It had only been two weeks, but Nami had to try visiting to ask.
She crossed her fingers while she stood in front of the office before she shook herself of the action. Would she be jinxing them if she did that? Still, she uncrossed her fingers and looked up and down the corridor before she went inside.
"Kaya?"
Her warm voice traveled down the stairs. "Nami? Come on up!"
When she reached their living space, Nami paused to stare curiously at the other man in the room. With green hair, the stern-faced man yawned before he swigged from his bottle. One of their first projects after making sure there was a food surplus was to make alcohol. Nami was very fond of one whiskey. She would miss it when she had to start getting ready for a baby.
Usopp waved. "Hey! This is Zoro. Nami, Zoro. Zoro, Nami! He's the buddy I was talking about."
By the yellow security jumpsuit, he was one of the new peacemakers for the colony. Security. She pouted a bit, having been hoping to ask about the baby, but she sat with them.
"Nice to meet you. I'm a meteorologist." Which was obvious with her orange jumpsuit, but not everyone knew that color yet. She had explained it to several new colonists already.
Zoro nodded to her. "Hey."
Usopp grinned too broadly, and Nami raised an eyebrow at him. Something in his eyes made her think he was up to no good, but she had no idea what he could be snickering about.
Beside her, Kaya leaned over with a smile and said, "He knows about the baby too."
With a brighter grin, Nami turned her attention to her now that she was in the clear. "It's still okay? Nothing bad so far, right?"
"Mhm! It's so fascinating! Doctor Chopper and I have been tracking as much as we can!"
"Any idea if anyone else might be pregnant?"
She pouted then, appearing unsure. "No one I know yet."
Usopp butted in then, and Nami understood suddenly. "You have to have a partner if you want to race with us!"
Even though her cheeks pinkened, Nami said with a straight face, "I do have a boyfriend now, thank you very much. I don't think we're going to try just yet though."
Zoro smirked at Usopp who wilted away with a pout. "Hah! So she got her pick from Command, huh?"
"Pff!" Nami laughed while Usopp sank further. "Aw! Well, thanks for trying, Usopp!"
When she looked at Kaya though, she had gone pale. Nami blinked in surprise, but Usopp said, "I'll find somebody for ya, Zoro!"
"Look, don't beat yourself up to do it. If it happens, it happens. Doesn't matter to me either way."
For a moment, Nami felt a spark of jealousy. Men didn't have to subject their bodies to pregnancy after all, and so they didn't even need to find someone to carry their progeny. Nami had met enough types with his attitude to know that Usopp would have missed the mark here anyway. Zoro was handsome enough, but she would have seen this before long.
Another glance at Kaya showed Nami that she was smiling again, but she couldn't get that impression out of her head.
Hadn't Kaya seemed to hide something before too?
It came to her after a moment. Nami stood with a beaming grin. "Kaya, let's go look at fabric! I bet we could plan a baby quilt!"
Her eyes brightened at the idea, and Nami only felt a little guilty when they went upstairs.
She even went through the motions, picking out a faded color here and something from another jumpsuit that was too worn to wear there.
When they had an idea set out though, Nami smoothed her hands over the drawing and math diagrams before she said, "This would be cute for my baby when I have one too."
Kaya sucked her lips into her mouth too quickly before she smiled. "Oh! Yeah ..."
"It's been such a rush with Luffy, but I really think," Nami trailed off, blushing darker before she continued with force, "I think he's the one."
"Oh?" Kaya looked away and played with the flap of some piece of scrap fabric.
"I don't think I've ever met anyone more honest." Shocked, she frowned as Kaya's shoulders hitched.
Her hands continuously smoothed out the fabrics they had picked out. "He sounds nice."
Nami tilted her head to see her face. "Kaya?"
Spinning around, Kaya asked in a higher pitch, "Are you thirsty? I have-"
"No, I'm fine. What's-?"
"Oh, and we have beer if you want that. I can't anymore, obviously, but-"
"Kaya!" She scowled.
Kaya jumped and stared at her until she lowered her eyes. "Um ... Nami? Can ... I ask you something?"
I'm the one that has questions!
Nami chewed her lip though. She had never seen her friend act like this before. What was going on? "Sure," she whispered.
What does it have to do with Luffy?
"You don't think you're moving too fast?"
Nami winced, but she didn't dare turn away from her. She had asked herself that too many times. It nagged at her when she woke up and when she went to bed. However, she only had to remember one thing.
"I've already been worrying myself about that, but Luffy doesn't push me at all."
Her fingers flicked over the corner of the fabric. "You only met less than a month ago though."
She considered her friend and thought about shooting at her about how she and Usopp had married in under six months, but that would not be fair. Wouldn't she be accusing her of going too fast too?
"Some people just click."
"People."
Bewildered, Nami stared at her. How oddly bitter she sounded. Nami stood and asked, "What's going on? What are you hiding?" Kaya winced before she rose to head for the stairs. "Kaya ..."
She stopped and fiddled with the hem of her shawl before she said slowly, "I don't think he's a suitable match for you, Nami."
"What?"
A chill went through her body.
"There are a lot of new colonists. You haven't even scratched the surface, you know? Shop around a little longer."
Without a backward glance, Kaya disappeared downstairs. Nami gaped after her, and an uneasy sensation settled in her belly. When she followed her down, Usopp told her she wasn't feeling well, and Nami left.
She fought with herself to not run down the halls, but even when she reached her MARSHA, Nami couldn't make the call.
Nami lifted her head when someone knocked on her door. She played with the idea of rolling over, but she sighed and turned off her soundproofing. "What's going on? I'm taking a nap."
"You have a gentleman here to see you," Robin said on the other side of the door.
Swallowing nothing, she said, "I'll be out in a minute."
She glanced at her tablet which she had switched off before she rolled her shoulders in some nervousness. It was her sol off, and after her visit to Kaya's yestersol, she hadn't gotten the nerve to call Luffy about any of it.
Now he was waiting outside.
Dressing hurriedly, Nami ignored the smile Robin shot her as she passed her to head to the entrance.
Luffy greeted her with a grin. "Hey, Nami! Somethin' wrong with your tablet?"
Nami blushed as he stared back at her. He was so open and honest with her - how could he be hiding anything? Was he even capable of it?
"No, I just turned it off," she said. "I wasn't ..."
She stopped herself then. He had been honest with her. Besides, she could ask him now.
His head tilted, and Nami took his hand. "I'm sorry. Could we talk?"
Confused, Luffy shrugged. "That's why I came."
Taking a deep breath, she tugged him along behind her. When his eyes bulged, the reality of what she was doing - taking him to her sleeping pod - made her think about dropping his hand. Instead, her grip tightened.
Whatever was going on, it couldn't be as big of a deal as Kaya had hinted. Why did she have to look elsewhere for love when it was going so well with Luffy?
Was it too good to be true?
As they ducked into her room, Nami ignored both the sideways smile from Robin and Franky's huge thumbs-up in the living space. After a moment, she turned on the soundproofing before she faced him. Luffy flopped onto her bed, and when she saw this, something in her wanted to forget about everything else.
Couldn't they talk about something easier? Like how that toy was in her drawer by the bed and how perhaps it really wasn't that cramped with the two of them together?
He smiled. "So whatcha wanna talk about, Nami?"
Nami had to shake herself out of her fantasy. "I - well, I was talking to Kaya, and it reminded me of something. I actually forgot about it until yestersol."
Luffy's smile slid into confusion again. "What is it?"
"Well, you didn't show up in the genetics registry, so I asked Kaya about it."
His eyes bulged in what looked like utter befuddlement, and Nami held her tongue.
"The what?"
"She said you opted out of sharing your genetics. I couldn't compare our markers." Nami's brow furrowed. Was there a mix-up?
When he scratched his cheek with wide, bewildered eyes staring at her, a flush of a very different kind of embarrassment flooded her body. And then anger. What was Kaya trying to imply if not this!?
"You didn't say that you didn't want to share your genetics?"
"You can look that up here?"
Groaning, Nami dropped her head into her hands. "I think there's been some kind of mistake. I - I'm so sorry!"
"I don't get what's going on, but it's okay," he said with a laugh.
When he patted her head, Nami groaned out her frustration before she shoved him onto his back. With a laugh, Luffy's arms wrapped around her, and she didn't know who dove first, but their lips melded together. Sighing to firm lips, Nami slid onto his lap.
As his arms settled around her waist, she relaxed. Luffy pecked her lips. "Hm, so you were looking at my marks?"
Nami raised a brow in some concern. "No, your markers. From your DNA?"
"Huh. What were you doing that for?"
"Well, I was trying to compare yours to mine." Her eyes darted away again, but his head rocked from side to side in confusion.
"Why though?"
"It - it was to see if we were compatible."
Luffy laughed. "Those marker things can tell you if we're good together?"
A wash of shame flooded her then. She knew that the idea of seeing if their genes would compliment each other was superficial. Kaya had said they would be a good match before though. That had eased some of her concern in not seeing his DNA, but now after whatever Kaya had tried to do ...
It still made no sense. What had she been thinking?
Nami smoothed her hands over his shoulders with a pout. Perhaps, Kaya was worried about how fast their relationship was happening. She had mentioned the possibility of moving into his MARSHA when he finally got his unit.
She was the one that had leaped to conclusions.
"I was just excited about you."
When he grinned and wagged his brows at her, Nami flushed. He whispered, "If you're that excited, maybe I can stay here for the night."
Was Kaya warning her to slow down?
Gazing into his warm, black eyes, Nami smiled before she kissed him and said, "This bed isn't big enough for the two of us to sleep."
"I wasn't thinking of sleeping," he said with a glint of mischief in his eyes.
"Hmm, I don't think so yet."
He pouted but said, "Let's go take a walk instead."
Nami realized then that Kaya just didn't understand Luffy.
Tracking the dust storm near her weather reading instruments, Nami's brow furrowed in concern. Having learned more while on Mars, they were making changes slowly but surely to the atmosphere. She needed those instruments to work though.
"No," Robin said.
Nami ground her teeth. "I'm not going to risk anything. We need to be able to track the pressure. The storm's ending soon. If I leave now-"
"You've been wrong about the end of these storms before. You can leave with a team once it's over."
Her lips twisted, but Nami knew she would not get anything done sooner. She needed those instruments for a better prediction anyway, so Robin might be right about waiting out the dust storm.
She supposed getting stuck out in the middle of a dust storm in a rover was not her idea of a good time. The trip would only take an hour, but an hour away from the colony might be an hour with only the air in her pressure suit. Nami had to make sure the dust storm was well and truly over before booking it over to the instruments. An emergency MARSHA unit was set up near the instruments, but they needed to get close enough with the rover for that to matter.
They would get the instruments cleaned and in working order before another dust storm hit.
"In the meantime, get your crew ready to leave."
"I'll just need a driver," Nami said. When Robin's brows perked while she checked the roster, Nami paused by the door. "What is it?"
"Nothing."
Whenever Robin smiled like that though, Nami knew that either something had happened, or she was plotting.
Or both.
"Don't tell me it's that new guy, Sanji, again." He was sweet enough. Robin was tickled pink by his attempts to flirt. Nami could hardly concentrate on her work when he was around because she had to listen to all of his adulations of love and passion. Not one woman had responded in kind that Nami could figure.
He couldn't even flirt with one woman at a time. Maybe, he was into polyamory.
"Oh, it's not him."
Nami raised a brow at her before she shrugged. That had to mean she could concentrate on her work without Sanji hanging over her every second.
Stepping into the garage, she stared at the familiar figure in front of the rover. Nami rubbed her eyes before she looked again, but Luffy still stood there, waving at her in a pressure suit.
"Hey, Nami!"
"You're done with training?" She stared as he stood taller and saluted her.
"All done! I wanted to go out super far, and you're one of the only people that explore this far out."
With a smile, Nami shook her head. "I'm not exploring, Luffy. I'm a meteorologist. And tosol, I'm fixing my instruments."
His eyes popped wide. "You play music?"
Nami sucked her lips into her mouth and narrowed her eyes.
He pouted at her when she remained quiet. "What?"
"I'm debating my choice in men."
"Ah! Nami, that's mean!"
Smiling, she shook her head. "Don't worry, Luffy. I think I'm stuck with you."
Luffy pursed his lips though, glowering before he smirked as if something occurred to him. "Oh, yeah?"
She paused while putting on her helmet. "Yeah?"
With a laugh, Luffy plopped his helmet on. He flicked the switch for their shared radio, and when Nami sealed her helmet, he said, "You promise?"
As color eradicated all white in her skin tone, Nami headed for the rover. "I don't mean that kind of stuck!"
"It sounds fun though," he said with a snicker as he followed her. The rover was past pressurized double doors they had to enter to reach the interior since half of the rover was located outside of the garage. Luffy grinned when Nami could only darken. "Or do you want me to do something else?"
"I should see if Sanji can make it instead ..."
He squeezed her thigh, and though she could only feel his grip through his thick gloves and her equally thick suit, she felt a rush of daring through her.
Out on the surface of Mars, they would be all alone with no one to shoot them knowing smiles.
"Maybe we can have a little accident out there and need to wait for rescue."
She gaped. "That'd be awful though! Don't jinx us!"
Luffy had jinxed them.