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It was just another day. Or so you had thought.

You were hurrying to one of your clients' home. She had given birth recently and couldn't go pick up her groceries, so your parents had ordered you to bring them to her. Apples, eggs, onions, lettuce... And you had to hurry up because your parents needed you to help them with their fruit stall. You often felt as if you had to do everything on your own.

You could already see the woman's house, so you impatiently hurried your steps even more. However, your shoes, too big for your small feet, made you stagger, and you simply knew you were going to kiss the floor. 'Nonononononono!!!' your mind repeatedly begged. If you fell, you could say goodbye to the eggs.

But before you could fall, you felt something grabbing the neck of your jacket, and you suddenly found yourself being raised from the floor before being carefully placed back on it.

"Fufufufu~"

You turned around to see who the hell had just lifted you, who that strange laughter belonged to, a bored expression on your face as you panted from the sprint and the scare. Your face usually looked bored for some reason, independently of your feelings. You blamed it on your eyebrows, they weren't too expressive and killed any emotion your face could show.

Your eyes met a crazily tall, blond, muscular man you didn't know as you kept panting, trying to catch your breath. You vaguely wondered who was he, since your island was small enough for everyone to easily know everyone. "Who told you to lift me like that?" you blurted out, offended at the unwanted familiarity, pushing your glasses up with your wrist, which ended up with your skin leaving marks on the crystals.

Yes, if you wanted to be able to see anything apart from incoherent blurs, close or far, you needed glasses. You were that blind.

"Is that how you thank me for helping you?" the man calmly asked with a deep voice.

He didn't seem to mind your disrespectful response. He looked more like amused, even interested. And, even though you couldn't see his eyes through his extravagant sunglasses, you could definitely feel his gaze drilling your, compared to him, small form, and you didn't like the feeling one bit.

"I'm running late," you simply stated some form of apology before turning around and resuming your dash towards the house.

You kept feeling those eyes piercing you until you entered the house, and the uncomfortable feeling of being constantly watched followed you for the rest of the day, but you were too busy to pay real attention to it, let alone to try to find the cause.

The next day in the morning, you were taking care of your orchard when your mother called you.

You huffed in annoyance; you didn't like being interrupted. Besides, you knew they were going to make you waste your time, and you would have to hurry to do the work as if you had never been interrupted, or they would get mad at you and give you even more work. Fuck logic.

"(Y/N), come here right now!" your mother angrily demanded a minute later.

You sighed in exasperation. What was so urgent that you couldn't even take one minute to finish what you were doing?

You chewed and swallowed some insults before shouting the most respectful reply you could, although you still sounded slightly annoyed. "Coming!"

You left the cart full of fruits under an orange tree and ran to your house, tripping on your big shoes but without falling.

Your mother made a pout of disgust when she saw you. "Oh, God, you look disgusting!"

Well, you were sweaty and dirty from all the work, and the sun was strong, what did she expect?

"Go up and make yourself decent," she strictly ordered.

"There's no need to," a familiar, deep voice intervened. "We'll only have a short talk, today."

You turned to find the blond man from the previous day entering the hall, followed by your nervous father.

He smirked at you from his tall height. "You didn't give me the time to introduce myself yesterday," he cockily said before making a discreet, mocking bow that pretended to be polite. You thought it was mocking, at least. "Donquixote Doflamingo."

This time, not even your eyebrows could conceal your shock, although you only looked mildly surprised. What was the king of Dressrosa doing in your house?

You knew him, of course you did. You lived on a tiny island near of Dressrosa, so tiny that most people didn't even know of its existence, so tiny that you didn't even have someone to govern it. Until Doflamingo arrived, at least.

After taking Dressrosa, he soon found out about your island. It was too tiny to be of interest, but it was also too easy to conquer to ignore the chance. Better his than anyone else's.

He barely had to do anything, just make beautiful promises of a better life and adorn the advantages the island would earn from being part of Dressrosa. He fulfilled them, though, the island was more prosperous than ever.

Since then, your island was supposed to be part of Dressrosa as well, but you personally never assimilated that change. Dressrosa might have accepted him, but for you, he would always be a cunning pirate.

You liked being updated, so you were informed about his origins as a pirate, but little more. Your island was so small that the newspapers you got were super shitty and rarely included pictures, reason why you didn't recognize him. You couldn't even see him the first and only time he visited the island, as you had to stay at home working while your parents went to hear his bullshit.

No, you didn't trust Doflamingo.

"We apologize, Your Highness," your father compliantly said, not daring to look the king in the eyes. "If we'd known Your Majesty was going to visit we'd have embellished our daughter adequately for your blessing presence."

Embellish. As if you were furniture. What an ass-kisser.

"We'll talk in the living room," Doflamingo stated, ignoring your parents and grabbing your shoulder to push you towards the room. "Alone," he added, implying he didn't want to be disturbed.

As you headed to the leaving room, you hurried your steps to escape the big man's hold, and sat on an armchair, realizing of how exhausted you were.

Doflamingo stared at you. "I don't remember having given you permission to sit," he dryly asserted.

You crossed your arms with a bored expression, your eyes looking at the wall behind him. "I'm in my house."

A huge, creepy grin showed his white teeth. You were a cheeky little girl pretending to be rebellious, but he knew you were actually very obedient. He had the chance to see it the previous day. The more he knew about you, the most perfect you seemed for his entertainment. It was going to be so fun to crush your futile attempts of rebellion...

He grabbed a chair and placed it in front of you and sat on it with his legs widely open, and you felt his eyes silently studying your form for a while.

It was a little hard to perceive your figure beneath your clothes. You were wearing a pastel salmon t-shirt that left your shoulders exposed, but didn't show much more, pale jeans, too thick to let him guess the form of your legs, a black jacket tied to your waist, and those ridiculous shoes, obviously big for your feet. The previous day, however, he could see you had sexy hips, which you unconsciously swayed when you walked in a way he found certainly seductive. Until you tripped over your own feet.

Once he finished his scrutiny, he was certain he would thoroughly enjoy what those ridiculous clothes hid.

"Are you here to lock me in a cell for having disrespected you?" you blurted out without thinking much, sounding rather indifferent.

His eyes moved to your face. A face he certainly would be pleased to see more often, as long as those hick glasses were gone. He didn't like your short hair either, but time could easily fix that. "I'm here to offer you a better life," he started, his cocky grin never faltering. "It depends on you how long and how much better that life will be."

Your eyebrows lightly lowered in suspicion. "What kind of better life?"

Doflamingo stood from the chair, but you had no interest in keeping eye contact with his face, so your head didn't move.

"A better life living in my palace, by my side," he said as if it was any human biggest dream. "You would have anything you wish, me included. No more working day and night, no more following orders." But his, obviously. He leaned to you, and this time you moved your face to keep watch over his movements. "As long as you show me you're worth that privilege."

"I would hate to waste Your Majesty's precious time, so I'll let you know now, I'm not interested."

His eyes narrowed and his lips tensed, displeased by your straight-forward refusal. How did you dare to reject him?

He rose a foot to the armrest of your armchair, leaning even closer to you with a predatory, intimidating aura that made you nervous nonetheless. "I'm offering you a life with everything you could ever wish. What are you not interested in, exactly?" he asked in a low tone, a dangerous threat hiding behind his calm words.

Your eyes moved away from him, but his face was so close that it was impossible not to see it. "I'm young, not stupid. I know what you actually want me for, and I won't be your fucktoy."

A nasty grin started to make its way back to his lips, and amused chuckles grew within his chest. How funny that you believed you had a choice.

He pulled his foot away from the armrest, the gesture gently pushing the armchair. "How old are you, cheeky girl?" Your comment about being young reminded him he wasn't informed about this.

"Seventeen," was your plain reply.

His grin diminished at that. He had thought you much older, around 24, and he certainly didn't want a brat in his bed. "You have a sharp tongue for being so young," he commented in displeasure.

"I don't expect an old man to understand my manners," you nonchalantly retorted, looking through the window on your right.

Your words didn't affect him this time. He knew it was just empty talk. The empty talk of a bratty, rebellious wannabe.

You stood from your seat. "If Your Majesty is done, I have a lot of work to do."

You started walking away when you suddenly felt many thin, invisible strings forcing you to halt your movements.

Doflamingo waited patiently for you to unwillingly walk back to him, drinking in the look of shock, confusion, and fear in your eyes. "I think there was a misunderstanding here," he dangerously cooed, grabbing your face between his large fingers to make you look at him. He was growing tired of you looking everywhere but at him. "I didn't come here to ask if you wished to accept my offer. I'm here to inform you about my plans for you, give you the suitable instructions you have to follow to fulfill them and verify you'll provide me the fun I'm seeking."

You frowned angrily. "Shouldn't a king have plenty of money to pay for a whore?" you hissed with indignation.

He laughed darkly. Indeed he had, but he didn't need it. He always got what he wanted.

Many women ran to his arms at the simple snap of his fingers. If they did because of his wealth, his status or his looks, he never cared. Or so he told himself. Others needed some persuasion on his behalf, but not much. The few that took too long for his taste or directly rejected him, required the use of more drastic... Tactics.

You were going to be no different, but as he interacted with you, a new idea formed in his twisted mind.

It could be fun to try gaining you over. He was curious about how would it feel to own someone entirely, to gain a woman's heart, body, and mind, to truly and fully possess you.

He never had such a thing before. The women who adored him did it too blindly for it to have a significance deep enough to satisfy him. It was fun at first, but it was getting boring now, to the point that it... Upset him. It was starting to upset him how superficially everybody seemed to follow him.

Of course, this was just an experiment for his entertainment. If it didn't work as planned, or he got tired of it, he would still take you, regardless of your wishes. "You're still too young," he asserted, ignoring your insolent question. It was none of your business anyway. "I'll give you... Three years to mature." He grinned in satisfaction, releasing your face. Yes, three years should be more than enough. "In that time I want you to grow your hair, I accept any length below your shoulders, and get contact lenses, I don't appreciate these ridiculous glasses deforming your eyes."

You huffed inwardly. He didn't appreciate your glasses, but he wore those stupid sunglasses himself? They seemed something you would find in the toys section of a berry store*.

"And most importantly," he continued, towering over you with a stern look on his face, "you're mine, and no man but me is allowed to touch you, spend time with you, or interact with you more than necessary. You're going to stay here until I come for you, so you can keep attending your clients, but put a single foot wrong, and I'll torture and kill whomever you dare betray me with, and beat and rape you until your insignificant body can't stand it. Have I made myself clear?" Maybe this wasn't the best way to win you over, but he couldn't simply let you do as you wished. You were his property and you had to respect some rules and limits. You had to respect him.

You rapidly nodded, and the nasty grin returned to his face. He knew you were a good, obedient girl...

He started to walk towards the exit, but paused next to you, remembering one last detail. "Oh... And one more thing," he turned to you, only the side of your face visible as you remained in the exact same posture he left you, even without strings forcing you. "If you try to escape, I'll kill everyone on this island, find you, and..." He chuckled in dark amusement, "I think you know what goes next."

With those cruel words, he left you paralyzed in the room, tears of frustration and desperation flowing from your eyes as your brain digested your luck.

You spent the following days feeling extremely anxious and wary. You fell often, feeling clumsier than ever, even after receiving your new shoes, which Doffy ordered to be tailored for you. Your energy, usually low, was almost nonexistent, making it harder for you to keep up at work. Your aura was tangibly somber, and you angered rather easily, which resulted in your parents yelling at you and punishing you often, due to your harsh behavior with your customers and your parents themselves.

Part of you didn't want to believe it and wanted to hope the fickle king would simply forget about you and never come back. After all, he had never visited the island, excepting the day he discovered it and the day he discovered you. But the louder voices assured you he would be back, and your doomed destiny would be worse than you imagined. And you knew they were right.

To confirm your hopelessness, he visited you three months later to make sure you were following his orders, and you had to spend several hours with him.

It didn't turn out well.

You were mad and resentful, so you behaved too quietly, and the little times he got you to speak, he didn't like one bit your harsh, disrespectful replies.

And if you disliked a content Doflamingo, you certainly didn't want to be near when he was angry. Too bad you had to discover it after meeting a not fully angry, but still irritated Doflamingo. Some of the many wounds his strings opened on your skin needed stitches. Ironically.

However, despite your unfriendly behavior towards him, he found himself visiting more and more often and, to his pleasure, you eventually got used to his presence and your demeanor became more neutral. His visits, which were a source of fright and anxiousness for you at first, became one more boring, annoying duty for you once you realized how normally he treated you most of the time. You didn't bother to be kind, but weren't directly unfriendly either, behaving more like the first time you met. The time he decided you interested him enough to consider you as a possible long-lasting partner.

Before he could do something about it, you had become his greatest obsession. He even brought you a gift for your eighteenth birthday.

"A bomb," you monotonously affirmed with a bored expression on your face when he handed you a small, colorful box, in the only cafeteria of the island. You didn't receive a gift since your grandfather died. Your parents never celebrated anyone's birthdays.

A smirk pulled on Doflamingo's lips, only because he had learned those dull statements were your way of making jokes. What he found amusing about them was that they always seemed to be directed to yourself, not to your interlocutor.

"I'm not a kamikaze and I don't plan to ever become one," he calmly replied. "Open it."

His eyes studied you as you removed the lid and looked inside. Your hair was much longer now, and your (E/C) orbs free from those thick, ugly crystals you wore when he met you, thanks to the contact lens he bought for you. You were so pretty... And definitely looked older than twenty.

You studied with curiosity the two tiny den den mushi that were inside the box. After taking and examining one, you noticed some sort of clip attached to its shell.

"It's a musical den den mushi, a very recent discovery," he finally explained. "They're not even for sale, yet. You have to attach them to your ears."

You silently observed them for some more seconds before attaching one to your left ear. As soon as you placed the second in your right ear, the den den mushi opened their mouths and music entered your ears, your eyes opening in amazement.

"Fufufufufu, I'm glad you like my gift," he cockily laughed, not missing the change on your face, which made it look even prettier.

Your eyes darted to him them, and you blushed a little upon noticing you actually liked the gift, and how glad he was to see you did.

You removed one of the den den mushi, and the music stopped. Then, you removed the other and placed them back in the box. "Thank you."

Your voice was low, but very clear, and to the feathery man's great pleasure, it held actual gratefulness, even some joy. He loved the feeling. "I didn't lie, as you see. Keep being a good girl and you'll have anything you want."

The look in your eyes drastically changed to anger. "I'm not a pet," you sharply protested, brusquely placing the box on the table.

Doflamingo's eyebrows lowered as he narrowed his eyes. What was wrong with you? "I never said you were."

"Then don't suggest I deserve prizes for behaving as Your Majesty's royal ass pleases," you talked back while crossing your arms and looking away, putting great sarcasm in his title.

The corners of Doffy's lips curved downwards, veins popping on his forehead. Your disdain caused an unpleasant, sharp sensation to prick his chest. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling, but it quickly developed into fury, so he could never pinpoint what it was. He only knew he hated it.

A large hand wrapped around the small box and the other grabbed a big handful of your hair.

Like the first time you angered him, he dragged you home by pulling your hair as you unsuccessfully tried to get back on your feet. The first time you also dug your nails into his hand, trying to make him release you, but this time you didn't, hoping the explosion would be minor. This time he had snapped much faster than the first, for some reason, and an angered Doflamingo scared you.

He didn't enter the house, simply dragging you to one isolated side before lifting you from your hair and pinning it against the wall, placing you face to face with him.

Being pinned against the wall was better than being thrown against it, you supposed.

"I've brought you a gift, taken you out to celebrate your birthday, been nice and beyond patient with you, and this is how you thank me?" he snarled, menacingly nearing his face to yours.

You squirmed a little, but that made it more painful, so you soon stopped.

"I told you it depends on you how good and long your time with me can be," he continued. "You sure are making me want to keep you for a long time, but you're not precisely making me want to make it good."

You raised your hands to hold onto his extended arm, hoping to lift your body so your hair would stop pulling from your sore scalp.

A sneaky grin exposed the pirate's teeth and, before you could wrap your fingers around his arm, he separated his palm from the wall, causing you to fall on your butt.

Dropping his grin, he extended his other hand, opened it, and let the gift box fall on your lap. "Happy birthday, (Y/N)."

You lifted your face to look at him, surprised by his voice, which mocking tone hid an obvious bitterness.

But when you did, his back was facing you and all you could see was his tall figure walking away as you kept wondering if it had been your imagination, or he actually sounded hurt.

Not that you could have seen anything, anyway. His sunglasses concealed his eyes, and with them, any feeling they could show.

The Dressrosa's king didn't visit you again until a month later.

You didn't know if that was a good sign or not, so when a big shadow covered your body while you were inspecting one of your fruit trees, you didn't know how to react.

What you didn't know either, was the struggle the man behind you had gone through.

When he left last time, he had thought he needed some time away from you, but that feeling only lasted until the night, when the familiar desperation from seeing you, and getting drunk with your annoying personality, returned. That sensation had been hitting him often recently, and he was starting to ponder if taking you with him sooner than planned, even if he still would wait to claim you.

Because even though what attracted him to you was your body, his obsession was triggered by your mind. He had never felt aroused by a woman's mind, like he was by yours. It was definitely an unexpected effect of his experiment, and it made possessing any other woman even more boring than it was already becoming, and gaining you over was turning from a fun experiment to a need.

He had planned to look for some casual entertainment while he waited for you to be ready, but that plan got frustrated when he started spending more time with you, and your persona filled his needs better than anything or anyone else.

You annoyed him, yes. You were very capable of driving him up the wall. But you also interested him, made him curious. He never knew what you were going to say, and the moments you let your guard down and treated him with neutrality, he could have very enjoyable talks with you, and find out many details about you he liked. When you weren't trying to act rebellious, your company was really pleasant to him. He particularly liked the way you distractedly twisted your fingers when you listened to him, not because you were nervous but because he was telling you something you found interesting, and you unconsciously played with your fingers when you were focused on something.

And, most of all, you were genuine, something nobody else who stayed near to him seemed to be. Not in the way you were, at least.

But this past month he had to contain his urge, as duty demanded his attention and he had to leave the island for several days.

When you turned around and he saw your face, a strange relief swelled his chest with a discreet, deep inhalation. He also felt an unfamiliar pleasure when you raised your hands to your ears and removed the den den mushi he gifted you.

"I like to use them while I work," you quietly said, noticing his stare. "Music makes it more entertaining, and gives me energy."

At this point, he knew you well enough to understand you were apologizing. And only because it was you, he accepted it.

His typical grin parted his lips. "Go shower and get ready. We're taking a walk."

"Doffy."

The pink-feathered man almost froze when he heard his name from your lips. Even though he let you know from the beginning you could (and had to) call him Doffy, you always avoided having to use any name, except when you were trying to defy him and called him 'pirate', 'Majesty', or 'Highness', always pejoratively.

He hummed to let you know he was listening and you could continue.

"Can we sit down? I'm very tired."

You looked for a bench, but they were too short, and when Doflamingo sat, there was not enough space left for you.

However, it seemed he had been aware of that problem, because as soon as he sat, he patted his lap to sign you to sit down on it, his creepy grin bigger than ever.

You stood in front of him, your expression bored but your body language giving away your discomfort and reluctance.

Feeling too tired to refute him and risk his anger, you gave in and sat. Just on his knees. With your back facing him. Stiff and tense. As if you were sitting at the edge of a chair.

Doflamingo frowned from behind you. Were you defying him? "Turn around," he demanded.

You turned a questioning face to him, and he understood you were just confused so, grabbing your waist, he made you turn himself and sat you straddling and facing him.

"Everybody is going to see my butt," you said as if you were simply informing him and didn't really care. It was his fault you were wearing a dress, though. You preferred pants.

He showed a toothy grin before sliding his palms down your booty and slightly lifting you, pulling the skirt of the dress beneath you in the process and effectively covering you.

When he lifted you, you lost a bit of balance and had to rest your palms on his exposed chest to support yourself, but promptly withdrew them as soon as his hands sat you again, resting on your calves afterward.

You rested yours on your upper legs, closed in tense fists, and tried to find a spot away from Doffy to fix your gaze, fighting to ignore the fact that he just shamelessly groped you.

He chuckled at your obvious discomfort, his eyes tracing your features and body, thoroughly enjoying your closeness.

"Why are you so huge?" you suddenly asked with your eyes on the side of his head, looking at the people walking in the distance.

He took your face between his fingers to make you look at him while the other hand grabbed your hip and pulled you closer, making you visibly nervous. "Aren't you comfortable?" he mockingly questioned.

You shrugged. "Just curious." That same curiosity pushed you to search for his eyes behind the dark crystals of his sunglasses, to no avail. "Has anyone ever seen your eyes?"

"No." Not anyone alive, at least.

"You have sex with your glasses on, then?" you continued, weirded out.

He laughed at that. "You must've thought a lot about it to get to such a question."

You uncomfortably averted your eyes. "Why do you hide them? Are they ugly?" you decided to just keep asking.

"Don't you know curiosity killed the cat?" he replied, amused.

The hand that was keeping your face in place moved to the back of your head as he wondered if you were acting so trustful because you had missed him like he missed you. He liked the feeling of you trusting him. He wanted to believe you missed him. But he wasn't as naive as to think you did.

You tensed, but he simply brushed your nape soothingly. It was a surprisingly tender gesture, and you liked how his fingers moved.

His eyes avidly watched you as your lids slightly drop, and he felt your body relax. Not completely, but that didn't keep him from relishing in the moment. You were enjoying his touch, and he never thought he could be so pleased with something so simple.

"You're being unusually friendly today," he commented somewhat surprised, refraining from calling you 'obedient', knowing how would you react. He didn't wish to break the frail peace you had achieved.

"I just realized I know nothing about you," you simply responded.

"And that's something good?" he asked with perplexity.

"Not necessarily," you sincerely replied. "But what I thought about you might be wrong."

His fingers paused. "And what did you think about me?"

"I assume you prefer me to be friendly, so I'll rather not reply to that."

He grinned, appreciative of the way you approached the topic. Not long ago you would have simply spat the insults on his face. His fingers continued moving. "And what do you think about me?"

You shrugged. "I haven't formed an opinion, yet. As I said, I know nothing about you."

You liked this Doffy, though. With this Doffy, you could deal. A Doffy who, although too invasive to your taste, was nice and respectful to you, and actually patient. A Doffy who almost seemed to care about you.

"You're being nice today, too," you admitted, gratefulness in your tone.

His grin widened. "And don't you think I deserve a prize for that? Or would that suggest I'm a pet?" he teased you.

"What kind of prize?" you suspiciously asked.

His arm wrapped around your waist and the hand on the back of your head pulled your face to his, your startled hands flying to his shoulders looking for support. Before you could understand what was happening, he was kissing you.

Surprise parted your lips, and his powerful tongue soon invaded your mouth.

Your nose wrinkled in disgust, and you instinctively tried to pull away, your hands pushing against his shoulders, but his hold was firm and you couldn't move a single inch.

His tongue possessively explored your full mouth, the hand on your head keeping your lips pressed while the fingers grabbing your waist dug in your flesh in excitement.

You furiously clawed at his shoulders, intending to cause him pain even though you didn't expect him to free you, but he was too focused on the kiss to notice about such trifle.

Upon obtaining no reaction, you decided to bite hard on his tongue. But a second later you realized it had slowed down, and it passionately massaged yours now, instead of aggressively choking you.

Your heart kept beating hard against your chest, but now for a very different reason. There was feeling in the kiss, and it caused butterflies in your stomach.

When he finally pulled away, you were breathless, confused, and blushing.

He laughed heartily at your flustered scowl with that peculiar laughter of his. You hadn't even kissed back, and it had been the most satisfying kiss he had ever experienced.

"That was not nice!" you angrily protested at his smug face, only increasing his laughter.

"Didn't like it, cheeky girl? I'd say for your face you did." He let his tongue mockingly hang out.

"Don't stick out your tongue like a pervert!!" you yelled, miffed by his teasing.

Of course, you only earned more laughs.

He cupped your cheeks, and buried his long fingers in your hair, brushing it backward. "You're beautiful when you're mad," he teasingly commented, grinning at you. "In fact, you were beautiful with short hair too," he thoughtfully added. "You can get a haircut, I don't mind."

Your frown faltered at that unexpected change of mind. "Any haircut?"

He showed a small grin. "Any," his deep voice confirmed.

You took a strand of (H/C) hair between your fingers. You had gotten used to having long hair and didn't mind it much now. It was more uncomfortable when you had to work, but you kind of liked it. "I'll think about it."

There was a silence. A strangely comfortable silence. That was a first.

"Doffy."

A pleasant feeling ran up the man's spine.

Your eyebrows joined in an inquiring frown. "Are you my boyfriend?"

His lips tensed in disapproval. "No."

You crossed your arms, this time searching for his eyes with determination, even though you knew you would see nothing. "What are you, then?"

He smirked. "Your king," he said as if he was reminding you.

You kept staring at his glasses. "And what am I?"

His smirk widened. "My queen." Yes, you definitely had the potential to become his queen. You were like a drug to him, and as time went by, he wanted bigger doses of you. And he had no intention to overcome this obsession. It felt too good.

You blinked, the only sign of surprise your face showed.

"Why does it matter?" he asked back.

"I didn't expect you to treat me like a human being," you said with your typical honesty. "I was just wondering if it meant something I was missing." And it apparently did. You doubted he was offering you to become 'his queen' when he tried to trick you into leaving with him, independently of how good that life he promised could be. But you decided not to go into that now. "You're a complex man."

"Fufufu, I can't say you're a simple girl."

Shortly after, he walked you back home.

"See you soon, I guess?" you said as farewell.

It was a nice change from your usually dull and dry 'goodbye', said right before disappearing inside without sending him a single look. That attitude made him want to strangle you, sometimes. Why he never did was still a mystery to him.

The door suddenly opened and your father started yelling at you. "(Y/N)!! Where have yo- !?" He abruptly paused after noticing Doflamingo in front of you. "Your Highness!" He made an exaggerated bow. "My apologies, we didn't know you were visiting today. I lament my interruption. Please take all-"

"Disappear," Doflamingo ordered with an impatient growl.

Your father was gone in half a second, the door closed again.

Doffy glared at it. He knew your parents didn't care much about you, besides you told him it was your grandfather, dead since years ago, who raised you. All the work you did was probably the only reason why they hadn't kicked you out yet. That, and his interest in you. He wasn't stupid and knew they were hoping to benefit from it.

He didn't care at first, but now it irritated him greatly that they dared to order his future queen around.

His eyes moved to you. He had been mulling over asking you to leave sooner than planned. And now, as he considered asking you then and there, he realized he was doubting so much because he didn't want to hear a 'no'. He almost... Feared what he would feel if you said 'no'.

Anger suddenly sprouted within him. Since when was he so weak? He didn't even have to ask. If he wanted you he could just take you with him, he had the right to. That's what he would have done in any other situation. Why were you so different?

He felt a pull on his feather coat, and his eyes focused on you again.

Even through his sunglasses, you could feel their fury, making you still. "I can't give you a kiss if you don't bend," you bluntly stated despite your concern for having upset him. It was a statement meant to be an apology, though.

And, just like that, the anger subsided.

He silently observed you, looking up at him, waiting for him to lean within your reach to willingly kiss him. He didn't care what kind of kiss you were planning to give him.

He finally leaned down, and you pressed an awkward kiss to his cheek before he straightened again.

"(Y/N)," he started, "there's no need to wait two more years. You could come with me right now if you wanted."

You stared at him, doubtfully, and he hoped you were doubting because you wanted to consider his offer, not because you were scared of his reaction if you refused.

That's when he understood he didn't want you to be afraid of him. If you did, you would eventually become like those who just followed him because they feared him or those who did because of his power. And he remembered why you were so different. Because you were genuine. He didn't want you to lose that. It was such an amazing feeling to know that every time you reacted positively to him was because he earned it. Him, not something he had. "I won't touch you," he promised in seriousness.

You looked at your house, then at him.

You wouldn't mind leaving your life there, it wasn't as if you had something that attached you to it. But you didn't know what could be waiting for you in that new life he promised. What you said that afternoon was still true; you knew nothing about him. And you didn't trust him.

"Not yet," you finally said.

It disappointed him that it wasn't a 'yes', but that 'yet', kept him from taking it as a rejection.

You coquettishly battled your lashes at him, then, sending him a playful look. "But I want to know more about you. You're an interesting man."

Doflamingo was shocked for a moment. Were you flirting with him?

He soon recovered, though, and grinned widely as an idea popped in his mind. "Would you accept a short ride in my ship, the next time I visit?"

The world seemed to stop when you smiled. The first time he saw your smile. And it was for and because of him.

"Sounds like fun," you accepted. "Good night, Doffy."

He discreetly bowed his head. "Tell your parents to come out." If you were going to stay, it was better to have a talk with them.

You nodded, and he watched you enter your home.

Someday, soon, he would have you. Genuinely have you.

*Berry store = dollar store