As expected Fiadh found herself sluggish the next morning and waking up at least half an hour later than she had wanted to. It was fine though, she just rushed in throwing on jeans, her tall boots, green sash with her golden clasp, her sword rested in the sash, and a loose white blouse went over her head. Even though she registered the blouse would probably get stained or ruined she wanted to wear comfortable clothes that still were presentable.
There was little darkness left as the sun was quickly rising over the horizon. Fiadh had to work fast, so she smacked her cheeks before briskly heading out of her room. Her stuff had already been packed and was ready to go, so all she had to do was load her large cargo. Taking only her medical bag and her katana she got to the stables behind the castle she saw the black silhouette of her old companion.
"Heyyy! Darra!" Fia called waving at her friend. The bird just huffed at her and rolled his eyes.
"You're late, shitty vet."
"Watch your tongue bird brain!" Fia snapped back while smiling widely at the vulture-like bird. He was almost as big as the stables, and his immense size never failed to impress Fiadh even after so many years. She noted the large cage behind her friend with a large pile of blankets and pillows stuffed in it to make it more comfortable as well as a large bag of medical equipment she rarely kept on hand.
"Alright, I'll go check on my patient then if everything is good I'll bring him out." The slight clink of her katana gave her away as she approached the canine. However, the black blob didn't even twitch, still very sedated and peacefully resting.
Fiadh quickly did a basic inspection using her hand-held flashlight to check his gums, eyes, and ears. All looked the same as last night, so she quickly unhooked him from the IV bag that was now empty and felt along his body while checking the bandages for any opening of wounds. Later she would have to do some stitches of staples to help the healing of the larger wounds.
Wrapping her large arms under the canine Fiadh fluidly lifts the canine while supporting the head with her shoulder. Despite being a big woman, the canine was still slightly bigger in length than her and had substantial weight. There was a slight twitch along the canine's body as one of the wounds were probably irritated, but Fiadh was careful and quick. She exited the stables with smooth strides and quickly set the canine in the large cage Darra had brought. Fiadh gently settles her patient on the pile of pillows and secures him down with some leather straps connected to the large cage.
After ensuring nothing had changed again from being moved Fiadh gives Darra a thumbs up. Darra quickly stretches out his wings before taking off into flight. His large wings cause trees to flatten and even Fiadh had to squint at the dust kicked up, she hears the roof of the stables groan in protest at the offensive wind as well. Darra does one small circle before swooping down and grabbing the cage by a leather strap at the top meant for him.
"Woohooo! I love this part!" Fia cried with a grin.
Still in the cage with the canine Fiadh stares with sparkling eyes as the sun comes into view with the change in altitude. They rise well over the castle and swiftly reach an altitude Darra looks like a normal sized bird from. The smooth breathes of her patient gave her hope for a successful recovery.
"You're certainly a tough one dude…" Fiadh says as petting the canines head gingerly. She swiftly covers her patient in a large blanket as she notices the approaching ship.
As fast as they'd taken off Darra was setting them down on the ship. He spirels down to the ship so as to not disrupt the patient. Fiadh waved off Darra while promising him his reward once again. The handful of crew out at this time had shocked faces and weren't sure exactly what to do about this situation, but quickly went back to their work after identifying Fiadh. Fiadh quickly wheeled the cage down below to a secluded part of the ship that didn't seem to be used for much anymore.
Working with agile hands Fiadh hooks the canine back up to the IV and gives him another smaller dose of pain meds. She checks his catheter, hooks him up to a SIMD machine to watch his blood pressure, and another machine to administer his nutrients and medicine at scheduled times. She then changes a few bandages that were stained red with blood only to find a few wounds that had reopened a bit. This was expected, but still a tad frustrating for Fia. Quickly rebandaging the patient she takes her medical bag of equipment out and covers the canine with one of the blankets as the previous one was stained in blood. Then out of precaution she locked the cage shut and headed out.
Fiadh had to basically run back to the castle and sneak inside as it was now daybreak and more people were starting to work and roam. She moved by the rooftops instead of the streets, something she hadn't done in quite some time but was surprisingly exhilarating. She leaped up to a small shop roof from the ground with her powerful stride she carefully launched from one roof to another, trying not to destroy anyone's roofing in the process. When the castle came into view Fia quickly smoothed her frizzled hair back and darted in to get back to her room.
All her stuff was packed as she left it so she grabbed it and headed out. Fia pivoted on her back right foot right into a solid wall. Letting a very unlady like yelp she quickly puts distance between herself and the obstacle. Deep chuckles could be heard as she looked up to be met with amused magenta eyes.
Clearing his voice of his laughter Katakuri says, "Sorry… Didn't mean to scare you."
Fia couldn't help but snort at the situation as she responds with a nod and a rueful smile, "What'd you come in here unannounced for? What if I was changing again.."
Katakuri's visible ears turned bright red as a choked sound escaped his throat as he stammered out, "I-I didn't mean t-to that time…"
Fia cackles loudly at the embarrassed man's expense as she had soundly got her payback for him sneaking up on her. Despite his ability to sneak up on her Fiadh still had the upper hand in being able to get under the man's skin with her words.
"It's fine! I'm just teasing."
"Ugh… You're worse than my sisters…"
"Now that's just rude!" After a short pause of Fia grinning cheekily up at the taller man she says, "So, what'd you actually come here for?"
"Well I did knock… But I came to see how your patient's movement went." Katakuri says with a hint of defensiveness.
"It went smoothly since I got help! He's settled for now but we're going to need to hurry out of here and get underway so I can begin more extensive care for him." Fia's grin vanished as she suddenly was focused on her work.
While Katakuri found himself wanting to see Fiadh's smile more he also appreciated how serious she was about her work. Despite not always acting her age the woman was nearly as old as him, even though he found that hard to believe looking at her face. Plenty of people said he didn't look his age, however, he thought Fiadh should be the one being questioned. To him he looked at most 30 yet he knew better thanks to intelligence from his mother.
He stopped that train of thought to focus back in on the current conversation, "Alright. I'll go grab my things then."
Fia always found it interesting how quickly Katakuri ended conversations, it didn't offend her, it was honestly impressive. She wished she could use that same tactic but sadly a lot of the politics she was dragged into wasn't receptive to that. Though she normally did it anyway. Looking herself down once she noticed her white blouse had a blood stain from moving her patient so she had to change it. Turning her back to the slightly open door but not bothering to fix it she grabs a new grey t-shirt from her bag of clothes.
Just as she's throwing the shirt over her head she hears a thump then a slam by her door. Looking behind her she notices her previously cracked door was firmly shut making her raise an eyebrow. Now redressed she grabs her two bags and heads for the door. Opening it she finds an empty hallway so she turns to Katakuri's room to find him. Knocking on the door she gets no response so she assumes he left without her which honestly irritates her a bit.
Little thumping feet can be heard in the hallway Fiadh now is walking down and she doesn't even bother looking to see as a small body impacts into her back. The spunky princess looks up at Fia with a watery smile to which she pats the girl's head soothingly.
"He's doing better princess. I'm sure there will be a full recovery."
"Thank you Fia-sama…" The princess sniffles and rubs at her eyes to not let the tears fall.
Patting her head again Fiadh turns and continues walking out of the castle with the princess following at her side. The growth of the little princess astounded Fiadh, she had to mature far too quickly but such is the life of a royal. The King, Queen, and a group of knights were waiting outside as they exited the front door. However, there was no Katakuri in sight. The quirky man obsessed with his merienda's, sweets, and privacy was a true mystery to Fia.
Sighing at the strange man's disappearance Fiadh turns to say goodbye to the Tama royals. The princess showed no signs of her previous sadness and sent her off with a big smile. Fia promised to return again and turned to leave.
All through the town Fia got calls from the locals waving her off, and when she reached the docks she saw Katakuri's crew hustling everywhere on deck to get the ship ready to sail.
Fiadh beelined for her room where she threw her bags in and headed one level lower to go to her patient. When she got there she noticed some lingering crew that was obviously curious about the new sign on the door to a previously empty room. Fia had left a do not enter sign on the door with her signature on the door that luckily seemed to be working.
"Hey, get back to your work." Fia snapped with no real malice or bite just purely instruction. They all scattered before she could even reach the door.
As she came in she noticed the large black dog animal was evenly breathing and there were no signs of new blood. Fiadh figured she might be able to just glue some of the wounds together and that'd be enough, depending how stubborn her patient turns out to be. However, as she checked his blood pressure it was clear it wouldn't be long for the sedative to start wearing off. Fia decided to let it ease off enough to see if the mutt had enough will to wake up and respond. If not her work might be all for nothing, the patient themselves had to have a will to live to make it through such life threatening injuries.
Fia decides to sit next to the cage and she unlocks it, then takes out her locked notebook to work a bit on the project Law entrusted her with. She quickly realized she'd need to call in way more favors than she first thought… Damn brat. He'd just really started making a name for himself in the grandline and he's already thinking this large scale. What twisted shit did Corazon teach this child… Oh well she'd always do whatever he needs, within reason, and assured the damn kid wouldn't wind up dead. His reckless abandonment for himself truly pissed her off, but no amount of beatings from her changed it. Even if it meant ruining her standing with the government Fia would make sure at least he survived.
Laying out Law's routes and comparing it to some other crews she thought might be useful she boiled it down to three comparable crews that might be willing to work with him. Her number one pick per Vivi's suggestion was the Strawhats though Law might not approve. As she was scratching notes her personal transporter snail started ringing with a muffled "purupuru."
"Gatcha"
"Hello, who is it?"
"Ah, Fia-sama! It's Praline!" followed by, "And Aladdin…" sounding increasingly depressed at being left out of their conversations.
"Oh, Praline-san! Any news?"
"Yes, Mama sent sis-Brulee on a mission. Apparently she's used excessive force with her again too which is why she hasn't been able to talk or come see you yet…"
Both women understood exactly what Praline meant by Big Mom using excessive force… Fia's expression instantly darkens as she stares down coldly at the transponder.
"Why?" The ice in her voice definitely surprised Praline as the snail's face contorted into shock.
Aladdin ends up responding gruffly saying, "She had hunger pains and was lashing out, Brulee was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She'll be fine, but Big Mom is sending her out almost immediately on a mission with her older brother Oven."
Fia's face twists in mild disgust at the name but nods saying, "Okay, gotcha. Thank you guys for getting me that information, sorry if it inconvenienced you two."
"It's totally fine Fia-sama!" Chimed Praline, "Also, I heard something very interesting from my sister. Apparently Big Mom was trying to find some way to more permanently tie you to our family, and you know what that means for her…"
Fia scowls and says, "Hm… Thanks for the heads up."
She could hear Aladdin chuckling before commenting, "Fate really is a bitch to you, huh?"
"Always has been old friend…" Fia says ruefully. "These years have been peaceful, and I am finally in a place of comfortable power, I'm not willing to give that up for this right now."
"I understand. You've been through a lot. We all have… No one will judge you for thinking about yourself first on this. She's a dangerou woman to get mixed up with." Aladdin responds in a very fatherly tone.
"Yet I feel guilty… For wanting to follow this fateful mark and see where it goes." Fia chuckles to herself before continuing, "My mother must be rolling in her grave seeing her callous daughter now!"
Aladdin's face made the den den mushi's face scrunch up in sadness, "Fiadh, you can follow it if it will bring you happiness. Don't if you can't do so comfortably, you might just have to wait."
Fia nods and says, "Thanks Aladdin. You, as always, give good advice. I'll talk to you two later. Thanks again, and sorry for burdening you with my problems."
"Fia-sama, that is what friends are for! We'll talk to you later, safe travels to Oka!"
"Gacha"
And with that Fia was left with her thoughts. She mulled over the worth of trying to truly pursue her fated pair, not that she wasn't interested in him as a person. So far he had proven himself to be an interesting guy and he definitely was easy on the eyes. However, his family was the issue and he seemed thoroughly loyal to his mother which posed a serious issue for Fia and the woman's interest in controlling her. Maybe something could be worked out, for now she'd let things stay as is for the trip and go from there.
"Ahhhh, I thought I got over boy troubles in my 20s! Damnit!" Fia cried out in defeat before flopping backwards on the floor like a child.
Just as she does this a rustling can be heard from the cage, worried she disturbed she sits up and looks over. Right at eye level are two piercing red eyes, half lidded and unable to focus. The black hound was definitely awake and looking right at her…
"Ah, sorry bud… I didn't mean to be that loud" Fia sat up embarrassedly rubbing the back of her head. "How are you feeling?"
Of course Fia knew he wouldn't be able to respond; she always asked her patients this. The dog huffed at her and moved it's head away from her direction making Fia laugh, most animals she treated reacted like this to her after weeks of care not minutes.
"Alright, alright that's fair… You need more pain meds?" Fia moved over and opened the cage with no fear.
The large dog turned and growled low in it's throat at her, Fia crouched down out of reach and stretched the back of her hand out to let the patient sniff her hand if interested. Though he showed no outwards interest she could tell he was still checking her.
"I'm just trying to help you recover pup, don't make this more difficult than necessary."
Getting another huff and a disinterested head nod, Fia was certain the canine understood her as she began checking his wounds and saw from his small movement he opened the lacerations on his neck. She began cleaning it, took out some medical grade glue to seal the wound quickly, and rebandaged it with little complaints from her patient. Once she was done she changed the IV bag, connected another bag of nutrient supplements, and gave another small dose of pain medicine. This time not enough to knock him out unless he wanted to rest.
Crouching down once again Fia gently thumbed the canines head with little fear of him biting her while high on meds and hummed softly. She hummed a short lullaby she learned as a child and as soon as the large black lump of fur fell asleep she got up to leave him in silence. He was almost out of the most dangerous part, her only concern was having to put in a drain for any internal bleeding, and the risk of missed broken bones as she has no way to do any x-rays. He definitely had a few ribs fractured judging from how he's breathing, but no major breaks that would require surgery. Taking out a watch from her medical bag she sinks it to his vitals so she'd be alerted for any changes in heart rate, or pressure changes.
Softly closing the door Fia heads to the kitchen to make herself a snack and drink. They were already well underway and it was past lunch time when Fia popped her head above deck to check everything. She still hadn't seen Katakuri and was mildly curious why he was avoiding her, though not complaining as it gave her time to think about her conversation with Aladdin.
As she reached the kitchen she was met with the chefs frantically rushing around cooking and only one briefly waved at her. Fia felt sweat run down her face in confusion but figured they just had something going on…
"No you fool! He didn't like that last time!" Yelled one of the chefs while hitting another with a wooden spoon.
"Um… Can I help?" Fia says awkwardly still at the door not sure what's going on.
"Hm.. She did good work last time."
"YES! Please, we're in a bind here." Cuts in the chef that got hit with a spoon.
"Okayy… What do you guys need?" Fia asks.
"We're trying to make some donuts that will stand out and taste exceptional!"
"Hmm… Okay, well I can try and help but I doubt I'll keep up with professionals. What's the recipe idea?"
"Liquor donuts, and some beignets tiramisu. However, we can't get the donuts right!"
"Ah, you need to use something like whiskey or a coffee liqueur for liquor donuts. I'll work on those if you guys tackle the tiramisu monster." Fia quickly grabbed an apron off the wall, tied her mess of hair up in a ponytail and got to work.
As soon as she tied her hair up she noticed one of the chefs blatantly staring at her scar, which she was not ashamed of, but she figured a pirate crew would be used to seeing scars of all things. She got right to doing her typical donut making procedure, deciding on making some chocolate coffee liqueur donuts. Fia decided to cook some of the liqueur into the donut then infused it at the end as they were halfway through cooling off. As she was wrapping up she looked around at the other chefs and saw that they're wrapping up too.
"Alright, I'll just plate this then work on a drink for myself." Fia decided since a nice coffee liqueur was already out she'd use it for her drink.
Fia quickly made up a White Russian with no vodka and whip cream on top for herself and all the chefs present. Then she decided a cheese snack board would be best since she wasn't very hungry after testing her donuts.
"Heyy! I made you all a drink for our success!" Called Fiadh.
All the chefs cheered out and quickly came to grab their drinks. One asked for an extra to send off with the seats which Fiadh already had some extra off to the side. One of the chefs disappeared to deliver while the rest chatted with Fia for her recipe and complimented her ability.
"I'm no professional, I just know how to appease a drunkard pirate crew that loves sweets!" Said Fiadh in embarrassment at the attention.
"Don't be so humble! You're really amazing Fia-sama."
She quickly brushed them off and took her drink with her snack to her patients room. He had been left to rest the past few hours and was certainly in a deep sleep so she wasn't worried about disturbing him. As she approached the room she sensed two presences in the hallway. When the room was in site she saw a few crewmembers lingering again to which she sighed at.
"Are you all this nosey?"
"AH! Fia-sama! We're sorry, we'll leave right away." The two caught said in unison.
"Ugh… You can peek in real quick just make sure no one else lingers around here and disturbs my patient again!"
"Yes ma'am! Sorry for the disturbance!" They said bowing at a perfect 90 degrees.
"Uh-huh, you're saying sorry but you're still gonna follow." Fia rolled her eyes in annoyance.
As Fia opened the door the two crew members leaned in to crane their necks around Fiadh and see what was inside the room. They were met with shining red eyes and both squealed in terror before running off. Fia just let out a barking laugh before shutting the door to greet her patient.
"You're supposed to be resting! Ugh, should've known you'd be a difficult patient…" Fia heard a distinct cranky huff from the canine.
"Hey! Don't you talk back! I promise I'm not trying to hurt you, I'm just trying to get you somewhere safe and healed enough you won't die."
This time there was no huff and the black beast closed its eyes as if to ignore her and not accept it's defeat. Fia wasn't surprised as her experience in the New World had taught her well, but her patient definitely seemed to understand the human language well. The intelligence level was definitely higher in this ocean, however, something about her patient made her think he might be some sort of experiment. Regardless she would do what she could and hope for the best for her stubborn patient. She was sure she'd win him over eventually.
Meanwhile across the ship a very moody Katakuri sulks in his cabin made of mochi in his room with a pile of sweets and a drink on a cart next to him. He hungrily eyes the sweets over before pulling down his scarf. Momentarily pausing he traces the scars on the side of his mouth and wonders what Fia would think if she ever were to see his face. A flash of Fia's scar flitted through his mind, she proudly wore it despite it clearly being a painful memory. Her strength is one he envied and wished he could just steal for himself.
Focusing back on his late merienda Katakuri tests the tiramisu beignets tower, saving his favorite for last. He let out a loud grunt in satisfaction and began his normal gushing over the sweet dessert. It was perfectly made yet he still felt something was missing… This was the exact reason he had sent the last merienda desserts back earlier. He took a sip of the drink and was pleasantly surprised at the liquor's sweet, creamy taste. It was perfectly balanced in every way.
Then he devoured an entire row of donuts in one bite, allowing his jaw to stretch to accommodate the food. While alone he had no shame in how he ate or anything to do with his normal embarrassment; it was his one bit of downtime. Halfway through he froze, eyes wide, and cheeks full. This… This was what he had been craving. This unexplainable sweetness and taste of comfort. They were clearly not as professionally made as everything else, but these donuts were better than any other dessert he had been offered that day.
After continuing to chew he closed his eyes and was met with the mark on his back aching. Huh… That had never happened during a merienda, why was it disturbing his one happy time of the day? Katakuri released an irritated growl before deciding to ignore the mark and go back to devouring his sweets. He made a mental note to talk to the chefs about the donuts and figure out which one of them had made them.
A full day passed and Katakuri was still avoiding Fiadh on the ship. Granted neither of them were going out of their way to disturb the distance, nor would either admit that it was bothering them. Their usual frequent chats at night meant more to Katakuri than he thought, seeing it as a weakness he decided to stomp that emotion for now. Meanwhile Fiadh just wanted the space to think, get some of her work done, and focus on her stubborn patient.
The large, stubborn patient was doing significantly better. Though Fiadh had to put two drains into wounds that decided to be temperamental and needed them. One was a wound on his abdomen, the other was a wound on his back leg. The wound on his neck had gotten infected so now antibiotics were being administered with the pain meds. She also was able to get him started on some food she cooked herself that was filled with necessary recovery nutrients and vitamins for seriously injured patients.
Everytime, twice a day, Fiadh would bring the food down and it was the only time her patient looked at her in interest with the normal disgust not there. It was a heaping bowl of rice that had soaked up chicken broth, with an entire chicken on top that had vitamins pushed inside of the meat and dissolved, then there were carrots, sweet potato, green beans, and some cubes of apple along the side. She then cracked two quail eggs to go on top of the vegetables as she set the bowl down in front of her patient who hungrily licked his chops. He was given such a large quantity of food for his clearly emaciated state, it was clear out of everything getting him back to an appropriate weight would take longer than even his recovery from his injuries.
"Awee, you're always such a good eater!" Said Fia as she stroked the black beasts head.
This was a new development, that after the first few meals he let her pet his head, and seemed to trust her with obvious reserve. Fiadh noticed after seeing her patients teeth again that he most definitely was crossed with some kind of lion. His tail that was clearly lion like was flicking back and forth like a pleased cat. She had also learned the hard way not to touch his little horns, however, the bases were itchy, most likely from growing, so she could itch there.
After running her finger lightly over the wounds on his neck and feeling their healthy recovery in the form of scabs. She had to use her hands as his thick, long fur around his neck made it impossible to view the wounds. Fia almost had to shave the hair there to view the infected wounds but she decided against it after mulling it over as the long hair would take years to regrow.
The large beast finished his food at record breaking speed and sat there burping contentedly licking his paws. There was pure content bliss on his face and Fiadh took one of the fluffier blankets next to him and wrapped it over his back. At this point Fia got a content grumble from the canine before he was completely asleep, softly snoring. This was the routine they'd fallen into and after Fia confirmed his personality she no longer locked the cage when she left to do the rest of her day.
Once her patient could move more she might have to worry about keeping the cage properly secured, but only so the crew didn't get hurt for their continued curiosity. The crewmates she previously scared witless had spread the tales of Fiadh's creature of nightmares being locked away below deck. They had taken their one sighting of red eyes and blew it into a horror story to strike fear into their fellow crewmates and play off their own terror. Fia just found it amusing and did nothing to address the rumors floating around.
Although she normally wasn't much for letting gossip pass, this was thoroughly amusing to her. Despite the rumors the crew still treated her with respect and greeted her like normal. However, some of the younger crew looked more fearful of her all of which Fia giggled at daily. After her morning visit with her patient she'd go to her room or to the deck to do her work. This day it was sunny and pleasant above deck so Fia set herself up on the upper deck with a folding chair and table. Her normal snacks and tea within arm reach as she began her work.
Recently she had been tasked by the government to help with a supply shortage to Sabaody Archipelago where there was a massive marine base. It thoroughly irritated her since it wasn't a shortage due to supply routes, but because the marines kept stuffing more and more men onto a very small island. Fia had already told them they needed to decrease the number and increase the quality of marines on the island. Those old fuckers at the top never listened to her though, and left her with their messes to clean up.
It was a relatively easy fix with just a few calls and threatening some shit head merchants into giving appropriate deals on the increase in goods. After that correction she did her normal catching up on news and sifted through a stack of the past week's newspapers. Nothing of great significance had occurred though she did see that there was some political disrest in one of the islands on their course. Though it wouldn't be a big deal, Fiadh wrote in her notebook to call her point of contact for more information in case she has to reevaluate it being on the journey.
Evening came quickly and the third day of Katakuri ignoring her came to a close. It was beginning to irritate her, and as she had done nothing to the man she did nothing to contact him. As she collected her things and went below deck she thought about what to ask the chefs to make her for dinner. She went to do the evening check for her patient first and went to the kitchen to get his food.
In the kitchen she requested a basic dinner with wine from the chefs, and shuffled through the fridge to get his food together. The check went smoothly and the canine scarfed his food then passed out as normal. Fiadh went back to her room where a cart with her dinner awaited her. She decided to enjoy the entire bottle of wine offered and savored the taste of the professionally made food paired with it.
Fiadh was on the last glass of wine when her private den den mushi began ringing. Sighing, she set it in front of her and answered it.
"What?!" Fia answers, thinking it was her shitty kid bugging her again.
"Well that was a rude way to answer a friend…" Came a deep, slow, drawling voice, sounding as uninterested as ever.
Fiadh's eyes went wide in shock, "Shit! You never call, how was I supposed to know?!"
"Arara~ same as ever, huh…"
"Ugh… Well what'd you call for ice for brains?" Fia said exasperated.
"Just checking in. Haven't seen you in the news or heard of you being at headquarters recently." Though the tone was disinterested the person genuinely did care.
Fiadh giggled before saying, "You're the same as ever too. I'm alright, on a job you definitely wouldn't approve of, but when have I ever cared what you thought?" was her snarky response.
"Hm~... True. You going to say what this job is or should I wait for it to reach the news?"
"Hahah! I'm helping a rather notorious pirate crew, one you especially despise. However, I couldn't avoid it anymore so I apologize if it worries you unnecessarily. You know I can take care of myself though."
"I'm well aware… Just call if you ever need any help."
Fiadh was caught off guard by the surprisingly soft voice that came through the den den mushi but she simply smiled and nodded her head.
"Thanks, I will. Same to you! Whenever you get tired of your stuffy job and finally quit just let me know!" Fiadh starts laughing at the look of disgust the snail was mimicking.
Fiadh continued talking to her friend until late into the night, both parties throwing snarky nicknames and comments at one another, but catching up on what they'd been doing. They'd both known eachother since she was a notorious pirate and had butted heads then, it wasn't until her change of occupation they became friends. For the first time in a few days she fell asleep with a smile on her face and slept soundly with a light feeling.
Meanwhile Katakuri had decided to wander the ship and check on his men that evening. He found himself near Fiadh's room before he even realized where his feet were taking him. Something that was happening more and more frequently, this damn subconscious magnet that drew him to the woman. He pivoted on his heels but paused when he heard Fiadh giggling loudly. Something in his chest clenched as he heard a laugh he hadn't heard before. She had laughed around him, but not like that, it sounded light as a child and free of any worries. As he hears Fia's muffled talking he sees flashes of a pale, toned back, a jagged old scar, and a black circle. Shaking his head in irritation Katakuri sighs audibly.
Katakuri couldn't hold back his curiosity and approached her room a bit closer only to hear the same laugh again even louder. He couldn't make out the words but Fiadh was talking fast and excitedly to obviously a male. Katakuri at first thought it might be her kid, but she heard the voice again and knew it wasn't the same.
Leaving rapidly Katakuri mulled over exactly what Fiadh was talking about and who the other person was. He'd never been this nosey except when one of his sisters came to him saying they'd fallen in love. No… This was different than even that. Something burned in his stomach and his chest kept twisting when he thought of Fiadh's smile and imagined the face she'd make with it. He had no right to even be curious after ignoring and avoiding the woman the past few days.
Though he had taken the space with the excuse to break his weakness for her and to process his feelings he'd done neither. Like a child he had simply suppressed his emotions and avoided the issue. Katakuri was annoyed with himself and didn't know how to approach these issues. Maybe he should ask a sibling of his that was already married..? No. He would never admit to having any weakness or issue to his family. He had to be perfect in every regard, he also didn't trust them not to tell Mama.
Thinking about why he was even avoiding her he realized all together he was being incredibly childish. Despite being a repeat offender he still hadn't learned his lesson and this time it was affecting him significantly more. It was his own fault for not being able to face her again after his own mistake. I mean what woman changes without making sure her door is shut! That wasn't HIS fault.
Katakuri groans in irritation and drags a hand through his hair, no he knew it was his fault. Even if it was an accident like before, he shouldn't be avoiding the woman. He wished he could've just moved on and forgotten like last time, but now he knew too much and had actually let himself grow closer to the woman.
Sighing and ruffling his hair Katakuri went above deck to get some air and finish his rounds. That night he did not sleep.