#hhhhh!!!!

It was a partially sunny day. The sky was watercolor blue, with cotton candy puffs of clouds. They weren’t heavy enough to start storming, although there would be mild rain in about eight hours. Nami pursed her lips at the sky, something she often did. But the rain was a whole eight hours away, and she wanted to enjoy the fresh air. It was a slight breeze, north northwesterly, just perfect for lounging.

Nami went to her favorite spot, ledger and pen in hand. She wanted to practice her lettering. It got boring writing the same type over and over again. And when she made her map of the world, it was going to be perfect.

The grass was soft beneath her sandals, making her way through the tangerine trees. She had slung a hammock between the two thickest trees, at the very back of the grove. She was usually the only one to venture this far back, unless Chopper was playing hide and seek. The others helped prune and water the trees with her, but that was only occasionally and never without her supervision. So when she needed alone time, and didn’t want to be stuck in her room, this was where she came.

Which was why it was such a surprise to see a certain power user already stretched out in her hammock.

“Luffy?”

He stirred, hat resting over his eyes. “Hm?” He peeked out beneath the brim, a syrupy grin spreading across his face as he saw her. “Nami!” He held out both arms, “It’s you!”

Her stomach fluttered—at his excitement, at the way his voice lilted over her name. Nami sniffed, and flicked a lock of hair away from her face. “It’s me.” She stepped forward, ledger in hand, “What are you doing in my spot?”

Luffy kept smiling, arms still out. “It’s comfy!”

Nami rolled her eyes.

“Well, get out.”

Luffy stopped, stung. “What? Why?” His voice was petulant, hurt. Nami’s heart clenched but she stood firm.

“Because I want to sit there.”

“Just sit with me!” Luffy answered immediately, making grabby hands midair. Nami sucked her teeth.

“No.”

Luffy pouted. “Please? It’s comfy. I don’t wanna move.” Nami hovered, weight shifted to one foot. He had a red vest left open on his chest, and orange shorts. One leg was bent up. His hair poked out all black and fluffy beneath his hat.

“Fine.”

Luffy cheered as Nami bent down to untie her sandals. She was not a very touchy creature. She usually didn’t go about climbing into hammocks with her crew mates. But Luffy had this habit of making her do unusual things. Like trust someone else. Trust a whole crew of people. Of friends.

So she climbed into the hammock.

Luffy was warm, that was the first thing she noticed. Even through his clothes he radiated heat. The next thing was how soft he was. His muscles were all relaxed beneath sun kissed skin, his limbs draped languidly along the hammock. He happily opened his arm for her to snuggle in, and with bated breath, she did.

“You can relax, y’know,” he snorted, “I’m not gonna bite.”

The hammock swung slightly from her getting in, still moving back and forth as she moved around. Getting comfortable. She ended up with her head on his shoulder, his arm around her, and both their legs laid out together. There wasn’t a lot of personal space inside a hammock, a fact Nami had not fully considered beforehand.

But here she was, technically cuddling with her captain.

Luffy seemed perfectly comfortable, however, and went back to sleeping with his hat over his eyes. She looked up to see a small smile on his lips. Well, if he could relax, so could she.

Nami shuffled a bit, bringing her ledger up so she could practice lettering. That had been the original plan, after all.

They stayed like that for a while, the sun slipping through cloudy sky. Luffy would shift and hum every so often, tightening his grip then releasing it. Nami tried to pretend that there weren’t little electric thrills running through her body at each accidental touch, but oh well.

It was just them, anyway.

This was probably the most secluded spot on deck: in the back of the tangerine grove hidden by branches and shade. She was really the only one who spent time here, so it had surprised her greatly to see Luffy already in her spot.

“That’s a cool L,” he murmured.

Nami yelped, not realizing he’d been awake. She glared at him, as much as she could, and he just gave her a sleepy grin. She decided to let it slide and turned back to her ledger. She’d drawn a cursive L, with the loops at the top and bottom. There were a couple other L’s scattered across the page, with various sizes and designs.

“This one?” She pointed to the cursive L with the nib of her pen. The weight of the white feather pen was so familiar in her hand. Luffy hummed, readjusting his arm around her.

“Yeah, it’s all loopy,” he squiggled his finger in the air, “You’ve got really pretty handwriting. I like it.” He breathed out the compliment, still sleepy from his nap. He stretched out lazily like a cat. A few of his joints popped.

Nami raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t know you could do that.”

“Do what?”

“Pop your joints,” she mused, surveying his body. She had no idea how it worked. Experimentally, she took his hand in hers and tried to crack the knuckle of his index finger. It just stretched.

Luffy snickered. “I gotta be careful with how I do it,” he explained, “But my joints still pop. Muscles can tear, bones can break. Not easily,” he seemed to be bragging a bit, “But, yeah. I’m still human.” She turned to look up at him to see a pout.

She stretched his nose and let it snap back again. “Yeah, very human,” she deadpanned.

“Hey!” He cupped his nose in his free hand, “Don’t stretch me!”

Nami giggled, and went back to her ledger. Luffy shuffled, turning more on his side. Now his arm was beneath her neck and he could lie with his head on her shoulder, now. Made it difficult to write, but whatever. He was warm.

“Can you write ‘Luffy?’” He asked suddenly, quietly. He was staring at the page beneath her pen. “With the L,” he clarified.

Nami pursed her lips, but silently complied. She drew a big (loopy) L, then a quick, indulgent U-F-F-Y. She curled the tail end of the Y, and only just resisted turning it into a heart.

“Now do my full name,” he commanded, arm slung across her waist. He was way too comfortable with her right now. But Nami secretly liked (loved) it, so she complied.

She wrote a simple “Monkey D. Luffy,” still in cursive. Luffy hummed.

“Make it bigger.”

Nami laughed, but did as she was told. It took up half the page. She added some flair: an underlined flourish and a straw hat above the second F. Luffy hummed in appreciation.

“Bigger.”

His voice had this strange undertone to it, enough that she immediately flipped to the next page on instinct. Her body obeyed before she could catch up.

“How’s that?”

She had done a big, sweeping name with several flourishes and a star as the period after the D. Again she had to hold back from adding hearts. What was wrong with her?

“Better,” she could hear the grin in his voice. “Can you write—,”

She was already scribbling it before the words left his mouth: ”King of the Pirates.”

This time she did add a heart.

Why not?

Her heart thundered in her chest as she finished the tiny, black-ink heart. What was she, a girl with a crush passing notes? It honestly felt like it. She hadn’t gone to school for very long, before Bellemere was killed and she had to make the worst deal of her life.

“Can you write ‘Nami?’”

Luffy’s voice was light enough to bring her out of dark thoughts, and she was happy to oblige. She wrote her name how she usually did: a graceful N with small following letters. Luffy tutted.

“Nah, bigger.”

Nami smirked at his little game, and scrawled her name in all caps across the opposite page. “Like that, captain?” She teased his title.

“Almost,” he took the pen from her. He turned the dot in the I into a clumsy circle with a bit sticking out the top.

“What’s that?”

“A tangerine, duh!”

Luffy stretched an arm to grab one straight from the tree. He handed it to her to peel. “You have pretty handwriting,” he said again. She closed her ledger and set it between them; she didn’t want to get fruit juice all over it.

Her thumb pierced the bright orange peel, her fingers working efficiently. Luffy drifted his fingers over her knuckles.

“Pretty hands, too.”

She paused, the fizz of the juice popping midair. She smelled citrus.

“And smile. And hair. Super pretty.”

“Oh?”

She resumed peeling.

She tried to keep her voice nonchalant, but her heart was hammering. What was he going on about? She’d been called pretty before, countless times. Beautiful, cute, gorgeous, sexy. She’d heard it all. But it was so different when Luffy said it.

“Yeah, you’re the prettiest girl in the seas.”

He said it so casually, so matter-of-factly that she dropped the tangerine. It was half-peeled on her stomach, and Luffy quickly picked it up to hand back to her.

“Dropped this,” he informed her. Nami nearly bit his head off.

“You peel it!” She deflected, shoving the fruit toward him. He shoved it right back.

“I like when you do it.”

This time, there was less nonchalance in his voice. His words held weight that wasn’t there before.

So, she did it.

The peel came the rest of the way off, and she took a bit to scrape the sweet pith off with her teeth. Luffy took a piece for himself and mimicked her.

“Oh, this part’s good!” He chewed in surprise. Nami sighed, and broke the tangerine in half to give him. He ate it in one bite.

“You’re gonna choke,” was all she said, before delicately taking a slice. The juice spurted in her mouth, and she couldn’t help the happy sound in her throat. Luffy hitched a breath, subtle but there, and gently took the rest of the tangerine from her hands.

“Hey!” She complained, “I’m not done!”

Luffy silently broke off another slice to place directly on her bottom lip. Nami froze. Luffy pushed it closer.

“Eat.”

So, once again, she did.

The fruit was sweeter this time.

Luffy silently fed her the rest of the tangerine. She took each bite as he handed it to her, his fingertips brushing her lips every time. When she finally chanced a look at him (something she had to work up the courage for), his face was pink. His lips were parted, and his eyes were dark. A cloud rolled across the sun.

He kissed her.

Nami didn’t know what to do.

She’d never been kissed before.

Sure, she’d given kisses away to get what she wanted (usually money or food, or in desperate times, alcohol). But she’d never kissed someone she wanted to kiss before.

This was, in her mind, her first kiss.

Her first real kiss.

And it was soft, sweet, with the hint of tangerine. Luffy darted his tongue out to taste the juice on her bottom lip.

Nami freaked.

“Wh-what was that for?” Her voice was squeaky. Her mind was reeling. Her body was melted into liquid gold.

“Wanted to,” he breathed. He was still close, close enough to kiss. So she did it again. This time, for the first time, because she wanted to.

And oh, what a difference.

Nami was used to standing stock still, lips moving robotically against some strange man’s (usually with a scratchy beard and bad breath). She was used to disgust, to frigidity. To scrubbing her lips off with soap.

She was not used to this.

To the way her body mutinied against her.

Fizzled, sparked, popped like juice.

…

Enjoyed.

Luffy’s lips were soft and chapped from sea salt and wind. He tasted like tangerine. His body was so warm. She was going crazy.

“Nami…,” Luffy murmured, his lips still touching hers. His hand came up to cup her cheek. She didn’t even mind the sticky juice on his fingers.

She kissed him.

And kissed him.

And kissed him.

So much so that he was laughing against her lips, cheeks flushed and eyes bright. “Slow down,” he whispered, stroking her cheek. He kissed her bottom lip, then fit his mouth against hers. He was taking it slow, slower than she thought possible of the rubber man. And it was wrecking her.

“Please, Luffy,” she croaked. She swallowed, and tried again: “More.”

Luffy made a low, gravelly sound in the back of his throat. He smashed his lips to hers, suddenly rushed and clumsy, but she liked this kiss even better. It was hungry.

Nami grabbed his shoulders and pulled him on top of her. The hammock swung side to side, their bodies awkward in the cramped space. But she loved it. Loved how every inch of him was pressed against her.

Her hands found their way to his hair and she was done for.

Soft and silky, thick and raven black. Like ink on a page. Like his name. Like her name. Like a cartoon tangerine.

“Fuck, Luffy.”

He (straight up) growled.

Then he flipped her, wrapping both his arms and legs around her, then looping them around her, and she was trapped in a snake pit.

A warm, sexy snake pit.

She giggled against his lips, happy to be trapped. To be held. To be kissed.

“I really like you, Nami.”

“Oh yeah? I couldn’t tell,” she snorted. Luffy whined, tightening his limbs around her.

“I mean it.”

He kissed her, then bit her bottom lip. Then bit her cheek. Then kissed her hair. She was on fire. She wanted to hide. So she buried her face in his chest and mumbled out, “I really like you, too…”

“Good.”

It was spoken with such finality, such affection, that she felt dizzy. She wanted this forever.

“Can we, um…Do you want…?” She bit her lip against her boldness.

“Want what, Nami?”

His voice softened over her name. He stroked her hair, practiced and smooth as if he’d done it a hundred times before. She shivered. She couldn’t say it.

“Want what, Nami?” He asked again, softer. He brushed his knuckles over her cheek. She hid her face again.

She mumbled out her embarrassing, darkest desire into his sternum.

“What?”

She huffed, and lifted her head, only slightly. “Do you want…to be my, um…boyfriend?”

The sea could have swallowed her right then. Ship, captain, crew. All drowned at the bottom of the ocean for how embarrassed she felt.

Luffy tutted.

“Bigger.”

Nami surged upward, in shock, in defiance, but she didn’t get very far. His limbs were still rubber-wrapped around her. She glared up at him to see him grinning down at her.

“No.”

“Then no,” he shrugged, laissez-faire. He took his hat and put it back over his face.

“Luffy!”

He didn’t answer.

Just kept that smug grin beneath his straw hat.

Idiot.

Stupid, sexy, incredible idiot with soft lips and warm skin and and and

“Fine!” She huffed, wriggling to get free of his loop-de-loop limbs. He let them snap back to their usual length for her. “Luffy…,” she started again, carefully, “Will you be…my…boyfriend?” Her voice shook on the word. Luffy shook his head.

“Bigger.”

“Ugh!” She nearly tore out her hair. Did he want the whole ship to hear?

Fine.

Nami sucked in a huge breath, the biggest breath in her whole life, and declared to the sky, sea, and ship, “Monkey D. Luffy, I want you to be my boyfriend!!!”

The world tipped.

Luffy had sat up and tackled her, flipping her onto her back. The hammock swung wildly as he laughed and kissed her over and over again.

“Duh!”

She would have swatted him away if she wasn’t so thoroughly enjoying herself.

***