Moments Like These
You Can't Lie To Me
He'd been expecting his crew's reaction. He'd expected the other crew's reaction. He had not been expecting her reaction.
"You idiot!" She shrieked, unmercilessly smacking him in the back of the head with her Clima Tact.
He glared at her, though it lacked its usual potency. As much as he didn't want to admit it, her anger was justified, but justified or not, he was not appreciating the physical abuse he'd sustained during her interrogation. She was furious, that much was told by the way her face twisted and her eyes darkened, but the extent of her anger was only confirmed by Chopper, who, instead of intervening as he normally would, sat in his chair, glancing uneasily at him.
"What the hell were you doing?! Do you have any idea how long it took me to calm your crew down, and then you come back missing an arm!"
He rolled his eyes. "At least I came back alive."
"Barely!" Her breathing was erratic and her hand shaking as she shifted her Clima Tact again. He couldn't help but wince, expecting her to hit him with it again. "You crew hasn't slept in days. They blame themselves to letting you do this by yourself! I should have just left the ship with Sanji and come back there myself!"
He scoffed. "And what exactly would you have done?"
"Knocked some sense into you," she snapped, waving her Clima Tact threateningly.
"You're going to give me a concussion at this rate," he said hotly. "Will you put that thing down?"
She stared at him for a moment, her expression only darkening. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chopper scramble for the door.
"You'll be lucky if you're conscious by the time I leave," Nami hissed. "Do you have any idea how worried we were?! I trusted you to be the one who didn't just run off and do whatever, but maybe I shouldn't have. You're just as bad as Luffy!"
He was not thrilled about the comparison. His eye twitched in response, but before he could say anything, she pushed on. "Do you know how hard it was to convince them that you were going to be fine, and you show up missing an arm and half dead? Your crew trusted us with you, they trusted you and you nearly died."
He was losing his patience. He was well aware how much he'd worried them; his condition upon returning only proved why he'd made the decision to keep them away. As it was, he was already feeling guiltyenough for endangering them as it was; he did not need her rubbing it in his face. "You don't think I don't know that?"
"Obviously you don't!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
With a heavy sigh, she plopped down on the edge of the bed and pushed a hand through her disheveled hair. "You know they blame themselves, right? They kept saying that they shouldn't have let you go, or at least let you go alone."
He heaved a sigh. She was right, much to his dismay.
It wasn't just his crew worrying, he could discern that much from the bags beneath her eyes and sudden bout of exhaustion that seemed to have taken her at that moment. It was even more evident when she sighed again and leaned forward, massaging her temple with the tips of her fingers. He could read between the lines; while she kept saying 'your crew', he knew she truly meant 'your crew and I'.
The wave of guilt that took him at that moment left a disgusting taste in his mouth. He flopped back onto the bed, closing his eyes as he let out a defeated sigh. As much as he wanted to fight her on the matter, he knew it was useless - she'd have a retort for every excuse he couldmanage. His hand reached out, his fingers brushing against the small of her back. "Sorry."
She stiffened, and for a moment he thought she was going to turn on him, but she relaxed a few seconds later, and he couldn't help but smirk.
Without warning, his hand tangled in her hair and pulled her back so that she was laying across him, her head resting between his thigh and the wall next to the bed. She glared dangerously at him, but he brushed it off. "So how about you be honest with me, Nami-ya? Was my crew really that worried, or were you shoving your own feelings onto them in an attempt to hide them from me?"
Her glare darkened as she swatted his hand away and sat up. She didn't look at him, though the downward turn of her lips told him he hit a mark somewhere.
"Maybe some of it," she said at length. Then her gaze was fiery again as she turned to him, her brows drawing low over her eyes. "But don't think I was that worried about an idiot like you."
Law raised a brow at that, his smirk only broadening as he sat up again. "You words betray your actions. If you truly weren't as worried as you're saying you were, you wouldn't be here right now."
"Just what are you implying?"
He chuckled and leaned forward, crossing his legs to allow his elbows to rest on his knees. "You're lying to me, Nami-ya."
She scoffed, tossing her head in a way that made her coppery tresses catch the light. They almost seemed to burn in a way, vibrant and fiery beneath the sun's rays; it seemed almost ethereal in a way. Once they settled, they cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall of fire. "You were the one who lied to me Tora-o, remember?"
"It wasn't a lie, it was misjudgment," he said dismissively, "and stop changing the subject."
She sent him a heated look. "What reason could I possibly possess for lying to you?"
A low hum escaped his throat as he leaned even closer to her. His smile was lazy, though there was a teasing glint in his eyes. "Maybe you don't like the idea of people knowing you were worried about me? Or maybe you're embarrassed because I know you were worrying over me."
Nami rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Some confidence you have. Perhaps you're reading too much into this? Or are you simply stating what you want to hear?"
He knew a challenge when he heard one, and she certainly was challenging him right now. He knew her game too well to let her get the upper hand, however. She was purposely trying to make him second guess his suspicions.
"Fine. Then I suppose if I were to do something else stupid…"
He let his words trail off as he slipped from the bed and started for the door with the most normal gait he could muster. As soon as he was out the door, he heard her hurried steps as she rushed to the door. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Something stupid," he responded breezily as he hopped onto the ship's railing with as much grace as he could with his injuries. There was at least twenty feet between him and the ocean below, if not more.
"Law." Her tone was dangerous, and he couldn't help but turn towards her, his smirk only widening at the glare she was giving him. "Don't you dare."
"Worried, Nami-ya?"
She reacted just as he suspected - with a roll of her eyes and a scoff. "As if."
"In that case…"
Without much preamble, he stepped off the railing. He could only chuckle as the air whipped past him. Just feet before he hit the water, he activated his room, switching himself with an empty keg aboard the Sunny. When he spotted Nami, she was leaning over the railing, her brows drawn low and her mouth agape in shock. Just as she lifted her leg like she was going to climb onto the railing herself, he leaned against the wooden guard, his arms crossed over his chest and his smile lazy. "Still want to claim you weren't worried?"
She rounded on him, not even hesitating as she swung hand towards his face, but he caught her wrist just before she could make contact. She was seething, her face flushed and her expression twisted with fury.
"You stupid, arrogant, self centered, son of a bitch!" She hissed as she swung with her other hand, only to have it be caught as well.
His look was thoughtful as he regarded her. "Maybe next time you should think before you try to lie to me."
"That wasn't funny!" She screeched. "If you had fallen in the water, you could have drowned."
He dragged her closer to him, stilling her arms when she made another attempt to hit him. His grin widened as realization dawned on her face.
"I don't think it was arrogance or desire fulling my suspicions, Nami-ya."
She glared at him. "You asshole."
Law snorted in response. "Just admit you were worried already."
Nami bit into her lower lip. She was not happy about the fact that he'd managed to beat her like that, nor the fact that he was embarrassing her like that in front of not only her crew, but his crew as well, how naturally gathered around the second he stepped out of the infirmary.
"I should charge you for this," she hissed, "for making me worry, and embarrassing me."
He shrugged. "You know your 'debts' are meaningless to me."
She glared at him for a few more minutes, her eyes never losing that fiery look. If he was being honest with himself, he'd have to admit it was when she looked most attractive - even when that look was aimed at him. The corner of his lips twitched then.
Without warning or preamble, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers for a fraction of a second. She stiffened, no doubt caught off guard by the sudden action. "You're cute when you worry," he said.
By the time she regained her bearings, he was running towards the back of the ship in a desperate attempt to escape her fury.
"Trafalgar Law!" She shrieked as she took off after him, leaving the two crews to stare in confusion at the event they'd just witnessed.
He knew he was going to be stuck in Chopper's infirmary for a few more days, but he was worth it.