Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
"Shit." She curses, very nearly falling flat on her face. Voice soft and reserved. Even the sound of her own heartbeat is too loud.
This was the last time she wore heels. Especially this high. She let out a groan, as quiet as she could, reaching down to grasp the offending object. The heel, in all its six-inch-glory, was murder on her feet, and the only reason she hadn't kicked them off was the fact they were laced up to her knees and made it too difficult to pull off while she was on the move. The stiletto had almost completely snapped off, hanging limp as a broken branch from the bottom of her foot. Tripping her up and threatening to snap her ankles. A thin, boney hand wrapped around it and with a final flick of her wrist it fell off, leaving behind a horribly mangled shoe with a hole in the soles that was bound to cause blisters. Even as she limped down the cobblestones, desperate to ignore the pain, she tried not to let it slow her pace.
"Hey, you wench!"
Her head shot up so fast that she got whiplash.
The burly man glared, as she had come to find was his typical expression, and began hunted her down from the other side of the street. She swallowed. He was easily three times her size.
"Get back over here!"
"Tch!"
Whatever curses she had on her tongue were savored as she fled down the opposite end of the street. Trying, and failing, to ignore the feeling of cobblestones piercing her broken shoes and the puddles and crevices filled with mud and water that threatened to send her collapsing to the ground. She could hear him gaining on her, close on her tail, heavy footfalls loud and fast compared to her own. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Left. She twisted down corners and alleyways, jumping over unconscious drunks, and attempted to slip into the darkness or down pathways he could not follow. There didn't seem to be any hope for her.
Nothing seemed to work.
And she felt the beginning of real tears burn her eyes as the taunts and jeers he shouted after her only grew more horrible.
By this point the rain had seeped through her clothes and her hair was matted with water and sweat, pushed up against her forehead. She had to find a way to lose him- had to, she'd rather die than let him catch her. But there were no crowds that evening to get lost in. No, the only people up and about were few and far between, and she had lived on this island long enough to recognize those who would not help her. And she grew paler when she saw that those who may have done something- anything- turned away. Nothing but pity in their eyes.
"Damn, damn, damn, I-" She croaked curses that held no meaning. Terse and empty of all but fear and anguish and anger. She just- She just needed one person. Just one. Something to distract, time to get away, anything and-
There!
It was a boy. Standing in front of an old run-down bar that didn't even have a name, staring at one of his hands with a sort of distracted concentration. Through the weather any details of him were blurry, but even with the heavy rainfall and the sick mask covering the majority of his face, she could see enough to note the oblivious innocence of a youth. Younger than the usual riff raff that frequented these parts and cleaner than most too. He was out of place compared to the people here. Too bright, too wide eyed, and exactly what she was looking for.
And so she ran straight into him, ignoring the yank of hair strands being pulled out as the hand swiping at her failed to get a good grip.
It was a close one.
"Babe~" The words were on her lips before she even made contact, a low practiced whine carefully cultivated to drive men crazy spilling out. "Oh, baby, you gotta tell the guy that you have the goods for me!"
When her arms wrapped around the, surprisingly, muscular frame, he went stiff as a board. Frozen part way through whatever he had been doing with his hand, a splash of water falling around her ankles and caking her further with mud.
"U-Uh, I think you've got the wrong-!"
"Ba~by!" She cut him off before he could let the jig up. Voice growing more tense. "Don't you recognize me?!"
"W-Who're-?!"
She let her mouth drop open in wide eyed horror, as if she couldn't believe he hadn't recognized her at first glance. It only served to make brown eyes grow more confused. Good. "It's Cona!" She cried. "You said you would hold the goods for me, remember?"
"U-Uh- n-no, I-"
It took more effort than she'd ever admit to keep the grin off her face.
Hook, line, and sinker.
The urge, however, only lasted for a moment longer because- "Hey, you-!" Cona's pursuer had caught up.
"Who is-" Whatever the boy had been planning on saying was cut off as he was raised straight off his feet, tank top collar- unfit for the weather -fisted in the man's hand and lifting him almost a full foot off the ground. "Okay. This now."
She slowly began inching away, smirking triumphantly. Now to just get away while they're both distracted. Whatever he does to the kid couldn't possibly be anywhere close to what he'd been planning to do to her anyways.
"So you're this wenches sugar daddy."
There's something that passes over the kids face. Eyes wide and completely flabbergasted with his situation. He raises a finger slowly, mouth opening and closing in stupefaction.
"Uh- no."
"Don't lie!" The man growled. "You owe me my goods back, plus interest! I won't be made a fool by some skinny bastard and his bitch-"
"Oh, wow. Oh-kay. Um, I think that's enough of that."
He raised a hand up to pull the fingers off his shirt, he didn't let go.
"Seriously, man, let go."
Brown eyes narrowed.
"Make me."
And he shrugged.
"Alright, fine."
Cona glanced back from a few feet away at that, just in time to have her eyes falling wide and her mouth hanging open.
For a split second, it was as if the rain had stopped entirely. His outstretched hand, now clawed, swinging to the pursuers head in a wide, open-handed arc that seemingly slowed as it grew closer to its target and then, all at once, it surged-
"Kat?"
She stumbled back, slamming into a chest. "-gyeh!"
"What's going on?"
Cona twisted her ankle with yelp as she leapt back, only just barely managing to keep her feet. Looking up to be met with a pair of confused grey eyes. He wasn't the speaker, that was reserved to the woman standing next to him, but he was glancing back at the redhead boy with raised brows and no small amount of bemusement. "...Pardon me, ma'am." He intoned gently when he noticed her, stepping away and tilting his hat back, stepping around her.
His companion didn't even deign her with a glance. Face cut in a cold expression that took in the scene with not a hint of happiness. The two had come out of the bar, holding nothing but a single umbrella between them to combat the rain, and were clearly not enjoying the display on hand.
And the pair were blocking her escape route.
"Oh, Ace! Quinn!" Kat called out, freezing mid swing. The rain fell in a splash on the ground, as if nothing had happened, and Cona didn't want to think about it. About the way the water had moved; had it just been a part of her imagination? "Uh, sorry, guys, but this guy is holding me up. No pun intended." He added quickly. "I just, I swear this is not my fault okay?"
The newly dubbed Ace chuckled at the pun and Quinn's expression turned dry by comparison, shoulders slumping.
Of course, then the attacker decided to speak up. Unfortunate, for everyone really.
"Who're they? Some more of your workers? You know, they might work." The man peered at them and something twisted curled across his features. Cona wrinkled her nose in disgust, something dark curling in the pit of her stomach, watching as the new pair each fixed him with their own rather impressive glares. "The guy's a little too muscular and the girl could stand to drop a few pounds but I'm sure I could find someone to take them. How about I take them off your hands as payment instead?"
"'Scuse me…?" Ace muttered darkly, taking a threatening step forward. Blocking Quinn from view, who didn't seem like she needed the help if the look of pure hatred burning in her eyes was anything to go by, though the gesture was appreciated.
The man continued digging his own grave, unaware of the shift in the air.
"You owe me after all. Your wench stole from me and my men, and I aim to collect." He grinned wickedly. "'Sides, we could always use a few new, young ones to replace the ones that break-!"
KRR-ACK!
Cona slapped her hands over her ears as they popped, falling to her knees, and gasping for breath in her sudden shock.
The sickening crunch of bones having her heart bursting in her chest.
The red headed kid- Kat -rose from his position, a low crouch, dusting himself off lightly. Ignorant to the lack of rain before it burst back into place, the absence making the world turn on its head. A boom resounded- creaks of a buildings foundation crumbling in on itself from somewhere to their immediate left. Sending up dust and rubble and everything of what a building once was.
"Don't even-"
He wiped a hand over his loose bandana-like headband. The fabric covering most of his forehead and ears, and sticking out from underneath and from the back, the well cared for mess of red spikes in a bun stood strong even in the rain. But none of that took away from the animalistic look in his eyes. The beastial twist of his features.
"-think about my crewmates like that, you scum!"
It was so fast that she hadn't even seen the hit make contact. Had barely even seen him move. Only got the chance to catch him flipping midair to land on his feet and act like nothing had even happened, if it wasn't for the clear evidence of it right in front of her face she might have questioned if it did.
Quinn let out a low whistle.
And Ace complimented with a laugh. "Nice hit!" The creased lines of anger disappearing from his face, even if he still moved to hover around Quinn and Kat to make sure he was bodily shielding them from the direction the man had been thrown. "What was that about anyways?"
Quinn could guess. She didn't want to though.
Katsura looked guilty for a moment, teeth wrapping around his tongue as he fiddled with the straps on his clawed hand. "Uh, I don… don't really know actually. Just heard him talking shit about you guys and well." An awkward look fell over his face. "Sorry."
Quinn snorted. "Stop apologizing, Kat, you're not at fault here."
"Still."
"Chehe. It was awesome!" Ace threw his arms behind his head, "Did you use your fishy-powers again? I've only gotten to see you use them on the boat and that Beast-thing. Not on an actual person."
"Y-Yeah," Kat rubbed the back of his neck shyly, "Hey, can we not broadcast that I have, ya know, fishy-powers? I-This is the first time I've been on an island other than my home one and I don't want anyone to… not like me 'cause I'm…"
"What? Why would they-?" Ace stared at him, uncomprehending before having to narrow his eyes. "Wait- is that why you're wearing that mask thing-?"
Kat coughed loudly "N-No! I'm- I'm really sick! Anyways!"
Quinn didn't know whether to face palm or not. Simply sighing.
"-Did you guys end up getting directions?"
The change in subject has Ace looking decidedly unimpressed and slightly annoyed but he waves it off in favor of answering, "Nah. The bartender wouldn't tell us anything unless we paid him. And Quinn wouldn't let me spend any money."
She opened her mouth to dispute the look he sent her way, because uh-yeah-no she was not going to pay for directions, but was cut off before she could say anything.
"Wha… What the hell was that?"
Cona was staring, still in shock.
"H-How could he just hit him l-like that-?! He went flying, that's not… this can't be real!"
At her exclamation, Quinn frowned down at her.
She was a thin, skinny little thing who had fallen on her butt. She had ruined shoes and an obnoxious dress that looked almost clownish and was in desperate need of any sort of tasteful altercations. She looked silly really, somehow still pretty, lipstick in that odd permanent pucker shape that reminded Quinn of the Victorian-era and heavy mascara and eyeshadow running down her cheeks in smears of makeup. Hair a long brown mess that was once twisted into a braid. Other than appearance, Quinn didn't know what else to think about her. Nothing seemed to really stand out as far as she could see.
Quinn breathed an annoyed sigh out through her nose, balancing the umbrella on her shoulder.
Ace, Kat, and her had arrived at the island sometime in the late evening.
It hadn't been completely unexpected but with so many days out at sea she'd begun to wonder if land even existed in the world at all anymore. It had been days after retrieving Ace from the… 'missing incident' that she didn't want to think about anymore and they had taken that time to get back on their feet. As much as they could in their cramped little boat, especially now that two of them couldn't swim anymore.
There had been all sorts of shady fellows and ladies of the night wandering around the island by the time they'd arrived, the rough sorts filtering around. And the three of them had tried to keep to themselves- or, rather, Quinn and Kat tried to wrangle Ace back so they could find a place to sleep for the night before going off and exploring. She would kill to actually sleep in a bed tonight. And from the ache of her back she thinks it would too. The rain helped keep Ace in line as well. Keeping him from getting more than a few small flames out before they were getting snuffed by droplets, stopping him from experimenting with his newfound fruit powers.
The rain hadn't been nearly as bad then. But, at some point while walking, it had turned into such a downpour that water was dripping down her face and off Ace's hat in waterfalls. So Quinn and Ace stepped inside to ask for directions to the nearest hotel or room for the night while Kat stayed outside, somehow completely unbothered by the wetness, wanting to practice working with the heavy rain and, in Quinn's mind, "magic fishman powers".
Though she suspected that the glare the bartender shot him when he tried to come in was what really kept him out- apparently they hated underage customers coming in. Ace had decided to keep tight lipped about himself and Quinn didn't really know what constituted underage anymore. Not in this world.
(Zoro was nineteen and an alcoholic wasn't he?)
But, with the time they'd spent inside, arguing that no- she was not going to pay for directions when she could just go outside and ask anyone, the streets had emptied. And no, Ace, we don't have enough money to feed your stomach and no-! now is not a good time to dine-and-dash.
Which had Quinn focusing on the women in front of them even moreso.
"Who're…" she flinched when Quinn turned to her, imploringly, "you?"
She was trying to keep under the umbrella while also shielding Ace and Kat as best she could. It was a losing battle, a simple beaten up umbrella couldn't help all of them on the best of days. She was still dealing with a few drops hitting the lower half of her face and chest, and well, her shoes were already ratty so she didn't think those could get any worse, her jacket unzipped in the front and hood haphazardly thrown over her head. Quinn's hair was a curled, birds nest, even worse than usual, sticking to her face and forehead and getting in her mouth. Her hood only served to shadow the upper half of her face, leaving her eyes to bore into Cona like two black holes.
And Cona didn't seem to appreciate the dark look. "C-Creepy!"
Quinn blinked in response. Mouth falling open in momentarily shocked silence. "Thanks." She didn't feel thankful and she stared at nothing when the sounds of Kat and Ace snickering lit up somewhere behind her. Quinn soured, voice clipped and darker than before as she repeated, "Who're you?"
The resounding squeak of terror drew Ace and Kat closer and Quinn tried not to let her offense show.
"Chehe, Quinn, I didn't know you had it in you!" Ace slapped a hand on her back, making her grunt. "Maybe you've just got a scary face."
She purposely adjusted the umbrella so it didn't cover him anymore.
Ignoring his indignant squawk.
Katsura jumped past them to point at the fallen woman, "Ah! You!"
"M-Me!" Cona let out an even more terrified squeak, scooting back. "I- Look! I just mistook you for someone else and-"
"You… uh… what'd you say your name was again?"
She stuttered, mouth opening and closing.
Ace rolled his eyes and stopped trying to force himself under Quinn's umbrella, though that wasn't without trying to tug one of her arms out of her sleeve, "Katsura, where are your manners? You too Quinn!"
"Sorry."
She was not sorry.
Ace shook his head at them. He then stepped over, sneaking a hand to swipe the umbrella from Quinn-
"Hey!"
-and bowing deeply at the waist. "Hello, it's nice to meet you, miss. I'm Portgas D. Ace, perhaps you could introduce yourself now?" Quinn tried to reach around his back to re-grab the umbrella. She failed when he shoved her back with his elbow.
"I-I'm Cona! Just Cona!" She managed to somehow say.
("Ace, damn it, give the umbrella back. I need it just as much as you!")
"I'm Katsura but I prefer Kat!" The redhead jumped at the chance to introduce himself, which was unfortunate. As Cona shrunk back in a terror that had him freezing and deflating. The familiar feeling of scared eyes making him falter. "Oh. Oh. Um, okay. I… I'll just step back then?" He suggests quietly, raising his hands up in surrender.
Cona still flinches.
("Chehehe," Ace had a mischievous gleam in his eyes that Quinn didn't like, "Try and take it from me." She gave him a dry look.)
His shoulders came up to hug his neck. "I'm not gonna hurt you, ya know? That jerk… That jerk had it coming. I mean, he was messing with you too, wasn't he?"
("OW! Hey-! How did you-?")
Cona swallowed. Eyes shifting from Kat to the others and to the shattered remains of the building Katsura had punted the man through. The kid was a monster, beyond dangerous, but… she didn't think he was going to immediately kill her. Taking a chance, she nervously spoke up, "Y-Yes, I was running from him f-for awhile now so t-thank you. I… was really scared." She didn't have to lie this time. Ending the sentence with a whisper and a wipe of her arm across her nose. "Sorry I got you caught up in my problems."
Kat gave her a strange look, "What was with all that baby talk earlier by the way-?"
"Can we talk about this later?"
Quinn interrupted. Rubbing the bruise on her side where Ace had elbowed her a bit too hard and spinning the umbrella in her grasp. Cona couldn't stop herself from eyeing the sight of Ace nursing a busted lip and hurt stomach, it looked like he'd been kneed and headbutted, and had been even more surprised by the hits than he was hurt by them. Cona still tensed, waiting for him to burst out in anger. Instead, all he did was whine, "How'd you even hit me?"
"Uh, you are completely drenched to the bone, Ace. Fire is weak against water." She retorted, sticking her tongue out over her shoulder with a 'duh' sort of tone. "You're not infallible. Anyways-" Quinn was not enjoying standing around outside for as long as they had been. Crossing her arms over her chest and rubbing them to try and get some warmth and her blood circulating again, she was absolutely frozen to the core. "We've been looking for shelter. Cona, was it? Out here in the rain isn't exactly the best place to be holding a conversation."
Ace made a noise of agreement, sneaking back under the umbrella beside Quinn. His injuries seemingly disappeared.
"Yes! Yes, you're absolutely right!" She shouted before she could stop herself. "Right t-this way! You can- You can stay at my place. A-As thanks for saving me?" She doesn't even know what she's saying as the words spill from her mouth. The three either didn't notice or didn't care because Kat was too busy perking up and skipping over to her before she could even think to retract the offer.
"Really?" He asked shyly, hopefully. "That's nice! I- I thought I'd scared you or something."
Cona stopped herself short from confirming that yes, yes he terrified her.
Any hope she had left of making them go away was brutally shattered when Ace slung an arm around Quinn, grin on his face. "See, Quinn, I told you we'd find some place!" Quinn let out a pained sigh of relief and just played with the handle of her umbrella. It didn't take a genius to see that she was looking forward to having a place to stay and was more than ready to take Cona up on her unfortunate slip of the tongue.
She gave them a pained smile. "R-Right." And Cona scurried ahead, turning stiff as Kat followed beside her, practically skipping after. Arms swinging with every step. She walked slowly in contrast, careful to not hurt her ankles further. Glancing out of the corner of her eye to watch the other two, the pair who had fallen into a leisurely walk behind them, the umbrella being shared and less fought over now.
Thankfully, nobody was talking.
The only noise was the rain pelting down around them and on the umbrella and, oh, it looked like Katsura had started humming in a horrible off-key tune. Of course, as soon as Cona had tried to look on the bright side they had to go and ruin it.
Ace decided to stomp on her bright side a little further.
"So what's this island called? We never caught the name." He asked good-naturedly.
She cursed him in her head. "T-The island?" And jolted, "Oh, you're on Starving Chang. The smaller of the Twin Isle's."
"Twin Isle?"
She nearly faltered in her steps, struggling with her words. It took a breath to gain back her voice and continue, much stronger than she was before. "The Twin Isle's are two small islands off the coast of Nest Island. Um, Nest Island is uninhabitable because of all the dangerous animals and invasive species that have made it their habitat, b-but each of the Twin Isle has towns on them."
"But…" Quinn looked down, "...Starving Chang?" She inquired, balking at the name.
"Yes, apparently a great famine wiped out most of the people a long, long time ago. The other, much larger Isle is called Hunting Chang." Cona explained. "We think it got its name because it was the only place that people could get any food. This part of the Isle's was essentially barren during that time. Heh. I guess, in recent years, it's sort of switched, hasn't it?"
"Hm?"
"N-Nothing! Nothing."
She'd said it too quietly for them to hear her properly.
Quinn and Ace shared a raised brow. Then Quinn registered what she'd said about the primary island and- "Ace, don't you dare." He twitched. "I'm sure that it's nothing compared to the animals on your home island that you've told me about."
"How would you know?"
She pointedly looked away.
"Besides, we won't know unless we check it out!"
Cona made a face. "I wouldn't recommend it. You'd have to be some kind of monster to fight off the animals there. I've heard that only one man has been able to come out of there alive and I wouldn't want to meet him." Now that she thought of it, eyeing Kat, maybe they'd be able to survive it. She was becoming more and more convinced by the second that the people she'd gotten herself stuck with were some kind of monsters themselves.
"Really, only one man?" Ace mused.
Quinn groaned.
"Great, you're gonna run off as soon as we turn are backs, aren't you?"
"May-be." He wasn't actually planning on it- not immediately anyways- but he liked messing with her. "It'll be like training for the Grand Line!"
Cona sputtered, hoping she'd heard incorrectly. Whipping around. "The- The Grand Line?!"
"Hm?"
"What." Quinn deadpanned.
"Th- That- you can't go there! It's a graveyard!" She shuddered. "I can't even imagine the horrors waiting there for the crazies that intend to enter that horrible place! Only pirates deserve such a fate."
There was quiet again before-
"Wow, thanks." Quinn remarked, voice equally dead as it had been up until this point. She was feeling very done and tired and the rain was not helping but neither was Cona.
Katsura and Ace just laughed, though it seemed a bit strained.
"Uh-" Katsura rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "We're pirates."
Cona choked on her own breath.
She was right wasn't she- They are all monsters!
…
…
Cona's "place" turned out to be a large building with dying flowers outside its window and a rough, neon painted sign hanging in front of the rusty front door. The building was rougher than even some of the worst buildings in the area. Starving Changs Cherries. Written in clear block letters that had Quinn burying her head in her hands. Ace let out a low whistle at the sheer size of the building, it was several stories tall and looked like it was filled with room after room after room. Cona shuffled nervously on her feet to the side.
"I know it'll be hard but try and wipe off your feet- try not to dribble anywhere." Quinn bit her lip. She wasn't sure if she wanted to take her shoes off. "And I'm not supposed to have guests so don't- don't be causing any trouble, you hear?" She casts a fearful gaze at Kat.
"Aye, Aye." And Quinn gave her a mock salute, copied by Katsura behind her.
It would've been cute if Cona wasn't scared.
Ace smiled, "Thank you for your hospitality."
Cona felt herself slumping in mortification. She never thought she'd be bringing in a group of pirates, much less ones as strong as they were. The only comfort she had was the fact that she was pretty sure none of them had bounties and that meant that they probably weren't violent criminals- well, compared to what she saw. Hopefully, if no one was outright hostile or insulted them, there wouldn't be a problem.
Quinn wanted to feel sympathetic to the woman's obvious discomfort with them but she couldn't bring herself to try that hard.
After explaining that they were pirates, Cona had gotten ten times more suspicious of them and their every move. But was, at the very least, not stumbling over her words anymore. As if she was used to dealing with criminals and was getting more and more confident in her approach.
Stepping into the building, they were immediately greeted by a semi-lit room filled with women and groups of drunken men singing or being pulled to the crop of stairs in the back. Seemingly everyone who had disappeared off the streets had filed into the bottom floor of the building. Quinn eyed the company distastefully, wrapping up the umbrella and giving it a shake. "I take it you work here?"
"I-" Cona started at her tone, casting her a particular glare that looked like it'd been used a lot. "Don't be judgemental. It's a life. I'm not judging you for piracy, now am I?"
You kinda are, Quinn very nearly snorted. If that paranoid look in her eyes was anything to go by Cona didn't even want to turn her back on them for more than a second. But she bit her tongue, if it got her a bed for the night she didn't care, and instead, simply frowned, "No. I'm just curious is all. It'd be rather hypocritical for me to not respect someone trying to make a living."
The statement seemed to catch her by surprise. And also relax her shoulders a bit.
"Oh." Cona shook her head. "Okay, just. Just wait here then. I'll go get some towels or something. We're all drenched."
Ace stopped peering around the room long enough to turn to Quinn, "What do you mean by that Quinn?" He was wiping water from his dampened hat, the material turned a few shades darker of an orange. Kat also looked curious, though he was apparently more alarmed by the going-ons of the room around them to give her his full attention.
"What do you mean? I can respect the women behind this line of work. People do some extreme things to make a livable wage, you know." She paused before clarifying as she spotted a man leering at the back of a woman, face twisting in disgust. "Though it's more than a little hard to even try and acknowledge the men who frequent these kinds of establishments."
The explanation had Ace only frowning harder. "This… line of work…?"
She snapped her mouth shut, lips pressing into a thin line.
Quinn… Quinn doesn't know whether or not he's being serious right now.
Katsura looked just as incredulous as she did.
"Ace." She said slowly. "Where do you think we are right now?"
"In a big building." He offered sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "No dur. It's an apartment, or hotel, or something."
Quinn and Kat stared at each other.
"Snk-!"
Ace's expression turned blank.
"Kehehe-"
"Y-You t-think-?"
"A-Are you for r-real right now?!"
"Shn-" Katsura snorted into his hands, tears pricking at his eyes. Trying to keep his laughter down. Quinn was in a similar state, one hand clapped over her mouth and the other holding her cramping stomach. Ace watched, growing more confused by the second.
"What's so funny?!" He finally snapped, irked.
Quinn sucked back her snickering, taking breaths to try and calm down, wiping a tear from her eye. "Gosh, Ace, what kind of establishment do you think this is?" When he opened his mouth she raised a hand up to stop him. "And, really, really take a look around you, okay?"
Begrudging, he closed his mouth. Taking another look around, brows furrowing. It didn't look like anything special. A few couples making out and a large population of women who were, by now, sending their trio strange looks but nothing that seemed too out of the ordinary. "A…"
"A bar or lobby area?" That felt like the wrong answer as soon as he said it because his crew were doubling over in their laughter now. He scowled, not knowing what was so funny. "Oh, screw you guys!"
"That's what this place is f-for!" Katsura managed to bite out between peels of laughter.
"H-Huh?"
Quinn was first to calm down, looking immensely pleased; amused by this entire situation. "Cona is a prostitute, Ace."
He froze, eyes going wide.
Fondly, she quirked a smile his way, eyes crinkling as she broke the news to him. "This is a brothel."
Uttering a soft,"...Oh," Ace flushed ten shades of red, turning such a bright color that he lit up brighter than the sun. Quinn covered her mouth- she had never seen a person's full body blush like that before and she wondered if steam was going to come pouring out of his ears soon. He was positively burning from ears to toes.
"You… You really didn't realize?" She barely kept the disbelief out of her voice.
"...n-no." He mumbled, still blushing.
Ace returned his hat to its rightful place, grabbing either side of it and pulling it down, using it to hide as much of his face as he possibly could.
"Hey, I'm younger than you and even I noticed!" Katsura teased. "Are you just naive or what?"
"No." Quinn corrected lightly, before Ace could snap back. "Just dense." His shade of red turned darker. And Quinn couldn't help but feel a little pleased that Ace had failed at putting two and two together. It meant that he most likely held no interest in these kinds of places and wasn't one to seek them out or engage in its type of recreational activities. Which, she had kinda assumed already but it was always good to have some kind of assurance. It was good to note that the polite and respectful image of adult-Ace she had gathered from One Piece really did correspond with their actual counterparts.
She didn't think she'd want a Captain or crew who would come here.
"I'm not oblivious!" He hissed defiantly at them. At the looks they sent him he shouted, "I'm not!"
Katsura was ready to start teasing him again and Quinn took the chance to pull down her hood, shaking her hair out. She shivered. Wondering where Cona had gotten herself off to. Oh, there she was. Speak of the devil and she shall appear.
Quinn followed the woman closely with her eyes, face set in a dreary, dazed frown. Cona flitted around the room, offering polite smiles to patrons who tried to catch her eye, talking with a woman at the bar area who gave their little group alarmed looks. Quinn made sure to wave. Almost smiling when the bartender flinched and refused to make eye contact. Towels were pulled from beneath the bar and before she knew it Cona was arguing with the woman. She couldn't make out a word they said, not with how loud it was and with how far away they were, but when Cona turned back around to return to them she looked less than happy.
Actually, she looked more terrified than she had been before.
Quinn caught sight of something being hidden behind her back and she narrowed her eyes. Glancing at Ace and Kat who had somehow ended their teasing and gotten into a full-on poke war. A few jabs went through Ace before Kat remembered that he could actually make contact with his own powers. It was actually very entertaining to watch. Quinn sagged, she didn't think she could even try at this point to make them take things seriously. Kat was too busy making stabs at Ace's side, pulling out feints and trying to dodge, while Ace was poking him in the face head-on with zero hesitation or remorse.
She sighed, running a hand through her wet hair. "Dorks…"
Quinn twitched when someone, a man, stumbling over his own feet, reached an arm around her, "Hey, ice queen," his voice a drunken slur.
"Fuck off."
And he turned right back around, hand letting go, and nearly immediately ran into someone on his right.
"Keh." Her lips quirked up.
Quinn pretended not to notice the furious auras of her two compatriots seething behind her. Or the fact that the poking war was back in action as soon as she cast a glance their way.
"I- Please, don't talk to our patrons like that! We'll lose business and-" Oh, Cona's back. "-we'll get bad reviews and- and-"
Quinn gave her a thinly veiled smile; strained. "I think this place can handle a few bad reviews."
Cona seemed to get the message.
Didn't mean she liked admitting it. "Fine, yeah, I know. Just take a damn towel."
"Ace. Kat."
While they both looked up from their battle neither of them let up. It allowed for a rather funny image. Made more so when Kat suddenly snorted a giggle when Ace switched it up and poked him between the ribs.
"Towels."
They whooped.
Cona scowled, bringing a finger up to her lips.
They whooped quietly.
"Kehehe…"
Cona groaned. "Just… follow me."
Kat dropped the fight with Ace and wrapped the proffered towel around his head, rubbing it into his hair and following Cona. She was a short woman, even with her heels, and he was afraid that if he lost sight of her in the crowd that he wouldn't be able to find her again.
Ace just patted himself with the towel and took up the rear of the group. Even without noticing that the building was a brothel he still hadn't liked the looks any of them had been getting from the rest of the patrons. He was about ready to pick a fight with a few of them but he didn't think, especially with how she kept watching him from the corner of her eye, that Quinn would appreciate the move.
Cona ended up leading them up the back stairs, climbing them quickly, before walking down a long hallway with another flight of stairs at the end. Before repeating. They kept their gazes ahead but Quinn could pick out, with an endless amount of amusement, the way both Ace and Kat slowly began to blush deeper and darker shades past every room that made so much as a peep. Several flights of stairs later, and with a pair of aching legs, they finally reached a door marked by a simple Employees Only sign.
"Not that I'm not grateful," Quinn started as she slid into a much more cramped hallway then the ones previous, filled with boxes and clothes strewn across the floor, with a few open doors blocking their way, forcing them to slide over the top of containers stacked as high as their waists. "But, uh," and here she wrinkled her nose in disgust. This was a hoarders paradise. "Where exactly are we going?"
"To the washroom. You three smell like sweat and muck." Cona grumbled, "and fish."
Quinn grimaced. Yeah, that had been all they were eating the past few days. Katsura definitely helped them stave off starvation but both Quinn and Ace were super not into the forced pescatarian diet. Even if they could cook things now.
...Cook was being too kind. It was charring them while Ace laughed and went out of control, nearly singing off their eyebrows in the process.
"Thank you so much." Quinn slumped. A shower would be so nice right now. It'd been. It'd been way too long since she'd been able to properly clean. And while he didn't say anything she could tell Ace was looking forward to it too. And Kat, well.
Kat was scrounging through the boxes and containers. Not paying attention. "I wonder if there's any shells in here to start another collection with…" There didn't seem to be any but he did find an obnoxious, plastic mustache and fixed it to his face. "Guys, guys. Look. I've always wanted a mustache!"
He puffed up his chest proudly, the fake mustache nearly falling off his lip, and he collected a discarded wooden pole as if it were a sword. "I am the manliest of men!"
Ace laughed at him.
"Hey, are there any more of those sticks?"
"No, but there's another mustache!"
"Er, no." His tone was flat and uninterested and he was quick to look for something else. "Hey, you lied, there is another one!"
"Oh… Uh..." Kat blinked as Ace pulled out another stick. "En garde!"
She couldn't help but stare at them. Wondering whether or not she should engage with their antics at this point or spur them on to the showers. From her wrinkled state and the stale wetness that was beginning to stiffen her clothes Quinn was ready to go with the latter.
"Alright, if you head down the hall- Oh! What the hell!" No sooner did Quinn go to step forward and try and urge them to continue did Cona see what they were getting themselves up to. A particularly nasty look crossing over her face. "What are you two doing?!"
They at least had the decency to seem sheepish.
"Stop, stop. Just stop."
Cona whipped around to glare at Quinn.
Which was just unfair.
She gave her the blankest, most unimpressed look she could muster. From the growl Cona let out she was going to guess that she was just starting to get over her fear of them. Too bad. Quinn wishes they'd go back to how it was before.
"Why don't you stop them? They're acting like children!"
Well, she had been planning on it.
But now she was just sour and, instead of pointing that fact out, she just snorted and said, "I'm not their mother."
It was rather delightful to watch her face darken a few shades in anger.
...Quinn was going to hell, wasn't she?
Cona looked ready to punch her lights out. She thought the woman would be the responsible and most reasonable one, but no. Apparently not.
She was about to blow a gasket.
"Calm down, princess." Quinn rolled her eyes. And wow- she was not helping the situation. "You said the showers were in this room, right?"
Cona took a deep breath to try and calm down. Looking like she was visibly holding herself back from stalking off and flopping down in her own bed for the night. "Y-Yeah. But there's… there's only one small-"
"Great." She cut her off before she could finish. "Then I'll go first while you watch these two. Have fun."
"W-Wait- w-what-?!"
Quinn snickered at the indignant cry she let out, only turning back to call after her still much distracted crewmates. "Ace or Kat, can one of you see about getting me a change of clothes? Anything that covers both my arms and legs- thanks!"
"Sure!" Katsura waved after, attempting to keep the mustache on his face. "Make sure you save hot water for me next!"
"Hey, why do you get to go next? I wanna have hot water-"
"Look, we'll rock-paper-scissors for it."
Quinn couldn't help but throw her head back and laugh at the sound of Cona belting out a frustrated scream under her breath.
…
…
The washroom turned out to be a tiny room at the end of the hall. It was a cramped space, surprisingly clean, and free from the clutter that made up the hallway. Yet Quinn still almost ended up knocking everything down. The counter space and what little shelves that were in the room were completely filled with products and bottles that it made it hard to just find the shampoo, brands that she couldn't recognize.
And she made sure of it. Searching through the names and packaging for anything that looked similar to what she might know or have used in the past. Nothing. It- She tried not to let such a small thing dishearten her.
There were worse things this world could be without.
Like plumbing.
"Oh god…" She turned pale at the thought. Quinn didn't think she'd be able to survive if plumbing didn't exist. "Glad I'm lucky…"
A knock on the door had her flinching.
"Quinn? It's me." Oh, Kat. "I managed to find some clothes for you and…" He sighed. He sounded gloomy.
Quinn wrapped the towel around herself, she was still half clothed but it was better than doing nothing. She cracked the door open, thankful her sleeves were still on her arms and legs, but Kat was going out of his way to keep his eyes on the floor anyways so she didn't know why she was worried. "Thanks. Uh," it was a too large long sleeved shirt and a pair of sweats that could be tied in the front, exactly what she'd hoped for, "what's up with you?"
He was kicking the floor.
"What?"
"Ace won the rock-paper-scissor contest…"
He pouted.
She failed to stop the amused smile from coming over her, "Oh no."
Kat made a noise caught somewhere between a whine and a grumble. And Ace, who she only just noticed was politely facing the other direction, flashes a peace sign over his shoulder.
Quinn covered a chuckle.
"I'll be out in a few minutes. Thanks again, Kat."
"Mnhm."
And since Kat lost the contest it meant that, by the time Quinn was done brushing her hair and getting ready for bed, Ace had jumped out in time to join her in trying to figure out the sleeping situation, decked out in pajama pants with flame patterns- which she thought was unusual that they'd just find lying around somewhere but she wasn't going to question it. Not when Cona was shoving a single rolled up futon into her arms and disappearing as soon as she'd come to push her into a small room that, while not untouched by people, seemed to be safe from most of the clutter and the rest of everything else that went on in the building.
She returned again to toss a large comforter at Quinn's face, offering them a quick goodnight that sounded suspiciously like "shut the hell up and sleep already".
"That's nice."
Quinn surveyed the room.
"We can share the blanket with Kat once he's done, it looks like it's big enough for everyone."
Ace makes a face. Quinn pretends not to notice how he looks away skittishly, apprehensive of the suggestion. "Uh-that's okay, I don't want to use it anyway." He doesn't say why but Quinn has a burning suspicion that it has something to do with not wanting to accidentally set it on fire in his sleep. She can't be one hundred percent on it though.
Well, at least she didn't have to worry about being burned alive. And there was more for her, score!
Which was good because Quinn didn't know if she wanted to use the futon. She didn't trust Cona to give them one that wasn't used. Also it was probably rude to claim it without talking to Kat first.
Quinn rested her head in her arms, using them as a pillow, curled up on her stomach and knees pulled and bent awkwardly to make room on the small floor. It was better than the uncomfortable curve of the ship but she still wished it had been a bed. Her chin dug into her wrist almost painfully and her shoulders and side throbbed with the harshness of the floor but-! She was wrapped in a warm blanket and was finally clean for once. It was still more than she expected. So it was hard to keep the smile off her face.
In contrast, Ace was lying on his back, hat over his face and arms crossed behind his head.
She was close enough to touch him.
And she was captivated by the flames on his hat. The fake ones, the ones she made, and not the real ones that he was now completely capable of making. It seemed the world had a way of keeping certain things on track even with her interference.
"Hey…"
He jolted. Her fingers tapped his arm, right on his tattoo, and she tried not to let her eyes linger on the crossed out letter as he lifted his hat up an inch to look at her. Grey eyes blinking in confused surprise, the frown on his face was not something she liked.
"I never got the chance to ask before."
A lie, she had plenty of chances. She was just too anxious to.
She was still anxious now, even as she used her free hand to gesture to her own head. "I didn't exactly ask for permission, but how do you like the addition?"
He didn't seem to make the connection at first. Mind working slow, especially with how the night crept along lazily. "Oh? The flames?" A cheeky, lazy grin crosses his face. "Real or fake?"
"Mn, both. But just fake for now."
His hands are on his hat, thumb and forefinger rubbing the design and feeling the texture that replaced what was once there. Truth be told, he hadn't even noticed them when he'd first gotten his hat back. It'd taken him a rather sad amount of time actually. He hadn't found out until two nights after rejoining his crew, spinning his hat on one finger, up late and unable to sleep now that whatever semblance of a sleep schedule he'd had was completely thrown out of whack.
Quinn and Kat were at his feet in the bottom of the ship. Kat splayed on the deck like a starfish and Quinn twisted into an awkward position that made his back hurt just looking, legs bunched up to her chest and upper body thrown wherever else she could stretch. Sometimes she mumbled something in her sleep. Either complete nonsense or just unintelligible.
And he had stopped and stared at her for a long time when the sewn flames made themselves apparent.
He's not going to lie. It… It was nice.
Ace presses his hat back down over his face, refusing to make eye contact with her as he hides his smile. Something tells him she still sees it and is giving him her own grin, relishing in the moment.
"Oh? I take it you like it then?"
It's a tease. And she probably doesn't expect a response but he still nods and says, quietly, "Yeah, my first crew mate did it for me. Of course I'd like it."
He's purposely not looking at her so he doesn't get to see her bury her face in her arms, only hears her groan and feels her jab her finger into his arm harshly. He's damp enough that it makes physical contact but part of it does go through. He sucks in a breath, hoping he doesn't burn her, and sags in relief when she doesn't react to the lick of flames.
"Ace… you're something else." Quinn shakes her head and curls herself back in her arms. The feeling of fire stinging her hand was strong but not unexpected or especially painful, so she says nothing about the slight pink on her index. It's not something it seems like he can help. And she's somehow not sure how to respond to a fruit so different from her own, even if she knows what to expect from it.
Ace doesn't acknowledge it. She's not sure if he wants her to.
They fall back into a companionable silence. Quinn is pretty sure she can hear Kat singing in the shower down the hall but its muddled and far away enough that it's not worth bringing attention to.
Quinn taps her fingers against her bicep.
"You're planning on going to Nest Island, aren't you?"
"You said not to."
"But is that going to really stop you?"
He's back to looking cheeky, mischievous gleam in his eyes. "No."
Quinn laughs under her breath quietly. "I figured as much. To be honest, I'm a little surprised you didn't take off to explore it the first chance you got. It sounds like something you're gonna be into." Quinn doesn't want to take even a step over there. Drawing up images of monstrous tigers and bears that she could never hope to beat but he could. "The place you're used to is called Mt. Colubo right?"
"Yep! It's just my little brother now training." Ace rolls over and his hat falls off. "Chehe. You were right anyways. It would've sucked to take off in the rain in the middle of the night anyways. 'Sides I wouldn't have been able to beat Kat at poking." He still is itching to run off and explore. It felt like it's been forever since he's been in a forest or in a fight and he was starting to feel a little out of practice. "I bet there's all sorts of wild animals there. Wonder how strong they are…"
"...and what they taste like…"
"That too!"
He's borderline drooling and Quinn can fill in the blanks just by looking at him. He was probably going to take off first thing in the morning, wasn't he? She thinks she'd win for sure if they were betting. "Well…" She looked down at the floorboards, rubbing a finger over them. She hoped she wouldn't get a sliver if she rolled over in the middle of the night. "Just make sure we don't have to go looking for you again, 'kay?" She meant to say it teasingly but it's a little hard not to make it serious.
Ace fell silent.
Oh.
He… Well, he wasn't expecting her to say that.
He kept his mouth firmly shut, not sure where to look and what to respond with. He squeezed a hand over his eyes, peaking between his fingers to shift his gaze back and forth. The rotten pieces of him wanted to laugh and ask whether it'd be too much trouble to put in the work again, even if something in his throat and back of his mind told him that clearly wasn't true. Sounding frighteningly similar to Sabo. The voice of reason was always the one that went up in flames first.
His mouth was dry and tasted like sand and ocean water.
He almost scooted away from her. But he didn't want to chase her off with devilish words. Didn't know if he stayed he wouldn't chase her away by just being him. So he settled on a lie that lay like a double-edged sword on his tongue, something he'd been wanting to think since he first ended up on that crappy little island but hadn't been able to.
He just wished he could honestly believe it.
"Why not? I know you guys will make sure to always come find me!"
Ace was very good at telling himself little lies to keep himself going. Thought he was equally good at telling them to other people to get them off his back. Unfortunately, the people he had experience telling them to either never cared enough to notice, didn't know how to respond if they did, or were… Or they were Luffy.
Which was not- It was not an impressive track record.
And Quinn was more than prepared to call him out on his shit.
"Ace," his smile, while good enough for him, was weak in comparison to every blinding grin she'd seen before, and when it drooped at her next words she didn't know whether to glare at him or raise both her brows in complete doubt, "you are so full of crap."
She speaks before she even has a chance to think over her words. Doesn't know if she would if she gave herself the chance. It's so impulsive that she even catches herself by surprise, but she's used to not being able to hold her tongue sometimes. Ace is less so.
"Wha-?"
Quinn doesn't know how to put it exactly but she's offended.
Because she can tell that he doesn't believe what he's saying. And she wonders what that says about her.
It doesn't help that she doesn't think she's done anything to warrant a belief in those words but still. It's disenchanting that he thinks so low of her and Kat. And, okay. She knows that's not the case. That it doesn't really have anything to do with either of them. But it's hard to remove herself from the equation when she's already there. "We found you before, didn't we? It just took a while." He nods, confirming what they both already knew.
"What makes you think we wouldn't come again?"
She already knows the answer to the question. It has more than a little something to do with an absent father with a bad reputation and that's putting it lightly. And, well, maybe she's being a manipulative and mythic bitch. Because he doesn't know what she knows and one thing she's sure of is that he wouldn't want her to know.
And it's bothering her.
Quinn's nervousness gets the better of her when something dark and unbidden flashes over his face. While she's staring at him unblinkingly, its less intense now, and for an instant she thinks that perhaps it won't matter because Ace's eyes shift to his hat and back to her and it looks like he might say something but-
"Hey, guys, guys. The amount of soap in there is crazy. I put like eight different kinds on and- Guys?"
Ace is rolled away from her, his hat left in the middle, and she stares at his back.
Okay. Okay, so maybe she should've expected as much.
"I'm sorry. How many did you say you used?"
Kat is innocently jumping his gaze between the two but when Quinn greets it's as if everything is forgotten. Kat can see that she doesn't want him to ask and he can tell that Ace won't be responding so he does his part and doesn't say anything. That doesn't mean he doesn't notice or is not curious. "Y-Yeah, smell my hair, I don't even know what this is-"
Quinn couldn't sleep.
No matter how hard she wanted to, not a wink came.
And the night only seemed to want to stretch on indefinitely.
She couldn't help but sigh.
"...Great."
Quinn rolled onto her back and sat up, struggling to untangle herself from the blanket without yanking it off of Kat as well. The moonlight illuminated enough through the singular window in the room that she was able to find out the way to unwrap herself in a timely manner. When she stood up, she had to be careful not to step on anyone either.
Kat was splayed across the floor, arms and legs spread eagle next to her, and on the other side of him Ace still had his back to her. The blanket was large enough that, since Kat had laid in the space between her and Ace, it could be shared. And Quinn carefully laid it over the top of the two before stepping over them and sneaking away quickly.
Or, she would've if she hadn't first grabbed Ace's hat and placed it next to his face. His eyes were closed. And, it was weird to admit, but it was strange looking at him without his hat at least on his person.
Quinn didn't want to wake either of them up. And the floorboards creaking under her bare feet as she stepped past had her sucking in a breath and paranoid that she already had.
But nothing happened so she kept going.
Tiptoeing out the door and making sure to close it as quietly as possible behind her.
If she'd taken a proper moment to check to make sure that they were still asleep she would've noticed one of Ace's eyes pop open as she turned away.
Taking in the sight of his hat now next to him. Watching her leave with a frown on his face, left wondering where she was off to.
He'd been similarly unable to sleep.
Eyes closed, yet wide awake.
Ace grabbed his hat and slipped after her.
The hallway hadn't changed. Not that she thought it would.
It was still as hard to navigate as when they first wandered unto the upper floors and she couldn't help but wonder why they had all this stuff here in the first place. None of it seemed like trash to be honest, or not entirely useless anyway.
Except maybe the mustaches. But those seemed more the exception than the norm.
There seemed to be a surprising amount of home items. Quilts and vases and cabinets and boxes labeled with names that she couldn't read completely, the marker smudged or written in a cursive hand that was almost impossible to read or simply didn't mean anything to her.
Quinn leant against the door to their room. Wondering if it was really worth walking around or if she should just try sucking it up and trying to go back to sleep.
"I mean, what could go wrong?" Quinn sighed, stepping over some boxes.
Admittedly, it wasn't unusual for her to wander off in the middle of the night.
It was a force of habit at this point. Too much coffee during the day or procrastinating on assignments until the last minute and just being more of a night-owl in general had left her in the habit of staying up for longer periods of time than were probably healthy, especially since she was often unable to sleep in or sleep properly. Sometimes her heart was racing too hard for her to fall asleep, or stress made her sick, or the night was just too long. Quinn rubbed a thumb along her wrist, her hands shaking.
Tonight… Tonight she thinks she just can't. She's shivering in a way that makes her want to curl up but she knows it wouldn't help. And her eyes are heavy but no matter how hard she tries she doesn't think she could close them.
It's a manic feeling.
She just wants to move around. See if she can wear herself out to the point that it doesn't matter anymore. Spells like these usually hit at inopportune times and she didn't think she wanted to deal with it in a cramped space, like the ship, if she could help it. Even a building that definitely didn't pass its earthquake safety test would do.
Quinn kept walking. Finding the end of the hallway, eyeing the stairs that went up. She was pretty sure, if she'd counted correctly, that they were on the second to last floor up. And, while she didn't think there'd be any difference, there was a door on this one. Which, other than the employees only door and the doors on all the rooms, seemed out of place.
Of course, she didn't even get to turn the knob all the way.
"What're you doing?"
The door opened in her face, she took a step back down so it wouldn't hit her.
"...Exploring?" She offered. Not knowing what else to call it.
"I'm pretty sure strangers aren't allowed up here."
It was a young girl. Rather distinct pale freckles splattered across her face like bright stars against her skin, with a natural afro stylized with braids across her hairline, pushing her hair back. She had hazel eyes that didn't seem to know what to make of her. She narrowed her gaze at Quinn, with such an intensity Quinn wondered if she actually had something to feel guilty about.
"Who…?"
The girl gave a haughty sniff. It was then that Quinn caught sight of the bandages wrapped around her throat and collar, similar patches and bandaids spotted across her arms. "'M Salt."
Quinn had trouble keeping her incredulousness out of her voice. "Wait. Your name… is Salt?" She just wanted to be doubly sure she'd heard correctly.
Salt's face darkened. "Yeah, what's wrong with my name?"
"Nothing, nothing." Now that she thought about it. Usopp's little troupe were named after vegetables, weren't they? Maybe it was a common theme in the East Blue. To name your children after food. "I'm Quinn." Still. "A real name."
Aw. She just got angrier.
She couldn't have possibly seen that coming.
"Excuse me?!"
Quinn squinted. "...Do they all start off this young?"
"What- no!"
Her face turned green at the prospect.
"Oh thank god." She released a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. That would have been… horrifying to say the least. She didn't look older than twelve. And Quinn didn't want to think about such horrors. "So what are you doing here, then, Salt?"
Condescendingly Salt gave her a once over. From the look on her face, she wasn't impressed. Which: fair.
But the snooty attitude was wearing out fast. "If it's so important to you then I'm looking for…" She winced, glancing to the side guiltily. As if she couldn't believe what she was saying. "...The pirates."
Quinn raised a brow.
"Pirates?" She asked innocently.
"Yes. Pirates."
"And what's a little girl like you dealing with that kind of crowd?"
Salt pursed her lips. Face scrunching up so much that it looked as if she'd swallowed an especially sour lemon whole. Snapping quickly, jutting out her hip as obnoxiously as she could, she finally said, if more than a little miffed about it, "To thank them."
"Thanking… pirates…" Quinn repeated dubiously.
She went on the defensive. "What? Got something to say?"
"Uh- no."
On second thought, "No, actually. What do you want to thank them for?" She didn't think any of their crew had met the girl before. And she doesn't think that any of them had done anything to warrant a thanks.
Salt was about to answer before she froze, slowly grinding her jaw to a close. Face practically screaming with sudden suspicion. "Why do you… care?"
Quinn shrugged. "Humor me. Besides I got nothing better to do at this time of night."
Her nostrils flared. "Whatever, fine. The pirates saved Cona so I- I guess I'm obligated to say thanks. Even if they probably don't deserve it. I don't really care about them, specifically."
Oh. That thing with the guy earlier today.
Salt scowled at her. "There. I told you. I- Why are you here anyway? I at least have a reason, and you're not one of the workers, unless…" She then blinked, tilting her head. "...lesbian?"
"Only half the time." Quinn rolled her eyes. "But no. That's not why I'm here."
Salt waited for an answer.
"So- you're welcome then." She supplied amicably. Even though it was just Kat who did all the work. Eh, she'd let him know when he woke up.
"...huh?"
"I'm one of the pirates." She clarified and Salt falters, disbelieving.
"...no, you're not."
"Um. Yes. Yes I am."
"No. No you're not. You can't be!" Salt insisted. "Pirates don't have women on their crew- you- you're messing with me, aren't you?"
Okay, Quinn understood the sentiment even if she was flat out wrong. She pressed her lips together in bemusement. "I think you'll find that there's quite a few female pirates. Does the Emperor Big Mom not ring a bell?"
"That's different. She's the Captain." The look she received from her only seemed to send Salt into a tirade. "Ugh. Quit messing with me! I don't need more people trying to lie to me. You're planning something, aren't you? That's why you were coming up here- you- you liar."
"Uhhh…"
Quinn was suddenly very conscious of the fact that she had no idea how exactly to respond to the sudden overdramatic questioning.
"I bet you were lying before too!" Salt accused loudly, face twisting in anger. "You probably do work here or something and you're skipping out on you job-"
"No."
"See, you are lying! To my face!"
Okay, she grimaced, glare forming. This was getting frustrating. "Knock it off, brat-"
"Quinn…?"
Quinn would actually lie and say that she did not jump. Heartbeat quickening as she whipped around, the hand grasping her wrist did not help to calm her. Not until she saw who it was.
They were interrupted by the tired, but quizzical, voice and freckled face of Ace. He was peering up at them from a few steps down and Quinn is surprised at how quiet he was and wondered how she hadn't noticed him sooner.
"Oh, Ace. Sorry," she guiltily eyed his disheveled state, "Did I wake you?"
"No, I was already up." He paused, glancing from her to Salt. "What's all the shouting about? Trouble?"
"Just a brat."
He sagged disinterestedly. "Oh, boring."
Salt, who was switching her gaze between the conversing two, growled at them. Stomping her feet. "I'm not boring!" She cried. "And you two are jerks! I'm going to go find Cona and she'll tell me the truth." Ace and Quinn made way for her to shoulder her way down the stairs, staring after her fast retreating back.
"What the hell was that all about?"
She shrugged.
"I'm not entirely sure but…" She trailed off. "I think I was about to throw hands with a twelve year old."
Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "And now I think I'm getting tattled on?"
That got her an amused look.
"Are you sure I didn't wake you? You look tired." He did. He was much droopier than normal and he pretended not to yawn.
"You're one to talk."
"Oh, I'm not saying I'm not tired. I just can't sleep."
Ace scratched his cheek, not knowing if there was even a difference. "Isn't that the same thing?"
Quinn seemed even more tired when he posed the question. Which was definitely saying something. She looked about ready to keel over at any minute. He was almost thinking that he may have to catch her soon in the case that she falls asleep standing up. "Oh, don't worry. They're very, very different." She then shook her head and cleared her throat. "Is it the fire?"
He twitched. He hated that. When she changed the subject and pushed it towards him. Sometimes it was fine- like when he was talking about Luffy or the animals of Mt. Colubo but now it was getting a bit too meddlesome.
Still, he turned cheeky, repeating his question from earlier: "Real or fake?"
"Real."
He shrugs. "What do you mean?"
"That's keeping you up. The fire." She paused. "Is that why you didn't want to use the blanket?" It's almost accusatory, the way she says it, and she could have made it more so but she didn't want to sound… that… arrogant.
The tips of his ears turned red. "Ah, you noticed?"
Ace wants to curse her. But he can't fault her, she certainly pays attention and can put two and two together.
"I'm sure they won't care if you end up burning one blanket in your sleep, Ace." She then covered her mouth, sudden thought occurring to her, and laughed. "We can- Cona is already so scared of us. We can tell her that we used it to summon the devil or for, like, human sacrifice or something. She'd go crazy."
Okay. He wasn't going to lie, that sounded a little fun. "You're evil, Quinn." It got a laugh.
"Oh, please," she rolled her eyes, "you're into it." And went to playfully punch him in the arm.
Unfortunately, both of them forgot he was literal fire now.
And, despite being something he was expecting and something she'd done before and, even though it wasn't a hard punch in the slightest, Quinn's fist still sunk into his arm. The sudden lack of physicality making her stumble.
It was more shocking than anything.
"Aa-"
While she'd poked through him earlier, had seen him produce flame before, knew what he was going to be capable of with his devil fruit the reality of it… hadn't really sunk in.
The hiss she let out was more a surprised yelp and gasp than anything else.
Ace shoved her away.
"Quinn, sorry! Are you-?!"
"Don't worry about it. It was my fault anyways." Quinn stared at the festering red scraped across her fingers and knuckles with wide eyes. She'd had worse burns. Just from an oven or grabbing a piece of hot metal by accident. It was more the surprise than the pain getting to her and when she looked up it was to an intense-looking Ace.
"Really, I'm not hurt or anything."
He didn't look convinced. In fact, he didn't even look her way.
Eyes fixed so firmly on the burn mark that even when she hid her hand away, he still saw it.
Quinn watched him. With a growing uncomfort.
"...Ace. You didn't hurt me."
She finally said.
Ace's eyes flickered away finally. To her face, for a moment, and then anywhere else. Refusing to look in her direction.
He covers his nose.
It smells… too strong. The burning.
Something in his lungs feels like it's choking.
He swallows down the sensations.
"I'm still not good enough yet. I'll get stronger."
He says it firmly. A promise she knows he'll uphold before he even says it. But there's an air of sangfroid about him that's unsettling.
"Sorry."
Quinn pressed her lips into a thin line. She doesn't like the way he looks right now. Like he isn't quite there.
Tentatively she lays a hand on his shoulder. He doesn't seem to notice. Otherwise she thinks he would've jumped away and out of reach completely.
"Well, I think you're good enough. You just need a bit of practice, I mean, c'mon. Remember how stupid I was with my Devil Fruit when I was trying to figure it out? How dumb was I to think catchphrases, of all things, would somehow help." It draws a simpered chuckle. "But- see?"
He glances down at her hand.
She's actually feeling skin. It's warmer than normal, much hotter than what it was or what would be… considered survivable for a normal human being. Just standing next to him she can feel that he's like a heater.
But she's not passing through. He's solid.
"You're not burning me now. It's just like your body has a natural defense. Just means I can't be stupid and hit you."
Quinn raises both her eyebrows.
"You know what that means don't you?"
He has a smile back. It's weak, a bit strained at the edges, the smallest one yet, but it's real.
He drops his hand from his nose a bit. It's still wrinkled but whatever it was- the smell of burning that was too strong for such a small thing that Quinn couldn't even smell if she tried- that was causing it had dulled to a bearable point that only got harder for him to notice.
He still didn't seem to be at one hundred percent but it was better than what it was, so she let the subject go.
"What?"
"There's a blanket ripe for stealing from Kat. 'Cause, ya know, Ace. A blanket can't punch you and make you fire like I can."
He rolls his eyes. "Oh, ha ha. I thought you wanted it?"
"It's a big blanket. But, also, I'm not going to be sleeping anytime soon. Unlike you." There hadn't been enough time for her to wear herself out. She eyed him again. "You look really tired."
"You said that already."
"Did I? Just more of a reason why it's true."
She dared a poke, a softer one than before. No intention of trying to cause harm, just trying to lay it on top of his skin. It was ballsy, because she knew she'd just throw him back into a state if she got burnt again, but if it didn't… She'd show him that, well, it was alright if he relaxed a bit.
There was nothing to worry about.
He sucked in a tense breath. And she didn't go through. "You look dead on your feet. I'm serious. You should lie down or something." So she smiled like she hadn't meant to do anything.
Ace slumped. She pretended not to notice his sigh of relief, or the way his nerves visibly eased.
"Fine. But only if you do too."
"Ooh, no dice, man. I don't want to sleep." A lie. She desperately wanted to. "Can't you see I'm the epitome of wakefulness?"
Ace was calling bullshit with a chuckle. "Oh, sorry, it must be the bags under your eyes that are throwing me off." He gave her a once over. "And the shaking."
"Common mistake, common mistake. Nothing like caffeine withdrawal to throw people off."
"What?"
"Coffee would be a godsend."
"Never had it."
"You said your brother is obsessed with eating meat, right? Even more so than you."
"Yeah?" He confirmed, wondering what that had to do with anything.
She gave him a dead serious look. "Coffee is my meat."
He didn't believe her. Not that she expected him to. Snorting at the notion, he didn't think Luffy would live without meat for as long as she'd gone without coffee. "I-I think you're seriously underestimating his love of food. And I don't think you need more of a reason to stay up."
Standing and chatting in a dark hallway, where shadows cast with every step and the only light was natural and few and did little more than grey the room as their eyes adjusted to the dark, was probably not the best course of action. Especially not when their conversation consisted primarily of them urging the other to sleep and the other refusing at every turn with guileless teasing. But neither noticed the night tick on. Both on opposite sides of the hall walls from one another, arms crossed, and grinning.
"Maybe we can wrap Kat up like a burrito, watch him struggle to untangle himself."
"Chehehe. What'll that even accomplish?"
"An incredibly minor inconvenience."
"Hey, wonder if we should get him something to put between his teeth? Don't think he'd bite his tongue anymore then."
"Like what? A rubber stick? I'd hate to have that in my mouth twenty-four sev. Kehehe. It's a good idea though. Maybe a cap for the back of his teeth. Just something to keep them from slamming down."
Eventually they'd slid to the floor. Ace yawning intermittently and Quinn resting her head in her arms wrapped around her knees, pulled up to her chest. Fingers taping her bicep.
"I wonder if that kid was serious about tattling."
Ace was struggling to keep his eyes open. Quinn wouldn't admit it but she was beginning to have a problem too. "If you get us thrown out it's entirely your fault, Quinn." He grumbled sleepily.
"Oh, come on, it's not like they're into us anyways. Pretty sure they're terrified. And of Kat, mostly, too."
"Would you prefer if it was me?"
"Mnh. I think I could scare them."
He blinked at her lazily. "Uh, yeah, sure. Right. Quinn."
"H-Hey. You don't have to say it like that."
They both nodded off eventually, when the conversation lulled and the moon was as high as it could be, complete opposite of the sun.
And when Quinn heard a door squeak open, she didn't try and wake up at first, simply scrunching up her face and burying her face further in her arms. Trying to block out the noise.
It didn't work, the door opened and whoever was behind it seemed tentative to let go, letting the old hinges squeal in protest as they took hesitant steps inside. It was somewhere down the hallway, far from them, and Quinn guessed it was the entrance from where the sound was coming from, probably that girl from earlier coming back to her room.
It'd probably fall silent again in a moment. Or, that's what she thought, until the anxious mumbling began.
"Uhn…?"
One eye popped open, vision blurry with sleep, and all she could make out in the lack of light was a dark silhouette creeping inside, their shadow falling across her face and upsetting the quiescent night. From the shape alone Quinn could make out the figure of a small woman shuddering with every hesitant step.
Whoever it was, they sounded familiar. "...Cona?" Quinn murmured, and wasn't heard. Too far away and too quiet and tired. She lifted her head up, rubbing her eyes, and watched the figure approach.
They sounded disturbed and terrified and nervous, all at once.
"It's okay, it's okay… you can do this, it's just a small bunch of pirates. Barely a bunch; just a trio! Nothing to worry about." The muttering under her breath continued. "Even if one of them is crazy strong and- ooh!" She made a strangled noise.
Quinn uncurled from her awkward sleeping position, wincing in apology to Ace when she accidentally kicked him, not enough to even wake him as a lick of fire caught her toe, crawling behind one of the nearest pile of boxes and sneaking a peek over the rim. The woman was clearly trying to pump herself up for something that she was dreading- apparently involving them somehow.
"It's just one guy to take care of, the other two you can just tie up in their sleep. It'll be easy."
And it sounded nefarious already.
Cona sucked in a deep breath, hand falling to the doorknob of their room. Something silver catching what little light it could gleamed in her hand. "It'll be quick! You just have to kill the red headed boy and it'll be fine. The others will be picked up and we won't have to worry about anything anymore-!"
Quinn choked on her own breath as she opened the door.
"Ace!" Whipping around and kicking Ace in the chest, cursing when she realized it wouldn't do anything as her foot went through and stung her back. She had a second of panic before she was licking her palms and shaking him by the shoulders. It only let her hold on for a couple seconds but that seemed like it was enough. "Ace! Wake up!"
"W-Wha… the hell...?" He flinched as her hands swiped through him and he jerked awake to see her intense, black eyes glaring down at him, teeth bared. Face illuminating with the light of his fire and making her look orange, red and angry. "Quinn, what're you-?"
"Trouble." She hissed.
And rushed off without checking if he was following.
Ace blinked rapidly after her. A bit lost for words and unable to pick out much of what was going on as he forced himself awake before there was a shriek of someone down the hall and he was leaping after her to catch up. "Hey, wait-!"
"Stop!" Quinn growled the moment Cona came into view, a knife clenched in her hands and Kat still snoring beneath her. Cona barely had time to spin around and yelp at the sight of her, not making a move to stop her crouch and, in fact, looking like she was still preparing to hurry and finish the job. "I said- stop it!"
Now, Quinn was by no means a fighter in any sense of the word.
While she knew how to throw a punch it wouldn't really pack much strength behind it. She was weak and didn't have much experience and wasn't looking for any. But- self-defense?
She could do that. She didn't have to be strong for that. She just had to know what she was doing.
And Quinn had taken enough self-defense courses to be confident enough in her approach.
"Put the knife. Down. Cona." She ordered at the same time she lunged for her wrist, the shriek she let out had Kat shooting awake and stumbling out of bed.
Cona bucked and struggled and tried to stab at her but Quinn used her weight to wrench the smaller woman to the floor, pinning her arm to her chest. Careful of the unsheathed blade.
Ace arrived just in time to see Quinn twist her wrist and force her to release the knife.
She kicked it towards him.
"L-LET ME GO!" Cona thrashed and Quinn rolled her onto her front, yanking an arm behind her back, holding the other down with her foot. Pointedly trying to ignore the throb of her jaw from where she'd managed to connect a hit. "Y-YOU- You pirate freaks! You don't understand, stop! Let me go!" Quinn tried not to wince at her piercing voice and tightened her grip on her arm.
Katsura shook away his sleep, eyes wide and obviously distressed.
"Get off of me, you bitch!" Cona cried.
Quinn grimaced. "Uh- Ace? Can you hit the lights?"
The lights in the room had her blinking to try and get used to it, and Kat glanced wildly across the rooms for answers. Ace, equally confused, picked up the knife at his feet and raised a questioning brow towards her.
Quinn decided it was best to just come right out with it.
"So… Cona here. Was about to kill Kat in his sleep."
The resulting tension could be cut with a knife.
And Kat paled drastically, greener around the gills than he was normally.
"What."
Ace looked like he was about to snap the knife in half with his hand.
"N-NO- It's- It's not what you think, I-I-I can explain!"
"You were going to kill my Navigator," Ace growled, "What is there to explain?"
"I-I-!"
Holding her down was beginning to get difficult and painful. Quinn pulled her arm to the point where she was gasping in open mouth pain and Quinn was completely unconcerned to her suffering and gesturing with her free hand for any sort of help. "Can I get some rope to tie her up with? I'd like to not be stuck doing this."
Before anybody could get a word in edgewise, tears were bursting from her eyes and snot was running down her face. Straight up sobbing. Loud and ugly crying too. "P-Please-!" Cona desperately tried to coerce any sort of sympathy her way, unable to speak properly through the pain. "-p-please- I can explain- d-don't tie me up- anything b-bu- but-!" She broke off into more hysterical crying, not able to properly finish.
It sounded genuine, too.
Quinn was utterly unperturbed. "Wow, you are so full of shit-"
"Wait."
Ace and Quinn shared a look.
Kat took a deep breath, looking completely frazzled with this whole situation. Which, she sympathized with, she wouldn't want to wake up and have to deal with something like this. He clapped his hands together, voice squeaky and cracking with sleep. "Just- Okay. What is happening right now?!"
Quinn groaned. "I woke up and saw that Cona was making her way over to the room-"
"What? From inside?"
"Nah. Ace and I were sleeping in the hall."
"Why were you-?"
"It's not important. Anyways, she was talking to herself and said something along the lines of 'gotta kill the ginger and tie up the others for something' and so I woke up Ace and-" Quinn gestured around them. "-you can see the rest."
There came a shriek. "M-My arm! Y-You're going to disloc- dislocate my arm!"
"Oh, forgot about that." While she didn't lessen the hold she did make sure she wasn't yanking further than she needed to just yet.
"Please, I had to! For the others- i-if I didn't do it- everything we've w-worked for- it… it would all be ruined!"
That was a little… disturbing to hear. Quinn didn't want to know the reason behind it. And she was pretty sure Ace was too pissed to care, the set of his face angry and dark with rage that didn't seem to be alleviating any. Even when he reluctantly turned to Katsura.
"Kat…?" Ace prompted, wanting his opinion on all this.
He looked like a deer caught in headlights, teeth going down to press against his tongue. Trying to sort through the rapid fire thoughts running through his head.
Hm, you know, she'd almost forgotten how young he actually was. It was hard to connect age to someone as strong as he was but he looked so, childlike and out of place at the moment.
"Kat, just take a second to calm down. Put your claws on if you need to."
Quinn carefully began to mediate, drawing the teenager out of his head.
He clenched the claws to his chest. She'd noticed they'd seemed to help him focus and remain steady.
"You don't have to do anything. I can take care of it." She looked to Ace for confirmation and got a nod in return. "We just want to know what you think should be done since she tried to hurt you."
He nodded slowly, eyes closing.
"If you want to leave it up to me and Ace, that's fine."
He shook his head.
"No. No, I can…" The claws rattled as he strapped one on and held it close. As a means of feeling constant protection and vigilance. "Her hands. Tie up her hands only."
They both pursed their lips.
"We'll take her to these 'others' and have them corroborate her story. If the explanation is reasonable… it's up to our Captain from there."
That was better.
Ace nodded solemnly.
You'd have to be blind not to see the way he puffed up with pride at Katsura's decision. Whether because of the boast of confidence towards him or just because of Kat couldn't be said. But it seemed to offer no small comfort to Kat to know he had the Captain's approval.
"Quinn." Cona had given up trying to get out of her hold and, while she was still crying and doing less than stellar, Quinn didn't have to put as much effort in. "We're going to figure out what's going on here. And we're going to burn this place down if we have to."
A hand lit with fire, untamed and wild. Turned his grin positively wicked.
Cona yelped in terror. "W-What-?!"
"No complaints here." If all the people in the building were behind it then they would've had it coming.
Quinn smirked, lips tight. "On your word, Ace."
-0-
Rope was surprisingly easy to find in all the stuff. Some of it was being used to keep packages together, so it was fairly simple to collect and use to tie Cona's hands behind her back.
Quinn took the few moments of quiet they had to place a gentle hand on Kat's shoulder.
"You okay?"
They were walking down the hallways. Taking their time down the steps to urge Cona along, the sounds of downstairs still going strong despite the time. Ace was leading them in front, a fiery steel in his eyes and a scowl stretched across his face.
Maybe it was just because he was angry but the serious, deadly calm on his face was putting her at ease. Grateful that whatever silliness was going on beforehand could be brushed aside in favor of things of higher priority. And like a flip of a coin, too. Opinions on the Captain getting slightly raised aside… Kat didn't seem like he was doing too hot.
Pale, shaken, and uncomfortable with every step.
He seemed to jump at her touch. She dropped her hand to her side, not wanting to worsen it. "-mn? Wha- oh. Oh. Yeah. I'm fine."
With the way he was glancing down at his feet, he wasn't very convincing.
And was that a slur to his speech that she was detecting? He'd bit his tongue again.
"I don't think you need me to tell you that that's a lie."
He hung his head, "You don't."
Kat just… He let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his hair. "I know I'd made a bad impression. I know but I… I thought it'd be fine. Thought it'd be different from before."
"It's not your fault. You know that, right?"
"I'm okay if people don't like me. They can even- hate me. But, I thought, if even if that happened, they could just meet me and warm up to me eventually." He sagged. "It's fine if people want to kill me or attack me. I'm used to it. I just figured… that they'd have a better reason to hate me other than me just being me."
Quinn closed her mouth.
He's right. There's no good reason for it.
She glanced down at her skin. She'd always been darker than the majority of her family, brown in a way that they weren't. She was told that she took after her grandfather in that respect but she barely remembered seeing him, and she doubted she would've remembered the color of his skin if she did. The small difference… unnoticeable to her until people began pointing it out, was apparently important to others.
It wasn't the same. Not the level that he was implying. But that didn't matter.
It still hurt.
"I… There's no reason for it that matters and I don't know. People are stupid." It's a horrible way to put it. She's not sure how to articulate it. And she just wants to run away from it all and not say anything anymore.
But Kat was thankful that she was at least trying.
"People are stupid." He agreed.
And they were stupid too. Because a dumb sentence like that, from her being unable to convey her feelings from years of being unallowed to, shouldn't be able to hold so much weight and speak so much to them but it does.
Kat gives a wet laugh, it bubbles in his throat and is sick with tears that aren't really sad. Just old ones that he hadn't had the chance to shed yet.
They reached the bottom of the steps.
"You guys ready?" Ace called. He didn't mention anything on the conversation he had undoubtedly overheard but his eyes had softened and somehow grown in fury at the same time.
Quinn and Kat shared a look.
"Give me her blade. I want it." Quinn spoke up without thinking. "I want to make sure they won't use it again." Not on Kat.
Ace passed it her way without a word.
It was a simple knife. Sheathed in nylon with a buckle attached to it, an all-black spear point blade. The only notable bit about it was a wave of silver across the finish that had been warped and now gleamed brightly in the low light.
Quinn hooked it to the belt loops on the back of her shorts, they'd had the chance to redress, and watched as Cona bowed her head and prepared herself for the inevitable.
"Let's get this over with."
Ace kicked the final door in. It went rocketing down the steps.
It was quite the sight to see. Grown men jumping back in surprise and fear and women with an amalgamation of reactions from shock to expectancy to scared to angry. Quinn hung back as Ace stepped down the stairs and came into view.
A polite smile on his face.
"Pardon me!"
Silence. Pure, unadulterated silence.
It was music to their ears.
"You know, I wasn't planning on starting a fight-!" He began cheerfully. And let Cona stumble down the stairs next to him, falling into a heap at the bottom of them. People jumped away like cockroaches, skittering to the edges of the room. "But, when it involves my crew, I get mad. So-!"
He grinned darkly at the throng of bar-goers.
"How 'bout some answers?"
They probably cut quite the trio.
Almost automatically Quinn felt her spine straighten at the attention they gained. She adopted an apathetic mask, staring down her nose at the crowd. None seemed to pay her any particular attention but a few inched away at her glower. She stood on Ace's right, a few steps behind, while Kat was a few further and on his left. He was nervous and, if it wasn't for the fact the only clearly visible part of his face was his eyes, it would've shown. But coupled with the sick mask and the bandana it cast an intimidating shadow over his face.
The people stumbled back.
She didn't know whether to hang her head or be proud.
"Cona?! You- How dare you?"
It was the bartender. And the one Quinn assumed gave Cona the knife when she was collecting towels. She was the only one who came forward-
She stood corrected.
"Cona?! Hey! Let her go, what are you doing?! Bastards… why are you doing this?!"
It was Salt.
She was held back by one of the workers and hidden by a group of ladies. Quinn thinks that she would've tried to run up and punch them all if she got the chance.
Cona thrashed, worming her way into a sitting position, "I-I'm sorry every- everyone, I just- they're pirates! I didn't stand a chance."
"Don't apologize, Cona." The bartender growled. "I should've known it would've taken more to get them than that."
That elicited a snarl from Ace.
"Anybody who's not apart of this. Leave. Now."
He was pleased to note that the majority of people did, in fact, scram.
"Hey- who da' fuck do you thinks you are?!"
Unfortunately, some overconfident jerk had to ruin it by stumbling over, alcohol on his breath. Not even able to speak properly. Let alone stand up straight.
Ace twitched at his approach.
Those that remained turned wide eyed.
His speech was so slurred that it was hard to understand but an aggravated Ace could make out something along the lines of- "We're just here to have a good time! So grab someone and have some fun or get out and go-" He had said some not-so polite words that Ace wouldn't bother repeating, even on a bad day. And, fortunately for everyone involved, he didn't finish what was obviously an insult because a knife was placed at his throat.
Oh, at least Kat was feeling better- wait, hold on. Nope. That's Quinn.
Ace blinked in surprise, and his grin turned genuine.
"Choose your words wisely. That's my Captain you're speaking to."
It was an appalling sight.
If only for how out of place it felt.
Ace would not usually call Quinn intimidating, but half sitting on one of the tables, having bypassed him without him noticing, the knife in hand and glaring so harshly at the man his knees were knocking, the older woman was downright scary. Especially to outsiders.
"Before your luck runs out, I would advise…" An eyebrow arched up delicately. "That you take the words I offered you earlier and-" She pressed the blade closer to his throat. Not quite enough to break skin but enough to leave a mark and turn the surrounding area pale. "Fuck. Off." A sadistic smile curdled across her face.
Ace and Kat felt a shiver run up their spines.
Even if they knew how much of a dork she really was, they had to give it to her. Props.
That seemed to be the final straw.
And there was a mad dash to the door.
"Hm." Quinn hummed, rolling the knife between her fingers, observing who remained. Trying to play off the way her shoulders slumped in relief that the overconfident display had paid off, though she was sure Ace noticed. "I guess she was telling the truth when she said there were others."
It was them. Cona. Salt, oddly enough. The bartender and a gaggle of women holding their heads high behind her.
Quinn was the only thing separating them from Cona.
Great. Wonderful. This is exactly what she'd thought she'd be doing tonight.
She buried the knife into the table. Internally wincing at the intentional property damage. Ugh, she was not paying for that.
"No one moves past me until we get answers, got it?"
She received sneers in response but it seemed to work, so she nodded back to Ace.
"Your turn, Captain."
It felt weirder then she would admit referring to him that way. But it also felt right, so she didn't let it bother her.
Ace grinned beneath the shade of his hat.
"She said she could explain. We figured we'd hear it from all of you at once," he looked up, grey eyes furious, "So let's hear why you wanted my navigator dead."
.
.
.
So, yeah. Ace had a slight dissociation episode there. You cannot tell me that he does not have aftereffects from the Grey Terminal Fire. That's such a fucked up moment in his life. One does not simply… get over something like that and Ace is very, very, very much not over it. Also, the bear incident with Luffy. Which, in conjunction, does not make for a good combination.
Luckily Quinn was there to act like everything was normal and get things back on track. Because everyone knows! Ignoring your problems will help them get better. (/sarcasm). Though, it does help you cope.
That said, can you see the theme of the crew I have starting to get going? The whole 'its fine if you hate me I just hope you have a better reason than something out of my control' that fits oh-so-perfectly with Ace and his issues with the world. Aw. Poor kids. And Quinn is starting to try and pull her own weight! Score! Let's hope it doesn't blow up in her face!
This part of the story is something I've been looking forward to for a long time and I'm so happy to finally be writing it officially. I actually have a lot of scenes pre-written, though they're disconnected and I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to follow the original path I had set out. (Fun Fact: when I started planning this Ace didn't have his fruit yet and I had to completely rehaul most of it. Also, I didn't have a good enough grasp on Kat yet, either.) I don't know if you can tell but I was really looking forward to this chapter. I actually originally wrote it a good… almost two years ago and managed to keep small bits here and there of the original script. It really helped speed things up. But yeah, that's why this is coming out so quick.
Also, it's Ace's Birthday! So that also suits it.
