"Take this." Kokoro handed a piece of script towards the red head. Her other hand was busy holding another bottle of rum for later drinking, "Let these guys restore your ship to top shape. Also, Water seven is big, so be careful not to get lost."
Faythe dipped her head in thanks as she took the paper into her own, "Sorry 'bout the confusion earlier..." She said softly, while placing the paper safely between her pages in her notebook.
"No no no! Its fine! Call it a small favor for watching over lil' Chimney while the adults were talkin'." Kokoro laughed heartily while patting the redhead on the back roughly, "We plan on going back to Water Seven soon. If we meet again, I'll definitely take you to a nice bar for a few drinks."
Luffy and Usopp peered over the rails with curious looks.
"Really? I hope we see you again!" Luffy laughed.
Zoro smirked, "No way were turning down a free drink."
Nami leaned an elbow on the swordsman, "Especially if she's the one paying."
Wyper snickered to himself looking at the two, "You two are terrible." He crossed his arms with a snort.
Faythe transformed into her parrot form and landed on Chopper's massive pink hat, "Nice meeting you~!"
Chimney awed at the colorful bird, her hands reaching up to the sky as she tried to catch a few stranded feathers that fell from her wings, "A rainbow bird~!!"
Kokoro chuckled at the happy child before turning back to the crew, "It takes about a week for the log to record Water Seven, so you will have plenty of time to play around."
Nami waved at them from her spot next to Robin, "Let's go!! Thanks for the info, Kokoro, Chimney~!"
Luffy threw a fist forward excitedly, "Get ready to set sail, crew--!!!"
"OH!"
"On it, Cap!" Faythe hollered out with the crew.
Chimney held out her hands towards the ship and waved frantically, "Take care!!"
Kokoro threw her rum bottle in the air with a grin, "Watch out for Marines there!!"
Luffy and his friends leave the Shift Station...
"Yahooo!!"
"LET'S GO TO THE CITY OF MEAT!!"
"AND GET FAT--!!!"
"Were you two listening at all...?"
To resume their search for a new shipmate.
Destination: The City of Water, Water Seven
"Luffy, leave the carpenter search to me. I'll definitely find us the hottest babe around." Sanji grinned from his position on the second deck rails.
Wyper shook his head at the cook's suggestion, "That's impractical... We need the strongest kind of warriors the carpenters have over there to even help with the structure of the ship. Looks have nothing to do with a hardworking carpenter."
"STUPID~!" Luffy laughed at Sanji's twisted scowl at the shandorian, "We need a super big man to be our ship mechanic, like Wyper said."
Wyper raised a brow at his Captain's claim, "What? I never said it had to be a man--!" But he was cut off by Luffy going into depths with his description.
"He has to be at least 5 meters tall--!!!" Luffy held out his arms to signify the width of said man.
"That's too much, Luffy. He wont fit into our little ship." Usopp put a hand on his hip as Faythe transformed back into her human form, Chopper comfortably in her arms.
"Seems to me, from that description alone, that our man ate the other carpenters." Faythe snickered, earning a small playful glare from the Captain.
"Scary~!" Chopper muttered at the sheer mass of the man the Captain wants.
"None of that matters, as long as he or she is a good carpenter." Zoro leaned up from his position of leaning on the mass, making his way to the steps to the second deck up front, "The main concern should be whether or not anyone will want to join a group of pirates."
Chopper turned to Faythe with a chirper smile on his chubby face, "Its so exciting!! We're going to meet new friends!!?" He giggled as Faythe affectionately rubbed her cheek against his.
"Yup! And we are pretty much lucky to receive a map to start us off." Faythe turned to the navigator in question, "Right, Nami?"
The ginger stood on the second deck with said paper rolled up in her hand, "She said to go to the marked location to find someone called Iceburg." She unfurled the paper and got a good look at it. She smiled blankly at it, "Oh, I see." She then proceeded to throw the piece of paper to the ground in frustration, "IT'S A COMPLETELY USELESS SKETCH--!!"
Faythe chuckled at the scene, "Chimney is just a child, Nami."
Nami rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "When I was child, I could draw out geographical maps in detail.."
"Not everyone is you." Faythe smirked before turning back to the scene of Luffy drawing a terrible version of what he envisioned.
Nami smiled at the red head's comment, "That's right. I'm the best navigator there is..." She muttered proudly to herself as she began to smooth out the piece of paper Chimney drew out.
Luffy held up his sketch with a complete serious face, "Look here. Let's find someone that looks like this!!"
Faythe sat down beside Robin with a content grin, "Triangular nose, Blue hair, 5 meters, got it."
Wyper rubbed his chin with furrowed brows, "How...Peculiar..?"
Usopp and Sanji on the other hand were massively judging their Captain's drawing skills, "... If I see someone who looks like that, I'll just turn around and run." Usopp commented with a pale face.
Chopper tilted his head, "Don't you already do that?"
"Shut up, Chopper--!!"
Sanji took a step back in great concern, "I would, too. I would jump into the sea if I have to. Although this guy looks like he's part octopus, so he would probably still come after me."
Zoro turned to the side after hearing Sanji speak, instantly thinking that he was talking shit about him, "Hey. You better not be talking about me!"
Nami walked down the steps with bags of gold slung over her shoulder, "Okay. Everyone, gather up!! I'm going to give out the spending money for the week."
"YAYY!!"
"HURRAY!!"
/:/~***~/:/
Faythe was sitting on the rails with Wyper sitting in between her legs, his back facing her as her fingers threaded through his long hair.
Faythe listened to Wyper as he told each story behind his tattoos on his skin. Each holding a memory of his achievements with the shandorians.
"And as I saved my fellow guerrillas from those bad pirates, who in the end were blinded by they're greed for the tales of the golden city, I had managed to blow up there vessel and had a massive banquet with the tribe!" Wyper told with a smile as his fingers trailed over a marking that was shaped like the ship wheel.
"I bet the festivities really brightened the mood." Faythe chirped happily as she began to clip his long hair into bubble braids, small gold decorative ornaments flowing down his dark burgundy locks.
"It truly was! If you paid enough attention to the dancing circles, you even catch the old tribe elder getting it down!" He barked out a laugh, inciting one from his fair lady in return.
"Man was just trying to get it down—!" Faythe cackled with a hand playfully patting his shoulder.
"Though he was old, I will say that he indeed had a few moves to show." Wyper shrugged with an amused grin on his lips. His eyes trailed over to the other side of the deck, almost memorized by the crashing waves parting the way for they're ship, "I'm still partly processing that I'm actually in the Blue Sea..."
Faythe tilted her head slightly as she observed how he clenched his fist in his lap, the baggy pants he was given by Zoro, "What is it thats hard to process?"
"I.. I guess it's the part that I actually left the tribe and my people behind..." Wyper glanced down to his clenched fists, the knuckles flexing as he unfolded his hand and folded them in a repeated pattern.
Faythe hummed in thought as she began to sway side to side, "Well if that's the thing that's making you regret coming with us..."
Wyper immediately whipped around with wide eyes at her accusation, His white wings flapped in a bristling motion, "I wholeheartedly don't regret such a—!" But he was silenced as Faythe placed a finger on his lips.
Faythe smiled and giggled quietly, "It's not a bad thing... It just means your getting homesick. It's a normal recurrence that every member of this crew goes through."
"Homesick...?" Wyper blinked, "Even you, Lady Faythe?"
Faythe stilled for a moment, her eyes glossing over in a moment of calm, "Yeah... I get homesick..." Her smiled was one of those that she would give from time to time. A normal smile that didn't really give off anything. It seemed... Wyper didn't know how to describe it personally.
"Your brother...?" Wyper questioned.
Faythe looked off to the side with an unreadable expression, "Yeah, you could probably say I miss both my brothers. My mother... Dr. Hui..." That same smile came up again as she turned towards Wyper, "I'm sure I'll see them again though."
Wyper tilted his head, wings falling slightly as he realized something.
He didn't like this smile of hers.
"I'm sorry. It seems I've approached a sensitive subject for you, my lady."
Faythe blinked, now the one confused, "What?"
Wyper cupped his mouth and called out, "Captain—! Get yer ass over here! Lady Faythe is feeling bad!"
Faythe didn't even get to utter a word before a sudden holler was heard getting louder as the said person neared at a terrifying speed.
"faaaaaaAAAAAAEEEEEEEE—!!!"
Two warm hands were snapped down on the red head's shoulder as she was yanked off her spot from the rails and sent flying off into a certain direction.
As she crashed into a broad chest, her arms and legs getting tangled up in a mass of elongated limbs, Faythe blinked a multitude of times as she felt her face snap towards the direction of someone's face with two warm and rough hands cupping her face.
"What's wrong?" Luffy blinked down at her. A frown on his pursed lips as his eyes scanned over her bedazzled look.
Her mind finally snapped back to reality as she first took in the feeling of his rough hands, feeling the calluses on his palm warming both sides of her face. Her eyes widened as she immediately tried to advert her face in another direction, knowing fully well how stupidly intelligent her Captain was emotionally wise. Especially when it comes to reading a person.
She scrunched up her face in hopes of trying to confuse him, her eyes shutting tightly to not meet eye contact with him.
This only incited a small huff of a chuckle to escape him, "Faeeeee~!" He called out in a sing song tone, "Stop being silly~!"
Faythe shook her head as she scrunched up her nose with thinned lips jutted tightly together.
Luffy blinked, letting out a confused hum as he furrowed his brows, "Are you feeling hungry? Eating makes me feel better..." He rubbed his chin in thought as he tried to think of ways to help his friend, "Maybe we can talk about your story~! Oh! What about the progress of the first book that your brother helped publish for you!"
At the mention of her brother, Corbett, Faythe's lip quirked a small smidge, a movement one wouldn't notice if they weren't Luffy.
A small gust of air was blown over her ear as Faythe squirmed uncomfortably underneath him as she heard a small chuckle leave him.
"I gotcha~!" Luffy watched her eyes slowly peel open at his tone and stare wide eyed at him. And he himself couldn't help but fall into a trance at the amount of dazzling pools of blues washing around. Like an endless abyss of emotion he could get lost in easily as breathing air itself. He snapped out of it when he heard Faythe let out a huff of annoyance.
"How many times do I have to say not to do that—!" Faythe gave him a pointed look, her arms crossing over her chest.
Luffy's frown quirked up into a goofy grin as he observed her now playful demeanor, "What if I told you that I enjoy seeing your feather puff out of nowhere?" He asked innocently.
Faythe paused for a moment in mock thoughtfulness, "And what if I told you that it's becoming apparent that you are just not built the same way as I am?"
Luffy furrowed his brows, "What? Bird-like? Big?"
Faythe snickered at his examples, "Nope!" She booped his nose which startled him for a moment as he reeled back a bit, "I'm way more colorful than you and just built far more warmer than you could ever be in that measly vest of yours. How do you even sleep in that everyday?"
Luffy laughed at that, "It's comfortable." He shrugged.
Faythe stared at him blankly, "Bruh."
Luffy grinned, "Feeling better?" He slowly, almost hesitantly, unreleased his hands from her face as he sat up from the position.
Faythe was startled by the sudden departure of the warmth on her face. She was more startled by how comfortable the position was as she almost didn't even realize his hands were still there, like it was a part of herself.
And now that it's gone, it feels cold.
Faythe felt her brows furrow in confusion at the strange thought.
She sat up from the wooden boards and sat crisscrossed in front of him, "Yeah... Thanks as always." She puffed out a blow of air to get a strand of hair out of her face.
Luffy blinked in realization, "Is your hair getting in the way again?" His eyes trailing over the bright red hue that seemingly glowed in the daylight.
Faythe shrugged her shoulders, "I'm too lazy to keep trying to tame this bush of a disaster." She giggled softly, a hand slowly combing through it.
Luffy jutted his bottom lip out into a pout, "Well if you don't wanna go through the trouble, you can just come to me and let me handle it."
Faythe blinked at his offer, "You wanna try and tame this...?" She picked up a strand of her hair with an amused grin.
Luffy nodded happily, patting a spot in front of him as he readjusted his position, "Yep! I got this!"
Faythe shrugged and let her Captain play around with her hair, not minding if he made it more knotted than it actually began with. She scooted over and turned her back to the Captain and let her hair loose, feeling it fall down her back like a curtain.
Luffy awed at the length and let his finger thread through it cautiously, "Pretty..."
"I don't know about that, it's more like an eye sore for some people from how bright it is... Most would say it's too eye catching." Faythe spoke softly as she leaned into his small scalp scratches.
"Well whoever said that are terrible liars." He huffed, "It's pretty." He let out a satisfying hum as he felt Faythe lean back into his chest as she got too lazy sitting up the whole time.
Luffy after awhile just idly twisted her hair between his fingers as he looked off into the distance in a daze. His hat sat lowered over his face as to block the sunlight over Faythe's face. The redhead in question was knocked out from the relaxing session scalp massages from her Captain.
Wyper walked over about to call out to Faythe to see if she wanted a snack that Sanji prepared for the ladies, but he stopped short as soon as he saw Luffy's hand raised.
Wyper met Luffy's blank gaze with a eerily silent gesture of understanding.
Luffy slowly put up a finger to his lips, a shushing motion was laid out playfully by the wide grin appearing on his face, though the smile itself didn't reach the blank gaze the Captain held.
Wyper nodded stiffly and marched back inside to tell Sanji to save it for later as he found Faythe asleep.
Luffy hummed quietly as he watched the crew mate wander back inside, his gaze slowly falling down to the girl releasing slow and even steady breaths as she continued to sleep peacefully in his arms. His legs had long situated around her sides in a more comfortable position.
"Hopefully your feeling better. I really hate seeing that kind of smile."