Authors' Notes:
Con: This chapter took FOREVER TO EDIT! D:
Darth: And yet, somehow it's up sooner than the last one
Con:... Don't make me hurt you... D: I had REASONS as to why it took so long... ~.~ I was busy... ~.~
Darth: Busy, sure.
Con: I have been! D: You know, writing a book! D: Well, more like editing it... ~.~
Darth: Well, I've been busy being a productive member of society…well almost. I work in customer services. Sigh, that's no life.
Con: Nope, it's a job. o.o Mines a job too, only better. X)
Darth: Well, at least I have money now. For the first time in my life.
Con: -.- Not like I won't get any for my hard work. X( Anyways, enough chit chat. xD Hope you guys enjoy this chapter... ~.~
Darth: Quite.
Charmed
Chapter 13: They Bicker Endlessly
Luffy moaned in his sleep, burying his face further into Nami's neck. Stirring a bit from the movement and noise, Nami blinked her eyes opened and stiffened. There was a number of things she felt, that she was about to freak out about. First of all, he was spooning her, and as she could most definitely feel, quite closely. His leg was between hers, and his hand was on her bared thigh, close to her hip with her nightdress ridden all the way up to her hip. Then he had another arm under her, wrapped around to the other side and gripping her breast. Then, there was also the fact that his face was buried deep within the back of her neck. She could feel his hot breath against her skin.
However, instead of freaking, she just sighed and relaxed. 'Oh, fuck it...' No matter how many times they woke up, something happened. It just happened. She just didn't give a shit anymore. It's not like either of them did it on purpose... at least... she didn't think he did ...
Luffy's eyes blinked open, and he gasped when he became aware of their position. He jerked, trying to pull away from her, but finding parts of him trapped. Sighing deeply again, Nami just turned to glare at him for disturbing her. She'd been trying to go back to sleep.
Luffy misunderstood her glare. "Sorry... I didn't... mean to be in that position."
"I'm trying to go back to sleep. So, shut up," she said, turning back around and closing her eyes.
"Oh," he said and blinked, "sorry..." He laid himself back down and closed his eyes, moving his limbs from anywhere offensive.
Though, he kept a slight contact with her breast. He still needed sleep, and judging by the lack of light shining through the window, it was still late. Sighing again, she relaxed back and squirmed a bit for better comfort, causing her rear to press into his front and her breast more into his hand. He tensed, but when she didn't move in a threatening way, he relaxed and just decided to enjoy the feel of her body against his.
xxxx
When the sun hit her face, Nami blinked a bit, realizing that she'd turned around in her sleep, and her front was now pressed into his, and her face buried into his neck, she had also wrapped a leg around him, and was now beginning to wonder just how the hell she brought herself to these positions in her sleep...
Luffy groaned in his sleep, and slightly tightened his arms around Nami. Pursing her lips a bit, she moved away from him, or tried to, before pressing a hand into his face and said, "Oi... leggo... I'm ready to wake up now."
He groaned and opened his eyes. He lifted his hand to pull Nami's hand out of his face. "Good morning to you too," he muttered and yawned.
"Just leggo already," she said, removing his other arm before sitting up and dropping her legs off the bed. Then she lifted her arms up into the air and stretched.
Luffy yawned again, sat up, stretched, and winced. His injuries were still hurting, but on the other hand, he glanced over at Nami. He could see her breasts, even from behind her back, the way she was stretching. After awhile, she finally stood up and walked over to get dressed. "I need a bath," she muttered, more to herself, but mainly because she had an audience.
Luffy tried to climb out of bed, but found he didn't have the strength. "I," he sighed, "I think I'll stay in bed for a little longer." He leaned back into bed, staring up at the ceiling. His stomach growled, and he really wished he could get out of bed to get some food.
Looking up at him with a frown, she just nodded before heading into the private bathroom. She removed her nightgown then, setting a few pairs of dirty underwear to soak in the sink before filling the tub for her bath. She hadn't worn any, since most of them were dirty, and her leather pants were too tight anyway. She normally only wore underwear with her skirts and nightdress. She would just have to deal without any underwear until they dried.
After she had washed herself and her hair, Nami stood up in the tub, the water sloshing as she wrung it from her hair. Then she grabbed a towel to dry herself with. Choosing a new outfit, another pair of leather pants and bodice that showed off her flat stomach, but instead in a dark blue-ish color, she then braided her hair, wrung out her now clean underwear and walked out of the bathroom.
"Did you want to try and bathe?" she asked him without looking at him. "Might help your wounds to soak in hot water."
"Sounds like a good idea," Luffy replied, trying to get up and succeeded in getting his legs over the side of the bed. He tried to stand up, but flopped back down onto the bed. "Little help, please?"
She snorted softly before going over to grab his hands and help him to his feet. Then she wrapped one of his arms around her neck and her own around him to help him towards the bathroom. Once inside, she set him down onto the toilet before running the water for him.
A blush flared into existence on Luffy's face when he got an excellent view down Nami's top and again down her pants. She wasn't wearing underwear again. He tried desperately to keep any physical reactions under control to that thought as she started filling the tub. Once it was full, she then helped him back to his feet before turning to leave. "I'll wait for you. If you need help, which I really hope you don't, I'll help you," she muttered a little disgruntledly before leaving and closing the door behind her.
"'Kay," Luffy said as he walked over to the bathtub, stumbled, bashed his shins against the side and landed face first in the tub.
Jolting straight up, Nami quickly turned to the loud noise before frowning and going to the door to knock. "Luffy? You all right in there?"
Luffy just managed to pull his head out of the water. "No—" His hands slipped, causing his head to fall back under water and the rest of his sentence to come out as air bubbles.
Her eyes widened slightly, and she quickly went in and gasped. "Luffy!" she cried, quickly pulling him out of the water. "Are you all right!?"
He coughed, spitting up water. "Not really..."
She frowned a little softer, but then smiled, not being able to help the bit of laughter that escaped her lips. "I see," she said and then helped him to the toilet to sit him down again. "Well, I... I guess I could help," she said, flushing a bit. "Think you could at least get your pants off? We could put soap into the bath, so I don't have to look at you, and wrap a towel around you to get you into the tub. We could use the one I just used, so it doesn't matter if it gets wet."
"Yeah, I can do that," Luffy said, starting to take his pants off. Once he'd done so, he took the towel and wrapped it around his lower body.
While he did that, Nami poured soap into the water and began to stir it to make it bubble up. "You ready?" she asked, her face hot with a blush.
"Yeah," he said, his face flushed at being practically naked around Nami, especially considering that she wasn't wearing any underwear.
Turning around then, flushing a little darker, she then went to him to help him up and into the tub, "Just go nice and slow, okay?"
"Okay," Luffy said and walked over to the tub with Nami's help. When he started to climb in he slipped, he let go of his towel to catch himself on the side. As he lowered into the water, the towel came undone and floated away. "Ah..."
Nami's face erupted into a deep blush, but she quickly averted her eyes and helped him lower himself into the tub while clearing her throat. After he was in, she grabbed the towel, still beet red and wrung it out before hanging it to dry.
"Thanks, Nami," he said and sighed, leaning back in the water. His body still needed water. The warm water was perfect, soaking into his body and soothing his bruises. "Thirsty," he muttered.
"Mm, I'll go get you some water then. You'll be okay now, right?" she asked, frowning down at him.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," he said as he shifted a little. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," she muttered, her voice a little softer than usually as she turned and left to get his cup to refill. When she was gone, Luffy closed his eyes and sighed contentedly. Then he started whistling a tune that randomly came to mind.
Grabbing the cup, she couldn't help the smile that formed from hearing his whistling and then she knocked on the door. "Luffy?"
"Yeah?" he said, stopping his whistling.
"Can I come back in? I have your cup," she called through the door, her cheeks flushing again.
"Sure," he replied and smiled.
Clearing her throat and trying to get rid of the smile, she then opened the door, looking towards him and his wet, muscled chest, before lowering her gaze and closing the door again. Going to the sink, she turned it on to fill the cup and then took it over to him.
"Thanks," he said, but then blinked and smiled. He didn't know why she was being so nice, but he appreciated it and was grateful. He took the cup from her and drank from it.
Blinking a bit, her eyes wandering a bit while he was distracted, she flushed a little harder before sitting and waiting to see if he wanted more.
"More please?" He held out the cup after he'd emptied it.
"Right," she said, focusing her eyes on the cup before filling it again.
Luffy took the cup again and drained it, handing it back to her. "Thanks," he said and smiled at her. "I think I'm almost done. Then we can get food."
"All right," she said, standing up. "I hope you can... wash yourself, right?" she asked, frowning a little nervously.
"Yeah," he said, starting to feel better. "Just don't let me slip and drown." He picked up the soap, lathered it up, and started rubbing it over his body.
Clearing her throat, she quickly looked away with a deeper flush and muttered, "R-Right..."
He rubbed his hair with the soap. Then he tried to lower himself into the water, but then paused. "Ah," he looked over at Nami, "could... could you help me with this?"
Biting her lip, she stood up, a bit stiffly before going to the tub. She was beginning to think he was enjoying this, but she asked, "What do you need?"
"Help me back up after I rinse off?"
"Yeah, okay. Just... give me your hand when you're ready to come back up," she said with a nod.
"'Kay," he said and slid under the water all the way to get his hair rinsed off. Holding his breath, he scrubbed the soap out of his hair. When he was done, he held his hand up out of the water, which she took immediately and pulled him back up. He coughed a little and wiped the water from his face and eyes. "Thanks," he said to Nami, wiping hair out of his face.
"Y-You're welcome..." Was it just her... or did he look nice with wet hair?
Luffy started pushing himself up, and then looked up at Nami. "Help?"
Biting her lip, she quickly turned to grab a towel before reaching down to pull him up and out of the water, quickly handing him the towel to cover himself with and averted her eyes. Luffy grabbed the towel, quickly wrapping it around himself, and then he said, "Just help me back to the bed. I should be able to dress myself."
"Okay," she said, quickly grabbing his pants, and then wrapping an arm around him. She flushed from touching his bare flesh, took him to seat him onto the bed and then turned around.
"Thanks," Luffy said and started putting on his clothes. As he put his shirt on, he rubbed his hands over where her bare skin had been touching his. He wouldn't mind feeling more of that... Wait, what?
"Are you done yet?" she asked, fidgeting a bit. It was a little unnerving to have him undressed around her for so long.
"Yeah," he said, leaving his robe off. "Let's get some food."
She nodded her head, turned back to him and wrapped her arm back around him to help him out and down the stairs, where the rest of the group was. "Ah, Nami-san, Luffy-san, good morning," Vivi called, giving a small smile to them.
"Ah, morning," Nami called with her own slight smile.
"You better have kept your hands to yourself, boy!" Gen cried, glaring at Luffy.
Nami's cheeks flared a bit, recalling she'd just helped him bathe, and then she said, "Everything was fine, Gen-san."
"I can barely move my hands," Luffy said and lifted his hands just barely, which flopped to the side. "See?"
Robin looked up from the tea she was drinking and said, "I was surprised it was so quiet in your room this morning."
"Yeah, well," Nami started, hoping no one noticed Luffy's wet hair... seeing as he just mentioned he couldn't move his hands and then she muttered, "Whatever..."
"Ooh, food!" Luffy called, when noticed the food the others were eating.
Pursing her lips, Nami sat him down before taking her own seat to eat as well. As Luffy started eating anything in sight, he started to noticeably regain strength. "Perhaps we need some more food," Robin said to a passing maid.
"Ah, yes, of course!" she said before scurrying off.
"Save some for me, idiot!" Nami said, smacking his hand, when it came close to a dish near her.
"Oww," he muttered through his full mouth, and kept grabbing food, keeping away from Nami's section.
Everyone just watched them. However, Nami was too busy making sure he didn't take her food as she also ate. "Glad to see you're back to normal, Mage-kun," Robin said and smiled, leaning her cheek in the palm of her hand.
"Mmh," he mumbled, but kept eating.
Nami snorted, but kept her head lowered to hide the slight flush on her cheeks. "How'd you sleep," Nojiko asked Nami, glaring at Luffy.
"I... slept all right. Only woke up... once," she said, trying hard not to blush.
"Oh?" Nojiko frowned. "What happened that one time?"
Nami shrugged and muttered, "Nothing..."
"Really..." Nojiko said and smirked.
"Yes, really," Nami replied, looking up to frown at her sister.
Nojiko shrugged. "If you say so," she said and went back to glaring at Luffy again, who ignored her.
"I do say so!" Nami huffed, and then continued to eat, and Gen just frowned deeply at the girls, Vivi fidgeting slightly as she looked between them all. "Anyways, has anyone checked on Zoro yet?"
"Ee," Robin said, "I checked on him this morning before coming down for breakfast."
"Is he doing better then?" Nami asked, looking up to frown at Robin.
"He was still asleep, but he looks like he's recovering," Robin replied with a smile.
Nami breathed a sigh of relief as she went back to eating and said, "That's good."
"He seems very tough," Robin said and even shrugged. "I don't think something like that could take him down." She stared into her tea.
Nami blinked at Robin then and then slowly said, "I... I see..." Then she cleared her throat with a smile and looked back down to eat. What was that supposed to mean?
After a while, the maid brought back more food, most of which got eaten by Luffy. Nami had eaten her fill, and so wiped her mouth with a napkin, and then set it down. Then she poured herself some more coffee and mixed in sugar and milk. Looking up to the others, she took a sip of her coffee and then said, "Well, I should check his wounds again after breakfast. Yours too, Luffy."
"Sounds good," Luffy said, finishing the food. He leaned back and patted his stomach. "Ah, that was good."
"Mm," Nami hummed before getting up. "Well, let's go check on Zoro first," she said, moving over to his side of the table to help him up.
"'Kay," he replied, leaning on her heavily as she helped him up and then up the stairs. Robin stood up as well, having finished her tea.
Nami headed to Zoro's room with Luffy and opened the door. She helped Luffy in and sat him down before looking over to the still sleeping man and muttered, "He can really sleep."
"I know," Robin said, coming in behind her. "He didn't wake up when I was in here earlier."
"Ah!" Nami jumped a bit surprise, not having expected the woman to follow. "Aah, well," she said, looking over at Zoro. "I better check his injuries then."
"Of course," Robin said, watching Nami check Zoro's injuries.
Going over to Zoro, Nami started to unwrap the bandages and check over the cuts and muttered, "Maybe I should have stitched some of these."
Luffy blanched and asked, "Stitch?"
"Some of these cuts are really deep," Nami said before reaching up to place the back of her hand to his forehead, "and he has a bit of a fever."
"How bad is the fever?" Robin asked.
Nami frowned and said, "He's fairly hot. May need to bathe him with cool water."
Yes, thought Robin, hot... "I can do that," Robin said and stood up to get some water from the bathroom. "You check the rest of his injuries."
Looking up at Robin, Nami blinked a bit before smiling and turning to whisper to Luffy, "I think she likes him." Then she looked back down to check over Zoro's other injuries.
"Eh?" Luffy blinked. "Really?" He looked where Robin had gone, and then down at Zoro. "Well, I guess that makes sense .He's strong looking... Girls like that, right?"
"Mm, yeah, I guess we do," Nami said, smiling as she worked over Zoro. "He really isn't too bad looking."
"Hmph," Luffy huffed, suddenly feeling grumpy. "He's always frowning."
Quirking her brow with a slight smile, she then looked over at him and said, "Not popular with the ladies much, huh? Is your little princess your first admirer?"
He stuck his tongue out at her. "She's not my princess," he muttered and harrumphed.
"Mm, hmm~!" she hummed, looking away from him and back to Zoro. "He has nice muscles too."
"Hmph," Luffy muttered. "They're just bigger. I can change the size of mine..."
"Could you now?" Nami asked with a giggle. "That wouldn't be natural though~! His are all natural~!" she said, giving him a wink.
"So? He's older than me, only difference," he growled and glared back at her.
"So, are you gonna look like this when you're older, Luffy?" she asked, smirking at him slyly, which made her look sexier.
"Maybe," Luffy said and flushed, feeling the room heat up. "Bulky muscles get in the way. I'm strong even without them, and a lot more flexible." He smirked.
She blinked at the flexible remark before frowning and looked away with a huff, but not before she flushed. "I see..."
Robin finally came out of the bathroom, carrying a cloth and pot of water. "Ah, Robin, I've just finished. After he's cleaned up, we'll need to stitch some of these wounds," Nami said, smiling up at her.
"Of course," Robin replied as she sat down on the side of the bed and started washing Zoro.
Nami smiled a little wider and sat back to watch. "Don't need any help?" she asked, giving a sideways glance towards Luffy.
Luffy snorted and turned away. "I'll be all right," Robin said, and then she finished up, glancing below his belt line for only a moment before setting the cloth aside.
"Ah, you know, he had a few injuries on his legs," Nami said, frowning down below. "I did check all over. Some of those might need stitching too."
"Right," Robin said, wiping down the legs. "Do you have thread?"
"Mm, yeah ..." she said, leaving the room for a moment, but then came back with a needle and thread as well as more bandages.
Robin set the cloth aside again and said, "How many of them need stitching?"
"Let's see," Nami said, reaching up and pointing to one on his arm, "This one here," then on his chest, "this one here," then one on his stomach, "this nasty one here," then another on his other arm, "here ..." and then two on his legs, "and these two here. I brought an extra needle. We can use this to disinfect them," she said, holding up some stuff Luffy had.
Robin nodded. "Okay," she said and took the other needle and some thread. "I'll start with the one on his chest."
"All right, then I will get his legs," Nami muttered, concentrating on the needle and thread in her hands. She disinfected the needle before jabbing it into the man's flesh, who didn't even flinch before sewing him up.
Robin slowly trailed her fingers along the edges of the cuts before starting to sew the flesh together. One of the cuts was particularly deep, so she had to sew inside before sealing the cut. Robin finished with the one on his chest, and then moved to the one on his stomach. Once she finished that one, trailing her fingers over his abs, she went to the last one on his arm.
After Nami had sewn the two deep, but small cuts on his legs, she then moved to his other side to start on the gash on his arm. Nami glanced over and happened to Robin do this, her cheeks flushing and a small smile forming. So, she really did like the man. That was interesting.
Once Robin had finished sewing the cut up, she set the needle aside, and looked down at the sleeping man. Nami finished the other cut on his arm before sitting back with a smile. "All done! Now, just got to apply more ointment and bandage him up, and then we can leave the man to his sleep."
"I can take care of that," Robin said, reaching for the bandages. "You check out Mage-kun's injuries."
Nami blinked at her, but then smiled quickly and knowingly before taking a glob of the ointment. "All right," she said before getting up to go to Luffy with a bit of a frown and said, "Strip."
Luffy glanced over at Robin. "In here?"
She pursed her lips, turning red and said, "Just your robes and shirt, you pervert!"
"Fine," Luffy muttered, but then stripped his robe and shirt.
"What's the difference anyways!? You came waltzing out without a shirt to eat breakfast the other day! Why would you have a problem in front of Robin, but not with me!? Not sure I feel comfortable about that..." she muttered, turning an even brighter red, when she remembered he'd had far less on, less than an hour ago.
Luffy flushed and muttered, "Fine, fine."
Giving a heavy purse to her lips, she then set to work, rubbing in the ointment into his wounds. Luffy hummed when she started rubbing his wounds. They didn't hurt as much, and it actually felt pretty good. "What're you hummin' about ...?" She muttered, still quite irritated.
"Huh? Nothing, sorry," he said and just looked away. She snorted then, but her cheeks reddened a bit more as she started working on the cuts on his chest. "Aah," he winced. It stung, but kinda in a good way.
"Don't be such a baby!" she said, rubbing it in a little harder.
"Ow!" he cried and glared at her. "Don't do that!"
"Do what? This!?" she said, rubbing it in harder.
"OW!" He swatted at her hands. "Knock it off!"
She stuck her tongue out at him and said, "You're such a baby!"
He stuck his tongue back at her. "And you're mean!"
"Yeah, well you're stupid!" she said, stomping her foot down onto the floor. Hearing the bickering, Gen blinked before looking over at Nojiko as they walked down the hall.
"And you're bossy," he said and rubbed his sore cuts. Robin glanced over at the bickering pair and laughed.
"You're a jerk!" she said, going to his back to roughly rub in the ointment there.
You're an emphmagi!" He said and hunched his shoulders.
"What the hell is that!?" she yelled, giving him a good pop on the back. "What're you calling me, you asshole!?"
Gen blinked, watching the two in the door way with Nojiko beside him. Nojiko frowned. They definitely weren't acting like kidnapper and kidnappee. "It means your emotions run your magic," he muttered.
"Yeah? Well, maybe it was your stupidity that was gimping your magic, and you're only getting better, because you're around someone who is smarter than you! I'm sure it doesn't take much!" She said, wrapping the bandages around him tightly, and ignoring the rumble of thunder outside.
"What does that even mean?" He frowned. "For your information I've got plenty of power. And it's not because you're smarter, it's because you break the curse."
"Well, maybe I can break the curse because I'm smarter than an idiot like you! You don't even know why I break your stupid curse!" she yelled back, finishing with the bandages. "Now put your clothes back on, you stupid pervert!"
"What the hell with all the yelling ...? Can't a man sleep ...?" Zoro blinked his eyes opened, but looked a little confused when all he could see were large breasts above him.
"Oh, you're awake," Robin said, the owner of the large breasts.
Luffy glanced over at Zoro as he put his clothes back on. "Hey Zoro."
"So ... we won, right ...?" Zoro asked, averting his eyes away from the large breasts with a flush.
"Yes," Robin said and smiled to him. "We won. Got a good bounty for the man Mage-kun defeated, as well as the one you defeated."
"Great... Now and I can go back to sleep... so quit making so much noise," Zoro muttered, closing his eyes to go back to sleep.
"Of course," Robin said stood up, ushering the other two out of the room. "Perhaps it is best to finish up in your own room."
"I'm already done with the idiot!" Nami exclaimed as Zoro's door was closed, and he relaxed back with a sigh.
"Stop calling me an idiot," Luffy muttered, glaring at Nami as the door closed behind them.
"Why? It's what you are, you idiot ..." Nami said glowered back, glaring him down right in return.
Gen sighed, not sure he liked this either. Couldn't they just go home already? Nojiko sighed. She really wanted to go home, but what interested her even more was trying to figure out the relationship between her sister and her kidnapper.
"And you're stingy," Luffy said, pulling his bottom eye lid down and sticking his tongue out at her. "That's worse than being an idiot."
"How is that worse!? You're just proving how much of an idiot you are with that nonsense!" Nami said, whacking him over the head.
"Being an idiot is something you can't help," he said and jabbed his finger at her chest, near her shoulder. "Being stingy is something you can help. It's a lot easier to stop being stingy, than it is to stop being an idiot. And yet, here we are, you think I'm an idiot, and yet you're still stingy."
"You are an idiot, and you just admitted to it! You're... an idiot! And if you touch my chest again, I will break your finger!" Nami exclaimed with a scowl and slapped his hand away.
"You're just ignoring my argument, because you can't refute it," he said glared at her. "And that was your shoulder, not your chest. Not to mention," he grabbed his finger and bent it backwards, it sprung back into shape. "You're welcome to try all you want."
"That's disgusting! You're disgusting! I don't have to refute anything! I don't like to share, fine! But it doesn't change the fact that you are the dumbest person I have ever met!" she yelled back, jabbing his chest this time.
Luffy laughed and said, "You haven't met very many people. Trust me, there are people that even I know are idiots."
"And yet again, you admit to your stupidity," she said with a satisfied smirk as she walked on.
"So?" He followed along behind her. "If there's fighting that needs doing, I'll do it. If there's thinking that needs doing, I'll find someone better at thinking to do it."
"You're not even that good at the fighting. You almost got yourself killed yesterday, and you can't go without destroying towns!" She yelled over her shoulder.
"Might I remind you that he completely drained all the liquid in my body, after having beat me before, and that I managed to beat him still, even after only just having recovered from all that?"
"Okay, so you're stubborn too ..." She shrugged her shoulders, "You're just... lucky that I happened to make it rain," she said, wondering still how she'd managed that.
"And thank you for that," Luffy said, releasing his breath. "I wouldn't have been able to beat him if you hadn't." Though, he admitted to himself, he was doing pretty good with the blood on his hands, but he didn't tell her that.
"You're welcome," she huffed before stopping at their door. "We should pack and take Vivi back to Mariejioie."
"Yeah," Luffy said, "we should probably head back to the last town, see if we can pick up the rest of the convoy." He thought for a moment. "Speaking of which, why haven't they followed us?"
"That's a good question. Maybe they trust us with the task," Nami replied with a shrug.
"I hope that's it," Luffy said, since the only other possibility was that they were dead, which he hoped they weren't, especially since they didn't know what to do with Vivi without Igaram.
"Well, regardless, we need to get back. Let's gather our things and head back. We should rent a carriage for Zoro. He's pretty beat to shit. Not sure he can stay on a horse," Nami said, beginning to gather her things, which wasn't much.
"Yeah, maybe your friend and blondie can carry him to it. I'd help, but I might drop him," Luffy said with a nod. His belongings were even sparser, only really having his bag.
"Right, I guess they could," Nami said, lifting up her bag and heading for the door. Luffy strapped his bag around his shoulder, and followed Nami out of the room. "Let's go rent that cart first, and then come back for Zoro and the others," Nami said, suddenly smiling at Merry. "Good morning, Merry~! Did you sleep well?" she asked, petting over his nose and giving him a kiss before attaching her pack to his saddle.
Luffy frowned at the horse, which snickered back at him, nuzzling at Nami's head He then went and climbed onto the horse, after attaching his bags to the saddlebag like Nami's. "Stupid horse," he muttered to Merry, who snorted back at him and shifted.
Nami then pulled herself up behind Luffy with a sigh, not even noticing the exchange, and then she said, "Let's hurry ..."
"Sure," Luffy urged Merry forward, and they managed to find a place to rent a carriage, though it took some time.
They parked the cart that Merry was pulling, and Nami went inside to gather everyone up so they could go, while Luffy waited outside with Merry. Not too long after, they all came out, Nami having asked Gen and Sanji to carry Zoro out. Vivi climbed into the back of the carriage, laying out some blankets they'd purchased from the inn, and then they laid Zoro down. Then Nami climbed up behind Luffy again, with his help, as the others found their horses, and Vivi remained in the cart with Zoro. Robin finally came out, following the others, and climbed onto Zoro's horse, riding beside the cart as they departed.
Gen leaned over towards Nojiko and whispered, "There's plenty 'o room in that cart. Why's she ridden with that brat?"
"I don't... know," Nojiko replied and frowned. "Maybe she's just gotten used to it?"
Gen snorted loudly to that, making Nami turn and frown at him a bit, and then she asked, "What?"
"Why're you ridin' with the brat?" Gen asked bluntly and unabashedly.
"E-Eh?" Nami questioned with a blink before turning to look at Luffy's back and then back at Gen. "I-I dunno. I ... didn't really think about it," she said, her cheeks flushing slightly. She really hadn't thought about it, but now that she was ...
Luffy turned around to stare at the scarred man, then he looked down at Nami. "Probably because she likes Merry," he suggested.
She beamed suddenly, "I do like Merry~!" she said, petting Merry's back. "He's sucha good boy~! Unlike his master ..."
Luffy stuck his tongue out at her, and turned back around to keep his eyes on the road. Merry, on the other hand, gave a happy neigh and began to strut with a jaunty trot. This made Luffy growl and hiss, "Stupid horse!"
Nami stuck her tongue back at him and said, "So immature." Such a hypocrite ...
"Look who's talking," Luffy said and rolled his eyes.
"You started it!" Really mature ...
Gen rolled his eyes. What the hell ...?
Nojko didn't know whether to laugh or not.
"You're the one who insulted me first."
"Because you're the idiot that destroyed my town!"
"You're the one that hired me in the first place."
"I didn't realize you would be an idiot, who would destroy my whole town!"
"You hired me to take out a relatively powerful sorcerer. Of course, there was going to be some collateral damage. It's almost impossible to avoid!"
"You could have led him away somehow!"
Gen looked over at Robin and Zoro and saked, "Do they always do this?"
"Yes..." Zoro muttered, "and I just met them yesterday ..."
"I tried to! But he kept pushing me back towards the village!"
Robin laughed and said, "I've known them for a few days more. They are quite passionate about their arguments."
Sanji frowned and cried, "Oi! Shitty kidnapper, leave Nami-san alone."
Nami turned and beamed at Sanji. "Why, thank you, Sanji-kun~! That's very kind of you to care~!"
"Passionate?" Gen asked in emphasis of the word with a deep frown.
"Oh yes," Robin smiled mysteriously.
"Shut up you," Luffy said and flipped Sanji off.
Sanji's eyebrow twitched. "Why you..."
Nami shoved Luffy and said, "What're you getting all upset about!? He's just looking out for me, because you're an ass!"
"You can take care of yourself," he muttered. "It's none of his business."
"None of my business, you shitty..." Sanji muttered with a scowl.
Nami blinked at his back, not being able to help the flush that crept up her cheeks. He really thought she could take care of herself?
Gen's brow quirked exceptionally high to this. This didn't look good at all. "Mmm," he growled in displeasure.
Trying to set that aside, Nami then just forced a frown and said, "W-W-Well, he can defend me, if he wants to! I don't mind at all! It feels nice to be defended once in a while ... even if I can take care of myself!" she said with a nod and a huff. Though, on more than one occasion, Luffy had done just that for her. Not to mention, his saying she could take care of herself was sort of the same thing, but she would not admit to that.
"Well," Luffy said, if that's what you want, there's more than enough people here that can do exactly that." Like me, he thought to himself and huffed.
Sanji frowned. There was something very odd going on between those two.
"You're right! There are! Like Gen-san and my sister too!" she said, sticking her nose up in the air. "And all against you!"
"Hah!" Luffy laughed. "I'd love to see them try. The only one who could possibly take me is lying in that cart behind us."
"Leave me out of this," Zoro muttered with a yawn.
Nami smacked the back of Luffy's head and said, "I didn't mean in a fight, you moron!"
"Then what are they supposed to do?" Luffy said and frowned. "Besides, I've got Robin and Vivi on my side."
Robin laughed and said, "I would also like to be left out of this."
Vivi laughed nervously and muttered, "I-I can't ... really do much ... um .." Her cheeks were outrageously red.
"Ha! See!? You've got no one! Sanji-kun is on my side too, right~?" Nami said, turning to smile at him flirtatiously with a wink.
"Yes~ Nami-swan!" Sanji cooed, and somehow, he managed to twirl on top of his horse.
"I think we're just talking about who likes who in our group right now," Luffy told Vivi, ignoring Nami.
Vivi flushed harder, looking town and stammering in her speech, "I-I ... we-well ..."
Nami turned around, a strange blue aura around her as she gave the girl a cold glare. "Ee!" she screeched, grabbing a hold of Zoro in fear for her life.
Zoro hissed to the poor girl grabbing a hold of him, but then released a high pitched whistle as he smirked towards the two.
Robin chuckled and patted the girl's arm from atop her horse. "Don't worry, she won't hurt you."
"Oi," Luffy called and looked over his shoulder. "Let her answer on her own, stop cheating. Cheater!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about~!" Nami said sweetly, and she even smiled sweetly at him.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Liar."
She put a hand to her cheek and said, "Oooh, I'm sorry~! I didn't mean to scare your precious little princess~!"
Vivi's face erupted into a darker blush all across her face and muttered, "H-His...?"
"She's not my Princess," he muttered. "Stop saying it like she belongs to someone."
Vivi lost some of her blush then as she stared down at the cart. She was not sure how that made her feel.
"Ooh, I'm sorry~! Does that bother you?" Nami said, poking his cheek.
"Doesn't bother me," he lied. "But it's probably bothering her, so knock it off."
"Ooh, suddenly so mature~! You're such a liar," She said, poking his cheek more.
Vivi remained silent, however, still not sure what she was feeling. He had sounded almost cold. It didn't matter anyways. They were going to drop her off, and never see her again. She was just a job to him...
"Oh, be quiet," he muttered. "I can be mature when I need to be."
Robin glanced over at Vivi. "I'm sure he didn't mean it the way it sounded," she whispered, leaning down. "People say things they may not mean in the heat of an argument."
Looking up at her, her eyes glossy, Vivi then smiled with a nod. "Yes, of course ..." she replied back with a soft chuckle. Still ...
"I'm sure, that he'll appreciate it, if you're his friend for now," Robin said and smiled more brightly to her.
Vivi smiled and nodded. "Yes, of course." Taking a deep breath, she then said, using a great amount of courage, "I think Luffy-san is very mature. And I think he's very kind."
Nami stiffened then, her entire back going ridged. Perhaps not quite what Robin had in mind... Nami then turned slightly to peer at the girl over her shoulder with a deep frown, "Sure, but then you don't know him very well at all, now do you?"
Vivi frowned back, but didn't say anything more. She didn't want to lose to the orange haired woman, even if she didn't have magic of her own. She was always so mean to the man, and he didn't seem at all like the orange haired woman described him as.
Luffy frowned. Why was he hearing cats hissing? "Thank you, Vivi," he glared at Nami over his shoulder. "It's nice to know there's someone here, who knows how to be polite."
"Yes, of course, because you know nothing of the sort," she said, glaring back. "If only she knew the truth about y-"
"I do know the truth!" Vivi suddenly said, "Your sister told me. That he kidnapped you, but you don't look like someone, who's been kidnapped at all! And Luffy-san doesn't look at all like someone who would kidnap anyone! At least, not without good reason! And he didn't hurt you at all!"
Nami blinked, turning to gape at the girl before just frowning. "Well, he did kidnap me! And he's anything but kind! He's an idiot! And I have to deal with him every damn day, and every damn night! So don't you act like you know everything there is to know about him!"
Zoro released another high pitched whistle, looking between the two. Though, he was quite entertained as he had his arms folded behind his head.
Gen cleared his throat, bringing a fist to his lips. He didn't like this one bit...
Luffy wished he could get off the horse. "Next time I'm just bringing an enforcer from the guild to deal with clients that refuse to pay. So much less of a hassle."
"You shut up!" she said, punching his back. "It's your own damned fault, asshole!"
"You shouldn't speak to him that way! You do seem like a lot of trouble!"
"You be quiet too!"
"Oye, oye, oye... Let's have a moment of silence, shall we?" Gen said, wanting to quail the girls' tempers.
"Yes please. Besides, we've almost got the money, then you can be rid of me forever...after we figure your abilities out, so until then can we please be civil?" Luffy asked with a look of irritation, though he remained facing forward.
"Yes! I rejoice at that fact! I won't have to deal with your shit anymore! Maybe I should just go home and let you cry every time you can't get to sleep!" Nami said, smirking at him nastily.
"And then when I die of sleep deprivation I'll haunt you, forever." He smirked back at her. "Anytime you try to be alone with someone, or you're trying to sleep, I'll be right there, whistling in your ear, moving things around, or just generally reminding you, that I'm there...watching everything you do."
"Like hell, boy!" Gen yelled, angry about this now, and where the hell was that moment of silence!?
"Last I remember, I tamed the last ghost we came across," Nami said and smirked wider. "I wouldn't mind taming you and making you into a slave to do things for me~! And if I get tired of you, I can just learn how to exorcise you! I do have magic now!"
Vivi flushed at this, but couldn't find anything to say. She had no idea what the woman was talking about.
"So do I," he said in a singsong voice. "You really think the ghost of a regular person is the same as the ghost of a wizard?" He looked over at Gen. "She started it," he said, pointing at Nami.
"I would manage!" she said with a huff and quickly looked away from him. "And I bet you would like that! You pervert! You see this, Vivi!? This is who he really is!" she said, pointing at Luffy and smirking at Vivi, who was frowning at them softly.
"Pervert, huh?" He snickered. "If I recall properly, you were the one, who assaulted me that time."
"What the hell're you talking about!?" she said, scowling at him.
"What, you don't remember the morning you dove face first into..."
She smacked him hard over his head, but her face was bright red, and she yelled, "That was an accident!"
Of course it was," he said and smirked, "but we both know how much you believe in accidents."
She wrapped her fingers around his throat then to choke him to death. "I... am... going... to... kill... you!" she said, shaking him each time.
Gen and Vivi were both blinking at them in bewilderment, but then Gen scowled and said, "The hell're you goin' on about, boy!?" And Vivi blushed hard, wondering the same thing.
Luffy laughed, even as he was being choked, but then his head suddenly popped off and fell to the ground.
Vivi squealed in horror, her face paling completely and Nami just blinked as Merry stopped, but then she smirked. "Keep going Merry~! Let's see how well he does without his head. Though, he should be used to it by now, he doesn't use his brain at all."
"Oi!" His head floated up and head-butted her in the back of the head, lightly though.
Vivi squealed again, still pale. "Ow! You asshole! Don't make me punt your head! See how well you find your way back!" Nami yelled, scowling up at him. "And your scaring your little princess back there! You see that she's delicate!" she said, making a crack at the girl as well.
"Geez," he said, his head hovering in front of her. "You just twisted a guy's head off his neck, you'd think you'd show some more remorse."
"Why should I feel any kind of remorse for a jerk like you!?" she said, scowling at him.
"Geez," he muttered."What if you'd actually killed me?" He hovered over to Vivi. "Sorry about that," he chuckled sheepishly. "I wasn't really thinking."
"You never think," Nami yelled over at him, "and as if that would actually kill you, stupid!"
Vivi laughed nervously at him, paling further, and then she said, "I-I-It's... okay..."
"My head fell off," he turned back to Nami, orbiting her as they traveled back to the last town they'd been at. "How could that not kill me?"
"Oh, please! I know you better than that! You're so stupid!"
Gen quirked his brow again.
Vivi seemed to droop as they bickered. She hated to admit it, but the orange haired woman seemed to know Luffy very well. She hadn't even been worried, and she had seen the woman worried for him. She may not be aware of it herself, but she did care about the mage... even just a little.
"So you knew I was awesome enough that I could do this?" Luffy's hands detached and hovered under his head, where they looked like a pair of feet and as they traveled, he moved his hands like feet as he hovered.
"No, I knew you were stupid enough to do it. You said yourself; you didn't think," Nami said with a huff, lifting her chin into the air.
Luffy cupped his chin with his left hand. "Oh really? Yet you still knew that I could detach body parts? How?"
"I didn't, but I'm not dumb enough to believe I could make your head pop off. Only you're dumb enough to think I would believe it..." Nami said with a snort, unaware this time to the insult dealt Vivi.
Vivi blushed with embarrassment. She had totally thought that.
"Spoilsport," he said and rolled his eyes. "You've got some pretty butch hands you know."
Her 'butch' hand came up to pop him a good one. "They're affective for hitting you with, asshole!" she screeched, her face angry.
Zoro sighed, "How long has it been already?"
"Touchy," Luffy muttered, rubbing his nose.
"They can go on for quite some time," Robin said and chuckled with amusement.
"I'll show you touchy!" Nami said and bonked his head then.
"I can see that. Noisy..." Zoro muttered with another sigh as he tried to close his eyes.
Luffy quickly hovered out of the way. "Yeesh," he muttered, "I'm going to tell gramps his 'kidnapping if they don't pay' is a really stupid idea. I can't possibly imagine having to deal with anyone like you again."
"Good! I'm glad! Then you won't be kidnapping anymore innocent girls! You perverted asshole!" she yelled, frowning at him deeply.
"Innocent? Hah! You'd make slave drivers cringe," he said and pouted from a safe distance.
"Good! It would teach them a lesson, just like your sorry ass!" she yelled and scowled then.
"Haven't taught me any lessons," he said and smirked.
"Uh huh, right..." she said, glaring at him before looking ahead of her. "Fucking idiot ..." she muttered in her annoyance.
"And yet," he said, reattaching his head. "You keep starting these arguments."
"I don't always start them!" she said, giving his shoulder a smack this time.
"Just most of them," Luffy muttered.
"Thet's because you always do something stupid!" she yelled, scowling at him again.
"I've done plenty of stupid things around other people, and they don't mind."
"Then they must have a high tolerance for stupidity! And yet again, you admit to it," she said, closing her eyes and tilting her chin up again.
"You keep pointing that out," he said rolled his eyes. "I already know I'm not all that smart, difference is, I really don't care. I just do what I can, that's good enough for me."
She shifted her eyes to him with a slight frown on her face still. "Until you destroy a town," she said, closing her eyes again and turning back ahead.
"Someone hit me... knock me out... something... I want to sleep..." Zoro muttered, covering his head with his arms.
"He was stronger than you said," Luffy countered. "Not much I could do about that."
"Here," Robin said and handed him a herb. "Chew it, it will help you sleep."
Zoro blinked, staring at the herb before taking it and smirking at her. "Thanks," he said before putting it in his mouth and chewing.
"I said he was really strong, and that he was terrorizing everyone!"
Vivi just sighed. It looked like they could go on forever...
"You want some?" Robin said as she offered the herb to Vivi.
"Failing to be any kind of specific, a Sorcerer terrorizing one single, little village really doesn't strike most people as that big of a threat."
"Well, that's your own fault for assuming!"
Gen sighed as well. It was growing quite tiresome. In all honesty, if he was so powerful, why did he let Nami talk to him like that? Gen narrowed his eyes further, wondering about the boy.
"Ah, no!" Vivi held up her hands and smiled with a nervous chuckle, "but thank you ..."
Robin put the herb away and pulled out some wads of a waxy cloth. "Earplugs?"
Luffy scoffed. "Well, sorry your houses got destroyed. I was just a little busy trying to keep him from killing me, or anyone else in the village!"
"I'll take those too," Zoro said, holding out his hand as he chewed.
"Likely excuse! You were just being lazy! If you really cared, you'd have accepted the fact that you weren't getting paid for your recklessness and tried getting the money yourself instead of kidnapping me!"
Robin handed them to him, and she then looked at the others. "Anyone else? Earplugs?"
Luffy shuddered. "Accepted the fact that I wasn't getting paid? Maybe it would be a good idea to not bother this subject anymore till you actually meet my grandfather. You'll understand then."
"I'll take some," Nojiko said and held her hand out for some..
"You know... I bet he's as stupid as you are! Who said I wanted to meet your family!?"
"Me too ..." Gen said, holding out his hands as well with a deep sigh.
"Don't think you'll have much of a choice. They'll know as soon as we make it to Mariejoie. And I wouldn't call them stupid, they can be... sensitive..."
Robin handed them to Gen and Nojiko. She turned to Sanji, who was glaring at Luffy. "Earplug?"
"No thank you," he said and took a puff of his cigarette.
"Oooh~! Sensitive just like you~?" Nami cooed, though she wasn't serious at all.
"Okay, I'll take them," Vivi said, drooping a bit. She was beginning to think they enjoyed this ...
"No... more like sensitive, like they'll do on purpose what I did on accident to your village...Well, not so much Ace or Dad, but Gramps can get grumpy." He looked ahead of them. "Hey, isn't that the village we want?"
Vivi could have cried in relief, 'Thank goodness ...'
"Oh, looks like it., Nami said, raising a hand to her eyes with a blink.
Gen blinked at them. Their demeanor suddenly changed. What the hell was going on?
To Be Continued...
Authors' Notes:
Con: OH EM GEE, I THOUGHT IT WOULD NEVER END! D: But it was fun to do at the time. xD
Darth: Indeed, quite lengthy it was.
Con: Quite, which is why it was so damn hard to edit! D:
Darth: At least it's been a while since you read it, so it should have at least been interesting to read.
Con: Yeah, it was. I loved this RP. xD Which is why I decided to make it into a fic... ~,~
Darth: Yup. We should try another one sometime.
Con: Yeah, we should. O.o But I have no ideas in mind. X(
Darth: Hurm…I dunno, space pirates?
Con: AWESOME! Space pirates! D: Who doesn't love some good old space pirates! *COUGHFIREFLYCOUGH* Ah, wait, those were space cowboy... pirates... O.o We do good together though. X)
Darth: Indeed. Now if only I could bother writing my own crap.
Con: Do eet! D: It's fun. X) Mmm, I love creating my own characters... and making them hot... and irresistible, but still superbly flawed. X) Ahem... sorry... ~,~
Darth: I suck at making characters. I need to work on it some more.
Con: But it's so much fun! D:
Darth: Fun it is, but I suck at it.
Con: Well, practice makes perfect. That saying is an oldy, but goldy. xD Welp, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. :-)
Darth: Come back whenever we get the next one done.
Con: Yes, please! ^^