Disclaimer: I don't own the One Piece universe.
Characters: Nami, Usopp
Relationships: Nami x Usopp
Summary: Nami and Usopp can't lose each other.
Rating: K+
Prompt: 100 Women #036 "Kiss"

Stay

She'd kissed him the first time. (She'd kissed him every time, when she thought about it. He was still a coward through and through.)

The first time, they'd been laying shoulder-to-shoulder on his hammock, alone in the men's quarters. He'd been holding her hand up off the bed in one of his, examining the fresh white bandages.

"You gonna stay this time?" he'd whispered it as if afraid to break the silence. He'd turned his head slightly to face her.

She'd turned to face him, then, too. His eyes had seemed even browner, then, and his cheeks had been tinged with a blush. There was a sort of tingling pleasure where his calloused fingertips brushed against her hand.

And she kissed him.

It was shy and unsure, a brush of chapped lips against chapped lips. His nose had pressed awkwardly against her cheekbone. She'd shifted slightly to get better access and the hammock had tipped over, spilling them onto the floor.

Laughing, she'd pressed her face against his shoulder; his arms had come cautiously around her waist.

"Yeah," she'd whispered against his shoulder. "I'm going to stay."

Months later, she found him alone in the men's quarters, lying on his bunk. The bandages over his arms and torso were stark against his dark skin.

"Hey," she whispered, sitting on the edge of the bunk. It swayed slightly on the chains suspending it, but proved to be more stable than the hammock. She brushed her hand through his hair, fingers getting caught in the curls, "You gonna stay this time?"

He looked at here, eyes browner than ever. His eyes were watery, too, almost overflowing with tears.

She kissed him then. Soft and careful, less awkward than it had been the first time.

"Yeah," he'd whispered when she broke the kiss. "Yeah. I'm going to stay."