" Why don't you like it when I call you 'Miss'?

" - "

" Is it because it's too formal, is that it?"

" - "

" Also, the two wakizashi's you carry with you, the one's you have yet to let me even touch, I'm guessing they're either coated with or completely made out of sea-stone, aren't they?"

" ' twitch' "

Law grinned triumphantly.

" So, I'm right about one the last parts, but which? I'm guessing completely made out of it? "

" 'eyebrow twitch' "

" Excellent. " Law took a sip of his sake, seemingly completely unphased by the death glare currently fixed in his direction. Penguin came over to sit with them, a fresh bottle of sake in his hand, and almost fell off his chair when he saw the black stitches across her lips.

" Good god, Ayame-san!" He leaned closer to get better look only to be slapped harshly. Ayame did not like being treated like some animal in the zoo. 'Stupid devil fruit! Stupid Trafalgar Law!' She was silently fuming. Penguin turned to Law. " Why Cap? "

" She wouldn't stop speaking about an enemy crew, the one led by Eustass-ya." Penguin raised his eyebrows and looked back at Ayame. 'I can't even defend myself! I was only teasing him, for heaven's sake!' Penguin kept a straight face for a moment before he burst out laughing.

" Awahahahaha! It seems our girl has a little crush, eh Ayame? Hm? Men in make-up turn you on?" He laughed at his own joke, slamming his palm against the table while Ayame's face went from annoyed to furious in less than one red second. Strangely enough Law found he wasn't too pleased by the idea either. 'Of course you don't like it, the idea of anyone of your crew fraternising with the enemy in any way is always upsetting, regardless of sex or agenda.' Penguin was still laughing and Ayame looked about ready to combust from anger and Law swiftly grabbed her left arm closest to him to stop her from punching him. Ayame was too quick however and with her right hand pulled out one of the wakzashi's she had strapped on her back or hips whenever they left the ship. She never used them though, unless it was serious, and the last two months nothing serious had happened that concerned the pirates of Heart. Well, until now. Penguin found himself unable to laugh any more as the cold steel of sharpened sea prism stone was held against his neck. Ayame's eyes now resembled a sea at storm, a harsh and cruel mistress. Law grited his teeth, he could not reach out to remove the blade with his hand, if he touched it the reaction would be far different than that her necklace had had. This was a more concentrated dose, designed to hurt.

But there was no rush, it was probably healthy for Penguin to be intimidated by the young female, after all she had threatened everyone apart from him, Bepo and Law himself so far. Penguin just needed to give her a reason. She always had a reason for threatening someone, and it was rarely empty.

Her eyes were the most intense Law had seen them so far, 'she must really be angry.' Of course, it might have something to do with Law's previous prodding on her temper, and Penguin was just the final catalyst that made her lash out. She help the blade perfectly still for a few minutes, Penguin didn't dare move. She seemed to still be able to communicate her fury through her eyes. And then abruptly she pulled back, settling back beside Law once more whom slung an arm over her shoulders casually, chuckling. Penguin sputtered something unintelligible before leaving in a hurry, his bottle of sake left behind. Ayame took the bottle and made to drink before she let out a barely audible whine and putting it back on the table. Law laughed deep and clear laugh. Ayame looked up at him as if he had grown two heads and then shrugged, slouching even more in her seat.

" So you really don't like Eustass-ya, you were just teasing me. Is that right miss Ayame?" She glanced at him sideways. He was looking right at her, ignoring the bustling of the other bar customers and the women (barflies) who flocked around the other crew-members. She dragged her tongue over the inside of the seam before she nodded, once. Law grinned, his hand finding it's way to behind her ear. He pushed her hair out of the way and inspected the three slits that stood out slightly from her skin there. They weren't moving as they were on dry land but Law knew it was these that had made her capable of finding the treasure under the sea. His fingers ghosted over them and Ayame shuddered violently against her will. 'What the hell, Law?! The fuck?!" Clearly Trafalgar Law didn't know that the gills were one of the more sensitive parts of a mer-creature's body. Or rather, he hadn't known until now. He did it again to confirm the theory and Ayame tried to get to her feet while at the same time shuddering as her nerves reacted from the new stimuli. Her gills pulsated with the sensation of Law's touch and she suddenly felt very anxious as she didn't recognize the feeling. Her relationships with men had never been particularly intimate and No-one had ever toughed her there! She bit her cheek to keep from attacking the stitches to curse the gods of the underworld upon him as she left the table, Penguin's sake bottle clutched in her hand.

Fifteen minutes later Law found Ayame on the ship, sitting on the edge with her feet dangling over the side above the water, trying to pour the sake through her stitches. Law laughed quietly to himself as he sat down next to her. She slid away from him a bit to create a distance so that he would leave her still throbbing gills alone. They were sending out little sparks of electricity through her body, most leading to her midsection, heating it up. Or maybe it was just a warm evening. Yeah, she'd go with that.

Even after two months she felt she didn't know much about Law. The man was still a mystery to her, and she only had a firm grasp of some very obvious facts. He liked coffee, preferably inhumanly strong. He barely slept, Ayame didn't know why but her theory was a mix of nightmares and a dose of insomnia that came with being Law. The man had a fierce intelligence and she guessed it was bound to keep him up at night. He hated when anyone disturbed the order in his infirmary or OR. Especially the latter. Ayame shuddered at the thought of how many he had tortured in that room simply to satisfy his curiosity. 'Admit that you're curious about his findings too. You didn't spend your childhood with a dad as a surgeon for no reason, such experiences were bound to leave marks.' Ayame suddenly felt very sad. She hadn't thought about her father for years. He had been human, and Ayame didn't remember much from her time with him before her mother took her and her brother away. He promised he would write but she never got any letters. She remembered the bitter feeling of disappointment in her gut, the feeling of abandonment feeding on her misery. 'Best not think about it, it only hurts.' She turned her eyes back to the surgeon currently sitting beside her. He had been studying her.

Law looked from her lips to the bottle and then to her eyes, sighing.

" Room. " His thumb and forefinger connected in a circle, Ayame felt the thread tug suddenly, and when the digits released from each other the stitches unwound themselves from her skin. She looked at him wide eyed for a moment and then moved to take a swig from the bottle. Only to find that it was in Law's left hand, the sake currently mixing with the ocean below them before the bottle followed, the liquid comfort now out of her grasp.

" What the hell, Captain?! "

" You're tired and sad, you shouldn't drink. " She looked out at the ocean and huffed. " I don't want you to speak about Eustass-ya again, the mere name gives me a headache. " She snorted.

" What do you think it gives me? The man is awful to even look upon, imagine the mental image Penguin so charmingly bestowed on me. Yuk!" Law laughed.

" Yuk indeed. " They sat in silence for a while, both lost in thought. " What was it you thought about that made you look so sad?" His voice was gentle for once. 'Should I tell him?' A few breadcrumbs couldn't hurt.

" I was thinking of my father. I hadn't thought of him in a while and it made me sad." She rose to her feet on the rail, pacing back and forth with excellent balance. Law watched the muscles of her legs work, she only wore shorts and a long sleeves shirt for the day.

" Why?" She smiled sadly at him.

" Because he abandoned me, and my... my brother." She stopped and looked down at her feet. The skin between them stretched a bit further than on a normal human, making her faster in the water. Law traced a tattooed finger over the skin he had not explored before, eyes betraying nothing.

" Tell me about him." Her eyes snapped to his.

" Who?"

" About Koro." Her eyes flashed with emotion and she stepped away from his fingers.

" You ask many questions, Captain. Far too many. " And with those words she dived, body elegantly poised as she disappeared to a place where Law could never follow, leaving him to the silence of the empty ship.


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