool, obviously delighted at your answer. "You really think that?" She asked. 

"Why wouldn't I?" You said. "You and your band of criminals stole one of the most treasured maps in the whole world - you're ruthless."

Puffy continued to rock idly on the stool, going back and forth, still with that amused grin on her face. The more you watched, the more you felt a growing sort of resentment - how dare she mock you while you were sitting in a holding cell, forcing yourself not to eat until you were alone. 

Anger spiked within you, and you leaned forward, reaching to the tray of food and picking up a piece of fruit to throw at Puffy. It thwacked her on the forehead and fell to the floor, leaving a splash of red juice to drip down her face. As soon as the fruit left you hand you were filled with instant regret.

Puffy was glaring down at you. She reached up to wipe the juice off her forehead, shooting up from the stool so that it clattered aside. You inched backwards in the cell, not wanting to be within reach of Puffy's sword.

It didn't matter though, because she just stalked away, seething silently. You heard her go back up to the deck, and then it was quiet.

You finally reached out to the tray of food and dropped a piece of fruit into your mouth, eagerly eating. 

Now that the imminent danger of Puffy hurting you was gone, the regret faded into satisfaction - served her right for being such a pain. You shoved another piece of fruit into your mouth angrily. You hadn't asked for any of this - much less her incessant snark. You hadn't been lying when you had said you would rather be dead than be here, reaching your hand through cell bars to get to your food. 

You were going to have to sleep on the floor for god knew how long. It could be ages until you managed to get out of this cell - and then where would you go?

You groaned, tossing your head back to look up at the cracked ceiling boards above your head. Hopefully the food was poisoned and you would pass in your sleep.