mikangirl | [Voice/Action]

[Nami gets home from her mission late evening on the 2nd and knows pretty must straight away that something is off. Having been gone nearly two weeks, running into Sanji the way she does puts a bad taste in her mouth. She was looking forward to seeing them.

Once Sanji leaves with his spooky darkness powers, she strides through the house in search of other nakama who are awake in search of answers. Don't worry, if nobody's awake she'll just shake someone awake. 8Db Maybe all of you!

...and that shows her quite plainly that the experiment going on isn't just affecting her chef.

FML.

In a temper the next morning, she heads through town, meets some very off-kilter people she knows, and at least thanks the powers that be that she's unaffected this time. It doesn't improve her mood any, so she heads for the battledome to try and work out some stress and try (yet again) to see if she can locate the way down to Catherine's lab.

Okay, yes. That was kind of easy. TOO BAD ABOUT THE MESS.]

[Irritated Voice]

Does someone want to explain to me what the hell happened in the battledome? If any of you are still sane, that is. [She flops down in the wreckage of Catherine's lab and pans the video across the rubble. Doesn't seem much need for secrecy. This has to have been noticed by now, right?] And if anyone is still sane, please tell me what the hell is going on today?

...preferably over alcohol.

[She'll vent her temper on killing a bunch of pirates at the battledome, drop by the battledome clinic on the way out, then swing past Raine's with a handful of papers in hand. And finally, she hits the bar to drink in moody silence.

Unless of course anyone wants to keep her company, because that'd be kind of cool. Worst homecoming ever. >E]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Again? You're certainly in demand lately. I hope for your sake that it wasn't anything too dangerous this time around, however.

[He's... deliberately going to avoid her question. It's hard to miss the fact that he's still gaunt and somewhat sickly-looking, though.]

[Nami won't pry. Not yet, at least. Instead, she shakes her head a little and gives him a crooked grin.] No, not really. I was picking through ruins and finding stuff for the Malnosso.

[Beyond a few traps set around the place, which are pretty damn obvious to a girl called Burglar Cat Nami. 8|]

That sounds like it was right up your alley.

[He looks amused as he says this-- he's not sure he'd ever volunteer for a mission himself, but it is nice to know that they aren't all about combat.]

And your reward?

It was interesting, that's for sure. [She takes a sip of her drink.] My reward is 15 points. I'm sort of saving up for something.

I must admit, the promise of a reward is rather tempting, especially rewards as useful as some of the things that were offered.

[After being kidnapped, he can appreciate wanting something that will allow you to avoid that experience.]

Yeah. Some of them sounded really worthwhile to have.

[Though her heart's not quite in it. The rubble at the battledome means the reason she was saving up in the first place is now gone.]

[That expression and tone of voice don't go unnoticed, leaving Richard wondering about the use of the past tense in her sentence there.]

Is something wrong?

Not really. [...well.] No more than usual. I guess this was kind of a really sour homecoming. You know Sanji-kun thinks he's someone else this week? And...

[...nnnng. Well, it really doesn't matter now.]

I was hoping to find a way to lift some shifting tech from Catherine. It's not gonna happen now.

I see... I'm sorry to hear that. Things never do seem to go the way we want them to here, especially when they're the things we want the most. But then again, I suppose that's true of the rest of the world as well.

It happens.

...I'm used to Luceti pulling the rug out from under my feet. I'll just find another way.

That's the only thing one can do when that happens.

[As he knows all too well.]

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