Nami wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep, but when she'd woken up, she was alone in Kid's bed. "Hmmm," she mused to herself. She felt like she hadn't wanted to wake up, but she also wasn't comfortable enough with Captain Eustass Kid to feel safe. She still had an uneasiness that made her want to bolt out of bed and explore her surroundings. The spot in the bed next to her looked undisturbed, like Kid hadn't slept next to her.. Or maybe he had but didn't sleep for long? Or maybe she'd overslept? Damn it, what time was it? What day was it? Nami rubbed her eyes, hating that she had only questions and no answers. How long had she been here now? Will she be here forever? No, of course not, Luffy will come for her, always. She couldn't think like that, she had to remain positive. Her friends will come soon.
She wandered around the room, picking it apart like a detective looking for clues. She wanted so badly for her plan to work, for Eustass to let her go of his own accord. She didn't want to have to fight her way out of here. She didn't want her friends to pummel him into the ground. Maybe at first she had, but not anymore. If anyone was going to throw a punch at him, it would be her, and only her. When and why had those feelings towards him changed? She didn't know and didn't care to know either. She hated thinking that she was some kind of sad deranged Stalkholm syndrome case. She was too good for that right? Nami groaned, everything confused her. She was so tired of feeling like this. SO many mixed emotions. Scared, excited, thrilled, pleasured, wanting, lonely, bored.
She walked into the bathroom and pulled her fingers through her messy hair, turning this way and that way, admiring her reflection. Her collar gleaming, reflecting the light. She leaned into the mirror above the sink, she must have not been seeing clearly. She put her weight against the counter to get a better look at her collar. It was different. Really different. She put a hand to it, it was still metal, but not at all clunky. It was so delicate and it beamed back at her. The holographic orange coloration made it seem like it was covered in diamonds as she rocked back and forth, forcing the color to dance in the light. She practically drooled in excitement, it looked so expensive! Now she wanted to find Eustass for an entirely new reason. She had batted her eyes, and he had bent the knee to her will. This was thrilling! Nami's eyes lit up in wicked excitement. Maybe he'd make her matching earrings too, she snickered.
She raced out the door, not caring what she was or wasn't wearing. She'd check the workshop first, and sure enough he was there, sleeping on the couch. Had he slept there all night? WHy hadn't he come to bed with her? She patted over to him on light bare feet, not wanting to wake him yet. It was then that she realized she was completely naked. She seemed to be naked a lot lately. She sat down carefully on his stomach, fully expecting him to wake up all cranky and throw her off. When he didn't wake, she smirked and snuggled herself down under his arm, between his chest and the couch. The uneasiness from earlier melted away, she felt strangely safe here under his arm. She inhaled his scent. He didn't smell clean but he didn't smell bad either. It was a smell she'd become familiar with. She liked it. He smelled like the rain.
Then he rolled over and brought her with him. She fought against his weight, her voice muffled against his chest. She squirmed and wiggled until she gave in and bit him hard on the peck. Eustass scrunched up his nose and wailed, "Ow!" He sat up on the couch and glared at Nami, then at the bite mark on his chest. "Did you just bite me awake?" He looked at her in disbelief.
"NO! Of course not! I was cuddling up to you and you rolled over and tried to squish me to death you monster!" She yelled.
"Why would you do that!" He grimaced.
"Because I wanted to!" She huffed.
Kid rubbed the back of his neck nervously at the thought of Nami wanting to cuddle him. He looked her up and down, "Naked?" He asked and Nami blushed. He reached a hand out to grab her breast and she swatted it away. Kid's mouth dropped open, "Did you just-"
Nami cut him off, "That will cost you!"
"T-that will.. WHAT?!" He growled
"That's right! It's 100 Berries to grab my breast!" Nami said slyly.
Oh, if Kid's hair could have caught fire from his rage, it would have, "You're just NOW charging me for touching you?!"
Nami smirked playfully, "Actually, I'm glad you mentioned that, I've been tallying up your costs all along. It's quite a lot of money you owe me now. You might as well turn yourself into the Navy and claim your own bounty to pay off your debt to me." She cooed sarcastically.
"You brat!" He yelled, glaring at her.
"I'm verrrry expensive," she purred, "pay up!"
"Am I being punished for something!?" Kid looked at his feet, "You don't like the necklace?"
Nami blushed, "I can't believe you would do something so nice for me."
He looked back up at her, an eyebrow raised, "You're punishing me for being nice to you?" He rubbed his eyes, he couldn't believe this girl. What time was it? It was too early for this. He'd spent all night working on that collar. "I didn't want to," he grumbled.
Nami noticed how tired he looked, "You didn't want to be nice to me? Then why do it!"
"I'm tired, I meant it wasn't important to me."
Nami raised an eyebrow, "How is that any better?"
"Are the only things you know how to do… stirring up trouble and arguing? What I'm trying to say is, it was important to you, so I did it, even though I didn't want to! You stupid brat!" He crossed his arms.
Nami blushed, he was being so cute! She wanted to squeeze him to death over it but also didn't want to give up the satisfaction of a good argument. Because he was right, she did like mischief and arguing. It was delightful, and he was particularly fun to argue with. Then she looked around the room, there was a pile of half made necklaces on the floor and scratch paper spread across the desk with various design concepts. Nami grinned from ear to ear. He really had tried for her. Because it was important to her. She jumped up into his arms, pressing herself against his bare chest. "I love it," she whispered into his ear.
Kid blushed, "Great. Let's go eat. Unless the Princess wants a matching crown."
Nami's eyes lit up, "Really!" She beamed.
"NO!" He said throwing her off and onto the couch.
Nami giggled. She realized that when he called her 'Princess' it wasn't necessarily a term of endearment. The way he said it almost always sounded like an insult. Like he'd pegged her as a scheming beauty with a plot to tame a beast and rescue herself. Which wasn't entirely wrong. Even though he flung around the word 'Princess' like it was meant to hurt her feelings, she enjoyed it. Maybe it was because she really loved getting under his skin. He was ten times hotter when he was fuming. Or maybe she could detect the subtle undertones of the word that hinted at a shared inside joke, a growing bond between them. Either way, it didn't bother her, not one bit.
Nami followed Kid into the kitchen where he made her a plate of, you guessed it, scrambled eggs and a cup of hot tea.
"Do you only know how to make scrambled eggs?" She whined. Kid blushed like he'd hoped she wouldn't find out and Nami nodded, getting all of the answer she needed. "You know," she said with a mouthful of egg, "when Luffy gets here, and he will, you're dead."
"Is that so?" He mused.
"Yes. It's a fact. But it doesn't have to be that way."
"No?" He said, playing along.
"No. You could let me go. We could play this off as a rescue mission. I won't tell anyone what really happened here. I promise."
"You think your promise is worth anything here?" He smirked.
"I mean it!" Nami's brow furrowed, "The Straw Hats will come!"
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you should know!"
"Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I don't already know?" He shrugged.
"No… I don't think-"
Kid cut her off, "Then why are you telling me this?"
Nami sighed, "Because I care about you."
"Don't lie to me," Kid huffed,
"I'm not!" Nami defended herself.
"Don't lie to yourself."
"I want to know what your plan is," Nami admitted.
"Ah!" Kid nodded, "there it is. You want to know my plan for you."
"I care!" she yelled.
"About yourself!" He added.
Nami started getting frustrated. "What's so wrong about that? What's so wrong about caring about myself? Looking out for myself? I've had to do that my whole life!"
"Nothing. But I'm sick of your brand of manipulation. Stop pretending that anything you do here is for anyone other than yourself."
"Oh, but YOUR brand of manipulation is just fine?" She spat back.
"Its MY hideout," he shrugged.
"So then tell me what happens next. Now that we've established that you're not stupid," Nami made a face at him.
"You don't need to worry about that."
"It involved me, so it seems like I do."
"There will be nothing to worry about." He said again firmly, with a wild and unsettling look in his eye that made Nami feel afraid.
