Test the Waters (Cracker x Reader)

The First Job

"Mousey!"

You lost your concentration along with the water you were trying to mold into a thin blade. It was much harder than it sounded and you just about had it until he interrupted.

"Yes?" You sighed, having given up on making him drop the nickname a while ago.

Cracker walked up to you, kicking some sand in your direction. "Get off your ass, we're going somewhere."

"Where?" You stood up and wiped the sand off of you, groaning internally when Cracker bent down and kissed you.

He was still an ass as always but had started acting a bit more physically affectionate. It started after he cut himself and scared the shit out of you a few weeks ago. All you could think is he was doing it so you wouldn't think he was ready to beat you at any time. So the thought was there, but you still weren't keen on being physical, not like there was any real feeling behind it anyway. It was just going through the motions that were normal for most couples.

"A few hours out to sea. We've got a good chance to put your abilities to the test."

He walked along the beach with a bounce in his step, heading towards the docks. It took a bit of effort to keep up with his long legged pace but you didn't want to fall behind. This was something out of the ordinary and therefore, very interesting.

"What do you mean? What kind of test is that far out from here?"

"The kind that doesn't want to enter Mama's territory. There's a marine ship snooping not far off and I've been told you're supposed to take care of it." Cracker snickered, watching you jog to his side like a hawk watching a field mouse scamper into view. "It's about time you see some action."

You never thought about the day you'd have to actually do something for the Big Mom pirates. Now here it was staring you right in the face and it filled you with dread. You'd gotten into your fair share of fist fights and spats, but killing? That wasn't something you thought you would ever be capable of. But it was something Big Mom expected of you. Her and Cracker that was. At this point you were more afraid of what he'd do if you didn't go through with it than her. Probably because he was perpetually breathing down your neck, she was a few islands away. He would be the more imminent threat if you backed down now.

"O-okay." You frowned, letting yourself fall a little behind him so he wouldn't see the look of uncertainty that overtook your features. Not like he would have cared anyway. Cracker was too pumped to see some destruction to notice anything.

----

"How're you going to do it mousey?" Cracker brushed up against your back as he placed a heavy hand on your shoulder.

The ship was close. From this distance on Cracker's, you could start to make out the general shape of it. The Marines had already noticed you as well, but it was too late to make an escape. Your ship was too close and was obviously the faster one. It wouldn't be long until you were close enough to take it down and that scared you as much as it probably scared them.

"I don't know yet." You shook your head, eyes filled with doubt. Could you go through with sentencing so many people to death?

"Better figure it out, we'll be on them soon."

"I don't know if I can do it." You whispered to yourself but of course he could hear.

His eyes narrowed as he gripped your jaw and twisted your head around to look at him. "You can and you will. This is a test mousey, one you're going to want to pass."

You swallowed thickly and nodded, not missing his warning tone.

He looked back out at the ship and then to you. "You could make a blade like this morning, cut it right in half."