Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece
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Why the hell had he offered her that? The question swirled through his mind and he couldn't think of an answer. His room was his quiet place that only Bepo dared to bother him unless it was an emergency or he asked someone to come to him. It was one of the few places on the sub that he could be truly alone for however many hours he wished. So why? He was snapped out of his thoughts as Ariun said, "No."
"No?" He was having trouble processing what she had just said.
"This maybe a quiet place, but it's your quiet place," Ariun smiled softly and shook her head at him, "You probably didn't even mean to give me the opportunity," He was surprised that she had come to that realization, "I would only be intruding," She turned and began walking towards the door, "I don't mind those around me being loud as it will keep me from falling asleep,"
He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Ariun opened the door and left without another word. He watched as it swung closed and stared at it for a few moments before sighing. He leaned back against his seat and muttered, "Why the hell did I offer her that?"
He received no answer and to be honest he wasn't expecting one.
As I walked along the corridor towards the stairs, I couldn't stop myself from wondering why Law had offered me that. I could tell from the fact only his scent rested within the room that he was one of the few to ever really spend time in it. It was quite obvious to me that it was his safe haven from dealing with the crew if he got too irritated with them or wished to sleep. It made no sense to me that Law would be willing to let me spend time in his room even if the quiet would be nice for drawing. I shook my head as I reached my room and went inside. It was best to ignore it just like that kiss back at the hotel. It means nothing.
I leaned against Maki as he put things in a first aid kit. Yamire was a quiet man and didn't speak much which didn't both me too much. The mechanics working on the boilers however were loud. I was able to ignore most of it as I focused on the drawing I was making and the wonderful amount of heat the boilers created. It was due to this that I didn't notice Shachi walking up and standing over me until he asked, "Why are you drawing Captain?"
I almost jumped and it was by sheer luck that my drawing utensil wasn't touching the paper. I turned my head to glare at Shachi as Maki and Yamire stopped working, "Shachi don't do that! I could have ruined my drawing."
Shachi offered me a sheepish smile, "Sorry," He then looked at my half finished drawing, "Why are you drawing Captain?"
"Because I haven't drawn him yet," I looked at the half-finished drawing, "I want to add his sketch to my collection,"
"Why?" Shachi and Yamire looked at me in confusion while Maki snickered.
"Because I've drawn Penguin, Bepo, Buck, Maki, Kuro, and you already," I wondered what their problem was, "I have drawn Law yet, so I'm add him to my collection now," I frowned at them, "What's with those looks?"
They were staring at me with wide eyed bewilderment. Maki let out a soft laugh drawing my attention to him. He shook his head, "Storm they still don't know your habits just yet," He turned to the two looking at us, "Storm draws the people she likes or finds interesting. It makes it both easier for her to remember who's name belongs to what face. She'll most likely have the whole crew in her sketchbook at some point," He smirked at me as I pouted at him, "Plus, she's forgetful, so it'll be easier for her to remember things," Maki frowned slightly before asking, "Are you keeping a written log of the islands we go to?"
"And a sketched one," I replied with a slight smile, "I want to cover all the bases I can," Then I remembered something, "Did you happen to get the plants I requested?"
"Yup and I have them all prepped, so you can take them at anytime," I nodded with a slight smile.
"Plants?" Shachi looked at me with confusion, "Why'd you need plants?"
"To create salves and stuff," I explained while turning my attention back to my sketchbook, "I'm mostly creating this stuff as a backup incase we run out of stuff in the infirmary," I covered my mouth as I yawned, "Just incase,"
When Law left his room for lunch, he was surprised to see Ariun and Maki sitting with Yamire. The twins were sitting with them as well and five seemed quite content. As he sat down, he commented, "They seem to be getting along fairly well."
"Ariun came down and spent some time with Maki," Kuro explained turning his head slightly to look at the duo.
"The twins came down to check the voice pipes and ended up talking to Ariun since they saw her drawing," Shachi added with a slight grin.
Law remembered that the duo had done most of the crews tattoos. They weren't that bad, but they should stick to clothing. He shook his head lightly as Penguin muttered, "Let's hope they don't get Ariun to help them with their pranks."
"So you two are in charge of keep things clean?" I asked Chad and Brad as I took a bite of whatever pasta dish this was.
"Yup," Chad nodded his head, "We're mostly in charge of the laundry and keeping the crews clothes in good condition,"
I frowned slightly at that since that meant these two were the ones keeping my clothes clean as well. Nothing had gone missing yet, but still it prompted me to ask, "My clothes haven't caused you any problem right?"
"Nope," Brad assured me with a smile, "While you and Captain have more clothing going into the wash than most of us, your clothes are a lot easier to clean since the materials aren't as special as our boiler suits,"
"Special?" Chad grinned.
"Yup these suits of ours are made of a special material to keep heat in when we're in a cold environment and keep heat out if we're in a hot environment," Chad explained while gesturing at Bepo, "Bepo's suit is most suited to keeping the heat out, but sometimes the material our suits are made of isn't enough,"
I recalled the times the sub had surfaced because it had gotten too hot for the mink, "Do the suits do anything else?"
"They're fire resistant, water resistant on the outside, very durable, and easy to maneuver in," Brad looked at my clothes, "Your clothes on the other hand are made to allow easy movement and let you transform without trouble,"
"And stain resistant," I added sheepishly as Maki laughed, "Oi! It's not that funny,"
"I think it is," Maki grinned at me before informing our clueless crewmates, "Storm's clothes are special made to keep from staining and have been since she was 14," I blushed slightly and tried to focus on my food while ignoring the looks I was being given, "Storm used to get covered in all manner of dirt, grime, and various other things stained. Storm's boss got so tired of her walking into work with stain covered shirts that he forced her to buy stain resistant clothes,"
"I'm not that bad anymore," I mutter softly.
"Maybe not, but still," Maki grinned at me.
"Asshole," I grumble and focus on my food.
I laid down on my stomach and stared at the book on my bed. It was a book about creating various salves. I ran my fingers over the handwritten words and the aged pages. I heard a knock on my door and called out, "Come in."
Shachi, Penguin, Buck, and Bepo walked in as I gently closed the book. Bepo saw it and asked, "Where'd you get that?"
"One of my teachers gave it to me before she passed," I informed the bear, "Now," I looked at the group of four as a whole, "The reason I wanted to see you guys is because it's time you learned about my past,"
"Shouldn't you tell the whole crew and Captain?" Bepo asked with a frown.
"Law already knows and while I'm starting to get to know everyone else, I'm not ready to tell them just yet," They nodded in understanding, "The only thing I ask for other than your silence on my past is that you do not speak while I tell my story," I looked into each of their eyes to show them how serious I was, "My past is a touchy subject due to what happened to me and it takes a lot out of me to speak about it,"
"We'll try," Shachi promised and I offered him a weak smile.
"That's all I can ask..." I trailed off before taking a deep breath, "When I was 5 years old..."
Law was walking towards the stairs after checking on those still working below when he heard, "Ari-chan! Seriously?"
"Yeah," He paused before moving towards Ariun's door and found it opened a little, "The leader of my caretakers was torn between being proud and pissed while everyone else laughed. I'm pretty sure Kuro has the scar somewhere,"
"Man even with all that sucky shit going on with you, you have some real good memories," He heard Penguin comment.
He heard shuffling, "Well Ari-chan much as we would love to stay, we all should be heading to our rooms."
He moved towards the stairwell and watched as four people left Ariun's room. Shachi, Penguin, Buck, and Bepo filed out of her room. He watched as they walked down the hall towards their rooms and made his way towards Ariun's open doorway. He looked inside to see her sitting with one of those sketchbooks she had in her lap. She was smiling softly and spoke before he could do anything, "I told those four about my past."
"I had come to that conclusion," He leaned against the doorframe, "Why did you tell them?"
"I thought it would be best and Penguin had asked," She shrugged slightly before looking up from her sketchbook, "Just so you know, I added you to my sketchbook,"
She held out the sketchbook and he walked inside. Taking it, he thumbed through the pages while taking a few seconds to look at each drawing. They were of the sub, the previous island they had visited, the four crewmates she had in her room, Maki, Kuro, and a few random drawings. When he reached her drawing of him, he found himself surprised. It was of him sitting in a bar of some type with a glass of alcohol in hand. He was wearing the expression he usually did when watching the crew drink. It was his eyes that took his attention. Something about them screamed pride and amusement. He looked at Ariun, "How did you do that-"
"Your eyes?" She cut him off gaining a nod with a glare, "I draw what I see and your eyes are interesting,"
"How are they interesting?" He questioned her with a slight frown.
She seemed surprised by the question before smiling, "While you have a good poker face, I've noticed that your eyes give away what you're feeling," He felt strangely torn between feeling apprehensive and happy with the happy part confusing him greatly, "I will admit the darkness in your eyes often overshadows everything else, but it's all still there," Confusion rose inside of him at the words she used, "All in all, your eyes are interesting."
"What do you mean by darkness?" Her head tilted to the side.
"You don't know?" She shook her head lightly, "No wait most people wouldn't notice it," He felt slightly irritated that she wasn't immediatly answering his question, "The darkness I'm talking about is hard to explain," Her nose scrunched up slightly, "It's like a whole bunch of negative emotions swirled together and manifesting as a cloud of darkness that rests in your eyes," She ran a hand through her hair, "The darkness settles there if you have a bad past and hold great anger towards someone,"
She fell quiet and bit her lip while looking faintly frustrated. He stared at her for a few moments as he tried to process what she had said.
God damn it's hard to explain this kind of shit. I froze as I felt Law's hand on my lip and pulling it from between my teeth. I looked at him in surprise and surprise showed in his own eyes even as he muttered, "Don't bit your lip. You'll end up biting through it if you don't."
I tried to figure out what to say or do in response, but all I could do was nod. He held out my sketchbook to me and I took it before placing it next to me. Just as I turned back to say something to him, the sub jerked. I was suddenly being crushed under a really warm and heavy body. My attention was on the fact that Law's mouth was on mine.
End