Soft light filtered through the blinds, slowly nudging Lexi awake. She took a deep breath, rubbing at her eyes to get rid of the crusty feeling. She lay wrapped up in the confines of her comforter, protecting her from the chill of the room. Birds tweeted outside, and she realized the storm had passed. There was always such a peaceful quiet after the rain.
Begrudgingly leaving the warm nest that was her bed, she stood and went to her dresser for pants. The tank top was fine, as Nana was always too busy sewing up bleeding men to care about what she wore. Finding her favorite sweatpants, adorned with the Batman logo all over it, she slipped them on and pulled her hair up in a ponytail.
She suddenly remembered the crazy night before, freezing her in place. Had it really all been real? Had four strangers, one of them being a freakin' polar bear, hijacked her house and demanded to stay? It all seemed too crazy to believe, and she laughed, shaking her head.
'You're a piece of work, Lex. Officially the craziest dream you've ever had.' Reaching for the handle, she opened the door.
"AH!" She screamed, immediately closing it. The polar bear was standing right outside her door, like it was waiting for her to wake up. "What the hell?" She called, remembering it could…somehow…talk.
"I'm sorry." He replied from behind the door, in a very sad tone of voice. Lexi pursed her lips, feeling kinda bad for the guy. I guess he couldn't exactly help what he was. Sighing, she opened it again, witnessing him slumped over in depression. She felt even worse.
"Look, just don't scare me like that, ok?" She reasoned, and the bear nodded. "Did you need something?" She yawned, padding into the hallway.
"We were wondering if you were going to make us breakfast?" She gave a short laugh.
"I may be letting you guys stay, but that doesn't mean I'm now your personal butler or anything. You guys can feed yourselves." She was about to walk downstairs, but the door to the guest bedroom was open, and she couldn't help but look inside.
Shachi and Penguin were laying on the air mattress. She was surprised they'd found it, stuffed in the closet somewhere. The only problem was, they hadn't inflated it. Seeing the brunette, they stretched.
"Hey, Lexi-chan, this thing isn't comfy at all! Why do people even use it?" They moaned, rubbing at their supposedly sore backs. She shook her head, entering the room.
"You know that you have to inflate it with air, right?" They shared a glance, not fully understanding. "It's an air mattress. So before the end of the day we'll inflate it, ok?" They nodded.
"Baka! I told you we did it wrong." Penguin hit Shachi on the head, and Lexi left before a full out brawl could ensue. She told herself internally that it had nothing to do with the sleeping Captain who looked extremely attractive with his hair all messed up.
Lexi made herself a cup of coffee, ever thankful that the coffee machine had a timer every morning. That way, there was a steaming pot already waiting for her every morning. The others slowly made their way down the stairs, the Captain grumpily stretched and descended, fully dressed and ready for the day. His spotted hat was on his head, which Lexi thought was cute.
Lexi went to help Nana up, figuring that now was as good a time as ever to have everyone meet. It sounded a lot better than the possibility of them meeting her while she was under one of her delusions. She might think they're Nazi soldiers.
"Nana, it's time to wake up." She called, gently shaking her shoulder. Nana woke up gradually, yawning the sleep away.
"Lexi, dear. How did you sleep?" She smiled, accepting her granddaughter's help out of bed.
"Oh, very well actually. Do you want some coffee?" Nodding, Nana went to get dressed. Returning to the kitchen, she found the four men trying to figure out the common appliances. Raising an eyebrow, she walked over. "What are you doing?"
They looked back to her, all the while trying to put the frozen waffles in the microwave, box and all. "Making breakfast." Bepo replied for them. He still carried Law's sword. She face palmed, shaking her head slightly. She walked over, and they parted to let her by.
At least they hadn't turned it on, or even knew how. She opened the door, taking out the box. "Do you guys even know how a microwave works?"
"Microwave?" Shachi asked. Glancing at their faces, they all looked extremely confused.
"You've never used a microwave?" Lexi asked in disbelief.
"I assume it is for cooking meals, yes?" Law questioned. She nodded, noticing that he'd helped himself to a cup of coffee. At least they knew that much.
"Yeah, but first off, you gotta take things out of the box. There's directions on the back." She pointed to them. "And second, waffles go in the toaster, not the microwave."
Deciding it was easier, and much safer, if Lexi cooked all the food she unboxed the waffles and dug out the toaster. Setting two in, she pressed down the button and went to get plates from the cupboard.
"Your world looks so complicated." Penguin said, and Shachi elbowed him in the ribs.
"Baka, don't say mean things to Lexi-chan!"
"It wasn't an insult!" He cried, holding his injured chest. She laughed.
"Guys, calm down. I'm not even mad." They seemed to calm down, but Penguin's comment made her think. "What kind of world do you guys live in?"
"Well, being a pirate is pretty fun." Shachi said, and Penguin nodded in agreement. "We're always after treasure."
"And One Piece." Law supplied, to which Lexi tilted her head.
"What's One Piece?"
"The treasure of Gold Roger, the legendary pirate king who was executed 20 years ago!" The two weird ones said in unison, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Sounds…interesting." Lexi replied, raising an eyebrow in doubt. "Who's to say it hasn't already been found?"
"Because the whole world's been looking ever since his death, and no one's even come close in that time." Law sipped from his coffee mug, leaning against the counter. "If the treasure were already found, there would be a new pirate king, and no one has stepped forward with that title."
"Besides, Captain's gonna be the one to find it! Ouch!"
"Baka, quit yelling at Lexi-chan, Shachi!" Penguin held his fist over his friend's head, threatening to hit him again. Lexi chuckled at their antics. They were pretty cool guys for probably being escaped institution patients. A part of her was still wary about them, but for now they were harmless. Except for the captain, who always had that sword. Which reminded her…
"Oh yeah, for my safety and the safety of my grandmother, I'm gonna have to take that sword from you." She held out her hand to Bepo, who carried it. The bear looked to Law, who smirked.
"And why should I do that?" She gulped, but continued with a fake confidence she didn't feel.
"You guys are pirates, right?" When they nodded, she spread out her hands. "Then you are obviously strong enough to kill me without using your weapons. So, what's the harm in not having it?
"The safety of my own crew would then be in question." He reasoned. She bowed her head.
"True, you would worry about me trying to attack you, but I have never handled a sword or a weapon of any kind in my life."
"How can I be sure that's even true?" He countered. She was starting to get the impression that he was having fun with this. His smirk never left his face. It didn't feel comforting in the slightest.
"There's really no way you or I can know for sure we won't kill each other. But considering the situation, I think it would be best to extend a tiny bit of trust onto one another."
He was silent for a moment, pondering her request. She was certainly right, they were strong enough to kill her without the need for weapons. She put up a good argument. In her position, she could be killed at any moment and for no reason, whereas they were 'guests' in her home, with the protection to ensure their safety.
"Fair enough." He conceded, nodding to Bepo to give the sword to her. Trusting his Captain's decision, he held it out. Lexi took it, but as soon as the bear let go, the full weight was now being supported in her arms and she almost dropped it from the weight.
"Oh God…" She muttered, surprised by the weight of the weapon. The widening smirk from the Captain wasn't lost upon her either. Hefting it up, she carried it into the front room, where the coat closet was. Opening the door, she placed the weapon inside and shut it before it way able to fall back towards her. Returning to the kitchen, she saw Nana walking out of her bedroom in her casual clothes.
"Lexi?" She asked, eyeing the three strangers in the kitchen. Thankfully, Bepo was still out of her line of sight. "I didn't know we had guests?" Her confusion was quite evident, though they never entertained people. And Lexi wasn't the sort to bring home random guys.
"Oh, yeah…Nana, this is Law, and Penguin and Shachi." She gestured to all of them in turn. They looked a little nervous, as if they would invoke the wrath of her grandmother.
"Oh! I didn't know you had a boyfriend." She said excitedly, and Lexi sweat dropped, almost feeling the smirk burning into her back. To make things worse, Law chuckled, as if everything was some cute joke. Well ha ha. If her grandmother thought it was so, she'd never hear the end of it.
"No, no…not like that." She tried to recover, and thankfully the older woman seemed to be in a listening mood. "They're…exchange students! From Greece." She said on the spot. "I volunteered to let them live in the house during their time at college." She gave a fake smile, hoping she'd believe her.
"Oh, how lovely! It's always great to have foreigners see our great country!" She clapped her hands together, moving further into the kitchen. At that moment, she stopped and gazed up at Bepo.
"Is this a polar bear?" She inquired, peering closer at his face. Bepo only sniffed her gently, seeing the grandmother as no threat.
"Oh, he's their pet." She offered. She was hoping the bear had enough sense to stay quiet, but it seemed that the whole bunch of men didn't really grasp the idea of context or the importance of a situation.
"I'm not a pet. I'm the navigator." He said, and Nana's eyes widened. Lexi thought she would scream or something but to her surprise, she only chuckled.
"Oh, I'm sure you are dear." She patted Bepo's nose, and the bear smiled. Lexi stared in disbelief at Nana's back as she rummaged through the fridge for breakfast. Everyone was silent, save for Nana's soft humming. Muttering to herself, she took out the bread and peanut butter.
"Those Greeks sure do have a strange culture. Even going so far as to make their pets talk! What the world has come to…" Frowning, she turned to Lexi.
"We might need to make a stop at the grocery store. We're getting low on provisions." Nodding, Lexi only watched as she wandered off towards the kitchen table, leaving the others to stand there gawking. Well, all except for Law who only grinned in delight at the surprising turn of events.
"So, shall we get going to this grocery store?" Law questioned, breaking Lexi out of her trance-like state.
"Yes, but first I'm taking a shower. And second, I don't wanna leave Nana alone. I worry enough when I have to go to the college, but she's getting older and I don't feel comfortable with it anymore."
"Fair enough. Shachi-ya and-" The two goofballs cut him off.
"We wanna go, Captain!" They raised their hands in the air and waved them around excitedly. "We wanna see what this world is like, please please please!"
"Can we, Captain?" Penguin added, clasping his hands in front of him. Sighing heavily, Law nodded.
"Fine. Just keep an eye on her." Law didn't try to hide his suspicions of her, which she supposed weren't unwarranted at this point. They didn't and couldn't really trust each other much. Nor did he hide the disappointment of not being able to go shopping. He obviously wanted to see what the world was like as well. "And don't make a commotion. We don't want unnecessary attention."
"That's right, which means I'm in charge of this little trip." Lexi stepped up. "Now, just give me time to get ready and we'll go." And with that, she hurried upstairs to the bathroom.
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