AN: As I study drugs and how people deal with them I have found a variety of real life stories that are strange, sad, happy, and intriguing. I am writing this story as an exploration of how the dark side of piracy and relationships work. I'm not sure there will be much 'romance', but there will be reference to previous relationships. It will be an odd story.
I will try to keep the errors to a minimal and make it as well as I can. I apologize for the mistakes ahead of time. I do not own One Piece, but I do enjoy twisting it.
One Piece: Macabre Diagram
Chapter One- Restoration
The needle slipped into the flesh stinging the nerves. In went the amber brown fluid, out came a burst of crimson blood into the syringe, and together they surge back into the veins. Another blue-purple spot painted the evil addiction on the pale skin. Any hunter could have tracked the culprit.
The brain tingled with joy. Shivers of pleasure gushed through the body at lightening speed restoring the body's balance. The dark drug induced depression cleared- offering a commonplace feeling.
Suddenly the sense of consciousness switched from observer to victim. The dark iris swept around the ally way and down into the hand. The delicate syringe needle pointed to the fiend who continually poisoned it and self-loathing kicked in.
Yanked out the needle and capped the contaminated end, Toby Green shoved the syringe into her pocket. Wide golden eyes swept through her area trying to find her location, but the detritus and rubble had no map to offer. Her arms wrapped around her shoulders and head. She sank in a crouched position trying to be as small as possible.
Why couldn't the earth swallow her whole? It would be amazing to be claimed by the worms, to be eaten, and silence the craving. She had not needed much but she was still using. She gave herself a little credit. The dosage remained small, even though her insides wanted more to feel normal.
Originally, the high was nice. It felt so good it almost made what came after irrelevant. Her brain had been so muddled that when she woke up black and blue with bleeding cuts and aching muscles, she could forgive the drug. It had spared her from waking memories and left her dreams black and empty.
Now it's about becoming normal. The forgiveness was rescinded because the amber liquid had to go into her veins. Being dope sick was not an option. She nearly died two years ago from the violent vomiting and shaking. If it were just the depression, she could have ignored the needle.
In her right state of mind, the depression sunk in. Shame burst across her cheeks but now that the hit is in her body…god she's sleepy. Her fight to stay awake and receive a kiss from the poppy, now had consequences and requirements. Her body demanded to be paid in water: food was optional. Her brain wanted to be paid in sleep. Her conscious burned with self-loathing and compunction. Her mind furiously folded in on itself demanding to be paid first. Toby might have let her brain win, but an annoying ringing began.
She struggled to pull the den-den mushi up out of her jacket pocket. All she could hope was it was not a client. She could not handle measurements, materials and money, "This is Toby Green." Her voice came out raspy.
"Toby? Shit you sound horrible. It's Kid." The snail had a cross between disgust and worry on it's face.
She cleared her throat and her voice returned, "Captain?" She frowned blinking feverishly to clear her psyche, "What's up?"
"Where are you?" he demanded shortly.
Sluggishly she stood up and verified, "I'm not sure." She confessed looking around, "Why?"
"Goddamn it! I'm standing on your front doorstep!" he barked, "That's why!"
"Why?" she asked again as she stumbled from the ally to the sidewalk. At the end of the street she saw a stick with a sign. Unable to read the blurred words she began towards it.
"I need help!" he bawled crossly, "What else do you need to know?! Now where the fuck are you?"
Toby patted her face as she squinted up at the sign, "Glasses…" she muttered, "Where are my glasses?" she gave herself a mild pat down.
"You can't even see? Great! Just great!"
The plastic bump in her pocket made her fumble and pull the well-worn glasses out. One lens was a spider web of cracks, but the other was whole. She rubbed the intact lens on the front of her shirt.
Shoving them up on her face she finally said "I'm on my street. I must be down a ways."
Captain Kid was silent then, "Wait… is that you?" the snail's eyes squinted at her with a deep frown.
"Is 'what' me?" Toby raised an eyebrow at Den-Den-Mushi.
"Wave."
Toby complied unenthusiastically. Her wave looked a little more like a flopping worm.
Captain Kid let out a bark that might have been a laugh, cheer, or threat, "HA! That is you."
Squinting she saw something fury standing on the upper story walkway of the apartments where she lived, "You look like something Killer dragged out of the drain." And began towards the building. Her feet felt small and her shoes too big. The distance from the street corner to the complex looked far away.
A chorus of laughter rung in the background "Fuck you!" yelled Kid.
She hung up and stalked forward. Groggily, she managed to get to the building. On her way up the groaning metal stairs she mused that her captain could crash the ladder if he was truly angry. The worn out boots 'thump'-ed onto the concrete and the world swayed a little. Holding still to steady herself, she found the Kid pirates standing on her doorstep.
"Hi." Her voice was dead and empty as she came forward, "Why are you here?"
Kidd shoved Heat and Wire out of his way. Once in the front of the group, Toby noticed the stumpy mesh of arm and broken metal surrounding it, "I need a couple of parts for a repair."
"Last time I saw you… you had two arms." She said staring at the mess, but her hand went into her pocket and she pulled the jingling mess out.
"I don't wanna talk about it." He glared.
She motioned for him to move and he conformed with an angry stomp. Toby nodded to her upper crewmen and to the first mate before shoving the key in the lock. Then with a click the door opened. Looking at her shuffling feet, Toby realized her shoes were dirty. She had tracked through the wet mud to find her dealer and now it was all over tan colored shoes.
She stepped in the front hallway and toed her murky shoes off. Behind her came a series of 'thumps' as the pirate crew did the same.
"You don't have to take your shoes off." She offered standing in the hallway, "Mine are just nasty."
"And these aren't?" Killer asked lifting one of his blue boots: The boots were blue… once. Now they were a spattered color of excrement brown.
"I was pointing out, I don't have rules for you." Offered Toby, but did not wait for his reply. The edges of the denim pants she wore were grubby and made her feet cold with their dampness. She staggered into the living room followed by the Kid Pirates. She flipped on lights to show a table set with parts, drafts, and tools.
With one hand she swept her project to the side and took a folding chair from the corner. She jolted it open and set it beside the newly cleared space.
"Whatcha workin' on?" Kidd asked with a glance at the jumbled mess.
"A prototype for a prosthesis. Apparently somebody had most of his or her right side eaten. The O&P asked if I could modify a design."
"Do you often modify designs?" questioned Kid casually.
She shrugged, "Arm up here." She patted the table.
"Stripped the gears in bicep." Kid explained as he lays his stump on the table, "They tore like hell."
"What kind?" she questioned examining the fine mechanics with her probing fingers. How Kid managed to cobble things together was beyond Toby's reasoning. The mechanics are filthy and she leaned over the table to grab a cloth.
"Two or Three spur gears." He answered with a frown, "Then they got loose and killed my helical gears."
"You really do make anything work." She commented dragging a white rag through the grime and blood, "Why is there so much gunk in it?"
This time, a glowering Killer answered, "He took on some pirates, and then the Navy got involved. It got ugly real fast and he did-"
"Fuck off! Did you see the Navy ship's closing in?" he snarled.
"No. I told you to let the small fish live!" he growled back.
"Don't break anything." Said Toby glumly, "It will be hard to put things back together."
"Imagine that." Killer said with a sarcastic edge in his voice.
"In any event, it's not just the gears. If I'm seeing this right, it looks like the couplings got smashed. I'll need to cut them off and see what else is damaged too." She continued to clean and prod, "Jezuz Captain, how do you put half of this shit together."
"Magnetic abilities." Answered Kid blandly.
She rolled her eyes, "I knew that part. I meant how do you decide what you're going to use or how to use it? Hold on!" she seizes a pair of tweezers and miniature flashlight. Hastily, Toby inserted them into cavity where something had glinted a moment before. Kid yelped in pain, "There's a bullet in there." She looked up at him.
Kid went rigid and his pale cheeks flush with color.
Killer's head turned to his captain, no doubt glaring behind the mask.
Kid ignored Killer's infuriated aura, "I told ya, I got shot a coupla times." He reminded Toby, "The worst of the bullets took off my arm."
"Kid… this is fucking huge in caliber." Her eyes looked up again, "And it's-" her face scrunches in disgust as the little light reveals the extend of the injury, "-Gross! Kidd it's fucking infected and shit!" she pulled her tweezers back and looked sulkily at him, "You need a goddamn doctor."
"Ain't got one. Pull it out." He ordered.
"I'm not a doctor." She stated, "And that bullet's nice and in there…" she stopped unable to hide her revulsion at the injury's development.
"Pull it out." He ordered again.
Amber eyes turned to Killer for confirmation.
He gave a jerk of the head.
She inhaled and her expression fell again into toneless annoyance, "I have no idea what I'm doing…" she tried to reason.
Kid puffed up angrily, but Killer said, "Why don't we call Dr. Trafalgar. If he's near by he can do it."
Toby rolled her eyes shaking her head, "I thought you said you didn't have a doctor."
"I don't!" snapped Captain Kid. Then he rounded on his first mate, "We are not calling that quack doctor!"
"Yes! We are!" Killer returned, "If you get fucking sick after we leave here, you could die while we're in the New World! Then everything we've done will be for shit!"
A rumbled agreement met the statement.
Kid tried another tactic, "You got the number?" he drawled sarcastically, "Doctor fucking Trafalgar is not fucking telepathic!"
Killer's hand went into one pants pocket and came out with a crumbled piece of paper. He smoothed it flat and in a decisively neat script was: Trafalgar Law and a set of numbers.
Defeated and angered, Kid began a war with his first mate trying to acquire the fragment. Discretely Killer passed the paper to Wire and then continued to pretend he was keeping the number firmly in his massive fist.
Wire moved out of the way, picked up Kid's Den-Den Mushi and called the number on the paper.
It rang several times before a smooth sterile voice answered, "Trafalgar Law."
"Captain Trafalgar, this is a Wire, a member of the Kid Pirates." Announced Wire.
Behind Wire Kid froze, maddened brown eyes turning red in anger. He squinted at Wire then at his first mate.
"Yes. How may I help you?" his voice was cool with warning.
"Uh, our Captain has a bullet in his shoulder and-"
Kid screeched, "GODDAMN IT WIRE! I said don't call-"
"Ahhh." Chuckled the voice on the other end, "Eustass 'Captain' Kid." There was a smile on the snail's previous blank face, "I see." He cut through the unnecessary jibber, "Where are you and your crewmen?"
"Don't you fuckin dare, Wire-" Kid tried again, this time he lunged for his crewman.
Killer seized the snail off from Wire's hand as the pair toppled onto the ground wrestling. He declared, "Bell Island. Are you in the vicinity?"
"I'm afraid not." Sighed Captain Trafalgar airily, "But the removal of bullet is easy enough. I could give instructions."
"Instructions of murder!" Kid growled trying to untangle himself.
"It almost sounds like you do not trust me." Law chuckled.
Killer smacked Kid over the head, "We do. What do we need?"
"Sterilized tweezers, needle and cloth. " Rattled off Law in a business tone, "A bout of string, since I doubt you own anything else, and steady hands. If you are not careful, you could leave shrapnel in the wound."
"What if the wound has pus and is about the color of a red grape?" voiced Toby flatly glaring at Kid.
Kidd returned to the glare, grinding his teeth.
"Who's that?" Law queried.
"Toby. Our draftsman." Killer answered dismissively, "More than likely she'll be playing doctor."
"Wouldn't you rather do it?" Toby tried again. Her hit of heroin made her feel sleepy and she did not want the responsibility if something went wrong.
"You build meticulous mechanics all the time." Killer said ignoring his captain's growl of annoyance.
"Toby…?" Trafalgar Law sniggered, "Since when is Toby a girl's name?"
"Since now!" barked Kid angrily.
"Well I expect payment, Eustass-ya."
Kid seethed, but Killer agreed, "That's fine. I'm handing you over to Toby." He offered the snail.
Sighing, Toby took the small snail and said, "Alright…"
"Toby-ya," said Dr. Trafalgar in a clinical tone, "Do you have any of the items I mentioned before?"
"Which were?" Toby glares at the snail.
There is a groan and the snail's looked exasperated, "Do you have a needle, tweezers, and a clean cloth?"
"I've got tweezers," she pulled a small box from the corner with a pincushion, thread, needles and pins, "I have a sewing needle? And uh…"she looks around the gloomy apartment, " I'm not sure what you mean by a cloth…" She noticed the neat stack of washcloths in the kitchen, "Will a wash cloth do?"
Trafalgar sounded annoyed, but there is agreement in his voice, "Yes. Use fire and alcohol to sterilize both the needle and tweezers."
"I'm not doctor." She reminded him, "Wanna give me instructions?"
Another annoyed sigh, "Wash your hands thoroughly, then place one of the metal items over the fire, repeat for the other metal item. Put both items in a clean bowl and clean with alcohol. I doubt you have anything else."
A bottle of clear vodka was lobbed towards Toby and she barely managed to seize it.
After ten minutes she had both needle and tweezers sterilized and a clean washcloth. Killer helped remove Kid's prosthesis and then angrily chided him over the wound as he arranged him in the chair again with his nub of an arm on the table.
Around the nasty compilation of dried blood around the opening, popped sores with yellow-white puss leaked onto the skin. The area around the wound was a dark rich red with tiny little streaks climbing up the stump of the arm.
"GODDAMN IT KID!" Killer scolded, "That's fucking blood poisoning!"
Evidently Law heard Killer because he dismissed Killer's frustration, "For some reason, I'm not surprised."
Toby winced at the infected wound. She settled the snail on the table with the items requested. Her tweezers were probably horrible for such an operation, but it was all she had. The needle was doubtless the least contaminated thing. A white washcloth held the sterilized items she turned to the snail once more, "Alright. What do you want me to do?"
"You're ready? Good."
Dr. Trafalgar's provided guidance for Toby to extract a gory bullet.
Toby, not being a physician, had to make several attempts of grasp then wheedle out the large caliber.
Kid muffled a scream of pain as puss and blood dribbled down the opened cavity.
The squelching noise made Toby tense and her stomach roll, but her hands remained steady. With blood splatter on her lens and wine colored hands, she began the tedious examination the area in and round the injury. Miracle of miracles her one unbroken lens was sufficient to pluck tiny slivers of shrapnel out.
Law asked about the angle of the bullet, and then advised her on places to look for shrapnel. "If the wound isn't clean it will cause more problems later." Stressed Law over the snail.
Her captain's face was a grey hue and he had begun to shiver, "Don't shit out on me now." She warned, "Or I'll do terrible things to your favorite pants." She looked down the at yellow and black printed pants and pulled out a pink prick of metal.
Kid sneered at his subordinate, "And I'll kick… your goddamn ass!" his voice tapered off to a hiss and he blanched at her bloody hands.
Toby raised an eyebrow to give a dubious expression, but did not take her eyes from the wound. "Its as clean as can be hoped for…" she reported to Law, "Anything else and I can't see it."
"It will have to suffice." Law agreed, "Is the wound, very large in diameter?"
Killer answered, "Yes, but as Toby mentioned, its infected."
"I was going to have you sew him up, but because you took so long… I forgot you mentioned the infection." There was a pause for careful consideration, "However, I don't want to trap the bacteria in the open wound…"
"What should I do then?" inquired Toby watching Kid's grey face.
"Clean the wound and watch it. Take more of the alcohol and put it on the cloth and carefully clean the wound." He added, "If you have lemon juice you can also use that."
"Just alcohol." Toby reported sloshing the liquid in the bottle. Indeed there was a fair amount left, but it was going to hurt.
"Then clean the wound with it."
Kid did scream then. The crude alcohol bath seared the open wound and the devil fruit user's magnetic abilities made the small metal items in the house ping off the walls in his agony.
Toby ducked several small boxes containing screws and had to stop to dodge.
To get the worst part over with, Killer stood as a shield to allow the draftsman time to clean up the wound.
The alcohol made the throbbing excruciating. Veins stood out against the pale reddening skin. Kid's hand had a death grip on the chair, slowly crumbling the metal.
After the stinging cleaning, Toby was relieved that the wound looked less repellent. While the injury still spoke clearly of it's neglect, it no longer looked like a maggot's dream.
From a duffle bag, Heat produced soft white cotton bandages and gauze pads. Killed made it his job and assisted in the dressing of the injury.
For all Toby's skill in drafting, she was clumsy as a medic. The pads of her fingers would accidently skim the wound causing more pain. Her wrapping was first too tight then too loose.
Killer finished dressing the wound on his own to spare all parties involved the pain.
"I doubt you have anything that could prevent infection, other than care. Wrap wound tight and keep it clean. Once it clears up call me and I will make a decision whether to sew it up or not. I will send an antibiotic for Eustass-ya and an invoice."
"Very good." Nodded Toby. She examined her gory fingers. Too bad she didn't have gloves like doctors' she had seen. Hers were leather, worn, and would have made the process worst.
"Is there anything else I can offer you?" Law asked calmly.
Toby looked to the crewmen who shook their heads, "Uh, No thank you. But Thanks very much for your help."
"My pleasure." And he hung up.
Kid chose that moment and collapsed on the floor in a heap. Breathing slowly, face slowly going from scarlet to a rose blush as his blood pressure died down.
Killer groaned and slanted his head to the ceiling in his annoyance. Then he turned to Toby and in a matter-of-fact voice informed, "I'm gonna put him on your bed."
"Fuck no you're not." Toby returned, "I help you lot and then you go on your merry way!"
Killer straightened and made himself taller and more imposing over his subordinate, "It's either that or on the floor. We just pulled a bullet out of his arm to keep him alive, remember?"
Toby conceded with a squinted golden glare at Captain Kid in a heap on the floor.
The first mate then gathered up Kid with practiced strength and familiarity over his shoulders. The bedroom door was kicked open and Eustass Kid more or less took over her bed.
The draftsman dragged the stump of mechanical genius closer to her and hefted it. It was heavy as all hell and she set it on the severely damaged folding chair. Her worktable was in disarray and all of her carefully organized parts, both on the table and in the surrounding drawers, were everywhere.
Heat blessedly appeared with a broom and a bucket, "I'll get started on his. Take care of the arm." He said setting the bristles to the concrete floor.
Wire groaned as the mess, but he too began cleaning a path so the barefoot Draftsman would not destroy her feet.
"Thanks." She muttered and edged out of the room to the kitchen. She turned the knob over the sink and scrubbed her hands three times before feeling remotely clean. Through the chipped black nail polish she wore she could see something reddish under nails and grimaced. But there was work to be done and no time to nurse her squeamishness.
In the corner were the pair of steel-toe galoshes. These were Kid's apologetic offering for the many times his temper got out of control and made all the little trappings scatter. She tugged them on and drooped back into the living room.
Killer had returned and taken the liberty to start cleaning the mess of blood off the worktable. Washcloth in one hand and another bucket she kept under the sink in the bathroom in the other.
Toby moved between men and made her way over to wall lined with many open drawers. The large open shelves on the bottom held dark colored plastic boxes and she began rifling through them.
"How ya been?" Killer asked trying to return the mood to casual as he scraped tiny bits of flesh into the trashcan.
The large long box at the middle of the shelf appeared and Toby dived for it, "Alive." Silver gleaming armature parts appeared in the box, undisturbed by Kid's temper, "I suppose that's all I can ask for."
The noise of the washcloth stopped, "Do you need a hit?" Killer looked over at her.
Gold eyes met his masked ones as she produced a strong large lens and the base of her armature. "No…"but the first mate did not look reassured so she went on, "I need to sleep and shut down. I haven't slept much."
"Then sleep." Killer went back to scrubbing the bloodstains off the table.
She pulled out a series of metal rods that interlocked, "I would but my captain showed up." There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"I think Kid'll understand." Offered Killer chuckling at the tone. He dunked the cloth in the rapidly reddening water in the bucket.
Toby snorted.
After a few more minutes of work, a majority of the findings had been gathered up. Toby waved off her upper crewmen, "I'll ask Captain to find the remaining bits." She sighed looking at the full box, "Just set them over by the cabinet wall."
Wire and Heat did so and then discovered something.
They were hungry. In fact, Killer's stomach growled angrily as if to point he was as well. The Kid pirates made themselves at home, as they always did when they came to see Toby. Everything was ridiculously organized and easy to find. Heat was an excellent cook and quickly the house was full of the smell of food.
Killer finished cleaning the table, then helped set up the armature. Since Kid had manufactured the device for Toby's work, Killer had intimate knowledge of how to set it up. Once properly arrayed, Killer lifted the heavy prosthetic arranging it for optimum accessibility.
The blue haired woman made herself comfortable at the table. She drew up another, less destroyed, folding chair and padded it with the blanket she kept in the living room. The magnifying glass was arranged in front of her and she began to silently survey the damage.
She was still sitting there a half an hour later when Heat plopped dinner beside her and became persisted (if not ordering) on a break. She humored her senior and ate, but the lack of focus was making her sleepy again. She tried to listen to the tales of their most recent adventures, but she had to get to work. When she would go to bed, she would not be waking up for a few days.
Thank whatever gods there were that she did not have clients right now.
The draftsman sat at her table trying to figure out how Captain Kid had constructed his arm. Really, Kid was more of the mechanical genius than she. Luckily the many years she had worked for the wild pirate were in her favor. He always had a method to his madness. If she could undo the minor problems and provide new parts, Kid could usually finish the project. Unfortunately, Kid had managed to crush many parts during the breaking of the arm and she was not entirely sure what some of them were.
With tiny metal cutters she sliced though broken gears, wires, and plates. She had to spend a fair amount of time cleaning as she went. A clean rag and oil made the metal gleam. There was no doubt to Toby that she had missed other problems, but she began to shake violently from exhaustion. She simply cut through the visible problems and hoped that was all Kid expected.
She had plenty of spare parts (if jumbled) and knew several machinists on Bell Island. She severed the last ribbon of metal and exposed seemly exceptional parts.
Toby decided to call it a night. If there was more that needed to be done, Kid needed to give some goddamn directions.
She stood up and used her hand to sweep the broken and distorted metal in a haphazard pile. She received the gift of a few nice cuts in the process. She went to the small trashcan and retrieved it before using a paper to put the rest of the mess into the trash on top of the bits of flesh.
'Tiredness is no excuse for stupidity.' She chided herself.
The amber drug had worn off a while ago, but focus had spared her feelings. Now a sweeping depression sank over her. The cuts on her hand bled a little and the kitchen offered wash off the blood. Tired feet made the trip into the kitchen sluggishly. The weight of the boots was almost like bricks of granite strapped to her feet.
There was a mess in the kitchen from Kid's crewmen and she rolled her eyes as she moved several large dishes. A twist of the knob and cold water trickled down. When the hand came out from under the spray, she saw several small deep cuts. They bled quiet a bit, but were irrelevant. From the cabinet came the bandages and she dried her hand off before placing the adhesive bindings over the injuries. Toby then held onto the counter and pulled her feet free from the boots.
The Kid pirates left earlier to go back to the ship. Killer had interrupted her thought process to let her know. He left Law's number and Kid. Kid was sound asleep: His body shut down from the alcohol cleaning.
Remember this, she sleepily stumbled again. Her blurred vision saw no shine of a screw or felt the sting of a nail as she crossed the living room to the bedroom door. She either would be sleeping in the bathtub or she would kick her captain out of the bed: Most likely it would be the tub. She pushed the door open with her shoulder.
To Toby's surprise, his eyes were open.
Kid was awake. He remained on his back, eyes studying the ceiling. He seemed far away. At the click of the door he looked at her with a placid expression. Eustass Kid was never a tranquil person in Toby's experience. He had loud raunchy laughter and was as flamboyant as a parrot.
She attempted humor, "I hope you know, I am not willing to give up my bed. Not even for you." She informed him. It was an empty threat, "But I do hope you're feeling better."
"Sorta. Kinda hard to feel better when you throw salt in an open wound." A smile appeared on his face, but it did not match what Toby was used to, "And I know about your bed."
"I certainly hope so." She offered a half smile, "I'd hate to kick an injured person."
He snorted, "Still keeping the bed. Prepare to fight." His voice was jovial but his face relaxed into a somber expression.
She sighed, "I figured as much." Toby walked to the side of bed, "You're really fuckin' lucky Dr. Trafalgar was willing to give instructions."
"Yeah." He agreed, "But where the fuck did Killer get his number?"
"Probably asked for it." She stated.
He rolled his eyes and stared at the wall. He was quiet for so long that Toby thought he was done.
'Better grab a pillow and some blankets from the closet.' She thought and made to move.
"I need ta talk to ya."
Her gold eyes looked down at him. His face was still to the wall, but the rusted brown of his eyes were watching her, "You have my undivided attention." Nodded Toby and she grabbed the chair under the desk.
Eustass 'Captain' Kid looked at the woman who slouched into the chair. She was very level where he was not and maybe that was the irony of their hair colors. He was hot headed with long wild red hair and she cool with her short vibrant turquoise blue.
That was why he had noticed her originally… at the slave auction.
In his mind's eye, he watched as Toby was dragged on stage. Explosive collar appeared more like an oyster shell and her blue haired head- the pearl.
Many of the potential slaves ushered onto the bidding platform had cried and shied away from the crowd. She stood in an artistic contrapposto with arms folded. Like many of the girls, she had been dolled up to appeal to the patrons. She had an average body and build and was not the most luscious female that had or would be brought out.
To Kid, it was the blue that caught his eye and the gold of the eyes that stole his attention. She looked around as the auction began, without expression. Surely as she was being assessed, she premeditating on the people in the crowd.
Then the auctioneer had stated, "From West Blue, we have this little lady here. There is a note from the people who obtained her; 'Will not give name' apparently she's been causing some other trouble so you can safely assume she has not been broken. "
'Not broken' was all Kid had to hear. He knew what drudgery slaves had to go through before auction. She clearly was not the favorite and the wild captain went on an impulse. He paid very little for her.
Killer groused at Kid's actions, but Kid had said, "If it doesn't work, just sell her back."
His boys had teased him a little, but left him for the night. His purchase arrived in a robe covering the sexy lingerie. The moment she was relinquished to him, he was surprised.
She was no threat to him: Not a devil fruit user or a magical creature. She was simply a girl who looked tired and, he could sense, a strong will to live. He removed collar and, on a whim, decide to take the manacles off as well. She had no significant muscle and he could subdue her if the need arose.
The girl however, let her arms fall to her sides. Without movement beyond breathing stood with eyes watching him
"A 'thank you' might be nice." He had sneered.
The amber eyes disappeared under her eyelids in a lethargic blink, "Thank you, …" her voice had sounded flat and challenging.
His temper flared and her expression remained calm as she interlocked her fingers behind her back.
Before he could think he had backhanded her hard enough to leave a mark.
She stumbled backward; spat blood out on the floor. She had bitten the inside of her mouth and looked back at him with eyes dilated, "Short tempered. I'll remember that." Her voice remained detached.
"You should. Don't give me bullshit." It dawned on him; she may not be trying to insult him, "Name?"
Without force she had answered, "Toby Green." And offered and incline of the head.
He raised an invisible eyebrow: she gave him information freely, "Do you know why I bought you?" surely she was not naïve enough to not realize her predicament.
"Of course." She said once again interlocking her fingers behind her back.
The sex of the first night was… gauche to say the least. She was not particularly aroused by his ministrations. She obeyed his orders, but was not particularly good either. Her expression changed little and her eyes looked flat as if no one was home.
At first he thought she was acting, but it didn't add up. She clearly was trying, but Kid found it hard to be aroused when his partner was not putting up a fight or visibly flustered. Maybe his performance was horrible? He disregarded the idea. He had many partners before this one, all of which were pleased.
He did manage to get off and then flopped on the bed. His bedmate laid with feet dangling over the edge of the bed. He reached over and pulled her to him and found her forced into sleep. The little jitters of shivers from her body should have been his first clue that someone peculiar was in his bed.
As he lay on the brink of sleep his mind decided to offer multiple answers from the girl being a lesbian to her simply being a difficult partner. It spiraled into dreams of confusion and then blackness.
The next morning he (would eventually find out) that Toby was dope sick. She could not control her body temperature and spent most of the morning vomiting in the bathroom. He asked Killer to come over.
Killer did.
After examining the addled girl he found a series of little dotted bruises near or around veins and realized she was a heroin addict. A shot of black tar and she came around even more confused and exhausted.
Toby was most certainly a docile fuck. She never tried to escape or fight and stayed out of Kid's crew way. She helped where requested and did not interfere with anything. It was almost like have a sack of rice that magically became a woman at night. She was there, taking up space, but that was it.
Kidd had sex with his new purchase several more times before he angrily asked, "What the fuck gets you off?"
"I haven't the slightest clue." She had conceded dully.
With the unfulfilling sex he experienced, he decided she was a lost cause. Thank the heavens he had paid so little for her. He had decided to kick her off his boat at the next port. No slave auction, he would just let her go. She had not been a hassle and she had no purpose like an empty crate.
The winds of change blew through his ship in a violent manner.
The climate was hot and it was humid. All the men on board were practically naked. Everyone was miserable and sun was beating down. Kid was only seen for short periods in a pair of cutoffs because Heat nearly lit the entire boat. Once the fire was put out the kitchen had to be gutted and rebuilt. The red haired captain had determined the fire was because of a corroded fuel line that broke. Luckily they would be in port in two days and Kid intended to retrieve provisions.
Unfortunately, he had to draft plans for the reconstruction and improvement of the galley. His handwriting left much to be desired and he had to take constant measurements. It was not as if the rest of the crew could not rebuild the kitchen, but Kid was inclined to criticize their work. He always saw where things could be better. Regrettably, when left to designing spaces, Kid lacked creativity and his mind eventually became so jumbled he was pulling his hair out.
Feeling his eyes cross he angrily swiped everything off the table he had been working on. Parchment flew everywhere like a flock of white birds, an inkpot smashed, and his ruler and compass went flying. He heard a scuttling and turned to see Toby baring the afternoon meal. She was confused at his temper.
He offered no explanation and ate quickly. He was on the verge to tell her to shut the door when he heard the laughter. He went out on the deck and saw the merchant vessel they had pulled up beside.
Kid enthusiastically blew off some steam by attacking the ship. He claimed all manner of expensive foodstuffs, gold, and a marine map of the bases in the New World. He was in high spirits as he strode into his workroom, coveted map before him. He rolled it up and froze. The mess was gone and his plans... vanished.
Cursing everything under the sun he began a rant. He stormed up on deck demanding to who had taken his 'goddamn plans!'
Annoyed, Killer had said, "Ask Toby. I told her to clean up the mess you made."
Kid was furious. He did not need a maid; he needed a decent fuck that did not throw out his plans! He had spent hours on them!
He stomped to his cabin and threw open the door. His lungs were full of air to continue his yelling, but he froze. He deflated like a balloon gaping at the blue haired woman on the floor. The tattered, splattered, chicken scratch papers lay in specific order, arranged beneath a large piece of paper. This large paper carefully rendered his ideas in intricately conscientious schematics.
Sitting on the ground before the paper, unaware of his entrance was Toby. Her hands were decorated with the ink she had cleaned, but not a smudge was visible on the paper. With a straight edge and a makeshift compass she was rendering his idea. She sat a little too close to the paper, which told him she probably had poor vision. It apparently did not hinder her ability to detail mechanically and architecturally how the kitchen would be rebuilt.
Toby was an atrocious fuck, but she was a prodigy draftsman. Measurements indicated specific sizes, shapes, and divisions to make the kitchen usable again. He admired the additions she included like the storage, built into needed structures. It used every inch of space and offered extra space for food. In a word, he found it beautiful.
He walked forward and looked over her. "Where'd you learn this?" he inquired.
She jumped like he had stunned her. Eyes wide she spun around and looked confused for a moment, then looked up to her captain, "Oh… its you." She relaxed breathing slowly out of her mouth to deliberate her breathing.
The red-head slowly crouched beside her, eyes admiring the intricacy, "Where'd you learn this?" he asked again and picked up the paper. His is brown eyes looked straight into hers and he saw the sudden confusion in hers at his stare.
"I was an apprentice… before." She seemed embarrassed, "I didn't get very far. At least not in the actual designing and stuff." She answered, "I apologize, but I saw your plans and figured it was something I could offer..."
Kid had not realized till that moment what kind of jewel he had bought for nothing. Her role he had purchased her for was not what she was good at. Yet, In clear neat handwriting that Killer would most certainly approve of, were precise dimensions and details.
His eyes roved over the paper, "Its… awesome." He grinned and he looked up at her again in disbelief.
In return, she had presented him with her first smile.
As any pirate knows, once you have a treasure, you must either hide it or protect it. Kid made some decisions that night. Her draft was exactly what he wanted and he felt giddy with delight.
She had crawled into his bed sleepily and Kid had slumped beside her.
Her silent query was understood and Kid said, "I don't need anything. Catch some sleep." And she instantly collapsed into slumber. Studying the sleeping woman for a moment, he then got up and fetched his newly acquired map.
He chose to stash her in the Deep South, Bell Island. It was an island without pretense and would not come under the radar of any Naval forces.
The idea settled, with in a few weeks he bought a comfortable small apartment and gave an allowance with rules. She was allowed to work and build clientele, but he wanted monthly records and half of what ever she earned after rent was paid.
Understandably, Toby was perplexed. She was a slave turned into an outside crewman literally overnight. He required nothing further of her in bed and gave her his mess of work to make sense off. She supervised the repair of the kitchen and earned the crewmen's respect for her knowledge and careful planning.
Kid's opinion had changed radically. He went from being sexually thwarted to addressing her as one of his crew. Indeed, before he left her on Bell Island he had done something peculiar.
"You're not my whore." He had stated with Killer at his side.
"Oh?" she had asked neutrally.
"You're part of my crew now. I need a good draftsman who can translate my madness. Saves me tons of time and energy." He grinned and then in a pompous tone said, "I wasn't expecting to receive a rare garnet for a mere few beli."
Toby had never felt like a jewel and it was so out of character for Eustass to give such a complement that she took the approval without question. It was as sincere as her captain would ever be.
That was five years ago and a lot had changed.
Toby was now a respected draftsman, a basic engineer, architect, and while not fully qualified, she could do decently as a machinist. Kid knew from the monthly reports that she had done well on this island and Kid made a nice chuck of change for it.
Kid, himself, was a notorious supernova whose bounty continually grew with each adventure he went on. He had lost an arm, but he had trained his body hard to make the most of his remaining limbs. His engineering skills were unrivaled and his temper was more rash.
They both had done well.
He recalled clearly when he made his first series of connections about his purchase. Toby had difficult time expressing her facial expression and sex was not something she had natural interest in. Strange though that concept was to Kid, he had accepted the fact after she became his draftsman.
She did have some traits he liked from the beginning. She listened keenly to him, he liked that she was clever, and he prized her for her vigilant and scrupulous assistance.
Then there were the few things he did not like… and vexed over. Toby was heroin addict. Originally the heroin was used to allow her to bare excessive pain and be compliant. She had to be administered the deadly substance or would go into withdraw and could potentially die. He would always have to keep an illicit and disgusting drug available to her.
Toby was also Agoraphobic. The bigger the space, the more likely she was to panic. When she did wonder about, it was usually for drugs and she would not come out of her spot for several days after. Her tolerance never got any better. On several occasions when he had sailed with her, going out on the deck had became too much. She had been shaking and tears had poured down her face. She said not a word, but Killer had to put her in a secluded spot on the ship.
Although, Kid's biggest problem with Toby was and remained that she lacked expression. It was often difficult to figure out what was going on. Grant it, she was getting better. She knew to smile when making a joke or to say things in distinct patterns so that she was understood. From the first night he had bought his slave to her current position as Draftsman, he recognized her seemly blank and analytical commentary for mental notes. He had not understood that this was her personality until he had spent several weeks with her.
He had seen a specific true emotion: anger. Kid had never experience a temper quiet like Toby's. When it showed up, she became still and quiet. Those gold eyes would turn sharp and dangerously focused. Then she'd strike out in force that he had yet to understand where it came from. She may not be exceptionally strong, but she knew where to aim and in the moments of anger she was deadly. She would then return to her blank demeanor and act as if nothing happened.
All this came back to Kid as he pulled him self into a sitting position. His wound ached and sent lighting bolts of pain up and down his arm. Shaking his head to clear it, deep brown eyes focus on the woman in the chair.
"Tob… I'm taking you back out to sea." He stated.
She blinked eyes growing wider, "What?"
"We're going to the New World and beyond. I wasn't gonna take ya, but… I need someone who is competent in upgrading."
"I'm not an engineer, Kid." She warned, "That's your job."
"I know, but you've got more experience than anyone I know. When I need shit done, I come to you." He insisted, "And I don't know what's waitin' in the New World, but I'm not planning on trying to find someone else when I know someone already who can do the job."
Toby leaned heavily on the back of the chair with arms crossed. Her brow was drawn down, like her eyes, and she bit the inside of her mouth thinking.
"You are a Kid pirate." He growled, "I'm your captain and I want you to come."
Gold eyes looked up at him quietly, "Then why are you having a discussion with me? Why not order?"
Normally, Kid would be defensive, but alone with Toby he left his guard down, "Because." He said quietly. Their history made things complicated in his mind.
"I was sold to you." She said face resuming the blank analytic expression, "You chose to make me part of your crew. I am a crewman."
"You weren't always." He stated coolly.
Toby regarded him silently for several moments before she said, "I know. The past is the past… this is now."
He nodded letting his head fall.
"Captain." Toby's voice turned formal and he looked up, "What are my orders?"
Kid stared at her. His expression was unreadable. "Be ready to set sail in two weeks." He said coolly.
She nodded, "Very good sir."
So do I continue? Or what? Leave me review and tell me what I did well and what needs improvement.