I do not own anything besides these words and the cover art.
Nami managed to get Zoro's unconscious body into her car with the help of the rueful bartender, but from the car and up two flights of stairs to her apartment was another issue entirely.
She looked at his giant frame, as he snored away in her passenger seat. Sure, she could have slapped him. Again. However, no matter how many hits to the head he took from the bar to the car, Zoro did not wake. He even appeared to be quite content when she reached over him to buckle his seat belt as she would for a child.
Nami was deciding to let him sleep in the car when a musical whistle brought her out of her thoughts.
"Ah, Miss Nami. Keeping late hours as usual." Brook tilted his hat to her as he leaned on his cane. He looked over the rim of his glasses at the body in her car.
"Oh, my. Hard night?" He chuckled as he tried to understand how a man many years younger than him seemed to be dead.
"He couldn't hold his liquor."
"Yohoho! Neither can I, but I'm just a bag of bones. Your man seems quite fitter and bigger than me."
Nami sighed. "Yeah…he…continues to surprise me."
Brook pushed his glasses back up and tapped his cane.
"Alright, let's get this big boy to your room, hmm?"
Nami smiled at his giving nature. Yes, the tall man was as thin as a skeleton, had a desire for young women's undergarments, and wore sunglasses in the middle of the night, but when he made music so beautifully, Nami knew in her heart that he was a good. At least better than she was.
"Thanks, Brook. I owe you."
Brook beamed. "Can I have your-"
As Nami reached for Zoro's head, she spat, "Say panties and I will kill you right here and now."
Brook shrugged, "Ah, understood. I suppose those are for this gentleman's pleasure."
Nami nearly dropped Zoro on the cement but held on.
"What? No!"
"So, he's not your partner?"
Nami mumbled as they struggled to the door.
"Yes. He is…business partner. But nothing more."
"Are you still with that other gentleman then?"
Nami fumed, "I'm not with Arl-"
But she stopped herself. Calmly, she continued.
"Listen, thanks for helping and watching out for me, but I don't need it. Who I have business with is my business."
Brook watched her lift Zoro's head closer to her chin, and Brook bit his tongue of any "romantic" insinuations.
"My apologies, Miss Nami. I only know what I hear and see. I do not try to do these things, but the walls are only so thick…and your crying is very distinct."
Nami froze and her first instinct was to hurt Brook. To let go of Zoro and watch them both tumble down the stairs, but as the thought washed over her, she shivered at her cruel and cold mindset. It made her sick.
"Miss Nami, are you alright?"
Nami gave Brook a deathly glare, and Brook was taken aback. He began his apologies, but Nami simply lifted Zoro's body higher and moved faster up the stairs.
When they finally made it to the third floor, she shoved her keys quickly into the lock and pulled Zoro's body onto herself. Brook attempted to help but Nami moved forcefully and quickly.
Before Brook could say his goodbyes, Nami had slammed the door in his face and he sighed.
Nami crumpled to the floor immediately, Zoro's weight crushed her finally as her shoulders hunched forward and she heaved a wet, heavy cry. She gripped her hands over her mouth to muffle the sob, but in the silence of her empty room, it resounded.
She finally heard Brook's footsteps retreat to his apartment, and Zoro's head fell heavily on her lap. As he laid there and his warm breath heated her bare thighs and knees, she grew warm. Though it was uncomfortable, she leaned down and hugged what she could of the large man as she wished his warmth to reach into the darkest and coldest parts of her.
The clock chimed loudly in the silence, and Nami looked up at the darkness. She figured she could leave the idiot at her doorstep, but Nami could not help but think better of her drunken fool. Therefore, she dragged his body into the living room, and, after several attempts, had him on the couch. She did not know if it was comfortable, but Zoro seemed like the kind of man who could fall asleep anywhere.
Nami threw a blanket over him and tucked a pillow underneath his head. She watched him sleep peacefully and had confirmed with Perona that he was not near death nor injured in any way. However, Perona seemed both disappointed and surprised that Zoro only got drunk, sang a bad cover, and fell asleep.
Nami sat on the floor next to him as per Perona's instructions. Though he was in no real danger, Perona said he would wake highly disoriented and perhaps sick. Nami preferred her place vomit-free if all she had to do was watch a man sleep.
She looked at his jawline, his slightly open lips. His hair looked tousled and she smoothed it down with her fingers. She felt the coolness of his gold earrings. Not many men could pull off one earring, let alone three, but Nami liked them. She liked hearing them jingle when he moved, liked catching the glint of it in the corner of her eye.
She leaned in and whispered, "I won't tell you this. But you're my type. Strong…stupid…funny stupid not obnoxious stupid. Though you can be annoying. Sergeant Asshat."
She chuckled and traced her fingertips across his various features. Though she was the only conscious one in the room, it felt like she was revealing her secrets and continued to whisper.
"I'm definitely going to take you karaoking sometime…"
The clock chimed again and told Nami it had been nearly an hour since she started playing with his hair. It felt therapeutic as if he was a service animal that helped with her stress. She chuckled then frowned.
"You…you asked me what I was afraid of? Well. Myself. It's been a long time coming…a long time faking…it's hard to say that you're misunderstood when no one knows the real you."
Nami balled her hand into a fist and pressed it into his chest, as it rose softly and slowly with his steady breathing.
"So, Zoro…can you save me? From this nothing I've become? It's…it's just something that I've done. And I never meant to cause you worry, not that you do. But…please don't blame me for not trusting you. For drugging you. I just…never meant to show you my mistakes, you know? You wouldn't like me if you knew me. Really."
His lips seemed to move as if to respond, and Nami feared she had been found out. That all her quiet rumblings were heard by the one man she cared not to reveal her true self to.
Zoro whispered something and Nami put her ear right by his lips, though her arms were ready to choke him out if he meant to tease her. However, she grew confused as a tear rolled out from the corner of his eye.
His mumbles grew louder, "Luffy. Luffy. Luffy, I'm sorry."
His face contoured into pain and Nami grew worried.
"Zoro…Zoro, wake up!"
She shook him but instead of waking, he screamed, "You murdered him!"
His grip on her throat was strong and Nami tried her hardest to claw at his forearm but her nails only pulled at his sleeve.
"Zoro…" she pleaded between gasps, "please let go. It's Nami."
He would not budge as the tears tore down his face. "I'm sorry, Luffy…"
His arm released as she prepared to bite down. She collapsed by his side again, soft hands at her neck trying to lose the sensation of being held and choked.
For good measure, she slapped him hard across the face, but he did not even respond. His eyes were still shut, the tears now only faint lines across his face. Nami imagined beating him so that when he woke, he would have a mark to match her own. She rose and looked at herself in a nearby mirror. In the dark, there was nothing to see, but Nami felt the pressure against her throat still.
She mumbled a quick "asshole" before she made her way to her bedroom and locked the door behind her for good measure.
Music Inspiration/Theme: "Can You Save Me" (Flint Eastwood)