inbox for golden peacock

[cartographie]

@nami

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[cartographie]

[ 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.

[belialedge]

[ 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.