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golden peacock

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@nami

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[ It's seeing her mouth quirking up, that smile breaking upon her face, that deep down has Ragna playing around with the whole topic about whether or not he's an asshole. But it's as far as he'll chase the subject of his own accord. The prior one, anyway, as he decides to stand back up alongside her, drink in hand and a "breeze" brushing his thick white hair. Well, if nothing else, the resort knew how to emulate that feeling of being out on the open blue. A rough approximation of it anyway. He's mindful to stay out of her way as she adjusts the sails. ]

I'm a big boy. I can take it.

[ "Asshole's not the word I'd use." ]

Welcome to the list.

[ The list of people who don't think he's a jerk. ]

Y'know...there's a lot I can say I appreciate about you. [ Here, out on the "open sea", a little honesty never hurts. No one else was listening. No one else can hear. ] Doing something like this is one of them.

[ Nami laughs quietly at the ready welcome Ragna comes at her with, and shrugs a shoulder. ]

I've met a lot of assholes.

[ And though she knows she shouldn't, certain that she can keep sidestepping saying anything that might tip the tight, protective hold she keeps on her cards, Nami finds herself reaching out to nudge his thigh, eyeing him almost expectantly. ]

So? Your turn. What about me? [ And then, the worst thing she could possibly say if she intended to remain a mystery– ] Or do you need to learn more before you decide? [ It's the kind of carte blanche she doesn't normally hand out, but the even, dry tone of her voice doesn't betray that, or the anxiety that flares in the wake of that offer. ]

We have so much in common.

[ There's still that easier lift in his voice, his demeanour more relaxed out here. When she nudges his thigh, he blinks with a cant of his head when she asks about what he really thinks of her. Was he curious about her? Of course he was. As much as he kept the world at large at arms length back home, whilst the Grim Reaper didn't yearn to huddle everyone close to him...that didn't mean he didn't care. If anything, this world has given him an opportunity to learn so much more about others that he otherwise wouldn't have had the time for back home. Especially when he really does want to know more.

Regardless of how explosive their own initial encounter had been during the Hunt, it's the time he's spent with her outside of those salacious forays that's shown him how comfortable he can be around others. Nami was more than just easy to get along with. So if he wanted to learn more? There's one thing he has to set straight. After all, he's caused untold amounts of damage in his world on his own journey...he's hardly a saint himself, and she's fond of him. So regardless of what Nami says (or doesn't): ]

I'd wanna learn more because I like ya anyway. [ He says it so plainly, for someone he considers a friend ~~with benefits fsdjkl~~ ] FYI? That ain't gonna change.

[ That earns him a laugh, and for a moment Nami can't help but wonder what the assholes are like in the world Ragna comes from. It's not uncommon to know people without knowing them here, and admittedly more than a few of the friends she's made started out as trysts, or, like Ragna, because the resort decided to throw them together for its own ends. She can keep people at a distance like a pro, but learning how to enjoy warming to people is something she's learned to appreciate while being stuck here.

That doesn't mean she's especially good at the whole getting to know you thing. Still, he's here, and apparently interested. Nami likes him enough that she doesn't want to keep shutting that down. ]

Yeah? What would you wanna know? [ It's a blank check, after a fashion, but she's curious. For someone who knows her in the way Ragna does, it's hard to imagine what the first thing he'll ask her is. ]

Where to start... [ He doesn't have an inkling as to the torture and trauma Nami has had to endure on her way to becoming the hardened girl that she is today, and though he doesn't suspect a single thing now? He's still going to list off a couple ideas. ] Your hobbies, what you were up to before you became a pirate, favourite color—

[ Blank check, yes. And he's filling it! It's not about equivalent exchange, but he won't leave himself off the table either as he goes to take a swig of his bottle she's given him. ]

[ A couple light blows and one heavy-hitter he probably doesn't know is a weighty question. Disinclined to back down, although Nami's fairly certain she could balk and divert the question away from the stickier subjects she wouldn't get into on her own, Nami's eyebrows raise slowly as she draws a breath, her gaze darting off to the side as she goes for the worst first. ]

Before I was a pirate, I was a little kid. [ Her gaze returns to Ragna's as her shoulders lift in a shrug, quietly contending with the sense of caginess talking about her past always brings to life. ] I guess you could say I've been at it a long time. [ For better or much, much worse than anyone could imagine.

Then it's off to safer territory, and because of that, a tightness in her chest loosens slightly. ]

I like blue and orange – and I like drawing, and reading. [ Nami lifts her bottle to her lips and takes a drink, swallowing as she tips her chin towards him. ]

What about you? What did you do before you got a bounty?

[ Unbeknownst to Ragna, the hard hitting question and the company that she kept ~~was forced to stay with~~ remains a mystery to him. But it's when Nami's own bright gaze flicks to the side that his lighter curiosity does dampen slightly. He knows that body language, because he's also been there, hiding or figuring out how to handle a delicate situation. All the same, he waits, patiently by her side while she talks about her time as a small child before her life of piracy.

Meanwhile, the Grim Reaper holds to his neutral expression until they're out of the proverbially rougher waters together. ]

Drawing's no wonder. You're pretty good at it.

[ Although the tension doesn't return, there is a fleeting instance of hesitation in Ragna when it's the queen's turn to ask what he was up to before he got a bounty. The question was a loaded one, by no one's fault whatsoever. His timbre is relaxed even while he reflects, staring down the top of his bottle and deciding against having another drink whilst he starts with his red and green gaze set upon her. If there's a tinge of pensiveness in those unnatural eyes of his, he doesn't bother to mask it anymore. ]

I used to live at a church out in the countryside. I had two siblings; my little brother Jin, and Saya, my little sister. We didn't have a whole lotta luck before the Sister came along and took us in.

[ That's when his gaze sets out for the 'open' ocean instead, just past Nami's as even glossing this part of the story was always a difficult one to maintain eye contact for. ]

It's a long as hell story, [ And like he'd told Weiss once, some of it still didn't make sense to him either. He's still trying to understand now... ] But a lot happened since then. That church I used to live in got burnt down. Lost my right arm, got separated from my siblings, wound up training until I was strong enough to start getting back at the bastards responsible. I caused a lotta trouble along the way. And now I got some bounty on my head to show for it.

[ His shoulders sag, blinking as he looks to Nami beside him. His life isn't something to smile about, but the brief little one that tugs his lips in an apologetic manner was truthful. ]

Sorry. Theere's no real easy way of answering your question. [ "I was a little kid before I was a criminal" felt a little too cheap. ] Let's just say I caused a lotta property damage.

[ World government property damage. ]

[ Nami's eyes go to Ragna's arm after he mentions it, her lips pursing slightly as she tries to piece together how he could lose it and still have it, however different from the original it might be. Glancing away and out to the horizon as she chalks it all up to magic, she continues the quiet work of taking in every detail he elects to share.

Part of her almost admires his candor. For all the moments Nami can rise to the occasion and run her mouth, when it counts, when it's about something deeper than she's used to sharing, she hesitates, she trips over her words, bristling along the way. The resort puts a funny spin on every relationship, especially the ones that begin, like her friendship with Ragna did. They know, and they don't know, a strange detail that makes already challenging waters even more fraught. ]

When I was eleven, I joined the Arlong Pirates. [ She starts, carefully, inching along while simultaneously feeling as though she's saying too much. ] They came to my village, took it over, along with the rest of the island. [ Nami turns on her heel and busies herself with the knots keeping the sail fixed to the boom, saying the next bit faster than the rest. ] A lot of people died, but I made a deal with the leader. I'd join his crew and draw his maps if he let me buy back my village.

[ Turning and tucking her chin down, Nami lifts both shoulders to shrug. Based on what he's said about himself, it doesn't feel ridiculous to assume Ragna knows about trying to cut a deal with a dick hole like Arlong. ]

I didn't cause the damage, but I showed the worst kind of pirate where they could go for that.

[ Another shrug and she lifts her bottle from its resting spot by the mast, taking a swig and letting the alcohol burn her throat before adding. ]

So we were both pretty happy-go-lucky people before we came here then.

[ No one was the exact same. Especially when it came to falling back upon their deepest wounds. He could be angrier. Would have been a whole lot angrier if he'd only just arrived and got forced to oust his own past. Her fleeting assessment that magic was involved when it came to his right arm was pretty accurate. Though...out here, where no one else was looking, it might be a good idea to show her exactly what he means. Especially when her eyes go right to that arm of his. For now, he keeps a pensive hold on the younger pirate with his eyes. If the waters were getting rougher the deeper they went, he'd just have to hold firm and be an anchor for her.

It's the least that he can do out here, where she was doing her best to live in reminisce and that faux sense of freedom before waking in a guilded smuthole like this one. Ragna doesn't force her. Surprisingly? He's a good listener, as such with the way he pipes up briefly upon her mentioning the Arlong Pirates. ]

Helluva young age for that...

[ It's hardly a sardonic tone. Observant. And the rest was silence as his mismatched eyes lose some of that pensive edge to them, silver brows lifting with a well of empathy rolling through his body. Starting from his heart. Forced against her will... There's no sense in getting angry for her now, but Nami did what she had to do for the sake of her village. And guessing by her hastened tone and her body language fighting oh-so-desperately not to shut down as she shares...

It wasn't sunshine and rainbows. ]

Sounds like it...for the most part.

[ He shouldn't delve any deeper on his own past. Not how he wasn't even a real human. Not how he was nothing more than some labrat along with his siblings before getting saved and taken to that church he talked about. Not out here. But he's grateful that she shared what she did to him anyway. He steps a little closer, not making any moves to place a hand upon her shoulder or anything physical. Only watching the 'horizon' that Nami sees as he holds his own bottle by his hip. ]

Looks like I was right though. [ Now he tilts his head slightly towards her. ] I still think there should be more people like you.

[ Even after hearing about the scum she was forced to work with, and being responsible for enabling the mayhem that Arlong and his crew caused thanks to her mapping skills. ]

That Arlong prick, meanwhile? Wouldn't be able to tell his head from his ass by the time I'd be through with him.

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