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

Stay

The light from the porthole is what eventually brought Lexi out of her sleep, shining directly in her face from across the room. Her face scrunched in annoyance. With one pull she tugged the comforter over her face to shield from the light. The warm cocoon of the covers enclosed over her head, and soon her breathing made the temperature too much to bear, as well as the lack of oxygen swirling in the space she slept, so she brought them back down below her chin.

"Why are we surfaced?" The brunette asked grumpily, scooting closer to the warm chest behind her. An arm pulled her in closer, to lay flush against his heated skin. The Captain sighed, his breath ghosting over the back of her neck.

"We arrived at an island late last night." He explained quietly, refusing to open his eyes now that the sun was shining directly onto his eyelids. "Bepo must have brought us up to the dock and left it surfaced for the morning crew."

"Hmm..." Lexi hummed, too tired to truly process all that information. Her left side was cramping from sleeping on it all night, so she wiggled in place until she was facing the man beside her, head resting a few inches from his. She laid her head on his bicep, scooting closer some more to chastely kiss his cheek, then pulled away again.

"You move too much." Law complained in a soft mutter, trying to restrain her with his hand, but she just wiggled out of it.

"Bite me."

He paused, seeming to think it over, before slowly shaking his head. "Too tired."

"Damn."

The silence from before returned, the only sound between them the breaths and gentle sighs that marked their comfort and content to just lay there. Law's thumb brushed smoothly, back and forth, against her hip. Lexi's finger traced small circles into the skin of his forearm, which lay resting beneath her head.

"What time is it?" Lexi asked suddenly, cracking open an eye to see his peaceful face. He didn't bother opening his eyes when he answered.

"The clock's on your side, remember?"

"Oh yeah." She recalled, suddenly realizing she was facing the wrong way to look at it. With a groan, she sighed and closed her eyes again. "I don't want to move."

"Then I guess we won't know."

"Just look for me."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because as soon as I do, it will be time to get up."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. That's how it always is."

"What if it was for me though?"

"Still no."

"Rude."

Finally, he opened his eyes to look at her through the slits. She resisted the urge to smile at his annoyed, yet still amused, expression, even as he pulled her closer into his chest.

"What's rude is someone insisting I get up to see the time."

"But I want to know." Lexi pushed again, failing to hold back her smile when she felt his lips press against her forehead gently.

He sighed deeply, not bothering to respond to her whining. But, as it would happen, he pushed up off of his elbow a little to see past her, then rested back against the pillow afterwards. "It's 9 in the morning."

"Aww..." She muttered, wishing it wasn't quite so late in the morning. "I guess you were right."

"Hmm."

"Do you absolutely have to get up?"

"I'm the Captain."

"Can't the Captain have one day to himself to sleep in?" She pleaded, nudging her head beneath his chin to lay her cheek against his collarbone. "Just one?"

"There are things to do-" He tried explaining, but she refused to listen.

"You can do them later."

"..." Law doubted her could even wrestle himself from her grip in an attempt to leave at this point. She was so firmly tucked into his side, if he got up, she'd probably be attached directly to him. Plus, it wasn't that he didn't want to stay and sleep a little longer. It was just that reports had to be filed, logs updated, supplies gathered, ship checked for damage, navigation verified...

So much to do today. And yet the warmth of the bed and the woman beside him was all too inviting to be fought against.

With a groan, he turned over and reached for the den den mushi sitting on his bedside table, dialing the number he knew by heart.

"Morning, Captain!" Came his friend's enthusiastic answer.

"Bepo, did the docking go as planned?"

"Yes, everything was smooth. The docking team have already secured up to the moorings, and the crew is eating in the kitchen as we speak. We should be ready to make land in an hour."

"Good. Please take care of organizing the supply run this morning. I'll be remaining in my quarters a bit longer." He could practically feel the brunette beside him vibrate with satisfaction at getting her way. And that damned smile he knew she wore.

"Is everything alright, Captain? It's unlike you not to be up by this time." The bear asked with concern. "Are you sick?"

"No, Bepo, everything is fine. It seems my late nights have caught up with me, however, so I'll be resting this morning."

"Oh, I see! Get some rest then, Captain. I'll let you know once we've gotten all of the supplies we need."

"Thank you."

The snail went back on the receiver, and he leaned over to put it back on the table. Lexi followed after him, and instead of laying on their sides like before, Law was now on his back, with the brunette resting on top of him.

"See? Was that so hard?" Lexi mumbled, placing a single kiss against his chest, before resting her cheek on his abs again. He stared down at her and a few seconds she smiled sheepishly. Grinning back, he gripped her by the arms and pulled her further up his chest.

"Go back to sleep." He insisted, rolling with her so they laid on their sides again. Lexi giggled but obeyed, happy she was able to get more alone time with the Captain.