Rating: T? I'm not too familiar with the ratings system...but just to be safe...
Pairing: Paulie/Sanji, mentions of Lucchi/Paulie and a surprise pairing at the end... yeah... XD
Warnings: Shounen-ai, aka boy love. Don't like it? Too bad for you. Meh... Spoilers for Enies Lobby I guess... And Water 7... Also there are swear words so...yeah...
Summary: Paulie thinks about his relationships, past, present, and future... Oneshot
Author's Note: This just came to me one hot summer day... Paulie is my most favorite character from the Water 7 arc. There aren't enough fics about him. T-T So I decided to make my own... And this is the product of it, along with several others in my notebook... Yeah... So, tell me how I did... Be gentle... This is my first official One Piece fanfiction... I'm not a very good writer...
Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me. They belong to the genius, Eiichiro Oda, who created One Piece. If One Piece belonged to me, there'd be a hell lot more of Water 7, Paulie, and Iceburg. Oh, and there'd be lots more shirt-off-ness... Don't listen to me. I'm crazy...
Oh, and italics mean thinking... Yeah... go on... read...
Soft even breaths could be heard in a relatively dark room. Moonlight shone in through a single window, letting enough light to show two figures in a bed. One sleeping soundly, the other, however, was wide awake. Arm propped behind his head and staring at the ceiling, looking somewhat troubled. A sigh is heard.
Stepping carefully out of the bed, the awake one groped around in the dark for his jacket. Upon finding it, he obtained one of the six cigars hanging from the left side and put it in his mouth. He then reached into the nearby pocket, took out a lighter, and lit his cigar. Heading back to the bed, he carefully lay himself down, as not to wake his company. After getting comfortable, he let several puffs of smoke.
The awake one, named Paulie, turned his head to face the source of the soft even breaths in the room, a young blonde male. He stared a while at the younger one, comtemplating the previous events of this evening. How he got to where he was now: naked and sweaty with an equally naked and sweaty pirate cook.
A thought crossed his mind. I should be sleeping too...
He wasn't surprised that his younger companion had fallen asleep almost immediately after sex. Hell, it was probably his first time being bottom...
The thought brought a short bitter laugh to Paulie.
I remember my first time with Luc-, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. I fell asleep almost right after he was done with me... Bastard...
A brief moment of silence filled his mind, before he realized what he had just thought. Anger filled him when he thought of the past, his past. Paulie didn't like to dwell on the past, so he tried thinking other thoughts and placing blame on random, irrelevant things.
Damn! Why can't I fall asleep?! Why am I still awake thinking pointless things?! ... I guess sex does that sometimes... The curse of being top. Not being able to sleep right away and having to think boring thoughts 'til I can go to sleep. Must think boring thoughts to get rid of other thoughts of You-Know-Who.
"Nma, Paulie, pay attention. This will probably be important to you in the future." A blue-haired man spoke to a smaller version of Paulie.
"But Iceburg-sensei!" Paulie pouted, "I don't wanna talk about girls! Girls are icky and gross and have a horrible sense of clothing style. I mean, they show way too much skin! What if they were to trip and fall? What protection would be offered to they legs and arms and bellies? Then they cry about a little scrape and the manly men of Galley-La have to stop all their work to help," Paulie paused to pout. "Too troublesome if you ask me..."
"Well no one asked you... And you're overexaggerating. Besides, I'm sure you'll change your opinion of girls as you get old-"
"NO I WON'T!! I'LL PROVE YOU WRONG!! YOU'LL SEE!!! YOU'LL ALL SEE!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA-"
WHACK!
Paulie glared an evil glare at his sensei. Iceburg looked back with an equally evil glare. Seeing the evil glare wasn't working, he switched tactics.
Tears began to well up in his eyes. Iceburg looked unfazed.
"Stop that. Now listen. Girls are very complicated, however, if you know the basic principle, it'll turn out okay. Opposites attract. Blah blah blah blah.
The rest of the flashback was blurred as new thoughts of Paulie began to form.
Ha! Take that Iceburg!! I still don't like girls. ... Wait. That didn't feel like the message I was supposed to get. Perhaps it was something else...
Paulie closes his eyes in an attempt to make the flashback come back and remind him.
Yeah... It obviously didn't want to come back, but that's okay. Suddenly for the sake of plot he remembered.
Opposites attract?
Now that he thought about it... His previous "relationshit" was full of opposites. Bastard was quiet (damn the pidgeon), Paulie did enough yelling for the both of them. Bastard was dark (haired), Paulie was light (haired). Bastard was graceful and smooth, kinda like velvet... Pretending he didn't just think that, Paulie was gruff and anything but graceful. You get the fuckin' point.
What about this?
They had their similarities. Young, blonde, skilled at profession which utilizes hands to the maximum, mentor whose abilities contribute to said skills and soon, both to be floating on the ocean on a boat no one has ever thought of.
Paulie stole a glance at the young cook. What made this cook attractive to Paulie? Was it the contrast to himself that made him attracted to him? Paulie began a list in his head.
He swooned over women and constanly craved their attention, Paulie yelled angrily at them for their shameful ways and wanted nothing to do with them.
He smoked a skinny, little cigarette, Paulie smoked a big, fat cigar. (Paulie couldn't help but smile at this comparison. He'd tease the blonde when he woke up)
He could cook an amazing three-course meal, Paulie couldn't cook worth shit.
He probably couldn't make anything with his hands other than food, Paulie could build lots of stuff with wood, a hammer, and nails.
He attacked with his feet, Paulie used his hands to form attacks with rope.
He wore a suave, black suit, Paulie wore (usually) clean, but worn and ragged work clothes.
He had a curly eyebrow, Paulie has none. (Couldn't help it XD)
Paulie sighed. As the list became longer and longer in his mind, he realized that he had really come to like the guy, almost love, but not quite there yet...
"All the more tragic," Paulie said to no one in particular.
He knew it wouldn't last. He knew that the cook would leave him one day and go back out to sea with his precious nakama. Of course.
"I sure know how to pick relationships... Shitty opposites attract principle..." He smiled inwardly as he realized he picked up the cook's way of speaking. "God I gonna be lonely..."
Paulie closed his eyes and tried to drift off... Maybe he should be more picky with his relationships... Try and get someone to be with him for the long haul. Someone to be here for the rest of time.
Opposites attract... ... If opposites attract, then the more opposite you are with your partner, the more you're compatible, right? So, given that they have to be his total opposite and they'd have to live in Water 7 for a long time, who would his 'perfect match' be?
Paulie lay in silence for a few moments as the names and faces turned up in his mind.
Just how opposite are he and Zambai?
Yay! I finished! Please review and tell me if I did okay, or if I totally and utterly failed. -.-u