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“Just get yourself going today. Nothing is wrong. Let’s go _______.” You said to yourself reassuringly, tying down the last of your long, black, decorative straps.

Looking at yourself in the mirror, fully dressed up in a solid colour shirt and shorts, you sighed as you bent down to readjust one of the straps on your legs, as a bit of chain was showing. Sliding it back into place, you covered it back up and took one last look in your mirror. Since you never wanted your chains to be seen, you always had these black ribbon-like medium width straps tied around your arms, legs, and a single one around your neck, covering up the chain tattoos and concealing them from sight. There was a slight upside to it though, because the loose ends that strung out from the knot were slightly tattered and looked pretty badass whenever a light breeze picked up.

“It’s just another day. Nothing has changed.” You insisted positively to yourself. “Well… Nothing has changed too much…” You mumbled, pulling at the strap on your neck to glance at the slightly darker chains briefly.

“Maybe… Maybe I should have told him the whole story… Instead of lying…” You thought, a bit of regret picking at you.

Thinking about it, you thought of the story you gave him instead of the truth. When he first saved you, and asked what the chain markings were back on his ship, you just told him they were tattoos forced upon you by a tattoo artist your captor requested, like it was some sort of kink he had or something. That wasn’t too far off from the truth, but it wasn’t enough to get him close to it.

“No. It’s safer if I just leave it as is. As long as he doesn’t notice them getting any darker, we’ll be fine. I’m sure it’s just a bad reaction. It’ll go away and… he won’t need to get involved.” You told yourself with sad eyes. Then, you shook your head and slapped both of your cheeks, shaking that wave of sadness from yourself. “Stop it _______! Go upstairs now. You have things to do to repay Kidd for his help and hospitality.” You told yourself, forcing a smile on your face.

Seeming all bright and happy now, you adjusted your straps one last time before ignoring the concealed contents below them as you swung the door open and made your way to the deck with beaming confidence; something you always wore to reduce the worry of the crew.

“Morning losers!” You greeted, kicking the door open and stretching a bit as you stepped out on deck.

“Morning _______. Sam greeting as usual I see!” Heat replied with a chuckle.

“You know it!” You winked. “So where’s the other butts?”

Your question was answered by the screaming across the deck, drawing your attention to what you could call a small bitch fight between Killer and Wire with Kidd standing on the side, shaking his head disapprovingly.

“Oh boy. Ladies! Ladies! Break it up, you’re both beautiful!” You yelled, interrupting the scrap as you approached the two with a calm, yet snarky expression.

The two choked at your comment and ceased fighting, staring at you with a semi dumbfounded expression. Kidd had quit scowling and cracked a smile, trying to hold back a chuckle at their expressions.

“Morning _______.” They growled in unison, letting go of each other.

“Morning~!” You chimed innocently, waving your hand. “So why the beauty competition?”

“It wasn’t a beauty competition!” Wire protested.

“It was a manliness competition.” Killer added on with a mumble.

“A what?!” You snorted. “I was close then! Besides, we all know I’m the beautiful AND manly one here.” You said confidently, flexing your right arm for added emphasis.

What came out of your mouth next though, was something far less than manly. You felt a gentle press at your side, making you yelp shrilly, jumping forward instinctively multiple times and right into Kidd, your wraps falling out of place slightly. Then, the laughter of Heat was heard from just behind where you once stood.

“What was that about being manly _______?” Heat hollered, cracking himself up.

“Asshole!” You shot back, quickly moving behind Kidd for protection as you focused on repositioning the straps around your thighs, which had shifted from the start.

Wire had joined in the laughing for a moment, Killer and Kidd respectfully only letting a smile slip by while you scowled at the other two, standing up straight once you had fixed your straps.

“Oi _______! Why do you always have to wear those straps all the time? Your tats are pretty cool when you think about it!” Heat piped up, ceasing his laughter.

Kidd and Killer froze and looked at each other, exchanging worried glances with each other, signalling to Heat that he needed to shut up now. You yourself had sighed, still appalled by Heat’s insistence and shitty memory.

“Heat, I can’t believe you still don’t remember why.” You began, your tone surprisingly calm. “I’m not comfortable with having these visible yet. I may never be. That’s why I cover them; so that no one can see them, and I can forget about them.” You explained once again. “Bad memories… How much of the story were you even told? Not enough I guess.” You chuckled dryly.

“Oh, r-right! Sorry! I didn’t mean to pry and stuff! I just… Keep forgetting. I really wasn’t told much because it was probably really personal…” Heat mumbled apologetically.

You scoffed, inwardly acknowledging the touchy subject, but stepping out into perfectly clear view at Kidd’s side.

“It’s alright Heat. It’s been a month anyway. But maybe try growing a better brain, you air head.” You joked, sticking your tongue out.

There was a session of dry laughter and sighs of relief from Kidd and Killer, relieved that you didn’t flip your lid or break down. Thank god for your strong spirit, living through this and staying so cheery.

“Besides, with these wraps, I look pretty badass when the ends flutter in the wind.” You added on abruptly, striking a heroic looking pose.

That kicked up more heartwarming laughter from the others for a moment, seeing that you had no problem with the question.

“Alright guys, back to whatever you were doing before! We have to keep an eye out for any trouble in this area. It’s bound to happen around here.” Kidd ordered suddenly, snapping the fingers of his real hand a couple times to catch the attention of the others.

“Aye, captain!” The three responded simultaneously, dashing off to do their work.

Sighing, you watched them obediently go, taking lookout positions and checking cargo boxes of the sort; the usual business you found them doing when you came up here every other morning.

“Oi _______, good to see you in higher spirits now.” Kidd commented. “Recover from the nightmare?”

“Oh, yes! I did in fact! I’m doing much better now.” You nodded.

“That’s good to hear.” He sighed with relief. “I’m sorry about the whole chain thing though. Heat is a bit of a… knuckle head.” He added apologetically.

“Oh, it’s fine! He wasn’t told much to begin with. It’s not like he was there.” You insisted with a smile. “Besides, maybe one day I won’t need these straps… Maybe. Right now though, hell no.” You said, shaking your head.

“Alright. I’ve gotta wonder though, why did he force tattoos of chains on you? Firstly, that had to hurt like hell,” He cringed. “And second, is he just some sick person with a chain kink that he has to represent visually?”

You scoffed. “That’s one way to put it. I mean, all the others on that stupid island were covered in them too.”

“True, but theirs were all real, and yours; a design. They were chained to specific buildings and you… could roam free.” Kidd pondered.

You gulped. “Crap. He’s thinking too much again.” You thought in a panic. “Ah, it’s not that important.” You said, waving a hand dismissively. “He had a kink, and I got out of his grasp. I’m here now, so everything’s fine!” You added, flashing a large smile to add reassurance.

Kidd couldn’t help but smile in return at you. “Well I’m glad that’s your train of thought.” He nodded, happy with the direction you were heading towards recovering.

“Yeah. Now what can I do today? I’m sure there’s something for me to start off with!” You spoke up, changing the conversation subject.

“Work? No, there’s really nothing. In fact, I thought you should take a break today since you’re dreams have been haunting you frequently.”

“Kidd, I insist. I still owe you my life at this point. The least I can do us some work for you to ease your life while I’m here.” You insisted.

Kidd blinked at you briefly before sighing, shaking his head with a disbelieving smile. “You’re not gonna get me to change your mind, are you?”

“Nope! Not for another month or so.” You said, beaming a smile at him.

“Thought so.” Kidd chuckled. “Well, I guess you can make breakfast, and smack those morons over the head if they get stupid.”

“Right away then!” You nodded, happy with the work as you turned to a slight jog as you headed into the kitchen.

“SOFT!” Killer yelled at Kidd, the others busting out laughing.

“FUCK OFF!” Kidd retorted, sending a few metal shards at them in a flustered rage.

You could only laugh as you entered the kitchen, watching the battle of profanities begin to unfold through the window.