lil winner » trafalgar law.

chapter 3 // roll the dice

❝ i dream; therefore i am. ❞

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you sat on the edge of his bed despite his objections, swinging your feet in the air and humming an eerie tune to yourself. he sat in the chair for his desk in front of you, his face in his hands and his sword- an odachi, rested against his desk, next to what was your spear; it was folded up and resting on the ground.

his hat sat on his desk right next to his sword, exposing his unruly black hair to the sea air. although the air in here did need some filtering...

at the doorway, his crewmates peeked in, their heads stacking up on one another as they tried to eavesdrop. given, you could both see and sense them there, but decided to humor them. 

"so let me get this straight," he said, and you hummed in response, eyes sweeping his room. "you want to have some fun? like what kind of fun? 

you nodded, grinning. "that's right! i want to fight you, specifically. possibly, hopefully, follow you around as part of your crew. you know, find your weaknesses and all that. nothing sketchy, i promise."

he then set his hands down, on his lap, seemingly struggling to keep them in place. your smile grew wider and you bounced up and down some more. was he the fidgety type? or was he just debating the risks of letting in some maniac? 

"why my crew? i met you one day ago," his eyebrow raised, and you nodded. "you tried to steal my wallet." 

to be fair, you didn't TRY to steal it.. you did steal it. you just gave it back; so maybe it was considered mild borrowing? without agreement? 

you put up your finger at the second statement, staring at the man. "i wasn't actually going to keep-" he cut you off. 

"yeah, sure. you wouldn't have ran then." you sheepishly moved your hair to one side, twirling a piece around your finger. it reminded you of the designs on your spear; flowing like water, yet restrained by something physical. 

"you got me there," you admitted. but you didn't feel too bad, but there was some lingering guilt. he got it back, and there wasn't a lot of money in there anyways. he needed to rob some village, man... "you got it back anyway, didn't you?"

he scoffed and looked you dead in the eye. "say i do let you join my crew," he said slowly, and you nodded just as slowly along with him. "what do you gain from it?"

you had seen this question coming, last night, as you lay on your bed thinking. he seemed smart; like the type to see the majority of twists coming and the type to pull off plans that would never occur to anyone else. he seemed like the type to use one to his advantage and make twists that even one stronger than he would never guess right.

and so, you needed a good argument. 

"i want to fight you one day," you said blankly. you weren't kidding. SHIT, what happened to a good argument?

the crew outside gasped, before hurriedly shushing each other immediately. he chuckled silently, his eyes closing for a split second as a tiny smile graced his lips. you made mental note of that. although, you'd never truly use them as leverage for him. 

maybe they were like family to him. 

that was a good argument to you, but apparently not good enough for him. he looked at you with a stoic, unreadable gaze, his eyebrow slightly cocked upwards.

"let me get this straight.." he started, sighing. you were such a confusing and difficult woman, and he couldn't believe he was actually debating this. "you want to fight me?" nodding enthusiastically, you made little motions with your hands as you explained the aspect and allure of battles to him.