"Vice Admiral Ryusei," a certain subordinate of the devil fruit user, was feeling quite courageous today.
"Whaaaat?" An irritated moan and scowl was directed to the grunt man who dared interrupt his reminiscing on the attractive woman he had dealt with earlier that day. Whatever his subordinate had to say to him was nowhere near important enough to disturb his thinking and the informal consumption of hard liquor that always seemed to accompany the strenuous task of using his head.
This woman, she was feisty, sexy, and had a fire that could not be contained easily. All the more fun to break. He grinned to himself at this thought as he imagined the screams and the pained faces that had etched their way into his brain. His almost blissful grin soon turned into a loathsome scowl as he remembered the man who had interfered with his fun. He took another sip from his mug. Maybe the alcohol would make this interruption less annoying.
Stupid Shichibukai. Had to put their stupid noses in everything, didn't they!
He hated them, to cut it short.
Stupid government dogs got too much slack on their damn leashes.
The tankard in his hand shattered at the amount of pressure that had built up from his hateful brooding.
"Umm… Vice Admiral," The underling was getting extremely nervous after watching his higher-up crush the glass tankard. The younger man was also getting impatient that the VIce Admiral had not even bothered to turn around to address him yet. He clenched his fists at his side. Why the hell would he even need a cup that big? Fat ass shouldn't even be the Vice Admiral if all he is going to do is drink all day.
Turning towards his subordinate, Ryusei grinned slyly. "What was that worm? Did you have something ya wanted to say to me?" His eyes glazed over and his grin widened as he listened to the pained screams of the man behind him clutching his head. Ahh, music to my ears.
The guards that were stationed outside of the Vice Admiral's office on the ship were alarmed by the screams coming from the room and burst in ready for anything that might be harming the Vice Admiral. When they got into the room they were met with Ryusei's sadistic grin accompanied with cynical humming and a man foaming at the mouth curled into a ball on the floor.
"What the fuck Ryusei?" one of the older guards, Gento, addressed the burly man as if it was nothing. "We are running out of new recruits because of you." The man sighed as he helped the other guard pick up the man from the floor. "Why couldn't you just take your sadistic shit out on the pirates we fought yesterday?" He shoved the other guard out of the office and told him to take the foaming mess to the doctors on board.
"Gehehehe.." The green haired man chuckled slowly as he addressed his old friend. "Sorry Gento. You know I just can't control myself when I'm faced with new meat." The man licked his lips and opted to get a new tankard from his desk, since he had broken the other one in his rage, and filled it with a burgundy liquid.
"And as for those pirates yesterday…" He thought of the fiery one he let get away. "Stupid freakin' Shichibukai stepped in and said 'the job was his now' and he took my play-thing away." The man took a long irritated swig from his beverage. "And Gento," The man leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, relaxing slightly. "You should have seen the chick I got to play with." another low chuckle escaped his chest as his friend leaned in closer, apparently more interested in the story now that the burly man mentioned a woman had been involved.
"Hmm really? Do tell more." Gento was now more interested than ever.
"Well, she was the Cat Thief Nami." The man grinned again as he saw jealousy written all over the other man's face. "You know the one from the StrawHats?"
"What! No way." The man rustled through his purple hair in frustration as he learned of his friend's encounter. "The chick with the really hot wanted poster?!" Gento hoped there may still be a chance that Ryusei didn't get to see the curvaceous woman without him.
All he got in return was a knowing grin and a hearty chuckle. The purple haired man made a pout as he schooled Ryusei on how lucky he was and how he should never go on a mission like that without him if he knew a hot woman was there. The green haired man continued chuckling and brushed his comrades' comments aside.
Gento suddenly got very serious. "Hey, Ryusei?" The latter raised his head in response as he waited for his friend's comment. "It's not like you to just leave one of your 'play-things' to someone else." He grinned slyly. "You never struck me as the kid who liked to share his toys."
"Gehehehehe…" Ryusei turned in his chair to face the window in his office. He took another long swig from his glass, draining the remains of his beverage, and wiped his mouth haphazardly as a dark grin started to form on his face. "I don't."
The vice admiral got up from his chair and pulled his jacket over his shoulders. "Change of plans Gento."
"Yeah boss?" The purple haired man inquired.
"I'm gonna go finish what I started."
The small office was soon filled with dark laughter.
She ached everywhere. Her arms, her legs, her chest, but worst of all was her head. It was throbbing so much that she was scared that if she dared to open her eyes that her brain would explode. But she tried anyway.
When she opened her eyes she thought she would be met with a field of flowers and butterflies, but instead she was blinded by a multitude of bright white lights. She blinked a few times to lessen the blurriness and to try to subdue the throbbing in her skull. Once she got her bearings, she turned her head slightly to see if she could tell where she was… Ow that hurts. Hmm. Chopper's office. But where is Ch…. her thoughts were cut short by the tapping foot of a very agitated man sitting in the corner.
"Nami-ya…" Nami could tell he was nowhere near in a good mood by the way he was glaring at her from beneath the rim of his hat and how, in his somewhat relaxed sitting position, he seemed tense. "You managed to give yourself two cracked ribs, a sprained wrist," He paused momentarily and let out a long breath. "Left one, don't worry." He began to knead his temples with his hands. "Multiple contusions over your arms, midsection, and legs, and a slight concussion." He let out a very agitated sigh. "You could've been killed…" He starred her deadpan in the face trying to make her realize the seriousness of what had just happened to her.
She chuckled and a small grin graced her features. "Sorry, Torao." He shifted awkwardly in his chair and turned his head down, letting his hat shadow his eyes.
He was expecting more of an explosion from the fiery navigator. Something like, 'I know Torao! You don't have to tell me I almost died! Or something like, "Shut up! I get It! I almost died. But I'm still here right!?' But all he got was a simple apology...
Something was definitely not right with her. He thought about asking if she was okay and if she wanted to talk about it, but he decided against the action thinking that he wouldn't get much of an answer out of the woman.
She looked down to her hands, noticing the bandages that had been expertly wrapped by the dark doctor. She found herself staring at the patterns of loose threads in the white cloth when she was interrupted with a grunt from the man in the corner.
"Nami-ya, if you are worried about Tony-ya and Nose-ya, I already patched them up and they are resting in the boys cabin." He glanced at her from under the rim of his hat. She had stopped inspecting the bandages and was now staring straight ahead and grasping her left shoulder tightly. "Nami-ya?"
She snapped out of the trance she was in and grinned at the man across the room.
He could tell it was fake.
"That's good to hear. I'm glad that they're all right." She released her arm and moved to get out of the bed. She may be hurt, but she was not going to stay in here all day. She had checked her log pose and they were starting to stray off course a bit. She did not trust anyone else with getting the Sunny where it needed to be and it was a good enough excuse to get her out of the room without Law getting overly suspicious of why she wanted to leave early.
"Nami-ya," he had an irritated tone in his voice. "That is not a very good idea. It's only been about a day since the attack. Your body still needs time to heal." He warily eyed her from, making sure she didn't fall in her attempt to get out of the bed.
She chuckled lightly. "Are you kidding? I've had way worse than this, Torao. I think I'll be fine." She leaned over the bed and put her feet on the floor. "Besides, I need to navigate the Sunny about forty-five degrees to port. We are starting to get a little off-course." She elegantly got up from the bed and started walking towards the door when she stopped and turned towards the man. "Thank you, again." She graced him a small smile and left him alone with his thoughts.
Law didn't know whether he was impressed or gravely concerned. With those injuries a normal person would be bed-ridden for at least a week and further inhibited for longer. What exactly had Nami meant when she said she had 'had way worse'? With a disgruntled sigh he started to clean up and reorganize the med bay.
On deck everyone else was pretty much back to normal. Sanji was doting on Robin asking if she wanted any pastries with her tea while spinning flamboyantly trying to get the archaeologist's attention. Robin sipped her tea slowly and gently declined the chef's offer for a snack while she had her nose in an ancient arts and culture book.
Based on the metallic clinking reverberating in the air, Zoro was in the crow's nest training with his weights. Brook was sipping his tea peacefully next to the mast while gently humming a tune to himself oblivious to the fact that with the rocking of the ship, and his lack of skin, he had spilled some of the hot beverage on his arm.
From the clanging and banging sounds, Nami could assume that Franky was working on a new creation in his workshop. She was glad that after their hectic day the rest of the crew could go back to their somewhat normal schedules. Nami noticed that she had seen, or heard, everyone doing their respective activities, but did not remember seeing, or hearing, her captain anywhere…
As if reading her mind her captain appeared, or well his head did, right in front of her.
"NAAAMIII!" His ridiculously goofy grin enveloped his whole face while he hung upside down in front of the open door. "You're all better!"
She couldn't help but grin at his excitement, and at the fact that he was ok. "Yes, Luffy." She pinched his cheek and stretched it a bit, noticing that her captain had his own set of bandaged wounds he should be worrying about. "You know, with your wounds you should be sitting down Luffy. You might reopen something, and you know how Law doesn't like extra work." She stretched his cheek for emphasis and then let it go.
Luffy gave Nami his best pouty face. "Naaami~ I don't feel like resting!" He unknowingly crossed his arms, thus causing him to fall from his upside down perch.
Nami sighed deeply and held her forehead in one of her hands. "My point exactly Luffy… My point exactly." Nami remembered then that she had come to the deck for a reason, and it wasn't to speak with her captain, even though she did enjoy the small talk.
"Ah," She paused from reprimanding her captain and turned her head looking for the shipwright. "Franky!" She called for the man, hoping that he would hear her from the workshop.
"Ya Girly! Hold on a sec'." He had heard her and was now coming to the deck ready for whatever order he was about to be given from the sassy orangette.
"Can you turn the ship forty-five degrees to port? We are getting a bit off course."
"Sure thing Girly!" Franky flamboyantly struck his signature pose before he went to go reroute the ship.
"Naaaaamii-SWAN~!" The cook had finally taken a break from his flamboyant spinning, and flaunting over the archaeologist, to notice that the other woman was out of the infirmary.
"My lovely Tangerine Queen!" The man jumped and spun gracefully to land at the feet of his queen. "Your precious Peach Prince is here to answer your every beck and call~" He took the navigator's hand and gave it a small kiss while he recited his poetic words.
"Why, thank you Sanji-kun." The navigator graced him a small smile while she released her hand from his caress. "I think what I really want now is a nice parfait." She looked at the chef and did her best sing-song voice, hoping to distract him with the request. "Do you think you can make one for me~?"
His eyes became hearts and he was off to the kitchen in a whirling love-tornado. "Anything for my precious Nami-Swan~" His further confessions of love and commitment to his queen were muffled by the closing of the galley door.
The navigator gave a small chuckle and walked over to where Robin was sitting in a sun chair. Grabbing a chair, she situated herself next to the older woman.
"Are you feeling better Navigator-san?"
"Ya, a little." Nami let out a small yawn and stretched her arm, the other was currently in a sling and that made it pretty hard to move around. It was hard for her to comprehend just how tired she had become from doing small tasks like getting out of bed and calling Franky to turn the ship. But then again, she did have a few distractions…
"Did Trafalgar-san say it was alright for you to walk around like this." The archaeologist gave a concerned look to the navigator. "Your condition was pretty serious when he brought you back…" She gestured towards the sling on the orangette's left arm. "You shouldn't push yourself too hard." The raven haired woman gave a warm smile. "We were really worried about you three. I'm just thankful that we had Trafalgar-san with us so he could operate on you."
Nami gave Robin a small hug, even if it was a little awkward with the sling, to reassure her that she was alright and that the archaeologist shouldn't worry so much. "Robin, I'm fine." she smiled warmly. "The only thing that can make me feel better right now, is spending time with my nakama."
The two women spent the rest of the afternoon in the sun chairs, talking and reading respective material. Sanji came back with the parfait and Nami shared the multiple layers of fruit and ice cream with Robin. She relished in the sweet flavor. Sanji did indeed end up making the tangerine ice cream and she would definitely be asking him to add it to the permanent menu. With a content sigh, the navigator couldn't help but to fully relax with the other woman and ended up dozing off after finishing the desert. Thankful she was surrounded by her family again, hoping that the events of the other day were just another bad dream.