Archive of Our Own ^beta

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“Ah, there you are!” Cagney called from across his garden. He spotted you just over the hillside and across the meadow, and beckoned you over with a wave of his long, leafy hand. As you walked closer to the large flower, you started to smell the almost overpowering aroma of his flowerbed. You could see behind him the tall and slender stalks of sunflowers that almost reached the height of the plant creature himself. He smiled at you, and made it as kind as he could, given his natural scowl.

“You look nice…” He said as he bent and twisted himself this way and that to make his face level with yours. He sniffed the air, much like a dog following a scent trail. “You smell nice, too.”

You wore your brightest clothes to meet him, and spritzed on some floral perfume. You felt the way his eyes followed you as you did a quick turn so he could take in all the colors of your outfit. You knew he loved bright colors, being a flower and all. You smiled gently as he reached out a spindly finger for you to take. You put your hand on his, and it dwarfed yours as he reached his other hand around your back and lifted you up in one swift motion, resting you comfortably in his palm. You sighed contentedly as the wind blew softly against the two of you, the breeze carrying Cagney’s scent into your airways and across the field.
He held you up closer to his face to plant a gentle kiss on top of your head, and his scent was so close up it made your head spin. He chuckled softly when he pulled away, and dusted off his pollen from your hair. You laughed in response and shook the rest out with your hands and sighed again, nestling into his safe, gentle embrace.

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“Okay.. okay, now try.” Weepy sat next to you in the field as you helped him and his brothers with their harvest. He had a neat little pile of beets and carrots in his basket, while you had a pile of leaves from accidentally pulling up the stems, and not the root itself. You tried again as you were told, again coming up with only the greens of the carrot. You sighed in frustration as Weepy fidgeted nervously.

“H-here, let me help. Put your hands down..?” He put his hands on top of yours, which were resting on the ground on either side of another carrot. He positioned his hands so his thumbs were hooked slightly around your palms and he started a digging motion, moving the dirt away from the stem and the base of the orange root. You got dirt under your fingernails as he moved your hands together, and he placed your hands and his on the visible part of the carrot.

“Now… kinda..” He said vaguely as he wiggled the vegetable from side to side in the dirt, loosening it from its compact, soily prison. “Okay, now pull!”

You gave it a firm tug and happily found yourself with a big, bright carrot in your hands.
“Ah, perfect! Good job!” He let go of your hands and grabbed your empty basket, which was not so empty anymore as you proudly dropped the root into it. You just couldn’t wait to cook with him later.

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He lied on the bed on his belly, lazily swishing his tail back and forth as he watched you like a cat. You were reading in a chair across the room, glancing up every so often when the Devil made a soft, lonely noise. Eventually you smiled and closed your book, walking towards the big beast sprawled out on your bed.

“C’mere…” He said as he rolled onto his back like a puppy, his tail now happily bapping against the blanket. You crawled into bed and lied down next to him and he pulled you in close, your face nestling against his soft, alabaster fur. You breathed in deep and caught the faint smell of his body, a musky scent that made you feel calm. You felt even calmer still as he started to purr lowly, holding you close and tight and lightly wrapping his tail around your leg.

“Yer cute…” He murmured against your head, muffled by your hair. Your body jumped with a soft laugh as you nuzzled your face against his chest, making him purr even louder and lightly whack your leg with the tip of his tail. You slowly brought a hand up to scratch behind his ears in the way you knew he loved, and you were rewarded with a contented chirp. His bright purple eyes sleepily slipped shut as you continued your scratching, your hand slowing to a halt as you both fell asleep.

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The seawater spray stung your eyes as it crashed on the bow of the ship where you were standing. You propped yourself up on your elbows and looked out on the sunset over the horizon, and smelled the salty water in the air. You belonged out on the sea. That’s what he always told you.

You heard the click-clack of his peglegs as he strode up behind you, and he put his hands on his hips in an accomplished stance, and breathed in deep and dramatically and sighed just as big.

“Quite the sight there, laddie.” He said, looking out to the sun sinking below the water. You nodded, and the seagulls flying overhead agreed, too.

“Ye did good today, ye did.” You could hear the smile in his voice. “Me proper cabin boy.”

You always felt proud when he called you that.
The sky darkened quickly. Brineybeard noticed your shivering and tapped you on the shoulder.

“Can I show ye somethin’, lad?” He asked, his eye sparkling with excitement even in the low light. You nodded and he let out a jolly laugh and hoisted you onto his back.

“Hold on tight!”

He began the long climb up the rope ladder to the crow’s nest. He placed you inside and then climbed in himself and sat down with a grunt of effort.

“Ahh… now,” He put his arm around your shoulder and used his other hand to point up at the sky. It was speckled with thousands of glimmering stars, and the sky stretched onwards for miles in every direction. He pointed out the milky way, the galaxy a long white rope across the heavens, and he named every constellation he could see from your high vantage point. He told you the stories of the little dipper and Orion, which quickly morphed into tales of his adventures sailing the seven seas. Your eyes lit up excitedly at his stories, and you longed to accompany him on such adventures one day. Though, as you watched him act out a sword fight against some previously formidable foe, you could almost feel that you’d been there with him.