the sharp edge of her tongue

There's dirt on her hands.

Her gardening gloves lie discarded on the damp earth. There's grit under her nails, smudges across her bare knees, even on the seat of her shorts from sitting under the tree. Luffy thinks maybe she doesn't care; this is her mikan grove, after all - her soil, her place. Even the tangerine she cups in her palms is hers - that's an unspoken law on the Thousand Sunny even after all this time.

So is his straw hat, for the afternoon, at least, shielding her from blazing sun. He, too, is hers - and Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper - every one of them belongs to her. But they also belong to him - even Nami.

So he knows his hat's in good hands.

Luffy's elbow smacks against a branch as he adjusts his grip on the tree above her. He winces - it doesn't exactly hurt (he's a rubberman, after all) but the bark scratches across his skin and the tree rustles.

Nami squints up but a handy breeze swishes through the grove, sending the trees into a - what was that word Robin murmured the other day while they watched the waves - a sus-or-rus? Or something - it was a rustling sort of word, he remembers that much, as he holds himself completely still and listens to the frenzied murmur of the trembling leaves, the heavier bobbing of the shaken fruits. Nami would know but she's busy cursing the wind as long fiery locks whip across her face (and it'd be silly to ask, really).

She tilts her head so the brim of his straw hat screens her from the worst of the gust, and sweeps her hair out of her eyes. Then she bends back to her tangerine, the rustling already forgotten.

Luffy almost sighs in relief but bites his lip at the last second. He blows the held breath out through his nose instead, and creeps a little further down the tree - not an easy task when you're upside down but Luffy has his legs coiled around the trunk to keep him in place as he stretches inch by inch to Nami's position below.

The tangerine in her hands is big compared to the ones piled in the basket at her side, the orange peel shiny and tight around what must be a really plump and juicy fruit. He salivates just thinking about it but it'll be almost impossible to sneak it right from her hands.

She lifts it to her face - he can only see because she's still leaning against the breeze. She tucks it right up under her nose and rolls the thin leathery skin back and forth across her lips.

Her chest rises as she breathes in deep. The corner of her mouth twitches up, and her lips move around an unspoken word. A name, maybe. Or a prayer, breathed upon the fruit of her trees with a tenderness that makes her smile almost like glass.

He swallows and pulls himself a little lower, using a branch for leverage. He's almost right above her now, so close that he catches a whiff of the citrusy spray that squirts across Nami's hand when she uses a dirty nail to wiggle the peel up from the fruit's ripe flesh.

She curls the peel down, and the crinkle of tearing fibers sends little shivers of anticipation tickling down his spine. He swallows again and reaches for another branch, eyes trained on the seeping tangerine as it unfurls like a flower.

A really sweet juicy flower.

Nami twists the first slice free and pops it into her mouth. She's a lady who doesn't eat with her mouth open, but Luffy can still see that she's moving the fruit around with her tongue and he gulps as he imagines the prickly tang of the juice that must gush from the pulpy flesh with every press of her tongue to her cheek or palate.

She closes her eyes, hums a little sigh out her nose.

Luffy licks his lips. Swallowing is difficult.

As she pulls a second slice free, he stretches for another branch - he's aaaalmost there - just a little further - there's sweat trickling up his back but his nostrils are full of the sweet tickle of tangerine juice and he's so close.

She places the fruit between her teeth. It oozes just at that gentle pressure - Luffy licks his lips again at the same time Nami does. She snorts a little, her nose wrinkling as she sucks the slice into her mouth before it can make more of a mess.

But her lips glisten with the sticky liquid - why is it so hot here in the shade with such a cool wind across his face? -

A twig snaps under his hand.

"Oops," he says before he can stop himself. Nami jerks her head back, spots him above her and narrows her eyes.

"Luffy! You idiot, what do you think you're doing? Get down! I swear if you damage my trees - !"

Luffy feels the threat on the sharp edge of her tongue, prickling all over his scalp with the memories of bumps and bruises too newly healed. He holds himself very still. She hasn't moved from her seat in the speckled shade yet so maybe he can talk his way out of this one...

"I was real careful," he says, flashing teeth, "Cross my heart!"

"I don't care! You're about as careful as an elephant. Now get down from there this instant. You know these trees are special to me."

"Can I have some of your tangerine?" He reaches for the forgotten fruit. Nami twists a little so her body hides it from view.

"No. Get down, before I pull you down myself."

"Can I have it if I come down?"

"No! Luffy, I'm not going to bargain with you."

"Just one piece then?"

Nami twists further around, so she can glare at him more directly. Luffy pulls himself a little further down the tree, still careful of the branches (it is Nami's tree, after all) but no longer trying to be quiet.

"I said no."

Their eyes are almost level, though Luffy's still upside down. Nami leans away, squinting, the little furrow between her eyebrows deepening. Uh oh. Luffy cants his head and grins, his eyes dropping to the tangerine.

Her huffed sigh fans across his brow. "No. Luffy, get your ass out of my tree. If you don't get down right now I'll... I'll have Sanji revoke your second lunch privileges for a whole week."

"Ah! He wouldn't - aw c'mon - Naa~mi~ pleee~ase? Just one - "

"No - Hey!" His sneaking hand misses the tangerine by a mere inch as Nami turns away again. "Quit it, you - don't - unhand me, you filthy monkey - "

Luffy giggles, "You're the one with dirty hands," and doesn't let go of her arm. It's the wrong arm though. He swivels around halfway, letting his body stretch to accommodate the unnatural contortion, so he can face her and maybe not have - quite so - much trouble - damn but she's stronger than she looks! Luffy's fingers almost slip as she yanks against his grasp (his back hits the tree trunk, the bark chafing his skin through his shirt) but the change in position gives him better leverage and that tangerine won't escape him now -

Luffy gasps as Nami lifts the coveted fruit to her mouth - "Wait! Hey!"

She shoves the whole damn thing into her mouth.

Then she has the nerve to raise her chin an extra smug inch, the smirk on her face somewhat distorted by her bulging cheeks. Luffy gapes, still holding her arm. Maybe he should retreat for now... but before he can decide if sticking around is worth the beating he'll get, Nami hunches forward, shaking with hiccups as her free hand comes up to cover her mouth.

She's not smirking anymore. Her brown eyes shine with tears of effort.

She's barely keeping it in.

Luffy grins, slow and wide. His hand tightens around her arm. Her eyes widen. Nami chokes out a muffled, "Mmf!" in protest as the fingers of his other hand thread into her hair to cup the curve of her skull.

A gentle pull brings her closer, until his chin bumps into the ragged brim of the straw hat, unsettling it from her ginger crown. It tumbles right off as her head tips back, the breeze catching it across the edge so it spins a few yards away before dropping to the soil with a raspy whisper.

Nami shoves at his shoulder in a last-ditch effort - but she can't evade him now -

Her lips are sticky but soft against his own chapped lips, sweet but tangy, just how he imagined, tickling across his tongue so tart he can taste the citrus in his nose.

Her hand fists in his hair and he tightens his hold on hers, in case she means to yank away - but as he nibbles at her lip, sucking it clean of juice, she lets out a smothered gasp and seems to forget what she planned.

Luffy takes full advantage of the opening, pressing his mouth closer, firmer, smushing his nose against her chin as he pushes her lips apart with his tongue.

Her breath hitches around a moan. He's having a little trouble himself, each exhalation puffing hot mist between their faces. Tangerine juice floods his mouth, sweeter even than her lips, and for too many seconds, Luffy is too breathless to finish what he started - which was what, again? -

Then Nami's fingers squeeze, nails scraping across his scalp, sparking little jolts down his neck - and before she can drag him away, he tilts her head further, nudging her mouth wide - and inhales.

The tangerine pops into his mouth with a squelch and so much juice he chokes. Nami gasps and coughs, and when she wrenches her head out of his grasp, he lets her go. She sputters, "Luffy, what the hell - " her face glowing so bright he can feel the heat across the space between them - or maybe that's him.

Luffy hems a little to clear the fluid tickling his windpipe and flashes her a juicy grin. She's mad now - her cheeks darken until even her ears are burning and her brow creases, her lips curling back to bare her own teeth in a fierce snarl (still all shiny and even stickier than before - ).

"You idiot," she yells. His ears are ringing as he sniggers, "Shishishi~!" not caring that a little juice spurts from between his teeth and dribbles down his chin.

"Get down from there before I punch your teeth in!"

Luffy swallows the tangerine whole and slurps the overflow of juice around his mouth, relishing the slightly acidic sweetness. "I win, I win!" he hoots, clapping his hands over his head and swaying back and forth.

"Yeah, a knuckle sandwich," Nami growls. She seizes two fistfuls of his shirt and drags.

But Luffy's legs are wrapped at least three times around the tree's trunk and she only succeeds in stretching him further away from the tree. He cackles, dangling from her grasp.

"I'm gonna beat you senseless," she says, and her voice is so deep with promise like a dark rich honey that Luffy's breath catches mid-laugh. He coughs and blinks up at her face. Her frowning mouth is still smeared with tangerine juice and he barely holds in a snort.

"Hey," he says, "you've still got some - "

"Don't you 'hey' me, Luffy, I won't be distracted - " She pulls on his shirt again, in vain.

"But - "

"No buts - h-hey..!" she cries, because he's clasped her cheeks in his hands. He grins to reassure her - her eyes pop wide open - before he tugs her face closer.

"Lu - Luffy, don't you darrraaauuggh," she screeches as he presses his tongue against the corner of her mouth and draws it down along her chin, lapping up the drops of sugary nectar even as his navigator boxes his ear and growls, "You animal..!"

He laughs and licks the tip of her chin. "Well but you're the messy one."

"That's your fault, you stupid... rubbery... idiot! Aaaargggh let go of me!"

He snickers around his lolling tongue and licks her nose clean next, making her blink in reflex.

Her gusty sigh ruffles his bangs. At least she isn't smacking his ear anymore.

"Are you done yet?"

"Aaa~lmost..!" She has a sticky little juice mustache so he passes his tongue over her lips, paying special attention to the liquid pooled in the small dip above her upper lip.

Nami renews her protests but Luffy laughs because it only makes it easier for him to suck her bottom lip into his mouth. He rolls it between his teeth, and when she gasps, he takes his chance for one last taste.

There's no tangerine in the way this time. He runs his tongue along the blunt ridge of her teeth, burbling a giggle as he encounters the sharp point of her eyetooth. There's a thin honeyed film of juice along the fronts, not as sweet as the fruit itself, mixed up with saliva - her mouth is watering - but so is his - their lips are slick, hers so petal-smooth that he pulls it again, skimming the creamy soft flesh with the tip of his tongue - they're full, these lips, but plump in a way so unlike the fruit he just ate, he can't even begin to explain -

Nami makes a deep humming noise in her throat, and he feels the echo of her moan in his lips, against his tongue, tingling and hyperaware of his shirt against his chest, snagging across his scar as the fabric slides free from her slackened grasp - are her fingers in his hair? - her tongue pushes against his, hot and a little tickle-y - he titters but it's short, gasped and then lost to their dark mouths and steaming breaths. What was he looking for again...?

Her fingernails graze his scalp again - he wishes she'd do it a little harder, like before - those blunt nails scratching, not quite painful - but just so, almost soothing - like an itch that needs a good rubbing -

Then her hands shift, her slim fingers twining through his hair to curl around the back of his head, with a tenderness he hasn't felt since... well, not since he was a real little kid, when Grandpa would crouch down with that great big dumb grin on his face to boom, "Luffy-kun, Granddad's here!" and cradle his tiny head in just one massive paw.

That was before Grandpa started throwing him in the jungle - and he hasn't seen that old man since, well - but Luffy neatly skirts those memories, closing his eyes against the unwelcome flashes (loud and salty, coppery and - ) - no - he's determined to savor the bittersweet tang of tangerines and nostalgia.

He hums a bouncing tune against her lips, earning a lilting scoff that doesn't quite hide her mirth.

"Get down here you dummy."

"Okie dokie~!"

She doesn't have enough time to question his reply. He unwinds his legs from around the tree, slingshotting himself - and Nami along with him - down into the soft shady dirt, where he hoots with laughter even as his navigator opens her mouth to give him another tongue-lashing.

He has a better idea, and Nami soon agrees.

(Some hours later, when Usopp comes to water his Pop Greens, he hears them snoring and finds them in a dusty pile of tangled limbs beneath the trees, beside an empty basket and too many tangerine peels to count.)

For Bobbie~ (Mind of the Childishly Naive)
Prompt: Upside-down Kiss + LuffyxNami
Words: 2,600

I have several more requests, so you can expect more kisses some time soon~ (You're welcome)