Test the Waters (Cracker x Reader)

For Better or Worse

"Cracker's problem is he is still childish in a lot of ways. He has a lot of room for growth and I think this whole ordeal can help him with that. If you two can work through this, things will turn out just fine." Brûlèe, this woman you hardly knew, consoled you and pulled you into a tight hug.

"I hope so. I just want to get through all this without going crazy."

"You will, I can promise you that."

----

Peros eventually came back and spent some time with you and Brûlèe. He suggested you give Cracker some space to mull things over in the meantime. So after about an hour of conversation with them, you felt relaxed enough to go see Big Mom as she requested the other day.

She never commented on how you looked, though it would have been hard to miss your puffy, tired eyes. She was intimidating as always but kept a cheery attitude as you showed her some of the things you learned to do with your devil fruit. Because you were in her throne room, you were using fresh water and working on a much smaller scale than you had been for the last couple months. But it was fine with her. She just wanted to see that you'd gotten a better hold on how to use your abilities in a much less limited way.

She was delighted to see your improvements, even going as far to shower you in praise for your efforts. It made you feel better and forget your worries for a short period of time. Afterwards you ran into Raisin and had the chance to catch up with him a bit, filling him in on the fighting skills you'd learned. It was mostly a mix of self defense and knife fighting but he was happy to know you were doing well and had a better grasp on some close range fighting techniques.

The time went by entirely too fast. It had to be because you were finding yourself enjoying the company of other people. You didn't realize how much you missed it until now. Sylas and Avah were great back on Biscuits island, but Sylas was just a kid and Avah was only there to train you. The people here who chose to spend time with you didn't do it out of obligation, they actually wanted to and it made you feel ready to deal with whatever Cracker may throw your way. At least for a while, he had a habit of wearing you down pretty fast.

When you got back to your shared room at the end of the day, he wasn't there and you weren't sure if you should be worried or relieved about it. You figured there wasn't much time until he did get back with it being later in the evening and decided to take a shower and get in bed before you saw him. It'd make things easier for the night.

So you did just that, cleaning up and getting under the covers in record time. When you laid down, you could faintly smell Cracker's usual scent in the sheets. It was like a mix of freshly baked bread and gunpowder. The first part had to do something with his devil fruit, you were almost positive about that. The second must have involved his firecracker hair style. Why he did that to his hair, you'd never know.

It seemed you had Cracker's schedule figured out pretty well. As soon as you'd gotten comfortable under the covers, the door opened and closed quietly as he came in for the night. Peeking out from under the blankets, you watched him make a beeline for the bathroom like usual. He liked letting his hair down first thing before heading to bed, the one thing you always appreciated.

There was the sound of water running as he started up the shower which was a bit odd. Usually he'd just take care of his hair and shower in the morning. You had to be reading too much into it, for all you knew he just felt like taking one now. You burrowed further under the blankets until only the top of your head poked out. It was a little too warm but he wouldn't be able to see that you were awake when he got out of the bathroom.

Your prior stress about him getting furious with you was somehow gone. It was replaced with more of a sense of uncertainty of how things would go. Would they even change, or would he pretend nothing happened? You could never tell with him, he was so difficult to read most of the time.

The water stopped and Cracker stepped out of the bathroom not long after. You could just barely see his bottom half past the corner of the sheets covering your face. He had a towel hugging his waist and he was standing in the bathroom doorway, facing the bed. After a second he sighed heavily and padded over to your side of the bed.

"Scoot over."

Of course he knew you were awake. You did as he said, making just enough room for him to drop the towel and climb in beside you. The bed was huge, yet he still had you move from your spot on the edge so he could sleep on the same side. Before you could back up too far, he wrapped his arms around you, dragging you into his still damp chest close enough that you couldn't look up to get a read on his expression.

"You hate me, don't you?" His chest rumbled as he spoke but his voice was calm and steady.

"I...don't know." Sure he scared you, annoyed you, and did so much to get under your skin so often. But you didn't know if you could say you hated him.

"You should after all I've done to you."

"Brûlèe and I talked. She said something that's had me thinking but I'm not sure if it's true or not."

"What'd she say?" His warm breath puffed against the top of your head as he dipped down closer.

"I..I need you to say whatever you wanted to first. I know there's something you want to say." You pressed your hands firmly to his chest and looked up to meet his sad eyes. He'd never looked at you like that before. He had two modes, happy and angry. This was totally different.

"Peros really lit into me today about us and you know what? I really deserved it. He told me to stop, and I quote, 'being such a little bitch and get my act together.'" He chuckled as he brushed his fingers through your hair. "Long story short, I didn't know how to treat you and I don't know what I should be doing to fix things."

"This, right now, is a good start." You squinted as you noticed an off colored mark on his cheek, overlapping with his scar. It was hard to see in the dark so you hesitantly reached up and touched it lightly. He let you, flinching slightly as you made contact.

"That's going to look worse in the morning." He grabbed your hand and lowered it. "Peros decked me before calling me a little bitch."

"Oh..." Who knew the big bad pirate would go that far to help you in your situation.

"So what did Brûlèe tell you?"

"She said that you might, possibly, like me by chance?" You hid your face into his chest, not wanting to see him laugh at you for thinking he may have feelings for you.

"She's perceptive as always." He sighed and squeezed you tightly. "Peros could tell too. He told me if I don't start acting on my emotions better, I may lose you."

"So, you really do?"

"How couldn't I?" He tilted up your chin and kissed you lightly, showing a level of care he hadn't since the day he married you. "I was given a beautiful wife who's strong and unafraid to put her family first. What's not to like?"

"Then why? Why've you made everything so hard?"

"I've never loved someone before, not like this. I don't know what I'm doing or how to show it without getting on your nerves. So help me. Help me do better so I can fix this."

"Do you really want to or are you just saying it?"

"No. I mean it. Having you physically means nothing if I can't have your affections." He looked determined to change things but you still had your doubts.

"Okay, it doesn't hurt to try." Not like there was anything for you to lose after all.