( open ) baby i like your style

[winces]

CHARACTERS: lapis (onerism), nami (weatherscience), olivia (winces), & company!
DATE: one lovely evening before the 8th
WARNINGS: nami's feminine wiles, lapis' pyro-happy ghost buddy, and olivia's hives... also extreme second-hand embarrassment and possibly some less-than-savory audience members. potential for violence?? maybe???
SUMMARY: lapis, nami, and olivia try to earn some extra $$$ by doing what they do best. chaos ensues.

Whether you've come to the Desert Flower Saloon this evening for boarding or for entertainment, you'll find the first floor practically vibrating with activity and life. On this night, unlike any other before (or so Miz Poppy will proclaim), the saloon's main stage will feature not one, not two, but three new performers, fresh (a week or so old is still fresh, right?) from the far corners of the universe to delight and excite the saloon's loyal patrons with the song and dance and magic of their alien people.

Come! Sit, watch, and enjoy!

Comments

i. as if this was surprising

[diablejambe]

[From the distance comes a noise. A very familiar, very rapidly increasing noise. A melodious cry of NaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAMI-SWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN~! followed by a rapidly approaching maelstrom of hearts and flailing limbs.

And there he is, coming to a sudden stop by the table Nami's at, bowing at the waist and calmly sliding a drink in front of her (a beautiful drink that definitely didn't come from the saloon here).]

To leave such a gorgeous performance unrewarded would be the most heinous crime. I'd sooner be clapped in irons rather than leave such a wonder to go thirsty.

[Look at him, he managed to actually get sentences out without devolving into a heart-eyed, wriggling mess!]

im so happy

[weatherscience]

[ For one, fleeting second, the saloon around her blurs away as she leans back in her chair; she can almost smell the sea, hear the waves, her tangerines moving in the slight wind... for that one moment, she could be back on the Sunny, sitting on the deck with Robin, waiting for Sanji-kun to twirl there with their daily snack or some new drinks...

... well. At least one of those things is actual reality. ]

Thank you, Sanji-kun!

[ She takes the drink with a bright smile... though it fades into a look of consideration-slash-remembrance as she tilts her head at that weirdly specific reference. ] Irons...? Come to think of it, didn't you have something like those during the horrible bug incident in Oska?

[diablejambe]

[It's an easy pattern to fall into, an easy thing to get swept up in. It's not easy to forget the fact that they're not at sea, that they're not surrounded by familiar chaos and sixfive other well-missed voices, but in times like this it's a little less heartwrenching. A little easier to go with familiar actions in unfamiliar settings.

So, Sanji responds to Nami's smile with one of his own, settling into a chair next to her as he continues to puff out little hearts from his cigarette.]

Anything for you, Mellorine~!

[Of course, that smile is hard to keep on his face as soon as Nami keep speaking. It fades just a little in it's brightness, his energy fading back to the point where he seems almost composed, despite the fact that he should just keep fawning over all the pretty ladies that have been performing tonight.

He shouldn't lie to them. To his friends. He told Nami as much before, back when Bege came to take him to Whole Cake Island. But at the same time, he's-- he's handling it. He's dealing with things with his family and the wedding as best as he can on his own. And sure, that means he's about to face off with all three of his brothers. Sure, that means his fight with his father didn't exactly go as planned. Sure, that means he was put in explosive handcuffs by his own shitty blood relations. But... he's handling it. He has to be handling it.

And what kind of man would he be if he forced Nami to worry about him?]

Those? They were nothing to worry about. See? [He holds up his right hand with a grin, showing off the blissfully handcuff-free skin there.]

[weatherscience]

[ They were nothing to worry about, he says with a smile, and all Nami can hear is but I'll be back for sure, a brightness meant to reassure, then and now; all she can remember is feeling paralyzed, helpless.

Didn't you say you shouldn't lie, she wants to say, wants to lean forward and shake his shoulders and yell because she can't do anything else, she can't go back and make sure Luffy beats up every single person who even thinks of putting their friend in handcuffs, she can't — ]

Sanji-kun... please remember you're not alone.

[ He's not alone, just as Robin wasn't alone, just as none of them ever are — they're a crew, they're nakama, they're all for one and one for all. She knows her words must sound strange, must make no sense to him, not having yet set foot to Zou... but she hopes her words will stick with him, that later, on the way to Big Mam, he will think back to this moment and remember.

They're coming for him. ]

[diablejambe]

[The sad thing is, to Sanji... he's not lying. He's not saying a single thing that he doesn't think is true. The handcuffs-- they're horrible. He hates them. He doesn't want to think about falling through the rift between worlds and finding himself wearing them again. He doesn't want to think about the pure explosive power he has hidden away even now. He doesn't want to think about the fact that those same explosives were wrapped around his wrists, ready to blow off his hands and most of his arms at any given moment.

But at the same time, they're not anything to worry about. Not for Nami, never for Nami. They're something he's dealing with now, and will be dealing with back in the New World. Of all the people he'd ever burden with shared responsibility in this, it would never, ever be Nami.

It would never be the brilliant, gorgeous Nami-swan. The woman who played his heart like a fiddle and never once felt sorry for it. The woman he'd happily lay down his life for the second it was asked of him. It would never be the woman who can beat him, Luffy, and that shitty swordsman senseless at the drop of a hat. The woman who never gave up and always found a way to fight, even if it her own victory wasn't completely assured. The woman with such an insurmountable kindness to her that it can sway the entire crew into fighting by her side and protecting what she has deemed worthy.

It would never be the first friend he'd seen stripped bare. Left crying and digging a knife into her arm. The first story he'd heard that had squeezed his heart until he felt like he couldn't breathe. The woman whose plea reached not only their Captain, but the rest of the crew in a way Sanji had never thought possible before that very moment.

How could he even think of putting pressure on Nami when it wasn't needed? How could he call himself a man, a friend, nakama if he did such a thing?

But still... her words, the gentle plea of someone who lived through Zou, who knew at least a little bit of the situation Sanji had found himself in... he finds himself unable to say something for a little while. Finds himself staring at Nami almost in surprise as his mind struggles to work its way through the stress and mental exhaustion he's been battling ever since he slipped through time after Zeta-12.

Not alone. A simple concept, even if it didn't really ring true. He knows, logically, that he isn't. He knows that even if he is alone in that castle with the threat of all three of his brothers being around him again, he's not alone. He knows that Luffy will keep believing Sanji will return. He knows that even if Usopp doubts and worries, he'll keep an eye out. He knows that even if it takes longer than Sanji had originally thought, Franky will make sure everything in the kitchen is working just as Sanji likes it. He knows that even Zoro, for all the first mate is a useless brute, will wait for the day when Sanji's there to cover that missing spot in their offense again.

For a moment, as Sanji lets Nami's words sink in and tries to remember how it was back on Punk Hazard, back before they landed in Dressrosa and got wrapped up in Doflamingo's craziness, he feels the skin on his left arm burning. Almost as if that black X was branded into his skin all over again.

It hurts. It's terrifying. He feels like he's upside down and suffocating. Like he's lost in the dark with the whole of his childhood suddenly hitting him like a thousand arrows.

He grins, leans forward on a hand, lets his eyes close as he lets out a dreamy sigh.]

Ahhh~! Nami-san's so thoughtful~.

[He'll make it back. He'll keep his promise. He'll leave the marriage and his family. He'll keep the crew safe, he'll keep the Baratie safe. How, he's not sure. But he'll do it. There's no other choice but to figure it out.]

Does that mean you'll dance with me later? As my company?

[He's subdued, probably. Even he feels like he is. Like he's lacking just a little bit of that chaotic energy he's normally filled with when Nami even looks his way, but it's... all he can really do, right now.]