━━━ ⸝⸝ ━ ⟡ ━ ⸝⸝ ━━━

” (˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵) “

━━━ ⸝⸝ ━ ⟡ ━ ⸝⸝ ━━━

It was painfully obvious by now. The Cardbots knew. Jun and his friends knew. Hell, even his own crew knew. And Black Hook? He knew they all knew. Worst of all, he knew it himself.

Sure, he was a little more protective over them. Sure, he shared some of the treasures he “found.” Sure, he let them get away with things he’d never tolerate from Buffalo Crush or Buster Gallon.

But that didn’t mean anything! Of course not! He was definitely just treating them the same way he treated his crew. It was nothing special.

He absolutely, definitely didn’t have a soft spot for them.

…

Alright, maybe he did.

But like hell he’d ever admit it.

He was their captain, and they were part of his crew. Nothing more, nothing less. That’s the story he stuck to.

Except—right now, as their form leaned against his massive frame, napping peacefully, it was a little hard to deny.

Their body curled up so trustingly, his arm resting just lightly against them, made his excuses feel thinner than paper.

Black Hook let out a quiet huff, glancing away as though it might somehow lessen the weight of the truth. Fine. Maybe he had a soft spot for them. Just a little one.

But if anyone dared to mention it?

They’d be walking the plank.