SERIOUS: Intel Gathering Squad, Chapter 1: Pit stop at Water 7 and the mysterious man (CLOSED)

Jade did not remember much after she became so sleepy. The world had melted away quite suddenly ... she remembered seeing him there, his fingertips on her sides, pulling her closer.  All of that was gone now - had it all be a dream?  It must have been a dream ... but it felt so real and tasted so delicious, she could hardly tell.  She could still feel the pressings of his fingertips on her skin - which actually left tiny bruises.  Her neck and chest still had little pink marks left behind by his teeth and lips - she could not see them ... and still suspected what she felt was the remnants of a very lucid dream.  
She stretched a bit - how the devil did she get into bed? No matter, she was warm and comfortable and that was all a cat could really ask for. She remembered being cold  but some time during her sleep, she found a warm spot to curl up against.  Her hand moves against something warm and soft as her cheek also brushed against this ... pillow?  No... it was too firm ...and seemed to be ... breathing?!  He eyes slowly open and focus on what appears to be skin.  Her arms rested lightly the side of a broad chest while her cheek nuzzled cozily against the other side.
She swallowed her as her eyes slowly found the face that belonged to the firm chest she claimed for a bed. There she found the magician, sleeping pleasantly - his face was so peaceful ... he looks beautiful and innocent as though he were incapable of the acts she last remembered.  Her gaze washes over his entire body, eyes widening in horror as she realizes how little he is wearing ... just before she notices why she remembered being so cold.  the tattered remains of his shirt barely hung for her shoulders, the tears that covered the garment left very little to the imagination.
What happened?!  She couldn't remember anything beyond trying to escape him. Things did not look good. He wouldn't dare go so far - would he?!  Was she even conscious for ... it?! A look of panic seized her as she noticed him beginning to stir.  Of all places to be now... she was in bed ... with a predator! She held a pillow against her as though it would shield her from him. She watches him in terrified anticipation as she tries to back away, near cowering behind her pillow shield.  "Ah ... no more PLEASE - I-I won't survive!"  
Something about how he moved seemed familiar ... then she hears the panic and shock in his voice.  Could it be ... had he returned.  She timidly crawls over to him and cradles his face in her hands.  "Is that you?  Hawks ... please .... " Wait a minute.  Was he really trying to pretend he didn't remember what happened?! "What do you mean what in the world is this?!  This ... this is all your doing ... her finger tip runs down her own neck and across her chest following the trail of devastation left there by his lips ... the pink marks were unmistakably left there quite recently and happen to fit the shape of the magicians mouth. "Don't play dumb ... you bloody well know what a naughty thing you have been!" Her green eyes narrow into a scolding glare as she peers at him from under her thick eyelashes. There was still a gentle fear there, evident as she backed away holding the pillow out in front of her like a shield.

What was she talking about? Was she maybe the drunk one? She was actually blaming him for a bunch of things that .. he just would never do! How dared she?! Seems that his anger, or rather, penchant for overacting and just flailing around when close by to her, was powerful enough to win against the powerful numbness and stiffness that he was feeling, as he just jumps off the bed, and raises his hands, preparing to yell.
"What?! What are you talking about, woman? I would never do such things! I'm a noble man! .. Or was it you, that sedated me and lured me into this room? What did you do to me? Did you violated me?!" He responds to her, yelling, but his eyes were pretty much about to pop out, as he was in utter shock. This was all so weird and just .. abnormal!

Noticing it then, by looking down, he realizes one thing in horror. The underwear .. somehow, anyhow, there seemed to have been a rupture he didn't felt while he was on the bed, and, with that sudden, violent jump off the bed, it somehow .. stayed away from his body! Grabbing the covers, he places them in front of his .. jewels, yelling "DEAR LORD, I AM SO SORRY!" at the same time, his cheeks take a really dark red blush, and his voice sounds almost scared. Looking around, feeling unconfortable, he glares at her, with the corner of his eyes, before he places one of his hands in front of his eyes, the blush traveling all over his face in super speeds. "C-cover yourself up .. y-your body is.."

Footsteps. Footsteps were heard. Someone was approaching the room. Would they finally get answers?!

Jades lower lip quivered as he yelled at her.  She spent so long running from him, trying so hard to keep him from going to far.  She knew something had to be wrong for him to chase her like that and refused to allow him to do something he would regret ... and now he was blaming everything on her.  She was so tired from running and now was being accused of something she was victimized by.  "What? No -I would never -- how could you think ... I ... didn't!  You were so ... the door was locked ... i couldn't escape!  I ... couldn't ... "  Her voice was broken, tired, and sad ... after all of the trauma of fighting off his advances, now she had to fight off his accusations.
She backed away angry and confused.  His sudden panicked movement made her notice, for the first time, that he'd lost the last garment he had. She quickly averted her eyes and looked at the ceiling. How did that happen?!  What really happened while she was unconscious?! - She was mortified. Now, to add the the confusion, he was now apologizing?  She backed away to the corner of the room.  He was turning red now but seemed much calmer ... alarmingly calm. His next words added to her horror and she finally noticed the tattered ruin of his shirt had slipped off her shoulders and now loosely clung to her hips like a tattered skirt. Her eyes went wide as she squeezed her pillow shield against her torso - after last night, she had very little blush left.  Traumatized, she sank down to the floor, cowering and shaking behind her pillow.  She could not bare to look at him.  "Please ... stay away.  Don't ever touch me again" She buried her face in the pillow, waiting for the nightmare to end.  As if things weren't bad enough ... she heard footsteps.  Now what?

"What .. why are you .. why is all this .. WHY ARE YOU NOT ATTEMPTING TO CREEP ME OUT?!" Hawks says in response, witnessing her reaction to all this being vastly different than how he normally remembers she acts when he is with her. She actually seems scared, not to mention mentally exhausted. But, then again .. he couldn't possibly have done anything! Was this some sort of elaborate plan, to lower his guard, only to be suddenly ambushed by an unexpected threat? "W-why is this .. part of my shirt around your .. hips?" he only asks, noticing that.

The door then opens, and an enormous man bends over so he can get inside. Hawks eyes widen for a moment, but then, he relaxes. It was Ginji. So that had to mean that they must have been .. yes yes, he remembered that, they got someone else's ship. They must have been on this ship right now. Still, that didn't answered the myriad of questions in his mind. But, before he has the chance to speak up, Ginji just spontaneously yells the following.
"Oooooh, my lovely comrades are lovely awake~ breakfast's not ready yet!! Maaaha!"
"Ginji .. what is going on? I seem to have some sort of black out..."
"Oh .." Ginji goes, and then turns to Jade, and notices, no, not her traumatized look, but the fact that she was topless, also the tattered shirt's remains. "DEAR DEAR, HOW VERY LOVELY WILD!"
"Wild? .. huh? Oi oi, Ginji, what do you mean? ... DID I? DID WE? WHAT? NOOO!" Hawks says, his blush returning, his speech becoming more and more shaky.

"Apparently, our lovely enemies seemed to have lovely regrouped. Apparently informed by Mr. Striker Perry, Jade's ex boyfriend, they easily located the lovely ship we snatched, and, begun attacking us with some lovely long-distance projectiles. Do not worry, I lovely successfully managed to elude their attacks, and we are currently, lovely, sailing towards the lovely North." Ginji then explains, well, while Hawks did wanted to ask about what had happened while he was out cold, but right now he was more interested to find out about what happened between Jade and himself.
"Ginji, what happened here? Why am I .. NAKED?! And why is Jade also almost naked, ON THE SAME BED AS MYSELF?!"
"Oh ho ho, you lovely don't remember?" Ginji says, his eyebrown raises and he smirks, a very creepy smile indeed, like a fox's or something.

"Just spill it out! Is this some kind of joke?!" Hawks says, his calmless has returned, despite the fact that his voice is very raised. He is angry, but manages to keep it together. Ginji on the other hand, seems as flamboyant as ever, almost waving around, was he made of paper or something, how could he move like that?!
"You and Jade lovely slept together, because there was only one lovely room available, other than the one I took~ ... oh yeah, and you lovely made love. Lovely loud you both were. Maaha." Saying that, he turns, holding some new covers and a small jar of water, putting them on a small table nearby. Just like that .. like that..!
That past part, he just said it, so calmly, so simply, as if it was just a casual, normal thing that happened many times before to the point where it was routine.
"WHAAAAAT?!!"

Jade remained curled up in her corner, now hugging her knees against herself, still holding the pillow against her trying to make herself as small as possible so maybe he would forget she was there and leave her alone. Why was he asking stupid questions.  He was there ... his arms were around her, his fingers were insistently prodding, his lips were never satisfied - always hungry for more ... and now he was acting like he didn't remember like it never happened and he was questioning her, treating her like a malicious criminal.  She was silent, gripping her knees tighter, trying to tune him out.  
Just then Ginji shatters the relative silence with his obnoxiousness.  She didn't know if she should be horrified or relieved. At least now she remembered who she was.  She was a Sphinx, guardian of the ages, protector of treasure, eater of men ... no one could take that away. She peered up from behind her pillow as Ginji commented on their enemies regrouping. Even when he said something as horrible and offensive as implying that her sister's murderer was her ex boyfriend, she lacked the energy to protest or ... care.  She just gripped her pillow tighter.  Those bastards were after the magician anyway. She wanted to care but all she ever got was punishment when she tried to help him.  Her Nakama ... why did she even join this crew?  They always made her feel like an outsider and there seem to be little point in what they did.  She never saw the big picture of what their insane captain was trying to accomplish.
Something in the conversation Hawks and Ginji were having caught her attention. Something horrible.  She shook her head as her eyes began to glimmer with moisture. She narrows her eyes, glaring at Ginji "I-... I don't believe you ... it can't be ..." She stands with her pillow, holding it against her.  She brushes past them both, moving toward the door.  She pauses next to Hawks leaving a small, shaky whisper "How could you? ..." without another word she rushes out.  She didn't remember anything - it made her sick.  He accused her of awful things and Ginji confirmed it.  She could not live with herself ... not like this.  Upon reaching the upper deck, she peers over the side of the vessel - her reflection made her feel more ill but was soon shattered by the drops of water that fell unnoticed from her face.  The sea was calling her ... asking for the devil fruit inside her ... calling her home to its murky depths.  She seemed hypnotized but the ripples of the water.  She leans ever closer until her balance shatters ... a soft splash ... she never calls out or struggles ... just watches the water close in to engulf her.  Immobile, her open eyes watch the sunlight fade as she sinks.

A loud splash echoes on the surface, as water flies upwards. Firm, strong arms almost cut the water in half, as the blonde, swimming with all his might, goes deeper and deeper.
After maybe a minute or two, another splash occurs, and a head appears, gasping for air. Hawks's head, and he seems to be holding someone against himself. Jade, who had fallen in the waters, of course.

Moments before,
"What do you mean that you are joking?! THIS ISN'T FUNNY, GINJI!" Hawks yells. It was after Jade left, and apparently, he and Ginji continue their dialogue.
"AAAAH, BUT SHE LOVELY LIIIIIIIIKES YOU .. and .." his eyes narrow, and he says something, making Hawks cheeks blush, despite his serious, albeit angered, look on his face, his teeth gritting hard.
"I don't have time for this now!" Hawks says, and, he goes off the room, covering his most delicate parts with the new cover Ginji brought to them.
"Tsk tsk tsk .. young people these days .. they take life too lovely serious." Ginji comments to himself, sighing.
Getting outside, he hears water splashing. That wasn't the waves hitting the ship's body, that sounded different. Could it be? Quickly, he runs towards the direction of the sound.

His hand holds a piece of rope. How fast, in mere moments, he was able to create a sort of safety line to pull themselves back to the ship. Getting back up, he leaves her on the floor, looking down at her, as Ginji walks towards them.
"DAMMIT, IDIOT, SOME PEOPLE AREN'T PRONE TO STUPID JOKES!" Hawks screams, and then, to his horror, he finds that she doesn't seem to breathe.
"Move aside." Ginji says, and bends down to her, needles appearing on his fingertips. "Vital boost!" saying that, he "stabs" her with those needles!

The glimmer of the sun is blotted out as something most closer to her.  She sees the magician and panics ... was he coming to retrieve her so he can continue to torment her? She'd rather die than go through such a cruel trick again. She tries to shout which only causes her the water to choke her faster.  The world grows dark and her body goes limp.
She failed to notice being unceremoniously deposited on the ships deck. Her body was filled with water and her skin had lost it's golden luster and seemed pale and lifeless - her lips were also an alarming shade of bluish purple.  Sharp points pushed through her skin improving her circulation but could not push the water from her lungs. It did not wake her but it did wake her internal beast. It was the lions eyes that opened, sharp and feral.  Her body twisted into the shape of the fearsome sphinx and she rolled over to cough all of the water from her lungs.  Her hands find the injecting sight on her leg ... right next to the other injection she received. She remembered. The other injection ... a moment of clarity and realization passed through her head as she turned to Ginji, more than ready to tear him apart with her teeth and claws. "YOU!" This was all his fault. ....but that layer of cleverness that brute always hid so well under a thick layer of silliness and maaha's held her back with another trick.  Possibly predicting her violence, there was also a slow-acting tranquilizer in that injection, set to kick in after the stimulant brought her back. She fell back to the floor.  Her body twisted back into its human form as her eyes closed. Her breath slowed as her consciousness slipped away, leaving the cold wet Jade unconscious on the deck. It was probably for the best that she get some rest.  She could not survive another horrifying experience.

"I added some lovely tranquilizer just in case her confusion would cause her to lovely lash out on us." Ginji comments, while nodding at the still almost completely naked Hawks, who inspects her body, but this time, he doesn't seem to be blushing, or getting creepy. He has a serious look on his face. "I don't see any injuries, good grief, I saw several sharp reefs that could have hurt her. How come we don't even hit any of those, anyway?" He says, initially speaking to himself, and later on addressing to Ginji, but without much interest into how come the ship's safe. Their weirdo was surely behind this as well, he was certain. Even about something as random and difficult to handle, he surely just pulled off something. Like he was suspecting he also did to both of them earlier. Maybe that was the cause of all this.

Looking up at Ginji, he notices that the man carried a blanket with him. Superb prediction on his part? Who knows. Hawks grabs the blanket and wraps Jade around with, after he removes his shirt's remains off her body, after all, those wet, shredded remains would do no good in keeping her warm and cozy. Lifting her up gently, he turns and goes towards the inside of the ship. Reaching the door, he stops, and looks down at her. Her face was so .. what had happened? He didn't remembered a thing, and he wasn't that kind of a person but .. could it be true? Turning his head, he glares at Ginji.
"She needs some rest. I'm going to handle that. Is there any food resources here?" Ginji's nod was all he needed for a reply. "I'll make her something to eat too. You handle the course. You said we head North, right?"
"Exactly. Lovely "Frozen Continent" to be exact. I know the lovely route." Ginji replies, putting his hands around his hips, nodding several times while replying to the blonde.
"Good. Wally will be glad to know we head there." Cold tone. Finishing with that, he begins descending the stairs, so he can let Jade on the bed to rest. Ginji awaits until they leave, before he slowly walks towards the mast. Pulling out a lighter from his scorched chest's pocket, he lights up a long cigar, and takes a large sip, before he places his right hand on the mast. "Kids these days .. they take life too seriously, while they also refuse to listen to their hearts." The second time Ginji was ever heard talking in a normal, serious tone. But, once again, no one really heard him, the sea's waves washing against the ship, and the sea bird's flapping and loud screams, covering away his lament.

Jade is now resting on the bed. She now wears other clothes, or rather, faint-purple colored cotton pijamas, evidence that he actually took care of that. But right now, she was peacefully, or at least the exterior looked as such, as she was sleeping. On the kitchen's room, Hawks is holding a knife, and looks at his own arm. His expression shows pain. *What the hell happened? Did I really... I'm sorry.* thinking that to himself, the silhouette on the other side of the wall shows a rapid swing of the blade. Today was a mixed bag. Mission success. Bonds, badly bruised.

((You can post if you like, but I think after that we can call it done and move on to the next thread, hm? Creeper Yeti ftw! ))