006

— some call them freaks —

NIGHT HAD TAKEN OVER BY THE TIME DINNER HAD STARTED. Visenya wore the dress Nami picked out, a short white dress with long sleeves. The bottom of the dress sat above her knees, the black bodice pulling in the loose fabric and giving it a ripple effect. Visenya pulled on the sheer gloves, the same ones that matched the black tights. Her hands tapped her sword, she would have leave in the room. Visenya took a breath and placed it on the desk, anxious about leaving it for so long. But she left it.

She sighed and turned, quickly raced down the stairs to the open waiting room. Zoro looked up at her, his eyebrows rising. "Do not speak," Visenya snapped, holding her hand up.

Zoro shrugged and passed her a champagne glass filled with some orange flavoured liqueur. "I was going to say you look nice," Zoro said. Visenya sipped the drink and rolled her eyes, her gaze moving to the gold top. Zoro smiled, "Do not speak."

Visenya shook her head at him and stepped away, walking toward Oaklyn who stood by a table with more drinks. She wore large flowing golden pants, and a singlet the same colour but it was separated by a white corset. Her hair was pinned up by a large golden butterfly clip, with small curls falling around her face. Oaklyn turned, jumping as she came face to face with Visenya. "Oh my—" Oaklyn cursed and Visenya quickly apologised. "You do that alot, don't you?"

Visenya shrugged softly, "So I've been told." Visenya's eyes landed on the gold scarab hanging from Oaklyn's neck, watching the golden metal reflect off of the gas torches that made it shine. "It's pretty," Visenya said, motioning to the piece. Her eyes quickly moved back to Oaklyn's face, looking over her graphic golden makeup. "It matches your eyes."

Oaklyn pressed her hand to the piece and stammered, "Uh thank you, I—"

Oaklyn was cut short when the butler Klahadore cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention to the top of the large stairs. "May I present Miss Kaya." He held his arm out and Kaya took it, her smile growing as she walked down the stairs, the mustard dress flowing as she walked. A man with half a sheep's head, Merry, stepped out, walking up the stairs to meet Kaya, while Nami drifted towards Visenya and Oaklyn.

Kaya and the man stopped in front of the three, Kaya's wide grin turning sweet as she looked at them "Nami, I love that dress on you," She said, her eyes glowing as she looked over Nami's figure.

"Thanks," Nami said quickly.

Kaya's hand moved to smooth the small wrinkle of Nami's shoulder, "It belonged to my mother. It was one of her favourites."

Nami's eyes widened, "Oh, I'm sorry. I—"

"Not at all," Kaya said quickly. "I'm sure she would agree it suits you splendidly." Nami smiled softly and Kaya turned her attention to Visenya. "As do you Visenya. My mother wore it so much when she was younger. And before you apologise, don't."

Visenya nodded, "It's an honour to wear it."

"How are you feeling Kaya?" Oaklyn questioned.

Kaya shook her head softly, "Please don't fuss over me Oaklyn, tonight is a celebration." Oaklyn nodded and sipped on her drink.

"I do have a gift for you," Oakley said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small box.She handed it to Kaya and smiled. "Happy birthday Kaya."

Kaya Opened the small box, looking at the small sea glass earrings. "Oh my, Oaklyn," Kaya cooed and pulled Oaklyn into a quick hug.

"Happy birthday. And thank you again, Kaya, for letting us stay for dinner," Visenya quickly said, nodding at Kaya before taking a sip of the orange champagne.

Kaya grinned, laughing softly, "It's an honour to house you."

"Kaya, I wonder if I might have your ear?" Merry asked, leaning closer. "There are matters concerning the transfer of ownership of the shipyard we need to discuss."

"Merry, dear friend," Klahadore said, walking to them, "it's always business with you. Tonight is about celebration." Kaya squeezed his arm and Merry nodded in agreement, wishing her a happy birthday. Kaya turned to the others, "Shall we all move to the dining room?"

Kalahdore motioned to the hall and Luffy's eyes widened. "Yes! Oh! Oh, I'm so ready for this!"

They followed the staff to the dining room, Kaya and Merry sitting at each end, Nami, Oaklyn and Ussop sitting on one side, Usopp sitting closest to Kaya. Zoro, Luffy and Visenya sat opposite them, Visenya in the middle. Zoro quickly grabbed the bottle of wine, pouring himself a glass. He looked at Visenya and when she nodded, poured her one as well.

The staff handed out the first course and they all happily began to eat, the others chatting along as Oaklyn and Usopp recounted memories with Kaya. When the second larger course came out Visenya sighed through her nose, a nervous feeling filling her stomach as the large plate of food was placed in front of her. She ate a small portion before Visneya glanced at Luffy, who had already finished the majority of his food, impressive but gross. Visenya cleared her throat and pushed her plate towards him.

"You don't want it?" Luffy questioned.

"You want it more," Visenya said, deflecting Luffy's question. He smiled and scrapped everything onto his plate.

One of the staff came past and Zoro held up the empty wine bottle. "Keep this coming." The woman took it with a nod. She walked on and Kaya watched her closely.

As she made it to Kaya's chair, she held her hand out slightly, stopping the woman. "Uh. I'd love to try the fish tonight," Kaya said softly and Visenya's eyes drifted to her empty plate.

"I'm sorry, Miss Kaya, but that is not possible," Kalahdore said, ensuring to keep his voice low.

Oaklyn's hand pressed to the gold scarab, a soft gold light shining through her fingers, and Visenya's eyes narrowed, watching her closely. "A small piece should be fine," Oaklyn said in defence, but kept her voice soft.

Kalahdore turned his head, his eyes narrowing at Oaklyn. "I know you mean well Oaklyn but you know that certain foods can affect Kaya's constitution." Oaklyn nodded softly, her hand slipping away from the scarab. Kalahdore smiled and motioned out to the staff walking through the door. "Here, Buchi has prepared your special soup."

A large bowl of blue soup was placed in front of Kaya and she sighed. "Kaya, it's your birthday," Nami spoke up. "You should be able to eat what you want."

"Miss Kaya's medical condition necessitates that I closely monitor her dietary needs," Kalahdore said.

"Is speaking for her part of your role too?" Visenya said, her sharp voice cutting the silence as she raised her drink to her lips. Kalahdore turned to her, but Visneya kept her eyes ahead of her, focussed on Oaklyn. It felt rude to snap at him like that, but the way he spoke to Kaya and Oaklyn was insulting.

"I'll take her fish." Luffy suddenly announced. Nami and Okalyn turned to Luffy, trying to send him a look to make him stop, but it went entirely over his head as he continued to smile.

Usopp looked around and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Luffy, isn't there something that you wanted to talk to Kaya about?" Usopp encouraged, motioning between the pair.

Luffy looked up from the food in his hands and his smile grew even more. "Oh, yes! Usopp told me that you own the whole shipyard," Luffy began.

"Well, actually my parents founded the shipyard," Kaya corrected, "and Merry's been running the business since. . . well, since they passed." Merry raised his glass softly, nodding at Kaya trying to make the moment fond rather than dwelling on her sadness. "But all of that's about to change. Tonight, at midnight, I will become the sole owner." Kaya said, her smile growing and Usopp smiled at her.

"Ah. Well, that's great, because we want to buy a ship from you," Luffy said with a smile bigger than them both.

"I see," Kaya said, her eyes drifting to Usopp. "Usopp mentioned that you're sailors."

"Nope, not sailors," Luffy corrected. "We're pirates."

Usopp spat out his drink, Nami's head snapped toward him and Visenya sighed to herself. Oaklyn turned her head to stare at the three across from her and Zoro shook his head, raising his drink to his lips. "This ought to be good."

"I need another glass," Visenya whispered, and Zoro pushed the whisky closer.

"Pirates?" Kaya repeated.

"Yep," Luffy said, completely blase about it. "We haven't sailed together for long, but we have already defeated an evil clown, raided a Marine base, and taken down a captain with an axe for a hand." Zoro rubbed his head in annoyance and Visenya sank in her chair slightly.

Kaya smiled strangely and turned her head to Usopp, "These sound a lot like your adventures, Usopp."

Usopp laughed softly, looking to Oaklyn for support but she just continued to silently eat. " Yeah, that's— That's crazy," Usopp stammered.

"Crazy," Oaklyn echoed.

"Oh yeah. And we're just getting started!" Luffy yelled and he pulled himself onto the table, stomping on the wood. Visenya grabbed her glass and it moved it out of the way.

"What are you doing? Get down from there at once!" Kalahdore said quickly, trying to motion Luffy off the table. But Luffy, stubborn as ever, ignored him.

Luffy raised his glass, continuing his speech, "Being a pirate has been my dream for as long as I can remember. And I'm finally making it a reality." Zoro stared up at him, his eyes full of wonder as Luffy started to walk forward, making eye contact with Kaya. "We're heading out to the Grand Line, where even more adventures await us. And at the end of the journey, I'm gonna find the ultimate treasure, the One Piece, and become King of the Pirates."

Luffy stopped over Kaya, sipping his drink as Kaya looked up at him. "You're serious?" Kaya questioned.

Luffy held his drink out, forcing Kalahdore to take it from him; but not without an annoyed groan. "Kaya," Luffy said softly, crouching to her level and placing his hands on her shoulders, "you have a beautiful ship out there. A caravel with a sheep figurehead. It spoke to me. That's the ship we need to follow our dreams. I promise you, we'll take care of it. Maintain it. Treat it like any other member of our crew, because a ship is also a home."

Kaya stared up at him, her eyes mirroring the wonder in Zoro's. "That will be quite enough!" Kalahdore shouted and Luffy's head whipped to face him. "I should've known Usopp would bring riffraff to our doorstep."

Kalahdore stomped around and Kaya called for him, "Klahadore, it's okay. I—" Kaya's defence stopped quickly as she began to cough.

"Kaya," Okayln tried to rush to her but Kalahdore stood in her way.

"Now look what you've done," Kalahdore hissed. "You've upset Miss Kaya. All of you, out of this house at once!"

"No," Kaya whispered, setting her throat. "It's late. Let them stay the night."

Kalahdore looked as though he wanted to argue, but he took a breath and nodded softly. "As you wish, Miss Kaya," Kalahdore said, helping Kaya to her feet, "but they are out first thing in the morning."

Kalahdore led Kaya past the table and out the door, closing quickly behind them. Usopp and Oaklyn stared at each other and Nami ground her teeth together. "That went pretty well," Luffy said excitedly and Zoro dropped his face into his hand. "Don't you think?" Visenya sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

◈

THE MOON DANCED ACROSS THE BEADING OF THE EXPENSIVE DRESS THAT HUNG FROM THE DOOR. Visenya had taken liberty with the open invitation to Kaya's closet, taking pieces that caught her eye before dragging them back to the spare room across the hall. She had packed the ones she liked the most into a bag before moving to grab her regular clothes.

She was half dressed, her cloak and boots resting on the end of the bed, but when she moved to grab her grey wrap dress she paused. The moon bounced off the tall mirror in front of her, lightning up Visenya's scars. Dozens of scars from cuts and lashes covered her skin in odd scratching patterns, her pale skin raised in even paler shades.

She slipped the dress on, fixing the padding on her shoulders but left her gloves and belt folded on the desk. She stared at her sword beside it, debating with herself weather to take it with her, Kaya was nice enough, and both Usopp and Oaklyn were nice people, but with Zoro's words repaying in her head and the explosive nature at dinner, Klahdore had become more than odd. Something was terribly wrong. She grabbed the sword, attaching it to the magnetised buckles of her shoes.

Better to be safe than sorry.

She slipped her boots on and silently opened the door, slipping out into the hall without a sound. The hall was dark, the lanterns turned off and curtains drawn in front of the windows. She stepped further down the hall, following the faintest sounds of footsteps. Visenya stepped out into the next hall, her head tilting at the sight of Nami. She had a pillowcase clutched in her hand, slipping the expensive decorative pieces inside.

She grabbed a metal box disguised as an expensive silver jewellery chest covered in diamonds. She turned it in her hands, humming before slipping it in the back. "It's steel," Visenya spoke up. The sudden noise made Nami jump and she scrambled to find where Visenya stood, her chest heaving with heavy breaths. "It would be a shame to get caught stealing. Embarrassing to get caught stealing a metal box."

Nami stared at Visenya before taking the box out and placing it on the table. "You could've just said don't steal," Nami huffed through a tight breath.

"I'm all for a pickpocket, just making sure you do not screw it up," Visenya said with a vague shrug, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. The faint sound of footsteps made her freeze, and she spun to stare down the hall. Before Visenya knew it Nami had grabbed Visenya's hand and pulled her through the closest door.

Visenya yanked her arm from Nami's, getting a strange glance from Nami but she was more preoccupied by closing the door as quietly and quickly as possible. She let out a soft sigh and turned to Visneya. Visneya looked at her with wide eyes.

Before they knew it the lights flicked on and they froze. "Nami? Visenya?" Kaya's sleeping voice made them turn and Visenya's stomach dropped, her skin paleing a shade. Kaya had been kind to them all, and here she was, helping someone she barely knew steal her things then they burst into her room. Unannounced.

Visneya hoped Kaya was nice enough, please.

Nami jumped and her hand that was gripping the pillow full of Kaya's stolen goods shot behind her back, trying to hide it. Kaya stayed up at the two girls and Visneya took a tiny step backwards. "What are you doing? Is everything alright?" She asked, her voice as soft and caring as ever.

Visneya's words died on her tongue but Nami was quick to come up with an admittedly flimsy lie. "Sorry, this house is so massive. I was trying to find the bathroom." She glanced at Visneya unsure of herself before her eyes snapped back to Kaya. "I ran into Visenya on the way."

Kaya looked like she may have believed her, but her eyes snapped down to the pillow case still clutched in Nami's hand. "With a pillowcase?" Nami glanced at the pillowcase that had not been so well hidden and took a breath. Kaya pushed the covers back and stood. "So you are pirates after all."

Visenya hung her head, "I apologise—"

"Don't," Nami said quickly, glancing at Visenya. It shocked Visenya for a moment but she didn't even have time to comment on it before Nami turned back to Kaya. "I hate pirates. But I am who I am and I won't apologise for it." Nami looked Visneya dead in her eyes this time. "And you shouldn't either." She moved closer to Kaya's bed and set the pillowcase of stolen goods on the cupboard.

Kaya chuckled softly and moved to sit on an armchair letting Visenya take a proper look at Kaya's overly large bedroom. It had golden lights strung around the room, and even more kinds of lamps scattered everywhere, not a single wall was the same colour or undecorated. Everything was lavish, expensive, and absolutely unreachable for Visenya.

No matter how hard Visenya tried to imagine herself living a life like this but it never seemed right. Visenya grew up meaning less than dirt, an unwanted thing that no one wanted to care about. She wasn't built for anything this grand.

"To be honest, I find some of the decor to be a bit gaudy," Kaya confessed as she noticed Visenya's wondering eyes. "I'd prefer to donate it to charity."

"I'm not charity," Nami said sternly, staring down at Kaya.

"No, of course not," Kaya stammered, realising the meaning her words could have. "I simply meant what's the point in having so much if you can't share it with others? Like those in need. Family." She paused for a moment and smiled at both girls. "Friends."

Visenya raised her eyebrows at that and Nami glanced at her, "So we're friends now?" Nami laughed, stepping closer to Kaya. "You don't even know me."

Kaya shrugged softly, "Usopp does, and that's a start." Kaya motioned to the bay seat window, the lights by it still turned off letting in the light in the natural bright moonlight. Nami glanced between Kaya and the seat before taking a seat. "Please," Kaya urged, looking up at Visenya.

Visenya took a quick breath and walked to sit by Nami, her back tall with her hand clasped in her lap. She felt oddly awkward even though she liked both girls enough. Kaya was a sweet girl who hadn't been too mad when she and Nami burst into her room. And maybe she considered Nami a friend, but maybe Nami didn't and at that moment they were silent like strangers.

"So what do we do now?" Nami asked, finally breaking the silence as she looked between them both. "Have a sleepover? Do each other's makeup?" Kaya laughed softly but it quickly shifted into a terrible coughing fit.

Nami eyebrows furrowed, "Kaya, are you okay?"

Kaya took a long breath and looked up at Nami, "Not you too."

Visenya's eyebrows furrowed again, "What do you mean?"

Kaya looked up at Visenya through tired eyes, "Everyone's so careful around me. Like one wrong move and I'll break." Kaya turned to Nami and gave her a stern look. "I don't want your pity."

Nami looked up at Visenya and laughed softly. "Well, you won't get it then," Nami said, turning back to Visenya. 

— lethal lust  —