Pocky

"Uh." Neo tilted her head as she looked at the object in-between her fingers. It was a thin, golden brown stick dipped in a pink icing that covered over half of it. She rolled it and blinked a couple times. "What is this again?"

"Pocky," Penguin answered. He, Shachi, Bepo and Neo were sitting around the table in the rec. room while Jean Bart was sitting on the floor with his arms and legs crossed and his eyes closed in meditation. They had recently returned from shopping and were relaxing while they waited for the rest of the crew to return to the sub. "That particular one is strawberry flavored. It's a lot less sweet than the chocolate ones. I figured you'd like it best."

"I see." Neo rolled the stick again.

"Hey, Neo, is the captain coming yet?" Shachi asked. He casually hung his arm over the back of his chair.

"Yeah. He's about to enter the sub." Neo nodded. She kept her eyes locked on the interesting thing in her fingers so she didn't see the mischievous grins passing between her crew. "Why?"

"No special reason, but this pocky is actually part of a game," Shachi said.

"A game?" Neo looked up at him at that point. "What kind of game?"

"You take the pocky and put one end in-between your teeth and the captain takes the other end in-between his teeth. Then when someone says 'Go' you both start eating the pocky and see who gets to the middle first," Shachi explained.

"Really?" Neo asked, innocently.

"Really!" Penguin, Shachi and Bepo said while nodding.

Jean Bart hummed. He peaked at his younger companions before closing his eye again. No way he was taking part in this.

"Would you like to play it?" Shachi asked.

"Sure." Neo nodded. "Who's going to play with me? Penguin?"

"No, none of us," Penguin said.

"Why not?" Neo asked, confused. She tilted her head and frowned. "You always play with me."

"I know, little sister," Penguin said. He patted her on her head. "But this is a game you should play with the captain."

"Really?" Neo asked.

"Really!" Penguin said.

"He'll really love it if you play this game with him," Shachi added. "Is he here yet?"

"Yeah. He's just outside the door," Neo replied. All but for Jean Bart, looked up when their captain entered into the room.

Law walked over to Neo immediately. He kissed her hair before casting his eyes around his crew. He asked, "What's going on?"

"Nothing much." Shachi shrugged.

"We were just talking about games with Neo," Penguin said.

Law looked at the pocky in his love's fingers then back at his crew. He lifted an eyebrow at them. Despite knowing what game they were talking about, he still asked, "What games were you talking about with her? I hope they are appropriate."

"Of course, Captain!" Shachi and Penguin screamed. "You know we won't even talk to her about inappropriate stuff!"

"We were just explaining to her about the game that people play using Pocky," Bepo said. "She would like to give it a try."

"I see," Law said.

"Will you play with me, Law?" Neo asked.

When he turned to her, he melted at the innocence in her eyes. His chest tightened and his heart fluttered.

"Please?" Neo pleaded. She, unknowingly, batted her eyelashes at him.

Law swallowed when he heard his crew snicker. He sighed. "Of course I'll play with you."

"Thank you, Law!" Neo squealed with delight. She jumped to her feet.

"All right, players!" Penguin called out like he was an announcer. "Please, place the ends of the Pocky in-between your teeth!"

Neo nodded. She placed the end of the Pocky between her teeth and waited for Law to do the same. Law leaned down and took his end of the stick in his mouth. They smiled and waited for the word. Penguin then cried, "GO!"

Neo and Law started chewing on the stick. Law watched with amusement as she watched the stick disappear before them. When they were about an inch apart from each other, a spark of realization entered into Neo's eyes. She looked up at him just before they reached the center of the stick. His arm lips pressed against hers. Her face flushed red and her body tensed up. Somehow, she was able to swallow her Pocky without choking on it.

The three goofballs cheered.

Law pulled away from her at that point. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest to help hide her until she came back to reality. He shot his crew a disapproving, yet grateful glare.

"Sorry," They mumbled with huge grins. "We couldn't help it."

"For the record," Jean Bart said. "I had absolutely nothing to do with this."

"She's so cute," Shachi said. He moved closer to Neo and inspected her hidden face as best he could. "If she has this kind of reaction just to the Pocky game, I wonder what kind of reaction she'll have to strawberries and chocolate."

"You idiot!" Penguin growled. He slammed his fist down onto his friend's head. "Don't you dare even think about that! She's far too young!"

"I was just wondering! It's not like I'm going to go out and buy some for them!" Shachi replied. "I know she is not ready for that kind of thing!"

Law sighed. He pitched the bridge of his nose, grateful that Neo wasn't coherent enough to hear this conversation. He froze when he felt a tug on his hoodie. Regretting it already, he glanced down to see Neo had extracted herself from his chest. He swallowed when she peered up at him with innocent curiosity shining in her eyes. From the corner of his own eyes, he could see Shachi quickly, and quietly, tiptoeing out of the rec. room.

"Law?" She asked. He swallowed again, hard. "Can we play the game that Shachi just spoke about? The one with chocolate and strawberries?"

…

Author's Notes: It should be obvious that these two take place before they get married.