"We could totally do this. I'm mean we're pirates who live freer than anyone else while risking our lives every single day, we could manage this.", said the redhead, nodding to herself in confirmation. "What do you think, Robin?"
"Have you ever tried something similar to this?", asked the raven-haired woman, her sharp eyes still scanning the pages of the tome open in her lap.
"Well, no.", admitted Nami. "But look, it has instructions on how to do each move.", she added holding the page up to the woman's face. "I don't see why two smart, sexy women like us would have a problem figuring this out."
"Fufufu, alright, we can give it a try if you like. Although your argument points are rather poor in terms of persuasion, Nami-san."
"Whatever, I just know you're a big push-over, and are too nice to let me risk pulling every muscle in my body doing this on my own.", shot back Nami, turning over in their bed and pulling the covers up to her neck after tossing the magazine onto her bedside table. "Don't stay up too late reading, I'd rather start this before the guys wake up."
"Of course. Good night, Nami.", she replied, a phantom arm sprouting near the door and flipping the lights off so that only a small lamp near her side of the bed illuminated the room.
"Night, Robin.", yawned the navigator, snuggling deeper into her pillow as Robin smiled at her back for a moment before returning her focus back to her historical text. The archaeologist continued reading as the the sounds of the ship faded away into the night, the crashing waves and Nami's steady breathing becoming the only sounds reaching her acute ears. She bloomed several eyes around the ship as she had made a habit of before laying down to sleep, checking that all of her nakama we're safe and sound asleep. She saw Franky passed out in his workshop, no doubt from working too late into the night and used her powers to douse the candles he had burning to light his half-drawn schematics. She had wondered why he preferred the out-dated, and somewhat hazardous method of lighting his work space in a such a way when he planned out new inventions at night. It wasn't a surprise when she finally asked and he told her that he had watched his deceased teacher work that way for years after the man took him in and that it was a way for him to keep the 'flame' of Tom's memory alive as he spent everyday living his dream just as the man had wanted him to. He was a hopeless romantic after all.
She had almost regretted the inquiry when the sentimental cyborg started insisting that he wasn't crying after lowering his shades in an attempt to cover his dripping eyes when he had finished explaining about the man he so admired. And even more so when he had moved on to joking about her watching him in the dead of night and had been on the verge of calling her a pervert when she casually brought up him joining the crew and watched in delight as the large man withered at the memory, snapping his mouth shut and quickly returning to his drawing boards as she left with a pleased smirk.
Next, she focused on the kitchen and sickbay to make sure neither of the men had stayed up late working on their craft into the dead of night; she was pleased to find both rooms empty. The men's quarters turned out to be where most of the males were, falling over each other in their sleep as they dangled from their hammocks, a tangled mess of limbs and blankets. It's a wonder none of them have back problems or have lost limbs do to loss of blood circulation sleeping like that, thought the historian as she observed the odd sleeping positions of her crew mates with a giggle. I suppose they're all incredibly durable to have survived what they have though, and Luffy's body isn't governed by the laws of nature, being rubber and all, to begin with. Still, she carefully produced several limbs to tuck the boys' drooping legs and arms back into their hammocks and drape blankets over their turning bodies, aside from Sanji. She felt bad about the cold gesture towards the cook, but the one time she had produced an arm close to him he had ended up bleeding profusely from his nose after apparently noticing her unique floral scent. At least the moaned words she had heard from the young man's mouth after that led her to reach that conclusion. She wouldn't want to risk him bleeding to death in the middle of the night on account of her, or encourage the lewd thoughts about herself she was sure he had running through his mind as he slept.
Moving on to the last area she would observe before resting, she dispersed all of her eyes within the Sunny's interior and bloomed a couple in the corners of the Crow's Nest hopefully out of the swordsman's line of sight. Robin smiled as she watched the young man move a massive barbell that was balanced on his feet up and down as he did vertical push-ups. Sweat dripped off his scarred skin and onto the shadowy wooden floor below him as he grunted out numbers that were well into the tens of thousands, his muscles straining against his skin with every move.
He does this every night he has watch., thought the archaeologist as she slid down from her sitting position as she readied herself to try and sleep. Does he still think himself too weak to protect the crew after what happened at Thriller Bark and Sabaody Archipelago even with our two years of training? Or is this just how he always is, never satisfied with his progress regardless of how strong he becomes?, she wondered, as her duplicate eyes dispersed into petals while her real ones drifted shut. Maybe that is the burden of aspiring to be the World's Greatest Swordsman, similar to my endless search for history. We're both bound by the hopes of those gone who died putting their faith in us to achieve the dreams they couldn't. Zoro, I wonder if your burden has gotten any lighter as we get closer to reaching our dreams. I hope so.
"Okay, so it looks like our knees are suppose to be on the back of our...triceps, I think. Then we just lean forward while supporting ourselves on our arms.", said Nami nervously, sweat dropping down her face as she looked at the different poses. "Why are all of these moves named after birds, I've never seen a crane in this position before.", she huffed irritably.
"Fufufu, this was your idea to try yoga, Nami-san.", laughed Robin as she continued stretching. "But perhaps poses shown closer to the front pages would be easier to start with."
The navigator took her friend's advice and flipped back several pages to find more basic moves. "Yeah, you're right, Robin. Looks like only the ones named after birds are trying to break our bodies. This one's called 'Happy Baby', you wanna start with that?", she asked turning to the magazine around to show the blue-eyed woman the pose.
"Alright." Robin laid down on the deck, spreading her legs open and raising them into the air as she reached to grasped her feet. "Hmm, this actually feels like it's stretching something.", noted the historian as she held the pose. "Nami aren't you going to tr-, what's wrong?", she asked, noticing the redhead shaking, her face noticeably red.
"Hahaha! You, you, you look so funny doing that!", laughed Nami, doubling over as she held her stomach. "Hehehe, who would have thought that fearsome "Devil's Child' would be such a good 'Happy Baby'.", said the navigator as she fought to catch her breath as her giggles subsided.
"Why don't we switch positions, Nami-san?", suggested Robin, sitting up and grabbing the magazine that had fallen from the girl's hands during her outburst. "I'd like to see you attempt this.", she said calmly.
"'Wheel', seriously, Robin?", she asked, receiving a nod in reply. "Alright, but you've seriously lost your touch if that's the most difficult move your requesting." Nami set her feet shoulder-width apart, steadying herself as she slowly leaned back with her arms raised above her head. She felt the tug in her abdominal muscles telling her she was doing the move correctly when her hands connected with the grassy deck. "See, piece of cake.", gloated the navigator as she held her move, turning her head to smirk at Robin who was calmly smiling at her with her chin resting in her palm. Nami's brow furrowed at the woman's behavior, curious to why she hadn't contradicted her with a smart remark like usual. That was until she felt multiple hands pressing into her back from beneath her as fingers poked her sides and danced across the sensitive skin of her exposed stomach. "Hehehe, R-Robin, hahaha, st-stop it.", she laughed, losing her balance and letting her weight fall on the phantom limbs supporting her back. "Okay, okay, I get it! I-I won't laugh at you, again, promise!", said the girl in between bouts of laughter as she continued to fall victim to Robin's playful payback.
"Fufufu, I suppose that's enough.", agreed the historian, gently lowering the girl onto the deck as she dispersed her flower limbs. "Why don't we do some more warm-up stretches before we continue with this, Nami?"
"Yeah, alright.", she said, still breathless from the laughing.
What the heck is going on?, thought the swordsman irritably as he rose from his napping position against the Crow's Nest's wall. Why would that greedy witch be laughing on deck this early? Isn't she normally asleep right now?, he wondered as he walked calmly to the the part of the wrap-around window that faced out over the deck. Maybe Robin got her up, she's normally up an hour or so before Nami. I'm almost positive I heard her voice a little bit ago too. Zoro's single eye skirted systematically across the deck, starting with the small, upper one that the ladies usually preferred to occupy first and moving down. His jaw dropped when his visual sweep stopped in the middle of the main deck, finding Nami pulling one her arms across her chest, probably stretching he guessed, and Robin. The raven-haired archaeologist's position was what caught him off guard though as he stared down appreciatively from above.
She was facing away from him, balanced on her hands and feet as she alternated straightening either of her legs, most likely to stretch her calf muscles. He watched the slight shift of her lithe body with every switch, the way her ponytail of onyx locks would fall over one of her shoulders and then the other, and the firm muscles tensing in her long legs and round bottom under the thin material of her lounging pants. What the heck is she doing? Why doesn't she do it more often?, he thought, his single eye glued to the historian's delicious body as she slowly rose up to her full height, turning to face his direction as she lifted her arms above her head. Crap! Move before she sees you, Idiot! Stop watching her like some pervy stalker and go back to sleep, or train, or just, stop!
The swordsman's internal screams didn't reach the rest of his body quickly enough to avoid making eye contact with the redhead on deck he had barely take note of who was now smirking up at him while Robin continued her infuriatingly sexy warm-up. Dang it! Dang it! Dang it! What am I suppose to do now?, thought Zoro quickly as he jumped back from the window. Maybe she didn't see me watching Robin. Did Robin see me watching her? No she was facing the other way. Gah, I should have seen what that witch was doing before I stood there like and idiot gawking at her. But..., thought the swordsman, remembering the perfect view he had had for a precious few moments of the archaeologist's backside before she had moved into a less "stimulating" position. I have to go down there now, or she'll think I'm trying to hide something and end of cornering me and trying to get something to blackmail me with, the brat. Tch, stupid Nami. Why couldn't she have stayed in bed like normal, then I would have had Robin all to myself., thought Zoro irritably until he realized where his mind was going. Would I have gone down there is she had been alone? What would she think if I asked her to train with me sometime?
Shaking his head, the young man threw open the hatch and jumped down onto the deck knowing that the more time he wasted thinking the more suspicious he would look to the navigator that had caught him leering. Landing with a thud, Zoro lifted his head up to address his female friends as they turned to acknowledge him.
"Good morning, Zoro.", greeted Robin, giving the young man a sweet smile that made him feel even guiltier about watching her without her knowledge. "I hope your watch went well last night."
"Yeah, Zoro. How did you 'watching' go?", chimed in Nami, giving the swordsman a pointed smirk from her sitting position on the deck.
"It was good until I heard your loud mouth cackling.", he shot back, glaring at the redhead.
"Idiot.", bit out the navigator.
"My apologies, Zoro. I'm afraid it's my fault that Nami-san was laughing so loudly.", cut in the older woman before the pair could sling any more insults at each other.
"Oh. It's fine.", said the green-haired man awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "What are you doing anyway?", he asked, trying to change the subject.
"Nami-san thought that yoga would be a good idea.", she answered. "Although, I'm afraid our attempts have been rather unsuccessful."
"You seemed to be doing alright to me.", he said, freezing as he realized his mistake. Crap, why would I say that? Now she's gonna know I was watching her from the window!
"Fufufu, I'm afraid what you've seen are only our attempts at the most basic moves.", giggled the historian, glazing over the swordsman's unintended confession. "We haven't tried any of these more advanced moves yet.", she added, flipping through the magazine as she moved to stand beside him. Holding the page up to him, Zoro saw silhouettes of different yoga positions along with small step-by-step instructions printed beside each picture that showed you how to get into each.
"I bet you could do that one.", he said, pointing at a picture near the center of the page. "It's pretty easy if you have enough arm strength and core control."
"You've done yoga before? I must say that's quite surprising, Zoro.", teased Robin.
"Tch, it wasn't on purpose. I've just looked up good training exercises for strength building and that's one of them, Woman."
"Perhaps you could demonstrate it for us then.", she said teasingly, giving the swordsman a coy smile as she watched his face tinge pink.
"Yeah, sure.", he said quickly, dropping down to the deck in a planking position with his hands facing backwards. Focusing his mind on the task at hand as opposed to the infuriating woman watching him, Zoro slowly extended his arms to a ninety degree angle and tightened his abs until he was able to lift his feet off the ground with only his arms supporting him. Then, he moved on to the move's final step and carefully leaned forward so that his legs were no longer parallel to the deck. "See, and if you want to do the full move you just tilt forward more and shift onto your forearms for better support.", he said, moving so that his legs were then completely vertical above him.
"Yes, thank you, Zoro.", said the archaeologist, dropping down to the deck beside him. "So like this, correct?", she asked, slowly lifting her feet off the ground and balancing with them in the air.
"Yeah, that's really good, Robin.", he praised, watching as she held the pose perfectly as he stood up.
"Now, just lift up higher?", she asked, slowly raising her legs up as she lowered herself down onto her forearms like he had.
Zoro watched her with a sense of awe and admiration that she could pick up something so easily. She really is something else., he thought smiling down at her as her legs straightened out into the air, making a straight line from her toes to the curve of her back. "Perfect.", he breathed out, his single eye still lingering on her tight body as she held herself up.
"Oh, no.", bit out the blue-eyed woman, snapping the swordsman out of his daze as he noticed her form wavering causing her legs to begin falling forward over her head. "Zoro."
Hearing his name choked out in a breathy whisper as the archaeologist struggled to get back control of her form, he stepped behind her in time for to stop her legs' descent by wrapping his muscular arms around them. He then gently lowered them down onto deck do that she was now lying on her stomach.
"Fufufu, I think I need a few more pointers before I try that again, Zoro.", laughed the archaeologist as she sat up. "That was rather unpleasant near the end."
"Hmm, looks like you would have gone into 'Scorpion' if your legs had kept going.", noted Nami as she referenced the instructions. "But you did have 'Peacock' down for awhile.", she said with a chuckle.
"I could help you with the balance part by holding you steady until you get the moves down.", said Zoro quickly, ignoring the navigator's comment as he tried to gauge the other woman's reaction to his offer. "You know, if you wanted to stick with this.", he added a bit more coolly.
"Maybe after my abdominal muscles recover from that.", she laughed, running a hand over the area. "I don't think I could handle doing that as often as you train, Zoro."
"Yeah, but maybe som-"
"Hey, what's going on out here? Are you guys having a super time without Furanky?", came the cyborg's loud voice as he stepped out onto deck in front of the other men.
"Eh, what's Zoro doing out here with you two?", asked Usopp with a note of suspicion. That's odd. Zoro and Nami hate each other, and he normally doesn't like hanging out with Robin since she always teases him., thought the sniper.
"We were doing yoga when he came down from his watch.", answered Nami rising to her feet.
"What?", yelled the chef and musician together, shoving their way passed their crew mates to the navigator's side.
"Nami-swan and Robin-chwan were doing sexy yoga moves on deck while I was in the kitchen.", cried the chef. "I missed all of it.", he added sadly, pounded his fist into the deck. "It's not fair."
"Yohoho, that would have been quite the treat to watch two beautiful young ladies stretching in their panties.", agreed Brook only to have Nami send him flying across deck with a kick to the head.
"We were fully-clothed, Idiot! And like we would let any of you perverts watch us!"
"Aw, thank you, I'd love to see that super sexy sight.", said Franky, blushing.
"That wasn't a compliment or an invitation, moron!", she shouted.
"I thought yoga was that nasty fake ice cream stuff.", said Luffy.
"You're thinking of yogurt, Luffy.", sighed Usopp. "Yoga is a bunch of weird stretching that girls normally do to relax."
"It has great health benefits as well.", noted Chopper. "Both physically and mentally."
"Neat, I wanna try!" said the captain excitedly, snatching the magazine off the deck and quickly scanning over a random page. "Eh, Robin, what's wrong with this book? These pictures don't look anything like the animals their suppose to be."
"Fufufu, those are just referring to what inspired the poses, Luffy."
"Oh, these don't look real fun, they're all easy.", whined the boy.
"Of course you think that, you're made of rubber.", huffed Nami. "Those of us with normal muscles actually have to work to stretch out like that, and then only the most skilled can manage those moves."
"I'll stretch you our, Nami, my love!", yelled Sanji.
"Eh, really?", asked the surprised captain. "Can you do any of the moves, Nami?"
"W-well...", stuttered the navigator.
"Hehe, she's too chicken to even try.", mocked Zoro.
"Shut up, stupid swordsman.", said Nami angrily. "At least I don't.", she said, pausing to prove her point to the man as she glared threateningly at him.
Crap, she wouldn't rat me out in front of the whole crew would she? No, then she wouldn't have any leverage to blackmail me with, but still...I should be careful until I get this straightened out with her., he thought, holding back the comeback that had been on his lips.
"Fall asleep on watch.", finished Nami, smirking as Zoro glared back at her. Hehe, now this will be fun to hold over him. At least until he grows a pair and tells Robin himself.
"Hey, Nami, let's play yoga after breakfast so that you can get all stretchy like me.", said Luffy, tugging on the redhead's arm. "Robin and Zoro can help too since Robin's really smart and Zoro trains a lot.", added the captain as he pulled the girl towards the deck door. "Sanji, food!"
"It's ready on the table, Crap Captain.", said Sanji. "And get your filthy hands off of Nami-swan!"
"Don't pull me, Luffy.", whined Nami, blushing as the young man continued holding onto her. "I can walk on my own."
"Shishishi, okay, Nami.", laughed the rubberman as he ran ahead to get to the food. "But hurry so we can play!"
"Crap, he's gonna eat all out food!", shouted Usopp as he ran with the chef and navigator to stop the endless pit that was their captain from starving all of them.
"Sounds like fun, don't you think, Zoro?", asked Robin when the others had all ran off deck leaving the two of them alone.
"Yeah, you know, Luffy, he can make anything a game.", sighed the swordsman, a slight smirk on his lips. "We probably won't get any actual workout done now."
"Maybe you could give me some 'private lessons' after the others are in bed tonight then.", said the woman coyly, giving the swordsman a playful smile. She watched the man freeze at her statement, his face burning up even more when she stepped closer and rested her hand against his chest. "I don't think I've got the hang of that last move just yet.", she added.
"Y-yeah, I could do that.", he said, glancing down at the hand that was caressing his scarred torso and then back up into her bright azure eyes.
"I'll be looking forward to tonight then, Zoro-kun."
Did she just add -kun to my name?, he wondered before the feeling of Robin's chest pressing against his brought him out of his thoughts. He froze as he felt her warm breath fan across his neck as she tilted her mouth to whisper in his ear.
"And that way you won't have to watch from the window.", she said teasingly before withdrawing and heading towards the door leading inside.
She knew. That woman, she really is something else., he thought, quickly catching up to the raven-haired woman and walking beside her as they headed for breakfast. Hehe, tonight I'm actually looking forward to watch.