AN: So I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this is probably the last update for a while. I've got major writer's block again. D: (I gotta go re-watch your videos Aska, lol!) Well, the problem isn't exactly writer's block, it's that I have to many other ideas floating around that want to be written. x_x But I went back and re-read all my PaNa stuff yesterday....lol, I'm awesome. Is it terrible that I love my own stories and they make me laugh my head off? xD I'm not narcissistic, I swear!!

Pikinanou: I don't know if you read this but I want you to know that I do love the second idea you've given me, and I am totally excited about writing it...The problem is I don't know how to play poker. xD I gotta wait until my hubby can teach me. lol!! So I'm not ignoring your idea I'm just stuck a bit. If you've got any others though I would love to try them!!! You're a genius, and I bow to your superior imagination! :P

I do not own One Piece or it's characters. :)

"Um…Sorry about that…"

Nami crossed her legs as she looked back at him, one eyebrow quirked. "What was that all about?"

The blond began eating the remains of his breakfast. "Uh…Maki-san is…um…Well I've known her for a long time so…" He shrugged. Apparently he didn't know what else to say about it.

Pretending she was only vaguely interested she pointed behind her at the café. "And them…?"

Coughing slightly in embarrassment Paulie looked down at the table again. "I don't even know them…" He grumbled.

"Huh…" The copper haired woman leaned back in her seat. "They seemed to know you." Though it was a statement there was also a question behind it but her companion only shrugged. "That happens to me a lot actually…" He sighed in aggravation and then turned back to his food.

'Happens a lot…?' The thief's eyebrows had risen to her hair line… 'Random women come over and flirt with you…And they all know your name…?' But she didn't voice that thought, instead she said. "What's happening next?"

Paulie looked down at the two bags at her feet. "Guess we could take those back…It's better than hauling them all around the city."

She wanted to make a quip about him hauling her all over the city but there was something else more pressing. "Thank God…" She said in a quiet voice. "I want to change…"

She looked down at her form fitting black shirt and loose black pants. 'Ugh…I really want a shower too but…' Maybe she'd take a quick shower when he left…she'd still have time to escape afterwards… 'And brush my hair.'

Pushing the disobedient strands back behind her ear the thief fished out a small amount of beri to pay for her coffee. While she had been contemplating showering and clothes her companion had finished off the rest of his breakfast and had placed his own amount of beri on the table.

Taking this as a cue, and not wanting to stick around to meet the three airhead waitresses again, Nami stood and grabbed her first bag. Before she could reach for the second though Paulie had picked it back up.

"Oh yeah…" He said, looking at her with a questioning face. "What the hell do you keep in here?"

The two began walking away, and thankfully none of the waitresses called them back. His question surprised her. "You didn't look?" She had assumed he would…it was a heavy bag after all.

"It's your stuff." The carpenter shrugged. "The only things of yours I saw were what you left lying around." He smirked at her and she remembered the state her room had been in when she left it…Well it was too late now but she couldn't stop the faint blush that wanted to creep onto her face. Thankfully he didn't press it, satisfied with her reaction. "Seriously though," He went back to his former subject. "What the hell do you carry in here?"

The fact that he hadn't looked through her things was….well, it was really sweet…and there was now the added bonus of seeing his reaction when she did show him what she kept in there. "I'll show you when we get home." She said with a grin…which evaporated as she realized she had just referred to his apartment as 'home.' "To your apartment…" She corrected herself quietly, looking away from him with a blank expression on her face.

She was grateful again when he didn't mention her mistake, and the two walked in silence for several moments before the apartment building came into sight.

She heard her companion sigh and she peeked at him in enough time to see him wince at the building and mutter, "I fucking hate stairs." Again before he moved forward.

While trudging up the three flights of stairs the blond reached into his pockets in search of the apartment keys, and when he found them he said, "Catch." And tossed them to her.

She caught them on reflex, staring down at the shipwright who was a few steps below her. What was he thinking?! She was a thief and he knew that!!! You don't give your apartment keys to a thief!

He didn't seem to notice her shock as she stared first at him and then the key ring in her hand. Instead he frowned at her for stopping on the stairs and said, "Let's go."

Feeling her hands shaking she continued up the stairs, her emotions were a churning mess again… 'Why would he…I…He can't trust me with these!' Besides the shock at his seemingly stupid action there was something else she was feeling…A warm glow of gratitude…mingled with anger at him.

'What in the world do you have to be angry at? He trusts you, that's what it means!' Her inner voice was back and it was annoying again.

'I don't want that trust! I never asked for him to trust me like this…!'

If he trusted her…She could hardly think it but, if he trusted her than what would he think when she up and disappeared on him…? Placing trust in someone like her was foolish…And it put her in an even worst situation. She didn't want to break that trust but there was no way to avoid that!

Which…might have been his point.

Her eyes narrowed as they finished the last flight of stairs. Paulie was a sneaky one…So far he had been throwing her off balance at every turn…and it was possible that this was just another way of doing it…

Ignoring that for a moment, she had reached the apartment door, she looked back at him. "Which one?" She asked shortly. If he noticed her tone he didn't show it. "The one with the blue top."

She singled out the key he had specified and used it on the door, letting it swing open to allow the two inside. She dropped the key ring onto his kitchen counter immediately…She didn't want anything to do with them! And turned back to look at the shipwright who had wandered into the living room without concern.

Grunting he dropped the larger bag and allowed himself to fall backwards onto the couch. Breathing deeply he closed his eyes, and reached up to mess with his cigar. He seemed totally relaxed…

After a minute of watching him he opened his eyes again. "Thought you wanted to change?" He said mildly and then went back to smoking his cigar peacefully. She glared at him, which of course he didn't notice, but let it drop off her face as she remembered…

"Oh yeah…You can look in that bag while I change." She said, her voice sweet and innocent. Eyes still closed he shrugged indifferently. "Maybe..."

She stomped past him with her bag of clothes and into the second bedroom, muttering uncomplimentary things about him and his easy going attitude. She had wanted to see the expression on his face when he opened her 'work bag'…Though he had annoyed her she was grateful to get out of these clothes…Shoving past the clothes Paulie must have just thrown into the bag she dug deeper until she found what she was looking for. Her favorite pair of high heeled sandals, the blue ones, and claimed a skirt and shirt to go with it.

The yellow skirt was fairly short, which she didn't mind, with two connected white circles on each side of her hip. The shirt was white with a large blue strip across the chest that matched her shoes. She changed quickly and picked up her sandals.

As she reached for her hair brush she heard Paulie's shocked voice. "What the hell?!" Grinning, he had checked after all! She grabbed the brush in one hand, her shoes in the other, and went back to the living room, smiling cheerfully.

"What's that?" She asked innocently.

As she had suspected he had opened the huge bag and was staring down at its contents in a sort of shocked awe. "What the-" He cut himself off immediately as he looked up and saw her.

His face turned bright red again and for a few seconds he could only stare at her, stuttering, while she calmly took a seat and began working her brush through her hair. She grinned, pleased with his reaction not only to her possessions but also to her looks.

"N-N-Nami!!" He finally managed to get out. "You…!" She could tell he swallowed hard and tried again. "You shameless woman!!"

Well, she hadn't been expecting that…

"Go put some more clothes on right now!!"

The thief allowed a small giggle to pass her lips as she turned her head back to him, flipping her newly brushed hair out of her face. "No." She said calmly.

The blond choked, his face burning so brightly he looked like he had a fever. "W-What…?!" His hands were visibly shaking as he stared at her. She was amused… 'And excited.' …to note he was having to struggle to keep his eyes on her face.

'Oh shut up.' She wasn't really angry this time though…It was a boost for her ego that he was behaving this way…But if he thought he could control her he was sadly mistaken…

"I'm comfortable." She told him calmly, leaning down to begin latching one sandal. "I'm not going to change."

He stuttered again. "You…! I…!"

Ignoring this she reached over and began fastening the other shoe. "Now, unless you plan on changing me yourself, I'd suggest you just accept that this is what I'm wearing today."

She almost felt bad when she saw the look on his face. The shipwright looked like he was close to having a heart attack.

'Don't be too mean…You'll kill him!'

'He won't die from embarrassment.' She argued inwardly. 'Besides, if he thinks he can keep me hostage here and I won't even complain he's got another thing coming!!'

She stood…Oh it was so nice to be in clean clothes! Even though she would have preferred a shower first…and gave him an unconcerned look. "Weren't you going to work or something?" She smiled at him serenely as she went to put her brush back away.

In her room, 'It is not my room!' … She put her brush back with her other things…He would be going soon and she…Well she would be running soon…

The enjoyment she had felt at embarrassing him melted away. This was…She…

'Just admit that you don't want to go!!'

The thief's face hardened again. 'I'll admit no such thing.' She thought coldly. 'Leaving him alone is the best thing I can do for him…' She wasn't going to be the cause of his death for trying to help her...

Still…Sighing heavily she plastered a smile on her face and waltzed back into the living room. The carpenter's face was still flushed but he was glaring at her as she stepped back into the room and she stopped…feeling the briefest moment of panic. Had she teased him too much…?

"You think I'm an idiot don't you?" He asked her.

Nami blinked. "Eh…?" She really was confused.

The blond stood, towering over her even with her high heels, and moved out past the couch to glare down at her with folded arms. "Did you really think I'd fall for that?"

Confusion mounting she looked up at him. "Fall for…?"

"You're coming with me." He said in a voice that meant it was obvious. "There's no way in hell I'm leaving you alone."

To her horror the cat burglar felt her face flooding with color again.

'Yay~!! I knew he wouldn't let you go that easily!'

She was too stunned to even chastise the other voice. Paulie was still glaring at her but then he shook his head and turned back to grab his jacket off of the couch.

"What do you want me to do with this?" He motioned the bag of gold that was still lying open on his coffee table. "Um…I'll put it in my room…" She murmured.

Her inner voice snickered as she bent to gather the gold that had dropped out of the bag. 'Your room huh?'

'Shut up…'

"Why the hell are you carrying that thing around anyway?" He wasn't looking at her anymore…

"I was going to make a drop off at home soon." Straining she picked up the heavy bag. "It's around two million." Why had she told him that…?

He had turned back to look at her with wide eyes. "Two…? How much do you usually gather before you drop it off?!" For some reason the blond was beginning to look a little pissed off again.

It was hard to move while holding the monstrously heavy bag and she wished he wasn't staring at her while she did so. "However much I feel like!" She snapped back.

Paulie rolled his eyes at her and took the bag easily. She glared up at him as he swung it onto one shoulder and moved towards the second bedroom. She wanted to say something but she didn't know what so she just glared at him as he dropped the bag inside the room and shut the door.

"Ready?"

Her eye twitched ever so slightly in anger. "Do I have a choice?"

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Are we going over this again?" His tone was mild but he was still looking angry and finally she just gave up.

"Fine, let's go!"

There was always the possibility that she could slip away from him at the shipyards…

AN: Who was able to guess what was in her second bag? :P Easy I know, but I got a kick out of writing his reaction. So for those of you who wondered if Paulie's shyness was gone....it's not. :P But think about it...she was wearing all black clothes that covered her completely until this point in time so he had no idea how she usually dresses. :D (oh yeah, and I thought it was cute she referred to the apartment as 'home'. She's already getting used to him, whether she likes it or not. :P)

I couldn't really work in why it pissed him off that she was carrying around so much loot but it's 'cause it makes her a bigger target for other thieves and bad guys, and he doesn't like that. :P Hope you guys enjoyed it, and thank you for reviewing!! I love reading them! ^-^