HIRAETH // Captain Puffy X Reader

6

And so it went. You kept track of the days by the rotation of the day and night through your window and wheedled your time away in the holding cell. Tubbo was pretty much your only company - he would come toddling in with a tray of food and sit down and talk to you about anything that crossed his mind. You didn't get another visit from Puffy or any of the other crew members - she must have been more angry than you thought about the fruit thing. 

Thinking about that just made you smile. Served her right, for making you sleep on the floor. The last time you had been in a proper cot had been a week ago - the night before the Blue Knave had sunk. 

A familiar ache of sadness struck your chest and you shook off the thought, reaching forward to draw an X through the dust, marking the makeshift tic-tac-toe board Tubbo had drawn on the ground. 

Tubbo frowned, looking down at your play. You had just blocked him from winning. "Why'd you do that?"

"Well, I'm trying to win too, Tubbo." You said, the corner of your mouth quirking up at the slight pout on his face. It was obvious that he was used to getting his way in everything - you could imagine how the crew doted on him. 

More often than not in the past week, you found yourself subject to his little charms as well, and who were you to refuse when he was your only company?

When he put down another O, you purposefully marked your X so that he could win - and he did so gleefully, quickly drawing another O and scratching a line through all three, connecting them and solidifying his winning. 

"Good job, Tubbo." You said, leaning back against the wall of the cell. He grinned, and you could see the gaps where some of his teeth had fallen out - he had just recently lost one of them, and he had shown you the tooth proudly, saying that the tooth fairy had forgotten to take it when she left him a doubloon under his pillow. 

"Play again?" Tubbo asked, clearing the board. 

"Ah, you'll just beat me again." You said. "How many times has it been now? 24?"

"26." Tubbo said proudly. "And it's 34 in rock-paper-shears and 14 in chopsticks."

You shook your head, bemused. "You're too good at these games. I can't ever hope to beat you."

Tubbo grinned and reached through the bars to grab your hands, pulling them to his side. "C'mon, we'll do chopsticks again. You almost beat me yesterday."

You extended your fingers, watching as Tubbo did the same. His hands were so much smaller than yours, but you could feel the callouses on them when he tapped his finger against yours. So young, and already working on the ship. He had told you excitedly about all the important jobs his mum and Aunt Gemma gave him (really menial things like moving extra ropes and dusting around the cabins), but he was excited to be helping at all. 

From what you could understand, the sea was all he had ever known. It was his home just as any other sailors - only he had had his sea legs pretty much since he was born. 

Tubbo tapped his finger against yours, and you added another on that hand before reaching out and tapping one of his hands, making him extend all five fingers. Instead of putting that hand away though, he just bumped his fists together, evening out the count so he had three on each hand.

"Hold on now," You said. "I thought the rule was no bumping allowed, if you're out, you're out."

Tubbo just giggled - an evil little giggle that meant he was changing the rules again - and you sighed, just accepting that he was going to win again. You didn't particularly mind losing, these games were just to pass the time, and letting him win meant he kept coming back each day. Plus, when he smiled, you melted a little bit inside. 

Tubbo tapped your hands - and you tucked all your fingers back into fists, successfully defeated. He grinned, wide, and was about to say something when you heard a voice calling from above deck.

"Tubbo!"

Tubbo turned towards the source of the sound, getting up and grabbing the now empty tray that he had brought with him when he came down. "Coming Mum!" He called back. He turned back to you, still grinning from his victory. "I'll come back later and you can try to beat me again, okay?"

"Okay." You said, watching as he pattered away, back towards the steps that would take him back up to the upperdecks. He cast one last glance at you before he totally disappeared, a lingering look that you weren't sure how to interpret, as you had never seen it before - not from Tubbo, anyway. You smiled thinly back at him.

He scurried up the steps and then he was gone, leaving you alone in the holding cell once again. 

You stood up, pacing around your cell a bit before coming to stand in the ray of sunlight from the window, letting the light fall on you and warm your skin. After a week of being confined to the same five feet of space, you were itching to get back out in the open - see the open sky and be able to move around again. 

You knew it wasn't going to happen anytime soon though, so you just dreamt of the open sea instead, watching the waves roll outside your window. The foreseeable future looked much like the recent past - you would waste away here, only perking up when you heard Tubbo coming down the steps with your next meal and few hours of company before he would get called away again. 

It was a pitiful existence, being a captive of the enemy. You traced your fingers over the wood of the ship, pretending for a moment that you could feel the ocean outside them.