A Taste of Forever (Katakuri x Reader)

Chapter 46 - A promise made

A/N:

Wordcount: 5600+

"No, you're not going to die, and no, I won't tell your mother you loved her," you whined as you tried to heave a drunk crewmember back up to his feet.

As smart and skilled your crewmates were, sometimes they surprised you with the opposite.

At this rate, you were still going to drag them back to the ship by the time the first crack of dawn peeked over the horizon.

Not having been able to fall asleep for the better part of the night, you had offered to switch shifts with the lookout for the night. It was your favourite time of the day anyway, and rather than staring at the ceiling, a sleeping Katakuri – as soothing and relaxing...and admittedly creepy that would have been – or overthinking your upcoming reunion with Mama, you opted to do something more productive.

Luckily, it was a wonderful night to stargaze and take your mind off things. The moon was throning over the world and covering the pier and adjacent city with its cold silver light whilst the town's lively buzz echoed up the crow's nest. 

The wonderful thing about this kind of ports was that they were open pretty much 24/7. Even though it was well into the night, you could still hear the lively atmosphere of the establishments below.

None of the sounds bothered you though as they served as the acoustic backdrop to you gazing up at the sky; watching the warm orange light of the streetlights below ascending towards the night sky, only for them to fade out and disappear inside the moon's silver light before getting swallowed in cosmic black.

Between sharpening your boomerangs and going over the course the navigator had planned, you spent the majority of the night in peace. At least, until the giggling and drunk blabbering of your crewmembers reached your ears, and you shifted your attention onto them.

With your knees pulled up to your chest and your body hidden behind the walls of the crow's nest, you glanced into the general direction the sound was coming from. At first, you were just confirming that those drunk idiots singing a barely recognisable version of Binks' sake were really your idiots. However, upon doing so, you pulled yourself up by the rim of the crow's nest and gazed down at them with a smile on your lips.

There they were, singing and stumbling back with more than just a little sway to their steps, courtesy of the alcohol tilting the entire world around them. Apparently, they had enjoyed the bar for quite some more time after Katakuri and you had left.

For a moment, you debated whether you should let them get back on their own. After all, if they could get drunk, they could also do the work of finding their own way back home. However, upon witnessing them stumbling over each other and bursting out laughing when one of them landed face-first on the cobblestone yet again, you decided to help them.

Partly because it had stopped being funny by that point, but also because a few of them had one drink too many. Before any of them could fall down the pier and accidentally drown themselves, it was best you aided them in the insurmountably challenging quest of getting back on the ship.

After strapping your boomerangs across your back and storing the map in the back of your jeans, you climbed down the main mast before skipping down the ramp and along the pier until you reached the few crewmembers.

Getting them back to the ship was easier than you had anticipated. Most walked back on their own after you had pulled them back on their feet and guided them in the right direction, and although their steps were far from steady, you were happy that they at least tried to make your job easier.