crocodile x reader

"Come to bed," Crocodile grumbled somewhere behind you.

You hummed, focused on the task at hand.

The tent you shared on Karai Bari started looking like a home startlingly quickly. It certainly helped that Buggy or his men had the foresight to source the biggest, tallest bed possible that you honestly would have liked a stepstool for, soon followed by not one but two desks, a huge wingback chair your lover tended to brood in, and a loveseat for less gargantuan guests, though those were rare besides Daz or Mihawk.

"I can dim the lamp, if you want."

"Don't strain your eyes. What could possibly need your attention now?"

"Not a need. Something I'm curious about."

You heard him roll off the bed, still mostly dressed from the day apart from bare feet and a lack of hook or cravat, and felt him rest his hand on the back of your chair. "I thought you were done with fortunetelling." You smiled, and warmed at his attention to something new to him that didn't benefit him in any way besides having to do with you.

"It's not a horoscope. I'm just... taking notes."

You leaned back to admire his jawline as he scanned the labeled dots along the wheel. "Buggy?" he read aloud.

"You know," you said, "this organization has a lack of cardinal suns besides Daz, and a lack of fire besides Buggy."

"And that means?"

"Nothing at all. How big are you on birthdays?"

"I know yours."

You blinked. "Well, I know yours."

"And Buggy's. Doesn't feel very special." You shrugged at that, and tapped his arm to let you up, but he caged you in. "So you've been going around this camp, chatting up every man and woman you see, in the name of...?"

"Habit. They tend to tell me quickly."

"Well, you're..."

"Disarming?"

"Persistent," Crocodile said tersely. "I don't like how close Galdino's dot is to yours."

"Tell that to his mother." You stood incrementally and he kicked your chair away as you turned to sit on your desk, almost eye level, his arms bracketing either side of you. "You're more... sensitive than I expected."

"Is that so?" He stroked your hip with the marled flesh of his left wrist, and sometimes you felt like crying at the sign of trust from someone so guarded.

"All that talk of sharing earlier and I can't even share a sun sign with..." You peered over your shoulder theatrically even though you had it memorized. "Galdino, Mihawk, and Alvida?"

"You had a point?"

You bit your lip. "We could share a birthday cake."

Crocodile laughed, rich and low and in your ear. "Haven't you outgrown such things? Little girl." You felt your neck heat. It must have been visible how his lips spread from his near-permanent scowl to a mean, knowing grin.

"It's about good will among the company," you said lamely.

"Mmm. I'm sure."

"And we're very mutable. It's interesting you like me and Mihawk this much."

You pitched it neutrally, but your lover's crush on his fellow executive was glaringly obvious to you and even Buggy, how you traded a glance over breakfast a few days ago at the two men arriving late with fresh panzanella. The swordsman started a small garden outside his tent almost immediately on arrival and asked Crocodile if he wanted any fresh produce, seeming to remember you as an afterthought, and you asked for basil not for sentimental reasons, but to complement your lover's request. You didn't know much about germination, but you suspected Mihawk brought his own plant from Kuraigana with how quickly it fruited.

"Interesting? You're both smart."

"And suspicious."

"Skeptical," he corrected. "Careful."

"'Skeptical' is right," you conceded. "I'm not particularly curious about the rest of their charts." You didn't need to specify who among the three you meant.

"You like him, hmm?"

No, you do, you thought. Loudly. "We could do with a Gemini around here."

"I'll get on that right away," he said, and you pouted at his teasing tone.

You didn't think you'd get to joke like this with your captain again. You didn't think he'd be this much fun.

With that, Crocodile cupped your ass with his hand and steadied your waist against him with his left forearm. All that kept you from swooning at his size and strength was knowing he'd complain even if he was planning to flop you unceremoniously onto the bed to begin with.

"It's too damn tall," you said as he joined you.

"You could say 'thank you, sir.'"

"For putting me to bed? I haven't brushed my teeth yet."

"Too damn bad," he said as he pulled you against his front.

"Ugh. I feel gross if I don't."

"Do it in the morning. Imagine tasting like cigars instead."

"At least you're aware." It didn't bother you, but you wished his cologne complemented it better. "What do I taste like?"

His large hand wandered under your shirt, not groping, just resting comfortably on your rib cage. He burrowed his nose into your hair and inhaled deep before he licked the shell of your ear. You shivered.

"Mine."