The Anatomy of Cross-Dimensional Pirates (One-shot Collection)

Pool Noodles and Bikinis

"You'll be fine. You said you didn't have your powers, right? That should mean you won't sink." Lexi reasoned, stuffing four beach towels into her swim bag, throwing in some sunscreen and her pair of sunglasses for good measure. "Besides, you won't know for sure until you test it out."

Law sighed, leaning on the washing machine as she finished packing their stuff, then slung it over her shoulder. "I suppose, but isn't there any other place to go swimming besides a public pool?"

They walked out of the laundry room, meeting in the foyer where Shachi and Penguin were outfitted in their swim shorts that Lexi had graciously bought for them. Penguin's, not ironically, had small penguins all over them. Shachi's had small whales. They'd picked them out themselves. Lexi wasn't really surprised by this.

It was strange not seeing them in their hats, but both Shachi and Penguin had handsome faces. She wondered why they hid them so much. Brittany might set her sights on them instead. She turned to Law in answer to his question.

"No, the other swimming holes are only accessible down the trails, and they're closed because of unsafe water. This is the only place to go." She smirked, seeing the deep-set scowl on his face.

"We'll behave ourselves, Captain. We promise!" Shachi saluted, Penguin mimicking his action. Again, the pirate sighed, rolling his eyes.

"That's not my main concern exactly." He muttered, standing rather awkwardly in his own swimming shorts, which Lexi had made him wear. He was so used to wearing his spotted pants that this was just strange. Perhaps he was shy about people seeing his body? But then she remembered his chest tattoo and dismissed that idea. There was no way someone as cocky and confident as Law was self-conscious about his body image.

"Got all of your stuff you wanted to bring?" The brunette asked. The engineers checked that they had the pool noodles, the new bag of pool toys, and their goggles on top of their heads. Lexi resisted the urge to laugh, thinking that they looked like oversized children about to go swimming for the first time ever.

"Yup!" They confirmed, and she opened the front door, flip flops slapping against the tile.

"Alright, let's go. Nana! Bepo! We'll be back later!" She called, walking out the door.

"Have fun! Watch out for German submarines!" The old woman called back, and Lexi couldn't help but smirk.

The four of them walked into the lobby of the swimming pool building. It was an outdoor pool but they still had to sign in through the reception. Lexi showed them her member's card, and the receptionist waved them through towards the locker room doors. They came upon the women's door first, and she stopped in front of it.

"Keep going down and there's a door on the left. Just go through all the way and you'll get to the main pool area." Lexi explained, pointing down the hallway. Law nodded and led his nakama to the men's lockers, while Lexi slipped inside the women's.

She'd come with her bathing suit already on underneath her street clothes, so she bypassed the lockers entirely and headed towards the door to the outside swim area. Pushing it open, she walked out onto the pavement surrounding the swim area.

The local pool was actually very luxurious for such a small city. The residents of the city had spared no dollar in creating this place to unwind after a hot day. The center of the enclosed outside area held a large lap pool. Currently it was open swim, with all the floating lane dividers rolled up on large wheels further away on the pavement. To the right of that was another, smaller and deeper pool for diving, with a diving board at the end. To the left was a splash pad for younger kids and the childish adults, behind that still a small kiddie pool for infants and toddlers, complete with small plastic seahorses and octopi the children could sit on.