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The Shark Submerge was a compact machine by design. It had to fit inside the Sunny, after all, and it was only meant to go on short voyages. The sub could sit three people, technically, but Franky alone counted as at least two.
So, naturally, Nami was feeling a little uneasy in her current situation.
She was freezing, for one, considering the entire sub was covered in ice. At least she’d bundled up for the weather, unlike her current companion, who was in nothing but a short-sleeved jacket and a speedo. He took up way too much space, and while it wasn’t exactly his fault, it was contributing greatly to her current distress.
“Can’t you do something to warm it up in here?” Nami asked, pulling her jacket tighter around herself. It didn’t do any more than make her feel more trapped, but at least she was trying. The same couldn’t be said for Franky, who was lounging in his chair as if he were on a tropical vacation.
“What exactly do you expect me to do?” Franky asked. “The controls are frozen solid. Maybe a taste of my fire would work, but—”
“Absolutely not,” Nami replied firmly. “Are you trying to kill me?”
Franky crossed his arms. “Well, someone’s a little tense.”
“How can you be calm in this situation?!” Nami snapped. “We’re stuck in here, with no way out, being dragged along by some idiot who wants to kill us!”
“Well, you don’t have to take it out on me!” Franky argued. “If you’ve got any better ideas, I’d love to hear them!”
Nami just huffed, holding her arms tighter around herself. It most certainly wasn’t helping at that point— she needed space, not more constriction. She threw her arms down as she stood from her chair, but she had to duck her head to avoid hitting the top of the sub, and she let out a groan of frustration.
“Listen, Nami, they can’t take us that far,” Franky said, even though he wasn’t entirely sure of that himself. He had no clue where they were headed, after all. “And once we get out of here, we’ll either kick that guy’s ass, or at least keep him at bay until we can get some backup. It’ll be fine.”
Nami shook her head. “It’s not… ugh!” She flopped back down in the chair and started unbuttoning her jacket, which made Franky do a double take.
“Wh— Nami, if you’re cold, I dunno if that’s gonna—”
“Shut up.” Nami shrugged her jacket off her shoulders. She felt a little better, without an extra layer of clothing wrapped around her, but her breathing was getting harder and harder to control. “I’m just… I-I don’t...” She shook her head again, her eyes squeezed shut.
It took about five more seconds for Franky to realize what was actually going on, and his expression softened. “Hey... Nami?” he tried. He saw a tear fall down her cheek, but he didn’t move an inch. “Are you with me?”
It took a moment, but Nami nodded. “I’m... here, yes,” she answered. “It’d… it’d be kinda hard not to be, don’t you think?”
“I mean, figuratively, it’s just that you’re kinda… shutting down over there,” Franky said. “Can you take a deep breath?”
At first, Franky thought maybe she hadn’t heard him, or was just outright ignoring him. But eventually, he saw her shoulders rise and relax with a deep exhale.
“Good, there you go,” Franky said. “A few more of those, and then maybe you can put your jacket back on? Maybe you don’t feel so cold right now, but it’s better if you keep it on.”
As instructed, Nami managed a few more deep breaths, though a bit uneven at times. With shaky hands, she reached around and draped her jacket over her shoulders, and Franky figured that was good enough.
The sub was dead silent while Nami steadied her breathing, her eyes still closed. Once she seemed a bit more calm, Franky decided he could speak up again.
“Are you alright?”
A slow nod. “Yes.”
A pause. “If I touch you, is that gonna make it worse?”
“Yes.”
Franky shrugged. He figured contact was an easy way to calm someone down, but considering the source of her troubles, maybe not this time. “Okay,” he said. “We can just talk, then.”
Franky spent the rest of the ride telling her about Aqua Laguna, and how it actually looked pretty cool from above, and about Iceburg’s plans to make the city better equipped against it. He even got a question or two out of her, which he couldn’t really answer in any scientific terms, but he swore his made-up answers got her to crack a smile.