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New Neighbor (One Piece Fanfic) New Years Special

May or may not be canon to the story.

Nami stared blankly out of the window to her orange grove, it was way too cold to actually go outside, and it was getting too dark, besides. She wished she would be able to celebrate the new year with her mother, Gen, and Nojiko, but that wasn’t going to happen. She sighed, drastically, as she reluctantly peeled her vision away from the cold windowpane. She looked down at the map she was working on, and sketched a few more needed lines of geographical data onto the paper. She still needed to transfer it onto her computer, and continue getting the graph right, but for now, she had decided to try and break the time by at least busying herself.

Without finding any more inspiration to continue, Nami pushed herself back in her chair, and hung her head backwards, closing her eyes as boredom highlighted her very being. Her hair fell back, and out of the messy bun, she lazily twisted it into when she first started working on her maps. She felt gravity pull at it, as it weighed her head down. Her hair was thick, thick, long, and orange. Orange. She slowly opened her eyes, as she stared upside down at the door to her cartography room. It was ajar, as she had left it, and the thought of making something with her spare oranges of the year dawned on her. She lifted her head, and her reclining office chair snapped back to an upright position as she leaned onto her desk to look out to the orange trees, they still were waiting for spring.

Her gaze shifted to the edges of her grove as she saw the corners of Luffy’s home. She was finally getting used to calling the house Luffy’s, after he had lived there for four and a half months. Maybe he’s home, she thought to herself, as she pushed the chair back, it rolled against the plastic mat she had on her carpeted room. She made her way out of her cartography room, forgetting to turn off her desk light, as she closed the door behind her.

Her slippered feet tapped along the stairs of her home, as she made her way to her ground floor. She nearly slipped along the glossy hardwood floor, and walked over to her coat closet. She was in comfortable sweats, and an oversized t-shirt, but she didn’t care. She had just been lounging around the house after all. She pulled out her long orange coat, and some boots from the closet, before slipping her cold feet into them, her coat resting against the banister. She didn’t bother to put on socks, she’d have to go back up the stairs for that, and she wasn’t going to be outside long. Only a nice walk under her orange trees then through a gate to Luffy’s front door. If he was home, anyway.

She’d be able to see before she got there if his car was there. She pulled the coat off its spot on her banister, and swung it over her shoulders, slipping her arms into the sleeves. She zipped the coat up, and tied the belt around her waist, making her hips look a little larger than they were. She opened her front door, the cold blasting against her face, as she closed the door behind her. Luckily, those gusts of freezing wind were hindered as she got under the protective shield of her orange trees. She made her way through her grove, and noticed Luffy’s bright red car parked in his driveway, snow covering it, to show he hadn’t left the house all day. The sun was setting now, or at least about to. She opened the gate to his yard, or from her yard, and made her way to his door. Her feet leaving small footprints through his blanket of fresh snow.

Had it occurred to her to remember that this idiot of a neighbor of hers was basically a child in a man’s body, she would have noticed his untouched snow was kind of suspicious, but as it were, she was too anxious to actually spend New Years with someone else, she didn’t even bother to actually think about him, at all. She made her way onto his front porch, and rang his doorbell. She listened carefully, with her ear nearly pressed against the cold door, for his footsteps rushing over.

There was nothing. It didn’t fit him. Usually, he’d jump at the chance of a friend coming over, just the sound of the doorbell ringing or the knocking on a door, made him rush over to see who had decided to spend time with him. She had seen it a few times, as she sat at his kitchen counter, munching on the snack he had reluctantly handed over to her, when he came back disappointed, carrying a package in his hands, muttering something about how they didn’t want to come inside. Usopp would laugh hysterically, should he have been there, and Zoro would chuckle as he would try to hide, pathetically, his amusement.

She shifted her feet to the cold weather, it had to be at least ten below freezing. She waited for the door to open, but it never did. She rang the bell again, and waited a few seconds, before ringing it at a constant pace. She heard no shuffling of feet, no childlike voice yelling back to her, heck, she didn’t even see his living room light turn on through the window.

That was when it actually hit her, his living room light was off. All of his lights were off. There wasn’t a single light that was on in his entire house, unless it was a bathroom light. She glanced back, noticing his car was still in the driveway, that his snow was still untouched, there were no tire marks on the driveway, or the curb, and she had seen him drive up to his house last night as she was getting ready for her shower, so where the heck was he? She tiptoed over to the edge of the porch, and shifted her fingers through the leaves of one of the plants Robin had given him for Christmas. Successfully, she found his spare key. Franky had told everyone of Luffy’s friends, though not him, that the spare key to his house was in that plant, as they were leaving Christmas Eve night, to get some shut eye. Luffy was grabbing his coat, because he had forgotten it was winter, when the mechanic told them all, or at least the remaining eight people of Luffy’s immediate friend circle, the only people that showed up at the Christmas Eve fest at the black haired man’s house.

Nami pulled up the key, and hurried over to the front door, successfully unlocking it, and quickly closing the door behind her as she rushed inside. The heat of the house was inviting, and she took off her coat, and slipped out of her boots. Luffy must have had heated floors, because they were appeasingly warm. She looked around in the room lit only by the light through the windows, and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Sure, it was a little messy, but that’s just how Luffy’s house was on a daily basis.

“Luffy?” she whispered, feeling as if she was a little girl sneaking into the kitchen, careful not to wake her mother up.

There was no response, so she decided to call out for him again, “Luffy?” a little bit louder. She made her way around the house, and even went into the basement. She checked the mini theatre, to see if he had trapped himself in there, and knocked on every door that was closed, before opening it to find the darkness of the room. She went back up the stairs and did the same to the ground floor of his house. So far, Luffy wasn’t there.

She opened his garage door, and saw that Mini Merry was parked with its kickstand down, and the lock around the pole Franky had placed in there, should anyone try to steal it. She turned off the garage light, and closed the door, before looking around, and finding that the only places she hadn’t checked were upstairs. She went back into the living room, and climbed up the spiral staircase, onto the loft space. It was filled with workout equipment, and a full blown fridge. Not a mini fridge for drinks, but a full on refrigerator, at least a half a foot taller than her. She turned away from the odd sight, and walked down the hall.

Most of the doors were ajar, and the lights off, but one door was closed tight. It was Luffy’s room. She recognized it as his instantly, and briefly wondered why she hadn’t checked upstairs first. She knocked on the door, and received no response, “Luffy?” she called, “It’s me, Nami.”

The room was still silent, so she wobbled the door handle in her hand a bit making sure the room was unlocked, before making her way inside. She looked around the room, it was a bit more messier than the living room, if you’d call it a bit. She turned on the light, and looked around the now bright room. Her eyes suddenly focused on the moving being on the bed, and she walked over to it, leaving the light on.

“Luffy?” she asked, now staring down at his sleeping self. “Why didn’t you answer the door, you had me worried there for a second!”

Luffy shifted in his sleep, but didn’t answer her. His brows were still a bit furrowed, and his lips were in a frown, before he turned his body away from her. She sat herself at the edge of his bed, and ran her fingers into his hair, “We don’t have much time to celebrate the new new year.” she muttered, as she pushed his hair away from his eyes.

His hair is soft, she thought to herself as she found herself running both hands through it, along his scalp. She was so intent on feeling his hair she didn’t notice his abnormal body temperature nor his eyelids fluttering open. Her hands roamed his head, as she felt the strands of his - strangely - clean black hair run through the creases between her fingers.

“Na… mi?” she heard spoken, though she paid it no mind, for a moment, as she pushed his bangs away from his forehead.

“Keep your hair clean more often,” she muttered to herself.

“It’s not that I don’t” Luffy stated, lifting his hands to push hers off him.

She looked down to his eyes, as his hands pushed hers away from his hair, his burning skin touching hers, surprising her, “You’re burning up!”

He looked confused at her for a second, before he smiled, his voice weak, she noticed, “No, I’m not.”

“Not on fire, Luffy, you’re hot! Have you talked to Chopper?” she asked, shifting her hands so she held his wrists.

Luffy sat up, pulling one of his hands from hers as he held his head, “Ow.”

“Luffy, you need to rest.”

Luffy looked over, into her eyes, “I’m hungry.”

“I’ll get you something, you just stay here, and rest!” Nami soothed.

“Nuh-uh.” Luffy stated, shaking his head, slightly, stubbornly.

“Yes, you have a fever, you need your rest.” Nami stated as she rose from the bed.

Luffy pulled her arm to stop her, and she turned to face him, a light blush on her cheeks, before she noticed him swinging his legs over to the side of the bed, “I’m not staying in this room.”

Nami pulled her arm from him, and placed her hands on his shoulders, “Yes, you are.”

“No.” Luffy stated, looking up at her, his face was flushed, and his eyes swollen from just waking up. The scar on his cheek contrasting the bright color of his cheeks. His eyes were red, and his mouth hung open, ever so slightly. He was sick, it was painfully obvious.

Nami shook her head, though her efforts went by unnoticed, as he began to stand. He was still wearing what he had probably worn the previous day. His denim shorts folded at his knees, as his blue short sleeved shirt hung open, showing his bare chest underneath. Little white X’s marked the sides of it, but it was obviously a day-shirt. Nami had to wonder if the boy was cold at all, in that strange attire. It didn’t exactly match the weather conditions of yesterday. She knelt at the edge of his bed, so she could look up at his face. Like a mother, comforting her child.

“Luffy, you need to stay in this bed until I get back. Lay down, get some rest and-”

“No, Nami.” Luffy interrupted her.

“Luffy.”

“I said, ‘no.’” Luffy repeated, “do you know what today is?”

“It’s New Years Eve,” she replied, not following.

“Exactly!” Luffy exclaimed, but immediately regretted it, as his hands grabbed at his head.

“And this is exactly my point,” Nami stated, caressing her voice, so she didn’t cause any more pain to his head, “You have to lay down-”

“No, Nami!” Luffy yelled at her, as he grabbed at his head, trying to stop the headache with his hands.

“Luffy,” she was getting tired of this.

“I’m not gonna lay around and do nothing today!”

“You’re sick. That’s what you’ll have to do.”

“Nuh-uh!” Luffy shook his head, folding his arms across his chest.

“Yeah-huh.” Nami bickered back, and pushed him backwards onto the bed by his shoulders.

“No, Nami. It was snowing when I came home yesterday, I’m playing in the snow.” Luffy stated, forcing himself in an upright position.

He’s strong for being sick, Nami thought to herself, as she let go of his shoulders before he pushed them both onto the ground, “You aren’t playing in the snow, you’re sick, your fever is going to get worse if you do that.”

“Chopper’ll fix it.” Luffy stated, as if that were the cure to all problems.

“You can’t just keep relying on Chopper, Luffy, did you tell him you were sick today?”

“No, I just woke up, silly Nami!” Luffy laughed, but grabbed at his head afterwards, “Ack, make it stop!”

“Did you drink water?”

Luffy looked at her confused, “Yes.”

“What did you do yesterday, anyway?”

“I hung out with Zoro and Usopp, remember?”

“No, Luffy, I don’t.” Nami frowned.

“What! I told you tha-”

“You didn’t tell me anything, Luffy, I only know you were out cause I saw your car drive in, why’d you think you had told me, anyway?” Nami interrupted him.

“We’re friends, aren’t we?” Luffy stated, tilting his head to the side.

“Yes, we’re friends, Luffy, but whatever you did yesterday, gave you a massive fever, and you need to rest.”

“Wait!” Luffy stated, halting her from deciding to leave.

“What?”

“I’m sick?” he asked.

“What?” Nami repeated, confused by his comment, firstly, how had he not known he was sick, and secondly, she had been telling him that since he first woke up, “Yes, Luffy, you’re sick.” she answered herself.

“I’m sick!” his eyes went wide, and he collapsed himself backwards onto the bed, “I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die! Wahhhhhh!” he screamed, grabbing at his head.

“What?” Nami was completely confused, he wasn’t making any sense at all. “Luffy, you aren’t going to die, it’s just a small fever, do you have any ibuprofen, or tylenol?”

“I brew pro ten?” Luffy asked, “Tie lens ball?”

“Ibuprofen,” Nami repeated, slowly, “Tylenol.”

“What’s that?”

“Medicine.” Nami sighed, “Do you have any pills, or medicine?”

“I don’t know.” Luffy shrugged, “Is it food?”

“Does Chopper give you any medicine when you get hurt, like when you hurt your shoulder, or when you gashed your wrists?”

Luffy made a face, “That stuff tastes gross.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to have it, Luffy.” Nami sighed, “Or else you can’t celebrate the rest of New Years Eve.” With me.

“The rest?”

“It’s four in the afternoon, Luffy.”

“Four!” Luffy jumped out of the bed, and rushed out of the room.

“Luffy, wait!” Nami exclaimed, running after him, slightly wondering how the heck he was even sick with that much energy anyway.

She heard a stumble, followed by the sound of a ball bouncing on stairs, and she rushed over to the lofted area to see Luffy stumble face first onto his ground floor, his knees still on the stairs as his feet were dangling over his head. His torso spread across the last two steps, and his arms flailed around him.

“Luffy, are you okay?” she called down to him.

Luffy groaned, and reached one of his hands to rub at his head, but his position didn’t change, “I missed most of the day! I missed three meals!”

“Three?”

Luffy groaned, as he heard her making her way down the stairs to him, “I’m hungry!”

“Luffy, you missed two.”

“I missed three, Nami, maybe even four.”

“Four meals in a day?”

“I’m hungry!” Luffy ignored her, as she stepped over his legs, and crouched beside his whining head.

“Go back to bed.”

“No…” Luffy whined, “It’s lonely up there.”

Nami couldn’t argue with him, she would get lonely, too, but he probably didn’t have any medicine for his headache, let alone his fever. She couldn’t believe she was about to make this offer, seeing as bringing him into the cold would probably only make his fever worse, she sighed, “Let’s go over to my place, and I can make you some food there,” Also I have medicine that I use when I’m sick. She realized she had forgotten to put on a bra before she left, feeling at ease at home, and comfortable without it’s band across her back, but now, she kind needed to put it on.

“You’ll make me food!” Luffy exclaimed, happily, his voice was still weak, even if he still had a strangely energetic body and attitude. Though, out of the amount of time she had spent with him, it was a lot less chaotic than his usual one.

“Let me go grab you a blanket.” she stated, and stepped over him, as she made her way back up the stairs and into his room.

Luffy was strange, abnormally strange. Sure, she could tell he was sick, but that had little to do with him being strange. It was normal to him to have an abnormally strange, and oddly uplifting attitude about things, but it was unheard of for him to be that energetic when he was sick. Though, she had to admit, she never really had seen him sick, but drunk would be the right word. She thought that maybe he had gotten drunk with Zoro, he said he was hanging with him and Usopp, right? Even so, she was still disappointed that he was sick, it would make New Years just a little less exciting. A lot less exciting.

She came back down the stairs to see the idiot sleeping in the very position she left him in. She sighed, and walked over his legs, and grabbed under his shoulders on his arms to pull him off the stairs, seeing that it would be difficult to lift him, if he was kind of on an uneven surface. She sighed, contentedly, as she dropped the blanket over him, and crouched beside his head, to hoist him up onto her back. More difficult than she would have hoped, she reasoned, as she found herself stumbling forward, and his sleeping fram hitting the floor with a thump as it slipped off her shoulders.

After a few tries, and surprisingly not waking Luffy, she successfully held him on her shoulders, his feet dragging behind her as she made her way to the door. Screw his feet being soaked with snow, or splintered by the wood on both their porches, she was not going to hoist his legs over her frail hips. It was only after she had opened the door, did she realize that she had forgotten to put back on her coat. Her shoes were easy, seeing as she had slipped her feet into them, and stomped her heel to the ground a few times. But the cold wind hitting her front, reminding her, annoyingly that she was just wearing a shirt against her torso, gave her the information she needed.

She shook her head, as she held onto Luffy’s wrists against her chest, his hands dangling dangerously by her breasts. She flinched as she took a step down the steps, his thumb brushing against her shirt. Though she couldn’t think of that the entire trek back to her house, so she put it aside, and began walking. A shiver, not because of the cold, would go up her spine, every time she’d stumble, or he’d start to slip, and she was grateful to finally reach her house, opening her door, as Luffy’s arm fell from her shoulder, and dragging his still sleeping self into her home.

She pulled his arm back over he shoulder and walked inside, his body stiffened behind her, and she glanced over to his head, as he rose it off the crook of her neck, and stared, blankly at the space before him. His hands were no longer limp in hers as hhe supported himself, and stood up straight. That support, unfortunately being just above her buoyant breasts.

His hot cheek brushed against hers as he stood up, and he wobbly made his way to the couch. She blushed, and brought her hands to protect her braless area, before she noticed him rubbing at his head, and muttering something inaudible. She walked over to him, and rested her arms against the back of the couch he had claimed, “So you won’t sleep alone in your own house, but you’re fine with sleeping around in mine?”

“Sleeping?” Luffy questioned, “I’m not sleeping, my head hurts.”

“I’ll get you some water.”

“But isn’t it New Years Eve?” he asked, “can we have your orange juice?”

“No!” Nami snapped, before rubbing her temple, “I didn’t make any.”

“Oh, that’s okay.” Luffy smiled, though she could tell he was quite visibly disappointed.

“Fine, one glass,” Nami stated, not being able to bear his weak, sick, and miserable disappointed face.

“Really!” Luffy jumped up on the couch, but immediately regretted it, as he slumped back onto the couch clutching at his head.

She leaned over and ruffled his hair, lightly. Before leaving him alone on the couch, and going into her kitchen. She hung her head as she began to squeeze the oranges for her juice. Normally, it was champagne for New Years, but maybe, if she held off the vodka, and mixed in some medication for at least just his headache, she’d be able to actually enjoy New Years with him. That was why she had made her way over to his home in such a hurry in the first place, right? She smiled to herself as she finished the glass, the medication successfully mixed in, not even appearing to have changed from her vodka infused glass. She walked into the living room, his glass in her hand as she saw him sleeping again.

Though she was a little disappointed, she couldn’t really blame him, he wasn’t feeling well, after all. She sighed, a smile stretched across her face as she placed the cup on the coffee table, and dropped her head above his. She placed the back of her hand on his forehead, feeling light burning skin he had from the fever. She pulled out the thermometer she had grabbed out when she took the medicine for him, and opened his mouth, to place it in it.

Her fingers brushed against his lips, soft as rubber, and she closed them around the thermometer. It wasn’t safe to have a thermometer in a sleeping person’s mouth, she knew that, but she was right there, so nothing would happen. His eyelids fluttered open as she waited for the temperature on the thermometer to stop rising. He looked over to her, his eyes glossed over. Seeing the temperature stop rising, she lifted the thermometer from his mouth, gently, and looked at the temperature stated on it.

Luffy forced himself into a sitting position as he stared into her wide eyes. He glanced over behind her and saw the orange juice in the glass, but turned his attention back to her as he noticed her mouth move. He looked down at the thermometer in her hand, and almost instantaneously, it appeared he knew what she was about to say.

“I just need meat.” he stated, at the same time she told him his temperature.

“It’s 102, Luffy, that isn’t good.”

Luffy shook his head, “I just need meat, I’m hungry.”

“Meat won’t fix this, Luffy.” she sighed, before turning around and grabbing the glass she had placed behind her, “Here, this is yours. I wanted to celebrate the new year and watch the first sunrise, but if you’re sick,” she began explaining, before deciding to interrupt her own train of thought to interject what she knew he was going to say, “which you are - you’ll have to sleep through it, and get some rest.”

“No.” Luffy responded, before taking the drink offered to him, and gulping it down, “I just need meat, Nami, that helps.”

“No, it doesn’t Luffy.” she argued.

“It does.” Luffy interjected, “Because when I had hurt myself before, I ate it.”

“Luffy,” Nami sighed, and decided to drop the topic, “I’ll make you some meat.”

“Really!” Luffy leaped up, though the sudden action was too much for his head, and he collapsed forward, against Nami, as he groaned.

His head rested on her shoulder, his body half on the couch as the rest of him was pressed against her front. She blushed remembering that she was still braless, and really needed to put one on if he continued to be like this. “Yes, Luffy.”

“Nami, make it stop.” he said, his voice ever so close to her ear, in such a weak, and whispery voice. It sent shivers down her spine, as she shifted their weight, and placed her hands onto his shoulders. She pushed him off of herself, his head hanging, as he slipped the other half of his body onto the ground in front of her, “It hurts.”

“Luffy,” she frowned, “if you rest, your head will stop hurting, and drink some water, it’ll help.”

Luffy looked up at her, though not moving his head, “That hurts, too.” he said, before dropping his eyes from hers, as he stared blankly at her lap.

She sighed, and lifted him up to a standing position, before pushing him lightly back onto the couch, “Just rest for a little while,” she said.

“No.” he said quietly, barely above the sound of his breathing, but loud enough for Nami to hear with her back turned to him.

“Luf-” she began as she turned back to him, only to see wet streaks streaming down his cheeks, “-fy…”

“I miss him!” he cried, dropping himself to a crouched position as he rested his aching head into the palms of his hands.

She dropped herself back onto the floor, and wrapped her arms around him, “It’ll be okay,” she whispered barely into his ear, as she felt his fever-hot body shivering under her hold.

It was a good few minutes, before she let go. It was rare for her to see him in such a state of utter despair, it hurt her. She hated to see him like that, and didn’t want to any more. She took a deep breath in, before holding him at arm’s length. Ready to see his poor expression, and find some words of comfort for him. She had no idea who the person was that he missed, but obviously whatever happened yesterday had made him think about this person. Was it his father? Grandfather? Friend? Brother? She didn’t know, he barely ever talked about his own life, save that one time on their impromptu trip to get Sanji.

It was dark, late even, when he finally walked into her kitchen, a big smile stretched across his face as he smelled the delicious aroma of simmering steak. She turned around to look at him. A smile glimmered across her features mirroring his. He still had a fever, she could tell, but by the way he sat at her counter eagerly awaiting for her to place the steak in front of him, made her think that maybe, just maybe, he was completely better. She flipped the steak over in the pan, double checking it was done, before pressing the spatula against it, to make sure to pink juices spilled into the pan.

“Is it done, Nami?” he asked, as she placed it on a plate, paired with some microwaved green beans and mashed potatoes she had made earlier while he was sleeping after their hug. He had slept most of the day, but she couldn’t blame him, he was sick after all. Maybe the medication paired with the sleep he got and the large glass of water she placed in front of him would help out more than she could have hoped. He looked down at the steaming plate in front of him, his eyes practically glowing, contrasting his flushed cheeks perfectly.

He grabbed his fork and stabbed into the meat, without cutting it, and taking a large bite from it as it sat on the edge of his fork. He was eating slower, she noticed. He was still weak. She put a smaller amount of his portions onto her own plate, and leaned against the other side of the counter and ate her own dinner as she watched him childishly eat at his own. His teeth bore into the steak, fighting it as he tried tearing his head away, ripping it away from the larger portion still stuck on the prongs of his fork.

“Thanks, Nami!” he said with a mouth full of food.

Nami smiled, though disgusted by his lack of manners, “You’re welcome.”

His plate was empty before she knew it, and he pushed it forward for some more, “What we gonna do?” he asked.

“What?” she asked, grabbing the plate to fill it back up for him.

“You said you wanted to do something, what was it?” he stated.

“You remember that?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“You were just so sick, and I thought that -”

“Was I not supposed to remember?” he asked, interrupting her.

“No, you could,” she glanced over at the clock, there was still half an hour until midnight, “I was just hoping you’d rest a little more.” she admitted.

“Rest!” Luffy exclaimed a little louder than he meant to, as she could tell he cringed in pain as the loudness of his voice struck the nerves in his head. “There’s no way I’m resting! We could eat! Play games! We could do all kinds of things Nami!”

Nami’s eyes widened, and she smiled, “How about you finish your food, and then we could find something to do,” she said, placing the refilled plate in front of him.

“‘Kay!” he stated, pulling the plate toward himself, and stabbing his fork into the meat again.

She smiled, before she opened her fridge to see if she had any champagne. Even if he wouldn’t be drinking it in his sick state, that didn’t mean she couldn’t. She saw in the back of her fridge, hidden from her guests from Christmas, she saw the champagne she had been itching to try. She smiled, and shifted her food and drinks around as she pulled it forward, wanting to easily be able to get it once they hit ten minutes til.

She looked back over to Luffy as he was licking his plate, she smiled. She closed her fridge door before making her way out of the kitchen and into the backroom to grab out one of the games she had stored in her cubbies. Nami heard shuffling behind her as she opened the cubbies to find a good game to play. She knew he was behind her, as she pulled out a fast game that they could play a few rounds of before they got ready to celebrate the new year.

“What’s that?” she heard his hot breath in her ear, and turned to face his still fever-flushed face.

“It’s a fast game, we could play it befo-”

“Oh! I think I played this game, at Zoro’s last night!” he said, grabbing the orange box from her hands.

“You have?” she asked, before making her way back to the kitchen, him at her heels, “So I don’t need to explain it to you, do I?”

“Nope!” Luffy smiled, as he sat back down at his spot at the island counter. Nami pulled his plate and empty water cup away, and rested them by the sink.

“What color do you want?” Nami asked, as he opened the box.

“Red.” he answered, without hesitation, and pulled out the red deck of cards, the game logo printed contrasting it’s color.

Nami smiled, before pulling out the blue deck, “Figures.”

The game was as it should be, commotion. She struggled to keep up with his fast speed as he practically stretched himself across the counter to get every card that his would be next for. It was actually surprising to her at his speed, though she had seen him be faster than this before. It was mainly because of his fever that it surprised her. He won, and he laughed, wholeheartedly, before looking over to Nami, as if expecting her to do something.

“What are you waiting for?” she asked.

“Aren’t you gonna do it?” he asked her, as if answering the question.

“Do what?” she asked, confused.

“You lost, so you have to do it.” he stated.

“Do what, Luffy?” she asked again.

Instead of answering, Luffy got up from his spot at the island counter and made his way around to her side and opened one of her cabinets, as if searching for something. He left them open as he went through them all, but he found what he was looking for. He grabbed the water glass she had given him and popped the cork on the vodka bottle.

“Luffy, what are you doing?” she asked.

Without answering he poured some of the strong alcohol into the glass, filling it halfway, way too much for a shot of vodka, and handed it to her, “You lost.”

“Luffy!” She stated, “What are you talking about!”

“Zoro said that-” he began explaining, still holding the glass with the clear liquid.

“Hold up, Zoro?” she repeated.

“Yeah,” Luffy responded, before continuing, “he said that the loser of each round had to-”

She cut him off again, “Luffy, I think he must have gotten lost in the instructions.”

“What?” he asked, now he was confused.

She sighed, “It doesn’t matter,” she smiled, before taking the glass, “I think I like how he plays Perpetual Commotion better, anyway.” She downed the glass, not even squinting to the bitter flavor, and the large amount.

“Awesome!” Luffy exclaimed before sliding back to his seat, “Can we play again!”

“Sure.” She responded, and forgot for the moment that he was sick, and poured a glass of the same amount of vodka for the loser.

Luffy didn’t lose, however, she did. Again. She was shocked, she never lost in card games, and he was sick! She had played this game countless amount of times with Sanji, Robin, and Vivi, and never came close to a losing streak, but here she was, five games down, and half a bottle of vodka in her stomach. She had thought at first it was pure luck that he had won, but somehow that luck that he had was splurging amongst his other wins of the game.

She had nearly lost track of time, but she glanced over at the clock, and saw that it was seven minutes til midnight. She got up, surprised by her wobbly legs, and made her way over to the fridge, to get ready for the countdown. She pulled open the silver door, and stared blankly inside, the cool air of the fridge refreshing her hot body, and she reached in and pulled out the champagne. She couldn’t believe she was going to put another amount of alcohol into her system. She placed it on the counter, and reached up to grab a champagne glass, when Luffy’s voice rang in her head, ‘We could do all kinds of things, Nami!’ her ears burned as his words tickled her mind, and she grabbed another champagne glass.

“Whatya doing, Nami?” he asked, from his seat at the counter.

“We’re gonna celebrate New Years,” she stated, pouring two glasses, and walking over to her back porch to watch the fireworks that would be shot up from the center of Sabaody, visible from all districts.

“Really! That sounds so much fun!” Luffy cheered and followed her out. His sickened self made her think that maybe he had bright blushes on each of his cheeks.

She stood outside, holding her champagne glass in her hand, and after scolding him to not drink it until the fireworks sparkled the sky, she let him hold his. He was hot, even if it was still cold outside. She could feel the heat of his blood rushing through his veins as she stood beside him. She glanced over to him as the radio she had turned on began counting down.

“Ten!”

Did he always have such a relaxed expression?

“Nine!”

He yelled out with the radio, a smile on his face.

“Eight!”

Were his eyes always that big?

“Seven!”

Was he working out more?

“Six!”

Did his lips always look that lucious?

“Five!”

Did he always have such a great tan?

“Four!”

Her eyes darted back up from his neck, and away from the scar decorating his chest.

“Three!”

His eyes squinted in preparation for the fireworks to light up the sky.

“Two!”

She reached her spare hand up to his cheek, causing him to look over to her.

“One!”

He no longer was screaming with the radio.

“Happy New Year!”

He couldn’t. He couldn’t move his mouth as it was trapped by another. Nami’s hair waved through the wind as the fireworks lit up the sky. His eyes were wide, the champagne glasses frozen in both of their hands, as time seemed to stop for her. His lips felt softer than when she had brushed over them with her fingers.

word count: 6435 (I’ll be honest, I got a little carried away)

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