Disclaimer: Blah blah, blah, you know this….
A Cat's Instinct
Chapter 13: Romance on the Merry-Go
Keiko, meanwhile, was watching Zolo lift weights, as she usually did on her boring afternoons.
"Oh Zolo, you're so strong!" she squealed, totally starry-eyed.
Zolo sighed,
"You said that fifty times already…" he said, looking at her.
"'Well, it's true!" she answered, "Besides, you're handsome and smart too."
"You really believe that, don't you?" he asked.
Keiko leaned against him lovingly.
"Uh-huh." She said, rubbing her face into his arm.
Zolo chuckled,
"Well, what about your boyfriend, James?" he asked curiously (and somewhat oblivious to her obvious dislike of him).
Keiko looked at him, as if he had almost struck her down with one of his swords.
"I can't believe you'd say that! I'd never fall for such a loser!" she growled, "I mean, he's such a clumsy idiot! I hate him!"
Zolo looked at her, startled at her outburst, but amused at the same time.
"He's not a bad kid. He's just young." Zolo said, "You should give him a chance. I mean, he's about your age after all."
"I don't think that matters!" she exclaimed, "We belong together!"
"I won't argue with you, but you should think of finding a suitable match, but that doesn't mean that I don't care."
She beamed,
"Oh Zolo, you are wonderful!" she said joyfully, as she hugged him tightly.
"Oh geez…" Zolo muttered under his breath.
It was then that Luffy barged in.
Keiko shot up angrily.
"Don't you know how to knock?!" she snarled.
Zolo just looked over at him.
"What do you want, Luffy?" he asked, his voice unchanging.
"I'm starving!" Luffy complained.
"You're always hungry…" Keiko mumbled, as Mocha jumped into her arms purring loudly.
"Well, can we eat?" he asked.
Zolo and Keiko exchanged glances.
"We'd have to check our stock…" Keiko said, "But I'm sure we have something."
Zolo shrugged nonchalant.
"Oh boy!" Luffy exclaimed, grabbing her hand as they headed to the storage room of the ship.
When Luffy grabbed her hand, Zolo felt something… something that felt threatening.
Jealously? Nah, it couldn't be.
Nami and James, at the same time, were walking around the deck of the ship, their hands clasped together; fingers entwined.
It was the first time that either of them had been very close to someone of the opposite gender, but both of them were content in each other's company.
Nami couldn't help but keep a rose-colored blush from her face, as he smiled warmly at her.
James, also, felt himself melt in her presence.
Keiko spotted them, and tried to ignore it, by keeping her eyes on Luffy, who was on arms length away from her, his hand still firmly grasping hers.
James and Nami, however, were too lovesick to notice.
When they headed to the ram-shaped bow of the ship, there was a light breeze, and the sun was as bright as ever.
"I love this kind of weather." Nami commented, leaning against James.
He smiled softly,
"It is lovely…" he said, putting a gentle arm around her waist.
She blushed darkly, but smiled back at him.
"But I like rainy weather too." He said.
It was then that she gave him a curious look.
"Why do you like the rain?" she asked, "It's so dreary…grey… and I thought cats hated water."
James smirked,
"But it's fun just to sit on the deck of a ship, and just feel the rain… It's very relaxing you know." He said, staring out into the distance.
"You're a very unique person, James. Just like your father." She replied, "But next time it rains, I'll try it."
James chuckled,
"I'll join you then." He said, looking at her once again.
Both of them grinned, once they made eye-contact.
She kissed him on the cheek.
"More guys should be like you." She said.
James' face turned a deep shade of red, and reached his hand to touch the place where she had kissed him.
He, however, was speechless.
"Don't tell me that you're going to die of embarrassment." Namir teased, her arms wrapped around his right arm.
James then playfully sank to the ground and lay there, as if she had "killed" him.
Nami shook her head in amusement, but she played along.
"Oh no! What have I done?" she asked, slapping her hands to the sides of her face.
She kneeled next to him.
"I wonder what the cause of death was…" she wondered as she gently lifted James' shirt, as if expecting to find some kind of gunshot wound in his side.
She gently stroked his side, checking for "injuries"
James immediately giggled lightly, but tried to stifle it.
Nami saw this and smirked.
"No, nothing there…." She said, then going over to his stomach.
James grinded his teeth together trying to keep his laughter in.
She playfully tickled him, making James squirm and laugh.
"P-please st-stop!" he begged.
Nami laughed along with him, as she teased him intensely.
James laughed until he could barely breathe, and Nami ceased, she too, was breathless from laughter.
"I should do that more often." She mocked, "You're adorable!"
James blushed as he sat up.
"Being tickled to death isn't what I signed up for, when I joined this crew…" James muttered in mock seriousness.
"But you rarely laugh. You gotta lighten up a bit." She said, "And laugh a bit more. They say that it loosens the tension in the soul."
"Well, don't count on it. I have a tough reputation to uphold." James said, "Could you imagine what Usopp would say if he found out?!"
Nami laughed,
"He wouldn't let you live it down." She said.
"Exactly." He said, sitting up straighter, "I wouldn't want that to happen."
Nami smirked and tickled him quickly.
James once again burst out laughing.
"C-cut that out! It's not funny!" he said.
She sat next to him, and leaned against him.
"You were laughing." She teased.
"Oh be quiet…" he muttered.
She smiled at him, and he couldn't help but smile back.
"Okay, maybe it is kinda funny…" he said, "But I hate being tickled… I'm totally helpless."
"I know." She said, "But you have a cute laugh. But I won't tell anyone, okay? It'll be our secret."
James thought about it, but then nodded.
"Okay," he said, "I mean no one; Especially Keiko and Usopp."
"Alright, you have my word." She said, kissing him on the cheek once again.
He smiled tenderly at her.
"I will get you back though…" James said, "I can't let you get away with finding my weakness like that… no matter how pretty you are."
"You will, huh?" Nami asked, smirking at him, in a kind of silent challenge.
"Yep. My revenge will be long and agonizing." He joked, "It'll make my mother proud, since she did it all the time to my father."
Nami gawked at him,
"Are you serious?" she asked.
"Serious about what?" James asked, suddenly confused.
"Your father is…ticklish?" she asked, her tone projecting her disbelief.
James nodded,
"Yep." He said, "It's hard to believe, I know. But y'know what they say… like father
like son."
"Yeah, but still… one of the pirates, believed to be the cruelest… It's pretty unbelievable. If anyone else, besides you had told me, I probably wouldn't believe it."
"Yeah, but my aunt and uncle told me tons of stuff about my mother and father, that I never could have imagined." James said, "You'd be surprised."
Nami nodded,
"I couldn't imagine," She said, "There must be so much."
"Yeah, there's tons of stuff I could tell you. My mother and father could make interesting story characters, if I had any writing skill." James said, laughing.
Nami smiled,
"Well, I guess that's what makes you such an interesting person, James." She said, "But I like that you're interesting, sweet… and unusually ticklish."
"You're going to have many plans for my weakness, aren't you?" James asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow at her.
Nami giggled,
"You bet. I could get a lot of berries out of you from exploiting that." Nami said.
"Well, I'll have to watch my back, that's all." James said.
She smiled and nuzzled him lightly.
"I'm sure you will James… I'm sure you will…" she said, leaning against him more.
Meanwhile, Luffy, Zolo and Keiko were below deck, checking their supplies.
"WE really have to restock…" Keiko muttered, "All we have is fruit and some jerky…"
"Jerky isn't that bad…" Zolo said, handing some to Luffy.
"Yeah, it's meat!" he exclaimed happily, as he chewed eagerly, and went to reach for more.
"Luffy! I just finished saying that we had to restock, dammit!" Keiko growled, "Do you listen to anything anyone says?!"
Luffy just looked up, several pieces of jerky sticking out of his mouth.
Keiko sighed, as Zolo just shook his head, handing Keiko an apple.
"Thank-you, Zolo." She said, hugging him.
Zolo sighed, but tried to hide a smirk.
Usopp, at the same time, was finishing his shift of steering the ship, and went to walk the deck, as he put it on auto-pilot.
"Hi you two!" he said, walking over to James and Nami.
James rolled his eyes, discreetly.
"Oh great…" he thought sarcastically.
"Hello Usopp." Nami said, giving a slight smile.
"Where is everyone? I was wandering around for a few minutes." He said.
"Well, I don't know where the others went, but Nami and I were on the deck. Y'know, chilling out." He said casually.
Nami just smirked, and glanced at him.
"Well, there's not much to do, is there?" he asked in obvious boredom.
"Yeah, but can't you just enjoy the weather? Or how about I throw you overboard to stir things up a bit?" James suggested.
Nami laughed, but Usopp cringed at him.
"What's wrong with you?! You're a monster!" he exclaimed, " I-if Luffy were here, you'd get a beating."
James put his hands behind his head,
"You believe what you want." He said, chuckling.
"Just like his father…" Usopp muttered, "Heartless and sarcastic.
"I heard that…" James said, smiling darkly, as he pushed his glasses up his face with the palm of his hand, "I am a lot like my father, but my father isn't heartless."
"I've told a lot of lies, but that's the wildest one I've heard yet. Klahadore is a beat!" Usopp exclaimed.
James lunged at him, but Nami held him back.
"I'd prefer you not speak badly of my father…" he said, trying to keep his anger under control.
"Maybe it would be best, Usopp." Nami said, looking at him calmly.
Usopp nodded.
James had calmed down, but he still glared at Usopp.
The topic of his father always was a sensitive nerve in his personality, and those who knew him, knew about that… especially Nami.
Nami leaned against James.
"You alright?" she asked concerned.
"Yeah, I'm just very protective… that's all." He said, but he glanced at Usopp, "I'm sorry about that…"
Usopp looked at him, and smiled uneasily.
He, however, didn't say anything.
Usopp still had a slight fear of James, and didn't trust him one bit.
"I'm going to go drive the ship, since Luffy has it driving itself." Usopp said.
"Alright." Nami said, as James gave another smile.
Usopp then walked off.
"He doesn't like me very much, does he?" James asked.
"Just give him some time. He'll learn to trust you." Nami said trying to assure him, "Just as I have."
((A/N: I hope you enjoyed that chapter. To my loyal reviewers, I have posted another story in my Kuro Neko Trilogy. It's the prequel that I thought that I should start posting up, since I have started writing. I hope you read that one and enjoy it also. It is "Nine Lives, a Thousand Plans" for those that are interested.))