Warnings:
Aromantic, BDSM, Consensual Kink, Friends with Benefits, Safeword Fail, Consensual Non-Consent, Rape Roleplay, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Dom/sub, Spanking, Gags, Breathplay, Hair Pulling, Cum Eating, Impregnation, Breeding
"For friendship! For our friends!" The idiots cheered. Arms over shoulders, they danced and stomped their feet.
Nami grimaced at the sight. Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and that weirdo hadn't stopped all morning. As they sailed down the Sandora River to whoever awaited them in the oceans beyond, Nami knew they would need all of the energy they were currently wasting.
"Can't you guys take anything seriously?"
They were hours from the exit of the river, but she was certain the Marines would meet them there.
Bon Clay pulled away from the others to do a twirl on his toes. He chanted. "Un, deux! Trois! I am never more serious than when I am with my pals!"
"Yeah!" Luffy pumped a fist into the air and shouted, "Let's dance!"
Two seconds later, all four were on their knees before her with their busted heads bowed.
"If you had even an iota of sense, you'd keep quiet and stop gallivanting around like you have all the energy in the world!" She jabbed a finger into Luffy's forehead in particular and said, "And you're still healing! Just sit still and talk quietly!"
Nami snorted when she turned back to her map, noting the latitude lines before comparing them to the stars. At least, on an island, these navigational skills weren't useless unlike on the Grandline. Islands didn't move. She winced, hoping she hadn't jinxed herself. It would be just her luck for them to find an island that floated somehow.
"-pretty?"
"Ooh, I know a girl back home," Usopp said. She could hear the smile in his voice - the warmth.
Her ear grew larger, pursing her lips. Now, this was an odd conversation.
Luffy asked, "Huh? You talking about Kaya?"
"N - now, now! I didn't say it was Kaya!" Usopp stammered.
Nami didn't budge, biting her breath back. Vivi was no longer with them. Was this the closest she would get to chatting about love lives again? These boys? Not that Vivi was much of a gossiper herself. She had been so passionate about saving her country that Nami had found it difficult to get the younger girl to talk about more mundane topics.
She tried to take a glimpse at the group, eyeing their captain in particular. The curious glint in his eyes caught hers. He seemed amused.
"What other girls then?" He laughed.
"No - none of your beeswax!"
Bon Clay tittered, dabbing a tear from the corner of his eye so as not to disturb his makeup. "That's so sweet! A beloved waiting for your homecoming at the end of your perilous journey!"
Chopper leaned in with wide eyes, beaming. "Do you know any lady deer?"
"Well, there's deer on the island, but we - No, I don't!" Usopp shouted, interrupting himself.
Nami felt a flash of remorse for the reindeer, but pushed it aside. She hadn't considered how strange it might be for Chopper in the human world.
"How about a human girl?" Usopp asked.
"Ah, I don't find them attractive," Chopper said, and Nami's ear grew once more. "A lot of them are really nice though."
She just barely caught the whisper from their sniper. "You peeked on Nami with us though."
Nami grinned, calculating in her head the interest that they owed her. It may just come out of their allowance, but she liked the thought of forcing them to give her the money and watching them squirm while they told her what they were paying her back for.
"Huh? But I was just following you." Chopper protested.
Bon Clay giggled. "Oh, my, but you saw my transformation of her. Why would you need to peek again?"
"It was in the bathhouse!" Usopp said. As if that meant anything.
However, Bon Clay nodded out of the corner of her eyes. "Ah, I see, I see."
They were all idiots.
"Yeah, Nami was hot," said Luffy, and Nami froze.
"Ooh, you flirt!" Usopp slapped his shoulder. "You like Nami, huh?"
"Huh? Yeah, of course, I do."
Nami's mind reeled. What was he saying?
Bon Clay said, "Oh my! Are you going to confess?"
Luffy gaped at him. "What? Why?"
For a moment, Nami wondered if she was standing too still. Would they notice her hovering out of earshot? What was the meaning of this? Hadn't he just admitted to an attraction? She wasn't sure of how she felt about it, but that didn't mean she wanted to turn a blind eye to Luffy, her captain.
So what was he getting at?
Usopp said, "Luffy, guys ask out girls they like! You gotta confess and ask her."
"You like Nami, right?" Luffy asked.
"Yeah, but as a friend!"
"So why don't you ask her out?"
Nami's brow furrowed. Had they read too much into his declaration?
"I - I have someone else in mind. Nami's a friend. You think she's hot, right? So ask her out, idiot," Usopp whispered. Except the idiots were all too excited to be quiet. It sounded like a stage whisper every time they opened their mouths.
She was just glad Sanji was getting some coffee and breakfast ready. This discussion would have ended as soon as he butted in.
Luffy snorted. "So? She's pretty, but she's a friend."
She wished that didn't sting. Nami hadn't even considered such a relationship before, so the hurt puzzled her.
"Yeah, Nami's really pretty for a human!"
She kept a snort of laughter from escaping, but she couldn't keep the smile away from her face. Why had that made her feel better? They were all idiots.
"Okay, okay." This time, Usopp did get quieter, and Nami had to lean her ear. "So you'd never want to ... you know?"
"You know ... what?" Luffy blinked. Nami must have missed Usopp's answer, but she already knew what 'you know' was. Luffy said, "Oh, yeah, I'd do it."
Nami stared through the map, not seeing, and for a moment, she considered balling it up and throwing it at Luffy. He had just said it outright. He truly had no shame whatsoever!
"You see? I don't wanna sleep with her." Usopp whispered, "So go ask her out. Else Sanji might get her before you!"
Luffy's face crinkled in such an interesting way that Nami wasn't sure if she could describe it. It seemed both disgusted and bewildered.
"But I don't want to ask her out," Luffy said. "Lovey-dovey stuff ain't for me."
All at once, Bon Clay said, "Straw-chan, I think you're going to make a lot of girls cry."
She had no chance to ponder those words or how Luffy said the strangest things - about how he would sleep with her, but not ask her out on a simple date. Didn't he notice her standing just ten feet away when he said it? What was she to him?
Sanji came out of the kitchen though and the talking ended. They screamed for breakfast instead.
Nami watched Luffy for a time, but his mind was on food.
Sex and Luffy was an oxymoron, and observing him only seemed to reinforce it.
Soon they would arrive at the river's end where no escape would seem possible. Bon Clay would sacrifice himself, Vivi would say goodbye, and Robin would only complicate matters.
Nami remembered the conversation much later.
Robin had taken to sleeping where Vivi had - in the hammock that was kept in the ceiling.
Light from under the door tricked her eyes, and while she stared and thought, her mind awoke to strange contemplation.
"Monkey D. Luffy."
Nami jumped; a voice had come from out of the darkness. She twisted to peer at Robin. The other woman laid in the hammock on her back. She appeared to be looking straight up. Nami still was not quite sure about the older woman - Robin had shared treasure with her easily enough, but Nami did know she was dangerous.
And yet, she was also alone in the world and looking for safety.
She remembered what she had said earlier. How Luffy had done something unforgivable to her, and then there were Luffy's words. He would sleep with Nami, but he was not interested in her otherwise.
Her gut began to sting again. Bitterness prickled like ice. Had Luffy said something like that to Robin as well? It was difficult to believe even after what he had said about Nami.
"What about him?" Nami asked, and she wanted to take it back. The acidity had reached her tongue.
"He's very interesting." Robin mused aloud. "I'm sorry, but I overheard what happened earlier."
Nami swallowed her next words. It would have been easy for the other woman to eavesdrop with her ability.
"Not at all!" She said. She wished that she didn't sound so loud in her own ears. "You shouldn't have to apologize for protecting yourself. I mean you're on a strange ship, right? Gathering information is your forte. I mean, what if someone ended up being a ... jerk."
She had whispered that last word, staring at the dark ceiling. It didn't hold weight on her tongue.
What had he been implying?
"Mr. 2 is right, I think," the other woman said. Arms folded above the blanket and her chest, Robin stared into the ceiling. "He's going to make a lot of women cry."
Snorting, Nami said, "You say that like he's some kind of ladies' man. He's never looked twice at a woman before."
Or I thought he hadn't.
"You thought he wasn't interested in you?"
"I thought he wasn't interested in sex," she blushed when she said it. She had nearly whispered the word.
"Except he is interested and with you."
Nami fidgeted in the bed while her cheeks grew hot. She wished Robin wasn't there. She wished she had never heard Luffy say that. She wished that there was not only a single wall between him and her. Everything felt too warm then. Perhaps they were approaching a Summer Island - that had to be it.
"He wants wham, bam, thank you, ma'am. And maybe not even the thank you," Nami's cheeks were on fire when she said it. It was much too warm in the room.
After a moment, Robin asked, sounding quiet, "Is there something wrong with that?"
"If all he wants is sex," she congratulated herself - it was becoming easier to say, "then count me out."
She wished it didn't hurt.
She didn't hate the idea of a relationship with Luffy, but he didn't even want to try. Was she not worth the effort? She blinked and tears began streaming down her cheeks.
Robin, unaware, said, "Sometimes, feeling someone close is just pleasurable. Maybe that's all he meant. He could just be curious too."
"And maybe he'd sleep with anyone," Nami whispered, but she squirmed when she thought about Robin's words. Was that it? He wanted to sleep with her because he thought they would enjoy it? Her face burned the longer she dwelled on the idea.
She had forgotten about the aspect of pleasure. Even now that she was thinking about it, she didn't know what Luffy could do and did know about the act.
Luffy? Having sex? She almost laughed.
What she could imagine was Luffy making a circle with one hand, and then poking his pointer finger into it. "Like this?" Is what he would say, and she sucked her lips into her mouth to stop the guffaw.
Shifting in the hammock, Robin went quiet, perhaps settling down to sleep again, but she murmured, "Navigator-san? Are you in love with him?"
"No." She sniffed, wiping her tears away. "It just ... it feels dirty, doesn't it? Doesn't someone using you like that hurt?"
"It does," Robin said, and Nami's heart clenched for the other woman. She continued, however, "But giving someone or yourself pleasure doesn't always mean you're being used, and I don't believe the captain is someone who would use others. Don't you agree?"
She had thought so. He had proven so.
"Yeah ..."
So why had he said those things?
Nami didn't sleep much that night.