One Piece:Irresistible; Little Miss Pussycat
Nami had always had a certain essence of grace within her posture. He never thought of her as suited for his form of physical exertion, but she surely had used her undiscovered talent subconsciously whenever she claimed someone's treasure or seduced a man into submission. The way she elevated her bust or swayed her hips was never an accident or slip within regular movements, of that he was sure. As a man who spent half of his life working within the structural built and brute strength of the human body, every time he watched her display an action, he could read her frame as an open book. Coming from someone who preferred to sleep then read, it would seem as an obvious depiction, to be able to predict her body language so easily. However, said grace was her own; the 'Burglary Cat's' greatest ally in every possible scenario she faced.
It was cat-like indeed, yet held refinery. It was seductive, sexual, yet classy. Her voice was smooth, callous, coaxing, and enticing to her target, almost as if she herself was a hypnotist. The way she indulged in her attributes could be categorized as sleazy or whorish to some. In his eyes, it was useful and intelligent, as it was suitable in certain cases. For you see, she never put herself out there, yet somehow lured in her catch, the bait merely a hollow offering that was never questioned until after she took her leave. While he fought strategically with swords, she used what God gave her as her means of battle, plus the weaponry supplied by her nakama. Even he himself had been chosen as her secret weapon within her nakama-based arsenal, whether he approved of such a thing or not. Sadly, he too had been wrangled into her mischevious web, but what he found as peculiar was the fact that she had never sucked his blood dry and tossed him aside, like all her other victims before him.
He regarded her, watched over her, on a constant basis. He was sure she simply knew only of his calls to duty, which he was never allowed to refuse. Times such as Skypiea, even dating back to the battle of the Black Cat pirates, were his own instinctive reactions for the navigator. In any of those moments, she had not enlisted him. He acted of his own accord. Should he be so unlucky as to make his intentions painfully obvious, he always sugar-coated his intentions as 'the nakama thing to do'. Though thankfully, no one had suspected him. He took liberty to protect all Straw Hat members, as is the task of the first mate. So he himself took the time to indulge in the obliviousness of the vibrant, witty red-haired maiden. A section of smarts that he surpassed her in; was Armageddon more then a myth?
In all honesty, she had graced him with her presence, as he had come to realize over the years. Many a nights, as he lay sprawled over his bed, a small inquiry clouded his thoughts; what would have happened if he had encountered her prior to meeting Monkey D. Luffy, and becoming an ex-pirate hunter-turned-pirate? This question troubled him greatly. For starters, it was something that involved dwelling on past events, involving the likes of spiritual beliefs and what not, which was certainly not his forte. Secondly, it involved imagination. He was able to forcefully forget small things, not create them. And finally, to wonder such a thing, meant he had to picture himself being quite familiar, more so then the current standards, with the most infuriating and interesting woman he had come to know. Twas a trifle for a man such as he.
Nevertheless, he wondered. Into the depths of the night, his mind wandered, allowing scenes he knew as endearing past endeavours to warp and reform, into events and timeframes that included her in the majority of his life. To his surprise, it was nothing as he had expected; it could be named as the easiest thought he had ever conjured, that did not take place on a battlefield. He imagined the moment they would meet, and did not concern himself with the details. Images of the two of them, collecting treasure, arguing as much as possible, becoming somewhat of a duo, all filled his mind in mere seconds. He would never trade a fantasy- is that what this was? –for what he had founded as his home now, but he always wondered in these moments of weakness if he would have been able to succeed in a challenge against Arlong on his own. If he had, would she have cried in front of him as she had for Luffy? He wouldn't have proclaimed his undying devotion to her as his captain had, but he would've challenged them for her…and Cocoyashi too.
Her strength was to be admired as well, for it was equivalent to his. To have the adversity to stand her own against such vermin truly defined her character. Her flexibility, her will, her loyalty was now matched with his own traits. It, again, was something to be respected. She was an amazing being, someone who he never would have taken a second glance at if it weren't for said traits. She always found a way to dominate him, to take control be ensnaring his senses in a way that left him unfathomed. The challenge she always had prepared for him set his instinct ablaze, as it always gave him the foolish notion of victory. A victory on his end was never founded, but she always had his entire body itching for the next round. Even after yesterday's events, he still yearned for her promiscuous glare, signalling him of their next war session.
The tale of said yesterday begins upon a rocky peak, about mid afternoon along the coast line of the crew's latest pit-stop. For some unknown reason, a voluptuous navigator and sloth-like first mate had been paired together by an unspoken arrangement, which had left them on wits-ends. The peak had not been their destination, or choice spot for rest. Even to the more quick-witted surveyor, the explanation as to their arrival upon such a place left her befuddled. And without an explanation, the swordsman of the two sighed heavily. Turning to face him, Nami was faced with a droopy, bored expression of a green-haired man, resting his body weight against a ruin of a brick wall.
"Why are we here? We're supposed to be in town." His wining voice combined with his slouched shoulders aggravated her to no end; as if he was doing anything to lead them back.
"Oh shut it. I'm doing the best I can here!" she cried, similar to him, but with a higher pitch.
She scurried from side to side of the dangerous peak, with not an ounce of fear, as she surveyed the sky. Groaning while monitoring her crazed movements, Zoro bent his knees just a smidge more so, preparing himself to charge at her, just in case of a simple slip of her heels. He gave of the impression that he had not a care in the world on his mind at that point in time, but that was far from the truth. As a daily ritual, one that he himself had not anticipated and therefore was unaware of, his body reacted to her of its own accord, as if he was her personal knight. Call it a reflex, instinct or both a and b, it was something that came natural to the swordsman, so it was nothing similar to a fleet.
His eyes slid over her body, resting periodically on her hips and calves. With her shape being as curvaceous and slim, it was hard to believe she was still standing at such a height; didn't some law of science state that light objects fly off at such a level of elevation, due to a certain form of wind pressure? Seeing as how half the population of the world was female, he could recognize that of a feminine shape, as they tended to be more petite and frail to the general public. That as the case, he figured his spunky companion would have been carried off by the breeze already. Once again, he questioned himself if there was more then meets the eye to this woman, and if so, was there more to be admired?
"Alright, I think I figured out what went wrong." Her chipper sound drew his eyes to hers, just as she turned her head. Luckily, she hadn't noticed his eyes as they had aimlessly wandered over her. It could be labelled as her lesser quality, her flaw among few; her obliviousness. Whatever it was named, he appreciated each moment where he saw that imperfection. He could be sleuth-like, so a contributing factor would more then likely be his own skills, and with a reflex of a guardian, it should not affect his system so. Nevertheless, it meant more then it was worth to his beating heart.
"Good. Then let's go already." Yawning for the first time since his last cat nap,- was Nami the Navigator not the cat in this pair? –Zoro tossed his head in the direction of their previous path, assuming it would be the same path to lead them homeward. Looking past her short mikan-colored locks, he took note of the sun's position; it was approximately five o'clock. The sun was preparing to set in a handful of hours, so a short journey to their ship of a home would be a wise decision to make. Casting his eyes back to those of his companion, with the intention to inform her of the time in mind, he was surprised to see the so-called petite woman begin to approach him. Plastering his shoulder against the decaying bricks while wearing a look of normality, the swordsman could not hide the escalating rate of his heart beat, due to caution, nor conceal his line of sight to solely rest upon her face.
Again, her grace was more then merely obvious. She approached him with no look of deviance, nor spunk or fake innocence. Nami walked at a regular, cool pace towards the swordsman with a gentle, somewhat blank expression. Her eyes did marvel in the shadows, since her back faced the natural lighting of the daytime, but the simplistic yet charming movement of her body did charm him indeed, like a snake to its piper.
"Zoro?" she breathed out his name with a smidge of curiosity. Living through the moment, just as he did with all their other interactions, he nodded his head once, just to drop his chin from its held-high pose. "Yeah?"
Even if she was not her usual promiscuous self, her prose opposite of her common demeanour, she still acted as herself, or so he would say. Her body was an inch from his- he guessed –before she put an end to her walk. He had attempted to cross his arms, but the contact with his chest would have riled him to act unmannerly. Looking down upon the infamous burglary cat, he was able to stare at her presence as a whole; it was different to him. Typically, he would watch her feet, or her fists, to keep track of her safety level, not to admire. And yet, in a calm instant, where no danger was found, he was able to drink in what was known as the wondrous being of Nami. He took no advantage of her low cut collar, as others would. He gazed at her, while his stare of distrust remained locked into every curve of his face, truly taking the time to appreciate the woman before him. She was Nami, he was Zoro, and here they were, alone. No appearances to uphold, to risks to fear. They were just two people, together, in a time of peace. The atmosphere was to blame for his interest in the scenario, but he did not care.
"Did I just catch you looking at my legs?" Shocking him slightly, as he had been unprepared to even hear her speak, his broad shoulders lifted upward as he took a small breath of ease. He was pleased to see the honest wonder in her eyes; luckily, she wasn't planning to tease him over his…duty. It was then reality dawned on him; she had never been oblivious, she just waited for the time to act.
"No; your heels." He admitted, which in retrospect, was not a lie.
"Really? I could have sworn I saw you looking me over." As seductive as that sentence could have been, she was not. Though he was relieved by her lack of deviance, he was incredibly uncomfortable with the space, or lack there of.
"You're imagining things." To calm himself, he closed his eyes, running a hand over what ever length of hair he had. As his hand slid back to rest on the base of his neck, as he opened his eyes, against she surprised him with her desire of closeness between them.
"Really? I was so sure. Am I tempting you Zoro?" Her lips, just as gentle-looking as the ship's sails, were hovering just before his. If any other human being had him pinned against any form of surface, he would have shoved them off. But for some inexplicit reason, he allowed her the pose. His body was not as erratic as his heart made him believe, therefore giving him reason to accept the stances.
"No." Was all he mustered to say. His voice had been shallow, light-hearted and he feared he was revealing too much. He dropped his hand instantly and pressed his skull onto the small wall. Still, determination being one of those traits of admiration, she did not allow him any kind of an escape route. Instead, her welcoming lips proceeded toward his yet again, stopping with just enough space to drive any man wild.
"Then why is that I can feel your eyes wander over me some times?" Still, even at such a point in their discussion, she had not let her spunk seep into her way of speech. He felt thankful for that small fact, because he knew that if he heard a drop of it on her tongue, he would have forced her away by such a point in the conversation.
"Because they do." His voice did not fail him this time; another thing to be thankful for.
"And why is that?" Her true innocence radiated, which confused him; how did that make her so much more desirable, that his hand began to ache, his mind ordering him to reach out to her while his body refused to follow, shaken by fear?
"I can't protect you if I can't see you." His wit was startling today, but he went with every sort of sentence his mind was able to process and send forth to him.
"But I can protect myself. Why would you need to protect me?" He knew she was corrected, knew she was more then simply right, and her debt was currently an unimportant factor. Reacting to his own inner turmoil, he answered her how he always answered his own question of great similarity.
"It's what nakama do." Her eyes scanned his, almost with the intention of torture.
"Do you protect everyone like this then? Even Luffy, or Chopper?" She found a way around his logic, just as she always had. His ego deflating at an unconcerned pace, his mind failing, and his instinct burning, he returned to his regular set of wits and changed his tone to match, "No."
He couldn't tell if her expression changed, as if to say 'I won!' or 'Tell me more'. Either way, he was intrigued to see where she planned to take the information he supplied. He had not admitted anything too blatant, but her reaction caused his own curiosity to rise. She parted her lips a moment before her words came out, "Then why am I so special? Is it because I'm a girl?"
He pondered a reply, "…Yes."
She lost a sliver of her smoothness then, almost pulling back from the scene she initiated all together, "That's not fair."
"No, it is." Where had his sense of personality gone? Had his entire essence deserted him? Was he sincerely overcome by such beauty and respect that he was losing all of what he really was? Considering the situation, realizing he had already lost his sense of manliness and caution, he took the situation to a new extreme and slid his firm hands over her forearms. The look of odd interest did nothing to his pride, so he continued upward to her biceps, using his thumb to run over her skin. He knew she would be confused, since he had just befuddled himself as well. There was something though, something in special and important in that moment, something that told him to take care of his personal affairs with her. Call it instinct, if you will.
Instead of doing what he assumed a stereotypical female would do in the special case they were involved in, such as blushing as drawing back, Nami merely gasped, then questioned, "Why is that, Zoro?"
His hands slid back down her arms, then left his touch to linger on her arms, at the moment she said his name. As much as he had heard her speak the word so many times previous, the way it almost escaped her lips chilled his spine. Gritting his teeth, he waited for the strange feeling to subside before resuming the moment. It was a couple of seconds after the sensation left the small of his back that the man realized he had no way to respond. The only answer he could give would be a confession, or an instantaneous lie. Even he was unsure of what the one reply he could conjure would mean. How could reply to her without ruining the sincerity he was just becoming used to?
Luckily and suddenly, Nami took matters into her hands. He guessed she expected such a thing, yet understood what he had been trying to convey through his five word-maximum sentences. With their bodies so close together, he could tell she lifted her entire weight up by her toes before pressing her lips to his. To feel another mouth cover his was different to Zoro, but it was not unwelcomed. It was a strange sense of happiness that arose with her soft touch that compelled him to respond to her. As he watched her eyes shut, he did the same. At first, he couldn't comprehend why they did such a thing, until the sensory of his own lips increased by ten folds and satisfaction began to sink in. Once he felt the concept of a kiss was grasped, he tried it out for himself.
His hands found their way to her arms again, only to rest under her shoulder blades and bring her even closer. He applied firmness to his lips, then slowly parted them to cause friction. By his initiation, a passionate lip-lock began. Her lips, the ones he compared to the ship's sheets, were now more so like water; gentle when calm, then powerful when driven. She had such a high note of response and emotion within the intensity that he felt comfortable; there was no dominance between them. It was something he could become used to. He noticed the frame of her body melt against his, at which point in time he decided to display some of his protective skills and held her against him. He supplied support to her shape, while his mouth completely covered hers, blanketing her now pink-toned lips, the types of feelings becoming a rotary more so then a display. It was almost as though a static shock ran through his body, provoking him to prove all that he himself did not even acknowledge within his very heart. And to his enjoyment, it was just as rewarding as his training ritual.
The sound of the tide against the peak startled him to the point of sharp inhalation. Feeling as though he showed her all that he could, his firm hands gave her warning, slithering down her skin with enough of touch to make her bend to him. As he left her arms bare to the breeze, she put forth pressure into her hips and used them as lever to push her body off of his. There bodies now separated, Zoro tried to ready himself for the awkward silence to follow. He had never kissed anyone before, so certainly it was nothing too grand. Whether she had or had not prior to their romantic moment, surely he had not fulfilled any long-lasting desires. And certainly, if she had some, they were not directed toward him.
Before he could doubt himself any longer, her smile broke through to him. He looked at her with a bare expression, trying to cloak the insecurity that bubbled inside his heart. But she took no notice to how he felt and giggled, "Shall we get going now?"
Inhaling as he stood tall, redeeming what little of his delimited manhood he now held, he nodded and turned to leave. By his second step, a tap on his shoulder made him turn back to his comrade. Was she planning to ridicule him?
He blinked once at the sight of her index finger dancing along the lining of her bottom lip as she grinned at him like a fool. "Can I have another for the road?" she said whole-heartedly.
In disbelief, enough to be beside himself, he let a slacked jaw smirk slip onto his face and let a laugh slip through. He was certain; he could become accustom to a life like this.
Dedicated to Tifa82Miffy on deviantARt, and to her boyfriend too. Thank you for such great pictures.
Inspired by here photograph: Nami teasing Zoro