Chapter Text
Mina froze for just a second before answering him, “anywhere around grove 70 would be nice. Sorry I know it’s pretty far.”
“Eh don’t worry about it, we've got nothing else planned for today.”
Law turned to Bepo and told him something which she could only assume were orders to go back to their ship and not get lost again.
The beast man turned to her, giving his thanks and then left.
Which meant that it was only her and Trafalgar. A marine rear admiral and a pirate captain.
Perfect.
What could possibly go wrong with this?
Either he might kill her if he finds out who she is or she might be obligated to kill him if they were spotted together. Both of those options weren’t looking too appealing.
Law broke her out of her thoughts by saying that his bike was just around the corner of one of the buildings to their right. Mina nodded at this and they started their way over.
The “bike” was a mix of a normal bubble bike and a motored vehicle of some sort. Barely big enough for two but would have to work, and it hovered slightly using two bubbles with one long seat instead of a designated space for two passengers.
Mina was starting to suspect that this version of a bubble bike was only meant for one.
“So what Grove are we heading to?” Trafalgar was asking.
Now this was where Mina needed to be careful because on Sabaody Archipelago there were specific groves dedicated to the marine’s station and her forge just so happened to be within those Groves of 60 to 69.
So she decided that Grove 73, in the hotel district, would do well for her story of just visiting the island for a while. And it wouldn’t be such a pain to walk from there into the marine territory.
“73 please!”, he just nodded at this and gestured for her to sit in front of him.
Weird.
Wouldn’t he want her behind him to not have to hold her while they were riding the bike and be in such close contact with her?
Or maybe he wanted her where he could see her. Yeah, she decided, that made more sense.
She climbed on and just as Mina had thought, it was gonna be a tight fit.
She started trying to adjust her position on the bike to get comfortable for the somewhat long ride, when Trafalgar suddenly put a hand on her hip to stop her movements.
Mina started to turn around to inquire about said hand, because it was kinda rude and odd for a quiet guy like him. But it tightened when he saw or more accurately felt her moving.
From what she could only imagine to be his clenched teeth he said, “stop moving like that.”
“What why- oh! Sorry!”, she turned scarlet and instantly stopped trying to do anything.
Because…
Oh
Oh
He grunted, started adjusting his own position, however it was clearly not for the same reason that she had been doing it and started the bike to their destination.
Mina was now acutely aware of something poking her from behind, but for the sake of both of them she decided to pretend like it had never happened.
Although, it was proving to be quite difficult. Because what was she supposed to think about other than the fact that a man that she found obviously attractive (because look at him) found her to also be attractive on some kind of level.
She thought about it, or maybe it was just male biology. But her mind couldn’t seem to convince her heart of this fact.
After all, she was a romantic at heart. What could she do except accept the fact and move on.
Mina sighed.
This was going to be a long ride.
——
After a couple more awkward presses to the man behind her, his grunts sounding in her ears, Mina trying her very best to act as if she didn't exist and a 15 minute ride in somewhat silence.
They were finally there. Finally she could detach herself from the pirate captain, who still had his arm around her waist,
She cleared her throat in an attempt to subtly ask him to move and let her leave. Which for some reason he didn't get the hint. Great.
“Uhh sorry but could you mov-”
Faster than she could finish her sentence, Trafalgar was releasing her and with what Mina noticed to be slightly panting breaths.
He started, “Oh yeah sorry about that.”
Way to be awkward, Mina thought. What was supposed to say to that?
Her best guess was that the pirate captain didn't get out to socialise very often, not unlike herself but lets just say that at least one of them was actually accepted by the general public. And it wasn't the pirate part of the worst generation.
Because of this reasoning she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“It's no problem! It was just that were at grove 73 now, so I thought that I'd better let you go back to Bepo now.”
That sounded like a good excuse to get him to leave pretty quick right?
Law just nodded and on that note she hopped off the bike, noting that she suddenly felt chilly without him behind her. What was he a freakin 'heater? Or maybe her body was starting to need the heat of her forges again.
Despite Mina being somewhat able to go from the heat of the forge to the cold of the ocean better than the rest. She hadn't been completely spared the change in climate. Especially when she hadn't anticipated the delays in her trip.
Law seemed to notice her sudden spurt of shivvers and gave her a look of inquiries.
“I'm fine, just getting used to the chillier climate. Im used to being hotter then colder and i wasn't expecting Sabaody to be this cold at this time in the year, but then again I'm not too aware of the changing of seasons to busy being held up in the for-”
Her rant was suddenly cut off by a coat falling over her shoulders. A coat, she didn't have one so who's?...
In the corner of her eye she saw Trafalgar getting back on the bike, which meant that he had gotten off of it while she hadn't been paying attention. That not only meant that her guard had been dropped but that he'd given her his coat.
It was good timing on his end since her nervous ramblings had almost led her to say something she shouldn't have…
Even so this was where Mina had to draw the line. Because a rear admiral even somewhat undercover could not accept the coat of a pirate captain. No, that was too crazy. But somehow their proximity on the bike hadn't crossed the line? Yeah that made sense…
“Hey! I don't need your coat! I’m really okay, I'll get used to the chill eventually. You can take your coat back.”
He started the motor part of the bike and glanced back at her, “Really? Because it looks like you need it more than me. Besides, I run hot, keep it.”
And with that he was off, leaving her just standing there like a statue in his coat, face flushed and heart beating a little off beat.
What is going on? There's no way that dumb cheesy line actually made her heart skip a beat. She wouldn't let it.
Mina noticed that she was starting to get stares, so she decided to get her feet moving and towards Marine territory. Maybe then she'd be able to get her mind back to the issue at hand. Which surprisingly enough was not the fact that Trafalgar Law managed to do what no one else could, make her heart flutter. But she needed to check on her forge, its works and their commissions.
Yeah, she reminded herself that’s what she needed to focus on.
After she was done checking in on her people then she would go back to hang out with Shakky for a while, make sure that Rayleigh came home and then be on her way.
She still had yet to decide if she should make a trip back to marine to inquire about the recent criminal activities on Sabaody and that she’s only now remembering Gecko Midoria’s order for a very big and spécifique weapon.
Ugh sometimes she hated working. Too many people. Not enough people. Orders. Commissions. Repeated again and again. She was starting to wonder about her saved vacation days. She’d have to ask about it.