Authors' Note:
Con: All right, so, it's been awhile again, but I think I'm going to try and get at least these chapters out, since they're already written. That is if you can get me the cleaned up versions for me to work on ... -.-
Darth: Hey, I have...school...that's it.
Con: Lame ... get me those chapters, Neko!Dart. Don't let those long sleeves and emo bangs in your eyes slow you down. XP *Snicker*
Darth: Damn...whatshisface...Because of him I've seen hell!
Con: You are hell ... *Picks nose* You know we're never going to let you live this one down. *Smirks* Especially with your small feet and star in your hair~!
Darth: "You are hell"? The hell does that mean?
Con: On with the chapter! XD *Ignores Dart* We hope you guys enjoy the chapter~! :D
Darth: Oi …
Charmed
Chapter 6: She Laughs
Luffy woke the next morning more rested than ever. But he didn't feel Nami moving, so he figured he'd go back to sleep. Her light weight on his chest was actually quite comforting ... Wait, what? Luffy started sweating. Hoboy, how did they end up like this? She was going to kill him when she woke up. Well ... it was pretty comfortable, so he could enjoy it for now.
Groaning a bit in her sleep, Nami snuggled more into his chest, her legs clamping a bit more on either side of his waist, though it made her press down a bit more onto his body. The cover was snug around her, keeping her warm along with his body. However, she started to squirm a bit over him, grinding against him. Her brow twitching when she subconsciously realized she wasn't on a flat surface.
Feeling himself reacting to her movements, he thought to himself, this was going to be worse than he'd thought. 'Think unsexy thoughts - think unsexy thoughts...'
After a moment, she groaned and blinked her eyes open, but then frowned at the pressure pressing up against her. "Luffy ...?" she called in a low voice.
Luffy considered pretending to be asleep. Yeah, that was a good idea. "Mmuh?" he questioned, sounding drowsy.
She sat up and punched his chest. "I know you're not asleep! What the hell am I doing on you!?" she exclaimed, angrily. Though, she wasn't considering the fact that she was now straddling him, which was now a straight shot up. Oh wait, now she realized that. Squealing then, she got off him fast before giving an angry scream, "Mmmoh! You're such a pervert!"
"Oh come on!" he cried, backing away from her. "It's the morning! Not my fault!'
"Not your fault!?" she yelled, getting angrier and angrier. "What the hell was I doing on top of you then!?"
"I don't know!" he insisted, "I was asleep. I woke up, and there you were!"
"Oh, and so you just left me there!? You could have put me back onto the bed!" she yelled back.
Before he could answer, there was a knock on the cabin door, so he just frowned. Storming over to it, Nami opened it rather harshly and yelled, "What!?"
The man on the other side stiffened, his eyes going down to her perky nipples. "A-A-Ah ...! I-Is ... everything ... all right? W-We heard ... yelling and ... is there ... anything ... that I can do ...?"
"Everything's fine! Go away!" she said, slamming the door in his face.
"Anything you say~~!"
Ignoring the call from the other side, Nami then stormed over to her pack. "You turn around, and don't you dare peek at me, or I'm cutting it off!" she screamed at him over her shoulder.
He turned around when she told him to. "I only woke up just before you did," he said. "And you had me pinned in your sleep anyway. I could barely move."
"What the hell're you talking about!?" she said over her shoulder, making sure he was turned before changing back into the dress from the day before.
"You were all grabbing onto me in your sleep!"
"You're lying! Don't make this about me, you perverted jerk!" she yelled before just storming out of the room after she'd dressed, leaving him there.
He dressed and followed after her, having to run to catch up. "Oh come on," he cried, trying to keep his voice down. "I'm sorry. I didn't do anything on purpose alright," he said, trying to apologize.
"Just go away!" she said over her shoulder, ignoring the stares they were getting, though most were directed to her. Luffy muttered to himself and went to the railing to look over it.
Sighing when she looked over her shoulder to see that he'd stopped following her, she then just walked towards the back and leaned against the rail there. "Idiot," she whispered to herself with pursed lips, but then blinked, feeling as if she was being watched. "Eh?" she questioned softly, looking over her shoulder. However, she didn't see anyone there. Frowning a bit, she then looked back towards the river, feeling a shudder run down her spine. Frowning when the unpleasant feeling wouldn't leave, she straightened up with a sigh. Turning to go back, she gasped when a hand was placed over her mouth. "Mmm!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening.
"Well looky here ... Ain't you a perdy 'lil thing ... Sommin' 'bout you I can't quite put mah finger on ... But I like you ..." a nasty man said as he smirked down at her, "I think we can use you to our advantage ..."
Her eyes widened further as she struggled, but his hold around her waist tightened as he pulled her along, "Mmmmm!"
Luffy looked up when his senses went off, but he couldn't pinpoint the source of the disturbance. Deciding to get a look around, he left the rails to head towards the middle, but froze. Just in the middle, he could see several men with swords taking hostages, one of them holding Nami, a tough looking man. "Hey!" he yelled and started walking towards Nami, but his path was blocked by another tough looking guy.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Spotting Luffy, Nami's eyes widened, and she bit down on the man's finger, "Aah! You little bitch!" he yelled, yanking on her hair.
"Aah!" She screamed, other women also screaming as they were all rounded up on the deck of the ferry.
"You're a fiery little thing, ain't ya ...? I like that ..." he said, smirking widely with a deep chuckle as he leaned down to lick over her throat, "Think I might keep you."
"Guaah!" she cried out in disgusted, but then gasped when she felt a hand grope an entire breast.
"I like these too ..."
Seeing the man groping Nami, Luffy's brows quickly dropped into the bridge of his nose and his aura ignited. His eyes started glowing blue, and the thug in front of him started backing away. Luffy backhanded him out of the way, and started running at the hostage takers. The heavy blue glow around his body expanded, and as he shot his hand forward, a bright blue beam of energy shot out of it on contact with the man who was holding Nami.
Nami cried out in surprise from the sudden attack as she flew to the side and landed with a grunt. Blinking, she then quickly turned back to Luffy in wide eyed shock. She had never seen him do anything like that before. "Guwaah!" the man cried out, having not expected to be attacked so suddenly as he was sent flying back.
"What the hell's going on!?" One of his buddies exclaimed, looking over towards them.
Luffy exhaled, his breath coming out like steam. He turned his gaze to the other bandits. "Piss off," his voice echoed ominously. "Or you all die."
"Eeeh!?" They all exclaimed before running over each other to get to the railings and jump off the side, one of them picking up the mutilated body of their comrade and leaping over the side.
Nami could only gape at Luffy. He looked extremely angry. Even she was a bit afraid of him at that moment. She had no idea he was that strong. Taking a deep breath and releasing it again, steam still pouring out of it, he closed his eyes, taking several more breaths to calm down before finally opening his eyes and turning to Nami. "Are you alright?" he asked, the light starting to fade out of his eyes.
Gasping softly, her eyes widened a bit as she jerked back a bit, staring into his eyes, but then she gave a faint and quick nod. A man walked up to him, a bit nervous and shaky and said, "Th-Thank you ... so much ... We-We wanted ... to offer you a reward for saving us ..." He looked to be the captain of the ferry. He held out his cap, which held, possibly one hundred or more gold coins.
Luffy looked down at the money. "Oh ... thanks ... It was no problem ..." he muttered, taking the cap into his hand slowly.
Her mind quickly cleared as she surged to her feet with a bright smile. "Eh!? Really!? You're giving us a reward!?" she said, going and snatching the cap away from Luffy, which made the crowd around them gasp. Would he do anything to the poor woman? However, the captain suddenly blinked at her, and then he grinned.
"Aah! I-I might have more ... i-if such a beautiful woman like you is with him!" he said, digging around furiously in his pockets.
"Me too!"
"Oh, me too!" A few other men called as they came forward.
"They haven't gotten to me yet! You can have it, beautiful mistress!!" And they all started dropping more coins in the cap.
"Eeh!?" exclaimed Nami, gaping at them all in complete shock.
Luffy blinked at the men, but instead of getting mad, this time he started laughing. Well, they were giving them more money, after all. "Keep it up," he whispered to Nami, "We might double what the captain was going to pay us."
Blinking up at him, she then grinned and gave him the 'okay' sign before winking at them all. "Oooh~! Really? You'll give it to me~?" she cooed, causing them to cheer and throw more coins in, though they started pushing at one another. Soon, the outraged women began pulling on ears and arms and dragging the men off.
Not being able to help himself, Luffy laughed louder at the men being dragged away by the women. This was actually pretty funny. He leaned down to Nami and asked, "How much did we make?"
She leaned back, waving off the men and ignoring the glares and bickering couples. "I don't know yet~ We can check it later. Let's get back to the room before they change their mind," she said before turning to head back to the cabin.
Snickering to himself, Luffy followed her back the cabin with a grin on his face and said, "Well that worked out pretty well."
"It sure did~! But, now I need a bath. I still have his spit on my throat," she said, shuddering a bit, but she went to sit on the bed, pouring out all the gold coins, "Now' let's see. You count this half, and I'll count this half," she said, separating the coins and looking rather cheery.
Taking his half of the pile, Luffy counted through it, going through it twice to make sure. "I've got about one hundred and twenty five gold pieces in this pile."
"I've got one hundred and thirty one~!" she said, grinning brightly. Counting gold coins made her happy, "That's a total of two hundred and fifty-six gold pieces~! Not bad!" she said, giving a little cute and happy giggle. Free money would make anyone happy, or maybe it was just her ...
His smile brightened at her giggle. She was even cuter when she was happy. "So what does that put us at? A bit over one thousand?" he asked, feeling a warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach by looking at her.
"All right, let's see ... We had eight-sixty when we left ... but minus the fifteen for the ferry and horse fee, and now plus the two-fifty-six ..." she said out loud, counting in her head, "That makes it ... one thousand, one hundred and one~!" she said, beaming brightly as she scooped up all the gold coins into a pile, "Gimme your money bag so I can add this."
Pulling out the bag, Luffy handed it to her and said, "So we're halfway there, aren't we?"
"Yeah~! Just a little more than half!" She put them all into the bag and closed it up tight, "We're going to need a bigger bag!" she said, taking a deep and happy breath, her chest rising and falling with it, and her smile never fading. Only a thousand more to go, give or take a few with fees here and there and inn costs. Luffy released a relieved breath. A thousand and he didn't have to go back empty handed. His eyes wandered to her chest as she breathed, the movement was quite fascinating.
"Now I'm hungry~!" she said, closing her eyes and tilting her head into the smile. And her being hungry meant they were about to spend money.
"Me too," said Luffy as his stomach growled. He glanced sideways at Nami and smiled. He liked this happy Nami and wanted to keep her that way. "How much longer do you think we have 'til we arrive?"
Her lips pushed out a bit as she pressed a finger to it, "I don't know ... but they should have somewhere we can eat here," she said before smiling at him again, "Let's go see!" she said before jumping up and taking the money bag with her towards the door. When she smiled at him, Luffy's heart sped up, and he stood up to follow her, a half dazed expression on his face.
Humming to herself happily, she walked towards the main cabin, thinking a dining room might be there. Walking inside, she saw a hallway, and a man was walking towards them, so she called to him, "Ah, excuse me, but ... does this ferry have a dining hall?"
"Ah, yes, it's just a little ways down and to the right," he said, pointing down the hall behind him.
"Ah, thank you~!" she said, which made the man blink and looked a bit dazed, but he smiled.
"I-I could ... take you~!"
"Ah, no ..." said Nami, blinking at this. What the hell was going on? "W-We can find it ... Thanks ..."
"Anything you say, beautiful lady~!" he said, walking passed her, but never removing his eyes from her.
"What the hell is going on ...?" she asked with a soft frown, watching after the man.
"You know," started Luffy, also watching the man, "I've been wondering myself. You manage to break the spell on me, and keep attracting men. That's not normal-Well ... at least, I don't think it is ..."
She blinked, looking over at him. "Not normal? What do you mean not normal?" she asked, starting to frown.
Luffy held out his hand, palm up, and a small glowing ball of light appeared hovering over it. "Is this normal?" he asked, looking up at her.
"W-Well ... no ... but you have magic abilities," she said, frowning a little more.
"And you're breaking magic curses," he closed his hand, and the light winked out of existence, "If it's all right with you, I'd like to find out why you put me to sleep, and if it's connected to why men keep acting the way they do around you."
Her lips lifted on one side as she looked at him, and then she asked, "How come you don't seem affected though?"
He shrugged. "I'm magic."
"Mmm ..." she hummed, her lips still pursed before she smiled, "I'd like to test that one day," she said before whirling around, "And I guess if you have to ..."
He blinked at her smile and to what she said. "T-Test …?" he asked in a daze to himself, but then he shook his head and said, "I-If I have to...?"
"Find out about me ... I wouldn't mind finding out myself." she said, walking down the hall a bit before finding the door to the dining hall, which was open and already quite a few people were inside dining, "Ah! Here we are~!" she said, walking inside, which the crowd suddenly burst into applause to the hero that had saved them and to his beautiful companion, "Eh ...?"
Following her into the dining area, Luffy blinked at the applause, but then smiled and waved back at the people. "We're really popular now," he said to Nami.
"So it seems ..." she said as a few of the waiters approached them, all smiling at Nami and bowing.
"Where would you like to sit, ma'am? Anywhere you desire is fine, even if someone is already occupying it~!"
"Aaah ..." she said, smiling nervously, "Th-That ... won't be necessary ... Any ... table is fine-that isn't occupied!" she added quickly with a nervous laugh.
"Please, right this way! I have the perfect table!"
"No way! I do! Let me show you!"
"Screw you! My table is better!"
"Um, oye-oye!" said Nami, holding out a hand as a bead of sweat dropped down on the side of her head.
"Shishishi," laughed Luffy loudly, "They're acting funny again."
"Ha ... haha ..." laughed Nami, backing up a bit towards him, "Ah ... yeah ... Um ..." she said, holding out her hand as they pulled at each other's clothes, "I-I will just ... choose a table ..."
"Anything you say!" They suddenly said at the same time and bowed to her.
"Right ..." she said, walking passed them cautiously before just choosing a table and sitting, but then all three followed her there. "Um ... w-we need ... just one ... H-How about you?" she said, just pointing to a random one.
"Ha!"
"Damn it ..."
"Shit ..."
Luffy kept laughing, and then said, "Well, whatever it is that's causing this, it's getting funnier."
Nami pursed her lips at him, "It's getting a bit troublesome though~ And this has never happened before! Why now!?"
"What can I get you?" he said, beaming down at Nami. Sighing to herself, she looked through the menu before ordering.
"Well," he shrugged. "You do have new dresses. Maybe it's that?" After Nami had ordered Luffy spoke up, "And I'll have ..."
The man waltzed off, and Nami burst into laughter.
He frowned at her laughter at first, and pouted. He looked over at her and glared. "S'not funny," he muttered. Then his frown softened as he listened to Nami's laughter. It wasn't malicious. In fact, it was just laughter, free and uninhibited. The more he listened to it, the more he enjoyed it. Finally, he joined in with her laughter.
"Oye, oye!" she said, gasping for air as she laughed and waved at him a bit, "I'll make sure he gets it when he comes back!" she said, going into another bout of laughter.
"He better," laughed Luffy, "Or I'm pulling him back here."
She burst into more laughter then, slamming her hand down onto the table then and cried, "I could just see that!"
"Shishi, you better believe it," he said, and his sides shook with laughter.
After awhile, she calmed down and wiped the tears from her eyes with a deep, happy, and content sigh, "Mm, I haven't laughed like that in … a while ......" she said, but then her face suddenly flashed sadness and a bit of pain before she smiled nervously with a bit of a laugh, "I-It was funny though ...!"
"Yeah," he frowned at the nervous smile. "But he better take my order, I want my food," he pouted, but still with a bit of a smile, as he glanced over at Nami.
"I-I'll ... make sure ... that he does ..." she said before looking away and staring off to the side.
After awhile, the waiter came back with her food, "Here you go~!"
"Um ... you forgot to take his order ..." said Nami, pointing to Luffy.
"Oh ..." he suddenly said, pulling out his pad boredly, "I didn't forget ..." he said, glaring at Luffy jealously, "He just didn't look ready ..."
"Ah haha ..." laughed Nami nervously as her brow twitched.
Luffy's own brow twitched, but for a different reason. "You know," he said. "I don't tolerate rudeness. So just take the order and leave." Nami brought a knuckle to her lips to hide a smile. She hoped the poor man would just do it.
"Fine ... what'a ya want ...?" The man said, causing Nami to laugh nervously, knowing this would only piss Luffy off more. Feeling a bit responsible, she quickly leaned forward, clamping a hand over Luffy's mouth before he could speak, "Ahahaha ...! J-Just bring a few nice and juicy steaks for him, pretty please?" she said, batting her lashes at him.
"Right away~~!" he said, waltzing off again. Releasing a deep breath, she then sat back and rubbed her temple. This was getting troublesome.
Luffy glared after the departing waiter and then looked back at Nami. "Not so funny anymore," he muttered.
Her brow twitched as she smiled at him nervously with her eyes closed, "I'm sorry ..."
"Not your fault," he sighed, smiling at her, surprised she was actually apologizing to him. It actually made him feel good.
She scratched the back of her head and said, "W-Well ... technically ..." However, she didn't really have to finish that sentence.
"Nah," he insisted. "You're not controlling it ... Whatever it is ..."
"No ... I guess not ..." she said, placing her hands in her lap and looking down at her food. Though, she wasn't touching it.
"Don't worry," he said leaning his head to look up at her face. "Whatever it is, we'll figure it out, and maybe you'll learn how to control it."
She shrugged a bit, but then she perked up and said, "Yeah, I guess that's true! That would be nice!"
"Aah, sorry to keep you waiting, beautiful Goddess~! Here are the steaks that you requested!" The waiter said, placing a large plate on the table, full of juicy steaks, "And when I told the cook who you were, he said the meal was on the house~!"
Nami blinked wide eyes up at him and stuttered her thanks, "Ah ... th-thank you ..."
Luffy perked up and said, "Sweet," and reached for a steak. But otherwise, he ignored the waiter as he started inhaling the steaks. He ate them in one bite, sometimes taking two bites.
"Is there anything else I can get you, my lady~?" The waiter said, paying Luffy the same respects.
"Perhaps ... some wine?" replied Nami, giving him a wink.
"Right away!" he said, rushing off quickly.
"I could get used to this though ..." she said, giving another cute, but devious, little giggle.
Hearing the giggle, Luffy looked up at her, half a steak hanging out his mouth, which he quickly swallowed to reply, "Well," he snickered, flushing to the cute giggle, which still gave him an ominous shiver, "As long as they don't forget me, I'm enjoying it too."
She turned to smile at him, just in too great a mood to hate him at the moment, and she snickered with him. "Yeah, it's pretty great~! It definitely has its advantages! But ..." she said, looking away, "Is it really right?" She tilted her head.
"Mah," he waved a hand, dismissing the concern. "I've seen plenty of women using their beauty to get what they want. Nobody's forcing the people to do anything, so it's not really a problem."
"But ... it's different ... isn't it? If it really ... is magic ...? Though ... I never ... I didn't think ... I had any ... and ... I guess ... maybe I still don't ..." she said a little slowly and quietly, but then smiled when the waiter returned with a nice bottle of wine.
"Best the house has to offer~! Would you like a sample?" he asked, pulling out a glass and twirling it expertly with his fingers.
"Please?" she said with a larger smile. Pouring a small amount in a glass, he then handed it to her. Taking a sip, she then closed her eyes with a soft moan, "Mmm ... it's delicious ..."
The man's eyes seemed to grow more dazed as did a few men around them to this. "I-It's ... all yours ... then ..." he said, setting it down and walking away.
"Eh?" Nami questioned, confused then as she blinked at him and then turned to Luffy in her confusion.
Blinking at her with another shiver, Luffy then shook his head and shrugged. "You know, now I'm pretty sure it's magic. Maybe it's some kind of subconscious hypnosis?" He pulled out his pocket notebook and thumbed through it. After he didn't find what he wanted he closed the book and pocketed it. "Nothing in there. We'll need to find a library." He picked up another steak. "It's convenient, saving us money, but if you're worried, we should figure this out before taking any new jobs, I think."
"I-I guess so ..." she said, frowning as she looked at everyone around them. They seemed to be blinking out of whatever they were in. However, they didn't seem to even notice. Magic? Her? Did she really have magic abilities that she didn't know about?
Luffy finished the last steak and leaned back with a contented sigh. "Ah," he said. "That was good."
"Ah!" she said, blinking down at the table. She hadn't eaten a thing. Grabbing her fork, she then began to eat.
"So slow~" sighed Luffy, but still grinned at her.
She stuck her tongue out at him and said, "I was distracted!"
"Shishi," he scratched his upper lip. "You weren't the only one."
"Eh?" she asked, quirking a confused and curious brow at him, "What do you mean?"
"Every man in this place was distracted," he snickered. "Well ... except for me."
She pursed her lips in a small pout, but then she shrugged. "Yeah ... I guess so ..." she said before continuing to eat.
He stared at her pout, it really was cute. He continued to watch her eat, even that was cute. He blinked. Huh, he'd never noticed this about other women before. Perhaps it had something to do with what might be her dormant magical powers?
Pouring herself a full glass of the wine, she then drank it slowly with her eyes closed, "Mmm ..." she hummed deeply, "this really is good ..." Then she opened her eyes and smiled down at the glass.
Luffy looked at the glass, and then focused on Nami's lips. "Can I have some?" he asked after awhile.
She pursed her lips at him, coveting her glass and said, "It's mine ..."
"Stingy," he stuck his tongue out at her.
She stuck her tongue back out at him with her eyes closed, but she was smiling. Then she quirked her brow at him, and her smile was a bit slyer as she took a drink, possibly making her much more attractive. He blushed as he watched her drink. It was incredibly arousing, though it didn't make sense. She was only drinking wine, but nonetheless he found himself more interested in her than the wine she refused to share with him.
She chuckled deeply within her throat, still watching him as well. However, she was thinking he still wanted the wine and was teasing him. She had no idea she was the one affecting him. After awhile, she stood up, leaving the glass, but picking up the bottle and said, "Well, shall we then? No use sticking around here. Maybe we can take a tour~!" Turning to the exit, she then headed out without him.
"Uh ... sure. .." he said, getting up to follow to her and finding that he wanted nothing else but to do exactly that. His heart was beating faster, and he had to work hard to get it under control. This was really, really weird, and he thought, 'What is happening to me?'
Still holding the bottle, she brought it to her lips and took a drink as they walked while looking around, and then she asked, "I wonder what else they have here besides a dining hall?"
He watched her take a drink from the bottle, his eyes following the graceful curve of her neck as she leaned her head back. She'd just said something, but he hadn't noticed, still in a daze. "Huh?"
Blinking a bit, she then turned to look at him with a frown, "Aren't you paying attention!?"
"Huh? Wha? Oh, yeah, I'm paying attention," he shook his head, trying to focus.
Her brow quirked then as she looked at him, but then she just shrugged and kept going. "I was saying I wonder if they have anything else here besides a dining hall!" she exclaimed over her shoulder. "Making me repeat myself ..." she grumbled, still frowning a bit.
"Oh," he said and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, let's take a look around and see what we can find."
"Well, of course we are!" she said, turning to frown at him deeper, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Nothing, nothing," he said, and then an idea occurred to him, "Maybe it's just your magic starting to affect me." He gripped his hands together and adopted a similar expression as all the men from earlier.
Her lower lip stuck out further and her eyes narrowed more. "You're an idiot ..." she muttered before walking on.
"I'm just joking," he laughed, as he followed after her.
"Uh huh ..." she said, not bothering to turn to him again as she kept going. "Maybe I can ask someone ..."
"How about him?" Luffy pointed at a man wearing what looked like a similar uniform to the captain.
"Mm, yeah all right ..." she said, heading towards him. "E-Excuse me?" she called, giving a smile.
"Ah~!" The man suddenly said, not having to be looking at her, and then finally turned to her, "What can I do for you~!?"
"Um ... I was just wondering ... if there was anything to do on this ferry ... you know ... as entertainment?" she asked, smiling wider.
"Aah, we have a few things~ Nothing big~ There's a ballroom~! That is, if you care to dance~!"
"I do not ..." she suddenly said, taking a sip with a bored expression, "Oh well ... I guess back to the room it is then ..."
"Or we could mess with people some more," suggested Luffy, nonetheless heading back to the room. "Your power, or whatever it is, is more entertainment than anything this ship could provide."
She snorted loudly in amusement, "It is pretty entertaining, but that's kinda mean though, ain't it? I mean those waiters almost got into it ... Though," she started with a giggle, "it was flattering~! I wonder if I could catch me a nice and rich husband with it~!" she said. However, she wasn't exactly serious.
He frowned and shrugged, as if he didn't care either way. "Who knows? You'd have to be careful though, if you don't know how it works, and it wears off, you might find yourself in a bad situation." Why did the thought of her finding a husband annoy him so much? "And there are pretty strict laws against using magic for things like that."
She turned and pursed her lips at him, wondering why he was being snippy with her. "I was only joking ..." she said, and then turned with a snort, "You're no fun ..." she muttered before entering the room and plopping down on the chair near the window.
"I'm plenty of fun," he countered. "You just get mad at me when I try." He plopped down on the bed, and lay back so that he was leaning against the wall, while lying on the bed lengthwise.
She stuck her tongue at him and exclaimed, "That's 'cuz you're an idiot!"
He stuck his tongue right back out at her. "And you're stingy."
"Oh shut up!" she said with a huff as she turned away, "Now you've gone and ruined my good mood! Nothing less of an idiot like you!"
"Relax," he waved his hand, yawning. "Just think of this, you're halfway home, and you might even have a magic ability."
"Yes, I'm almost home, no thanks to you!" she said before her frown saddened a bit, "I'm almost free again ..." she whispered very quietly, swallowing the lump in her throat. That's right. She had no time to be in any good moods. For just a little bit, she had almost forgotten her situation.
"No thanks to me?" he muttered. "I earned most of the money." He crossed his arms and rolled to his side, sliding so that he was laying flat on the bed.
"Then why the hell won't you just let me go home now!?" she exclaimed, turning a deep frown on him, "My sister is probably really worried about me ..." she said quietly, looking back outside again.
"Don't you want money to help rebuild your town?" He twisted his head one hundred and eighty degrees without moving his body. "I've got the money I need, so if you don't want any to take back, feel free to leave. Just keep in mind that if you stick with me you'll be able to get the money much more easily." He let his neck snap back into place. "And I'll have a chance to research your ability if you stay," he muttered quietly so she wouldn't hear.
He was right ... She hadn't really thought about that. He had the money he needed. She could just go home if she wanted to. The money they'd earned here on the ferry had been enough. However, if she wanted to rebuild her town, she would be able to get that money if she stayed with him, "I could ... go home ..." she said quietly and softly, but loud enough for him to hear.
"If you want," he sighed. "But I'd rather you stayed." he said the last part softly.
She suddenly stood up. "Oh, I'm sure you would ..." she said, her voice sounding angry, "Seeing as I can get people to give us more ... men anyways ... I'm sure you liked that ... Or is it that you can finally sleep ...? You wouldn't have my breasts anymore to break your curse!" she said, grabbing both globes and pressing them together before storming for the door, "Maybe I should just go home ... I forgot how much I couldn't stand being around you for just a moment ... but I won't repeat that mistake ..." she said, opening the door and walking out, slamming the door behind her.
He stayed lying there, not sure if he could explain why he wanted her to stay. He looked out the window. They hadn't arrived yet, so he'd be able to talk to her later. For now, he decided to give her some time to herself.
Still fuming with anger, she just walked in no particular direction, and when any man came to close she would yell, "Piss off," which, they obeyed quickly.
xxxx
Luffy sat up and gathered their packs together as he felt the ship starting to dock. After he had everything, he went out to look for Nami on deck. He looked around for her, but he couldn't see her anywhere. So, he walked towards the front of the ship to get a better look. Once he reached the front he looked around, but no Nami. "Huh," he muttered. "Where did she go?"
Nami was at the back of the ship, the one empty bottle at her side, and her only companion as she rested her chin on her arms, which were folded between the rails where she sat. She had been there for a few hours, her anger having fled some time back. However, she wasn't ready to go back to where he was any time soon. However, when she saw that they were slowing down, she blinked and lifted her head to look to the front. Sighing, she stood up, dusting off her dress and picking up the empty bottle, and then she headed for the front of the ship.
"Oh ...... you're here ..." said Nami suddenly, when she was behind him after spotting him. Then she sighed, turning to go elsewhere.
"Nami, wait," Luffy reached out for her arm. "I'm sorry you hate me, but I enjoy having you around ... and at the very least I'd like to figure out what is making people react to you the way they do."
Blinking and looking down at the hand grasping her arm, she then looked up at him with a quick frown to his words. "Enjoy having me around? I bet you do ..." she seethed, yanking her arm away from his grasp, "I did let you touch my breast." she said sarcastically, though a few people looked her way in shock, a few men glaring at Luffy angrily. Though, it was probably the bottle of wine talking now, "And ... you're sorry I hate you? It's your own damned fault that I hate you ... You should be sorry ... you ... you ... fucking idiot!" she yelled with a huff before turning away from him a bit, "I gotta be around you when we land ... so, I'm going elsewhere until then ... I can't go back empty handed either ... I have to at least make it worth it for having to spend so much time in your ... company ..." she said as she kept walking away from him.
Luffy looked at the empty bottle of wine and asked, "Are you drunk?"
"Of course not!" she yelled over her shoulder, seeing as she was still walking away, "It's just making me speak the truth more openly!"
He turned away from her, clenching his jaw tightly. Perhaps he deserved that, but it still hurt. It hurt to the point where he had to suppress a violent reaction. It scared him how easily the thought to use his magic to make her do what he wanted came to him. He breathed heavily, confused between the dark, and the pain he felt welling up deep inside him. His arms started to shake, as he tried to find some way of channeling the negative emotions he was feeling, but they weren't like excess energy that he could just expend in a spell. These didn't want to leave him. The crew lowered the plank to the dock as the ship came to a halt and Luffy went to the exit, waiting for Nami to come.
Snorting a bit after she'd walked away, she then headed for the dining hall. She really needed another bottle of wine. She felt really horrible for some stupid and unknown reason, and it only pissed her off more. After procuring another bottle of wine, Nami then headed for the exit, seeing as the ferry had completely stopped. However, she wasn't looking forward to it in the least. She vaguely wondered if Luffy'd grabbed her things, and so she went back to the cabin to check. Not seeing it there, she shrugged, taking a deep swig of the wine before heading to the exit.
Luffy looked up when he felt Nami's presence. He didn't say anything, but started walking down the gangway. Her eyes narrowed when she saw him there, and seeing as he didn't have anything to say, she wasn't about to break the silence, and thus followed him off the ferry. Once they were on the ground, Luffy took a deep, shaky breath, and said, "We should find someplace to sleep. And then we'll go to the library."
"Fine ..." she said, one hand on her hip as she took another drink. She hoped they hurried with the horse.
To Be Continued …
Authors' Note:
Darth: Dammit all! We're never getting to the smex are we?
Con: *Picks nose* Who says I'll be giving you smex? ¬.¬
Darth: Hey, I read your stuff.
Con: *Snickers* X3 Who says I wanna put out for you though?
Darth: Hrmph...should show them the superhero RP.
Con: Aww, hell ... that's right ... I have put out for you before ... Must not have been memorable enough ... Hmm ... Well, who says I would put out for you again? XD
Darth: Damn. You tease!
Con: *Snorts into laughter* Anyways, we hope you guys enjoyed the chapter~! See you next time~! ;)