Apparently casino => Nami...
Title: A night at the casino
Theme: Set #3 - Casino
Claim: Zoro
Words: 2245
Rating: PG
Warnings: I'm really bad at writing fight scenes. Very light Zoro/Nami.
Disclaimers: I don't own One Piece.
Zoro tugged impatiently at the bowtie at his throat, trying to find room to breathe. He hated this outfit. Rented, of course - why would he own a tuxedo, of all things - and clearly tailored for someone with a neck much less muscular than his own. He wondered for the thousandth time why he was here instead of the idiotic love-cook. Sanji would be loving every moment of this, he thought sourly, casting a jaundiced eye towards the women sashaying past the table in their low-cut dresses. He could really do with some sleep. Or training. Or both. Anything, anything but this.
His fingers twitched as they strayed down to his belt and found nothing there. She hadn't even allowed him to wear his haramaki, saying the colour didn't go with the tuxedo. And the stupid bouncers at the entrance had taken his swords away, claiming the casino had a no-weapons policy. "No one wants any trouble, isn't that right, honoured sir?"
He wouldn't have minded bashing them up there and then, until an icy glare from Nami stilled his hand and he reluctantly handed his precious swords over. He'd better not see so much as a speck of dust on the blades when he got them back, or else...
"Honestly, Zoro, stop fidgeting!" Nami hissed in a low voice, placing a pile of chips on the table.
"If you didn't want me to fidget, why'd you drag me here in the first place?" Zoro hissed back.
"I need somebody to guard all the money I'm going to get, naturally!" Nami answered, keeping a sharp eye on the spinning roulette wheel.
"Then why not the ero-cook?"
"Because Sanji-kun needs to restock the food supplies," Nami replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which, on reflection, it really was.
"Then why not Luffy, or Franky, one of the others?" Zoro demanded.
"Franky'd refuse to put on pants so he wouldn't meet the dress code, Chopper's underage, Usopp would be terrified if I asked him to guard this much money again, Brook's a skeleton, and were you serious when you suggested bringing Luffy? Honestly?"
"No," Zoro replied grudgingly. Knowing Luffy, he'd probably get over-excited and put every last beli on a single bet. Though you never knew - with Luffy's luck, he just might win anyway.
"So, it came down to you," Nami concluded.
"Seven! Seven wins!" the croupier announced.
"Oh no! I lost again!" Nami wailed loudly.
Zoro sighed. It wasn't like Nami to waste their money - her money, as she called it - at a casino. At the rate they were losing, they'd be returning with even fewer beli than Usopp usually carried in his wallet - not that he really cared, but he didn't particularly want to be anywhere within a mile of Nami if she really lost all their money. Perhaps if he tried to talk some sense into her... "Nami, you know the casino has a house advantage..."
"Shut up, Zoro, I know what I'm doing," Nami snapped, and Zoro could hear the tension in her voice.
Zoro shrugged and closed his eyes. When it came to money, Nami probably did know what she was doing, so he might as well leave her to her "entertainment" and do something useful, but there wasn't anything heavy enough in here to serve as a weight and Nami probably wouldn't like him drawing attention to them by practising his katas in a tuxedo in the middle of a casino.
Meditation, he thought. Inconspicuous enough. He could do that.
Zoro let out a deep breath and let his mind empty itself of all thought and all emotion. He maintained this blank state for a few moments, then stretched his senses outwards. He'd worked hard on this ever since Arabasta, training himself to feel the breath of all things, but it was difficult in a casino, with all the movement and the noise. His brow furrowed a little as he strained to take in all the sensory input, from Nami's clenched fists as she awaited the inevitable, to the spinning of the roulette ball as it coursed around the wheel...
KE-THUNK.
"Eighteen! Eighteen wins!" the croupier announced.
Hmm. This could be good training.
Nami's wails at having lost yet another pile of chips were interrupted two rounds later by a smartly-dressed man who had been watching the proceedings at their table for some time. "Excuse me, madam," he said, in a voice that could either be characterised as suave or, as it sounded to Zoro, oozing smarminess. "Your friend here doesn't seem to be bringing you much luck. If you would care to join me in the VIP room...alone?" His eyes flicked over to Zoro, taking in the green hair, the ill-fitting suit and the callused hands, and his nose wrinkled in a slight sneer.
"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Nami cooed, sounding genuinely grateful.
"Whaddaya mean, I'm not bringing her any luck?" Zoro growled. Nami shot him an angry, warning glance, but he ignored it. Like he was gonna sit there and let someone take away his - their - navigator!
"Oh, excuse me, sir, it's true that you are bringing her luck - bad luck."
"Oh yeah?" Zoro challenged. He picked up the remaining stacks of chips and placed them down on 24.
"Zoro, what are you doing?" Nami screeched, reaching out a hand to take back the chips.
"No more bets, ladies and gentlemen, no more bets," the croupier announced, and Nami shot Zoro a dirty look.
"Do you really think you can reverse your luck just like that?" the man asked contemptuously.
"I happen to have a strategy," Zoro retorted.
KE-THUNK.
"Twenty-four, ladies and gentlemen, twenty-four wins!" The croupier pushed a stack of chips over to Zoro. "Your winnings, sir."
Zoro grinned triumphantly, Nami's jaw dropped, and the man's eyes popped out of their sockets. He swallowed and tried to appear nonchalant. "Beginner's luck," he scoffed.
"Is that so," Zoro said confidently. As the croupier set the wheel spinning once more, he placed his chips on 33, ignoring Nami's angry eye signals. She could only watch helplessly as he won another round, and another, soon doubling their original stake. A crowd soon gathered to watch the phenomenon, gasping with each consecutive win until -
"I recognise you now!" Zoro and Nami froze as the smartly-dressed man jabbed an accusatory finger at them. "You're members of the Strawhat Pirates! Roronoa Zoro, 120 million beli! Cat Burglar Nami, 16 million beli!"
"Funny how you didn't remember that while we were losing," Zoro growled, reaching for his katana - and finding them absent. "Dammit!"
A sly smile spread across the man's face. "Guards! Seize them!" he ordered, and immediately joined the general exodus stampeding towards the doors, leaving Zoro and Nami in the middle of an empty casino surrounded by ten guards, who each pulled various weapons on them.
"Oi, Zoro, do something!" Nami demanded.
"Why don't you do something! You know how to fight!" Zoro retorted.
"Do you know how expensive this gown is? If I get it ripped fighting, I'm gonna add its cost to your debt!"
"Greedy witch!"
"If you think that's unfair, then you'd better do something to keep that from happening!"
"Yeah, well, it would be a lot easier to do something if you hadn't made me give them my katana!"
Nami gave a long-suffering sigh. "I guess I should have brought Sanji-kun after all, since he at least knows how to fight bare-handed."
"What the hell? I can defend you just as well as that curly-brow can!" Zoro ground out between clenched teeth.
"Give up, pirates! You're outnumbered!" one of the guards called out.
"Hear him, Zoro? You're outnumbered," Nami observed, as the guards began to charge.
"Okay, okay, enough already! No-sword style! Tatsumaki!" Zoro stretched out his arms and spun around, creating a vortex of strong winds that gradually expanded and caught up every one within range, picking them up and flinging them into whatever piece of casino equipment happened to be in the way - Nami included.
"Ow! Zoro! Next time, warn me before..." Nami's eyes turned into beli signs as the jackpot machine she'd landed next to began spewing out coin after coin.
"Nami! Pay attention!" Zoro yelled, as more back-ups began to pour into the room.
Nami snapped back into the present, her eyes widening at the sheer number of enemies now present. She made up her mind quickly. "Zoro! I'll go get your swords! Wait here!" she called, ducking behind the jackpot machines and soon disappearing from sight.
"Oi! Woman! How am I supposed to protect you when..." Zoro began, stopping when a low rumble caught his attention. He looked up and saw a huge black cloud loom over him and his assailants. "Oh, shit." He dove for cover under the roulette table as lightning began to strike, only emerging when the storm had passed. He gave one of the smoking bodies a nudge with his foot. No response.
"Get him!" Zoro's head whipped around when he felt a rush of air-conditioned air.
"Oh, great," he muttered when yet another host of guards ran in. Just how many goons does this casino employ anyway? And where the hell is that woman? He raised his voice. "Nami! Where the hell are my katana?"
"Zoro! Catch!" Zoro looked around in time to see his katana sail through the air, and he hastily reached out for them.
"Oi! How many times do I have to tell you not to throw my katana around?" he yelled, sticking them into his belt as best he could, then unsheathing them and sticking Wado's hilt between his teeth. He began fighting his way over to her, sweeping more of the men away with each powerful stroke.
"And how many times do I have to ask for a simple thank-you?" she called, pulling out her ClimaTact to dole out whacks on the head in equal measure, working her way over to him.
"Yeah, thanks," he said grudgingly. Their backs collided and each gave a small smile the other couldn't see.
"Ready to get out of here?" Zoro raised his katana.
"No."
Zoro started at the unexpected answer. "What? Why not?" He'd been all ready to make a charge out of this place...
"You ruined my entire plan, Zoro, that's why!" Nami berated him, all while fending off a couple of goons with mini-cyclones.
"What are you mad at me for? You were losing, and I won back all our money!" Zoro sent a 36-pound cannon over towards the advancing guards.
"I was trying to get into the manager's good books, so I could sneak into his office and break into the safe!"
"Manager? You mean that smarmy guy?" Zoro belatedly realised.
"Yeah, the smarmy guy!"
"Oh. That was the plan? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I did tell you on the way here! You weren't listening, were you?"
Zoro thought back to the long list of rules he'd thought Nami was issuing him, which he'd entirely tuned out. "I guess not," he admitted.
"Well, let's get out of here anyway. Just to let you know, I'm adding the money I didn't manage to steal today to your debt!"
"Figures," Zoro muttered. He sheathed Sandai Kitetsu, then bent down and picked Nami up and put her over a shoulder.
"Eeeeek! Zoro, what the hell are you doing?"
Zoro grinned, knowing she wouldn't be able to see it. "Making sure your dress doesn't get added to my debt as well."
"Put me down!" she demanded.
"Once we're outta here."
"Fine. Fog Tempo!"
"Oni Giri!"
"Get them!"
But when the mist cleared, they were gone, and the only evidence they were ever there was one very trashed casino.
"Now can I put you down?" Zoro asked as he sprinted through the narrow streets, Nami still slung over his shoulder.
"No, on second thoughts, I don't really want to run in my high-heels."
Zoro rolled his eyes but made no protest. She was so light in comparison to his weights this wouldn't even count as training, anyway.
"What's in here?" Nami poked at a lump in his trousers.
"NAMI!"
She fished out a bag of beli, which consisted of Zoro's winnings from the roulette game. Zoro could practically hear her eyes go ka-ching! "Mine!" she declared, in a sing-song voice.
"Oi! I won that! I'm sure you got your own stash!"
"Yeah, but you were using my capital, so it's mine. Don't worry, I'll count half of it towards your debt!"
Zoro heaved a sigh. He couldn't ever win against her, could he? Just like somebody else he could name... "Fine. Take it. Anyway, now that I know it's so easy to win at roulette, I can pay off my debt to you in no time."
Sadly, Zoro soon found that from that day forth, he was never allowed to set foot in another casino again.
Theme: Set #3 - Casino
Claim: Zoro
Words: 2245
Rating: PG
Warnings: I'm really bad at writing fight scenes. Very light Zoro/Nami.
Disclaimers: I don't own One Piece.
Zoro tugged impatiently at the bowtie at his throat, trying to find room to breathe. He hated this outfit. Rented, of course - why would he own a tuxedo, of all things - and clearly tailored for someone with a neck much less muscular than his own. He wondered for the thousandth time why he was here instead of the idiotic love-cook. Sanji would be loving every moment of this, he thought sourly, casting a jaundiced eye towards the women sashaying past the table in their low-cut dresses. He could really do with some sleep. Or training. Or both. Anything, anything but this.
His fingers twitched as they strayed down to his belt and found nothing there. She hadn't even allowed him to wear his haramaki, saying the colour didn't go with the tuxedo. And the stupid bouncers at the entrance had taken his swords away, claiming the casino had a no-weapons policy. "No one wants any trouble, isn't that right, honoured sir?"
He wouldn't have minded bashing them up there and then, until an icy glare from Nami stilled his hand and he reluctantly handed his precious swords over. He'd better not see so much as a speck of dust on the blades when he got them back, or else...
"Honestly, Zoro, stop fidgeting!" Nami hissed in a low voice, placing a pile of chips on the table.
"If you didn't want me to fidget, why'd you drag me here in the first place?" Zoro hissed back.
"I need somebody to guard all the money I'm going to get, naturally!" Nami answered, keeping a sharp eye on the spinning roulette wheel.
"Then why not the ero-cook?"
"Because Sanji-kun needs to restock the food supplies," Nami replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which, on reflection, it really was.
"Then why not Luffy, or Franky, one of the others?" Zoro demanded.
"Franky'd refuse to put on pants so he wouldn't meet the dress code, Chopper's underage, Usopp would be terrified if I asked him to guard this much money again, Brook's a skeleton, and were you serious when you suggested bringing Luffy? Honestly?"
"No," Zoro replied grudgingly. Knowing Luffy, he'd probably get over-excited and put every last beli on a single bet. Though you never knew - with Luffy's luck, he just might win anyway.
"So, it came down to you," Nami concluded.
"Seven! Seven wins!" the croupier announced.
"Oh no! I lost again!" Nami wailed loudly.
Zoro sighed. It wasn't like Nami to waste their money - her money, as she called it - at a casino. At the rate they were losing, they'd be returning with even fewer beli than Usopp usually carried in his wallet - not that he really cared, but he didn't particularly want to be anywhere within a mile of Nami if she really lost all their money. Perhaps if he tried to talk some sense into her... "Nami, you know the casino has a house advantage..."
"Shut up, Zoro, I know what I'm doing," Nami snapped, and Zoro could hear the tension in her voice.
Zoro shrugged and closed his eyes. When it came to money, Nami probably did know what she was doing, so he might as well leave her to her "entertainment" and do something useful, but there wasn't anything heavy enough in here to serve as a weight and Nami probably wouldn't like him drawing attention to them by practising his katas in a tuxedo in the middle of a casino.
Meditation, he thought. Inconspicuous enough. He could do that.
Zoro let out a deep breath and let his mind empty itself of all thought and all emotion. He maintained this blank state for a few moments, then stretched his senses outwards. He'd worked hard on this ever since Arabasta, training himself to feel the breath of all things, but it was difficult in a casino, with all the movement and the noise. His brow furrowed a little as he strained to take in all the sensory input, from Nami's clenched fists as she awaited the inevitable, to the spinning of the roulette ball as it coursed around the wheel...
KE-THUNK.
"Eighteen! Eighteen wins!" the croupier announced.
Hmm. This could be good training.
Nami's wails at having lost yet another pile of chips were interrupted two rounds later by a smartly-dressed man who had been watching the proceedings at their table for some time. "Excuse me, madam," he said, in a voice that could either be characterised as suave or, as it sounded to Zoro, oozing smarminess. "Your friend here doesn't seem to be bringing you much luck. If you would care to join me in the VIP room...alone?" His eyes flicked over to Zoro, taking in the green hair, the ill-fitting suit and the callused hands, and his nose wrinkled in a slight sneer.
"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Nami cooed, sounding genuinely grateful.
"Whaddaya mean, I'm not bringing her any luck?" Zoro growled. Nami shot him an angry, warning glance, but he ignored it. Like he was gonna sit there and let someone take away his - their - navigator!
"Oh, excuse me, sir, it's true that you are bringing her luck - bad luck."
"Oh yeah?" Zoro challenged. He picked up the remaining stacks of chips and placed them down on 24.
"Zoro, what are you doing?" Nami screeched, reaching out a hand to take back the chips.
"No more bets, ladies and gentlemen, no more bets," the croupier announced, and Nami shot Zoro a dirty look.
"Do you really think you can reverse your luck just like that?" the man asked contemptuously.
"I happen to have a strategy," Zoro retorted.
KE-THUNK.
"Twenty-four, ladies and gentlemen, twenty-four wins!" The croupier pushed a stack of chips over to Zoro. "Your winnings, sir."
Zoro grinned triumphantly, Nami's jaw dropped, and the man's eyes popped out of their sockets. He swallowed and tried to appear nonchalant. "Beginner's luck," he scoffed.
"Is that so," Zoro said confidently. As the croupier set the wheel spinning once more, he placed his chips on 33, ignoring Nami's angry eye signals. She could only watch helplessly as he won another round, and another, soon doubling their original stake. A crowd soon gathered to watch the phenomenon, gasping with each consecutive win until -
"I recognise you now!" Zoro and Nami froze as the smartly-dressed man jabbed an accusatory finger at them. "You're members of the Strawhat Pirates! Roronoa Zoro, 120 million beli! Cat Burglar Nami, 16 million beli!"
"Funny how you didn't remember that while we were losing," Zoro growled, reaching for his katana - and finding them absent. "Dammit!"
A sly smile spread across the man's face. "Guards! Seize them!" he ordered, and immediately joined the general exodus stampeding towards the doors, leaving Zoro and Nami in the middle of an empty casino surrounded by ten guards, who each pulled various weapons on them.
"Oi, Zoro, do something!" Nami demanded.
"Why don't you do something! You know how to fight!" Zoro retorted.
"Do you know how expensive this gown is? If I get it ripped fighting, I'm gonna add its cost to your debt!"
"Greedy witch!"
"If you think that's unfair, then you'd better do something to keep that from happening!"
"Yeah, well, it would be a lot easier to do something if you hadn't made me give them my katana!"
Nami gave a long-suffering sigh. "I guess I should have brought Sanji-kun after all, since he at least knows how to fight bare-handed."
"What the hell? I can defend you just as well as that curly-brow can!" Zoro ground out between clenched teeth.
"Give up, pirates! You're outnumbered!" one of the guards called out.
"Hear him, Zoro? You're outnumbered," Nami observed, as the guards began to charge.
"Okay, okay, enough already! No-sword style! Tatsumaki!" Zoro stretched out his arms and spun around, creating a vortex of strong winds that gradually expanded and caught up every one within range, picking them up and flinging them into whatever piece of casino equipment happened to be in the way - Nami included.
"Ow! Zoro! Next time, warn me before..." Nami's eyes turned into beli signs as the jackpot machine she'd landed next to began spewing out coin after coin.
"Nami! Pay attention!" Zoro yelled, as more back-ups began to pour into the room.
Nami snapped back into the present, her eyes widening at the sheer number of enemies now present. She made up her mind quickly. "Zoro! I'll go get your swords! Wait here!" she called, ducking behind the jackpot machines and soon disappearing from sight.
"Oi! Woman! How am I supposed to protect you when..." Zoro began, stopping when a low rumble caught his attention. He looked up and saw a huge black cloud loom over him and his assailants. "Oh, shit." He dove for cover under the roulette table as lightning began to strike, only emerging when the storm had passed. He gave one of the smoking bodies a nudge with his foot. No response.
"Get him!" Zoro's head whipped around when he felt a rush of air-conditioned air.
"Oh, great," he muttered when yet another host of guards ran in. Just how many goons does this casino employ anyway? And where the hell is that woman? He raised his voice. "Nami! Where the hell are my katana?"
"Zoro! Catch!" Zoro looked around in time to see his katana sail through the air, and he hastily reached out for them.
"Oi! How many times do I have to tell you not to throw my katana around?" he yelled, sticking them into his belt as best he could, then unsheathing them and sticking Wado's hilt between his teeth. He began fighting his way over to her, sweeping more of the men away with each powerful stroke.
"And how many times do I have to ask for a simple thank-you?" she called, pulling out her ClimaTact to dole out whacks on the head in equal measure, working her way over to him.
"Yeah, thanks," he said grudgingly. Their backs collided and each gave a small smile the other couldn't see.
"Ready to get out of here?" Zoro raised his katana.
"No."
Zoro started at the unexpected answer. "What? Why not?" He'd been all ready to make a charge out of this place...
"You ruined my entire plan, Zoro, that's why!" Nami berated him, all while fending off a couple of goons with mini-cyclones.
"What are you mad at me for? You were losing, and I won back all our money!" Zoro sent a 36-pound cannon over towards the advancing guards.
"I was trying to get into the manager's good books, so I could sneak into his office and break into the safe!"
"Manager? You mean that smarmy guy?" Zoro belatedly realised.
"Yeah, the smarmy guy!"
"Oh. That was the plan? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I did tell you on the way here! You weren't listening, were you?"
Zoro thought back to the long list of rules he'd thought Nami was issuing him, which he'd entirely tuned out. "I guess not," he admitted.
"Well, let's get out of here anyway. Just to let you know, I'm adding the money I didn't manage to steal today to your debt!"
"Figures," Zoro muttered. He sheathed Sandai Kitetsu, then bent down and picked Nami up and put her over a shoulder.
"Eeeeek! Zoro, what the hell are you doing?"
Zoro grinned, knowing she wouldn't be able to see it. "Making sure your dress doesn't get added to my debt as well."
"Put me down!" she demanded.
"Once we're outta here."
"Fine. Fog Tempo!"
"Oni Giri!"
"Get them!"
But when the mist cleared, they were gone, and the only evidence they were ever there was one very trashed casino.
"Now can I put you down?" Zoro asked as he sprinted through the narrow streets, Nami still slung over his shoulder.
"No, on second thoughts, I don't really want to run in my high-heels."
Zoro rolled his eyes but made no protest. She was so light in comparison to his weights this wouldn't even count as training, anyway.
"What's in here?" Nami poked at a lump in his trousers.
"NAMI!"
She fished out a bag of beli, which consisted of Zoro's winnings from the roulette game. Zoro could practically hear her eyes go ka-ching! "Mine!" she declared, in a sing-song voice.
"Oi! I won that! I'm sure you got your own stash!"
"Yeah, but you were using my capital, so it's mine. Don't worry, I'll count half of it towards your debt!"
Zoro heaved a sigh. He couldn't ever win against her, could he? Just like somebody else he could name... "Fine. Take it. Anyway, now that I know it's so easy to win at roulette, I can pay off my debt to you in no time."
Sadly, Zoro soon found that from that day forth, he was never allowed to set foot in another casino again.