(Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, I don't own One Piece, so you can't sue)
X-X-X-X-X
She was pouting.
She knew she was pouting and that she should probably stop, but she just couldn't find it in herself to care at that point. She had been looking forward to exploring the Sabondy Archipelago since the beginning of all this, but here she was, trapped aboard the Red Flag.
She groaned, letting her head fall onto her crossed arms while still holding tight to the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She stood at the railing, looking wistfully at the island right in front of her, silently cursing the common cold.
She'd been out for three days, loopy as a loon with fever. Now, a week later, she was still ship bound, per her Captain's orders. She frowned. Even when the ship was being coated and she'd thought she'd caught a break, it wasn't to be. Her Captain had showed up, ushered her off the ship and straight to a hotel room, where he'd ordered her to stay until the ship was finished.
She'd actually been reduced to whining over that one, but he'd remained unmoved. When she'd grudgingly relented he'd nodded, patted her on the shoulder, and left.
It had been a very boring 10 days.
Now, with preparations for castoff nearly complete, she was becoming increasingly depressed as the days went by. It seemed more and more likely that the most she'd see of the famous chain of islands would be from the deck of the Red.
With a heavy sigh, she slumped over onto her arms, looking on as the sun began to fade and the lights on land began to come on.
X-X-X
X Drake had finally admitted (to himself, privately) that he was hiding. He'd tried to deny it for the longest time, but, that morning, when faced with such a glum expression and gloomy demeanor, he'd been forced to admit the truth.
If only to himself.
His markswoman had been ship bound for a good deal of the duration of their stay at the Archipelago, and the more time that went by, the more depressed she seemed to become. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
He knew she'd wanted to explore, but her sudden, debilitating bout of sickness had really frightened him (something else he hadn't fully acknowledged, privately or otherwise). He'd been so worried about her being around so many people so soon after being sick that he'd been a little heavy handed when dealing with her, as of late.
And he'd been spending an awful lot of time avoiding her (and the storm clouds floating around her head), because of it.
He frowned, tapping his fingers against his desk while he thought.
He usually wasn't one to fret over a crewmate, but Nike was different. She was the reason he'd left the marines, after all.
He paused, considering.
So long as it was only for a few hours, and he was with her, it wouldn't hurt, would it? It'd certainly lighten her mood, that was for sure. Mind made up, he stood from his chair, grabbed his hat, and went in search of his markswoman.
He found her on deck, where she'd been for the past day and a half, wrapped half-heartedly in a blanket and watching the island. He berated himself silently when he saw her, because she just looked so...gloomy. Depressed. Forlorn.
Yes, taking her out was definitely a good idea.
"Nike." she looked up at the sound of her name, chestnut hair falling into her eyes for a moment before she brushed it away.
"Get changed, we're going ashore." he said.
She remained frozen for a few seconds, simply staring at him, before a huge grin spread across her face.
"Yes!" she was up and through the door to the cabins so fast that it left him slightly dizzy, blanket abandoned behind her. He sighed, reaching down to pick it up and folding it neatly, before placing it on a nearby barrel for Frost to retrieve later.
Yes, even if it was against his better judgement, if it made her happy, he'd make an exception.
But just this once.
X-X-X-X-X
/AN/
Nike is pronounced like the Greek Goddess of Victory. So it's knee-K, not nigh-kee, like the shoe brand.
For those that don't know, this is part of a trilogy. Angel's Tears, Dragon Feathers, and Scales: Bullets and Victory can be read separately or together. They're all parallels of the same story line, just following different characters.