"This filthy little woman?" the captain confirmed.

"She can fight and she has good aim. Just needs a little training."

Kid looked over you rubbing his chin thoughtfully with his right hand and turned back to Killer.

"Fine. If she gets in the way she goes overboard." You bristled at his tone, "Go get her cleaned up."

"He's kidding." Killer assured ushering you out of the room.

He led you to a new room that you assumed was his, when he started rummaging through drawers while you stood awkwardly in front of the door.

"This might work." He hummed handing you a faded button down shirt and a pair of jeans, "Hopefully there's no one in the bath."

Your gaze fell to a bookshelf on the far wall.

"You like to read?" He asked.

You nodded.

"Most of those are manuals but I can probably find something for you." He opened the door motioning for you to follow.

The two of you headed further below deck.

"It's gonna have to be co-ed." He shrugged, "I'll make sure no one is in there for you."

The blond slipped through the door only to emerge less than a minute later with two baskets stacked in his hands. He took the borrowed clothes placing them in the top basket and sliding it back through the doorway.

"Now put your dirty clothes in here and I'll take them to the wash." He instructed

You removed your leather bag and then hooked your arms into the hem of your shirt before pulling it up revealing your stomach. Killer caught your wrist before you could undress any further and turned his head.

Nudity wasn't something you were ashamed of. You'd been alone all this time after all. Only bathing when you pleased, the water near your home was cold and made you tired so you weren't fond of cleaning up unless absolutely necessary.

"Ah - no. Don't do that in front of anyone on the ship. OK? They won't understand. Go in there and just hand this to me when you're ready." He blindly pushed the wicker into your arms.

You shuffled into the next room staring at the off-white tiled walls. There was a large trough to the right with steam rising from it. The left was lined with chrome faucets. It had been a long time since you'd seen an actual bathroom. In front of you were cubbies some contained large towels while others had small wash cloths. You stripped down piling your clothes into the basket Killer had given you and wrapped one of the larger towels around your torso.

Slowly you opened the door to hand over your dirty garments. Killer leaned against the wall taking the basket without turning toward you.

"The cubbies on the right have soap and shampoo. I'm sure we can look in town later for something better suited for you. For now you'll just have to smell like a guy." He chuckled, "I'll be right back. If you need something knock or make a noise."

You nodded and backed into the bathroom to fumble through the soaps. After grabbing what you felt was the least masculine scent you made your way over to the wall of faucets. You sighed turning knobs going from burning to freezing before you figured out how to balance the water temperature. You hesitated before dropping your towel and stepping under the stream completely. The warm water felt so nice and welcoming. Quickly you scrubbed down and rinsed off then made your way to the tub on the other side of the room. Your muscles relaxed completely in the hot water as you sank down to your chin. If anything bad came of this decision, the bath was totally worth it.

Soaking until your fingers were wrinkly you toweled off and wiggled into the borrowed clothes. The shirt clung in awkward places and the pants, aside from being far too long, were quite snug in the hips, thighs and rear; obviously designed to fit a tall thin man. You huffed rolling up the pant legs and sleeves before tugging a bit at the buttons over your chest.

This would have to do for now.

Killer leaned against the wall like he'd never left though your dirty clothes we nowhere in sight. He turned to you slowly a bit of pink dusting his neck.

"Maybe a tee shirt would be better?" He tugged at his goatee.

You shrugged feeling comfortable enough.

"Most of the crew is spending the night in the port so I can make you something in the galley if you're hungry." You nodded as he opened the door.

A few men stared as you passed making lewd comments about you wearing Killer's old clothes. The blond snapped his fingers at them effectively shutting them up. The right side of your mouth tugged into a simper at Killer's authority, he must be important. Now that you thought about it, you doubted anyone else could just waltz into the captain's quarters and tell him some random woman was joining his crew.

His soft chuckle pulled you from your thoughts. You looked at him quizzically.

He just shook his head placing his large hand on the small of your back to guide you through the galley door.

"Here give me a hand." He handed you a medium sized fish and a knife.

With little effort you scaled, gutted and deboned the creature then carefully portioned it out.

"Impressive." He hummed rinsing rice in the sink.

You nodded pouring flour in a bowl with a few spices.

"Oils ready." He murmured placing the pot of rice over the flame on the back burner.

Leaning against the sink he watched you focus dredging the filets before gently placing them into the bubbling oil.

"I'll be right back." He stepped out returning a moment later with a pencil and notebook.

Quietly he placed the items on a nearby table and took a seat as you prepared another fish for frying before moving on to mix a dipping sauce with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, mirin and a little bit of sugar.

"Not your first rodeo huh?" He asked.

You shook your head hands still steadily at work. You'd been cooking for yourself for a long time. It took a lot of patience to get this skilled. Though what you could do was nothing fancy or all that impressive.

You opened cabinets searching for plates. Seemed this kitchen was only built for tall people; almost everything was just out of your reach. You hoisted yourself up onto the counter balancing on your knees as you reached up to grab two plates. Once you'd placed them on the counter you carefully turned to sit and slid down to the floor.

Killer had moved quietly behind you in case you happened to lose your balance. Once you sat at the table with your dinner he slid the notebook and pencil to you.

"Have you always been mute?" He asked tipping his mask back just enough to expose his mouth to eat his food.

"Not mute."

He tilted his head.

"Devil fruit."

He leaned forward clearly interested even if you had no idea what his face looked like.

"You have a devil fruit that took your voice?" He sounded confused.

"No." You tapped the pencil on the graph paper trying to figure out how to word it exactly, "It makes me loud. Really loud."

"You'll have to show me."

You shook your head emphatically.

His shoulders dropped.

"It could kill you." You scribbled shakily.

"Alright. Some other time." He tapped your hand before moving to a different subject. 

You sat at the table answering Killers questions until the sun began to set.

Your room was four doors down from Killer. He'd brought you blankets and a pillow. You were lucky enough to get a room with an actual bed rather than the shared rooms where everyone had to sleep in a hammock. Once he was sure you were settled he ruffled your hair and told you rest up.
Finally you were alone. You'd spent the entire afternoon and evening with another person – which normally you found exhausting. Sometimes the kids from the village would follow you around and in short bursts they were fine sure, but sooner or later you'd get bothered and shoo them away. Now ... alone in your new room you felt anxious.