Adjusting her shawl for what felt like the millionth time, Nami sighed and tried to remind herself that other women were wearing the same thing. Command was not exactly concerned with any kind of fashion except when they had asked about the shawls people made from the patches of old jumpsuits. Hers was nothing special either. She had made a patch of as many colors she could get her hands on, but everyone did that.

When she saw Luffy in the hall, Nami felt a silly smile twitch alive. After she took a deep breath, she waved.

"Luffy!"

He was talking to a few other men in fresh new jumpsuits. Nami eyed Luffy's red jumpsuit with a sudden stab of jealousy - it was a rare color in the colony. Her shawl only had a small square in the center of her star shape. However, as he grinned back at her, she realized she might have a chance to turn that jumpsuit into more patches later.

"Hey, Nami!"

As she joined his side, and Luffy took her hand, she realized that the other men were eyeing him strangely. Law was wearing the white jumpsuit of medical personnel, but the other two wore yellow security jumpsuits.

Luffy smiled at her with a squeeze of her hand and said, "Let's go see that garden."

Nami glanced at the others, but only Law nodded to her. The other men were already turning away, though the black-haired man called after them. "Luffy! Don't forget we have to exercise after dinner."

She tilted her head, recalling what they meant. "That's a reminder for everyone." When she saw Luffy's confused expression, she smiled. "You could exercise with me tonight if you want."

His brow quirked, and she flushed when she realized what that sounded like before she hurried away with a pout for him. Luffy laughed as he followed. "Sure, we can exercise together. It's that top floor, right? The one with the view? I like it up there."

"Robin and I turned half of ours into a craft room, but yeah."

"Craft room? What do you make?"

Nami adjusted her shawl again and blushed. "Shawls like this. Some people make quilts."

"Ooh, I want one!" He awed over the shawl then, his eyes sparkling with interest now that he saw the shawl for what it was.

She smiled. "A shawl or a quilt?"

"A quilt sounds neat."

"I don't know if I have enough for that," Nami said with a pout. She thought of all the patches of fabric she had, but she had maybe enough for a shawl, but not a quilt. "It would take a while, and I've never made a quilt before anyway."

Luffy hummed. "Well, I can wait."

She pursed her lips at him before she laughed.

His eyes softened as he watched her, sparkling in the lights, before he grabbed her hand and pulled her along after him.

She giggled, jogging to keep up. "Do you even know where we're going?"

"Nope! Let's see the whole colony tosol!"

"All of it!?"

Their laughter bounced across the corridors. When she glanced back once, Law and the others stared after them.

Fingers laced, Nami smiled again even though he had said nothing. Luffy nibbled on a flower petal with more confidence this time and grinned when it touched his tongue.

"Oh, it's kind of minty." When he looked at her, something amused danced in his eyes before he asked, "Do you wanna taste it too?"

As she gazed back, Nami bit her lip. Was this a different kind of invitation? Except, he plucked a petal to offer it to her. She opened her mouth, and he placed it on the tip of her tongue before he licked his lips. Nami's mouth clamped shut with a furiously red blush.

"That's um, yeah, it's minty," she said with a cough.

She eyed him out of the corner of her eyes, but he grinned wider.

Here, amid flowers and green leaves sitting in rows and rows of continuously flowing water pipes, he still looked at her the most. The gardens still surprised her sometimes. All the surrounding foliage was still so refreshing to her. She missed Earth, and days, and animals.

And children.

So the gardens were like a beacon for her to return to. Without the hard work of the other scientists, they might not have those gardens either.

"All this stuff is so cool," Luffy said. He glanced at the flower he had plucked the petal from, but he turned back to her soon after. "I've never seen plants in pipes before either."

"It's hydroponics. That was the easy part. Right now, they're working on making them resilient to the cold too."

His head tilted in some confusion. "Are they growing them outside?"

"They'd still die out there," Nami said, shaking her head. "We're using CRISPR to switch out genes to make hardier plants. Some of them think they can increase the amount of oxygen the little trees make, too. They've been using germ-line genetic modification so they can pass all their victories down to new plants. We can't rely on the MOXIEs forever. One sol, we'll need the trees to help support us again. All of the plants." She cringed. "And hopefully animals too, so I don't have to turn my brain off when I eat meat."

"Huh? What's wrong with the meat? It's tasty!"

Nami licked her lips before she said, "Well, it's uh ..."

"Crickets and mealworms, right? Do they crisp them up too? That sounds so good!"

Flushing, she shook her head. "That's not what I meant! And I don't want to hear what it is! Ugh ... I'm going to switch back to tofu again."

"Shishi! I'll have your meat!"

With a sniff, she poked his stomach. "I need protein too! I can't just stop having it." Nami tilted her head at his pout before she raised a brow. "Luffy, do you not know what CRISPR is?"

Luffy shrugged. "It makes stuff crispy with oxygen?"

Laughing, Nami said, "No! It modifies genes!"

"We don't have jeans here though."

Jaw dropping, she gaped at him. "Not those jeans! Your genes! Your genetic information! The genes you got from your mom and dad?"

When he scratched the back of his head, lips flattening, Nami tried to make sense of the confusion on his face. How he turned away from her with furrowed brows.

"Uh, oh, that stuff."

"Yes, that stuff. CRISPR basically makes cuts into those genes and puts in replacements. It's why cases of sickle cell disease are dropping so fast. Soon, no one will have it." She smiled brighter. "And here, we have some of the best of the best in that field! No one will get sick because of their DNA on Mars."

Luffy pursed his lips as he watched her, his eyes warming again. "So it's a good thing?"

"It's a wonderful thing!"

"Then that's all that matters," he said, and Nami flushed when she realized how excited she must have appeared to him. "Do you wanna head back?"

While he relaxed against the wall, Nami found her eyes darting over his frame. She had enjoyed herself with him, but she kept second-guessing everything. Was this too fast? Had he suggested something without saying it?

Should she invite him into her tiny cubbyhole where her bed was?

And his easy smile didn't help matters.

I have a Ph.D.! Why can't I figure this out!? Nami checked the time before she could frame an answer. "I suppose we should go, right?"

Another glance at him, and he gave another sparkling smile.

I hardly have enough room for myself, never mind him, she thought. It's barely been a whole sol.

But he smiled, and Nami couldn't help but return it. He was so warm. Tosol felt like a dream.

Darting from garden to medical office to rover bay, they had explored the colony in what must have been record time. In his eyes, Luffy seemed to see into the future, child-like and amazed with every new room. Even the gardens had astonished him, as if he had never seen flowers blooming.

"Do you wanna though?"

She blinked. "Uh, yes, we can ..." Nami felt some of her air go out of her when he pouted, but when he grinned, teasing in his black eyes, she said, "Do you want to come exercise with me?"

His eyes lit up, and she knew what was glittering back there in the depths. "That sounds fun."

Nami couldn't imagine after all their running around that she would need to do much more than lift some weights for her upper body, but the thought of him drenched in sweat wanted to fill her mind.

When they reached her MARSHA though, Law was waiting. Luffy pursed his lips and crossed his arms, but Law only rolled his eyes.

"We have a meeting before the exercise. Gotta make sure the MARSHA stays clean until we have our own place to stay."

For some reason, he glanced at Nami as if expecting something from her. Perhaps he thought she would move in with Luffy after he got a new place to stay? The very idea brought the thought of a larger bed in a larger sleeping pod. She kept her face still as she ran it through her head. It was too soon, but when might she get a better opportunity to move?

"That's not-" When Law narrowed his eyes, Luffy grunted before he said, "I'll be right behind you."

Law stalked away to the turn at the next corridor but waited there while Luffy sighed and muttered something.

"-get it done ... ready before you are ..."

"Luffy?"

He smiled at her again, though it wavered, more upset than before. Even so, her heart raced when he squeezed her shoulders and leaned closer before he stopped. Luffy whispered, "Ah, right ... can I kiss you goodnight?"

Nami swallowed nothing, but she could not put the words on her tongue to answer. Instead, she pushed herself on her toes.

Luffy smiled against her lips too.

Her tablet began to ring, and Nami sank into her bed with a sigh to answer it. When she saw it was Luffy, she found the energy to smile at least.

"Hey, how was your meeting?"

His head bobbed back and forth as if he was trying to think. At least, his brows pinched together in mild annoyance. "Boring. Just ... stuff."

"Well, staying clean's important," she said with a wider smile. "You are clean, aren't you?"

Luffy stared at her, pursing lips she wished were in the room with her before he said, "I can work on it."

She giggled while she ran her damp towel through her hair again. Nami no longer dripped, but she didn't want to get her tablet wet. Something flickered in his eyes, and Nami paused.

"What is it?"

"Did you just shower?"

Nami chewed her tongue when she realized she had answered her tablet in her robe and the towel she was rewrapping around her head. "Uh ... yeah?"

When he smiled wider, he got comfortable on his bed with that teasing smile. "Is this my reward for the kiss?"

"That's because - I just exercised, you know!" She fidgeted and glanced at the door as the debate raged in her head. Should she drop everything now for him? It was just on a screen.

"You look real cute in a towel."

She played with the strands of hair that had not managed to get into the towel wrap. "Thank you?"

It had to be too fast. She squirmed even while her heart thudded a hole through her chest. His head tilted back and forth again, eyelashes lowering. Nami cleared her throat.

"Got any toys?"

Nami's eyes widened, but she betrayed herself by glancing at one of the drawers in her wall.

"Ooh, lemme see!"

Her shoulder hunched, flaring darker, but she eyed the drawer again. "You don't think it's too soon?"

Luffy appeared to consider this with a pout before he shrugged, still grinning. "I guess, but it's up to you if you want. Shishi! I wanna see though."

It didn't feel like she wanted to - rather that she needed to push forward. Was she being too shy about it? She couldn't tell anymore. All she wanted was for her life to go on to the next step. If that step was a jump, maybe that's what she needed.

For an instant, she felt some embarrassment for what she did next, but Nami tossed it aside. This would be her leap forward. She was so tired of starting over. Turning on the soundproofing for her sleeping pod, she pulled out a glass dildo to hold it next to her face, though she looked away from the ridged, clear length. Luffy's eyes widened, but then he grinned.

"Do you like those?"

She squirmed on her bed, feeling his stare. "It's nice? I haven't exactly gotten a lot of relief while I've been up here. I take what I can get."

Luffy chuckled and asked, "Is that the only one you have?"

"Just this one, but I know one of the labs is making a lot to pass around." Her cheeks blossomed more while she fidgeted. "We're trying to have a sustainable colony, after all. We can't be shy about it."

"Nami, are you shy?"

When she pouted at him, his smile only warmed her, though in a teasing way that lit her on fire rather than lit the room like a ray of sunshine. "I can't help it. I think I ..." She felt like she would burst with mortification, so her cheeks bunched, and she turned her eyes aside.

"What? It's cute if you're shy."

"I think sometimes, I'm not shy. Not really," she whispered. Nami chewed her bottom lip when he tilted his head to the side and raised a brow. "I want to have children."

"I already know that." Luffy grinned. "You don't have to be shy about that!"

"I guess, but ..." Nami glanced at the glass dildo before she dropped it on her bed. "I want to be ..." She groaned and covered her face with her free hand.

For a moment, Luffy waited in silence before he said, "Tell me."

Taking a deep breath, she formed the words in her head first and wondered what was wrong with her. She had already pulled out the toy to show him. Was this another leap? What was one more thing to tell him? "I don't want to just be impregnated. I want to be pinned down and-" Nami cut herself off, and her face kindled with hot flames under her skin.

"Ooh, keep going." Luffy sat upright, and the screen jostled with him. "I could pin you."

She inhaled sharply, pleased by what he said, but she burned darker for it too. "I want to be a broodmare. Just in bed though!"

"I'll be your stud if you want, Nami." Luffy smirked when she bit her lip.

"You make it sound so easy."

"You told me what you like though. What's easier than that?"

With a soft huff, she asked, "What about you? Won't you tell me what you like?"

For a moment, he looked surprised. His expression morphed into a sort of confused puppy before he scratched his head with a frown.

"I guess I never thought about it? I like the idea of pinning you, I guess." He considered her through the screen before he smiled. "I like you."

Nami found herself smiling at that, though she thought she knew what he meant. Few could name what they liked. So long as he could appreciate what she wanted to do, perhaps she could help him discover what he liked. Together.

Averting her eyes once more, Nami cleared her throat. "I like you too."

"Shishi! I guess we wouldn't be trying this if we didn't, right?"

That made her relax. When she looked at him, his smile, so warm and inviting, made her nod in agreement.

"Yeah."

He smiled wider and hummed. "So what else do you like? Maybe I can help you with those later."