Bed of Lies
What about Kaya?
"What about her?" Sogeking scoffed dismissively, unraveling the bandages on his hands. The Water 7 waitress giggled from the other room and the sniper's cheeks flushed. The silly grin stretching across his face faltered, however, as the voice rang out in his head again.
She...she's waiting for us! What would she say? I can't believe I'm doing this!
"Well you are!" Usopp's alter ego replied under his breath. His mask rested against the mirror, empty sockets gazing at its undressing master, heedless of the battle that stirred within his head. With both arms bare, the king of sniper island regarded his reflection. Lean muscles stretched under his sun-browned skin. Bruises from the battle with his former captain melted into the fresh scars of Enies Lobby. He'd barely had to stretch the stories of acquiring them to the waitress of the Sea King Restaurant and Bar. She giggled again and a chill dashed up his spine.
"Ya comin', mistah?" her lilting voice beckoned from the bedroom. Sogeking puffed out his chest and swaggered experimentally. Of course he was, he was the King of the Snipers! He'd had a thousand women of twice her beauty, it was no wonder she'd singled him out among the other pirates-
No I haven't! Usopp's voice trembled in his head. I should leave. Kaya's waiting for me! I can't be here, I can't do this!
"Yes, you can," Sogeking sighed, unhooking his cape and tossing it haphazardly to the floor. Hesitant to speak aloud any longer, lest the waitress hear and start to wonder, he retreated into his head. "You've been out to sea with that crew for months! The only broads you even know are that ice queen Robin-san and Nami-san! Do you really think you can turn down a woman like her?" With a sweeping gesture he indicated the bedroom. Usopp whimpered and Sogeking plowed forward, sensing weakness. "Don't act like you don't like her. She's gorgeous! And she wants you, Usopp-kun!" The confident echoes of his voice rang out in the confines of his mind.
A-alright, Usopp finally stuttered. But only if Ka-
Relax, the sniper chuckled, already striding through the doorway. Kaya will never know.
Usopp's face split into a cocky smile at the sight of the waitress draped elegantly across the bed. Dock One had spared no expense on the pirate's lodging and the sniper had been glad of it when his guest had remarked on the grandeur of the room. She certainly was pretty; long curly locks of ebony hair spilled out of her bandana across the wide expanse of her bosom. Usopp nearly blushed at the extent her low-cut tunic displayed, though Sogeking had raucously commented on it at the bar. Her face was plain but pleasant: black eyes adorned with a bit too much shadow and painted, thin lips. She'd been more than friendly though, laughing at his outrageous tales of battle and "accidently" brushing his shoulder as she served the drinks. And all thoughts of Kaya fled from his mind as the waitress lifted the hem of her forest green skirt, exposing her milky white knees and thighs.
"So tell me, Mistah Marksman," her girlish voice purred. "Is yer nose the only thing that's long?" Usopp laughed softly, his voice suddenly deeper.
"Did I mention that long noses are a trait of the royal family on Sniper Island?" he rumbled, reclining on the mattress with hands resting behind his head. The waitress smiled and curled against him, running a hand down his work-toned stomach. Usopp gulped and steeled himself, desperate to maintain his unruffled attitude. Tracing her fingers across the bandages encircling his stomach, his guest cocked her head to one side.
"You got a princess waiting for ya back on yer island?" She lazily draped on leg across him and began twisting her fingers into his hair. Usopp felt a wave of heat wash over his body. His muscles tensed painfully as he resisted the shudder threatening streak through him.
"Not one as beautiful as you," he answered, pulling the waitress on top of him. She squealed and tossed back her curls, missing the wince that contorted Usopp's face for but a second. As the woman writhed atop him seductively, Usopp tried to banish the sickening lurch that twinged in his gut. It was just his injuries, he assured himself. The onyx-eyed beauty fumbling with the clasps of his clothing stirred temptations buried during the time at sea – a necessary sacrifice for one living with a mostly male crew – and Sogeking was right. He did want her. And she wanted him! There was nothing to feel guilty about. Kaya would understand.
A short time and a flurry of discarded clothing later, Usopp was in ecstasy. Gazing down at the blushing, sweating, gorgeous body below him, the sniper felt confidence swelling in his chest. She wanted him, the bumbling, dishonest, lanky oaf of a pirate. His muscles screamed in protest as he pushed himself harder, reveling in the fresh chorus of moans he produced. She was his, all his, a conquest of his own charm and prowess. Arching her back, skin glistening in the candlelit glow, a single word emerged from her gasp of pleasure.
"Soge..."
Usopp froze. The flood of pain from still-fresh wounds – aggravated by the intensity of the rendezvous – washed over him unnoticed. It wasn't him she wanted but the masked, fictional construct he hid behind. Pulling away from her and tumbling off the bed, Usopp's vision swam. He stumbled out the door, ignoring the confused cries from the bed. The mask mocked him from its post, its tiny red mouth twisted into a gleeful smile. He tripped over the cape, the jarring pain in his elbow and side numbed by the realization made in a dim room smelling of expensive grog and shame. Staggering onto the balcony, one hand hoisting his wrinkled pants about his waist, Usopp leaned against the cool stone of the wall.
"Kaya," he sobbed. "Kaya...I'm so s-sorry..."