Kid still rested on his bed, he tried to distract himself from the thoughts of that purple haired bastard with Abby by working on his projects or reading the paper but it didn't do much good. Instead the project had a few extra dents in it and the paper was a crumbled mess… Damn it.
A knock caused him to growl, it had been hours since that man should have shipped out and he still wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone. "Go away."
The door opened regardless as he growled loudly at the intruders. "I said…" His words trailed off as he sat up, the snarling died down as his eyes got wide.
"Hey…" Abigail smiled a little as she balanced a tray of food and drink in her arms while trying to open his door.
"Wha… what are you still doing here?" he shot at her. "I told you to get off my ship!"
She kicked the door shut behind her and walked into the room, laying the tray on his work bench. "Actually, Kil-love told me that along with the fact that you're a shit liar." She took the bottle and poured the whiskey into the glass before turning back to him. "You missed dinner so eat." She leaned against the table and sipped on the drink.
"Tch." He spat as he stood up. "Why are you still here." He took the bottle and turned away, gulping the dark liquid down, he never thought that she would stay…
"Because I want to be." She set down the glass and retrieved the bottle from him. "Don't drink without putting food in your stomach, you'll get drunk too quickly."
"Hey!" He turned around and tried to snatch the bottle back but she dodged him. "Give that back!"
"After you eat." She kept out of his reach with a grumble. "I need to talk to you but I don't want to if you're drunk!"
He growled again. "And who says I want to talk!" He shot back, he didn't even know why he was getting so angry but he really didn't know how else to react. He was expecting her to leave not bring him dinner.
"Then don't talk and just listen for once!" She slammed the bottle down in agitation, why is it always fighting with him.
"Why should I?!" He growled, his devil fruit ability crackling around him causing the bolts and smaller bits to levitate around him.
"Because I'm trying to ask nicely!" She yelled back. "Why can't you just let me be nice to you!"
"Because it's weird!" He blushed. "We aren't supposed to be nice to each other! I try to kill you and you try to kill me! That's how it works!" He yelled at her, things were so much easier that way… then these… these damn…. Feelings started happening…
She rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to fight back the growing headache that he was so good about causing. "Just give me a little bit, I can talk while you eat then we can do the whole kill stabby thing. Ya?"
The bits fell to the ground as he took a deep breath. "Alright…" He walked over to the tray and grabbed the bread and bowl of soup then sat down on his bed. "Get to talking."
She sat down next to him with a sigh, he always made things difficult. "I want to become a Kid Pirate…" She said it plainly but kept her eyes on the floor boards.
He choked on the soup he was drinking and turned to her wide eyed. "Wha… huh?!"
"Don't make me repeat it." She felt her cheeks burning and looked away. "I… want to be here… on this ship… with you… you all. All of you."
"Ah…" He focused on the bowl in his hands, did she really say she wanted to be with him? He heard her stutter and mess her words up… "Why do you want to be here?"
"I already said it!" She stood and retrieved the glass she had filled.
"No you didn't!" He stood and practically tossed the almost empty bowl onto the table. "Damnit woman!" He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him, her cheeks were a bright red. "Make sense!"
She stepped into him to hide her face in his chest, it felt less… awkward to hide her face from him. "Just shut up and let me stay…"
"No." He said as he lifted her face up to him.
Her eyes got wide. "What?"
"I don't want you to be part of my crew…" He cupped her face, stroking her lips with his thumb.
She bit at the finger, her teeth snapping together as he pulled his hand back. "And why can't I join?!" She yelled, she could feel her eyes burning a little as if she was about to cry. "You think I'm not good enough for your crew?"
"Shut up…" He held her face. "Don't say stupid things…"
She struggled in his grip, this was turning out to be a waste of time and it was only pissing her off. "This was pointless…" She should've known that it would turn out like this. "You can leave me in the next town we find…" Her body continued to fight against him but he wouldn't let her go. "Damn it… let me go!"
He fought to keep his hold on her. "Stop… struggling damnit!" He turned her and they fell backwards, she hit the bed with most of her lower body hanging off of it and his hands gripping her shoulders to pin her down as he stood above her. "I'm never letting you go! You're mine! Do you understand me!" He snarled at her. "You're not leaving this ship! And you're not joining this crew!"
She kicked at him as she continued to fight in his grasp. "You're not making any damn sense!"
"If you're part of this crew then we…." He stopped what he was about to say, a little frustrated growl escaping his lips. He let her go and stood up, diverting his eyes and turning his attention back to the bottle. He didn't want to say it out loud… he wanted her but if she was a member of his crew then he couldn't… he refused to let that rule be broken.
She gave him a confused look… was he talking about… no way. "Eustass-love…" She adjusted herself to a sitting position.
"Enough…" He sighed a little, he couldn't deal with this anymore… maybe it would be better. "If you want to join us… I'll talk to Heat… He'll give you my mark."
She chewed on her lip a little, her resolve to join the Kid Pirates was already being tested… would it be a bad thing though? To take his mark and make sure nothing could ever happen between them? She liked him, that was obvious but she knew it would only cause problems and it's not like he really knew anything about her or vice versa… "I'd like that." She took a deep breath and stood up. "I want to be a part of this crew." When she said that it almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself now.
He chugged the bottle, trying to calm his nerves. This wasn't how he planned his evening going.
"Please eat something." She said as she stood and reassembled the bowl and bread he tossed onto the table. "The cooks made this just for you since you didn't eat, it'd be a shame to waste it." Her voice was almost a whisper, he had a knack for making her feel like crap.
"I'll eat." He set down the bottle and grabbed the bread. "Do you need anything else?"
"No, I'll head back to my room now." She kept her eyes away from him, this was what she wanted after all… even if it meant…
He didn't turn to watch her leave and he took a bite out of the bread… this would be better. He didn't need to let himself get distracted from his goal… He was going to be the Pirate King and he didn't need any diversions.
A few days had passed since that conversation and still she felt… almost bad. Her and Eustass had barely spoken, hell… she had hardly even left the lab but she played it off on needing to complete all these medical records… which was sorta true…
"Eeeee!" Came the gleeful screeches of two familiar blonde and green haired girls. "Bones! Bones! We just heard!" They came up to either side of her and hugged her shoulders as she sat there.
She smiled a little with a weak laughter. "So how did you girls hear, hmmmm?"
They giggled together. "It's being gossiped about all over the ship." Kiss said.
"Stitch told me because he over-heard Heat telling Killer." Neddy said. "Can we see it?"
Abigail smiled a little as she leaned back a little and lifted her shirt a little to expose the black mark on her hip, it was the simpler jolly roger design with the nine spikes around it… it kinda reminded her of her own. "It's nothing that special."
"Yes it is!" Kiss smiled as she knelt down to inspect it. "This means you are really one of us now! And I heard it was Mr. Heat that gave it to you!"
"Doesn't he tattoo everyone?" She asked a little confused.
"Nope!" They both said with a smile.
Neddy hugged the woman around her neck. "And we are planning a really big party tonight just for you! So you need to hurry up in here and get up top!"
"Up top?" She looked at the clock. "Is it getting close to dinner time already?" Wow, she must have been really distracted…
"Come on!" Kiss said with a smile. "I know you really want to finish these records but Needles and I came up with a reeeeeally good idea to complete all these."
"Oh?" She gave them both a smile. "And what have you little loves been plotting?"
The party was in full swing, torches lit up the deck and make shift music played while the crew sung loudly. Abigail laughed as she danced with the other girls… or attempted to anyways. Her dancing was more like a 'ring around the rosies' dance hand in hand with the other girls… and without the falling down part, just yet.
Killer grinned from his customary spot with Kid and the others, he hadn't seen everyone this rowdy in a while… not since the last big fight they had at least.
"She looks very happy." Heat said as he drank from his mug. "And the girls have bonded with her well."
Wire smiled a little as he watched them. "Did they ever tell you how much they appreciated you letting them set up a girl's dorm on the lower decks?"
Kid grunted as he drank from his mug, it was mentioned to him by one of the other guys but he didn't care… he only did it to prove Abby wrong, the shit she said to him in the bath that night really pissed him off… as if he didn't know how to treat a girl… girls… whatever. His eyes kept darting back to her as she danced, that smile was genuine. He knew she was enjoying herself and everyone was happy about her being an official member of the crew… everyone but him.
Abigail fell down with a thump and the girls piled onto her sharing a giggle. "Ah I can barely keep up with you loves." She said with a smile as she tried to catch her breath.
"Hehehe." Kiss smiled. "And the rest of the crew is drinking quite a bit."
Neddy giggled a little as she looked around. "Everyone but us medical personnel."
The older woman looked around with a grin this was a very sneaky plan the girls came up with and she had a feeling it might turn out a lil fun. She looked up to the men sitting above the rest of the crew, the Captain was the only one not smiling and he caused her own to falter for a moment… He really didn't want her to be a crew member… but what else could she do?
A knock at his door caused the blonde man to look up with an arched brow, his head hurt like hell and the knocking wasn't helping matters. He grabbed his mask and slipped it on with a sigh, who the hell could be bothering him this early in the morning? Another damn knock came as he pulled his shirt on but left it unbuttoned as he grumbled a "Come in." Was the sun even up yet?
A shuffling of dishes along with a few mumbled curse words came from the other side of the door before it swung open.
"Abby?" He asked as he walked over to give her a hand, she had a folder clenched in her teeth and was attempting to balance a tray with a pot and two cups on it as well as a small bag hanging off her arm. "What are you doing?" He asked as he took the tray before she spilled it all over the floor.
"Trapping you, kil-love." She said as she pulled the folder from her mouth and wiped away the drool.
"Huh?" He stood there a little confused as she shut the door and eyed him with a weird little smile which did not make him feel at ease what so ever.
"You've been avoiding my checkups." She said as she waived the file at him. "So I'm here to give you one whether you like it or not, you and every other pain in the ass that's been avoiding us."
"Ah." He could hear some noises now, almost sounded like screaming… so that's what was going on, tricky brats let everybody get drunk so they could sneak up on them and force them to complete the checkups. "You could've just asked." He said as he set the tray down on the table beside his bed.
"I did, multiple times." She walked over, tossing the folder onto the nearby table then giving the blonde a shove to make him fall back onto his bed. "Now sit and let me do my job."
"Whoa!" He exclaimed as he fell back. "Come on Abby…" He gave a little groan but conceded. "What time is it anyways?"
She gave a little shrug as she pulled a stethoscope from her medical bag. "Sometime before dawn." She said nonchalantly as she placed the earbuds in and held the chest piece over his pulmonary valve to listen to his heart.
"Tch! Damn thing is cold!" He winced a little as she put that ice cold thing on him. "Why are you doing this so early?"
"Shh!" She hushed him and remained silent for a moment longer as she moved the piece over his chest. "We thought it would be best to trap you trouble makers before you got out of bed. Stitch-love and the others are handling the rest of the crew."
He watched her as she listened to his heart beat, she had such a… content look on her face. Now that he thought about it he had never really seen her working before… "Don't you think pre-dawn is a bit early though?"
She smirked a little as she shifted and pressed her stethoscope to his back. "In all fairness, you were already awake and I did bring coffee… Breath in."
He took a deep breath and thanked god he was wearing a mask so she didn't see how rosy his cheeks were getting, she was pressed up against him as she reached up under his shirt to move that thing around. It wasn't like he never had a woman before but for some reason it was a bit different with her just being close like this. "We could do this in the infirmary you know."
"Nope, had your chance with that." She pulled the ear buds out and hung the tool around her neck before jotting down a few notes in his file. "Now you get to deal with me in all its awkward glory." She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him so he was laying on his back. "Lay still, abdominal time."
"What the hell!" He tried to sit back up but she pushed him down again and began pressing on his stomach, he wished he understood what this all was for other than making him feel weird.
"Hush." She scolded him with a smirk, when she finished she grabbed the folder and sat back. Writing down more notes and flipping through the pages. "Keep behaving and I'll give you a sucker." She teased as she set down the folder and poured two cups of coffee. "Any chance I can get that mask off for an eye and throat exam?"
"Ha ha." He said as he sat back up and adjusted his shirt that was now hangin off one shoulder. "And not a chance."
"Stubborn." She mumbeled as she pulled out a tape measure. "Lose the shirt."
"What? Why?"
"This one should be obvious." She held up the tape measure. "Need to track the growth of you growing boys."
"Come on, is that really necessary?" He sighed, he really wasn't sure how he'd deal with having his body measured by her… and what parts of him need to be measure exactly?
She laughed a little at that. "Not really but you're being a brat so I figured I'd go the whole nine yards, ya?" She teased him with a grin.
He rolled his eyes at that. "It's too early for you to be this ornery."
"Fine." She said a bit melodramatically. "I can just do it when you're sleeping."
"What was that?"
"Nothing, are you up to date on your vaccinations?" She changed the subject as she took a sip from her cup and handed him one, dropping a straw into the dark liquid as he took it.
"No." He slipped the straw through one of the holes in his mask and sipped cautiously so he didn't burn his tongue.
She put a mark down in the folder and took another drink. "You'll need to go to the med room later then, if you don't then know that I'm not above shooting you with an injection gun while you sleep."
He chuckled a little at that. "Alright, alright. So am I healthy?"
"As a thorough bred horse my love." She did need to take a blood sample but they could get that when he got his shot later, relaxing a bit she closed the folder and tossed it beside her bag on the table.
"So who's next on your torture list?" He asked as he set down the cup and began to focus on finishing getting dressed.
"Just Eustass-love, I figured I'd handle the worst of the bunch while the others deal with the regular crew."
"You make it sound like I'm a trouble maker."
"Oh you are." She grinned. "Quite possibly the worst patient ever."
"You're a shit liar." He said with a smile.
That made her laugh. "I happen to think I'm an excellent liar."
He grabbed his red sash and began tying it around his waist. "You know, for somebody that wanted to be a part of this crew you're doing a crap job at convincing me to trust you."
"Ah, damn." She sighed excessively. "I see you're immune to my charming wit." She set down her mug with a mischievous grin. "Are you susceptible to bribery? Some form of baked goods, ya?"
"No 'ya', I don't like sweets." He sat back down and reached for his boots. "Besides, if it doesn't fit through these holes then I can't eat it."
"What's with this damn thing anyways?" She reached over and slipped a few fingers into the holes of his mask and pulled his face towards him. "What are you hiding under here?"
"Hey!" He exclaimed as she got him off balance. "What are you…! Get your finger out of here!" He tried to pull her hand away but she brought her free hand up to slip more fingers into the holes so he could only see bits of wiggling appendages and light."
"What? I'm just sizing the holes so I know what you can eat." She teased as she flicked her fingers about in the mask, occasionally touching skin.
"I'm going to bite them." He struggled with her and caused them both to fall over, he landing on top of him with a laugh.
"That's a terrible idea, highly unsanitary considering you have no idea where my hands have been."
"Come on! That's just nasty!" He fought with her more but it was awkward considering not only was her hands assaulting his mask but her body was pressed up against him. "Will you let go!" He tried not to smile but it was a little funny and kind of nice to have her acting so playful… even if she didn't entirely realize how she was moving against him in their play fight.
"Hush, this is for science!" She laughed, it was nice to see him acting to spirited. It was a nice change of pace from his usual serious demeanor.
"That doesn't even make sense!" He grabbed her waist and went to lift her whole body up and off of him but she froze a bit and made a little squeaking noise. "Wait a second… are you ticklish?"
She bit her lip and fought the urge to squirm as he tested the theory by moving his fingers against her sides. "No… No idea what you mean."
He grinned with a little victorious chuckling. "Payback time."
She laughed nervously. "Now now, no need to…" Her sentence was cut short as she let out a shriek and body jerked under his tickling. "Cheating!... You're cheating!" She gasped between a spurt of hysterical laughing.
He couldn't help but laugh, who would've thought she was ticklish. "Remove the fingers and I'll stop."
"Alright, alright! You win!" She pulled her hands away but they didn't budge. "Oh no! I'm stuck!" She stared at her hands wide eyed, what are the odds.
"Are you fucking serious…"
Just then the door flew open and they both froze as they eyed the body taking up the space in the doorway with a look of sheer murder on his face. He was only wearing his trademark black and yellow pants as if he'd just woken up.
"God damnit!" Kid yelled. "Why the fuck is there…" He looked over and saw them there. "So much…" Everything slowly registered. "Noise…" Killer's hands were… and she was… "This… Early…"
"Ah, Eustass- love." She smiled weakly as she realized her rather... indecent position straddling Killer's body. "This really isn't as bad as it looks." She could tell from the expression on his face what he thought they were doing but it was much more innocent then it looked.
Kid gritted his teeth. "It looks like you're wrestling with my first mate and his hands are all over you." His hand was still on the door knob and the metal creaked as his grip tightened, seeing them like this… really pissed him off.
Her mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to find the right words. "Well, this is… apparently exactly what it looks like but not exactly..."
"Kid." Killer spoke the name but even he was having a time trying to think of the right words that wouldn't make this seem like anything other than what it really was. "We were just playing around, nothing was happening…"
That didn't help his mood. "Then by all means keep 'playing'!" He spun on his heel. "Like I give a damn what you two do!" With that he slammed the door behind him and stormed back to his room, this day was already shit.
"Eustass-love! Wait!" She called out and tried to go after him instinctively but she was stuck good.
Killer sighed, this was going to cause issues and he only had himself to blame. He shouldn't have let himself get to playful with her, that fact alone was bad enough without adding the fact that he knew full well how much Kid wanted her… He sat up abruptly which didn't help the matter at all considering her body was now fully against his. "Close your eyes."
"Wha… what?" She stammered a bit, this new position forced her to realize just how… close they actually were.
"I'm going to take off the mask so we can get you unstuck, so just close your eyes."
"Ah, ok…" She did as she was told and heard the faint clicking noises that must have been latches being undone then felt the mask and her hands being moved away then she felt his hand over her eyes. "I'm not going to peek…"
"I know…" He sighed. "I just… I'm sorry."
"Wha…" Her question was cut short as she felt his face close to hers, his breath against her lips as if he was hovering his own above hers.
For a moment he considered it… he never realized how much he wanted to before. But now… with a sigh he shook his head and reached passed her, his hand slipping beneath his mattress to pull out a little bottle. It was going to be a bit embarrassing but he didn't have anything else to use.
A strange liquid was put on her fingers and she could feel him rubbing it against the digits carefully. "Ah… what are you using?" Even though his hand wasn't over her eyes anymore she kept them closed, she just wished she could get her cheeks not to burn so much. She still sat on his lap and she couldn't help but feel him beneath her as she straddled his lower body, she couldn't believe she was letting herself get to flustered over something like this…
He blushed a bit as he worked a finger free. "It's my… ah… it's my lube." He felt his cheeks get hotter, it was stupid really. He was a grown ass man, there shouldn't be any reason to let this bother him… and yet here they were.
"Oh." She simply said as she tried to keep herself from blushing even more, what the hell. Why was she letting something like that make this worse? She was an adult and it should be expected for him to have something like that… great, the thought of Killer masturbating was the last thing she needed to be focusing on right now…
He worked another of her fingers loose with a sigh. "Look, I'll show up for my checkups from now on so… so you don't need to make any more house calls from now on." He felt a little bad saying it, he knew she was only here to do her job and he had to admit… he liked her. Probably a bit more than he should considering all the factors involved but… it wasn't worth it. As much as he thought he could really get to like the idea of making her his girl… it just wasn't worth it to cause issues with Kid over.
"I understand." She frowned a little but she knew why he said it, as much as she liked the idea of getting to know Killer better it was becoming painfully obvious that they should keep their emotions strictly professional. It was bad enough that she had feelings for Kid, it would make things so much worse if she started to feel the same towards Killer…
Stupid hearts… acting out on their own without any regard for the people they are messing with.
To Be Continued…
