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mandiemegatron · 2 hours ago

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ʟᴏᴠᴇʀ, ʟᴏᴠᴇʀ

ꜱʜᴀᴄʜɪ x ᴄɪꜱꜰᴇᴍ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ; ꜱᴇʟꜰ-ꜱʜɪᴘ ᴄᴏᴅᴇᴅ.

ʀᴀᴛᴇᴅ : 18+. ꜱᴇᴛ ᴀᴛ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ ᴅᴜʀɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ 2 ʏᴇᴀʀ ᴛɪᴍᴇꜱᴋɪᴘ. ɴᴏ ᴜꜱᴇ ᴏꜰ ʏ/ɴ, ꜱʜᴀᴄʜɪ ᴄᴀʟʟꜱ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ “ᴘʀᴇᴛᴛʏ” ᴀꜱ ᴀ ᴘᴇᴛ ɴᴀᴍᴇ. ᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴜᴀʟ ꜱᴍᴜᴛ. ʟᴏɴɢ ᴏɴᴇꜱʜᴏᴛ. ꜱᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀꜱ ᴛᴏ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇʀꜱ. ʜᴏᴡ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ꜰᴇʟʟ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ, ᴘɪᴇᴄᴇ ʙʏ ᴘɪᴇᴄᴇ. ʟᴏᴠᴇꜱɪᴄᴋ ꜰᴏᴏʟꜱ, ᴘᴇɴɢᴜɪɴ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ ᴍᴀᴛᴄʜ-ᴍᴀᴋᴇʀ, ᴍᴜᴛᴜᴀʟ ᴘɪɴɪɴɢ, ᴄᴏɴꜰᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴꜱ, ꜱʟɪɢʜᴛ ꜱʟᴏᴡ ʙᴜʀɴ, ꜰɪɴɢᴇʀɪɴɢ, ᴘ ɪɴ ᴠ, ʙɪᴛɪɴɢ/ᴍᴀʀᴋɪɴɢ, ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ ᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ (ᴡɪɴᴋ ᴡɪɴᴋ) ɴᴏ ʙᴇᴛᴀ, ᴡᴇ ᴅɪᴇ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴍᴇɴ 💪

ᴡᴏʀᴅꜱ ; 10.7ᴋ

ᴍʏ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴄᴏᴍᴍɪꜱꜱɪᴏɴ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ɴᴏɴᴇ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀʙꜱᴏʟᴜᴛᴇʟʏ ᴡᴏɴᴅᴇʀꜰᴜʟ @quinloki ᴡʜᴏ ᴀꜱᴋᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ->

ɪ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ ꜰᴏʀ ɴᴏᴛ ᴏɴʟʏ ꜱᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ᴀꜱ ᴀ ꜰᴇʟʟᴏᴡ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇʀ ʙᴜᴛ ᴀʟꜱᴏ ᴀꜱ ᴀ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅ. ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪᴛᴇʀᴀʟ ʙᴏᴛᴛᴏᴍ ᴏꜰ ᴍʏ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ♡

“Whoa… she's pretty…”

Penguin sighs, rubbing at his face with a short reply of, “Dude, you think every girl we come across is pretty.”

There's a shout of indignation from the redhead as he bites back, “That's cause Shachi loves all the ladies! But I'm serious Peng, actually look at her.”

Both hatted men peek back into the infirmary where you lay, battered and bruised, but alive. With your forehead wrapped in white bandages, along with your right hand and your left thigh, their Captain continued looking you over, clipboard in hand as he marked on the page with his gaze continuing down your battered form.

“You can come in as long as you're polite. If your bedside manners suck, I'll Shambles both of you into the stomach of the nearest Sea King.”

Both crewmen jumped at the chance, sneaking in as if they were robbers trying to steal from a house, until their Captain sighs loudly and demands, “Stop being stupid.” Their antics make you chuckle, though the action causes you to wince. “And you, stop moving. You just woke up from a very lengthy nap and I don't need you passing out mid breath.”

Your still shaky vision tries to take in the two strangers, unable to properly notice much, other than their hats. You blink a few times before thinking to yourself, 'my luck, surrounded by goddamn weirdos…’ They both give a small wave, grins on their faces as the one with the Orca hatted pipes up, “Yo, name's Shachi! This is Penguin. How're you feeling, lady?”

You squint a bit, enough to focus a bit more on the two, as well as your current physician, eyes no longer blurry and burning. Unable to hide how your eyes widen for a moment in shock before you accept your fate with a sigh, you half-jokingly replied,

“I mean, considering I was almost Sea King chow and my supposed saviors are the Heart Pirates, I’d say I’m feeling just peachy. Never better, in fact.”

Shachi and his penguin friend snicker at that, only for Shachi to pretend to double over as the tattooed man (Trafalgar mcfreakin’ Law, you gotta be kidding me!) leaned over and roughly slapped the clipboard into his stomach.

“Ah, so you’ve heard of my crew,” Law starts, pulling on a new pair of blue surgeon gloves before turning back to you. “Then this makes things easy.”

He holds out his hand, summoning a room. You immediately flinch, though you keep your eyes on him as your hands go up to protect your face. Law smirks slightly, nodding to Shachi who begins scribbling on the back of the only page on the clipboard. “Boxing, or some form of self-protective training of some sort, though perhaps lacking in proper techniques.”

He motions for you to hop off the table, his eyes watching your form as you achingly do so, wary in how he seems to take the way your muscle and bone cooperate under your skin. It was like you were a bare skeleton before him, and it unnerved you to the core.

“Yes, boxing. Self-taught.” you somehow croak out, remembering to keep your peripheral on the other two men in the room. They don't seem interested in joining Law in his little tango with you though, only standing beside each other almost nonchalantly, as if it were like any other day on their ship.

Wait.

This was a ship, right?

Your brain froze for a moment as you looked for a window, eyes darting around a little frantically. You immediately notice how dark it is and before you could even utter the words, Law speaks up with a slight chuckle.

“We’re 300 feet under the waves, miss. There’s no outside to go to.”

You waved him off, shaking your head slightly as you asked, slightly panicked, “Under the waves? We’re in a submarine?”

Law bristles at that, his response curt and slightly irritated as he challenges, “You’ve heard of myself and my crew, but not of my ship?”

You frown when Shachi gives a low whistle and interjects with a mumbled, “Ooh, awkward…”

“I… don’t change the subject. We’re really in a submarine?”

Law shakes his head with an unimpressed sigh, plainly responding back, “Yes, we are in a submarine. Why? Are you claustrophobic?”

You gave a slightly over-exaggerated grimace and shrugged before half laughing out, “We're about to find out!”

All three men fell silent in shock, watching you with wide eyes until you clapped your hands together once, a grin on your lips as you exclaimed, “I think we're good!”

There was a shared sigh of relief until Law finally stepped forward, arms crossed as he stalked around you with a light comment of, “You can remain here until we reach the next island. We'll drop you off when we restock.”

You sighed through your nose, giving a slight nod though he didn't see it with his back turned, taking the clipboard back from Shachi.

“Any allergies I need to know about?”

You cleared your throat as you sat back up on the infirmary bed, making yourself comfortable with legs crossed. “Mushrooms, but that's it.” Law rose an eyebrow at you over his shoulder before noting it down.

“Lucky for you, mushrooms aren't enjoyed on this ship. Dinner is in a few hours, do you need anything until then?”

You pursed your lips to the side as you thought for a moment, only coming up with, “Did you find a backpack with me?”

Law motioned to the desk off to the side. “It's under there, it won't open unfortunately so you may have to cut into it.”

There was a certain tone in his voice that you'd heard many times before, and you hid your sly smile by biting down on the corner of your bottom lip. “Mm, that is unfortunate…”

You waited until they all left, Shachi and Peng giving you a similar wave goodbye this time. When you could no longer hear footfall, you slowly got up and gave a heavy stretch. You groaned and hissed at the tugging in your side, feeling the stitches through the bandages with tender fingers. “Damn… that wreck really did a number on me.”

You frown to yourself as memories begin replaying in your head, an annoyed sigh leaving you as you finally meandered your way over to the desk and bent down just enough to grab your knapsack from the chair. You made your way back to the bed and hugged slightly, irritated at being wiped out already.

As you made yourself comfortable again, you popped open the latch lock on the front of the bag and opened the flap, undoing the ties that kept your bag shut. You looked in and sighed happily at seeing absolutely nothing, as if you were staring into a black hole. Just as it should be.

While you reached into the bag to search for your travel journal, you hadn't heard the infirmary door reopen, nor the soft footsteps that followed in after. As a familiar voice suddenly spoke behind you, you froze, your arm completely inside the bag, nearly to your shoulder.

“I'm surprised you could get your bag open.”

You slowly glanced over your shoulder and took in a nosey Law, who was currently peeking over your shoulder to try and see into your bag.

“... I didn't think such a small bag would be so deep.”

You immediately snatch your arm from your bag and snag the two ties shut, though you're unable to get the flap down before Law rips the bag from your fingers. “Oi!” You bark, trying to be quick and snatch it back but your injuries stop you, pulling an agonized groan from your lips as the ache in your side and head turn into a heavy thumping.

He gives you a pointed stare and tries to undo the ties, only to find it feels like they were welded shut. His look turns irritated as he tries again, his fingertips burning as the velvet rope seems to bite at his skin.

“Explain.” He demands, continuing to try and tug at the ropes.

“You wouldn't believe me even if I told you,” you gave in response, giving a slight shrug halfway through. “No one ever does.”

He finally gives up with a huff, throwing the ten pound bag back into your lap. “Try me,” he bites back, arms crossed as his hip leans on the side of the bed.

You hum for a moment before admitting the truth, uncaring if he actually believed you or not.

“A genie gave it to me, and one of the conditions I wished for was that only I could open the bag.”

The dead stare Law gave you made you want to curl up into a ball and straight up die. “Do I look fucking stupid to you?” he drawls out, clearly unimpressed with your answer. You shrugged again, teasing him lightly with a, “I told you.”

“Wait, you got your knapsack from a genie?! Now, this story I gotta hear!”

Law groans and throws an irritated look over your shoulder at Shachi, who was peeking over your own shoulder the same way Law just had. You jumped this time, surprised, not expecting him to be standing there and unconsciously blushed at the sudden contact. Shachi only grinned wider at seeing that, lowering his shades enough to give you a peek at amber eyes with a wink before raising them back up.

“What's wrong, pretty? Sea King got your tongue?”

Your frown was filled with second hand embarrassment, grimacing slightly as you denied, “Mm, no. No, no, you can stand over there, thanks.” You pointed to the space beside his Captain before admitting again as he moved, “And yes, I was granted a wish from a genie and now I have this bag. It's essentially a black hole, and I've filled it with things over the last seven years so I can pull out literally anything and everything you could think of.”

You opened the ties and stuck your arm back in before you said outloud, “Man, it would be super helpful if I could find a bottle of whisky right now- oh wait, wow, would you look at that?” You pulled out a 17 year aged bottle, label crisp and unopened, handing it to Law who slowly took it with shocked hands.

“... this isn't logical,” he murmurs, looking at the bottle before Shachi snatches it out of his hands. “Whoa! This thing would be worth almost a hundred thousand beri! Are you rich or something?”

You looked down into your bag before reaching in again and pulled out a medium sized, black sidebag. Law's eyes narrowed in confusion at watching the larger back get pulled out of the smaller one with no issues, but remained silent. You opened it and shoved inside were rolls and stacks of beris, which you quickly hid by zipping it shut and shoved back into the knapsack before answering lowly, “...No.”

Law crossed his arms while Shachi placed the bottle onto your bed. “What else you got in there?” Shachi then asks, almost wanting to lean forward and peek in for himself.

You shrugged and replied, “What do you want to see?”

Law cut Shachi off before he could even reply, demanding, “I want to know the whole story of how you got this bag, and no trickery.”

You grinned and chuckled, "It's a pretty long story…”

Law pushed the bottle aside and sat up on your bed, crossing his leg over the other with a curt, “I have all the time in the world.” He then looked at Shachi and gives a deadpan, “You, on the other hand, have duties to finish. You're dismissed.”

You give a mocking, “Ooouuu, you got dismissed!” to which Law shoots you an unimpressed glare, silencing any further jokes from you or Shachi, who wore a wide grin at your teasing.

“See ya later, pretty! Maybe you can sit beside me at dinner, eh?”

You roll your eyes though your cheeks give you away, dusted a soft pink that Shachi eats up like a midnight snack. He waves goodbye, for real this time, before leaving the infirmary and letting the door shut behind him.

“Now… you were saying?” Drawled Law, clearly preparing himself for your wild and probably untrue story.

You made yourself comfortable, throwing him a little smirk as you started, “Well, it happened just over 7 years ago…”

About an hour had passed since you’d told the Heart Pirate captain the truth behind your knapsack, baffling the poor man into a silent stupour. You simply sit with your hands resting in your lap, humming a tune under your breath as Law looks over all your trinkets and items pulled from your bag.

“I’m sorry, I'm still finding this hard to follow. This is so beyond logical, and quite frankly, impossible by all standards.”

You simply shrug, unable to find the words to comfort his minor mental break. “It’s the truth.” you eventually murmur, knowing he still found it difficult to wrap his head around.

“I’m not going to find it easier to believe, no matter how many times you keep repeating that.” He bites back, holding a small coin in his hand and rolling it between his fingers. You notice it’s a commemorative coin you’d found in one of your many raids on Marine grounds.

“You can keep that,” you offer, noticing his attachment to the piece of metal.

He looks from the coin to you, eyes searching yours as he asks, “Truly?”

You nod and explain, “I’m not much of a coin collector, I prefer semi-precious stones over anything.” You reach back into your bag and pull out a small, dark purple velvet coin purse, throwing it up once in your hand before gently tossing it beside him. “I actually have a few like that, I was gonna sell them eventually to make a few extra Beri in case I needed it, but…” You motion to how he holds it like it's already precious to him. “It seems I was holding onto them for you, instead. Please, keep them.”

Before he could respond, you quickly add half-jokingly, “Payment for saving my life or whatever.”

Law huffs out a soft chuckle before picking up the coin purse, testing its weight in one of his tattooed hands. After a moment, he looks back at you and asks, “How would you like to help me become King of the Pirates?"

When dinnertime rolls around, now dressed in a matching eggshell white boiler suit with the Heart Pirate crest, you easily make your way to the small mess-hall thanks to an excited Shachi and Penguin, both men talking your ear off and asking the most random questions.

“What’s your favourite type of potato?”

“Do you like card games?”

“Your hair colour is so cool, is it natural?”

“Are you single?”

“Oh hey, can I borrow some beri?”

“You’re gonna sit beside ME, right?”

“Nuh-uh! She’s sitting beside me, asshole!”

Your laugh pulls them from a physical altercation, both of them looking at you with burning embarrassment as you joke, “Are you guys always this fuckin’ nosey?”

Shachi and Penguin playfully shove each other away from you before agreeing at the same time, “Only at first!” Shachi throws an arm around your shoulders, pulling you to him as he adds, “The more you tell us, the less questions we need to ask! Duh.” He jokingly and gently pinches your cheek, laughing when you push him off and punch him in the arm.

“Hey, is that the new girl?!”

You jump at the sudden new voice that comes from just behind you. You turn and see a beautiful woman in the same suit, curly dark brown hair held back by a bandana and a just as excited look on her face. “I was so happy to hear the Captain found another woman for the crew!” She grasps your hands in a familiar way, kind and warm as she adds, “My name’s Ikkaku! I’m so excited to meet you!”

You grin in response, holding onto her hands just as kindly as you offer your name with a friendly, “It’s so nice to meet you too!” She then slings her arm through yours, pulling you away from Shachi and Penguin who immediately call out, “Oi! Not fair!”

“Ignore them, girl. They always cling to the new people like slugs and trust me, you don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.” You laughed at Ikkaku’s words, clearly hearing the teasing tone and genuine care in her voice. “They’re just a little overwhelming.” You agree softly, to which Ikkaku hums a, “Oh, absolutely.”

When you finally turn the long hallway and enter the mess-hall, you’re greeted with what you assumed was the rest of the crew, if not a good chunk of them. You were most surprised by the large, white bear mink who gave the same response as Ikkaku, immediately coming over and gushing out, “Oh, you’re awake! I’m so glad you’re okay!”

You clung a little tighter to Ikkaku as you gave the mink a shaky grin in response, clearly a little shook by being nearly cornered by the bear. “Um, thank you!”

The mink held out a large paw for you to shake, offering a happy, “I’m Bepo!” You gave Ikkaku a little look and she nodded with a gentle smile, letting you go and you took Bepo’s paw in both of your hands, giving it a small shake as you give your own name. “Nice to meet you Bepo! I’ve never met a mink before!”

Bepo is cut off by another few crewmates abandoning their plates to come say hi, to which you’re luckily saved by the booming voice of your now-Captain entering the mess-hall. “Everyone will have their chance to speak with our new crewmate, please give them some space and get back to your dinners.” You turn to Law standing behind you, leaning over slightly to make sure you were okay before backing off with a gentle pat on your shoulder, giving him two thumbs up with a shaky, “Thanks boss.”

Ikkaku collects you on your left, gently moving you towards the open-concept kitchen area where food is set up in a mini buffet style. “Grab what you want and find a seat! Don’t feel pressured, I promise no one will take it personal if you don't sit with them.”

“Uh, don’t speak for me, Ikkaku, because I will absolutely take it personal if Miss. Pretty doesn’t sit beside me,” Shachi pipes up behind you, both hands on your shoulders as he adds with a joking pout, “Like she promised!”

You laugh and shake your head, looking at him over your shoulder with a jab of your elbow into his stomach, though not hard enough to actually hurt. “I did not agree to a single thing you said earlier.” Shachi pretends to huff at your blow, one of his hands covering over where you’d hit him with a pout, “Now that’s just cruel, pretty.”

Ikkaku groans, picking up an extra empty plate and handing it to you as she gives Shachi a tired look. “Come on dude, let her sit where she wants.” She then teased, “Who knows, maybe she’d rather sit beside the garbage can than sit with you!”

Shachi pretends to sob at the insult, looking at you with clear puppy dog eyes behind his shades as he begs you, “Please tell me she's joking!”

You laugh and begin piling some food onto your plate - fried rice with what looked like pan seared whitefish and some glazed veggies - before raising an eyebrow at Shachi with a deadpan, “Why would I willingly lie to you?”

Ikkaku and Penguin burst out laughing, nearly doubling over as Shachi crossed his arms, cheeks puffed out. “So rude,” he whines before grabbing a plate and follows suit, piling food on and immediately following behind you before snatching up the empty seat beside you the second you slide into one of the two seater benches. Ikkaku and Penguin sit on the other bench across from you, your plates filling nearly the entire table.

“Hey, so you never answered us earlier, I really do want to know what type of potato you enjoy the most,” Shachi starts before spooning some food into his mouth. You take a few bites of your own and give a pleased hum at the taste before you answer, “Honestly, I love a potato every way you can think of. Boil ‘em, mash' em, stick ‘em in a stew… all the good things, ya know?”

Penguin gives a little cheer before holding his hand out to Shachi with a teasing, “Beri please!”

You and Ikkaku watch Shachi huff in annoyance and reach into his left pocket, pulling out a handful of beri and handing them to Penguin before Ikkaku slowly questions, “Should I even ask what the hell that was about?”

“Shachi is bad at making bets with me, that’s what that was about.”

You blink a few times before joking, “I’ll remember that, ya know, for blackmail reasons.”

Shachi groans out a fake sob, leaning his hatted head on your shoulder with a sad, “Why do you continue to bully me, pretty?”

You reach up and pat his hat, ignoring the way his body stiffens slightly at the contact as you comment lightly, “I don’t know, you just seem so easy to bully.”

Shachi goes to reply when he’s kicked in the shin under the table, pulling a bite of pain from his lips as he glared at Penguin, who simply shook his head. “Don’t be weird, Shach.” He warns before taking a bite. Shachi sighs through his nose but remains quiet, turning to his own food as you and Ikkaku exchange a curious glance.

The remainder of dinner flies by, the two boys continuing to ask random questions the entire time until Law comes up behind Penguin and Ikkaku, his arms crossed as he interrupts, “Sorry to cut you off but Ikkaku, are you willing to take our newest member down to the boiler room and show her how things work? She’s strong, so I think keeping her with you would be a smart decision.”

You purse your lips a bit at his words, knowing he wasn’t aware of how strong you really were but you accepted them either way as you look to Ikkaku with a hopeful expression. She nods and swallows her bite before agreeing with him. “Sounds good to me, Cap!”

Law then adds to you, “Your things have been placed in Ikkaku’s room for the time being, in case you need them. You’ll find me in my office if you have any questions.”

You gave him a genuine smile and nodded, clearly happy with the outcome of your day. “Thank you so much, Captain.” He gives a small, polite smile in return before turning and walking out of the mess-hall.

“I’m surprised Cap decided to have dinner with us, usually he eats in his office.” Ikkaku comments as she finishes off her plate. You take your last bite and place your cutlery on your own plate as you guess, “He probably has a lot of work to do, I assume being a captain can be incredibly busy.”

Shachi hums, his forearms crossed comfortably on the table as he offers, “I don’t know, I think it was because of you, pretty.” You give Shachi a confused and skeptical look which he begins explaining, “He’s just as curious about you as we are, but he’s more subtle about it. He waits until either someone else asks or you offer the information freely.” He shrugs and adds, “You think we’re weird? Wait til you see Cap in one of his moods.”

Ikkaku and Penguin agree, nodding slightly as they immediately begin thinking of certain circumstances. “You’ll know right away. He’s honestly due for a break sometime soon, so you may see it sooner rather than later.”

You chuckle, shaking your head slightly as you think back to the coins a few hours ago, and his reaction to them. “I’ll be sure to keep my eyes peeled.”

After placing your dinnerware in the kitchen sink, Ikkaku took you to the second level, which could only be accessed by a single, 32 step spiral staircase. She took you around both of the large, steaming boilers, making sure you made notes as she showed you each part that needed to be looked after and every gauge that needed to be checked every three hours.

“I know it’s a lot of info all at once, but I promise once you get into the routines and understand what all needs to be done, it’ll be second nature to you.” You nodded as you made a few extra notes, wiping the sweat from your forehead as you huffed out, “Goddamn toasty down here, that’s for sure…”

Ikkaku laughs and goes over to the single desk off to the side by a mantinence closet, opening the first drawer on the left and hands you a black and yellow patterned bandana. “This is a huge help until your body gets used to it. I promise you won't be sweating this much in a few months.”

You tie it over your forehead with the knot in the middle, giving Ikkaku a wide grin and a thumbs up before you both move on.

By the time you realize it's getting late by how frequently you begin yawning, you finally ask a just as sleepy Ikkaku, “So where am I sleeping?”

She turns to you and laughs a little, playfully punching you in the shoulder as she replies, “With me, obviously! I have a double bed in my room so I hope you're okay with a snuggle buddy.”

You laugh with a nod, rubbing at your eyes with another yawn as you accept. “I have no issues with that.”

“You could always bunk with me, if you wanted!”

Both you and Ikkaku groan at the same time at the intrusive voice, slowly turning to a giddy Shachi carrying three beer bottles. He hands one to each of you and holds it out for a cheers. “To our new crewmate!”

You roll your eyes and tap the neck of your bottle against his and Ikkaku's before taking a long sip. You give a please hum at the taste - cheap, truly decent beer always tasted best when you were sweating your ass off.

“I was serious, by the way. You could bunk with me if you ever get sick of Ikkaku's snoring.”

You gawking at Ikkaku for a second who simply punches Shachi in the shoulder, ignoring the way Shachi laughs as you ask, “You fuckin’ snore?! And when were you going to mention this, hm?”

Ikkaku gave a sheepish giggle, rubbing the back of her head as she offered pathetically, “Um, never? I was hoping you'd fall asleep before me and would never find out.”

You bark out a laugh at that, shaking your head slightly as you give a little shrug, accepting your fate. “Yeah, sounds about right.” You look at Shachi and agree with him jokingly, "Don't be surprised if you find me next to you one night, then.”

Shachi grins before taking another sip, throwing an arm around your shoulder again as he drawls, “Sigh, one night is all it takes, pretty. Then you'll be sleeping with me every night, complaining that I'm taking all the blankets and begging me for bedtime kisses.”

You and Ikkaku laugh at that, your cheeks tinted a dusty pink as you murmur behind the bottle, “Oh, what do you know…”

Once your beer was finished, you handed Shachi the empty, who took it with a comment of “Oi, I don't want this-” and you made your way back towards the staircase upstairs. “I'm heading to the showers before bed, can you show me where our room is?”

Shachi almost shouts, “YEAH, I CAN-” only to be cut off as Ikkaku pinches both of his cheeks and pulls, hard. “Leave her alone, you frickin’ weirdo! At least give the girl the day to get used to everything first!”

You snicker, hiding another blush behind your hand as you watch Ikkaku and Shachi bicker like long lost siblings. It fills your heart with a warmth that you hadn't felt in a long time, causing you to smile gently as they finally follow behind you and make their way up the stairs with you. When you and Ikkaku reach her (now yours, too) room, she waves off Shachi who pats you on the head a few times before almost skipping away with the empty beer bottles. You pursed your lips together with a little sigh as you think to yourself, ‘he really is a little weirdo, isn't he.’

Ikkaku leads you into the room and you're happy to see she actually had a proper double bed, giving enough space that you should both sleep peacefully in case it got hot at nighttime. You opened your bag sitting on the bed and reached in, pulling out a shower bag, holding all your haircare and body products, a towel, shower flip-flops, a brush and a small hairdryer. She taps on the hairdryer and comments, “You won't need that, unless you want to dry your hair in here. There's two wall dryers mounted in the showers if you want to use those instead!”

You thank her and reach into your backpack again, pulling out a small suitcase with all your clothes. Ikkaku watches with wide eyes as the larger suitcase comes out of the small knapsack with ease and asks, “How the fuck did you do that?”

You purse your lips to the side before replying offhandedly, “A genie gave me my knapsack so it's essentially like a black hole. I can put anything and everything into it and it'll never get full.”

She blinks a few times before exclaiming, “Holy shit! That's cool as hell!”

You mimic her blinking before asking softly, “You… believe me?”

She nods and furrows her brows in accusation as she retorts, “Well, duh. It's not like you have a reason to lie to me.”

You give her a slow, small smile, truly grateful to not have a repeat of your Captain's mini outburst. “Thank you. The Big Man did not believe me at first, so I'm thankful I don't have to try and make you believe me.”

Ikkaku hums, sitting on the bed as she unzips her suit and pulls the arms down with a happy sigh, enjoying the cool breeze from the AC vents above. “Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. He's not one to think that a black hole backpack would make any sense.”

You kneel down and open your suitcase, pulling out tie-dye sleep shorts and a black spaghetti strap tank top before closing it and sliding it under the bed to keep it out of the way. “But you-?”

She laughs and slides the suit off entirely, leaving her in undies and a wife beater. “Yeah girl, I mean, living on the Grand Line and with everything I've seen in my life… hell, that's the least crazy thing I've heard all week! I'm not going to sit there and find reasons to poke holes in your story.”

You sat back on your feet and smiled again, your heart feeling light and happy at her response. “I'm so lucky,” you murmured, shaking your head with a wave when Ikkaku gives you a confused look. “I just… never would I have thought that getting caught in a storm and having my dingy wrecked would have me end up on a pirate ship, let alone joining said crew and gaining new friends.”

“Family,” she corrected, kicking her foot out at you and gently tapping the back of your arm, understanding what you were getting at. “We're family now. You'll never be alone again.”

Your fingers absent-mindedly fiddled with the straps of your shower caddy, unable to show Ikkaku your true appreciation without wanting to burst into tears, so you simply agreed with a soft, “Ah… yes, right.”

She kicks you again and laughs lightly. “Come on, stinky. I'll show you where the showers are.”

Your brows furrow at her teasing, frowning at her as you tease back, “Eh?! Stinky?!” Your hand snaps out and snatches her foot, giving the bottom a little tickle with your finger before she yanks it out of your hold with a loud laugh. “I think the stinky one here is you, kickin’ me with your fuckin’ feet!”

You both turn into bundles of laughter, the sound echoing off the metal walls and filling the ship with a bright, shimmering vibration that uplifts the entire vessel. You hoped to yourself that things would still feel this way, no matter how long you remained on the Polar Tang.

- ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜꜱ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ -

The sound of your combat boots hitting the rocky ground echoed in your ears, joining the uneven roar of your heart rushing blood through your veins. Taking a right turn, you go down an empty alley and give a soft, “Aw, damn it…” as you meet a dead end.

“Heh, you made a big mistake, girlie.”

You slowly turn and groan to yourself as you're suddenly cornered by the three marines you were trying so desperately to get away from.

“Did I? I couldn't tell,” you snark back, only to yelp as one of them fires a warning shot down by your left foot. You take a step back, hands up as you give a shaky laugh. “What? Not a fan of comedy?”

Two guns and a sword are lifted towards you and right as you're ready to fight back, you hear, “Hey pretty, get down!”

You immediately duck and two shots fire off, just grazing over your scalp as two of the marines are cut down, hitting the ground dead. The third struggles for a moment against the assailants before hitting the ground, blood seeping from his stomach as he passes out. You slowly look up and see Shachi and Penguin standing there, clearly out of breath from chasing after you all.

“You okay?!” Shachi asks, clearly worried as he makes his way to you. He sheaths his own sword before gathering your face in his hands, turning your head this way and that as you breathe out, “Yes, I'm okay, Shachi I'm okay!”

“Come on guys, we gotta get back to the Tang! If you think the Captain was joking about leaving our asses behind, you're sorely mistaken!” Penguin barks out, already antsy to get running again.

Shachi snatches your hand and pulls you along, all of you running as fast as you can towards the shore where the Tang hummed to life, desperate to head under.

“Come on!” Law irritably shouts from the front of the ship, arms crossed and clearly unimpressed with your three. “You're almost an hour late! We gotta go!”

Your legs feel like jello at this point and your lungs feel like they're about to explode but you keep up, only stopping and collapsing the second you hit the wooden deck.

Your breaths come out in wheezes, having to close your eyes as you beg whatever God was up above to not throw up on the deck. “Did you at least grab what we were looking for?” Scolds Law, and you give a shaky thumbs up, which he hums in approval at before walking back into the ship. “Good. Meet me in my office once you gather yourself.”

You give a warbled response, unable to formulate any real words at the moment. You feel the Tang begin to move, the breeze a delight on your sweaty body, glad you'd had the bright idea to go incognito to the island in dark jeans and a black crop top. You feel sudden warmth on your right side and could tell someone had kneeled down beside you, immediately guessing it was Shachi or Penguin.

“You sure you're okay, pretty?” You feel a gentle hand run over the back of your head and you nod, turning your face to the side to look up at Shachi who still stared down at you with the same worry he had earlier. You weakly reach out and pat his knee, giving him a breathless smile as you wheeze out, “Never better, in fact.”

He gives a half grin in response, pressing his fingertips into your scalp as a small massage. You could feel the worry in his touch, the way his fingers gently card through your messy hair and tuck a few strands behind one of your pierced ears. “Ugh, get a room.” Penguin pretends to gag before making his way into the ship, letting the heavy metal door shut behind him.

You and Shachi laugh, letting him help you sit up and you're thankful in how he lets you rest against him. In a moment of weakness, he wraps an arm around your shoulder like he always does, though this time he presses a long kiss to your temple. You freeze in his grasp, feeling his erratic heartbeat against the back of your arm and shoulder blade. “You really scared m- us. You scared us real good, pretty.”

You half-turn to look up at Shachi, a dark blush taking over your face as he continues, “You shouldn't have gotten separated from Peng and I… I'm so sorry. I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt because of my stupidity.”

You shook your head slightly, turning your body so you were facing Shachi better and gently held his cheek in a warm palm as you admitted, “It's my fault, Shachi. I should have been more careful, it's not your fault-”

He cuts you off, holding your hand to his cheek as he almost whines, “But it is! I shouldn't have let those stupid marines get the best of me-”

You roll your eyes and lean forward, giving him a quick kiss to his other cheek to shut him up, which immediately works. You pull back to see him wearing a matching blush, glasses slightly askew as he gawks at you. “Agree to disagree, hm?” You offer gently, letting your fingers intertwine with his as you pull them down from his cheek. He pulls them to his heart and tugs you close, his lips finding yours like they were meant to touch. You sucked in a surprised gasp through your nose, eyes widening for a moment before they slid shut, kissing him back as both your minds filled with only one thought.

‘Finally!’

When he pulled away, he leaned his forehead against yours, ignoring how his hat bunched up on his head as he murmured, “Was - was that okay?” You could taste the desperation in his voice, every word clinging onto hope that you would feel the same.

You smiled lovingly, giving a small nod as you whispered, “Yeah. Yeah, it was.”

Shachi chuckled and kissed you again, his other hand moving to the back of your head to deepen the kiss. You clung to his suit with a small sound, wanting more but instead you hesitantly pulled away, breathlessly getting out, “W-we gotta get in, the ship's gonna go under soon-”

Shachi gives an over exaggerated sigh as he pulls away, knowing you were right. “Well… we can just… continue this later, then.” The tip of his nose brushes against yours before he lets you go enough to stand. He holds out his hand, pulling you off the deck and brushing your shirt and pants off before motioning for you to head in. You sling your bag over your shoulder and make your way to the door, Shachi following behind as the last warning bell rings over the speakers. “Perfect timing,” He jokes, his heart racing as you give a sheepish chuckle, cheeks burning once again.

You knocked on Law's office door and waited until he called you in, peeking in with a small wave and letting the door stay open a crack after you made your way in. As you sat in the chair across from his desk, you pulled your bag off your back and pulled out a stack of files, happily placing it on Law's desk with a beaming smile. “Just as requested, Captain! If I may ask, why did you want files on Donquixote Doflamingo? That guy's bad news all around.”

Law picks up the files and flips through them, frowning to himself at seeing a few files blacked out. “You may not ask,” he counters, tossing the blacked out pages onto his desk in a pile of matching ones. You frowned slightly as you tried to pry, “But-”

He cuts you off with a final, “No questions. Thank you for gathering these, but please.” He glances up at you before going back to the files. “No questions. You're dismissed.”

You sigh softly and nod, gathering your knapsack and slinging one strap over your shoulder before leaving his office. “Close the door behind you, if you could.” You gently tug the door shut and sigh again, curious as to what your Captain could want with information about the head Donquixote. You went to walk back towards your shared room with Ikkaku when two separate arms are thrown over your shoulders and you’re crushed between two bodies.

“Oi!”

You’re pulled along by the two, sighing heavily and rolling your eyes as you realize it’s Shachi and Penguin. “What’s up?”

They stay silent until you all reach their bedroom door, which Shachi opens and lets you walk in first. You notice its a decently sized room, nearly fully divided in half by two different aesthetics. Two beds with two separate dressers, two desks with chairs and a shared closet filled the space, surprising you slightly at how different the two best friends were. A large, black shag carpet laid smack dab in the middle of the room, covering almost all the cold metal flooring. “Cool room, guys.” You commented lightly, impressed with how neat they kept it. You’d seen some brutal rooms in your life and for two dudes, Shachi and Penguin kept themselves decently clean.

“The Captain does room inspections randomly so we gotta be on our toes.”

You raise an eyebrow at Shachi’s words as he closes the door and invites you to sit on the carpet. “Does he?” You questioned, knowing that he hadn’t looked into you and Ikkaku’s room in the time you’d been on the ship. “I mean, if you guys are slobs then I’d understand why-”

Penguin bursts out laughing, joining you both on the carpet after grabbing a full paper bag from one of his desk drawers. He dumps everything out the second he sits, to which you happily notice its candy - a rare treat living on the seas. You pick up a sucker, bright red with little black dots and the second you put it in your mouth, you cheer silently with a little shimmy. When you notice them looking at you with confused smirks, you show them the sucker before putting it back in your mouth. “Watermelon sucker, it’s the absolute best candy ever.”

Shachi pretends to gag with a frown before snatching up two caramel squares. “Hell nah, caramels are where it's at! Especially when they’ve got the chocolate in the middle.” He kisses his fingertips with an accented, “Delicioso.”

You both pause suddenly as Penguin picks up a few small, black diamonds, and you ask with a grimace, “Is that fucking licorice?”

Penguin gives a wide grin, snickering as he throws all three pieces into his mouth. “Salted black licorice to be exact.”

You shake your head with a few wide-eyed blinks, disgusted and horrified that he’d eat three of them at the same time. “Oh, so you’re a psychopath, okay, great, good to know.” Shachi cackles as you then ask, “Do you have no tastebuds or something?”

Penguin pouts slightly, crossing his arms in defiance as he claims, “I do! I just love the salty goodness-”

“You are never allowed to put those two words together to describe licorice ever again.”

“But they ARE salty and good!”

“Right to jail, Penguin!”

“Licorice is good, you’re just a big baby!”

“You’ll be hearing from my lawyer, grandpa.”

Shachi has fallen over laughing so hard at this point, and Penguin can’t help but crack a small grin, shaking his head before he jokingly sighs out, “Gee, I see why you like her so much, Shach.”

Your mouth falls open into a small ‘o’ as Shachi nearly leaps sitting back up, reaching over and punching Penguin in the arm hard enough for the other to shout back, “Dude!”

Penguin then bites out, “Man, just tell her! You literally kissed like 2 hours ago, so why are you acting all embarrassed now?”

“Y-you?! You saw that?!” You squeaked out and Shachi at least had the decency to look guilty as Penguin laughed out, “No, he told me the second he got back to our room, while you were in Cap’s office.”

Your cheeks burned as you looked to Shachi in surprise, who only sat in embarrassed silence, twiddling his thumbs in his lap as Penguin continued his tirade. “He gushed about it, honestly! And that’s actually the whole reason why we’ve gathered here today.”

You and Shachi share a loud “Eh?!” as you gawk at Penguin in surprise.

“You two aren’t leaving this room until you decide to get together!” You both blush and stammer, speaking over each other as Penguin continues, “You guys are the only ones on this damn ship that doesn’t see it! I’m sick of seeing you guys give each other lovey-dovey eyes and pretend that you don’t deserve each other.”

You look away, overwhelmed and anxious. You didn’t think your shared looks were that noticeable, always trying to take care to look but not for long enough that someone would think twice about it. Penguin was just too observant, you supposed.

“Look, you guys clearly like each other, and considering you didn’t slap him after he kissed you, I don't know, I think that says a lot, honestly.” You could hear the joking tone in Penguins voice, even as he continued, “And if you ever need a third-”

“Okay, okay dude we get it!” Shachi finally cuts him off, his cheeks just as dark as he then reaches out and takes your hand in his. Sitting there across from him, with a sucker sticking out of your mouth, eyes wide and hopeful, Shachi had to take a moment to memorize you just like this. “I uh… you, you know, pretty, I just… you and me, I…”

You laugh, shaking your head slightly as you look down at your held hands, giving his a little squeeze as you look back at him with a, “Yeah, I get it. And I um, I feel the same. If you even care,” You joke at the end, giving him a little smile that he matches tenfold.

Penguin cheers, throwing his hands up before he finally stands and stretches, a pleased expression on his face as he beams, “Well, my work here is done!” You both watch him give his shoulders a little shimmy before he gives you guys two thumbs up and points them at hos chest. “This guy is officially outta here! Don’t forget to keep the door locked, kiddies!”

Before you could say anything else, Penguin bent down and scooped up most of the candy back into the paper bag, leaving a few more pieces for you both to share and took his leave, shutting the door behind him with a cheeky giggle. There was a beat of silence until Shachi shot up and quickly locked the door, turning to you with a sheepish grin. “Ya know um, just, just in case, yeah?”

You give him a laugh in return, sitting up on your knees as you agree, “Ah, yes, of course… just in case.”

Shachi gives a huff of a chuckle, hand falling from the doorknob. He stands awkwardly for a moment before he takes a tentative step, looking at you over his shades with a purposeful gaze. You gave him a small smile in return, words failing on your tongue but it's like he reads your mind, motioning for you to join him on his bed. You pick up the candy and shuffle over, climbing in and sitting against the wall comfortably. You gently toss the candy down before glancing up, noticing there were a few trinkets sitting on a small shelf just under the window, which you smile slightly at seeing a few you recognise.

“You know we uh, we don't have to do anything, if you're not comfortable.” Shachi suddenly pipes up from his spot beside you, crosslegged and picking up another caramel square, picking off the plastic wrap and popping it in his mouth. You look at him with a shrug and quietly reply, “We um, we actually could… if you wanted to?”

He watches as you, mesmerized, as you bite off the last sliver of sucker from the wooden stick, placing it on top of his discarded plastic wrap, crunching on the remnants of the sugary goodness before he answers, “I would like that.”

You shyly watch as he shoves the garbage and other treats off to the side and moves closer, almost hovering over you as his hand cups your cheek, his thumb brushing over your soft skin as if committing every inch of you to his memory.

“You know… there was a song I heard a few times…” he murmurs, leaning forward just enough that his lips brushed against yours. “It was in French, but the loose translation was, ‘I would tattoo the image of you onto the backs of my eyelids so I could see you even in an eternal sleep.’ Every time I look at you, it makes me think of that song.” He then goes quiet for a second, his entire face tomato red as he admits, “I don't know why I said that.”

You gush happily up at him, surprised and appreciative of his compliment as you cooed, “That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me.” Shachi only looks cheeky, giving a little giggle as he kisses you again, pulling you close until you push him back and sit on his lap.

“Oooh, now this… this I could get used to,” he half-jokes, his hands on your hips as you slowly unzip his boiler suit. You can already feel how hard he is, his fat tip pressing against your clothed core, sending ripples of pleasure over your skin. He playful snaps his sharp teeth at you, letting you shimmy his arms and torso out of the suit, leaving him half naked and covered in goosebumps.

“Well, now you gotta match!” He teases, his hands slowly sliding up and under your shirt until his fingers curl around the fabric and tug it off, throwing it to the carpet haphazardly. He oogles your breasts, still caged in a plain black bra with a simple lace on the fringe, almost drooling at the sight so close to his face. He then gives a lecherous chuckle and leans forward, letting his face settle between your breasts, moaning into your flesh, “Yeaaah, this is the high life.”

You can't help but laugh, letting one hand roam over his naked back while the other sneaks under his hat and your fingers scratch at his scalp. You feel him melt under your touch, giving another shameless moan as his hands fondled your sides and moved to cup your ass with gripping fingers. He presses your hips down, and you grind against him, pulling a small gasp from your lips.

In a flash, he's flipped you onto your back, hovering over you with his hips still between your legs. His hands slowly pull your pants down and off your legs. “God, you're gorgeous,” he breathes, taking in the sight of your body beneath him. He kicks the rest of the boiler suit off and shoves it onto the floor with your clothes. His fingers go to take your bra off but doesn't find a clasp on the back, which you laugh at and flick at the small twist clasp between your tits. “Just pull - yeah, there you go.” The bra pops open and Shachi swears he could have cum then and there at how your breasts spill from the cups.

“Never seen a pair of tits before, Shach?” You tease with a sly smirk, only to have it wiped from your face as your eyes roll back at the sudden pleasure of him sucking a nipple into your mouth. His hand fiddles with the other one, bringing it to a stiff peak that he rolls in his fingers like a fidget toy. After a moment, his lips leave your tit with a loud POP, pleased with the hickey he'd left on your skin.

“Never ones as beautiful and perfect as yours.” He looks at you over his shades, his eyes filled with a needy spark that sends shivers over your flesh. “It's like you were made for me, pretty.”

You blush deep at his words, not used to the adoration and devotion falling from his lips like a prayer. You then gasp softly as his one hand gently tugs at the band of your panties, silently asking if he could go further with you. You replied by lifting your hips up, letting his hand curl around the seam and shimmy them down.

He let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding as your legs gently fell open, your whole body burning under his stare as you looked to the side. Soft fingers tilted your chin back towards him, your gaze meeting uncovered amber eyes as he tossed his shades onto his suit. “Don’t look away, pretty,” he practically begs, bringing your own hands to the band of his boxer shorts, letting your fingers slide under it and giving a few soft tugs until his cock sprang free.

Your mouth fell open slightly in shock. Thick, cut and groomed, his cock twitched as your eyes flickered from it back to his face, unable to formulate any real words. He was certainly the largest you'd seen, let alone would try to take, but pure need and desperation took over any anxious worries you might have had. You then gasp softly as warm fingers slide over your soaked entrance, teasing over your labia and gathering your slick until his middle and ring finger slide into your core.

He's slow and testing with his touch, bringing his fingers all the way out, right to the tip of his finger before gliding them back in, curling up just enough to make you see stars and feel like you would gush over his hand. When he's satisfied, Shachi brings his fingers to his face and locks eyes with you as he licks your essence off his digits, another pleased groan leaving him at the taste.

“Yeah…” he decides, grinning and caging over your body as his tip teases over your core the same way his fingers just had. “You were definitely made for me.” Your legs lock around his waist and he takes no time to dip his tip into you, relishing in the way you gasp his name and try to rock your hips into his.

“Shh, a little patience, pretty. I don't want to hurt you.” You could've cried at how tender he was being and how the ache to be filled sent your brain into overdrive. You whined, attempting the same thing, only to bite back a hiss as he slid his cock in another inch, the stretch hurting in such a good way. “Please Shachi,” you begged, your hands linking behind his neck with your fingers tangling in his hair and giving a little tug. “I need you, please Shachi please-”

Your words cut off with a sharp “Oh!” as he snaps his hips roughly into you, forcing his cock all the way in and sending sparks of white over your vision at the sudden intrusion. You breathe through it, screwing your eyes shut with brows furrowed, focusing on the way Shachi praises you. “So good pretty, you feel so fucking good,” he shoves his face into the side of your neck and bites down, hard enough to mark you skin with his sharp teeth but you don’t feel it through the aching stretch below. His tongue laps over the small wound, moaning into your skin, “Tell me when to move pretty, it's all you babe.”

Your hips twitch slightly, testing the slowly dissipating ache and you moan at how your cunt sucks him in. “N-now, Shachi please, please-” Your eyes roll back as he immediately starts moving, huffing into your skin at how your warmth twitches and throbs around his cock.

“So good pretty, so good-” he nearly sobs, pressing messy kisses to your breasts, throat and face until he captures your lips and his tongue fights yours for space. You couldn't think, you couldn't breathe, completely and utterly surrounded by nothing but him and him alone, and you found you wouldn't want to be anywhere but here.

He hits a spot inside you that makes you cry out, your toes curling as you feel the spark of your orgasm slowly build. “Yeah, there, please please!” He devours your words with his lips, moaning into your mouth as he picks up speed, knowing he would crash over the edge soon, too.

A few rough thrusts with a thumb teasing over your clit had you sobbing his name, clinging to him like he'd disappear if he stopped, your slick gushing out of your cunt like a waterfall until he roughly pulls out and fists himself over your groomed mound. With a gasp of your name, he cums, hard; thick globs of white covering your cunt and stomach, some streaks even reaching up to your tits as he huffs and pants over you.

It takes a few, long minutes for either of you to come back to your senses, covered in each other's slick to the point you both knew you'd need a shower now. With a chuckle, Shachi playfully asks, “Now I don't know about you, but how do you feel like a shower, a snack and then a nap?”

You can't help but laugh in agreement, nodding happily as you reply, "That honestly sounds like a dream come true, but you just want to keep seeing me naked, don't you?”

You laugh again as he enthusiastically nods, reaching over and cautiously grabbing his discarded boxers to wipe his cum off your body. You grimace at the feeling but it disappears as Shachi leans down to kiss you again, and again, and again. When he pulls away, you swore you could feel the love radiating off him as if he were the sun shining its warm rays onto your skin.

“Pretty, I love you.” He admits, low and genuine as he gently rubs the tip of his nose against yours. “I didn't think I would love anyone like this, but damn… am I ever lucky that I get to love you for the rest of my life.”

Your eyes tear up a bit as you mimic him, the tip of your nose warm and gentle against his as you murmur back, “I love you, Shachi. I'm so lucky you chose me.”

He smiles warmly down at you, giving you a handful of butterfly kisses as he whispers, “I think I'd love you in every universe.” He softly moves some hair from your face behind your ear, taking in how absolutely beautiful you looked like this. “No matter where, no matter when, I would and will always find you.”

You push some of his own hair from his eyes, ignoring the few stray tears that slip from your own as you murmur, “Always.” He kisses you again before pulling you up, holding you tightly to his body with you in his lap once again.

He goes to say something when both your stomachs rumble, pulling laughter from you both as Shachi decides to say instead, “Guess we gotta get a move on, your tummy shark sounded hungry as hell, babe.”

You jokingly pinch his side and he jumps with a squeak, knowing you'd tickle him at the first chance if you wanted. “Don’t be a bully, acting as if your tummy shark wasn't just singing a damn symphony-”

“Hey! I'm a growing boy, what can I say?”

You both jokingly bicker as you redress, getting yourself together enough to head to the showers and heading out of the room side by side. You hum happily as he grabs your hand, swinging it back and forth like a giddy kid. “Do you want to shower together or do you want to shower while I made us something to eat?” He asks, stopping in front of the showers and turning to you.

“Actually, do you mind making us something to snack on? I'll be quick and can take our food back to the room while you shower?” You offer to which he agrees with a quick kiss to your forehead. “Sounds like a great plan, pretty. I'll be right back, enjoy your shower.”

After scrubbing yourself clean and changing into your sleepwear, thankful for yourself for keeping your shower caddy under the sink along with an extra pair of pajamas, you quickly dried your hair as much as you could before giving up and leaving the showers.

“Hope you're hungry, pretty!”

You jump slightly at the sudden voice, turning to see Shachi standing there with a wide grin and a plate covered with goodies. A few sandwiches, some crackers and a bag of chips in his other hand, he was definitely ready to munch down.

“I'll shower quickly and we can throw a film onto Peng's projector snail when we get back to the room, if you want? He's got some good choices!”

You take the snacks and nod with a returned smile, excited to spend the rest of the night relaxing and enjoying time with him. “I'll meet you there, you take your time, Shach.” He happily leans over to kiss you a few times again before slinking into the showers with a tune humming on his lips.

The second you're back in their room, you're setting up the snacks on his bed, including the other treats from Penguin and set up the projector snail with the movie that was currently ready to play, deciding not to fiddle with Penguins things. Once everything was ready, you made yourself cozy under his fuzzy blanket with a content sigh.

You then laugh to yourself as you notice Shachi's blanket had a picture of an orca jumping out of the water. “How fitting,” you joke quietly before turning to the door as it opens.

“Aww, my pretty all comfy cozy waiting for me,” Shachi gushes before closing the door and practically jumping onto the bed on his side with a loving grin on his lips. “Life really couldn't get any better.”

You pretended to act like you were thinking, pointer finger tapping your chin a few times as you joked, “Hmm, I don't know, I think it could get a bit better…”

Shachi looks confused for a moment before you laugh and pull him towards you, motioning for him to slide behind you on the bed so you could sit between his legs. You lean back and he circles his arms around your waist, his chin resting on your head as he sighs lovingly. “You're right, pretty. This absolutely makes it better.”

He sets up the movie with the small remote and settles with you, letting you move to reach for the plate of snacks and handing him one of the sandwiches. As the film starts, you snuggle back a little more into his arms, humming softly as he presses a kiss to the top of your head.

As you settle with a warmth that you hadn't felt in a very long time, you genuinely thought to yourself that it truly couldn't get better.

#mandies mumbles ; fanfics #completed commissions ; 🍊#shachi x reader #one piece #one piece reader #x reader #op shachi #heart pirate shachi #heart pirate reader #ok to rb #MY FIRST COMMISSION AAAAA 🥹🥹🥹🥹💖💖💖💖💖#i know it was a rly long one and im so thankful to everyone who reads it the whole way through #thank you again so so much Quin and thank you for letting me gush abt my love for Shachi 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹#we truly need more shachi love in the world #please let me know what all think 🥹🥹

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mandiemegatron · 1 day ago

Text

By Your Side Denjiro X Reader_|

"My flower, what is wrong?" he asked you sweetly as he then pulled you into his lap. "You look exhausted, and you've been… crying?" "N-nightmare…" You managed to say, not realizing how shaky your voice would be until you tried to speak.

tags~ fluff, gn!reader, nightmares, overthinking, addressing truma, hurt/comfort w/c~ 2.8k a/n~ i will never let go of the whole '20 years later' concept with Denjiro. i love it too much hehe. not beta read, b ut its fiiiiine. im glad to be back <3

It felt silly to say you were haunted by nightmares, but there was no other way to describe the horror you felt each night when you went to sleep. Each time sleep came to you, it brought with it nightmares and a restless night to follow. Before the dreams got too detailed in displaying their horrors you would jolt awake, that being your body's only way to escape the horrors that made your heart race while you tried to rest. Every night, you would constantly relive the same nightmare in which Denjiro was gone again— disappeared from your side and your life as he had done twenty years ago. It was torture, and you couldn't understand why a place in your mind held space for such a cruel image of your partner.

Even when things settled after the Straw Hats left Wano, that peace could not penetrate far enough to impact the wound left on your soul. The pain of waking up one day and realizing he was gone, or even dead; nothing could compare to how you felt in that moment, at that age, at that time. Now that he was back—your sweet lover you thought to be lost to you—your mind felt it necessary to torture and taunt you with the possibility that it could happen again. Your mind would display all the ways that he'd leave again without a word, or how he would tragically perish elsewhere just to protect you. None hit as hard as the simplest and most frequent nightmare you had though: waking up with him no longer by your side in the middle of the night.

It was odd at first, as you still lived alone in your own home for the first few weeks after everything had settled; still quite unsure of what to do now that your lover had returned with his name. After having so many nightmares every single night though, you eventually caved and decided you couldn't delay your request to move in with him any longer. Even if you had to leave all your belongings for a while, you at least wanted yourself to be back with him physically. You thought that maybe being in his presence again would help with your nightmares, and for the first bit, it did.

You weren't detailed in your request to stay with Denjiro now, only telling him that you felt you were ready to come by and stay more often. You did mention being a bit restless lately, asking if you could spend your nights with him instead of a spare room. He had no objections of course, overjoyed to finally start merging your lives together after so long. That excitement of his was reassuring, easing your mind's worrisome imagery of his disappearance. It was easier to get to sleep now after you started sharing a room with him, but even so, the nightmares were simply less jarring at first. They returned to their full horror a few days later, cutting you off from that peaceful sleep you craved so badly once again.

The first few nights that your nightmares returned, you would jolt awake and shoot upright where you slept with a racing heart, breathing rapidly as your hazy vision gradually cleared. The only way you found peace in these moments was when you looked over on the oversized futon to find Denjiro laying peacefully next to you. his calm, steady breath grounded you, and you would match your breathing to his to keep yourself regulated and calm down. It wouldn't take long for you to get back to a level where you could fall back asleep, not wanting to bother him and let him rest until the morning. If you just stayed with him like this, surely you would heal from your trauma much quicker, no?

Sadly, many things tended to get worse before they got better. Your peace was one of those things.

A few more nights into living with him, you thought for sure you might finally have a dreamless sleep. You just had this gut feeling that you would escape your own dreams tonight, so you went to bed at Denjiro's side with a hopeful aura about you, trusting that the change in atmosphere had done all the heavy lifting in terms of healing you. That was not how healing worked unfortunately, and you discovered that through the rude awakening your mind decided to give you, worse than ever before.

Around the usual time at three in the morning, you were filled with the usual horrific night terrors, this time much more intense than any other dream you've had before. You hated what your mind showed you, and you wanted nothing more than to wake up, for it to just stop and take the essence of being without him away. It was a horrible feeling, but soon, you forced yourself awake in yet another cold sweat, breathing heavily as you fought for air. You looked next to you to rely on Denjiro's presence to calm you down…

But he wasn't there.

Your breath halted completely when your eyes met the empty space on the futon next to you. With the state you were in, this was horrible. There was no feasible reason for him to be gone for good like before, but the remnants of your nightmare fed you horrible lies that sounded too convenient for you to not at least consider.

"… Gotta find him…" You mumbled quietly, your voice of reason breaking through. "Not gone, just missing."

You took a moment to calm your heavy breaths as best you could, which wasn't a lot considering you currently sat alone in his empty room without a single sign of where he went. Eventually you flung the blanket off of yourself and went to search for him, deciding to take things into your own hands. It was extremely late at night, so he couldn't have gone very far— at least, you hoped so. You needed to find him. His state was huge, and you weren't quite used to navigating it just yet. This only added to your panic as you stumbled through the halls, finding more storage closets or empty rooms not containing him than you wished to. This place was so damn big, and it only contributed to your panic as things became unfamiliar and you got more and more lost.

"W-where are you… s-shit…" you mumbled to yourself, slowing down a bit as you continued to wander.

The panic started to override you, your fatigued vision blurring further. You leaned against the wall, a hand on your chest as you tried to stabilize your breath again. You were struggling, feeling dizzy… and then you smelled it. Incense, and a hint of tobacco poorly muted by the rich amber scent, mingling together quite beautifully.

You knew that scent. It was the same combo from all those years ago. Opening one of the shoji screens, you wandered through one of the spare rooms and found a trail of smoke creeping in from the crack left open by yet another shoji screen that led outside. You opened it, and found exactly what you were looking for resting quietly on the engawa, smoke drifting from his lips.

Denjiro sat with his back against one of the support pillars, a kiseru in one hand and incense burning gently on the floor next to him. Seeing him wrapped in smoke with tired eyes brought immediate relief to your entire being, and you sunk down to the floor with a whimpered sigh, alerting him of your presence. He quickly turned his head to see your exhausted form with tears in the corners of your eyes. Tapping out the remaining tobacco into a little tray, he put down the kiseru and reached a long arm out to hold your waist, pulling you across the smooth wooden floor and into his side.

"My flower, what is wrong?" he asked you sweetly as he then pulled you into his lap. "You look exhausted, and you've been… crying?"

"N-nightmare…" You managed to say, not realizing how shaky your voice would be until you tried to speak.

Denjiro understood what you needed much faster than you. He truly was an extension of you, squeezing you tight against his chest, the folds of his kimono covering your body. He was warm, the smell of lingering tobacco reminding you of softer days and evicting the fresh memory of fear and pain from your mind. Your heart rate gradually calmed, then your breathing followed as the rise and fall of your chest began to match his. Aided by the gentle compression he provided, you were able to calm down much quicker, drying your tears with your sleeve.

"Do you feel a little better?" Denjiro asked once he was sure of your calmer state.

You nodded, taking one last deep and shaky breath before you spoke. "Yes. Better. Sorry I… I thought my nightmares were over."

He kissed the top of your head sweetly. "Never apologize for your nightmares, my flower. But… May I ask what happens in these nightmares? You've been distressed over them for so long, and I want to know if I can help."

"… Promise you won't be upset with me?"

"Upset? Heavens no, I would never be upset. Whatever your dreams may be and whenever they happen are not under your control." He reassured.

"Okay…" You paused, taking in one more deep breath. "I've been having nightmares of… of your disappearance. For a while now too. Just… any and every situation of you being gone again without warning. I had another one of those dreams again tonight and… when I woke up and couldn't find you by my side… I-I panicked. A-and then when I finally found you, the relief I felt… It was like no other." You explained messily.

"Oh my love… I'm sorry." He spoke softly, resting his chin on top of your head. "I'm not upset, I promise. I just wish I wasn't so restless and off having a smoke so I could've been by your side when you woke up."

"Denjiro…"

"I'm sorry my past choices still affect you in such a way. I'll be sure to do whatever I can to make sure your fears are soothed. no matter how long it takes." He told you, giving you a bit of a squeeze. "I would never leave you like that ever again. If I was ever compelled or forced to go anywhere, you would be coming with me."

His words eased parts of your soul that you hadn't realized were aching, the warmth he offered making his words feel that much more true. You clung to his arm, sighing softly, not a stagger in your breath any longer. "… Thank you. Thank you for understanding."

"Would you like to come to the kitchen with me for some tea? We both need all the help we can get if we want any chance at getting back to sleep tonight." He asked, shifting topic playfully.

Yes. I would love some tea." You nodded. "Is it…"

"My personal sleep aid blend? Yes. The herbs finished drying earlier this week." He hummed.

"Mmm. Carry me there, please?" You requested quietly.

He chuckled, already standing up with you cradled in his arms. "Of course, my flower."

The incense fizzled out with perfect timing, being left to the cool night air as Denjiro carried you back inside and through the halls of his home to one of the closer side kitchens; smaller, but functional enough for what he needed. Once inside, he asked if you were well enough to stand on your own. You nodded and said that you could, but if possible you would prefer if you could stay close by his side, touching or holding onto him in some way. He had no problems with that of course, keeping an arm around your waist to fulfill your request. If you did not want to be fully let go, he would not let you go.

He guided you alongside him through the dark kitchen, igniting a small fire pit in the room to boil some water on. He collected a nearby tea set with its matching cups, handing the tea blend he made to you to carry—he kept some in every kitchen. Bringing you back to the fire, he had you portion out the tea blend into the teapot that he had swiftly filled with water, hanging it over the flames to let the water boil. The tea cups sat patiently on the floor as you waited for the water to do so, his arm still around your waist and keeping you close as you both watched the water start to bubble.

"If I still can't get to sleep after this…" You mumbled.

"I'll be with you until you do, and I will remain until you wake without tears in your eyes."

"… Okay. Thank you." You sighed, leaning into him.

You sat huddled in your cozy position on the floor, watching the flames lick around the pot for a few minutes until a gentle bubbling could be properly seen in the open top. After a few moments of light bubbling, he took it off the flames and extinguished the fire, pouring out a bit of the water first before filling the small tea cups that were placed before you on the floor. Both of you only waited a few moments before you were sipping on the tea, melting into the comforting pre-sweetened blend.

"I needed this." You hummed.

"I'm glad I could help a bit." He said. "Do you think you'll be able to get back to sleep when we're done?"

"Mmm, I could… But I am a bit scared to." You admitted. "I don't want those nightmares to come back."

"If they do, I'll be there this time. You won't be waking up alone anymore." he reassured you.

"You hummed, comforted by his words. "I… I will try. After this cup though. This blend is really good."

"Of course." He chuckled. "We can stay for as many cups as you need."

There was no need for more that one cup of tea for you, already feeling your eyes grow heavy. When you leaned heavily into his side, he knew you wouldn't need another. He asked if you still wanted to finish the tea you had currently, or leave it for the night, to which you insisted on finishing it. You did, but the consequences of completion were fatigue and limpness, that blend of his proving to be ever effective as always.

"Mmm… I might need you… to carry me again…" You mumbled quietly.

"Of course, my love."

Denjiro easily placed the used cups up on the nearby counter top with his long arm, scooping you up the moment both of his hands were free again. He carried you bridal style back to his room, watching you nearly doze off in his arms. From the moment he set you down on his futon, you were out like a light, eyes fluttering closed before he could even crawl in next to you.

"Sleep well, my love. Please…" He huffed, placing a gentle kiss to your lips before he laid next to you, gently draping a thin blanket over both of you. "I'll take your nightmares away."

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

They still came, vivid and vicious night terrors of a slightly different sort that were desperate to combat the sincerity of your lover. The terrors brought visions of destroying him in front of you— taking him away from you by any means necessary. You could only take so much from your mind before your body woke you up, shooting you upright where you slept only a mere hour after you had fallen asleep. This time however, a gentle hand guided you to lay back down, pulling you down into a warm chest.

"Denjiro…" You whispered.

"I'm still here." He hummed softly. "I will always be here. I promise."

He massaged your hips where his arms wrapped around you, grounding your panicked mind to the moment with him. He was here with you, and it truly clicked when you felt his lips press against the nape of your neck. Tightening your hold on his arms, you let out a deep sigh, melting into his touch as your heart rate calmed.

"… What time is it? I-I'm sorry I woke you…" you apologized quietly.

"It doesn't matter. The room is still dark so we may continue to sleep." I choose to have no other plans beyond relaxing with you for the next few days." he hummed, loosening his hold to stretch a bit before wrapping an arm back around you.

"Thank you." You huffed. "Let's sleep the day away. You're here. You're safe."

"Yes, I am."

"I love you more than words can describe." You mumbled, already feeling tired again while enveloped in his comforting warmth.

"I love you too, my sweet flower. More than any words could ever describe." He reiterated.

Finally, you could fall asleep without fear this time. Safe in his arms, protected from false realities. He would always be here.

#YEAAHHHHHHHH #we love Denjiro in this household !!!!!!#tall samurai man i love yooouuuuuuuu #mutuals work ; 🍊#love love love this !!!!

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