It was an odd occurrence, when Cherry was on the ship, but was nowhere to be seen.
She hadn't been in the ladies' bunk room when Nami woke up, nor had she been at breakfast with everyone. It was already closing in on lunch time and Nami hadn't seen so much as a single hair of her.
"Are you sure that she's still on the ship, Robin?" Nami asked, running a hand through her hair in exasperation.
"I'm sure," Robin chuckled softly. "She's poking around the docking bay right now."
"Oh yes, and she'll totally be there when I go looking for her again. Just like she was in the powder room when you told me she was there, or in the bathroom the time before that." Nami sighed. There was no need to get snippy with Robin just because her wife couldn't sit still for one minute.
"Sorry, it's just that I was planning to use my first shopping day today…" Nami apologized.
"Is that so," Robin hummed, casting her gaze back onto the history book she had been reading. "What a coincidence."
Nami blinked. Then she fumed!
"I'm going to kill her," Nami declared. "That fucking bitch! She saw me planning out the itinerary last night and decided to dodge me!"
Robin openly laughed at her plight. "Good luck with that. You'll have to catch her first."
Nami didn't say a single word in response. Instead, she shouted, "Franky, open the docking bay doors!"
She didn't wait for him to do as she asked (demanded), and ran straight for the side of the ship. She grabbed hold of a rope in passing, leaped off the side, and swung out as she dropped lower on the rope.
The docking bay doors shifted open just in time for her to come swinging back and throw herself through them. She tucked and rolled across the wooden floor, bleeding her momentum before stopping in a standing position and ready to run.
Only, she didn't need to run. She was surprised to find that Cherry was not only still in the room, but she wasn't even scrambling to flee. In fact, she didn't pay any mind to Nami's expertly executed parkour entrance at all.
"Cherry!" Nami shouted, stalking over to the woman. "Why have you…?"
The wind was taken out of her sails somewhat when she realized that Cherry was actually doing something, and not just idly hiding from her.
Cherry didn't even acknowledge her unfinished question, only sending the occasional glance towards a large open book as she scrawled on the walls of the docking bay with a stick of some kind of red wax.
Nami took a peek at the book as Franky stepped into the docking bay, likely curious as to why she told him to open it. Inside were what Cherry could only describe as an unholy cross between complex mathematics and poetry, with some notes in the margins that read like the rambling of a mad man.
Cherry chose that moment to ask, as she was filling in a circle that wasn't a circle on the wall, "Did you need something, Nami?"
"What are you doing?" Nami asked, momentarily forgetting why she was even here.
"I'm putting the finishing touches on the reinforcement inscriptions for the ship. I've been working on them for most of the night… and morning, apparently," Cherry explained. "Franky and I finally got it working with the miniatures without them imploding, and since the Thousand Sunny is many times hardier, she can easily accept them without issue."
"Mm, we even got the millimeter thin plywood to work, so I gave the okay for the project to go ahead," Franky nodded.
Nami kind of understood what they were saying, though she didn't really know what that had to do with drawing on the walls. "So you weren't avoiding me?"
"I was absolutely avoiding you," Cherry admitted without shame. "We can go on your shopping trips whenever, but protecting the ship comes first and foremost."
"Why didn't you just tell me that?! I'm a reasonable person!" Nami threw her hands into the air.
"Yes, you are," Cherry nodded. "But it was more fun to do it this way. Writing inscriptions is boring work."
Nami's eye twitched.
"Also, you failed to take into account the time difference in East Blue when you were plotting out your itinerary," Cherry smirked.
Nami blinked, then she groaned as she covered her face with both hands. How did she miss something so obvious?
Cherry giggled at her reaction to the oversight. "Right. I'm just about done laying out the physical network. We can get started with the real thing."
"I meant to ask you, why are you using this stuff?" Franky leaned in towards one of the walls for a closer look. "You didn't use it with the models."
"The models were tiny," Cherry waved her hand dismissively. "With a full sized ship, I could probably pull it off without the support, but there's no reason not to. It'll stick better this way anyways."
"What is this stuff?" Nami asked.
"Wax," Cherry answered.
"Just wax?" Nami raised an eyebrow. She didn't expect it was truly that simple, especially since this was Cherry.
*sniff sniff* "Is there blood in it?" Franky questioned.
Nami deadpanned at Cherry.
"There's nothing better for it," Cherry shrugged helplessly. "You should just be happy I put it in wax. My first choice was to fuse my blood directly into the wood, but that seemed disrespectful to the Sunny."
"That's disgusting," Nami shook her head. "You should be finished with this by… 6 o' clock, right?"
That should be about the right time for the first cities on her list to open for business.
"Sure, sure," Cherry agreed without enthusiasm.
Nami left her to… whatever she was doing, and went back to actually enjoying their time at sea now that she wasn't on a wild goose chase.
Until Reiju made eye contact with her and approached her. "Ah, Nami. I was hoping that I could ask a favor of you."
"Of course," Nami responded easily. Sanji's older sister had quickly integrated into their crew, and Nami herself became fast friends with her. She got along very well with the other women on the ship (excluding Dalma Tia), but she felt that she and Reiju had the makings of becoming best friends; something she'd never had, but had always fantasized about since she was little.
"You're going to East Blue for that shopping trip you've planned, yes?" Reiju asked.
"I am," Nami confirmed, hoping this was what she thought it was.
Reiju continued, "I'd like to come with-" "Yes!" Nami interrupted, then felt her cheeks heat up. "I mean, you're more than welcome to come along."
Reiju smiled that knowing smile that wasn't quite teasing her. "There is one place I'd like to add to the list."
"Oh?" Nami's itinerary was a bit jam packed already, but if she couldn't squeeze it in, then she could just drop something else if she had to.
"I'd like to go to the Baratie," Reiju revealed.
"Ah," Nami nodded in understanding. "I should have guessed as much. We can stop there first for dinner, around 6 o' clock."
"Perfect," Reiju gave her a brilliant smile that nearly blinded her. "I'll be ready."
They parted ways for now as Nami tracked some concerning clouds.
Wait… was this a date? Should she ask? No, that's impossible, she can't do that. The answer would be mortifying no matter how Reiju answered. Did Nami even want it to be a date? She preferred men… probably... but then again, Reiju was very- no! Bad! It probably isn't even a date!
...What the hell should she do if it is, though?!
Alright, she'll just go with the flow. Yeah, she'll do that. That way, she at least won't make a fool of herself.
Probably.
Hopefully.