Consequences
Based on a prompt floating around on tumblr somewhere, but I can't find it anymore. Just a note, I'm using beli still which is roughly equivalent to 10 beli = €1/£1/$1
Nami slouched down the stairs to her kitchen. It was early on a Saturday morning. Normally the redhead would still be sound asleep, enjoying her day off, but she had been awoken by a hugely hysterical phone call from her sister. Nojiko was getting married next month and her brain was fried from the stress. Unfortunately, her sister seemed to have decided that Nami was responsible for her trauma since Nami was the one who had introduced her to her fiancé. It had taken over an hour to get Nojiko to calm down about the flower arrangements. But Nami soon regretted her good deed. Once calm her sister had started badgering her to get a date for the big day. By the time Nami was finally allowed to hang up the phone, her plans for a Saturday morning lie-in were in ruins. The phone call also reminded her that she needed to get her sister an expensive wedding present. Of course she wouldn't skimp on such a big occasion, but the thought of parting with a stack of cash always put her in a bad mood. Grumbling softly to herself the young woman started to potter sleepily around her kitchen, haphazardly throwing together a cup of tea. Clutching a truly hideous mug to her chest, emblazoned with the deranged faces of mass-produced kittens, Nami waited for the kettle to boil. The ugly thing was part of the vast collection of tacky gifts given to her by her slightly loopy next-door neighbour, Luffy. The pair had been firm friends since she had moved in five years ago, and the odd tokens of affection always made her feel loved. Nami smiled when she realised that in a few weeks they would be officially family. Nojiko was engaged to Ace, Luffy's brother. With the steaming mug in hand Nami headed out to her living room, planning on watching some mindless tv for the day. She stopped dead. There was a man asleep on her sofa.
For a moment all Nami could do was stare. The stranger was tall. His feet hung off the end of the couch, and his fingers brushed against the plush carpet. His mouth was slack with sleep and the puddle of drool on her cushions was off-putting, but he had the face of a model. Handsome features were emphasised by rather dashing sideburns and goatee that were black as pitch. He also had the worst bedhead that Nami had ever seen. Tufts of hair stuck out from his head at random angles, begging for a comb. However, the most striking thing about him was the inky swirls of tattoos over his bare chest. The patterns brushed lovingly over toned pecs and drew the eye lower to a pleasing six-pack. Okay wow, he was naked. Nami gave herself a second to gape at one impressive feature that was a lot more awake than the rest of him. Then she calmly placed her mug of tea on a shelf next to her, drew in a deep breath, and screamed loud enough to wake the dead. The stranger jerked as if she had electrocuted him, flailing like a fish in a net before flopping gracelessly to the floor. Facedown on the carpet he finally spoke.
"Luffy." He ground out in the gravelly voice of the terminally hungover. "If you don't fuck off I'm going to throw up on everything you love."
"Who the hell are you?!" Nami screeched.
There was a long silence.
"…Luffy?" He sounded almost pathetically confused, face still pressed into the carpet.
Nami took a long moment to collect herself. She was very close to having a nuclear meltdown at the stranger, who really was looking pretty green around the gills, and cleaning up vomit wasn't on her agenda. The redhead took in the scene. Her eyes followed an obvious trail of clothes towards the open window. There was a narrow alleyway that ran from the road down between Nami and Luffy's houses, and their living room windows both faced it… Her window was wide open. Luffy's was not. All her fear was gone by now. This was the most uninspiring break-in of all time. She looked back at the stranger, who had finally turned his head to look at her. His cheek was smushed comically against the floor as he examined her with pained confusion in his grey eyes. Nami studied him as well. He was more handsome awake. Those striking silver eyes, even clouded with sleep, were strangely appealing.
"Luffy's girlfriend?"
"Luffy doesn't live here!" Nami snapped.
The stranger winced at her loud voice, and Nami couldn't help but feel her more sensitive side stir at his obvious pain.
The redhead gave up trying to understand this bizarre situation. Luffy attracted strangeness like some kind of whacky magnet and Nami had learnt to just roll with these things.
"Tch, just go back to sleep."
The stranger was out like a light before she'd even finished talking.
Nami stood in the shower, washing her mane of fiery hair. The woman had decided to shower and change. Definitely not influenced by the mysterious, handsome man sleeping in her living room. She had peeked in at him before heading back upstairs, but the stranger still hadn't stirred from his spot on the floor. Most people would worry about leaving an intruder unsupervised in their house, and Nami was not usually so trusting, but any friend of Luffy came with a strange kind of guarantee. They were all mannerless thugs, but oddly honourable underneath the tough exterior. Nami finally shut off the water and stepping out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself. She dried her hair into its usual perfect waves, and quickly got dressed into shorts and a tank top. Walking back into the kitchen, Nami skidded to a halt.
"What the hell are you doing?!" She screeched.
The stranger didn't even look embarrassed. The man had managed to pull on some boxers, but not much else and his cheeks were stuffed with food. It seemed like half the contents of her fridge were on the table in front of him. He gave her an apathetic look.
"I'm eating…?"
"Don't help yourself to people's food! You owe me 20, 000 beli for that meal!"
From the way the man continued to plow through her food he seemed to consider this a fair trade. With a defeated sigh Nami pulled up her own chair and started to dig in.
After a good while of eating like a machine, the stranger spoke again.
"Do you have any painkillers?"
Nami took in the sight of the black circles under his eyes that were squinted slightly against the morning light. She wordlessly got up and fetched him some tablets and a glass of water, and waited patiently for him to swallow them and for the trap to spring. When he put the now empty glass down on the table, Nami flashed him a megawatt smile.
"That's another 1500 beli you owe me."
He groaned aloud, "You should be ashamed of yourself."
A vein throbbed in Nami's forehead at his cheek.
"You broke into my house! I don't even know who you are!"
At that he cracked a reluctant smile that made Nami's heart beat slightly faster.
"Trafaglar Law." He reached over the table and shook her hand. "You're Nami, right?"
Nami had been busy studying the strange DEATH tattoo on the backs of his fingers, and nearly missed the odd comment. She shot him a wide-eyed look, clearly wondering if she had a stalker on her hands.
He chuckled. "Your name is written on some of the cartography books in the other room."
"Don't snoop through other people's things!"
He snorted and Nami tried to keep looking stern.
"How did you even end up in my house?!"
At this Law's handsome face screwed up as if in pain.
"There was a party…?"
Nami raised a delicate eyebrow.
"How much did you drink?" she asked flatly.
He stared at the ceiling for a long moment then gave her a blank look. Nami tried again.
"Why were you naked?"
Law scratched his chin thoughtfully, but couldn't seem to think of an answer. Nami couldn't help but laugh at this. He must have drunk like a fish all night.
"Ah, you know it's not good for you to drink so much."
He gave her a flat look that seemed to hide some mild amusement.
"I'm a doctor. I'm sure I could get to the top of the transplant list."
Nami froze. An opportunity wriggled in front of her and, like any skilled hunter, Nami prepared to pounce.
"Oh, a doctor! How exciting! Where do you work?" The redhead batted her eyelashes winsomely.
Law gave her a suspicious look but didn't seem sure where the trap was.
"…Grand Line Hospital."
Bingo. Nami had a friend who worked in Grand Line Hospital and had it in good faith that they were the best-paid doctors in the country. An evil smile split her face. It looked like Nojiko's present would be paying for itself.
Nami clung tightly to the arm of her hapless victim, dragging him through the heaving mass of shoppers as he desperately tried to carry the mountain of shopping bags Nami had accumulated.
"Don't look so glum, Tarao." Her voice was saccharine. "I know loads of men who'd drop more than 200, 000 beli for a date with a beautiful lady like me."
Law looked like he was having an out of body experience.
"You should have brought one of them with you then."
Nami thumped him on the arm. Rude bastard.
"Come on, only one more thing! I have to buy an outfit for the wedding!"
She didn't, but Law didn't need to know that. He trailed unhappily after the fiery woman, arm still trapped her in vice-like grip.
"Oh that's fine. I didn't need a holiday this year anyway." Sarcasm dripped from his voice as he glowered at her.
Nami smothered a laugh at his attitude. For all his complaining, Law wasn't putting up much of a fight. It seemed that after a few years of being friends with Luffy he had developed a kind of resigned acceptance of insane events totally out of his control. Nami had quickly figured out that he didn't like being bossed around, but after some thought found the perfect solution. She had given Law two options. He could take her on a shopping trip and pay back his debt to her, or she could call the police. He had crumbled. It also helped that, once he'd recovered from his horrific hangover, Nami had noticed him starting to give her appreciative looks out of the corner of his eye. With a combination of flirtation and relentless bullying, Law was putty in her hands.
The crowd parted for the bickering pair and people stared as they went past. They made an odd couple. Nami was slight and always looked like she could have stepped out of a fashion magazine with her bright colours and impeccable taste. Her contrast with Law was remarkable. Now that he'd finally gotten dressed, the man was tall and imposing. With his sombre expression, dark tattoos and gold piercings he looked the picture of a violent gang member. The shop attendants at the posh boutique they went into visibly recoiled at the sight of him and Nami felt a sense of triumph. They'd be falling over themselves to give her discounts, just to get them to go away. Law flopped into one of the posh armchair near the changing room with a loud, pointed sigh. Nami gave him the evil eye until he placed her bags into a more careful pile, before setting off to scour the shop. After about half an hour she walked past Law into the changing rooms with her arms piled high with dresses to try on. He audibly groaned, but most of the fight seemed to have gone out of him. Nami went in and out, trying on dress after dress and coming out to get a second opinion. Really, his opinion wasn't needed, but Nami couldn't help but love the appreciate glances and the feeling of his eyes on her body when he pretended to be looking at her dress. It was strange that she found herself so attracted to the man, only this morning he was a total stranger. But she comforted herself with the thought that they wouldn't be meeting again after this, Nami didn't do commitment. The woman decided on four dresses that she couldn't live without and brought them out with a sunny smile. Law wasn't amused.
"You said you needed one dress."
Nami didn't miss a beat.
"They're all 75% off, so it's the same as one dress."
The woman didn't even feel a pang of guilt at the obvious lie as Law's head thunked back against the wall in despair.
"Ah cheer up, after this your debt is repaid." Nami gave him a saucy wink. "You'll never have to see me again!"
She wasn't expecting Law's head to shoot up with an expression of outrage.
"What?! After all this I don't even get to go to the damn wedding?!"
"I never invited you!" Nami screeched, not liking where this was going at all.
"I just paid for everything, you witch!"
"It costs 100, 000 000 beli for a second date!"
Law gave her a dark look, though his mouth turned up slightly at the corners.
"That's lucky, it costs 100, 000 000 beli for me to carry your bags all day."
He started rummaging around in Nami's handbag, easy fending off her blows as she shrieked with rage. He found her phone and easy unlocked it.
"How did you know my password?!"
Law totally ignored her as he started tapping away on her mobile. Then, to her horror, he brought the phone to his ear.
"Ah, Nojiko-ya?"
"Don't talk to my sister!"
Nami lunged at him, but he used one long arm to keep her well out of reach of the phone.
"Hi, this is Trafalgar Law. I'm Nami's friend." His voice was smooth and charming, and Nami hated him.
"Don't listen to him Nojiko! He's a serial killer!"
He didn't even look at her and, from what Nami could hear of their conversation, Nojiko didn't seem perturbed.
"Yes, Nami asked me to call you and check that she could bring me as her date to the wedding. Congratulations by the way. I'm good friends with Luffy and he's told me all about how excited he is for you and Ace to get married."
He gave a polite laugh that was polished from practise. Nami was speechless with fury.
"Yes, could I just double check the date and address with you. … Ah perfect. See you there."
He hung up and reverted back to his usual rough demeanour.
He smiled smugly. "I'm looking forward to it, Nami-ya."
Nami realised too late that Law might not be as easy to control as he had let her think.
Just a short one shot! Hope people liked it. Law was hard to write :/
