Yet more of the same.
Mar. 5th, 2006 07:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chibi_trillianAfter mortal combat with a bevy of distractions, I bring you yet another mugging of the OP fandom. Unfortunately, all I got was a bus pass and some spare change.
It should be noted that this chapter spawned the mental image of Smoker with Hina-with-horns on one shoulder and Tashigi-with-halo on the other.
Title: Acquired Taste, Chapter Five: The Taste of Revenge
Series: One Piece.
One Piece: Not mine.
Rating: PG.
Summary: Zeff's crew finds something that's wonderful for everyone except Zeff, Smokersulks thinks about justice, and Hina finally pwns.
Zeff managed to conceal his dismay, but it was a near thing.
His crewmates were running around like overexcited five-year-olds who had found a new secret hideout, and in a way, they had. He could only wish that it hadn’t been on the same island as a certain grey-haired Marinelet.
Even though the idea of jumping ship, finding his own crew, and running off to All Blue was getting more and more tempting by the second, he had to admit that this sea cave that the navigator had found was incredible. They’d had to wait until high tide and carefully pole the ship in, but the miniature lagoon inside of the cave was practically made to be a pirate’s lair.
Actually, they’d found some evidence that it had been used as such, but not in the past couple of decades. Right now, the ship’s carpenter was poking some of the crumbly, sea-stained wooden crates they’d found wedged behind a rock formation and declaring that maybe Gold Roger himself had hidden his vessel here and these were his crates and—
“And Gold Roger was never confirmed to have been in this area, especially not within the time period that those crates came from.” Shot down by Lawson himself. At least one could trust the captain not to act like an excitable idiot, even if the man could be drier than overcooked eggs at times. The girl deflated, gave one of the crates a despondent kick, and went back to checking the hull for damage from their tight trip in here.
Lawson, for his part, hadn’t taken his gaze off of the small hole in the ceiling of the cave that opened to the sky. He was frowning slightly, and talking to the new guy about scouting out the area around that hole. Lawson was worried about the possibility of their voices being heard by people on the island. Zeff took one look at his stove and was glad for the perforated ceiling. Using a large stove in a poorly ventilated area was a good way to kill the people you were trying to feed.
Listening to the echoing shouts and splashes of his crewmates, Zeff almost felt bad for wishing that the navigator’s eyes weren’t quite so sharp. He wasn’t looking forward to the next time he had to go into town.
****
“Will you STOP moping? It’s getting on my nerves.”
Smoker, jerked out of his reverie, huffed out an annoyed cloud of smoke. “I’m not moping. I don’t mope.”
“You’re preoccupied, moody, not paying attention to what you’re supposed to be doing, and you sigh every so often. Hina calls that moping, or possibly sulking. If anyone has a right to be sulky, it’s me, considering that you denied me my vengeance.” She punctuated that last statement with a kick to the shin that Smoker let land. She’d been doing that a lot lately.
“I’m thinking, not moping. And I am paying attention to my patrol.”
“Then why did you let that thief escape?”
“WHAT? Where? When?”
“Ha! Hina knew you weren’t paying attention.”
“That was dirty. And I’m…I’m not pleased with myself for letting Zeff go. I failed in my duty as a Marine because I let my emotions get the better of me. I should have brought him in anyway.” Smoker fingered the handle of his jitte. The weight of it was symbolic of the weight of justice—or so he kept telling himself when he had to sprint after someone and got the crap beaten out of his back by his own weapon. Anyway, justice. Justice had not been done. A probable criminal had escaped because Smoker had been thinking with the wrong head. He’d never let that happen again.
Hina gave him a sidelong look. “You think too much about things you can’t change. Maybe one day Hina will eat a Devil Fruit that lets people go back in time so you can fix the multitude of things that you think you’ve done wrong and see that things turned out pretty much the same anyway.” She smirked at him in that infuriating way she had. Smoker, refusing to let her know that her jabs were finding targets, looked with deliberate casualness around the marketplace.
And froze.
No. No one could be that stupid. It had to be someone else who just happened to look remarkably similar. Or a hallucination caused by wishful thinking.
“Do you see what I think I see?”
That ruled out the hallucination theory then.
Smoker found himself striding quickly after a demonically grinning Hina. The woman looked like she could practically taste her own personal brand of justice. Smoker just hoped there’d be enough of Zeff left for more conventional justice afterwards. He was really looking forward to dragging Zeff off to jail, which was where criminals belonged, dammit. Not in Smoker’s thoughts, not in Smoker’s life, and certainly not in Smoker’s bed. Jail.
Thanks to the melon Zeff was currently thumping and the shopkeeper he was trying to haggle with at the same time, Hina managed to get the drop on him. Her too-polite, “Mr. Zeff, we’d like to have a word with you,” caused the blond to nearly drop the cantaloupe in question. He turned, took one look at Hina’s smile, and blanched. Smoker wasn’t blaming him in the slightest.
It was to Zeff’s credit that he let Hina march him off without a protest or a fight as soon as he saw Smoker standing behind her. The older man looked somewhat resigned to his fate, though that might be a front.
As soon as Hina deemed them to be in a sufficiently low-traffic area, she stopped. Smoker tensed. If Zeff was going to fight them, it would be now. Smoker almost hoped he did. Hina leaned towards the older man, smile getting a little wider.
“Mr. Zeff, if you are going to abruptly head off to sea, it is a good idea to tell people you know that you’re going,” Hina murmured, voice all poison and sweet reason. “That way, they don’t report you as shanghaied and your name and description, along with the description of the person believed to have made off with you, isn’t circulating in every Navy base from here to the Grand Line. The person who supposedly kidnapped the chef of a four-star restaurant bears a remarkable resemblance to one Captain Mathiu ‘Mirrorshades’ Lawson, who has recently become fairly active in this area. How…coincidental.”
By this point, Smoker was feeling creeped out by Hina, and she wasn’t even aimed at him. Scary woman. He hoped she never ate a Devil Fruit, or she’d be unstoppable.
Zeff’s mouth tensed, twisted, and finally he spat out, “What do you want? If you were going to arrest me, you’d have done it by now.”
Hina’s teeth flashed like those of a great sea-predator right before you lost a leg and bled to death six feet from shore while your friends watched in horror. “Hina wants you to spend a night with him.” Her thumb flicked back at Smoker, and this was officially no longer even mildly amusing.
Smoker and Zeff choked out “WHAT?!” in unison, Smoker in mortification, Zeff in horror and barely-concealed fear.
Hina said, “You’ll do it, or you’ll go to jail. I'll even pay for the hotel,” and her voice was like steel and snakeskin.
Smoker looked at Zeff, at that face and that body and those long, long legs tensed so prettily, like he wanted to kick but knew better than to try. Temptation on legs. He looked at Hina, at the barely-concealed glee on her face and the stubborn set of her spine. She was the devil on his shoulder, and had apparently shot the angel of justice that was supposed to be opposing her.
Smoker could taste his doom, and Hina’s revenge.
Chapter Six: Grand Dreams
Chapter Four: Simmer
It should be noted that this chapter spawned the mental image of Smoker with Hina-with-horns on one shoulder and Tashigi-with-halo on the other.
Title: Acquired Taste, Chapter Five: The Taste of Revenge
Series: One Piece.
One Piece: Not mine.
Rating: PG.
Summary: Zeff's crew finds something that's wonderful for everyone except Zeff, Smoker
Zeff managed to conceal his dismay, but it was a near thing.
His crewmates were running around like overexcited five-year-olds who had found a new secret hideout, and in a way, they had. He could only wish that it hadn’t been on the same island as a certain grey-haired Marinelet.
Even though the idea of jumping ship, finding his own crew, and running off to All Blue was getting more and more tempting by the second, he had to admit that this sea cave that the navigator had found was incredible. They’d had to wait until high tide and carefully pole the ship in, but the miniature lagoon inside of the cave was practically made to be a pirate’s lair.
Actually, they’d found some evidence that it had been used as such, but not in the past couple of decades. Right now, the ship’s carpenter was poking some of the crumbly, sea-stained wooden crates they’d found wedged behind a rock formation and declaring that maybe Gold Roger himself had hidden his vessel here and these were his crates and—
“And Gold Roger was never confirmed to have been in this area, especially not within the time period that those crates came from.” Shot down by Lawson himself. At least one could trust the captain not to act like an excitable idiot, even if the man could be drier than overcooked eggs at times. The girl deflated, gave one of the crates a despondent kick, and went back to checking the hull for damage from their tight trip in here.
Lawson, for his part, hadn’t taken his gaze off of the small hole in the ceiling of the cave that opened to the sky. He was frowning slightly, and talking to the new guy about scouting out the area around that hole. Lawson was worried about the possibility of their voices being heard by people on the island. Zeff took one look at his stove and was glad for the perforated ceiling. Using a large stove in a poorly ventilated area was a good way to kill the people you were trying to feed.
Listening to the echoing shouts and splashes of his crewmates, Zeff almost felt bad for wishing that the navigator’s eyes weren’t quite so sharp. He wasn’t looking forward to the next time he had to go into town.
****
“Will you STOP moping? It’s getting on my nerves.”
Smoker, jerked out of his reverie, huffed out an annoyed cloud of smoke. “I’m not moping. I don’t mope.”
“You’re preoccupied, moody, not paying attention to what you’re supposed to be doing, and you sigh every so often. Hina calls that moping, or possibly sulking. If anyone has a right to be sulky, it’s me, considering that you denied me my vengeance.” She punctuated that last statement with a kick to the shin that Smoker let land. She’d been doing that a lot lately.
“I’m thinking, not moping. And I am paying attention to my patrol.”
“Then why did you let that thief escape?”
“WHAT? Where? When?”
“Ha! Hina knew you weren’t paying attention.”
“That was dirty. And I’m…I’m not pleased with myself for letting Zeff go. I failed in my duty as a Marine because I let my emotions get the better of me. I should have brought him in anyway.” Smoker fingered the handle of his jitte. The weight of it was symbolic of the weight of justice—or so he kept telling himself when he had to sprint after someone and got the crap beaten out of his back by his own weapon. Anyway, justice. Justice had not been done. A probable criminal had escaped because Smoker had been thinking with the wrong head. He’d never let that happen again.
Hina gave him a sidelong look. “You think too much about things you can’t change. Maybe one day Hina will eat a Devil Fruit that lets people go back in time so you can fix the multitude of things that you think you’ve done wrong and see that things turned out pretty much the same anyway.” She smirked at him in that infuriating way she had. Smoker, refusing to let her know that her jabs were finding targets, looked with deliberate casualness around the marketplace.
And froze.
No. No one could be that stupid. It had to be someone else who just happened to look remarkably similar. Or a hallucination caused by wishful thinking.
“Do you see what I think I see?”
That ruled out the hallucination theory then.
Smoker found himself striding quickly after a demonically grinning Hina. The woman looked like she could practically taste her own personal brand of justice. Smoker just hoped there’d be enough of Zeff left for more conventional justice afterwards. He was really looking forward to dragging Zeff off to jail, which was where criminals belonged, dammit. Not in Smoker’s thoughts, not in Smoker’s life, and certainly not in Smoker’s bed. Jail.
Thanks to the melon Zeff was currently thumping and the shopkeeper he was trying to haggle with at the same time, Hina managed to get the drop on him. Her too-polite, “Mr. Zeff, we’d like to have a word with you,” caused the blond to nearly drop the cantaloupe in question. He turned, took one look at Hina’s smile, and blanched. Smoker wasn’t blaming him in the slightest.
It was to Zeff’s credit that he let Hina march him off without a protest or a fight as soon as he saw Smoker standing behind her. The older man looked somewhat resigned to his fate, though that might be a front.
As soon as Hina deemed them to be in a sufficiently low-traffic area, she stopped. Smoker tensed. If Zeff was going to fight them, it would be now. Smoker almost hoped he did. Hina leaned towards the older man, smile getting a little wider.
“Mr. Zeff, if you are going to abruptly head off to sea, it is a good idea to tell people you know that you’re going,” Hina murmured, voice all poison and sweet reason. “That way, they don’t report you as shanghaied and your name and description, along with the description of the person believed to have made off with you, isn’t circulating in every Navy base from here to the Grand Line. The person who supposedly kidnapped the chef of a four-star restaurant bears a remarkable resemblance to one Captain Mathiu ‘Mirrorshades’ Lawson, who has recently become fairly active in this area. How…coincidental.”
By this point, Smoker was feeling creeped out by Hina, and she wasn’t even aimed at him. Scary woman. He hoped she never ate a Devil Fruit, or she’d be unstoppable.
Zeff’s mouth tensed, twisted, and finally he spat out, “What do you want? If you were going to arrest me, you’d have done it by now.”
Hina’s teeth flashed like those of a great sea-predator right before you lost a leg and bled to death six feet from shore while your friends watched in horror. “Hina wants you to spend a night with him.” Her thumb flicked back at Smoker, and this was officially no longer even mildly amusing.
Smoker and Zeff choked out “WHAT?!” in unison, Smoker in mortification, Zeff in horror and barely-concealed fear.
Hina said, “You’ll do it, or you’ll go to jail. I'll even pay for the hotel,” and her voice was like steel and snakeskin.
Smoker looked at Zeff, at that face and that body and those long, long legs tensed so prettily, like he wanted to kick but knew better than to try. Temptation on legs. He looked at Hina, at the barely-concealed glee on her face and the stubborn set of her spine. She was the devil on his shoulder, and had apparently shot the angel of justice that was supposed to be opposing her.
Smoker could taste his doom, and Hina’s revenge.
Chapter Six: Grand Dreams
Chapter Four: Simmer
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-06 06:03 am (UTC)I officially want to be Hina. I'll even refer to myself in the third person.
Promise.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-06 06:48 am (UTC)For them, maybe. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-06 04:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-06 04:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-06 08:44 pm (UTC)A probable criminal had escaped because Smoker had been thinking with the wrong head. He’d never let that happen again.
Right-o, Smoker-taisa. XD
Hina thinks up even crazier Devil Fruits than I do. But so she hasn't eaten hers yet. Do we get to see that happening? Do we? DO WE?
Not in Smoker’s thoughts, not in Smoker’s life, and certainly not in Smoker’s bed. Jail.
Right-o again. This is why I love fics that deal with the past of characters: when it's done well you can see all the sweet, sweet irony of the differences between their ideals as youngsters and the reality of life later.
He turned, took one look at Hina’s smile, and blanched.
Zeff is scared of women. I always knew.
Then again, seeing what Hina does to him, I can understand why. And poor Smoker is getting revenged on too even though he didn't do anything to deserve it. I like her special brand of justice, I truly do.
One thing though... does Hina really speaks in the third person all the time? It seemed to me that she only used her name when the feeling was VERY strong. But maybe that's just the translation...
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-07 01:00 am (UTC)"No, really, I don't--"
"Hina Amusement!"
"... I hate you."
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-07 01:48 am (UTC)Smoker's not getting punished. Hina's just being sneaky. She's looking out for his welfare. Seriously.
Upon rechecking Hina's dialogue from Albasta word by word, you're right. She does do it far more around Smoker than around her men, though. You have a choice: a) her speech impediment has improved over time or b) I can go back and ninja-edit it while this is still safely contained on my LJ.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-07 08:18 am (UTC)I'll accept that she's looking out for his welfare, but she really does need to work on her subtle. XD Makes me wonder how she got Smoker to take Ace in his bed later on...
Thought so... She uses it to punctuate what she's saying, and since Smoker has such a thick skull, she needs to punctuate HARD when she's talking to him.
Actually, I don't think it's a speech impediment. I think she does it to make herself look cute. It's a camouflage thing. The average pirate thinks "oh look at that one, figure like a top model and speaks like a child, probably became a captain by sleeping with her superiors". And then they meet Black Cage Hina, and learn not to trust appearances.
As for the choice, I think it's yours more than mine, really. XD