(no subject)

[dethorats]

Five minutes. No. Not even that long. More like three. Three minutes. That was all the time it took for the stupid cook to piss him off. He'd realized that man was an asshole from the moment he'd first set foot on the floating restaurant but the blond chef had been tolerable then. After all, he'd been a paying customer. He had known Luffy had had some inkling of getting a cook and that this idiot seemed to fit whatever strange picture Luffy had of what a cook should be like. But the guy had seemed attached to the strange craft and to the bunch of rowdy cooks who lived there. Sailing off with Usopp and Yosaku, the last thing he'd anticipated had been seeing that bastard's face again. But then he'd shown up with Luffy, all buddy-buddy in a way that had disturbed him and made him more than a bit pissed off. But there was the question of Nami and his damn wound and there simply hadn't been time in between sleeping and fighting to demonstrate just who had been first to follow the straw-hatted young man to the sea.

Fighting Arlong's fish men had helped a little. The chef had some skills. Not that he'd let him know that. But he'd managed to hold his own. Between the two of them and with some minor assistance from Usopp, Luffy had been freed to kick the stupid shark man's ass. Bringing down arrogant gill breathers who liked to oppress people was a lot of fun. He'd almost felt a bond then with the cook, even after when they joined in the celebration with the people of Nami's village. And then they'd gotten on the ship and sailed away. Three minutes later his fingers were twitching on his lone hilt - and that was galling in and of itself - and a heavily shod foot was pressing firmly against his sternum.

"How dare you speak about Nami-san in such a manner! Nami-san is a sweet and charming woman!"

"Bastard! What do you know? What kind of an idiot would come all this way for a woman that won't even bother to give you the time of day without charging you for it?"

He stepped back, moving out of the cook's reach. He wasn't backing down, not at all, but if he had to stand there any longer, someone with blond hair and a stupid curly eyebrow was going to be sporting a black eye. He could see Luffy and Usopp watching this confrontation from the railing, Luffy perched on it like some great bird. The captain was grinning from ear to ear, eyes bright as he looked on with interest. Usopp looked nervous, but that was nothing new. The chef sneered at him, dropping his foot back onto the deck with a solid noise.

"An idiot like you just doesn't appreciate Nami-san's brilliance in acquiring funds."

He snorted, shook his head.

"Definitely delusional. You just wait and see."

His hand still itched, and he stroked his palm slowly over the white wrappings of Wadou's handle. Still, the jerk was new. And Nami just wasn't worth fighting over. A nap would be more constructive at this point no matter how much he wanted to take that damn cigarette and put it out with the guy's face. He could occasionally be the better man. One last glower at the blonde's ugly face and he turned on his heel. The upper deck was warm at this hour. Sleeping there would feel good, let him suck some of the heat into his muscles.

It was fortunate that he never turned around as he stalked away. The cook was smirking in triumph at his retreating back, feeling victorious. Nami sighed as Sanji turned his attention to her. There would be trouble between the two morons. They sparked off each other like two cats whose fur had been rubbed the wrong way. Luffy couldn't be depended on to do anything about it either. What a pain. More work for her. At least Zoro had been shockingly mature enough to walk away. But she knew the next time would be another story.


Meh. That sucked. And now I must check people out.