HIRAETH // Captain Puffy X Reader

11

Tubbo was a pretty fast learner, you came to see. 

It had been almost a week now since he had asked you to teach him how to read. The change in routine was small - you still spent your mornings with Gemma, helping out on the ship and ignoring the way Puffy's eyes caught on you whenever you were within ten feet of her (you'd think with how well you were behaving she would trust you more, but no), but your afternoons were now spent with Tubbo, using a barrel as a table and scraps of paper to teach him how to read. 

You had scoured the ship for books to teach with and found only a few- most of them being logs and sailors tales. They worked well enough though, as Tubbo already knew most of the words that came along with ship terminology. You made him little alphabet guides as well, just scratching out the letters onto a spare piece of parchment. 

Soon enough, he had memorized his alphabet and could use it to piece together words. 

Right now, he was working his way through a page in one of the old ship logs you had found, sounding out the words according to the letters as he went. You pointed down to the page, finger hovering over the ink on the page. "You know this one." You prompted. 

Tubbo squinted down at the word - it always took him a minute to sort out which letters were which, but you didn't mind waiting, he was learning after all - and after a moment he got it, looking back up to you with mild uncertainty. "And?"

"Yup, and." You said. "The next one?"

Tubbo looked down at the page again, tracing a finger over the letters. He hadn't seen this word before, so you knew it would take him another minute to figure out what it was. He rolled each of the sounds the letters would make over in his mouth - just little sounds of w and h. You couldn't help but smile - every time he encountered a new word, he did this, and you found it adorable every time.

"Weeter?" Tubbo asked, looking up from the page at you. 

"Close." You said. "Try again."

"Can I get a hint?" He asked. 

You hummed. "Alright... it's what happens with the clouds, uh, rain, sun-"

"Weather!" Tubbo exclaimed. "And weather!"

"Good job." You said. "You did the whole sentence almost by yourself this time - do you want to switch over to writing now?"

Tubbo nodded, marking his place in the log book and setting it aside. You passed a scrap of parchment over to him, using the back of one of the pieces you had used in a previous lesson - paper was hard to come by here on the ship, but unfortunately, it was necessary to the learning process. 

"What do we want to write today?" You asked. 

"Puffy!" Tubbo said, grabbing one of the makeshift charcoal pencils you had carved. He made sure to grip it how you had told him - three fingers, one on each side - before holding it poised above the paper, ready to write. 

You didn't think there was a more eager student in the whole world. 

"Okay." You said, taking a piece of parchment for yourself. You slowly wrote out the word, being sure to space out the letters more so that Tubbo could read them better. Then, you turned the paper around so he could see what you had written. He looked over each of the marks you had made carefully, copying them down on his own paper. 

When he was done, he held it up proudly. 

"Wow, Tubbo that looks great." You said. "Your handwriting is coming along nicely-"

Tubbo beamed, scooting away from the table and coming around to tug you out of your seat as well, pulling you towards the steps that would take you above deck. You followed him - not that you really had a choice when he had a hand tightly wound into the fabric of your trousers as was tugging you along. 

You followed him up the steps and into the sunlight on board - his little piece of parchment still stuck in his hand. The crew was really just lounging about at this time of day, and you smiled at the passing faces as Tubbo dragged you along, straight to the door that led to his mother's cabin - the captains quarters. 

Tubbo didn't even knock before opening the door and bustling inside, still dragging you along behind him. You had never been in this part of the ship before, and you were surprised how simple it was. Usually the captain's quarters were the most lavish part of the ship, but Puffy's room was surprisingly homey. There was a single bed pushed up against the wall, and most of the room was taken up by a large table strewn with maps and scrolls. Gemma and Puffy stood around it, charting the course you were on currently. Your eyes were immediately drawn to the center of the table though, and the piece of paper laid out there. 

The map.

"Mum, look!" Tubbo chirped, finally letting you go to grab onto Puffy instead, showing her the piece of parchment. "I wrote your name!"

Puffy looked away from the map and down to her son, taking the parchment from his hand and holding it up. "Wow, Tubs, this is great."

Tubbo bounced at her side. "Y/N showed me how! We've been practicing-"

Puffy's eyes snapped to you and she set the piece of parchment Tubbo had given her down, striding forward to place a hand on your chest and back you out the door. "You can't be in here." She said.

You stumbled back, confused. "Hold on-"

"You really think I was going to let you anywhere near that map?" Puffy said, her eyes narrow. "My son might like you, but that doesn't mean I do." She stepped back towards the door. "I know exactly what you're trying to do."

The door slammed closed, and you were left alone on the deck.