Chapter 3
"Shower"
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece
Boy had he made good on his threat…
He went streaking in the mall and even decided to throw in a number while standing on a bench. At first she could not believe her eyes, immediately after they decided on a meeting point for their bet he calmly walked out of the store and threw the door wide open and started beatboxing as loud as he could. Robin couldn't help but admire his talent for it as he hopped onto a bench near the fountain. She, along with the store clerk, were in a stunned silence as they watched him slowly gather the attention of a crowd before he started signing.
Billie Jean is not my lover. She's just a girl who claims that I am the one.
But the kid is not my son. She says I am the one, but the kid not my son.
Along with the signing he was moving his hips to the left and then to the right as if he was dancing to the music in his head. The crowd was reacting very positively to him before he suddenly tore off his shorts like a male stripper would. If the shock hadn't left her brain with less functionality that usual, she would have paid more attention to the faces in the crowd. There was surely more than one face in there that went from a content smile rocking out to the beat he created, to one of utter horror as male privates started dancing along in their line of vision.
"Awww yeaaaah! Oh! Oh!" Franky shouted to the crowd as he had the sheer audacity to put his hand over his crotch and start thrusting in the air. The screams from the crowd, half cheering him on and the other half screams of horror, were enough to alarm more people in the vicinity. Before any of them would warn the mall security, he made a dash for an open area without any place to corner him.
Robin was now waiting for him at the meeting point with the costume bought and in a plastic back hanging from her wrist. She was leaning on a wall in an alleyway between a drug store and a post office. There was cardboard littered all over the place and she could spot a few used pots of a variety of paint colors. She observed all this and could only conclude someone around here liked to paint on cardboard. Along with all that, there was the little puppy who had followed her all the way from the thrift shop. He just looked up at her with his tongue out and gave her a questioning face.
"Hungry?" She asked with a smile while reaching into her purse for the packed lunch she never got to eat. It was as if the dog understood what that smile meant, because it automatically began wagging its tail feverously.
…
Meanwhile, a little further up the street, a clothed Franky was walking towards the alley they agreed upon. He was still a bit out of breath from all that running he had to do. He came extremely close to getting caught back there. Am I getting too old for this or something? For being 34, he still acted quite a bit like the troubled teenager he was back when he was still stuck in the system. His youth consisted of him jumping from one Foster family to the next as a child, before the period Tom had taken him in. After Tom had passed, his lack of suitable guardianship had caused for him to get thrown into the system again as a teenager. At the moment, he'd rather not think about how everything just went steeper downhill for him after turning 18…
Luckily for him a feminine laughter had distracted him enough to forget about reminiscing the past he'd rather forget. It was one of the prettiest sounds he had heard in his life. He followed the sweet sound to the alleyway he was supposed to meet Robin and stopped in his tracks before he could make his presence known by either Robin or the dog. It helped that her back was turned to him. She was petting the animal with one hand as the other held a small container with sliced apples the dog was trying to eat out of. Letting out a small, barely audible giggle here and there every time the dog would lick over her hand. At this point he was plainly staring at her like a dummy. He even had a pink tint to his cheeks on top of it.
"How long are you going to stare at us for?" She said slyly without even looking back at him. She straightened her legs and slowly turned around to look at him. The look in her eyes were not like any look a girl has ever given him. She sure as hell was no lovesick teenager looking for the love of her life, but a very secure woman who was not looking for anyone to depend on. Now that's what I call a babe.
"I wasn't staring silly. Besides, if I was then it's your own fault for being so good lookin'." He winked at her with that last statement and she rolled her eyes, like she was trying to say that she heard that one before. Super not cool Franky. Was what he thought to himself.
"Here." She handed him a brown paper bag, as if he was already supposed to know what was in it. When he finally concluded that she was not going to give in and tell him what he was, he stuck a hand in and pulled out whatever it was. What he pulled out was a red cape.
"Great, I always super wanted one." He told her sarcastically while raising an eyebrow. She smiled wickedly as she reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.
"Put that on and meet me at this address at half past eight tonight." She said while she scribbled on the piece of paper. Upon receiving the little note, he frowned a bit when he saw that it did not include a phone number as he had hoped it would.
Her doorbell buzzed once and she had to painfully rip herself away from her book. After she had returned home, she calculated that she had an hour of reading time left before needing to start getting ready. Not like she had much to do except shower, dress and pin up her hair for the wig she had to put on. And do her make-up as well.
Maybe she should have put aside more time for her preparations now that she thought it through... In her own defense, it wasn't her fault that as soon as she returned home the romance novel she was reading started calling out her name like a sweet and tender lover would.
When the doorbell rang a second time, she had confirmed that she was not imagining things and looked at the clock beside her bed.
7:20 pm.
Deducting that it couldn't be Franky already, she finally pulled herself out of her chair and went to see who it was. Maybe it could be him after all…
She checked the window as she was accustomed to doing before unlocking her door and once again spotted the same black car with tinted windows parked across the street. She's been seeing that particular car parked there for a week now and it was a bit unsettling to say the least. She then glanced over at the doorstep and the vision of red and blue was all it took to confirm her suspicion as to who was ringing her doorbell. She walked over to the door and finally opened it for her guest.
"Franky. You're a very punctual man I see." She said, trying to hide the annoyance in her tone. She felt the slightest bit of guilt for it as well, as she saw the smile on his face die a little.
"Wait, it's not time yet?" He said before turning to look at the sky, it was clearly passed sundown and the night sky had already dug its dark blue claws into the light blue remnants of the day. She took one long look at him, trying to decipher what he meant with that question, but then gave up because she really was running late at the moment.
"Well whatever, I'm the one that's late actually. Come on in." She said as she stepped aside and opened the door wider for him. He stepped into her apartment and immediately posed, his arms straight up in the air and his knees slightly bent, proudly showing off the big "S" on his chest. She immediately stopped him when he started making his own background trumpet noises.
"Eh? You're not very musical are you?" He mumbled before continuing with a thank you for the costume. "Thanks for the costume Nico Robin, it was definitely the most super thing out there for me!"
"I'm glad you like it Franky." She said as she closed the door and pulled some of the curtains near it shut.
"Eh… You're not even dressed, how early am I exactly?" He asked as he scratched the top of his head. She took another quick peek at the car across the street before turning to him again.
"It's almost 7:30." She answered calmly as she pulled out the tie in her hair and headed to the kitchen while he followed.
"Okay. Really early then." He walked into the kitchen and took a seat in the chair she had been occupying prior to his arrival.
"I need to start getting ready, make yourself at home I suppose." She said as she headed for the bathroom, picking up a few items along the way. Once he was alone, he mentally beat himself up for showing up so early. He really was trying his best to look like a smooth guy in front of this chick. He huffed and uselessly thought of ways he could have prevented this from happening. He could have walked into a dozen shops just to look at the clocks there, although it would have looked weird with the costume on and all. If you have no other way, drastic measures need to be taken I suppose.
He looked around the room for something to keep him busy and distracted from his thoughts and saw the open book Robin was reading lying face down on the arm rest of the chair. He wanted to pick it up, but something else caught his eye a second later.
"Hey Robin…" He semi-yelled to the closed bathroom door.
"Yes?" Was the muffled answer from behind the door.
"Can I turn on your radio? This place could use some grooves."
"By all means…"
"Suuuper." He said quietly to himself as he got to business. He turned the knob and started surfing the waves for something good. After a few stations, he settled on the one playing good old rock music.
You make me weep, I wanna die… Just when you said we'd try ,
Lovin', touchin', squeezin' each other…
The sound of running water suddenly interrupted the music and he wondered why it took so long for her just to get undressed and in the water. He turned up the music and looked at the door. He noticed there was something not right with it at first glance and he tried to figure it out as half his mind spaced out to the music.
When I'm alone all by myself, you're out with someone else…
Lovin', touchin', squeezin' each other… You're tearin' me apart.
Oh every, everyday…
He looked at the crack of light coming from the door, and for a minute he could swear there was water vapor gently twirling out of the door. I-is the door open? His face went pink and he immediately tried to convince himself otherwise. Would she really shower with the door open?
You're tearin' me apart…
Oh girl what can I say? You're tearin' me apart.
It won't be long girl, till you're alone… When your lover, oh, he hasn't come home.
Cause he's lovin' oo, he's touchin', he's squeezin' another…
He honestly did not think Robin was the type to do that on purpose. She was a pretty direct gal in his opinion, if she wanted to get hot 'n heavy he'd have known that by now. Right?
After he had convinced himself that that was indeed the case here,he walked toward the door to see if he could miraculously close it back for her without making a woman's wrath was not something he looked forward to experiencing in the near future.
He's tearin' you apart. Oh, every, everyday… He's tearin' you apart.
Oh girl what can you say? 'Cause he's lovin', touchin' another…
Now it's your turn, girl to cry.
With his best intentions, he pushed the door open a little more to peek and see if she wasn't looking at the door or anything. He couldn't have her suddenly seeing the handle turn out of nowhere. He honestly tried to, very quickly, only look for her face and did his best to avoid seeing anything else. He wanted to avoid looking like a pervert in front of her. With the lightning fast glance inside, he couldn't properly see where her face was looking so he just went ahead and started pulling the door shut. And before he could do it, he heard it. She was humming.
Na na na na na na… Na na na na na… Na na na na na na… Na na na na na…
It was music to his ears. The sound made him crack a smile and he put his ears closer against the door. He closed his eyes and listened to it. He'd forever give up his radio in exchange for listening to that every morning… Not that he would ever tell anyone that.
Na na na na na na… Na na na na na… Na na na na na na… Na na na na na…
After that thought, he quickly opened his eyes and woke himself up from that dream. He pulled himself together and pulled the door back as much as he could without having it make that clicking noise.
Na na na na na na… Na na na na na… Na na na na na na… Na na na na na…
Well there's the latest chapter! Be sure to let me know what you thought. Good or bad.
And thank you for the reviews from the last chapter! Means a lot!
R&R
Until next time!
~Snikee
