#5 Contagious

This was getting ridiculous, Nami thought to herself as she fired her used kleenex into the paper bin next to her desk and picked up a fresh one.
Somehow she had managed to catch a nasty cold which had turned her head into a microbiological war-zone: her eyes had watered and looked red and swollen, her nose had turned equally crimson due to the constant sneezing and her sinus cavities were painfully inflamed, sending a sudden pressure through her head whenever she bent over too far or moved just a little too fast. The worst of all, however, was the constant prickling in the front of her skull - sooner or later, she was sure, it would drive her crazy. No matter what she tried, nothing seemed to be able to take her mind off of it; the maps she had taken out and placed on the desktop in front of herself were hardly touched. The only real progress she seemed to be making was the emptying of the kleenex box.

With a loud groan, her head landed on top of the maps - face first - her hands holding it down in defeat.

She felt lousy.

After a moment, heavy footsteps from the outside announced a visitor. The door to her study was opened quietly just a little later - he never bothered to knock lately. Turning around tiredly she was not surprised to see the gruff face of the swordsman staring back at her.

"You look like shit." he stated plainly.

Nami, much too tired to jump at this chance of an argument, decided to settle for a deadly albeit weakish glare.

"What do you want?" Her voice, both hoarse and nasal, only underlined the general impression of her misery.

Zoro stepped up to the redhead and presented a mug with steaming hot contents and two small, white pills.

"Doctor's orders." he explained curtly while handing her the drink and medicine.

Not quite enthusiastically she grabbed the pills and quickly swallowed them - the disgusted expression on her face serving as an obvious comment on the taste - and rather more contently took the mug and allowed a few small sips to wash away the bitter aftertaste. Peppermint tea, she noticed, with a pleasant note of honey and various other herbs she failed to name - quite likely prepared by the ship's cook. She took a few more small sips and then carefully set the ceramic container down to let its contents cool down a little.

Shortly glancing over the desktop and then back to the navigator's exhausted face, the swordsman raised an eyebrow.

"I think you should get some rest."

Nami groaned again and rested her forehead in her hands, staring at the almost untouched paper in front of her.

"I can't", she said, almost dramatically, "I need some distraction. This stupid cold is driving me nuts!"

"If it's distraction you need..." the swordsman began - a devious grin appearing on his face unseen by the woman in front of him - and bent over her slumped form, his breath hot against the skin of her neck, "I know something that will definitely work."
No sooner had he finished the sentence that his lips were already kissing the tender flesh of her neck, slowly trailing their way around her chin and finally onto her deeply crimson lips.

She managed to pull away only sluggishly, leaving nothing more than a mere inch between their parted mouths.

"You know I'm contagious..." she murmured.

His trademark smug smirk made a swift reappearance.

"I never catch colds." he simply replied before reclaiming her lips and preparing to give her just the distraction she was longing for.

.....

"Achoooooooo!" rang the loud sneezing sound through the Sunny Go's galley, clearly audible even above the general mayhem of the Strawhat crew.

"Bless you." Came a sweet reply, followed by a giggle that had escaped suppression.

"Huh, I guess idiots DO catch colds after all", the cook commented with a grin, swiftly placing another mug of hot tea on the table in front Zoro.

Said greenhaired man only scowled and grabbed a kleenex from the box the navigator was ever so generously offering to him.

This was getting ridiculous.

a/n: Because I currently have a very nasty cold - and 'look like shit'. Felt I should share all that with you;)
Enjoy, and please review! (Many many thanks go to all my previous reviewers; I really appreciate all your feedback! Thank you so much!)