I thought this would turn out shorter...
Title: Drifting On Course
Theme: Set 4 #30 Drift
Claim: Zoro x Nami
Words: 1088
Rating: G
Warnings: Nothing, really.
Disclaimer(s): I wonder if they would be as much fun to play with if they weren't somebody else's? I'll never know because they belong to Oda.
Nami sighed as she closed the mapmaking reference text. Traditional mapmaking techniques were often mostly useless in the strange and ever-changing Grand Line. What good was it to talk about how to indicate prevailing currents when there really weren't any?
Her minded wandered back to when they first entered the Grand Line and she'd panicked when the normal compass didn't work. Log poses were certainly interesting devices! Using one was almost second nature to her now. It was a little disturbing to think that the fragile glass ball on her wrist was all that stood between her crew and a slow death, drifting aimlessly in the open ocean.
Deciding she didn't like the dark direction her thoughts were taking, she decided to head out on deck for a little company. The first person she came across was Zoro. Talk about drifting aimlessly! She wondered what could possibly be the cause of the swordsman's utter lack of a sense of direction.
It took him a little longer than she thought it might for him to notice her staring.
"What?" He didn't sound too terribly annoyed, so maybe she could get him to answer a few questions.
"Is one of your legs significantly longer than the other?"
"What?"
"Everyone has one leg that's a little longer. I was just wondering if that might be part of your problem with drifting off course," she explained. "So, is one longer?"
"No that I've noticed." He was giving her an odd look. "How would that even affect anything?"
"I'll show you." She walked over to stand on the opposite side of the deck from him. "Close your eyes and try to walk toward me in a straight line. Since you can't rely on your eyes to maintain direction, you'll naturally start to turn in the direction of your shorter leg."
"Okay..." He didn't sound convinced, but he closed his eyes and walked across the deck--directly to her. "It didn't work."
"It should have." Nami frowned. She'd tried this out many times after she'd first heard about it, and every time she did, she wound up veering off slightly to the left. Then she'd measured her legs and the left one was shorter, so she knew it was true. "Maybe you got lucky. Try again."
She moved back across the deck, and he started heading straight for her again!
"Are your eyes really closed?" she accused, hands on her hips.
"Yes." Zoro glared right back. "Don't blame me just because you're wrong."
"I'm not wrong! It's true!"
"Fine!" Zoro took the bandana off his arm and tied it over his eyes. "I'll prove it."
Nami was dumbfounded when he began heading in a straight line once more. Only Zoro would manage to actually go the right way when he shouldn't be able to do so...
Out of curiosity, she moved to get a side view of his stride, wondering if she could figure out how he was managing the feat. Just then, he began to turn, and she felt vindicated until she realized he was aiming for her new position. She moved again, and he changed course to keep heading in her direction.
"See?" He said, finally standing in front of her. "I walked straight to you."
"Way to go," she congratulated him sarcastically, "only I'm not standing in the place I started out! You have to be peeking!"
"I wouldn't cheat!" He seemed genuinely offended at the very idea.
"All right." She pointed him in the direction of the railing. "How many clouds are there off the port side?" She spotted five.
"How should I know? Three?" She should have figured that would be his guess. He could be faking, but she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"I'm going to point you in the direction of something, and I want you try walking in a straight line to that."
Zoro gave a grunt of acknowledgement, and she pointed him toward the opposite side of the deck, the longest available straight line from their current position. He hadn't even made it halfway before he managed to wind up completely turned around and headed back toward her.
This was just ridiculous! When someone said a person was attracted to another, it wasn't generally meant in the literal sense. In this case, however, there didn't appear to be any denying that Zoro was somehow drawn to her. She held out a hand and stopped him before he could run into her.
"I don't suppose you walked past me?" His tone was doubtful enough that she didn't bother answering.
"No offense," Nami told him, "but this is pretty weird, even for your messed up directional sense."
He shrugged. "I don't get it, either. I somehow manage to find my way to where I really need to be most of the time, though."
"True enough, I suppose." It was--he certainly managed to find his way to her when she needed his help on more than one occasion. "Do you really need to be with me right now?" she asked with a teasing grin.
"Hey, you came to me first!" He smirked right back. "Besides, when you're around you kind of are my sense of direction, so it sort of makes sense."
She almost made a comment about that seeming like a pretty one-sided deal, but when she thought about it, if anything, she was probably the one who benefited more from having the swordsman around. It was nice to know he felt like he needed her, too. However, she couldn't resist the opening he'd just given her.
"Are you actually admitting you don't know where you're going on your own?"
"No! I meant, you know, you're our navigator, so you tell all of us where to go!"
"Sure you did..." He was just too much fun to torment sometimes, and that indignant face was almost adorable! Just one more reason to keep him around...
Theme: Set 4 #30 Drift
Claim: Zoro x Nami
Words: 1088
Rating: G
Warnings: Nothing, really.
Disclaimer(s): I wonder if they would be as much fun to play with if they weren't somebody else's? I'll never know because they belong to Oda.
Nami sighed as she closed the mapmaking reference text. Traditional mapmaking techniques were often mostly useless in the strange and ever-changing Grand Line. What good was it to talk about how to indicate prevailing currents when there really weren't any?
Her minded wandered back to when they first entered the Grand Line and she'd panicked when the normal compass didn't work. Log poses were certainly interesting devices! Using one was almost second nature to her now. It was a little disturbing to think that the fragile glass ball on her wrist was all that stood between her crew and a slow death, drifting aimlessly in the open ocean.
Deciding she didn't like the dark direction her thoughts were taking, she decided to head out on deck for a little company. The first person she came across was Zoro. Talk about drifting aimlessly! She wondered what could possibly be the cause of the swordsman's utter lack of a sense of direction.
It took him a little longer than she thought it might for him to notice her staring.
"What?" He didn't sound too terribly annoyed, so maybe she could get him to answer a few questions.
"Is one of your legs significantly longer than the other?"
"What?"
"Everyone has one leg that's a little longer. I was just wondering if that might be part of your problem with drifting off course," she explained. "So, is one longer?"
"No that I've noticed." He was giving her an odd look. "How would that even affect anything?"
"I'll show you." She walked over to stand on the opposite side of the deck from him. "Close your eyes and try to walk toward me in a straight line. Since you can't rely on your eyes to maintain direction, you'll naturally start to turn in the direction of your shorter leg."
"Okay..." He didn't sound convinced, but he closed his eyes and walked across the deck--directly to her. "It didn't work."
"It should have." Nami frowned. She'd tried this out many times after she'd first heard about it, and every time she did, she wound up veering off slightly to the left. Then she'd measured her legs and the left one was shorter, so she knew it was true. "Maybe you got lucky. Try again."
She moved back across the deck, and he started heading straight for her again!
"Are your eyes really closed?" she accused, hands on her hips.
"Yes." Zoro glared right back. "Don't blame me just because you're wrong."
"I'm not wrong! It's true!"
"Fine!" Zoro took the bandana off his arm and tied it over his eyes. "I'll prove it."
Nami was dumbfounded when he began heading in a straight line once more. Only Zoro would manage to actually go the right way when he shouldn't be able to do so...
Out of curiosity, she moved to get a side view of his stride, wondering if she could figure out how he was managing the feat. Just then, he began to turn, and she felt vindicated until she realized he was aiming for her new position. She moved again, and he changed course to keep heading in her direction.
"See?" He said, finally standing in front of her. "I walked straight to you."
"Way to go," she congratulated him sarcastically, "only I'm not standing in the place I started out! You have to be peeking!"
"I wouldn't cheat!" He seemed genuinely offended at the very idea.
"All right." She pointed him in the direction of the railing. "How many clouds are there off the port side?" She spotted five.
"How should I know? Three?" She should have figured that would be his guess. He could be faking, but she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"I'm going to point you in the direction of something, and I want you try walking in a straight line to that."
Zoro gave a grunt of acknowledgement, and she pointed him toward the opposite side of the deck, the longest available straight line from their current position. He hadn't even made it halfway before he managed to wind up completely turned around and headed back toward her.
This was just ridiculous! When someone said a person was attracted to another, it wasn't generally meant in the literal sense. In this case, however, there didn't appear to be any denying that Zoro was somehow drawn to her. She held out a hand and stopped him before he could run into her.
"I don't suppose you walked past me?" His tone was doubtful enough that she didn't bother answering.
"No offense," Nami told him, "but this is pretty weird, even for your messed up directional sense."
He shrugged. "I don't get it, either. I somehow manage to find my way to where I really need to be most of the time, though."
"True enough, I suppose." It was--he certainly managed to find his way to her when she needed his help on more than one occasion. "Do you really need to be with me right now?" she asked with a teasing grin.
"Hey, you came to me first!" He smirked right back. "Besides, when you're around you kind of are my sense of direction, so it sort of makes sense."
She almost made a comment about that seeming like a pretty one-sided deal, but when she thought about it, if anything, she was probably the one who benefited more from having the swordsman around. It was nice to know he felt like he needed her, too. However, she couldn't resist the opening he'd just given her.
"Are you actually admitting you don't know where you're going on your own?"
"No! I meant, you know, you're our navigator, so you tell all of us where to go!"
"Sure you did..." He was just too much fun to torment sometimes, and that indignant face was almost adorable! Just one more reason to keep him around...