~M~
I walked down the hall toward the workshop. I stopped when I saw movement down a separate corridor. "Thatch! Again? Really?" I asked.
The fourth division commander abruptly stopped jiggling the doorknob that led to Rory's room. "Oh, uh, hey Marco!" he said sheepishly. "Since when was there a lock on this door?"
I sighed. He really didn't seem to care that he got caught. "Since I told Souji to put one there." I replied. In fact I was on my way to see if it got done and pick up the key. It was done at least. And it seemed to work.
"What? Why would you do that?" he asked, looking disappointed.
"To keep people like you out. Why else?" I replied. I turned away from his childish pout and continued toward the workshop to pick up the key. Thatch followed me. "Souji!" I called.
"Marco?" The kid looked over. "I did what you told me to. Here yo go." He tossed the key to me and I caught it.
"Good. Thanks." I replied.
I watched as Thatch walked over to Souji, and rolled my eyes when he tried to talking him into giving him a spare key. I left the room.
I walked out onto the deck to look for Rory. She would need her key, after all. I spotted her pacing near where the old man was seated drinking his sake. She was holding true to her word about keeping Ace' hat hostage.
"-and the curiosity is just killing me, you know?" I overheard her say as I headed over. She stopped pacing and looked up at the old man. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know anything, would you?"
"Not a clue, kid." Whitebeard replied. He looked bored. I'm guessing he's been listening to her ranting for a while.
"Still hung up on that?" I asked. Rory whirled around to face me, eyes narrowed. "Just let it go already."
"No! I wanna know what happened!"
I shook my head and tossed the key her way. "Here." I said.
"What's this?" she asked. She stared at the key in her hand. I could practically see the intense thought process on her face. She was putting puzzle pieces together...
"Its a key. For your room. I had Souji make a lock for it." I replied.
She gasped. "That's what happened! They were in my room weren't they? They were going through my stuff!"
Behind her I saw Ace pause mid-step and look over, eyes wide. He promptly turned around and quickly walked away. The old man chuckled.
"I knew something was off! Nothing in my drawers was where I left it!" Rory exclaimed. I thought she would have been mad, but she seemed more happy about figuring it out. "You know, I should have seen this coming...A ship full of men. Who are out at sea. Not enough women to go around..." she murmured. "I should have asked for a lock sooner, especially after that peeping attempt."
I didn't know how to make of her musings. The old man laughed heartily.
Rory then frowned and narrowed her eyes. At me. "That's what the whole secret was? That's it? You drove me crazy because of that?"
"How was I supposed to know you'd take it so well?" I asked with a shrug of my shoulders.
"I'm gonna get all three of you back..." she muttered.
"What did I do?"
"That little seed of curiosity grew and grew and grew and drove me crazy! Because none of you would let me in on what happened!" Rory said. "So you watch you're back, phoenix! And you can tell Ace and Thatch to watch theirs too! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some plotting to do." She walked away, leaving me bewildered.
She was annoyed because we didn't tell her about something. Never-mind the fact that Ace and Thatch were snooping in her room. Apparently she doesn't care about that. She's really weird sometimes.
~A~
I looked around cautiously. Its been a few days since Marco told me what Rory was up to, so its not weird for me to be on my toes, right? I mean, I already saw what she did to Marco. Basically, there have been rumors going around that he had adopted birdlike tendencies because of his devil fruit. I've heard everything from mating calls, to laying eggs and lots of stuff in between. Later he told me Rory had gotten into his room and rearranged some stuff to make it look like a nest on his bed. Someone saw it, and things just grew from there.
"She's clever, I'll give her that..." Marco had said. "If you and Thatch do anything wrong again, I'm telling her. I don't wanna know what other pranks she can come up with."
That's understandable. I'd be saying the same thing if I were in his shoes. I might very well end up in the same position. Actually, I think I am in the same position.
Rumors like this have been floating around already, but they seem to a intensified in the last few days. I'm talking about the ones insinuating there's something going on between me and Rory. More than once I've been faced with a suggestive comment involving said rumors, and naturally I denied it. This only seemed to make things worse. Rory must feel my pain, right? I mean, the rumors involve both of us...She wouldn't intentionally put herself in this situation just to get back at me. Would she? Now that I think about it, she does still have my hat...
"What's the matter with your hair, Thatch? All out of hairspray?" I heard guys laughing and looked over. I held in a snort of laughter of my own when I saw him. His hair was a mess.
"I don't use hairspray! I use gel!" Thatch stated. He grumbled under his breath as he walked over to me. "Rory's name is written all over this..." he muttered. "All my gel and combs went missing. And now people are saying I use girly hairspray!"
I chuckled. "I remember hearing someone say they found an empty can of hairspray in the garbage bin..." I said.
"So she planted evidence? She's good..." Thatch admitted. "Has she pranked you yet?"
"No. At least I don't think so..." I replied.
I heard Thatch mutter something, so i listened closer. "...perk of sleeping with her." was all I caught.
"Wait, w-what? You actually believe those rumors!" I asked. I had no doubt I was blushing.
He looked surprised. "They're not true? Oh. Maybe you have been pranked then." he said.
"What? How?"
"Well, I mean, you let her keep your hat this long. Usually that means something's going on, and I'm sure she knows it." Thatch said.
"But why would she deal with the others teasing her? That doesn't make sense!" I said.
"No one's been teasing her. Everyone's too scared to say anything to her face. She could go all she-devil on their asses." Thatch suddenly chuckled. "She must know that too! So she knows everyone's gonna pick on you instead!"
"What! Where is she? I'm getting my hat back!"
Thatch laughed. "It's too late! The damage is done! This is gonna stick, just like mine and Marco's pranks are gonna stick!" he said. I was walking away in search of Rory before he finished speaking.
I found her sitting in a chair, angled slightly away from the table with her legs crossed and book open in front of her. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't disturb her, but these were not normal circumstances. I walked over to her. "Can I please have my hat back?" I asked.
She looked up. She must have read my expression easily because she grinned. "So you finally figured out my prank, huh?"
"Yeah...Why? Why this?" I asked.
"I figured it would be easier to build off of something that was already going around. Less work for me that way." she replied.
I sank to my knees in front of her. "You're a devil, Rory..." I said.
"Yes, well, now if I ever catch wind of you screwing up, you'll tell me about it, right?" she asked, looking down at me.
I sighed, feeling defeated. "Yes..." I replied. I slung one arm across her lap and rested my cheek against her knee. I wasn't thinking when I did it. I really wasn't, honest. "Its tiring to keep up with you."
My breath caught when I felt her fingers lightly brush against my hair. "You realize you're not helping your situation, right?" she asked. I could hear the amusement in her voice.
I swore. She's right. I realized way too late how intimate this made our relationship look. I sighed. "Ugh, people already think something's going on. It doesn't matter anymore..." I said. I felt like I was making excuses, saying that.
In reality, I think I just liked how it felt as Rory's fingers brushed through my hair.