DOMINO - Eustass Kid x Reader

CHAPTER FIFTY NINE: Be

***KILLER POV***

"Again? Is he really being such a little bitch?"

My patience was paper thin at this point. It felt like I was surrounded by children. Kid, who was acting like a spoiled brat, and (Y/N), who was displaying behaviour I could only describe as self-destructive.

"Said he wasn't hungry." Jaguar shrugged, though I could tell he was a little antsy, having to deal with me. That was something I couldn't blame him for. Rolling my eyes, I snatched the bowl of stew and marched my way out of the kitchen and through the castle, down the stone steps to Kid's workshop.

My knock was aggressive, to say the least, the door buckling with each hit.
"YOU HAVE UNTIL THE COUNT OF THREE TO GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE AND TAKE YOUR DAMN DINNER, YOU MORON! ONE-"

The door opened before I could count to two, Kid's pinched, bitter expression glaring at me, matching my own, which I had hidden beneath my helmet.
"I ain't fuckin' hungry." Kid growled through his teeth, and I took a moment to really look at him.

The bags under his eyes were the heaviest I'd seen them, sinking down towards his cheeks. His hair was limp and messy, unsupported by his goggles, which were now hanging loose around his neck. He kept the loss of his arm hidden behind the door, but I could see it in my mind. Haunting me.

"Just...try. If you don't eat, fine, but at least take it, just in case." I sighed, the bite in my voice suddenly less sharp. I was still colossally pissed at him, but I had to remind myself that he was hurting too. "You really need to talk to (Y/N), she-"

Without so much as a grunt, Kid snatched the bowl from my hand and slammed the door in my face, the echo ringing in my ears.

I'm gonna wring his neck.

Throwing my arms up in the air, I muttered every foul curse I knew as I turned and made my way back up the stairs. We couldn't keep going on like this. The entire crew would fall apart eventually. (Y/N) would fall apart. I would fall apart...but he just didn't seem to care.

"Oi, where's the brat?" It was all I could really call her, as of late. (Y/N) seemed like she was doing everything in her power to get under my skin without even realising it. I had already lost count of how many times I had slung her over my shoulder and carried her back to her room, but unless I imposed a hard ban on all things alcoholic, which wouldn't bode well, there was no fixing it.

"Saw 'er go outside about an hour ago, give or take." Compo thumbed over his shoulder as I passed him by. "Told 'er not to wander too far, since it's dark'n all."

Great. Just what I need. A lost drunk.

Steeling myself, I simply nodded and headed outside, praying that she'd be close by. Things needed to be discussed, and soon, but it was impossible when she was being so immature. No, that wasn't the way to describe it. She was suffering her own kind of loss, I knew that, but she needed to direct her pained energy somewhere other than the bottom of a bottle.

The tension in my shoulders relaxed when I found her sitting down by the path, right before the ground began to slope. Just sitting, staring out towards the dark, calm ocean. She looked peaceful, from the back, ends of her (H/C) hair slightly catching the breeze.

What really took me, however, was the fact she was wearing my old, polka-dot shirt.

"A thief never quits, huh?" I spoke up, and she tilted her neck backwards, almost uncomfortably far, instead of turning around.
"Hmmm? Oh, yeh. S'cold." The way she spoke didn't surprise me anymore. I hadn't heard her speak in a clear, unslurred voice for too long now.