ᴀᴄᴇ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴘᴀᴅᴇꜱ

Mall Shenanigans

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It was the blood lilies again, you thought with a jolt, brought out of your dreams on a gasp; left to ponder on the contents of your nightmares as you scrubbed a weary hand over your face.

Then, looking down, you saw that your body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and the blankets were thrown haphazardly over your tangled legs.

' Fuck ...'

You exhaled harshly, bending over your sheets to drop your face into your hands.

"Was it that dream again?"

Nami sidled over to you, offering a cup of fresh joe she'd just bought.

"Yeah..."

You accepted the beverage appreciatively, holding the simmering cup to your lips. It was warm and soothing, something you hadn't known you needed. And it tempered your shivers and the dark thoughts clouding your mind.

As soon as you drained the cup, you handed it back to Nami as she said with a sigh, "Y/n, I'm going to be blunt with you, that stuff you have all cramped in there--" She poked at your forehead, "It's not healthy and you know it."

The ginger worded her next sentence carefully, so as not to offend you in any way, "That stuff is going to ruin you if you keep it all bottled up. Do you get where I'm coming from?"

She exhaled sharply before coming down to kneel by you, her hand grazing yours reassuringly.

"You know I'm not trying to be mean here, I'm just telling you what I--and everyone else--thinks you should do. You know I'm not the type of person to beat around the bush about this stuff."

"I know, Nami, I know," You looked up at your friend, giving her a weak smile so as not to worry her as much. "But I'm not ready to talk about it yet."

"Y/n--" Nami glanced over at you, her expression pinched in worry. You knew she wanted to say something, but the hard stare you sent her said otherwise.

And with a sigh, she gave up, resorting to fiddling around with her phone to distract herself from the problem in front of her.

There wasn't much she could do when you were like this.

After you slid out of your bed, you raked a hand through your damp hair, pushing the loose strands away from your eyes. With a nod, you determined that you needed to take a shower.

"I'm going to hop in the shower. If you need anything, give me a holler!"

"Sure, I have a couple of things that I wanted to run by you!"

You tossed her a questioning look.

"About?"

"Oh, it's not that serious, don't worry. I just wanted to--" She clucked her tongue, as if she changed her mind halfway through, "Never mind, just take your shower first!"