Your fingers flex with your wrist pinned to the tree, your other hand is against the trunk. You don't know what you can do at this point, but you know the last thing you need to do is make any kind of aggressive move. Now is not a time to even accidentally bare your fangs toward Kid.

"I -." You start but he interrupts you.

"Snuck out of my room, grabbed the rowboat sight unseen," the grin on his face is a combination of amused and impressed. He hasn't moved closer, and yet he seems to feel bigger and you feel smaller as he continues. "Rowed almost an hour non-stop, that's more stamina than I expected."

He steps toward you. "Then you hauled ass into this forest like you'd grown up on this patch of dirt. I didn't expect you to bolt in the first place, not after you admitted your feelings on the beach."

"I never s-said -."

"Like we need something as useless as words." He interrupts. His right hand goes over your pinned hand, opening your fingers and holding them against the bark softly. His metal hand caresses your hip. "Gonna lie to me now?"

"... I did." You do your best to look at him.

"Did?" His brow raises a little, a soft smile on his lips.

"Until you kidnapped me." You clarify.

His hand presses yours into the bark a little more, but the smile on his face doesn't falter. The wide metal hand shifts and lifts you a little, taking some pressure off your shoulder.

"If my little pet mouse wanted me to chase her, she should've been clearer." He pulls the spiky wrist band free from the tree, cradling you in that large metal arm of his. You could feel the tubes and gears flexing carefully under you.

"I... I just wanted to enjoy the time we had and," you swallow and look away, you aren't sure if being honest is going to be the last thing you get to do or not. "And, move on from there."

"Plannin' on forgetting about me?" He lifts you up a little, putting your back to the tree trunk. He's leaned in, moving so that you can't escape his gaze with the light hold he has on your face.

For someone who could move you and crush you as he pleased, he's being surprisingly gentle.

"I... don't think I would've ever forgotten you." You admit, your eyes closing as the hand holding your face caresses your cheek. His thumb moves over your lips, and you flinch a little.

"Then what's the complaint?" His voice is soft, the usual gravel is gone, and you can feel the breath of his words against your lips. "You're not some port whore," His lips are feather light against your cheek. "You're not left pining on some island," his tongue grazes your ear, and you bite your lip to hold back the jolted moan that almost escapes you.

"This way, you're all mine, and I'm all yours."

"Th-then you should've talked it out with me." You're almost crying. You've been kidnapped by an insane pirate who decided he loves you and you love him. You didn't dislike him – you hadn't, at least, before now. The dinner, the beach, the conversation, you had truly enjoyed yourself.

You'd entertained so much, but none of that mattered now.

"Please, just take me back to Three Rivers. Kuh-kuh-kidnapping me like this, isn't going to work." You feel the metal hand twitch and shift under you, and you fight to calm yourself down. You knew what you were going to say was going to upset him, and now all you could do was wait.

If he crushed you on the spot, it would at least be quick.

"Nope." He says, lifting you up and holding you against his chest as he moves away from the tree. The easy way he says it catches you off-guard and you don't know how to react for a few minutes. You steady yourself against him, feeling painfully small compared to how broad shouldered and tall he is.

"I'm a pirate. I'm not going to just return what's mine." He continues. "You need time to adjust, like any good pet mouse. Don't worry, we'll teach you well, and if you get lost again, I'll find you.

"Every time." He promises, sending a cold chill down your spine into your gut. "So don't worry about it."

With terrifying clarity, you realize he's saying that you can run, struggle, and fight all you want – it won't matter in the end. He'll train – break – you until you're well behaved and accepting of your situation.

You can't just run away from him without a plan, and you can't just expect rank and file marines to be able to protect you. You need to find someone stronger, or strong enough at least, to deter him, but how long could that take?

How lucky would you need to be to accidentally come across an Admiral? There might be another pirate crew who could compete, but how do you convince another crew to defend you for nothing?

He carries you through the forest, neither of you saying anything. You don't even bother to look around, with the metal bracer on your wrist you wouldn't get far even if you could somehow leap from his hold. His grip on you wasn't strong, but it was solid enough, and you were certain the slightest movement on your part would snap it closed sharply.

Your small rowboat is secured to the larger one that came in search of you with your confiscated spear and rope. Two crew mates rowed you back to the Victoria, but you couldn't even focus on who it was. The ship looked like a massive prison to you now.

You were hauled onto the boat without any fanfare. No one was growling at you, or even muttering to themselves. It was like the crew knew that your position, your situation, was still effectively being decided. Kindness was no more likely to be extended toward you than cruelty. The crew moved to Kid's will, of that much you were completely certain after the couple of weeks they had spent in your tavern.

Kid walks you back to his room. You expected it before you'd even reached the ship, but it didn't make it any easier.

Stepping inside, he closes the door. There's no click of a lock, and he sets you down before lighting a lamp. The metal bracer comes off your wrist and moves over to Kid's hand. You rub your wrist a little, but you don't say anything, or move from where he set you down.

"Get into the bathroom." He says, shedding his thick coat and letting the excess pieces of his metal arm fall away until it's more in line with the size of his other arm. "We'll get you cleaned up and get those scrapes covered before you get some rest."

"I can do it myself." You try to say it as neutrally as possible, not defensively, not fearfully. Just a statement of fact.

"I'm sure you can, pet mouse, but taking care of you is my responsibility." He answers easily, turning enough to face you. "You'd rather sleep in bed covered in bark and dirt?"

You shake your head, and are surprised when Kid ruffles your hair.

"Don't get all meek on me now." He says, heading toward the bathroom. You follow after him in your daze.

"I... just don't know what to do. I ... er, how to act, or..." You stop walking, rubbing your arm as Kid turns to look at you. "I don't want to say something and end up with a broken-." You stop, putting your hands over your face.

"You're Eustass-fucking-Captain-Kid!" You scream. "Your bounty is astronomical! The rumors about you alone paint you as one of the cruelest people to sail the seas!" You look up at him, tears welling up in your eyes. "You could snap me like a twig and toss my body into the sea if I displeased you, and – and – and you're telling me not to be meek?! I'm terrified, you bastard!"

Frustration, exhaustion, pain, and stress win out and you cry. You bawl and just scream, letting it all out, his comfort be damned.

You rage for a couple minutes, too tired to last any longer than that, but it did feel good to get it all out. Kid stood nearby the entire time, not moving or speaking until he was sure you were done.

"Get into the bathroom." He repeats.

You nod, walking by him and heading into the bathroom. You slip out of your clothes and let him move you around. He takes care with the scrapes and cuts on your feet, washing you so tenderly it almost makes you cry again.

He washes every part of you, but never touches your skin with his own. There's always a washcloth between you, and aside from telling you how he needs you to move he doesn't say anything else. No remarks on your body, appearance, or even on the state of your few minor wounds. It's strictly business, almost clinical, except there's such tenderness in the acts themselves, and a softness in his voice.

Once he's done you get out of the tub and dry yourself off. He steps out and comes back with clothes - your clothes, you recognize them. Someone had gone to your house before the ship had left Three Rivers and grabbed your clothes at the least.

Clean under clothes and a night shirt. You didn't often wear anything to bed, but night shirts were comfortable to wear around your home on lazy mornings. After you get dressed Kid bandages your scrapes.

"None of these are too bad," he says, finally commenting on them. "But dismissing the little shit can turn it into a fuckin' pain, so you're going to be bandaged up for a few days while these heal."

"Wouldn't it..." you pause and so does Kid, looking at you and silently prompting you to continue. "Be easier for you, if I couldn't walk?"

"Tch," he grumbles, going back to his work. "I don't want you broken. If all I wanted was a fuck toy I'da cut your legs off before you woke up and you'd be covered in cum and spit right now."

He finishes up with your feet, picking you up after he stands up and setting you down on the edge of the bed. "Get some sleep." He says before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him. You don't hear the click of a lock, but you're certain the whole ship's on high alert, so it's probably a bad idea to try and sneak out.

You realize though, more than sleep, you're hungry.

After a moment of thinking it over you walk over to the door and open it up. Kid's some feet down the hall talking with Killer and they both look over at you.

"I'm really hungry." You admit as evenly as you can as soon as you open the door. "I'd like... something to eat before I try to sleep."

There's a brief moment before you add. "Please." To the request.

Kid looks over at Killer and inclines his head. The blonde walks off and Kid looks back at you.

"Mess hall's empty, you can eat there, unless you want it brought here." He offers.

"No, I can go there." You step out of the room and into the hall. "Where is it?"

Kid kneels and holds out his metal arm. Getting into his arm of your own will is different from having him pick you up, but you are really hungry. Your feet, however, don't hurt that much.

"I'd rather walk." You say it a little tersely, but Kid just shrugs and stands back up. He starts walking and you follow after him.

It's quiet between you both on the way there, and aside from a couple words of thanks you give to Killer, you don't say much else as you eat. When you're done eating, Kid walks you back to the room and closes the door behind you after you crawl into the bed.

The room is pitch black without the door open, and there's no video snail for light either. With a full stomach, the exhaustion in your body takes over quickly, and you're asleep far more deeply than you thought you could be.