DOMINO - Eustass Kid x Reader

CHAPTER FORTY: Scrap

Much to my surprise, Kid didn't complain nearly half as much as I had expected on our journey down the levels of the city. Sure, he grunted and grizzled about the canals, the people, even some of the smells, but only a little.

When we finally reached the stone bridge, he tugged me back into a stop, looking out towards the other side.
"Is that...scrap?" He asked, glancing down at me as I nodded.
"Yep, a whole island of it. Not all of it is metal, but I thought you might like to explore?"

I watched as Kid's lips curled into a smirk, then a grin, and before I had the chance to blink he had me thrown over his shoulder, already starting across the bridge.
"You thought right, brat. Maybe you're smarter than I gave you credit for?"

Duh.

I was becoming fond of being thrown over his shoulder, though I wasn't at a place I would openly admit it yet. The curves of his muscles, even through his fur coat, were becoming more prominent by the day, and I liked feeling them. His progress.

The second he set foot on the scrap island he set me down, pulling his fur coat off and plopping it over my head before dashing off to scrounge around. Digging out of the red fluff and settling it around my shoulders, my chest felt warm as I watched him.

He was like a child, full of wonder and joy, and I loved him like that. Not trying to put on a tough act, or oozing dominance through every pore. Just the real him, doing what he enjoyed.

"Why didn't you tell me 'bout this in the first place?" He asked from over his shoulder, lifting a large metal coil from one of the mounds and inspecting it in his hand.
"You would've rushed off the second we docked and left us to deal with the plans for Victoria. Couldn't have that." I chuckled in response, shrugging off his coat and placing it neatly somewhere it wouldn't get lost and buried.

"Fair point." Kid hummed, eyeing me with his peripherals as I bounded further down the coastline, towards the wreckage of a small ship.
"I used to hang here a lot, mostly on my own, but sometimes with Franky. You know Franky, right? He's a member of the Strawhats now. He likes building things, just like you."

Climbing up the jagged side of the hull, I made my way onto the deck, then part-way up the splintered mast. Just like old times.
"He's that cyborg, ain't he? What, was he your boyfriend or something?" Kid's voice soured a little as he moved to sift through the debris below me, and I snorted loudly.

"Oh, God, no! Loved the guy to pieces, but not at all my type. Plus, he was an adult and I was just a brat. I sometimes helped him gather junk to take back to his crib. He made me a pellet gun once, but my father confiscated it after I broke a few things..." I explained, kind of chuffed that my captain had shown a bit of jealousy.
"The ones I made you are better though, right?" Kid asked, trying to sound like he didn't care much.

Aw, he's fishing for praise.

"The best, by a landslide." I grinned down at him, and he smiled back before quickly returning his attention to scrap collection.
"I'm comin' back here before we leave and taking a few bits. That gonna cause shit?"

Shaking my head, I slid back down the mast and bent over to pick up a dried out crab, tossing it overboard.
"Nah, it's free pickings here. Nobody will care. Take whatever your little tinkering heart desires." Just as I was getting ready to climb off I felt a strange tug on my belt, and before I knew it I was flying off the edge and down into Kid's waiting arms.

"Whatever my heart desires, huh?" He smirked down at me as I was registering what had happened. Cheeks burning, I fought against my fluster and rolled my eyes.
"I said your heart, not your cock, Kidiot."