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sanjisboyfie · 11 months ago

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๑ keep safe - davy back fight 彡 long ring long land arc begins! (32)

one piece x male reader

the boy with the thorn in his side

behind the hatred there lies,

a murderous desire

for love

『 prev 』

when morning came, the crew had arrived at a very vacant island. of course, luffy, chopper, and usopp were the first to jump at exploring it. and surprisingly, it was [name] that stayed behind with the rest of the crew.

“huh? you’re not gonna go be a dumbass with them?” zoro asked, looking unimpressed as [name] stood on the deck with the rest of the remaining crew.

“there’s not even anything there,” [name] sighed with a pout, “it’s really just land as far as the eye can see as well as long animals that are walking around as if its normal…”

“huh?” the crew echoed, not understanding what [name] was talking about. after all, all they could see was a vast greenscape in front of htem, not any odd, long animals that [name] was talking about.

“trust me, they’re there,” he said with a wave of his hand, “nami, robin, want any coffee?”

”sure!”

“if it wouldn’t be too bothersome,”

“oh, it would never-”

“we don’t have any coffee, idiot,”

sanji’s blunt, cut through words made [name] collapse where he stood with tears streaming down his stoic face.

“yes…that’s right…no coffee…”

“it’s not the end of the world, idiot, quit overreacting,” zoro walked over [name] with a yawn, stepping over his back with not a care in the world. the h/c haired man didn’t seem to care either, the odd form of abuse flying over his head as he was too focused on the fact they had no coffee left.

“what am i supposed to do…”

sanji and nami sighed at his attitude while robin merely found him amusing.

unable to quench his hunger for coffee, or even just coffee beans, [name] felt miserable. as if he were having withdrawls. it made him go back to his hammock and try and force himself back to sleep. unfortunately, he was unable to even close his eyes to rest since he was longing so much for the bitter treat.

he was even shaking where he laid due to the withdrawl he was feeling. thinking that making any hot beverage would be better than just laying down, he changed into more breathable clothes and made his way to the kitchen. a plain black shirt and loose pants were sufficient in keeping him feeling comfortable.

he heated the water over the fire in a tea kettle, waiting impatiently for it to boil. just as he was about to pour the water into his cup, there was a tremendous tremor underneath merry that made him spill the hot water over his skin instead of the teacup. he cursed under his breath, rushing over to the sink and pouring cold water over his tender flesh.

“what the fuck?” he murmured, drying the throbbing part of his hand gently and then stomping onto the deck. when he saw that the rest of the crew was standing on the ground, he went to the front of the railing and yelled, “what the hell was that?!”

“don’t be hasty! all we want is…a showdown!”

a pissed off look was on his face as he heard a loud announcer say over a speaker system. it was as if the person needed to be heard from every corner of the earth from how loud they were. or maybe, [name] was just particularly irritable and wanted nothing but peace and quiet (and coffee).

“who the hell is that.”

“we are the foxy pirates!!”

“and who the hell are the foxy pirates?”

“we are here to challenge you to a davy back fight!!”

[name] looked to the rest of the crew with a sour look on his face. they all shrugged, not knowing what the hell the other people were talking about. but since merry was trapped in between the ship and the island, they had no other choice but to entertain the foxy pirates.

“the fight begins the moment two captains are in agreement. as we speak, our captain is challenging your captain, monkey d. luffy, to battle!”

“challenging? what kind of nonsense is that? if you want a fight, then just start one!”

[name] jumped down off of merry and onto the island, joining robin’s side as he looked up at their “enemy” ship.

“hey, you’ve never heard of a davy back fight?”

“it sounds stupid,” [name] yawned, making sanji kick the back of his head in annoyance.

”you, out of everyone here, should know what a davy back fight is. you’ve been sailing the seas the longest. seriously. it’s not a fight, it’s a pirate game!”

“yes, a game that supposedly arose long ago on “pirate island,” which is said to be a pirate paradise somewhere in the sea. in it, pirates plunder each other for top-notch crew members.”

“pirates plunder each other?!” namii asked in amazement. similar to zoro and [name], she had never heard of a davy back fight before either.

“yes, i’m surprised you’ve never heard about that,” a random crew member shouted from the other ship, “after each match, the winner can take any crew member they want from the opposing team,”

as if it were a sixth sense, [name] felt a hundred pair of eyes on the back of his head.

“it is certainly a surprise to know you weren’t even aware of such a game, cursed orphan,” [name] clicked his tongue in annoyance, standing tall and upright as he faced the other crew. “you have been talked about a lot the past three years since you’ve hit the seas. whenever this game was mentioned, someone would always bring up your name. the fact you had no crew, meant that no one could challenge you to such a game. but now — you’re all up for grabs,”

[name] rolled his eyes in annoyance, “not happening, you shits,”

“oh, but a mere crew mate like you doesn’t get a say in what happens,” they taunted, pointing a finger at him as they smirked, “the choice rests on your captain’s shoulders. and when your captain does say yes and we win that first round, you’re going to be the first one up that we choose to come to our side.

whoever’s chosen must immediately swear loyalty to their new captain! in the name of davy jones, the pirate of the deep!”

“fuck davy jones,” [name] says under his breath as he kicks a stone beneath his foot.

”so…you lose a crew mate?” nami asked for clarification, stiffening when the other crew confirmed that.

“and if no one of interest is on the losing side — then you get to strip the pirate ship of its jolly roger, the pride and life of the ship and crew!”

“so crewmates and pride are on the line. winning with make you stronger, while losing will mean a serious lose,” sanji repeated, biting the cigarette that was in his mouth in an annoyed snarl, “what a vicious game.”

as “proof” that the foxy pirates meant business when stealing crewmates, they brought out a couple of former crewmates of another pirate ship. they were now spewing loyalties to the foxy pirates with no shame, making [name] grimace in disgust.

imagining him having to act or be that way, as a foxy crewmate who looked down on luffy, his previous captain, made him sick to his stomach and angry enough to commit some heinous acts.

“and like it or not, you’re all in the game if your captain so much as nods his head in agreement,”

[name] sighed, wondering if luffy would actually fall into such a trap. now, [name] was all for fun and exciting games to be played — especially when the stakes are high. but things such as trading off crewmates was not anything he found particularly exhilarating. it was a disgusting thought; to treat his friends and companions as commodities in a game.

there was nothing fun or exciting about that. and the more the people on that ship talked about it as if it was, made him more and more angry. if he was really going to be put on that ship, he’d made sure to start some infighting to teach them all a lesson.

“then — if it’s just the captain’s decision, i’ll go run over there and do my best in stopping luffy!!”

nami already took off running, but the sound of two gunshots made her stop in her tracks.

“he’s agreed to it.”

“fine by me.”

“this’ll be interesting.”

“luffy…what the hell.”

the strawhats all gathered together, some shooting each other disappointed looks as they were preparing for the “opening ceremony” of the davy back fight.

in what seemed like a couple of minutes, the foxy pirate crew had built up a miniature town that had yakisoba stands, cotton candy sellers, and a bunch of other things you’d most likely see at a carnival. the strawhats all stood in the back as luffy and some split-head guy were sitting at the stage in the front.

“okay, men! please quiet down as we start the opening ceremony!” a woman with blue hair spoke into the mic. she had an odd mask on her face, but as [name] observed those around him, he realized it must be some costume that the crew has to wear.

“first the only way to take back crewmates, jolly rogers, or anything else is through another davy back fight. second, anyone taken by the winner must sweat loyalty to that ship’s captain immediately! third if your holly roger is taken, you can’t ever display it again !”

sanji came running up to the crew with cotton candy, which he lovely presented to robin and nami. the navigator had her head in her hands as she panicked about their entire situation.

“how can you all be so calm about this?!”

”are you still moping about that?” zoro asked, a tired look on his face.

“hm, i don’t like it either, but what’s done is done. if anything goes awry, we can just kill all of these people and set sail without warning,” [name] nonchalantly said, shrugging his shoulders as if it weren’t a big deal. “it’s an annoying predicament luffy has got us into, but the chances are we are gonna win any game over these bozos.”

chopper and usopp looked at [name], horrified at his confession of mass slaughtering the other crew. zoro and sanj, on the other hand, were nagging him about his reaction.

”don’t you think that’s such an unmanly way to go about this?”

“our pride is on the line here, shit for brains, have you no pride?”

they pulled on each side of his face, stretching his cheeks out as they spat insults of his stupidity and lack of pride as a man that he had. he could only take it with a stoic look on his face, not having the bone to argue further with them.

“should you break these rules you’ll be considered a dishonorable pirate and sent to davy jones’ locker!”

“as if pirates have any sense of honor,” [name]’s bored tone and snide comment made zoro and sanji hit him on the back of his head at the same time. “do you swear to uphold them?”

“i swear!”

the strawhats all perked up in attention when they saw that things were finally getting set into motion. it seemed that the captain of the foxy pirates was letting luffy choose how many games they would play.

the ravenette looked out into the crowd when nami called out his name. he grinned at the signal they were giving him and nodded his head in understanding. both nami and usopp were standing side by side with their pointer fingers held up, indicating that luffy should pick only one game and then be done with it.

unfortunately, luffy didn’t understand and proudly announced that they would be playing three games. someone from foxy’s crew had joined them in their signal, adding his finger in and making luffy think they meant three games instead of just one.

once they were told that all they had to do now was wait for the game of choice to be announced, luffy came waltzing over to them with a carefree look on his face. within seconds, both nami and usopp were scolding and lecturing him with pissed off looks on their faces.

“hey! you forgot something! write down your rosters and give them to our party organizer! members can participate only twice. once you’ve chosen your roster, it’s set in stone!”

a paper was thrown at zoro, who calmly picked it up.

he read the information off, as the rest of the crew gathered. “the events of the contest are: a race, a ball game, and a team competition.”

“what vague wording,” [name] said, glaring at the words on the paper.

”what’s this? a race is open to all members, the ball game is open to three, and the team competition is open to five,” sanji added in, seeing the small notes that were added underneath each game.

“all right! i’m gonna do all three!” luffy said, obviously having not listened to the announcer earlier.

“you can only participate two times, lu,” [name] softly informed the man, rubbing up and down his back, “so you can’t do all three games.”

luffy pouted at the reiterated information, leaning into [name]’s torso with an upset look on his face.

after some sulking and strategic talk, the straw hats were able to decide who would participate when. since the race battle was open to all members, they only had to choose for the second and third game. [name] volunteered himself for the second game, which the others had no problem with. sanji and zoro were next to put down their names for that one — showing some obvious competitive spirit (even though [name] would be on their team). and he decided not to participate in the last one, leaving it to the made team of: robin, nami, usopp, and luffy.

he smirked in interest, finally starting to feel excited about the games rather than annoyed. there was no way he was going to let the strawhats end this game without all their crew members anyway, so he supposed he might as well enjoy it for what it was.

a good opportunity to humble the rookie fodder that were the foxy pirates.

the announcer read their roster with enthusiasm, setting everyone off to prepare for the first game. they gave everyone participating free access to some barrels, encouraging them to break it apart to use as materials for their boat race.

“how should we team up?”

“since some of us are devil fruit users, maybe we should split into two teams of three and four people…” sanji said in thought, taking into account that their race was going to be over the sea water.

[name] hummed in interest, looking at the barrels that were on the stage, “i’ll go solo.”

“hah? why?” nami asked, an unsure look on her face.

“i have an idea, requires only me to execute it. sorry, nami, you won’t be riding with me today,” he teased, going to pinch her cheek, but was immediately slapped away by her own hand and sanji’s.

after a hard glare coming from the navigator, he departed to grab everyone their barrels. he took as many as he could, balancing them in his hold before dropping them onto the ground for all of them to use. he only required one, so it left the rest of the crew with a lot to work with. he took a seat not too far from everyone else, but a good distance away so that he could focus without getting distracted.

but he didn’t mind company, which is why he welcomed usopp’s figure walking towards him with a genuine smile.

“so what are you planning on making, [name]?” usopp asked in curiousity. he peered over [name]’s shoulder with the said man turning his head so he could properly look at usopp as he answered. he didn’t even flinch when his cheek pressed against usopp’s nose since they were that close to one another.

“surfboard!” was his only response, grinning ear to ear and then turning back to his handy work, “if all goes well, this should be an easy win. but if not, i can’t promise i won’t pass out from exhaustion,”

usopp fell onto [name]’s back at that answer, moaning and groaning in a panic, “what if we end up losing [name]? what if we end up getting one of us taken away?!”

”i wouldn’t worry about that, usopp,” [name] comforted the poor man, patting up and down his arm to soothe him, “this is just the first of three games — besides, i’m in the second round as well, so hopefully we can just win whoever we lost back with no problems!”

usopp looked at [name] with hope in his eyes, comedic tears brimming in his round eyes, “do you really have that much faith, [name]? how heartwarming to know you’re so confident in all of our abilities!”

“of course i would be,” [name] laughed, ruffling usopp’s hair and pressing down on his head as if he were a kid, “now you should get to building — your team is counting on you!”

the sniper, with a new sense of confidence and hope, nodded and went off to robin and nami to build their boat together.

[name] hummed as he worked, wiping the sweat off from his forehead as he worked on flattening out the barrel planks. he was beginning to feel hot from working so hard on his “boat” that he turned around to luffy and sanji, beginning to whine, “sanji!!! i’m thirsty, give me water!”

the chef’s brow quirked up in annoyance at the whiney tone [name] had, “what the fuck do i look like to you?! an errand boy?! get yourself some water, dipshit!”

“hey, i asked so nicely and that’s how you respond? how rude of you, sanji, how rude,”

“i could have said much worse, would you like me to?!”

“no, asshole,” [name] muttered the last bit to himself, beginning to stand up and get himself his own water. but just as he was about to turn around from his surfboard, someone bumped into him. they were so close to him, it was as if they were standing behind him when he was sitting down.

he looked down to get a proper look at them, quirking his eyebrow up in intrigue when he recognized that they were a foxy pirate crew member. she had long blonde hair, looking up at him with a blush set on her cheeks.

“hello…?”

“oh! i heard you were thirsty, so i got you a water bottle, [name]!”

he looked at the women before shaking his head, “i’m alright, thanks,” he didn’t want to blatantly accuse her of trying to poison him, but there was no doubt in his mind that that was exactly what she was doing.

why else would someone from the enemy team come over to him?

“are you sure? you look a bit hot,” she said, raising a hand to press against his forehead. he stopped her immediately, gently grabbing her wrist and guiding it back down to her side.

“thank you for the offer, but i’m alright. i’ll just go get my own water,” he awkwardly smiled at her before running off, leaving her there astounded at his behavior. then she huffed in annoyance that she wasn’t able to give him the water that she actually didn’t do anything to (really, she didn’t — the cap was still sealed and everything). she just wanted to show him a nice gesture — and see him up close.

but that annoyed expression on her face was wiped off almost immediately as she daydreamed about what he did look like up close. the blush that was on her cheeks before returned and she almost covered her face with her hands to calm herself.

meanwhile, the straw hats were watching from the side with confused looks on their faces.

“what was that.” nami asked, face scrunched up in genuine confusion. there was no way that was what she thinks it was. and if it was — seriously? [name] of all people? she shuddered at the thought.

“don’t know, that was weird, though!” luffy exclaimed, eyes blown wide as he watched the mystery woman run off with her head down and hiding from their watchful eyes. “if i was [name], i would’ve taken it…it’s free water anyway,”

on the other hand, sanji was sulking in the corner, drawing mindless shapes into the grass as a shadow of sadness and forlorn was hanging around him. it was as if a thunder cloud was hovering above his head with how sad and pathetic he looked.

in a couple of minutes, [name] returned with some refreshments for him and the rest of the crew. and it took him longer than he realized to get the drinks because the moment they finished their drinks, the announcer said that it was time for the race to start.

[name] wiped his forehead of sweat one last time before he picked up his surfboard. it wasn’t as sturdy as he wished for it to be, but hopefully it would still get the job done.

everyone got dropped into the water, the strawhats sticking close to one another as they entered the field with the enemy surrounding them. [name] took a seat on his surfboard, looking around as more people entered the water.

“oh! the odds are finally in! i’ll listen them in order of popularity, starting with the most popular,” [name] sweatdropped at the idea of people voting on a popularity pole, what odd timing for such a thing. “the top spot obviously is going to the member of the powerful team foxy: porche-chan!” a woman with a pointy nose and long blue hair was standing on top of her boat, waving her arms in the air as she looked at her “fans” on shore.

it was obvious she was a favorite for her cute looks and personality with how loud the men on the sidelines were cheering for her.

“ooh! just leave it to me!” she exclaimed as she blew kisses into the crowd, which only made them cheer louder.

“second most popualr is…oh!! this is unexpected! the straw hat team of navigator nami, sniper usopp, and archeologist robin! they’ll be riding the barrel tiger!”

[name] cheered for his team, screaming and clapping his hands for them. this only made nami splash him with water using her paddle, putting her head down in fear and shame. he could only guess that her thoughts were going a mile a minute since she assumed that the foxy pirates would probably be taking her first when they win since she’s the cutest. [name] smiled at her funny reaction, turning back to the announcer to hear more.

“third most popular is…oh! another surprise! the strawhat team’s solo rider, [name]!!” the man blinked in shock, looking to the announcer to make sure he was hearing right, “oh, with such a cool boat, there’s no wonder he’s got many fans. a man of confidence, he is! what mysterious power will he use to try winning?!”

“not try — i am going to,” [name] huffed in annoyance, crossing his arms over his chest and turning his head to the side so he wouldn’t have to look at the cheesy announcer.

“that attitude! isn’t it just to die for, ladies?!”

[name] flinched at the sudden question, but his jaw really dropped when he heard a high chorus of agreement come from the crowd. the previous “front row” men were replaced with just as many women, who came forward and were shamelessly showing their support for him.

“win the race, [name]! we bet you’ll look really good while you do it, too!!”

“i’m your number 1 supporter!”

“oh, i hope he loses so he can join us!”

“good thinking, me too, me too!!”

the straw hats, minus sanji — who was once again sulking, all sweatdropped at the sudden attention [name] was getting. they were shocked that it was even a positive encouragement coming from the foxy pirates.

“please, don’t cheer for me,” [name] said in a serious tone, looking at the girls with a blank stare, “i don’t even know why you would…”

“telling me not to cheer will only make me cheer louder!”

[name] grimaced.

“because you’re the strongest, [name]!”

that made him put on a prideful grin, for a split second.

“because you’re the coolest and most handsome, [name]!”

a blank stare was shot towards the women who shouted that.

“now, now, let’s get settled, ladies! the rest of the popularity poll must be read!” the commentator lightly scolded, making the women in the front row quiet down, but still shoot [name] their heart eyes and dreamy smiles.

he shifted where he sat, pretending to not notice them.

“next is the harem nocturne, a boat of the beautiful, by the beautiful, for the beautiful!” a couple of the women on board that boat winked at [name] when they noticed him staring in wonder, “in fourth place is the crab crane, a regular in the top ranks! in fifth and sixth place, the swordfish king #1 and #2!! seventh most popular is the party-loving pleasure boat! in eighth place, the duke special!”

it seemed that the other strawhats weren’t even worthy of being read off, not until luffy incited an explanation. and with that, they learned that they weren’t even the last on the list, but someone from foxy’s crew that had an inhumanely large barrel boat set up.

and with the introduction of all the teams, everyone watching was getting hyped up and ready for the race.

“crush them, porche-chan!!”

“we’re cheering for you, handsome [name]!!”

”that’s a lil overboard…”

“we hope you sink, long-nose!”

“me?!”

with the firing of the gun, everyone was quick to steer ahead. [name] used his makeshift paddle for now, standing on top of his surfboard and balancing himself to make sure that he didn’t fall.

he grit his teeth, seeing that from the largest ship, a bunch of other barrels had been thrown into the sea. when nami had poked the barrel with her oar, a sudden explosion was set off, making [name] still and turn behind him in worry.

seeing that their boat was shot straight up into the air, he quickly let the water spurt up underneath them and catch them before they could crash down and do more damage to their boat. it was as if the sea turned into a fountain for a split second with how instant the reaction was.

“are you all okay?!”

“we’re fine, thanks [name] for saving us,” he nodded stiffly, shouting at them to be sure that they avoided the rest of the barrels.

“that’s impossible! they’re completely surrounding us!”

“hand me that oar, chopper, i can take care of it,” zoro commanded and the doctor didn’t waste a second before complying.

in a couple of seconds, all of the explosive barrels that were surrounding them had be pushed back to where they came from. and before the rest of them knew it, a tremendous wave had resulted from the explosion.

seeing it as the perfect opportunity, [name] threw the oar aside and stood tall and ready for the wave to hit.

“asshole, you better use this chance for good and send us into first place!!” zoro shouted, seeing the plan practically painted on [name]’s face. the devilish smirk and confident fire in his eyes, he was easy to read in that moment.

“just sit back and enjoy the show, idiot marimo!” [name] shouted in return, watching the gigantic wave only get bigger and bigger.

he began paddling with his arms before popping up onto his feet, keeping a steady balance. within seconds, he was being put into first place as the wave he was riding did all of the hard work for him.

“we’re happily watching and enjoying, [name]!” the same “fanclub” that made itself known earlier screamed, practical hearts in their eyes. he ignored their cries, focusing on staying balanced and standing upright.

with the water now dousing his clothes and hair, he was completely drenched in sea water. he smirked at the cool feeling, a drastic difference to his warm body heat. it was the perfect balance of temperature that gave him a shot of dopamine.

“perfect,” he leaned down, touching the wave underneath his barrel surfboard. then he stood up and his posture turned relaxed, hands on his hips as he steadily guided his surfboard straight ahead.

“i’m in first place~”

if anyone thought about it for even just a second, they’d have realized that this was the perfect race for [name]. but, obviously, only if you had known the one major factor: [name] had the ability to manipulate water, including saltwater, even if only for a short while. riding atop of such a simple, but easily maneuverable boat/surfboard made for a perfect vessel in the conditions.

and not a single soul in the grand line knew of this ability, which made it the perfect opportunity to twist this in the straw hat’s favor. it explained why the confident smirk on his face didn’t falter for even a second.

[ .ᐟ ] i cant believe that this is a real arc and not just filler……

taglist (lmk if u want to be tagged ! <3 : ty to the persoin in the replise that helped me out with this issue, however, those with the ** marked i still cant properly tag them :(( their accoutns wont show up when i type the username, but for the ones marked without ** the accounts showed up perfectly fine :// im rlly confused on why its doing thissss ughhhh

@skullr0se @strawberrii-tea @triangulartriangles @anotherlovefool

@sinmp @taru-nami @disc0dild0s @boredwithlifeatthispoint

@whotdefak @zforgottensniper @lunarapple @softi-911 @softhanyu

@coca-cola-fiend @chibiduck

@violentlynerdy **

@kaulitzer **

@3v33373 **

@notplutos **

@cheetosins **

@lcst-at5ea **

『 prev 』 ˗ˏˋ꒰ 🌊 ꒱ 『 next . . . loading 』

#≡;- ꒰ ° keep safe series ꒱#ks #one piece x male reader #one piece x reader #x male reader #x reader #male reader #one piece male reader #one piece imagines #male reader imagines #anime male reader #one piece fanfiction #one piece fanfic #male reader fanfic #male reader fanfiction

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sanjisboyfie · 1 year ago

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wait @ guys on my taglist ??? are u getting notifs whenever i tag u bc it looks rlly weird on my end and i dont think....its working???? IDK THO lmk is it working i ltr cant tell

#jaime is talking #jaime is funny

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sanjisboyfie · 1 year ago

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๑ keep safe : navarone - g8 (31)

one piece x male reader

『 prev 』

in their speedy getaway, conis and her father were acting as their guides to the proper exit from the sky islands.

“everyone! we can see it now! if you look forward that is cloud end!”

a bunch of the crew members ran forward to the head of the ship, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the gate that was approaching. it looked like a grand castle, a rainbow right behind it and a very obvious sign saying that it was in fact cloud end.

“i wanna come back here again,” [name] announced, his chest puffed out, “it’ll be so fun to take the trip up!”

“that’s to say if we even can,” nami gave him a swift reality check, shrugging her shoulders, “it was hard enough to find the current, who know-”

“no negativity!” [name] cried out, putting his hand in the air to silence her, “who knows? maybe that old man with the monkeys will lend us a hand again,”

“who knows is right, i guess,” nami said, smiling softly when she looked to the side and saw conis, pagaya, and suu running alongside a fluffy clouded lane to keep up with merry. “at least we’ll get to see them again if we do end up coming back!”

“ah, that’s right!” [name] ran to the side of the railing and rapidly waved his arms, “suu! next time i visit, you better introduce me to more sky foxes! i wish i could take you with me!”

conis laughed at his childish remarks that reminded her of the first time they met. suu jumped into her arms, using his long nose to create sounds of excitement to reach [name]’s ears.

“well then, everyone, i’m sorry! we’ll say goodbye here!” pagaya shouted as he ran along.

“take care, everyone!” conis added.

“thanks for seeing us off!”

“take care of yourself, conis-chan!!”

“remember our promise, suu!”

very quickly, the crew scattered across deck to prepare for their departure. unfurling the sails and standing on alert, they were all prepared for their ride down.

“it’s like a rollercoaster!!” [name] shouted as he held onto the railing of the fast cloudy lane they were riding, “it’s a shame that it ends-”

he cut himself off and rubbed his eyes. he blinked a couple of times and squinted to really focus. and then when he realized his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, it was already too late.

the cloudy road that they were gliding on was just to set them off to prepare for their journey downward. because in a second’s notice, the cloudy road disappeared beneath merry and they began free falling.

“you gotta be shitting me!!” [name] shouted, his eyes practically popping out of his socket at the sudden drop. the rest of the crew was in the same conditions they were shocked at the sudden free fall.

but just as quick as it started, everything was seemingly back to normal. after face planting back onto the wooden floor boards of merry, the crew was able to see that an inflated octopus had caught them. and as they were gliding through the air, the familiar ringing of the golden bell could be heard throughout the skies.

hearing it from so far away made [name] somber up and realize that they really had left sky island for good, this time. he smiled softly, looking up at the white sky and relishing in the chimes of the bell.

as the sun began to set, [name] slumped on the railing of the ship, using zoro as his pillow as he got a fulfilling sleep for himself. zoro was napping first, so he didn’t notice that [name] was using him for such reasons, so [name] dodged an earful of a lecture with that.

and just as he happily sleeping, there seemed to be a ruckus happening on board. when he blinked open his eyes from their previous sleepy state, he heard sanji yelling and the rest of the crew looking over the side of the railing.

“what’s going on?” he asked in a groggy tone, making zoro slap him on the head and force him to stand upright by his collar.

“what’s going on is that we’re going to die,” zoro growled in an annoyed tone, shoving [name] forward and making him see what they were witnessing.

“huh, guys the octopus is smaller,” he said, pointing to their method of transport, “you guys didn’t think of doing anything about it?”

usopp quickly moved to hug nami’s waist and arms to prevent her from attacking the tall man.

“shut the hell up, you absent-minded idiot! we’re seriously going to die if we don’t do something about it soon!”

“don’t worry, i’ll save merry!” usopp bravely shouted, equipping himself with some sort of suction shoes with his rope belt (the usopp aah-aahhh-ah) and jumping off the side of the ship.

sanji and luffy crashed back onto the deck and everyone was watching to see what usopp had in store. at this point, merry was falling faster and faster with each passing second.

for a moment, their rapid descent was paused. usopp had done something that saved the ship, but it only lasted for a couple of seconds. because soon after, the octopus shrunk down to its original size and they were falling at an even faster rate than they were before.

“shit, there’s nothing we can do now,” [name] grunted, looking at the blue sea that they were getting steadily closer to, “everyone, grab onto something, and hold on tight!”

instinctively, chopper, usopp, and nami threw themselves onto [name] and held onto his torso. he chuckled, wrapping his arms around them and holding onto them as tight as possible. bracing for impact, he was able to keep them as safe as possible and steady on deck. their crash onto the sea floor was harsh, but he was prepared and unbothered when they did hit the waves.

“at least we made it down here without dying,” luffy said with pure relief and happiness on his face. he thanked the miniature octopus that landed on top of his face with a smile and the rest of the crew couldn’t help but agree.

at least none of them were dead.

but their relief was shortlived since blaring lights were turned towards merry, from all directions. [name] shielded his eyes at the feeling of all the lights blaring down at them and tried getting his vision to adjust as fast as possible.

bells starting going off too, sounding like an emergency signal, and [name] was now standing upright with his shoulders square and stiff. then he finally saw it, the emblem of blue that was flying from a flag not too far away.

“shit,” he cursed, grabbing his sword that had landed a couple of feet away and ripping up some floorboards, and throwing it under and hastily putting the wood back on top, “of all places,”

“what? what’s happening?” nami asked, swiping her wet hair to the side and shielding her face from the bright lights with her hand, “why are you freaking out so much?”

“because, we landed right in the middle of-”

“resistance is futile! we have you completely surrounded!!”

the crew all stilled and looked out to see a bunch of soldiers standing all around them. they seemed to be in the position of holding rifles in their arms, prepared to shoot at the given command. and that’s when it finally clicked what [name] was referring to.

“in the middle of a fucking marine base.” he finished, slouching as he realized that resistance could truly be futile.

“come on, guys, let’s go,” he said, nudging their shoulders and forcing them to pay attention, “i’ll create a diversion and then we can escape,”

“and leave merry here! in the hands of these marines?!” usopp cried out, immediately going to say no.

“we aren’t going to leave her here, we just need to run off for now-”

“running away? i never thought your style was to run with your tail in between your legs when times got rough, [name],” zoro teased, a smirk on his face as he rested his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“it’s not idiot marimo, i just know when to use my head!” [name] whisper yelled, “you wanna go and fight all those trigger happy marines, don’t be my fucking guest because i won’t let you, idiot!”

[name] ran inside, got some bandages from chopper’s medical bay and hastily wrapped them around his face.

“i’ll create a diversion, everyone split up and run. they won’t do anything to merry, she’s just a ship with no one on it. if anything, they’ll just keep her right where she landed. but we — wanted pirates, have to beat it,”

“hey, [name], why do we have to run?”

“i’m not answering anymore questions!”

“he’s unfortunately right, escaping and splitting up is the best option for survival,” sanji added in, “also the smartest choice…”

“thanks, sanji!” [name] grinned, glad to hear someone finally agree with him. “i’ll create a diversion, everyone jump ship and we can swim to shore from here,”

“what if you can’t swim?!” chopper asked, wildly waving his hand in the air.

“pair up with someone that can or i’ll throw you,” [name] easily answered. “now, there’s no time to waste,”

without waiting another second, [name] clenched his fists and ran to the side of the ship. the others immediately jumped off, thinking that he was kicking them off, but in reality he was just trying to get closer to the water.

“fucking marines,” [name] scowled under his breath, clenching his fist and watching as the waters became even more rough. he grinned devilishly, licking his lips as he felt sweat drip down his forehead. “i hope you all drown,”

with a swift tug of his arm, the water beneath merry kicked up and formed a tremendous wave. the marines all looked at the sudden formation of water with shock and fear, especially those that were stationed rather close to the ship. and they all panicked and ran away when they saw that it was sweeping towards them. even those that were on high ground weren’t safe as the wave grew to be at a tsunami level height.

the commanded wave chased the perimeter of the shore line and as far as it could go up, reaching any and all marines that it could before dying down.

and when the marines were finally able to focus back in on the ship, they saw that it was completely deserted and there was no one on board.

the strawhats all split up from jumping off board.

nami, luffy, sanji, chopper, zoro, and [name] were all stranded on their own whilst robin and usopp stuck together. they were all scattered on different areas of the shoreline, some further inside of the marine base than others, but ultimately: on their own.

pirates stranded in a marine base.

[name] could almost laugh. he took off the sopping wet bandages off from his face, wringing them out along with his shirt. he sat down on the rock, stretching and spreading his legs out as he was deep in thought.

he ran a finger over his wet hair, wincing at the uncomfortable feeling.

“i can’t go in there all wet,” he sighed in annoyance, laying his shirt and bandages out onto some nearby rocks to dry. “best to wait it out until i’m all dry then,” he said in a sing song voice, happy to take another nap.

he laid down onto the stone path with his hands resting behind his head and ankles crossed over the other. he bathed in the moonlight, thinking of his plan of action. well, obviously, he had to murder every single marine he came across.

just kidding! not unless they find out who he is, then maybe he might have to.

he woke up from his nap at the break of dawn and became keenly aware of where he was. he put his shirt back on then went to wrap his face with the now dried bandages that were laid out the night before.

“i wonder where everyone else is,” he hummed in thought, easily infiltrating one of the nearby doors, “what role should i play? maybe i could be a pathetic little buss boy? or should i instead be an asshole vice admiral visiting from another base? hehe, i like the sound of that one the most. that way i’d get my fill in bullying these assholes,”

just as he finished speaking, a singular marine had walked around the corner and into his chest. they were several inches shorter than him, making him crane his neck down to peer down at them.

“hah?”

“AGH!! a ghost!!”

before the marine could run away from fear, [name] went and caught him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him back. holding him like a stray puppy, he smirked at the look of fear on the marine’s face.

“i can tell, you’re nothing but a newbie,” he taunted, “you got that scared look on your face, your knees are practically shaking. aw, you poor thing~”

“ghost!!!” the marine cried out once more, making [name] grin in happiness.

“yes, that’s right, i’m a ghost. i’m here to haunt you for all your wrongdoings!” [name] continued on, playing on the “joke” the same joke that was scaring the poor marine shitless, “now take me to the kitchen — i’m hungry!”

the marine blinked a couple of times before nodding. good thing that this marine was a scared piece of shit since [name] was able to scare him so easily. he smirked at the way his legs were shaking and he was practically trying to collapse in himself. all that just by a couple of words and the bandages wrapped around his face.

“are we on the grand line?” [name] asked, squeezing the marine’s shoulder to knock him out of his daydream.

“y-yes…”

“what’s your name?” [name] asked, curiously leaning down and closely inspecting his features. he was a young kid, probably only a little bit older than luffy, and had freckles decorating his face. his hair was light brown and a bit on the shorter side, or at least that’s what it looked like underneath the cap he was wearing.

“i-i’m rengen, but everyone on, or all of my comrades call me ren…”

“like a nickname?” [name] asked, loosening the grip he had on the man’s shoulder and letting him walk freely.

“i guess…?”

“that’s cute, i like it,” [name] said, “i also like your freckles, they remind me of someone,”

“oh, that’s nice…” rengen said with an unsure look on his face, unsure whether or not to be flattered or not from the comment. not to mention, the fact that it’s coming from someone so scary looking.

maybe underneath the man’s bandages, he was more friendly looking. at least that’s what rengen would tell himself to ease his own fear. with the bandages on, he sure looks scary…

“what happened to your face?” rengen asked suddenly before turning completely red, “i’m sorry if that sounded rude, b-but it’s just very…”

“scary?” [name] teased, purposely getting close to the man’s face to scare him even further. and it worked seeing as he backed away with sweat streaming down his forehead.

“that’s not what i meant!!”

“i got burned,” [name] lied, looking ahead and backing off from the marine. “you know, if you plan on being a marine, you gotta grow some balls in facing things that are scary,”

“i know,” rengen sighed, looking ashamed in himself. and [name] wondered if it were normal for people to be so affected by a stranger’s words.

“i was just joking, i’m sure you have balls of steel, man,” [name] said, clapping his hand roughly on the marine’s back to “comfort” him. it did anything, but, and only made the marine more anxious.

“i’m sorry, sir, but what exactly is your ranking? you’re not wearing a uniform…” internally the marine was sweating bullets due to how scared he was. the person he was talking to could possibly be one of the strawhats, the crew led by the deadly captain straw hat luffy.

or worse, it could be the crewmate worth even more than the captain: the cursed orphan [name]. the idea sent shivers down his spine. stories of that pirate had been whispered across many different naval stations and he had only heard horror stories of the marines that have fought [name] and survived — which were very rare.

encountering someone with a bounty that high made rengen almost pass out in fear.

“i’m actually apart of a secret unit, ren,” [name] said casually, crossing his arms over his chest, “the commander is supposed to announce my presence tonight, but i thought that i’d scope out the base myself to see how everything is holding up. let’s just say, i report under vice admiral garp himself and have been sent here to question your commander,”

“question commander jonathan? what did he do that required investigation?” [name] supposes the name drop of the marine hero garp was enough to clear any suspicion.

“that’s classified information, ren,” [name] said, putting his finger to ren’s lips and pressing softly against them, “now, no more questions — show me the kitchen,”

”right away, sir,”

“i like how obedient you are, you’re definitely gonna make a great do- soldier, a great soldier,” [name] cut himself off before he naturally insulted the man, smiling sheepishly underneath his bandages at his slip up.

“thank you, sir, i appreciate your input and will remember it moving forward,” rengen echoed like a machine, but the shy and bashful look on his face showed just how sentimental he felt.

[name] genuinely smiled underneath his disguise, finding the look on rengen’s face endearing and adorable. it reminded him of chopper, a little bit. whenever he complimented the doctor, he would immediately blush and then spout some insult. but instead for rengen, it wasn’t insults and just an automated, flustered response.

and rengen was good company for now. the marine was so new to his position and was an easy push over. he would definitely be good to get some information out of.

as far as [name] was concerned, all he had to do was fake it till he made it. if he acted with authority and with a brash attitude, then there was no way that the soldiers would defy him. he hummed in thought, thinking back on some memories to remind himself on how to accurately act.

“you got a cigarette?”

“uh, no, why?”

“i just thought it’d be funny to smoke now is all,” [name] grinned, shrugging his shoulders in thought, “wouldn’t it make me look cooler anyway? unless, i of course, clumsily got half of my clothes set on fire,”

“uh-”

“forget it,” [name] pouted, waving his hand in the air.

“sir, this is the kitchen,” rengen announced, pointing towards a door before hastily stopping [name] from entering, “the thing is, jessica-san doesn’t let anyone enter the kitchen unless it is a specific feeding time. the batches go in a hundred at a time and no one is allowed inside in between that time…so you have to wait, sir,”

[name] put his hand under his chin in thought, humming at the new information. it’d be smarter to wait until mass amounts of soldiers entered the dining hall so that he wouldn’t seem suspicious, but he really was hungry…

“ren!! didn’t you hear?! there’s going to be a cooking competition!! come on, if we go inside now we may be the lucky ones fed!”

“a cooking competition?!” [name] repeated, stars in his eyes. “let’s go, men!”

“hold on-!”

[name] didn’t let rengen finish his sentence as he tugged him along with ease and barged into the kitchen with no remorse.

“sir-”

“food!!!” [name] cheered, but his words were drowned out with a bunch of other people shouting for food as well. he could perfectly blend in here! “man, i miss sanji’s cooking…” he pouted, pushing his way to the front so he got a front row “seat” to the mass amounts of food that was being prepped and served.

”jessica-san’s cooking is just the best, though!” a soldier beside him moaned, hearts in his eyes that made [name] think of the lovesick cook.

“i know someone’s cooking who is definitely better,” [name] smirked, but his expression was hidden underneath the bandages.

“no way!! if you were a true marine of the G8 base, you’d appreciate jessica-san’s cooking the most!”

“like hell i do, sanji’s cooking is the best!!”

“order for 100 soldiers done and ready to be eaten!!”

[name] turned to the table that had a multitude of plates with steaks and vegetables on top of them, free for them to eat and take. [name] swiftly unraveled the lower part of his bandages, allowing his salivating mouth to break free and eat to his heart’s content.

“yummy!!” he cried out into the air, eager to see what the other chef was cooking. he finished about 20 plates, making some of the marines curse him under their breath, but he could care less.

he was just eagerly looking around to see who was behind the stove and cooking their next meal. unfortunately, even with his height as an advantage, he wasn’t able to see exactly who. they were wearing a chef’s hat, but their back was turned to him.

to not focus too much on his still empty and hungry stomach, he just looked at the table and waited for the plates to magically appear before him. finally, after what felt like hours (it was a couple of minutes), plates full of meatballs and vegetables were placed in front of him and the rest of the marines eagerly awaiting.

the moment the food hit his tongue, he looked up in glee. a fond smile was on his face as he locked eyes with sanji, who’s eyes widened in surprise to see [name] hunched over the table and eating almost all the servings of the food he prepared. the rich flavored and meticulous crafted food was only possible by the hands of sanji. that’s how [name] knew he was the one who made the food.

“i knew it was your cooking,” was all [name] said before smiling so wide that his eyes turned into crescent moons. and he finished thirty plates, making the marines almost throw their cutlery at him in fury. then he turned to the marine he was bickering with earlier, smirking down at them, “see, i told you i knew someone who was the best chef in the entrire world!”

“eat shit! you finished all the food before i could even try, asshole!”

“blehhh!” [name] said, sticking his tongue out at the individual and turning away. when he turned back around to give compliments to the chef, who he was going to pretend he didn’t recognize, his face was met with the sight of a mug being shoved in front of him. “huh?”

“a cup of coffee, to quench your thirst,” sanji said, smoothly blowing out smoke and nonchalantly looking away. he was pretending as if it wasn’t a big deal, to not alert anyone of suspicious activity.

“i love chefs who know just exactly what’s missing in my meals,” [name] said, boasting his role perfectly to their small audience, “i should bring you back to my headquarters base where i’d make use of your full potential,”

sanji rolled his eyes at [name]’s grandiose words, not impressed at all. he only shoved the mug into his hands and walked away, back to jessica to hear her observations of his cooking methods. as he stood before her, his eye trailed back over to [name], before blinking at the sight of an empty spot where he once stood.

‘that idiot is gonna get himself caught,’ sanji thought to himself, shaking his head at [name]’s behavior, ‘and honestly, what a shit disguise,’

a grinning and pleased [name] ran out of the kitchen with his face re-bandaged, “now that my stomachs full, time to get things done around here!”

“s-sir!! where are you going?!”

skidding to a halt, [name] whipped his whole body around and his face contorted into shock to see rengen was following him. running after him, even.

“oi, newbie, don’t come following me — i’ve got important business to attend to,” important business, meaning finding the rest of his crew and merry and then escaping.

rengen took a deep breath before bowing deeply, “it would be an honor to see such a high ranking individual such as yourself in your element of expertise, sir! please allow me to shadow you until you meet with commander jonathan!!”

[name] blinked at the request, wondering if this was any bit normal. marines never acted this way, from his memory. all the bases and headquarters he has been in — they’ve only ever acted in their dirty, scheming ways. like all marine dogs did.

rengen was so new to this lifestyle he hadn’t yet developed that behavior. it made [name] grin in pleasure, “have you ever thought of becoming a pirate?”

rengen flinched at the question before his face turned red, “no way! i hate pirates, they’re the scum of the earth and the marines have a responsibility to purge them off the face of the world!!”

“i share the same sentiment!” [name] lied with a laugh, finding his resolve and strong hatred interesting. he nodded in “agreement,” and added on, “good, that was a test to make sure you’ve got what it takes to shadow me,”

rengen breathed a sigh of relief, running a hand over his face in stress, “sir, please don’t test me so suddenly, you scared me,”

“there we go again with you getting scared,” [name] teased, turning around and walking back in the direction he was originally going in.

“you’re right, sir! i’ll be more mindful!” rengen said, taking mental notes as he ran along [name]’s side.

“and also remember this — in the world we work in, fish is the best source of protein to exist!”

“yes, sir!!” rengen echoed, an unreasonably determined look on his face as he shouted in agreement.

“and that it’s only possible to work when you have a full stomach, working on an empty stomach is out of the question. how do you think you’ll be able to purge the pirate scum off the face of the earth? on an empty stomach?!”

“no, sir!”

“good, ren, you’re a fast learner!”

“i’m happy my notes are to your liking, sir!”

“and quit calling me sir!!”

“but…i don’t know your name-”

”who said you had the right to know a high ranking commander’s name?!” [name] was really enjoying this role, it felt like just a big joke. too bad rengen thought it was all very serious and almost buckled in the knees at the feeling of being yelled at by his superior.

“i’m sorry, sir!”

“no sir!”

“then, your name?”

“no name!!”

“understood!”

“good!!!”

[name] dragged rengen around the base, eagerly turning every corner in hopes of finding at least one of his other crewmates. through his journey he kept feeding rengen completely wrong information, for fun, and also just to see if rengen was taking him seriously.

his search was cut short when there was a sudden alarm sounding off throughout the entire base. rengen flinched at the loud sound and hid behind [name]’s figure and nervously looked around.

“that means all the soldiers have to be with their units! that must mean they finally caught the strawhats!” rengen shouted, looking at [name] with newfound hope, “please look out for my performance in unit 88, i plan to capture those pirates and make commander proud!”

[name] almost wanted to coo at how naive the poor marine was. if only he knew he was conversing with a strawhat the entire time. instead, he just gave him a thumbs up and a confident, “you can do it, rennie! i believe in you, capture those pirates and make fools of them! maybe i can bring a good word to admiral sengoku and he will promote you!”

rengen blsuhed, waving his hand shyly in the air, “if that were to ever happen, i’d be very happy to serve under you! that’d be an amazing promotion — i’d get to learn from you directly when you work on the field,”

[name] smiled softly, nodding his head, “definitely!”

poor rengen…truly if only he knew.

“now make me proud and catch that cursed orphan piece of shit! i know you have it in you, ren!”

“i will try my best!” he shouted, with low confidence but nothing but determination painted on his face.

and the two parted ways, making [name] eager to find the rest of his crew and get the hell out of there. he began humming in thought, wondering where his crew might be running to. logically, they’d be going to merry, so he would just do his best in getting to the docks in time.

he could only hope someone was watching over luffy and zoro. the dumbass gets distracted too easily and zoro was shit at directions. he ran through the halls of the base, skidding to a stop when he passed by a grand room full of books.

“oh, i bet robin would love those!” [name] grinned, going inside and looking around, “should i steal some for her?”

“what do you think you’re doing?! state your name and purpose?!”

a hoard of marines, who were probably answering the emergency call, came from around the corner and were pointing their weapons at him.

“[name], stealing some books,” he answered easily, tilting his head to the side as he stared at their guns. “think fast,” he ordered, giving them about three seconds to react.

they just blinked dumbly at him before simply raising their rifles up in the air to shoot.

”please, think faster than that.” he said with a deadpan expression. but before they could fire, he simply moved his arm in a horizontal manner and the entire unit was sent flying to the direction he moved his hand.

they were slammed against the metal walls and all passed out at the brute force.

“what a barbarian you are, [name],” a familiar voice called out, making him turn his head around in relief.

”robin! you already found the library! i was gonna surprise you with some more books,” [name] childishly pouted, his shoulders slouching inward at the realization his surprise was ruined. she chuckled at his expression and disappointment, walking forward and ruffling his hair. he was leaning down a tiny bit, giving her easier access.

“then, to the docks, right? i assume the others are already there,” [name] nodded in agreement with her plan, laughing in glee with the way their path to merry was so clear. he guessed that all the other marines were too occupied with actually catching the others, none of them were on watch in the hallways like before.

“we better hurry or we might miss them!” he called out to her, grabbing her hand and running at full speed. she was able to keep up with ease, laughing behind her hand at his eagerness to escape.

“that’d be terrible — we’d be at the marine’s mercy wouldn’t we?”

“as if i’d let them do anything to us,” he laughed, as if it were a funny joke.

despite the high stress situation, he was still able to so freely laugh. robin liked that about [name], such an innocent trait to have coming from such a supposed terrifying figure.

“come this way, [name], i know a way to make it to the ship quickly,” robin advised, tugging [name] in the direction she was referring to with their still conjoined hands.

“aye, aye!!”

after they made it to the edge of one of the doors, they were able to spot merry sailing on ahead.

“assholes, they were really going to leave without us,”

“well, only one way to stick it to them,” robin chuckled, sprouting a long “vine” of hands to swing them towards merry. he grabbed ahold of her, hugging her figure with all of his strength so he wouldn’t fall.

“robin-chan!!!” the familiar calling from sanji was the first thing they heard, followed by, “shit for brains?! get your filthy hands off of robin-chan, now!!!”

they landed with ease, luffy crashing into [name]’s torso with a carefree smile as nami hugged robin when the older one revealed a map of the fortress that she stole.

just as their escape was going to be near perfect, nami soon realized one thing. they were missing all the gold that they had stolen.

“[name] turn the ship around and get us back into that base, now!!”

“oi,” he slapped the air with a deadpan look on his face, “that’s such a long journey, i can’t do that. if you want me to sink a couple navy ships, sure, but turning merry around and travelling all the way back with waves alone — impossible.”

“how does that make any sense?!”

“it’s something called: limitations to one’s own strength, nami. god, if only you were more considerate of my health,” he sighed in disdain.

“the gold is on the line, idiot! i don’t give a shit about your health right about now!”

“oh, but when i get into a life threatening situation again, then what will you feel?”

“i’m about to put you in a life threatening situation if you don’t listen to me, idiot,” nami threatened, with a calm look on her face as she waved her fist in the air. [name] understood what she was insinuation, zipping his mouth shut to not get her really beating his ass.

the travel back to the marine base all relied on nami’s navigation skills and the current underneath their ship. [name] helped when he could, but he’d have to take frequent breaks to save himself from passing out in fatigue.

finally, the crew was able to come up with a plan that seemed plausible in working. merry was anchored in an unused deck, idea creditted to robin, and trying to come up with a plan for after they got their gold. it was decided that they really weren’t going to leave without it.

“we’ve got to have 80% of the gold go towards my stash though,” nami said, breaking up the discussion of what they were going to spend the gold on. obviously, everyone immediately rejected the idea. so she calmed them down by telling them the truth of what they were really going to use the 80% for.

“repairs for merry?” luffy echoed, eyes wide and blank like a deer caught in headlights.

“yeah, after all, we’ve made so many memories with merry. it’s only right that we fix her up so that she can continue sailing with us!”

[name] grinned, liking the idea. he could tell from the looks on their faces, they were recounting all the good memories they made with and on merry. and he hadn’t been on merry for a super long time, in comparison with the others, but he felt himself smiling as he thought of how important she was to the crew.

a ship that could sail into the sky and come back down wasn’t any ordinary ship. merry was perfect for the strawhats and all their crazy adventures. repairing her only sounded right.

“the going merry’s great repair! i like it!” usopp said, happily throwing his arm around [name]’s shoulder and rocking the two of them back and forth. [name] smiled, cheering to the idea in agreement.

“anything to get her to be brand new, i’m sure she was even more beautiful when you guys first got her,” [name] grinned, “as everyone says — money can indeed fix everything,”

“[name]’s absolutely right,” nami chimed in, beris in her eyes as she thought of what she could spend her portion of the gold on when the time comes.

“here, eat up. they took all of our food, but not the stuff that was in the fridge,” sanji interjected, placing a large plate full of the crew’s personal favorites in front of them. at the sight of a small section of the plate dedicated for [name], he lit up immediately and dug in. suddenly, as he was chewing his food, he felt sanji put a heavy hand on the top of his head. “sorry to tell you this, shit for brains, but they stole all of our coffee beans,”

[name] frowned, cursing the marines in his head and adding that action onto the list of reasons as to why he hated them. but, seeing as what’s done is done, all he could do was sit there and grumble. he also forced sanji to take a seat next to him after he was done catering to the crew. he easily yanked the cigarette that was resting in his mouth out and stomping it out. then he pressed his share of the food against the chef’s lips.

“eat,” he simply commanded, rolling his eyes at the familiar stubborn look on sanji’s face. “eat.” and he didn’t pull away the food until sanji took a hesitant bite, smiling at the sight of the chef eating.

after settling on what they were going to spend their gold on, they had to figure out how they would get the gold back and where it would be hidden. with a simple observation from robin, they were able to deduce where the gold would be (a multi-lock vault that was deep within the fortress) whilst usopp got prepared on how to prevent merry from being stolen again.

he called for the crew’s help in giving merry a makeover, which lasted until the late night. they worked tirelessly, [name] and luffy sometimes goofing around with the buckets of paint. but, at the end of their hard work, it turned out to be a solid plan since she was almost unrecognizable. she now was masked by a bunch of wood and paper to look like a marine warship. but the illusion only lasted from afar.

chopper, who’s fur was covered with some splotches of paint — courtesy of [name] and him playing around, looked amazed at the transformation and eagerly asked when they would set their plan into motion.

usopp broke down the plan of action with ease, but unfortunately did not include either [name] or chopper in it. there were going to be two teams: the gold retrieval team and the waver retrieval team. zoro, usopp, robin, and zoro were in the former whilst nami and sanji were in the latter.

“chopper — someone needs to watch the ship and be on stand by for whichever group comes back first. [name] — you’re too well known amongst the navy, if they really catch sight of you, they might just be too focused on capturing you.” usopp explained, but it only made chopper more disappointed hearing the reason.

“aw, you care about me that much?” [name] teased, batting his lashes at usopp.

“eh, no, it’s more like, if they’re focused on capturing you, they’re focused on capturing us which could turn this whole mission into unsuccessful really fast. at least if you’re not there, they won’t be in a particular rush in killing us on the spot!”

“oi.”

“usopp is partially right, too much attention focused on you could ruin the whole sneaky part of the plan. once we get that gold, we’re gonna be under the spotlight, but until then we need to remain overt,”

“oh, so you’re bringing luffy for an overt mission,” [name] reiterated with an unimpressed look on his face.

“his abilities of being an idiot, and rubber, could prove useful in escaping,” nami said with a wave of her hand.

without arguing more about it for the sake of time, everyone split up and left chopper and [name] on merry on their own.

“i should make some more medicine!” chopper announced, trying to find something to fill his time. “at least i’m not here alone like last time, i’m glad that you’re with me, [name]!”

“i’m glad i’m with you too, chopper,” [name] grinned, “also could you imagine if they ambush us — they’re gonna have to deal with the two of us as the protectors of merry! they’re gonna be so screwed!”

“so screwed!” chopper repeated, an uncanny evil laugh escaping his lips as he proudly stood atop the deck with his hooves on his hips.

“they’ll be put to death on the spot!”

“put to death!” chopper mimicked, holding his arms up in a karate motion as he chopped the air threateningly.

“man, i’m bored already…” [name] sighed, the liveliness of his voice going away almost immediately.

“me too…” chopper joined in, slouching onto [name]’s lap with a dejected look on his face. [name] pet his fur gently, smiling at the youngest strawhat with a fond look in his eyes.

“it’ll be alright, time will pass by faster than you think,” [name] comforted, “until then, how about we play a game?”

“a game? what kind of game?”

“have you ever heard of…chopsticks?!”

when nami and sanji were the first to return, they saw chopper and [name] sitting face to face with one another with a pissed off look on both of their faces.

“i have hooves, how on earth am i supposed to win at this game?!”

“you’re the smart one, you should have come up with a strategy, chopper!!”

“there’s no strategy that would make me win when i’m at a clear disadvantage!”

“well, that’s not my fault then, that’s nature’s fault! don’t blame me!”

“you bastard!”

“raccoon dog!!”

“oi!! what the hell are you two fighting about so loudly?!” nami shouted from her waver, “have the others not come back yet?!”

“no, they haven’t, you two are the first,” [name] replied, walking over to the edge of the ship, throwing a glare over his shoulder at chopper, “and to answer your question from before: chopper is being a sore loser in this game we were playing, can you believe it?”

“hey!!”

“i actually could care less,” nami sighed, waving her hand, “sanji stay with these two, i have a plan in mind, but i need you to stay here.”

“oh, but—”

“no buts, stay here and wait for the others while i do what i need to do!”

“okay, nami-san!!”

sanji jumped on board with nami riding her waver far, far aaway. [name] came running over to him with a devilish look on his face, “wanna play chopsticks?”

when the gold retrieval group came back to merry, usopp quickly informed them of the new plan. nami and luffy went to find the gold themselves, since the vault that they went to investigate came out to be empty. the others of the group were sent back to merry to prepare it for their escape.

upon nami’s request, they were told to set it out to sea and wait for their arrival with the gold. they seemed confident in its location this time, which made the rest of the crew breathe a sigh of relief that their struggles at the marine base might finally be over.

“it was fun to pretend for a while,” [name] sighed, kicking his feeet up against the railing as he laid on his back on deck.

“what do you mean, [name]?” robin asked, “were you perhaps in disguise too?”

a flash of anger could be seen on usopp’s face as he remembered the events that played out between him and robin inside the base.

“a little bit, i tricked a newbie marine into giving me all the information i needed by saying i was some high ranking commander. he was definitely new to the whole thing because he didn’t even question me that much, just answered all my questions like a good little boy,” [name] said, fondly rememvering the nervous wreck that was named renegen. “who knows, maybe i’ll stick it to him one more time before we go,”

“do you just enjoy tormenting innocent people?” robin asked, finding the giddiness of [name]’s behavior interesting.

“no marine is an innocent person,” [name] shrugged, “besides, me and him are bestest of friends, he just doesn’t know it,”

“imagine his shock when he finds out you’re the wanted cursed orphan, though,”

“he probably screamed in anger since he seemed to hate pirates so much,” [name] laughed, imagining the man’s face, “i wish i’d been there to see it,”

“oh, hold on guys! i see them! they’re coming towards us … and they have the gold!!” usopp announced from his bird’s eyes view.

“perfect, let’s get sailing away and merry fixed up then!” [name] said, jumping onto his feet and ready to follow nami’s orders.

the two made it onto merry with little to no problems, safely storing away the gold and the waver before joining the others on deck. nami wasted no time in commanding them to escape, enjoying the way their escape route was plainly laid out for them.

[name] was about to rejoice before he felt that something was terribly wrong. he held onto his stomach, running over to the side of the ship and puking his guts out. chopper, the overly concerned doctor, thought that there was something wrong with the way [name] healed from skypiea, but in reality it was just his body reacting to the water around them.

“nami, there’s something wrong!” he wheezed, holding onto his stomach as he felt like he was going to be sick again, “the currents up ahead…it’s like they’re-” he cut hismelf off with another bout of puking.

nami took his warning seriously, thankfully, and ran ahead to the front of the ship. seeing that the below waters were completely out of control, she looked up in fear.

“we’re about to be stuck in a couple of seconds, goddamit!!” she clutched her hair in worry, “the water is sinking back because it’s about to be low tide too, the bottom of merry is going to encounter some really jagged rocks!”

“what?! what?! what do you mean?!” usopp parroted, looking extremely worried when it came to merry’s condition.

“it means that there are rocks at the bottom of this lake and they’re all about to be exposed since the water is treading back,” [name] replied, standing upright and standing at the front of the ship with nami, “this is really bad. everyone, brace for impact!!!”

they did as told and then merry was sent into an impromptu rollercoaster ride. she shook back and forth, making the crew move with her until she came to an abrupt stop. inspecting the bottom of the ship immediately, they saw hat she was in terrible shape.

“ha, how much gold is it gonna take to fix all that?” [name] said, kicking the broken wooden pieces aside with a sad look on his face, “poor merry, don’t worry girl, we’re gonna get you back to being brand new soon!”

“well, now that we’re stuck here in the enemies perfect line of sight for blowing up, what should be our next plan of action?” usopp, the ever optimistic individual, asked in exasperation.

“i could bring back the tide, but i doubt that’d be helpful with how many holes are the bottom of merry. we’d just sink.” [name] suggested with a frown. nami went over and pinched his earlobe, bringing him down to her height.

“why didn’t you bring back the tide when it was receeding, idiot?”

“do you know how much effort it is to command sea water — nevermind commanding seawater against its natural current of sea water-”

“is that not what you do when you-”

“there’s no point arguing now, let’s just think about how to escape,” robin said, breaking up the two like the responsible individual she is, “especially with all of them watching now. our escape has to be quick and sure or else we’ll really die,”

as robin said that, the lines from the mountain range surrounding them all turned on and pointed at merry. it was obvious all soldiers were on standby for a quick command to blow the ship up, but for some reason the commander was withholding said command.

he announced to the crew that he wouldn’t have any qualms with allowing the rest of the crew to walk away scot-free, save for [name], luffy, and zoro, who had active bounties on their heads.

but, obviously, surrender wasn’t even an option. luffy wouldn’t allow it, zoro would definitely fight against it, and [name] laughed in the face of it.

so the crew retreated inside and began theorizing plans. with the help of usopp’s impact dial, it was possible that they could have an chance of escaping. but when they realized that there was no point in setting it off if they were just going to crash straight back down.

“if only we had that octopus,” they all moaned in disappointment.

“oh, luffy, you told me you hid it in your pants, do you still have it?” [name] asked, looking to his right and at the grinning captain.

“i have it!”

“oh, he says he has it.”

“he has it then.”

“he damn has it.”

“so, he has it.”

“perfect, he has it!”

“he has it?”

“yeah, i have it!”

cue everyone looking at luffy as if he were crazy, but they were quick in realizing that, for as weird as it was for luffy to hold onto it (in his pants of all places-), it was a situation to be thankful for.

“and if we mix the breath dial with the flame dial, we will be able to inflate him and make him fly!”

“so you do have a working brain,” zoro teased, pressing his finger into [name]’s forehead, where it was very swiftly swatted away.

“so, the plan is we use the impact dial to set us up in the air, robin uses her powers to stretch it out to be across the ship and down the underside, then we use the dials to inflate it…the question is, who is going to shoot the impact dial?” usopp asked, looking around with a scared look on his face.

scared since he saw all the looks everyone else was giving him. grins and stars in their eyes as they knew they were going to be unscathed from handling the dial and that usopp was definitely going to be the one pressing it.

“how about you, [name]? wouldn’t you help your poor crewmate out?”

“usopp, have more faith, you can do it!”

with that weak cheer encouraging him, usopp accepted his fate and everyone got in position to prepare their escape. luffy, zoro, sanji, [name], and usopp were all down at the bottom of the ship with the impact dial. nami and robin were on standby with the still deflated octopus. chopper was in the crow’s nest acting as lookout.

and now all that was left was to execute.

with a quick countdown, to prevent usopp from chickening out last second, they pressed the impact dial down onto the bottom of the lake and shot the merry upwards.

[name] took the brunt of everyone’s weight falling onto him, but didn’t think it as anything hard to handle as he easily shoved everyone off of him.

“did it work?!”

”hold on!” nami called back, before she was ordering robin to spread the octopus out with her devil fruit. after that was done, they were able to blow the air and flame dial upward into the octopus as if he were a hot air balloon.

“c’mon, usopp, one more,” [name] grinned, “i know you got it in you!”

“i really don’t!” usopp groaned, clutching his hand in pain.

“we’ll be here to support you, usopp-sama!” zoro egged on, carrying the man’s frail body to the same slot they were positioned at before and preparing for the impact dial to be set off.

“you’ll feast like a king after this, usopp-sama,” sanji added on, smirking as he got ready and braced for impact.

[name] hugged the sniper’s waist, grinning as he rested his chin on his shoulder, “on the count of 3?”

“3 . . . 2 . . . 1 ! impact!!”

and merry was sent soaring once more, the four being sent flying backwards at the impact. they quickly scrambled up onto the deck to see if it worked, cheering in glee when they saw the view of the ocean beneath them.

their plan worked, the gold was back on board and all of the crew came out of the marine base relatively unharmed.

“perfect,” [name] breathed out, looking back at the base with a grin, “suck it, shit marines. i win again!”

“quit your babbling, idiot,” zoro sighed, covering his ear with one hand.

“oh, zoro, did you miss me while we were seperated,” [name] teased, latching himself onto zoro with a pout on his face. “it’s okay to be honest to what your heart is telling you,”

“my heart is telling me to kill you, so fuck off,”

“zoro, you’re playing so hard to get. keep up this attitude and i’ll lose interest~”

“lose interest faster so i can finally get you off of my back, you fucker,”

“what a way with words, zoro, i could just eat you up!”

“oi.”

inside the g8 marine base, a certain recruit clutched a certain wanted poster in his hands with his head hanging low. rengen looked at the face of the poster once more before hiding his blushing red face behind his hand.

“idiot,” he murmured to himself, crumpling the wanted poster up and throwing it to the random corner in his room, “idiot, idiot!”

he threw himself onto his pillow, but it didn’t do much in hiding his crimson red ears that clearly showed that he was still blushing. he himself didn’t know if he was calling himself an idiot or if he was accusing the man on the wanted poster for being an idiot.

either way, [name] — the cursed orphan with a bounty on his head of two-hundred fifty million beri a, new recruit of the strawhat pirates — was the reason he was a blushing, cursing mess.

fortunately, the man himself didn’t know that so his ego didn’t get boosted up even further.

『 prev 』 ˗ˏˋ꒰ 🌊 ꒱ 『 next 』

taglist (lmk if u want to be tagged ! <3 :

@skullr0se, @strawberrii-tea @triangulartriangles @anotherlovefool @violentlynerdy @sinmp , @3v37773, @taru-nami @disc0dild0s @boredwithlifeatthispoint , @kaulitzer , @notplutos, @cheetosins @whotdefak @lcst-at5ea @zforgottensniper, @lunarapple , @softi-911 , @softhanyu @coca-cola-fiend @chibiduck

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sanjisboyfie · 1 year ago

Text

✘ keep safe : ⁶⁶⁶special ✘

link to original story these one shots/headcanons are based off of <3

a/n : some of the straw hats have longer one shots with [name], sorry </3 it's just some of them i was much more inspired to play around with than others, but I STILL LOVE ALL OF THEM PLEASE. i think it just proves i can flesh out and deepen the relationships [name] has with each straw hat some more!!! which i plan to do in the future :D anyway, this is sosososo late considering we are at 700+ hearts??? help i have no idea how or why there are so many people that are invest3ed in this silly story, but i really want to say thank you. i have been gone for so long and i know i've probably lost a lot of my original support, which i understand, but to those that stuck around: i really hope to not disappoint you in the future. i am so grateful to everyone that has showed me support - on so many different platforms too T.T THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE and i hope you enjoy

lmk which one you enjoyed the most too !!! i would love to hear any feedback and any comments you guys have <3 love u all sooo much thank u for reading :)

+ there are some lore drops in here too so make sure to read carefully hehe!!! consider it an apology from me LMAO for my terribly extended disappearance.

wc : 17k+ ... strap in ..

monkey d. luffy - piel canela by los panchos

"que se quede el infinito sin estrellas, o que pierda el ancho mar su immensidad, pero el negro de tu ojos que no muera. y el canela de tu piela se quede iguel. si perdiera el arco iris su belleza, y las flores su perfume y su color, no seria tan immense mi tristeza comon aquella de quedarme sin tu amor. me importas tu, y tu, y tu, y solamente tu, y tu, y tu. me importas tu, y tu, y tu, y nadie mas que tu." // "may the infinite be left without stars, or may the whole wide sea lose its immenseness. but may the blackness of your eyes never die. and may the cinnamon of your skin stay the same. if the rainbows were to lose its beauty, and the flower their perfume and their color. my sadness wouldn’t be as immense as that from being left without you love. what matters to me is you, and you, and you. and only you, and you, and you. what matters to me is you, and you, and you, and no one else, but you"

[name] would do anything to ensure that a smile stayed on luffy’s lips.

the unthinkable things he would never say out loud in fear of scaring people away, that he would do to make luffy happy. the unimaginable pain he would bring onto others if it meant that luffy’s joy and dreams were protected.

he would do anything for luffy.

the entire world could collapse around the two them, but [name] would only be looking into luffy’s wonderous brown eyes the whole time. there was a different sense of adoration that [name] held for luffy, one unseen by many and unknown by more. in fact, the only person in the world that could begin to comprehend how serious [name] was in ensuring luffy’s happiness could be ace.

a part of that reason was because of how ace had seen first hand what [name] was willing to do in order to protect those he loved, and the man with h/c hair definitely did love luffy. and secondly, it was because a part of that ideology in [name] lived in ace. wholeheartedly, the two men would do anything in a heartbeat for luffy.

as [name] woke up, he was greeted by luffy’s scent surrounding him. and yes, it was a pleasant scent. ever since [name] joined the crew, luffy and him would bathe together, so [name] was making sure that the man was smelling clean and fresh every night before bed. which is why the smell of the sun that luffy usually radiated was wiped away and replaced with his natural smell (which, ironically, still held a tinge of the sun).

the natural smell that radiated from his captain could only be explained as mimicking the smell of meat, but also, a certain amount of sweetness. and, genuinely [name] hated sweets, but when it was something that naturally came from luffy, he couldn’t bring himself to so vehemently hate it as much as he usually does.

he smiles to himself as he imagines the reason why luffy has a hint of sweetness to his scent is because of his natural instinct of being a kind person. he sighs in content, wrapping his strong arms around luffy’s waist and basking in his presence. he had waited years to be able to do this, just hold luffy again, so each time he could, he never failed to hold him close and hard. to ground himself in reminding himself that luffy was truly with him and wasn’t going anywhere.

as he was shamelessly cuddling into luffy’s side, the man “trapped” in his arms subconsciously welcomed the affection. since he was still sleeping, luffy wasn’t truly aware of his own actions. his arms and legs were moving on their own, wrapping several times over around [name]’s waist and legs to bring him impossibly closer.

as [name]’s chin rested on top of luffy’s messy raven hair, he smiled at the feeling and squeezed luffy back.

this only made luffy smile in his sleep and cuddle closer to his favorite person.

and it was the quiet moments like these where [name] really does come to terms that he would do anything, genuinely anything, to keep luffy safe and happy.

it was a quiet morning, surprisingly. ace was still snoring away in the corner and luffy’s head was resting soundly on [name]’s lap. a bandaged hand was going through his black hair and a soft tune was audibly coming from the man.

“hnnggg, [name] it’s too bright,” luffy whined, cuddling his face into [name]’s thighs to hide away from the sunlight that was seeping into the treehouse.

“that’s called the sun, luffy,” [name] grinned, lightly pinching the rubber man’s cheek. he only whined louder, hugging [name] so tight the man’s air was practically cut off.

“we should go fishing today,” luffy suggested out of nowhere, eyes still closed. “since you’re still healing, i can do all the fishing and you can watch,”

“i don’t know if i wanna spend my morning watching you fish, luffy,” [name] joked, making luffy childishly whine about how mean he was being. “should we go now? so when ace wakes up, he has some food,”

“but i’m tired…” luffy breathed out, shuffling to prop himself up on his palms to properly face [name], “let’s be sure to leave quietly so he doesn’t wake up,”

and suddenly luffy was standing up and full of energy, even though he just claimed how tired he was.

the supplies were gathered and they both jumped from the treehouse to the ground with ease. the moment they began walking to the stream, luffy was draped over [name]’s back and cuddling into him.

“ace always hogs you, y’know,” luffy commented, his eyebrows furrowed in displeasure. “it’s not fair when i was your friend first,”

[name] chuckled at luffy’s words, finding them both endearing and funny.

“it feels like such a long time ago,” [name] said fondly, throwing an arm around luffy’s frame and holding him close. with their difference in size, it was easy to keep luffy so near to him.

“hm, i guess, but i remember it,”

“then i’ll take your word for it. maybe you should bring it up to ace when we see him,” luffy hummed with his head held high, seemingly very determined to seriously put ace in his place over such a trivial matter.

as they were walking through the forest, [name]’s eyes caught a glimpse of something big and shiny resting on a tree trunk. it clicked immediately what it was and he, unfortunately, had to detach himself from luffy.

the younger one whined, but then he also saw what it was that caught [name]’s eyes. and only then did he let out a yell of happiness. he began shaking [name]’s arm back and forth, a wide grin on his face.

and in unison, the two boys exclaimed, “a hercules!!!”

luffy clapped his hands as his eyes sparkled and turned into stars. and seeing such a joyous expression on his face, [name] didn’t hesitate in handing over the beetle to luffy.

“hold onto him lu, we can bring him with us on our adventure,” he spoke softly, smiling at the way luffy’s smile only stretched further.

“he’s so cool, [name]! look at his horn!” luffy exclaimed, placing his hand into [name]’s awaiting one and not wasting a second before swinging their arms back and forth, “he’s so cool, thanks for giving him to me!”

despite [name] never allowing luffy to “claim” the bug that he had found, he wasn’t going to object. seeing how happy it made luffy was enough to make him give up on any possible objections that he could have had.

it had been a couple hours since [name] properly woke up, leaving luffy a slumbering mess in their hammock.

now to fill his time, [name] was watching the ocean sway and move with a bored look on his face. sometimes, if he were bored, he’d force the waves to move to his liking, but then he’d stop to not be caught by nami and her fury.

but one can only stare at the ocean for so long. just as he was about to go find another distraction, a figure came crashing into his back and knocking the air out of his lungs.

”[name]!! what are you doing?’ luffy’s drawled out voice spoke, practically whining into [name]’s skin. “you left me all alone,”

“i did not, i made sure zoro was nearby for you to cuddle,” [name] smiled, turning his head and feeling his smile grow wider when luffy’s face pressed closer and closer to his own.

“blegh, i don’t like cuddling with zoro, he smells,”

“i know, maybe we should force him into bath time with us, lu,” [name] hummed, still not breaking eye contact.

luffy’s deep, dark eyes were so captivating that it was hard to look away. [name] only found himself surveying the rest of luffy’s features. his beautifully tanned complexion that could only be describe as sun-kissed. his dark hair that was oh-so slightly wavy, but for the most part just spikey in all the most random directions. the small, barely noticeable freckles that adorned the high points of his face, credit to the sun exposure he’s gotten over their journey.

[name] smiled, leaning forward and pressing his forehead against luffy’s. the captain, finding the action fun, grinned and leaned further into [name], giggling to himself.

luffy, [name]’s beautiful boy.

innocently unaware of the hold he had over [name]’s heart, morals, actions, ideology. everything. luffy had complete control over it. and instead of abusing it, he remained painfully oblivious.

unaware that with a simple command, [name] would do anything luffy wished.

luffy, the sun-kissed boy, that had captivated the man who related to the moon. an unlikely pair, from an outsider perspective.

without hesitation, [name] leaned in and gently pecked luffy’s nose. this made the younger one crinkle his face in surprise before breaking out into laughter, the signature laugh of his.

“hehe, what was that for?” luffy asked, making sure that their foreheads were still connected.

“dunno,” [name] dumbly answered, grinning as he saw the way luffy pouted at that response. “just felt like it,”

luffy hummed in understanding. then he grabbed both of [name]’s cheeks, pulled him in, and placed a wet, sloppy kiss onto both of his cheeks. [name] grimaced at the uncomfortable sensation, but the grimace was wiped off of his face in an instant when he saw how happy luffy was.

the two started quietly giggling before it turned into outright howling laughter. they didn’t know why they were laughing, honestly, but [name] felt that silence existing when luffy was near wasn’t an appropriate environment. so he started laughing, as did luffy, and now here they were rolling back and forth on deck in each others’ arms, laughing so loud the other strawhats woke up.

“hm, no, luffy, pay attention,” [name] sternly said, holding onto luffy’s hand to squeeze. the action was supposed to trigger luffy into becoming serious, but the future captain still had that childish grin on his face. “this mean “i am” and the black space is where you put your name, m’kay? and you write your name like this — like we practiced earlier!”

luffy simply kept his hold on [name]’s hand tight as he mindlessly nodded along. affectionately, the older one’s thumbs ran up and down the backside of luffy’s hand, encouraging him to try writing it out himself. and it seemed to work as luffy turned serious.

”then you have to write it in this stroke,” [name] said, taking his other hand to hold onto luffy’s and guide him in the proper way of writing. luffy’s tongue was poking out of the corner of his lips and he was deeply concentrated on getting it right. white paper sheets that had previous attempts were scattered around their room, showing how determined luffy was in getting this right.

he recognized how hard [name] was teaching him and he really didn’t want to mess up all the effort he was putting into their lesson. that’s what motivated luffy to try again and again.

“wow! that doesn’t look half bad,” [name] hummed, bringing the paper up and examining it, “you’re getting better each time, lu,”

“i did good?” luffy asked, dropping the inky pen and jumping onto [name], tilting his head into the man’s neck.

[name] chuckled at the blatant need for praise from the boy, but nodded his head in agreement, “very good, lu, you’re making me really proud!” the childish one cheered and rocked the two back and forth to show his happiness at the news. [name] held onto him tight so that they wouldn’t crash onto the floor, laughing along with him.

“should we show ace your hard work?” [name] suggested, grabbing the paper tight in his hands. luffy hummed in agreement, seeing it as a chance to show off to his older brother, and [name] carried the boy on his back to find ace.

in the crow’s nest of merry, [name] had his hands carded through luffy’s dark hair. he would occasionally massage his scalp, smiling when luffy would practically purr in glee at the soft sensation. in the midst of the sunset, the light was hitting luffy so beautifully he was practically glowing.

to know that someone as kindhearted and beautiful as luffy existed made [name] smile.

luffy was busy watching the sunset, he wasn’t all too focused on how [name] was taking in every little detail of his face.

[name] could see every detail so clearly. the freckles that were so small they were only visible when the sun was shining on them, scattered around his eyes, nose and cheeks. they looked like flecks of a paintbrush’s brown paint. how luffy’s eyes were so dark, but still managed to sparkle and look as if though stars were living right in his eyes. they were so cute when they were blown wide in excitement, too, [name] had noticed that since him and luffy were kids.

how luffy’s eyes would widen and you’d see visibly how excited he was about something. it made [name] smile even wider. or, how naturally luffy’s lips were always resting in a small grin and how there was the tiniest mole on the bottom of his lip and how it would stretch along with him whenever he smiled.

how there was no blemish in sight on luffy’s skin and he was practically flawless. [name] hands moved from luffy’s hair and down to his waist, hugging him tight. he ducked his head into luffy’s neck, innocently blowing a raspberry into his skin, making luffy’s giggles fill the air.

“hey! what was that for?” luffy questioned, not at all angry, but instead feeling delighted at the affection.

“just wanted to,” [name] smiled, holding luffy still and continuing to hug him tight in his lap. “luffy, promise me something,”

“anything!” luffy grinned.

“never change, okay? i want you to stay like this forever,” [name] said, a selfish feeling blooming in his chest. luffy frowned, pouting as he thought.

truthfully, luffy was also a really selfish individual who, contrary to what people think, is incredibly self-aware. in the sense, he knows who he is and knows what he wants and how he wants to achieve his dreams. he’s actually a very simple man — he wants to be the pirate king and won’t let anything stop him. and he likes to think that’s one of his strongest suits, his determination and unwillingness to shift positions on what he has his mind set on.

that’s what made [name]’s words were so conflicting to him. because what if he does end up changing because he has to? but also, he cherishes [name] above everything else. he puts [name] on such a high pedestal that there’s never a chance he would willingly say no to him.

“are you gonna hate me if i change?”

“of course not, lu,” [name] said immediately, running one hand up to caress luffy’s cheek, “could never hate you. i just love you so much like this — the sweetest boy i know,”

“hehe, then i’ll stay like this forever if that means you’ll love me the same!”

[name] grinned, planting a kiss on luffy’s cheek and nodding, “you’re the best, luffy,”

“that’s right, i am! the king of pirates can’t be anything else but!”

[name] and luffy laughed to themselves, both looking on at the sun that was setting over the horizon and basking in its rays. well, [name] was too enamored with the warmth and energy that luffy was radiating to really focus on the sun, but luffy was paying attention to it.

the sun watching the sun, [name] thought with a grin, laughing at the funny parallel.

that really does make him the moon, eagerly chasing after luffy. always.

roronoa zoro - frisky by dominic fike

“we’re drunk in these fancy places, i help you navigate cause nobody around you makes aneffort and i wanna make an effort. what in the world is gonna make you listen? i got a bottle for two and i feel a lil’ frisky! what in the world is gonna make you listen? // don’t be so messy headed, you’ll have your revelation. you’re heavy handed cause you hold it all. step outside, but not to brawl. and, watch you feet — try not to fall. or we’ll make it to the moon all scraped and bruised up”

the moon was shining brightly down on the island the strawhats were docked at. each crew member was doing their own thing, for nami it was seeing the different shops that were scattered around the island, for usopp it was to see what type of unique trinkets the people created, and sanji was busy trying to woo whichever women stepped into his eye sight. and the most energetic, luffy and chopper, were entertaining themselves around the island, leaving some sort of chaotic mess behind them.

the only ones who were holding off on letting loose were zoro and [name]. they were assigned to babysit merry while the others were free to roam around and neither complained when they were appointed the responsibility.

the two were the only ones left on merry, zoro secluded near the railing and seemingly watching the ocean with his swords not far away. [name] was roaming around looking for the green-head, holding a bottle of rum he had found in his hand.

and when he finally caught sight of him, he grinned ear to ear. he quietly stalked towards the swordsman, announcing his presence with a soft, but loud, “boo!” and grabbing each of zoro’s shoulders to shake gently. the goal was to obviously scare him, but zoro only rolled his eyes at [name]’s childish antics.

“really? your loud ass breathing gave you away,” zoro said, a smirk on his face as he easily insulted [name].

the man only rolled his eyes and took a seat beside zoro, placing the bottle down, “come on, let’s get drunk!”

zoro quirked his eyebrow up at the remark, but didn’t bother fighting the urge to take a long swig. and when the bottle was pulled away from his lips, he placed it back down, “you don’t drink,” he easily said, watching with interest as [name] took the bottle.

“i don’t, but this could be a good bonding moment between us,”

zoro scoffed at the excuse, cracking a grin as he saw [name]’s face scrunch up in disgust at the taste of alcohol, “for someone that loves bitter things, i would’ve thought you’d have loved the taste of some booze,”

“blegh,” [name] groaned, sticking his tongue out, “hell no. this shit is so nasty,”

zoro took another sip, “so why even?”

“bonding, of course,” [name] grinned, demeanor flipping in an instant.

“why do we need to this bonding? it’s stupid,” zoro remarked, looking at the bottle with a blank look on his face.

“zoro, quit complaining. nothing’s wrong with me bringing a bottle for two, shouldn’t you be happy you’re drinking booze anyway,”

“i could easily do this by myself, dipshit,”

“bottle for two, marimo,” [name] said, flicking zoro’s forehead, “don’t be so pissy.”

“fine, but don’t you get all whiny on me when you keep sipping this knowing you’ll hate it,”

“oh, shut up, zoro,” [name] said, taking another swig and immediately sticking his tongue out in disgust.

by the time the bottle was halfway done, zoro drinking most of it, [name] was feeling rather tipsy. his face felt hot and he was slouching and swaying in all sorts of directions, despite being in a sitting position. and of course, zoro was holding up just fine and normal.

“zoro,” [name] whined, making the green-haired man click his tongue in annoyance. this is exactly what he was dreading. the possibility of [name] being unable to hold his liquor well and having to babysit the man’s drunken state.

“no,” zoro grunted, already getting up to walk away from the mess of a man that [name] was.

“no, you,” [name] said, quickly grabbing ahold of zoro’s ankles and keeping an iron grip on them.

“hey! let go!”

“no, you,”

“what?!”

“hehe.”

“don’t hehe me, you bastard!” zoro bit back, pulling [name] up to his feet by his underarms, cringing at the way [name]’s entire body weight fell onto him. not that he was heavy, but the fact that he was clinging onto him so tight the moment their skin made contact. “i told you not to even bother with this, you idiot. now look, you can’t even stand straight,”

“we should go out,” [name] mumbled, cheek pressed to zoro’s hair. “marimo,” he said in a daze, carding his long fingers through zoro’s short hair, “fuzzy!”

“quit it!’ zoro said, grabbing [name]’s hands in his own and restraining them from wandering anywhere else. “why the fuck did i have to be on here with you, of all people?”

after a couple moments of silence, zoro wondered if [name] did actually fall asleep standing up, or if he was really that offended by his words. the swordsman didn’t know how [name] was drunk so there was a chance he was one of those overly emotional people…

just as he tilted his head up to see [name]’s expression, he was yanked in the opposite direction and was suddenly being dragged elsewhere.

“let’s go!!” [name] cheered, smile evident on his face as he easily used his strength to drag zoro’s entire body weight.

“go where?! and like hell we are going anywhere!!” zoro shouted, kicking his heels into merry to stop his movement, but it was truly no use. [name], despite being drunk, was still really strong.

“see the world!” [name] shouted, jumping off of the side of the railing and bringing zoro with him, “merry, we will be back, don’t go anywhere!” he slurred, waving by to the still ship and skipping ahead.

“hey, hey, hey, don’t drag me into whatever you’re plannin-” zoro’s face was covered with [name] hand as the drunk man shut him up from complaining further. “gthyrhuntuhofame!!”

“you’re so funny, zoro,” [name] giggled, leaning into the man and guiding the both of them to walk forward. well, guide was the wrong word as he was walking as if he had two left feet and swaying the two of them back and forth.

once zoro managed to break free from [name]’s suffocating hand, he screamed, “we are going back to merry, idiot, let’s go!”

“but zoro! we didn’t even get to the main part of town!” [name] complained, kicking his feet into the dirt in protest.

“i don’t give a shit, come on!” zoro grabbed onto [name]’s hand without thinking twice and started dragging him back in the direction of merry. unfortunately, [name]’s eyes caught something shining a couple of feet away and changed his trajectory with ease.

noticing that [name]’s hand wasn’t in his and that he wasn’t dragging the man to walk, zoro looked at his straying figure. “where are you going?!”

”it’s the light bug! what are they called? bug light? dragon light? no…light bug…”

“what are you talking about?! get back here,” zoro scrambled to catch up to [name], cursing under his breath as [name] was not listening to him at all.

“dragon…no, light…” [name] was pouting as he tried to remember what the name was before his face lit up and he remembered. and when he did, he made sure to swivel on his feet to face the incoming zoro, grabbing ahold of him and shaking him back and forth, “fire fly! they’re the fireflies! zoro, look at all the fireflies!”

using the hands on both sides of zoro’s face, he maneuvered his head around to look at all the glowing bugs around them. the swordsman obviously did not care and tried breaking free from his grasp immediately.

“yeah, yeah, the light bugs, whatever! let’s go, you big idiot,” zoro said, taking [name]’s wrists in his hands and tugging him again.

“no! fireflies,” [name] scolded, smacking the back of zoro’s head, “fire-fly! fi-re-fl-y!”

“shut the fuck up about the stupid bugs!” zoro screamed, making [name] laugh at his funny expression.

“the marimo is mad.”

“shut the fuck up or i’ll leave you here!”

“oh, but zoro, look the moon is so bright!” [name] stopped walking, jolting zoro’s body to be near his own, a dopey grin on his face, “it’s sooooo big! and bright! like…like, a bowl of milk.”

zoro deadpanned, rolling his eyes at the childish antics he had to deal with, “yeah, a big bowl of milk in the sky, let’s go now.”

“no, i wanna look at it some more,” he plopped down onto the grass, crossing his long legs over one another and gazing up at the sky.

“fine, find your own way back to merry, i’m not looking at the stupid moon with you,” zoro said, dropping the hold he had on [name]’s wrist and beginning to walk away. [name], seemingly unbothered, only began humming a very familiar song and looking up at the sky with a soft smile on his face.

zoro’s eyes narrowed at his lack of complaint of him leaving, enunciating, “you have to go back to merry on your own.”

[name] only continued on humming.

“i’m not gonna tell them how to find you, you need to go back by yourself,”

the same tune was escaping [name]’s sealed lips.

and, for some unexplainable reason, zoro found himself sitting down next to [name] and resting his chin in his palms, a bored and pissed look on his face.

“stupid fucking idiot, can’t just look at the moon from merry, as if it makes a difference where you look at it from,” he said under his breath, flinching when he felt [name]’s breath on the back of his neck. “back up!”

“if you had one wish, what would it be, zoro?”

“for you to back up off of me,”

“no,” [name] said, hugging himself into zoro’s side with a grin on his face, “that’s not a real wish!”

“fine, my wish would be for you to drop dead,”

“how rude~” [name]’s words were slurred as he spoke, showing that the affects of the alcohol were still lasting, “my wish would be for everyone’s dreams to come true. you’ll kill that stupid hawk guy and claim that title as yours, luffy will be the pirate king…and…i forgot everyone elses’…sorry,”

“that’s stupid. you’d waste your one wish on other people?” zoro judged, giving up on trying to get [name]’s heavy torso off of his own body. instead, he leaned back on the palms of his hands and allowed [name] to rest on his shoulder however he liked.

“it’s not a waste if it’s you guys,” [name] yawned, eyes dreary as he looked at the moon. “not a waste, marimo,”

zoro remained silent, looking down at [name]’s head on his chest and sighing. annoying piece of shit, he thought in his head. then he turned his gaze up to the sky and tried to make himself interested in it. he wondered what [name] was seeing that made him so intrigued in it. maybe his drunk self really thought a big bowl of milk was in the sky. zoro’s eyebrows scrunched together as he was deep in thought.

why would [name] waste a wish on something as stupid as that? — instead of his own dreams. it made zoro annoyed and pissed off. selfless bastard, he insulted in his head.

“do you think the moon is a big cheese?”

zoro deadpanned again. what the fuck was wrong with him.

“if the moon was a big cheese, i’d give you a bigggg slice,” [name] grinned, nodding his head in affirmation, “cheese is yummy,”

“mhm,” zoro hummed in a bored tone.

then he felt the weight on his chest grow heavier and the body against his turn limp.

“oi.” he called out, going to shake [name] awake before holding himself back. the man was sleeping with a tired grin on his face, mumbling incoherent phrases about the moon and cheese. zoro was tuning him out as he just thought about how annoying he was being.

zoro sat up, allowing [name]’s body to hit the ground briefly before squatting down and forcing his tall figure onto his back, “he comes all the way out here,” he grunts, balancing the weight on his back and adjusting his grip, “then has the audacity to fall asleep,” he begins walking down through the grassy fields, “all for a stupid milk, cheese moon…i’ll kill him when he wakes up,”

“marimo, cheese,” [name] said in his sleep, making zoro very tempted in whacking him awake and making him walk the rest of the way to merry. but zoro restrained himself and told himself he would just harshly drop [name] onto the deck of merry the second they arrived.

by some miracle, zoro made it back to merry without getting completely lost. and it seemed that despite them abandoning their post over an hour ago, they were still the only ones that were on board. and zoro withheld throwing [name] onto the floor, clicking his tongue in annoyance as he walked to the boy’s dorm.

then he put [name] down into one of the hammocks, sighting in exhaustion of carrying the much taller man.

“marimo, stay,”

“i’m not a fucking dog, you asshole.”

“marimo, sit,”

“oi!!”

“shhh,” [name] put his finger to zoro’s lips, making him shut up, but ultimately only piss zoro off further. “cheese moon,”

“holy fucking shit,” zoro groaned in disbelief, standing up and leaving the room to retrieve a water from the kitchen. surprisingly, the chef was back and moving around the familiar domain as he prepared some dish. “hah? when did you get back?”

“just now, stupid marimo. where’s [name]? don’t tell me you two killed each other?”

“shut up, ero cook,” zoro bit back, going to get a glass and some medication from the cabinet, “the idiot got drunk,”

“[name]? he doesn’t drink,” sanji said, a look of surprise on his face.

“yeah, i know,” zoro said, moving past sanji and getting water from the sink.

”i’ll make him a hangover remedy then,” the chef said easily, rolling his sleeves up without wasting a second.

“you care that much about the idiot?”

“who’s the one getting him medication and water?”

there was silence in the kitchen and zoro stormed out of there with a pissed off look on his face. then he stomped over to the dorms and forced the pill down [name]’s throat, as well as big gulps of water. [name], surprisingly, didn’t complain all that much. only going limp against the hammock once zoro was done. and just as the swordsman was going to leave, [name]’s hand grabbed ahold of his pant leg.

“let go,” zoro commanded, tugging his leg to get [name]’s grip free.

“stay, look at the moon with me, zoro,”

“we’re-” zoro cut himself off, finding the words he wanted to say die in the back of his throat. what he wanted to say was, that there was no moon in sight from the inside of the dormitory.

but just as he was going to, [name]’s hand pointed upward at the ceiling, a blissful smile on his face, “right there,”

now usually, zoro would have said something along the lines of, “you delusional fuck, that’s the wood ceiling,”

but, again, the words died at the back of his throat. instead, he found himself taking a rest in the hammock beside [name]’s and looking at the ceiling.

“yep, the cheese moon is definitely something,” he drawled out, crossing his arms over his chest.

“hehe, thanks, zoro,” [name] smiled, eyes still shut as he was going in and out of sleep, “for drinking with me.”

”yeah, it’s never happening again so cherish this memory,” zoro sarcastically bit back, a mocking look on his face — one that [name] didn’t even see as he was still in a sleepy state.

but even though [name]’s eyes were shut and a blissful look was on his face, zoro was wide awake and left expectingly staring at the other man. and when he caught himself staring, he turned his head to the side immediately and rolled his eyes.

“idiot,” was whispered into the air as he tried to will himself to sleep, body still turned away from [name]’s. “fucking idiot.”

nami - hit different by sza

“man, i get more in love with you each argument. something wrong with me, i like the way you screw your face up, trigger me right when i need it. you wrong, but i can’t get along without you. it’s a shame and i can’t blame myself, keep on loving you. you do it different. all that i know is, mirrors inside of me — they recognize you. please, don’t deny me”

onlookers were watching the two on the street with terrified expressions.

“quit being unreasonable, [name]!”

“but i’m not, nami,” he drawled her name out, a teasing tone evident in his voice.

the townspeople all flinched at his response, finding him courageous for walking such a thin line in front of someone that was so obviously angered.

[ a couple minutes before ]

[name] and nami were exploring the town, walking side by side and paying attention to all the vendors that interested them. [name] already had some shopping bags in his hands, courtesy of nami’s spending habits, but wasn’t complaining at all.

she would drag him every which way and he wouldn’t say a single complaint. he was in a pretty good mood, so he wasn’t going to drag anyone else’s mood down either, even if he didn’t appreciate being treated like a ragdoll of some sort.

“oooh, do you think usopp would like this?” nami asks, pointing to a patterned bandana inside one of the shops, “i want to pay him back for making the climatact for me,”

“i think he likes neutral colors more, though,” he commented, looking over the options and seeing a more earth-toned bandana.

“really? i feel like he likes colorful things more, radiates his energy anyway…” [name] almost cooed at the underlying compliment nami had given the sniper, before a tick mark appeared on her forehead and she sneered, “loud, annoying, and in your face. maybe we shouldn’t even get him anything! he really did screw me over in alabasta with all those flimsy tricks!”

he rubbed up and down her back to calm her down, “it got the job done, though, so it’s alright. let’s get him one of each then, i’ll pay,” she batted her eyelashes at him, her angry demeanor washing away instantly as she purred about how much of a gentleman he was (she just didn’t want to pay and was trying to gas him up so that he would pay for more things on their shopping spree).

“shut up, i see through your tactics, nami,” he said, lightly flicking her forehead before waltzing into the shop and making a beeline straight to the attendant. she waited outside of the store, smiling to herself as she was not paying for the gift herself.

and she wasn’t standing by herself for long, but in the minutes of [name] being gone, a man had approached her. immediately she grimaced at the sight of him, but he only reacted with a smile to the look on her face.

“sorry for bothering you, miss, but i couldn’t help but notice how beautiful you are-”

“not interested,” she sighed, already wondering when [name] would come back.

“i was wondering if you would be interested in going to dinner with me?”

“i already said not interested,” she repeated, tapping her foot in annoyance.

“are you waiting for someone?”

“yeah, i am actually,” she pointed her finger to the store, “he’s buying something for me and a friend right now,”

“his own money, darling? because i can assure you i have more than whatever he has,” in a way of showing off, he had pulled a thick wallet from his pant pocket. now, nami was not at all interested in the man, but rather the thick wad of beri that was resting in his leather wallet.

just as she was about to try out some of her old techniques in snatching the man’s wallet, the sound of the door behind her opening was heard.

“huh? nami, who’s this?” [name] asked, eyes already narrowed as he looked down at the much shorter man. nami elbowed him in the stomach for interrupting her process, looking up at him and sneering in his direction.

“oh, no one, he was just making small talk, weren’t you?” she directed her eyes to the stranger, trying to convey with her expression to go along with what she was saying.

“well, he can make small talk with someone else,” [name] said, cutting off any excuse the stranger would have also made to stay longer. he motioned for them to leave, looking solely at nami so that she could focus on him and not the stranger.

and with his intimidating e/c eyes now looking at her, she almost caved. but then she caught a glimpse of the wallet and remained steadfast. she wished [name] could read her mind so that he would let her do what she needed to do.

“[name], just go back to merry,” she said in a sweet tone, hoping that that would convince him.

but he was stubborn, obviously.

“yeah, man, go back to merry,” the guy chimed in, making nami internally groan at what men would do to stroke their own ego. and of course, now [name] would definitely not go back to merry after that guy told him to.

“oh, isn’t the lil man a bit demanding?” [name] teased, looking at the shorter male and faking a pout, “why the fuck do you think you have the right to tell me what to do?”

“quit being unreasonable, [name],” nami sighed, feeling her anger beginning to

“oh, but i’m not, nami.” the same tone he used on the man was now being used on her and it made her even more annoyed.

“come no, [name] can’t you see-”

“that you want this guy’s wallet? yeah.”

the man flinched at the quick comment, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. but before he could even react, [name] swiped him across the face and caught his wallet before he could even hit the ground. then he grabbed nami’s hand and began running with her away from the commotion he had caused.

“hey! get that guy! he just punched the mayor!”

“that was the mayor?!” [name] shouted out in a slight panic.

“[name]! what the hell!? why couldn’t you just let me handle it?!”

“he was pissing me off!”

“typical man behavior — you’re pissed off so you go punching everything and everyone!”

“i punched one person!”

“yeah and that one person was the mayor!”

“well, i got his wallet, shouldn’t you be rejoicing?!”

“oh yeah, thanks for doing what i could’ve done with ease in such a terrible way that now we are running from the angry townspeople!” nami shouted, pulling on his ear and dragging her down to her height and making them turn a corner to hide from the crowd.

he was leaning down so that his ear wasn’t being completely ripped off, wincing in pain.

“this is why you should’ve just gone to merry, i would’ve had that wallet in under ten minutes without the violence,” nami scolded, turning silent when a crowd of angry civilians ran past them.

[name] only spoke up when he was sure that the coast was clear, freeing himself from nami’s aggressive grip.

“i wanted to punch him in the face anyway, it was a win-win situation!”

“really? you think this is a win-win situation right now?” nami asked, her voice becoming louder with the more annoyed she was getting.

“uhm, yeah, we have the wallet and i got to punch him,” [name] shrugged, a very relaxed look on his face. “shouldn’t you be rejoicing over this right now?”

“ugh, now we have to rush off of this island, or else they’re gonna eventually catch on,” nami thought out loud, ignoring [name]’s question.

“we are pirates anyway nami, they would’ve kicked us off of the island sooner or later,” he said, bringing his arm up to rest on the wall behind her, leaning into it. he peered down at her with a grin, not at all bothered by the state they were in.

nami crossed her hands over her chest and looked to the side as she thought about how they’d even get to merry without attracting the crowd. the island was small and they were bound to bump into some civilian on the way back. noticing how lost in thought she was in, [name] sighed and pinched her side.

this made her snap her head in his direction with a glare, “are you mad at me?” he asked, making her run her hand down his face.

“what do you think, idiot?”

“no?” he wistfully asked, grinning into her palm as he felt her fight the urge to squeeze his face with all her strength.

“just shut up and let me think,” she began to trying to remember where the rest of the crew was. at least this stop was planned to be quick to begin with or else she would be fuming at [name] right now.

“c’mon, don’t be mad at me, nami,” he whined like a kid, only making her more distracted from her rational thinking.

“you’re only making me more mad,” she huffed, finally looking up at him and scowling at the face he was making. he was attempting puppy dog eyes towards her, but she just smooshed his face (again) with her hand and grabbed him by the wrist. “we have to go back and warn everyone,”

“yes, ma’am,” he obediently chimed in, walking with in a pep in step as he followed her.

their walk back included him humming his signature tune as she was trying to calm her anger towards [name] down. but as they walked back, she realized that her anger wasn’t as strong as she would have liked. she wishes that she could make [name] grovel at his feet and beg for forgiveness from her, for causing such a hinderance in their stop at this island, but the more she listened to his humming, the more her anger subsided.

annoying ass, she thought to herself, squeezing his wrist especially hard, knowing that it wouldn’t actually hurt him. he even had the audacity to giggle to himself after she had done that.

when they finally made it back to merry, she ordered him to get ready to set sail while making sure that everyone else was already on board.

“woah, nami, you look extra pissed, what’s going on?” usopp commented, lifting his goggles off of his eyes and putting down the trinket he was fiddling with.

“why don’t you ask that dumbass over there?” she sneered, making usopp shiver at the sheer annoyance in her voice. then he looked at [name], stomped over, and began stretching his cheeks.

“what did you do to make nami so mad?! y’know she’s just gonna get mad at us now!!”

“well, i didn’t make her mad on purpose!” [name] weakly defended, but usopp wasn’t having it. “some guy was being a creep so i punched him,”

nami’s eye twitched at the reminder while usopp’s soul slowly left his body.

”whatever! it doesn’t matter now! usopp, is everyone on board?!” nami said, making the sniper snap out of his stupor to quickly reply back to the enraged nami that everyone was present. “then tell them to get ready to set sail, we’re leaving now. i really don’t want to worry about a marine ship ambushing us…”

“yes, nami!!” he screamed, running off to follow her orders.

after successfully getting away from the island, [name] walked to the tangerine trees that were on top of merry and grabbed a handful from the delicate branches. as far as he knew, nami went to her cartography room to work in peace, but he wanted to extend some sort of apology to her for ruining their stop at the island.

he didn’t think it was all that big of a deal, but he could tell how annoyed she was at him. so he diligently and carefully peeled the skin away from the juicy fruit, throwing them to the garbage, and neatly plating the now naked tangerines on a nice dish.

when he got her door, he gently knocked and entered after a couple of seconds of silence. nami saw that it was him and immediately rolled her eyes, before seeing that he did not come empty handed.

“what is it?” she questioned, crossing her arms over her chest and swiveling her chair to face him. he stood in front of her, smiling gently as he presented the plate to her. she only looked up at him unimpressed.

“i wanted to say sorry, i admit that it was kind of dumb of me to cause a scene back there,” he scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he saw that she was still not impressed, “you were right about the whole thing. it was just annoying seeing his ego get stroked that high,”

she sighed, dropping her glare and grabbing the plate from him to take a slice.

“it’s whatever now, we are already on course to a nearby island where we can properly restock. it’s fine, [name],” she looked back at her sketched out maps, chewing and swallowing the tangerine with a pleasant smile on her face. “you even brought some tangerines, not that that immediately makes you not guilty, but at least you’re actually sorry.”

“of course i am, caused a lot of trouble for us and you,”

she waved her hand, “just forget about it,”

he grinned, taking a seat on the floor and leaning on one of the legs of the table, “we’ll forget about it?” he asked in a giddy tone, happy to be in her good grace’s again.

she hummed in confirmation, popping another slice in her mouth with a carefree grin. he was about to cheer at the fact, but then she cheekily added in, “for the price of 10,000 beri, i’ll even forgive you for the last time you pissed me off.”

he immediately deflated at the twist, “but i don’t even know when that was-”

“ah, ah, that’s not my problem, it’s completely optional if you even wanna pay that debt off — i’ll just add more interest the longer you don’t pay it back,”

“hey, that’s taking it too far,” he whined like a kicked puppy, but she didn’t falter.

“you wanna argue with me again?”

“don’t know it was kind of fun last time,”

“i’ll kick you,”

“that’s sanji’s forte, nami,” he teased, making her slap him upside the head. he only grinned, weakly rubbing the spot, “you love me anyway, you’d never kick me~”

there was a bout of silence and [name] almost snickered in amusement, until he felt the heel of her shoe dig into his thigh. making him yelp in pain instead of giggling.

”whatever helps you sleep at night, [name]~” she said in the same tone that he used, a mocking grin on her face as he writhed in pain.

she wasn’t actually mad at him, she also didn’t even jab her heel into his leg that hard — he was purposely exaggerating to make her laugh some more. she found it endearing, sort of, and simply watched in amusement as he whined about the “never-ending” pain in his leg.

usopp - pressure by the 1975

“you’ve seen so many faces that i’ve never seen before. i left an unrewarding message telling you to come. overdramatic, automatically assume i’ll stay the same. there’s a change in pressure. we’re never gonna lie to you. my broken veins say that if my heart stops beating, we’ll bleed the same way.”

usopp was rather intimidated by [name]. similar to how chopper is, however, usopp had never gotten over this irrational fear and intimidation, yet. but it’s not the fear of “what will [name] do to us? will he betray us?” not that kind of fear. it’s more so the fear of being replaced and the fact that [name] could easily fill his space on the ship and do so much more than usopp could.

that’s what his doubts, worried, and voices in his head say at least. put himself down and uplift [name] in the same sentence. it’s a dangerous combination.

what usopp doesn’t know is that, [name] is rather envious of the sniper. he often watches the man and feels how deeply and dearly he wishes he could live life as usopp does. there is just something so envious about how usopp lives. while the sniper may think that he lives his life in fear and in a cowardice way, [name] thinks the opposite.

usopp is very brave, in his eyes. he thinks that usopp is also really selfless. qualities that [name] wishes he had. even on top of that, there are so many ways [name] wishes he was like usopp.

it’s ironic. how usopp beats himself up and wishes he were more like [name], the man himself wishes he were more like usopp.

“don’t you think your experience out on the sea gives you an advantage?” usopp asks, his eyes blown wide as he had heard [name] sincerely confess his envious emotions to the man. he didn’t believe him. how could he? when something as outlandish as the highly wanted man, figure of power ad intimidating, says to him — usopp — how jealous he is of how he lives. it already sounds like a terrible joke and an even worse lie.

“i guess, but that’s not what i’m talking about,” [name] leans forward and points his finger into usopp’s chest, “i’ve lost my heart, usopp, that’s what i mean.”

usopp blinks a couple of times, trying to process the words, but he can’t seem to understand what [name] means. he was a kind man, [name] has shown this ever since usopp has known him. despite the hostility he faced on board merry when they all first met, there was never an ounce of that being repaid to the rest of the crew. he just took the brash attitude with a smile and nod of his head.

“i don’t think it’s entirely my fault, i guess,” [name] continues on, lifting his finger off of usopp’s chest, “environment shapes a person and all…but there was definitely a line i had crossed on my own a long time ago that makes it so you can’t turn back, y’know?” usopp doesn’t respond because he doesn’t know how to.

“usopp, you’re a kind person, very kind. and i’m jealous of how far that kindness stretches. i can only throw my emotions so far before they snap,” he laughs as if what he had said was funny, but it really was a pitiful action. he didn’t think it was funny how cold and devoid of basic human understanding he has become. he thinks its sad…

and usopp still doesn’t completely understand. if he were in [name]’s position, to be so strong and so capable on his own, he’d be the happiest and most fulfilled man alive. to usopp, the answer to all of his problems is to become stronger and stronger until he is simply the strongest. of course, he sees that as impossible. mainly due to [name]’s existence reminding him that there are stronger people out there.

which is why usopp can’t understand what [name] means.

[name], the strong and feared by many pirate, could easily have the world in the palm of his hands with the amount of power he wields. and by that logic, he should feel like he is the most accomplished man. things like emotion wouldn’t really be the biggest deal, wouldn’t it? not when you have such an influence on the people around you due to your strength, right?

“i don’t understand…” usopp says softly, still trying to really wrap his head around it, “you’re stronger than me, isn’t that more important than whatever quality i have?”

[name] laughs, this time usopp can’t tell where it stems from. pity? genuine moment of happiness? stupor?

“you’d rather be strong instead of kind? i don’t think that’s true, usopp,” [name] says, wiping a tear from his laughter from the corner of his eye, “what i had to do to reach this point, you wouldn’t want that for yourself, even if it makes you strong. i want what you have, though, genuine courage and bravery.”

usopp almost sputtered out a laugh at that, thinking that [name] was just playing a joke on him. but with how serious [name] had become, it was clear that the man was not kidding.

“i think you’re brave, usopp, it makes me jealous. i wish i had as many capabilities that you had,” [name] sighs, resting his cheek in his palm, “it’d make life simpler. i wouldn’t have to worry about such stupid things, the stuff going on up here,” he tapes the side of his temple, “they’d all disappear in a moment’s notice. i think about too much. being strong doesn’t mean all of your problems are solved, y’know?”

“i don’t believe that,” usopp says firmly, shaking his head, “if i were stronger from the get go, many things would have been different. and i don’t mean any metaphorical stuff, no, i mean if i were as physically and mentally capable as you — my life would have changed for the better!”

usopp thinks about his hometown, what he could have done for the people there if he were more mature and strong, like [name] was, if he held himself differently, all that could have changed. to think that [name] would call what strength he had a burden, or insinuate it as one, was kind of annoying. usopp would do anything to be as strong as [name].

“well, if two opposites ends of the spectrum talk about the same thing, there would obviously be differing opinions. but i truly don’t think striving for that physical strength is worth that time and effort of yours, usopp. it’s good to be strong, yeah, but…overdoing it shouldn’t be the goal,” [name] advises, “besides, i think you’re fine as you are right now.”

“but there’s so much i could improve on,” a list sprouts in usopp’s head immediately.

“you are your own worst critic, of course there is so much you think you could improve on. but by focusing so much on that, you’re not highlighting your already existing strengths,” [name] looks disappointed as he speaks, petting his hair down on usopp’s bandana, “instead of trying to mimic or compare yourself to others, your practice should be more self-centered.”

usopp was going to emphasize there was nothing particularly interesting about how he currently was, but something was telling him that [name] wouldn’t allow such a critique to slide in his presence. usopp had never been able to see such a side of [name]. it was stern and strict, kind of intimidating, but there was definitely an undertone of nothing but care in his voice. he genuinely cared about how usopp viewed himself and his “strengths.” it made usopp almost turn into mush.

to think someone as strong as [name] cared about him so deeply. in his mind, someone of his capabilities shouldn’t even worry about him. what’s the saying? no one intentionally steps on bugs, it just happens? whatever, usopp thinks to himself, not being able to come up with the exact phrasing. you get what he means! he just never thought he was capable of even crossing [name]’s mind.

but, as he had just found out, it seems [name] thinks about him quite often. it’s flattering, but usopp reminds himself to not grow an ego out of nothing.

“we stand on equal ground, at the end of the day,” [name] says, a sense of finality in his voice, “we are all here for the same one or two reasons. to see luffy become the pirate king and achieve our own personal goals. that’s what we are all here for, on merry. i feel like we always overlook that simple fact. i tend to forget sometimes, too, but ground yourself, usopp. i understand why you would want to become stronger, i really do…but like i said, you’ll only hurt yourself overdoing it,”

“also, i don’t need you to be the strongest. i just need you to be there for luffy,” [name] added in, not hesitating as he spoke, “luffy doesn’t need the absolute strongest people on his crew, he needs support and his friends. if you’re already doing that, usopp, there really isn’t much else that’s to be expected of you. that goes for all of us.”

and with a firm slap on his shoulder, [name] walks away from the conversation with nothing but hope in how he might’ve been able to change usopp’s point of view. there’s no way of knowing for sure if it was successful.

“don’t need to be the strongest?” usopp thought out loud, looking out at the sea of thinking of his original dream from when he first joined luffy’s ship. he wants to be the bravest warrior on the sea…huh, he never realized it, but the word strongest wasn’t the one he was originally thinking of when he set out to sea.

after talking to [name], in an uncharacteristically serious conversation, it felt as if there was a weight lifted off of usopp’s shoulders. the change in pressure was noticeable and usopp really did feel lighter. he didn’t expect his talk with you to play out this way, but he wasn’t complaining. it was eye opening, but not in the way he imagined. he thought that he was going to get an ugly slap of reality; someone of your prowess going to tell him the hard truth that there was no room for weak people in the world, you were going to have carry his dead weight — something like that. but it never came.

instead you simply comforted him, but still gave him a hard pill to swallow. being strong wasn’t as important as he thought it was. perhaps it was because usopp had thought himself to be weak since he was young and you — granted he didn’t know your situation perfectly, but he could assume you were strong since you were young — who had been so capable since you were young. such different experiences, which si what made him feel so much whiplash after your conversation.

but he’s thankful. because he truly does feel relief in this moment. to know you value him and see him for who he is despite his lack in physical or battle strength. he likes knowing that, enjoys knowing that he is needed despite his flaws. he never knew he’d feel such sentiments from you, but he’s glad he sought out this conversation.

he experienced a significant change in pressure and he was lighter than ever.

sanji - moonlight on the river by mac demarco

“it’s so strange, deciding how i feel about you. it ain’t like, i ain’t used to going on without you. i’m home, with moonlight on the river, saying my goodbyes.”

the sound of a lighter flicking on could be heard echoing on the empty street. sanji’s lips were pursed around his cigarette, holding it steady as his hand was cupped around the end he was trying to light. [name] was too busy watching a family of ducks swim across the river they were walking along to realize that sanji was holding the now lit cigarette for him.

“oh, thanks,” [name] said, taking it into his fingertips and helping himself to the unhealthy treat. he kept it in his fingertips for as long as possible, sadly watching as sanji took it from him after a couple of seconds.

“why’re you always pouting? it’s an annoying look,” sanji grunted, moving the cigarette to the corner of his mouth so he could properly talk.

“cause i want it and you always end up hogging it,”

“well, who’s the one buying them, dipshit,” sanji scowled, taking teh cigarette from his mouth and forcing it into [name]’s, “you and luffy really have that in common, y’know? it’s like you two were born to complain,”

[name] grinned at the mention of luffy before realizing that sanji had just insulted him, making him smack him on the back of his head, “what a polite chef you are!”

“only to the women,” sanji said with pride, a grin on his face.

the two were walking along the river, late at night, just to get a breather from merry. nami had recently complained about the smell of smoke lingering far too long for her liking, so sanji had made it a habit to smoke as often as possible not on board merry. [name] invited himself on these walks, which sanji honestly didn’t mind. the company wasn’t actually that annoying and it was comforting, he guesses.

[name] and him would walk along through the town, making it back to merry in an hour or two and get a good night’s rest. sometimes, they’d even shower at the same time to speed up the process, but that’s a story for another time.

“do you like the taste of it?” sanji asked, breaking the silence. he watched carefully as [name] inhaled and blew out the smoke, the man turning to look at sanji in confusion, “the cigarette - do you like the taste of it?”

“what an odd question,” [name] said with his head slightly tilted.

“you have one of the most sensitive tongues on merry, it was just out of curiosity,” sanji noted, pointing out an obvious fact and why he drew that connection in the first place. this made the other make a sound of realization and nod his head in understanding.

“oh, well, not really? but also i don’t mind it…it’s not the worst thing i’ve ever had,” [name] said with a grin, taking another drag before flicking off the ash that built up at the tip.

“yeah, you and your hatred for sweets is a real pain,” sanji swiped the cigarette, “everyone else likes them and i got to prepare you your own batch,”

sanji didn’t really find it annoying or bothersome, truthfully. if anything, he found it quite exciting. challenging his knowledge on what would be palatable on someone that was picky on stuff like desserts, it was fun. getting to create new recipe and have the perfect tester there to show whether or not the bitter food was good or not.

but sanji would rather drop dead than admit any of that out loud. [name] didn’t need to know all those embarrassing things.

“you never have to, y’know? i can live without those dishes,” [name] said in a carefree manner. that made an angry tick mark appear on sanji’s forehead.

“oh, so your saying that my efforts are wasted? you’re gonna insult me, as a chef, just like that? don’t piss me off,” sanji sneered, covering up his true thoughts with outward hostility instead.

“haha, sorry, sorry,” [name] said waving his hand, obviously not taking sanji’s threats or tone of voice serious as he had a cheerful look on his face.

“why do you hate them so much? i mean, you practically vomited that one time you accidentally ate one,” sanji mumbled, more-so thinking out loud than actually looking for an answer, “luffy even knew about it, and if that idiot knows something is important enough to actually stick, then it must be something you’ve always disliked as a kid,”

there was silence as [name] took the cigarette from sanji and kept a hold on it, “hm, yeah, i guess i’ve always just hated sweets as a kid and i never grew out of it. it just isn’t my cup of tea,” a tight smile was on his face as he explained, “but if that’s the only thing left to eat and i’m starving, i’ll force it down! i also hate wasting food,”

slightly shocked at the confession, sanji peeked a look at [name] from the side, shaking his head in disbelief at how carefree [name] was talking about something so personal, and seemingly, sensitive.

“you won’t go starving anytime soon,” sanji spoke after a couple moments of silence, “somehow you manage to get your fill in with our captain’s big appetite, so i think you’ll really be fine,”

“if you think so,” [name] shrugged, still holding the cigarette between his long fingers. “i just don’t like them at all, the after affects of being hyper and all that, too. i don’t need that type of high-alert energy, y’know?”

the chef supposed he could understand. well, personally, he didn’t mind sweets and definitely wouldn’t turn down a perfectly fine dish simply because it was sweet. but he understands preferences, he was a chef at a restaurant where he got to see all different people walk through the doors.

sanji didn’t mind catering to [name]’s unique tastebuds, as he’s mentioned before.

another bout of silence washed over the two. another cigarette was bumped out of the carton, this time, [name] taking it to light. sanji held the lighter to the tip, watching carefully to see when he could pull away. his head was craned upwards to look at the cigarette hanging off of [name]’s lips.

“what about that tattoo on your back? where’s that from?”

[name] blinked at the question, smiling softly, “you’re awfully talkative tonight,” just as sanji was about to snap at him for saying something like that, he added in, “it’s nice, i like getting to talk on these walks of ours. feels real special.” a cloud of smoke followed his explanation and sanji ducked his head down to hide facial expression.

“i got it a long time ago, just when i was a teenager,” [name] mulled in thought, trying to recall the memory, “i got it a couple islands over from me and luffy’s home. they’re supposed to symbolize freedom…it sounds silly, but i really do believe that wings are what bring us freedom,” [name] looked up at the sky and smiled, “closer to up there is closer to freedom, i guess.”

“what? like some god?”

[name] scoffed, shaking his head, “hell no, just to the ones that watch over us, i guess. those you hold dear that…” his voice trailed off and he cleared his throat to stop himself from saying anymore.

sanji took in his words in silence.

“you get closer to them, you get closer to showing them how much you’ve accomplished. i don’t know, it’s nice to think about, and guides morals, i guess,” sanji remained silent the entire time, looking up at the sky with a conflicted expression.

the moon was shining bright on the both of them, refracting from every surface of the water and lighting up the area around them.

“that’s your idea of freedom?” sanji asked, pointing a lazy finger at the sky.

“i guess, i don’t really know. it could just be that i like the way it sounds,” [name] grinned, feeling mischievous as he spoke.

sanji made a sound that showed he was irked, unable to believe that the man who said something so sentimental was just as childish.

“what about you sanji? your idea of freedom?” [name] asked, taking the cigarette in his fingertips.

“i don’t know, i don’t think about that stuff half as much as you or luffy do,” sanji shrugged, “i don’t think my freedom will be compromised anytime soon, so it’s not something i have to worry about in keeping secure.”

[name] hummed in understanding. more silence before he spoke again, “and what about the ones you care about, what about their freedom?”

“if you’re talking about the crew, that’s a dumb question. do you really doubt everyone that much? think that they can’t protect themselves and their own freedom? their own dreams?” sanji was obviously defensive, an offended look on his face as he surveyed [name].

“no, it’s not like that,” [name] interjected, “you just don’t think about others that much?”

“don’t make it sound like i’m a selfish prick because i’m not,” sanji huffs, getting annoying with [name]’s wording and whatever his intentions were.

“i’m not saying that either. just because you think more about yourself than others doesn’t mean you’re a selfish prick. it was just a question, sanji,” [name] calmly responded, finding no reason to get angry with sanji for his attitude.

the two were capable of having a conversation without yelling directly at each other, shocker.

“it’s good to know what you want, it’s good to think about that — self-reflection or something,” [name] said, as calm as he was before, “it’s good to know how far you’re willing to go, to step up when the time comes. you know what i mean?”

sanji rolled his eyes, finding [name]’s tone aggravating, but decided not to comment on it. instead he snatched his cigarette back, “this type of conversation doesn’t suit a guy like you, it’s way too serious and complex,”

“i’m the one who initiated it, give me some more credit,” [name] whined, slapping sanji’s back as a means of defending himself, “i’m not an idiot.”

“really?” sanji deadpanned, almost laughing at the way [name] glared at him with such venom.

“what?! hey, i was the one trying to have a mature conversation with you and you’re the one who blew up on me, so who’s the more immature one,” [name] called out, pulling the bottom of his eyelid down in a taunting manner.

“i’m not immature, you were just asking some real dumb questions! of course i think about how to protect the crew if the time ever comes, but i don’t ever doubt them! isn’t that obvious? haven’t we sailed together long enough for this to be obvious to you?” sanji questioned, tone sharp as it was now his turn to interrogate [name].

the taller man hummed, “i suppose you’re right, i don’t know why i doubted you.”

“shit for brains,”

“thanks for being so reliable, sanji,” [name] smiled, throwing an arm around sanji’s shoulder with a wide grin on his face, “i know i can trust you. you know that, right?”

“whatever,” sanji said, uncharacteristically quiet as his shoulders and head slumped downward, hiding his facial expressions from [name].

“i mean it! you’re the strongest on merry, of course after me, oh and after luffy…hm, and i guess after zoro!” [name] said that last part in a rush, knowing it’d cause sanji to run after him in a fury. but before he detached himself from sanji’s side, he took the cigarette from him and pushed it to the corner of his mouth.

sanji processed his words, watching as [name] was running off in the direction of merry. then it clicked and he was fuming. his eyebrow became slanted as he pointed a finger at [name]’s running figure, “oi! come back here you dipshit! i’ll kick some manners into you! fucking imbecile!”

[name]’s laughter echoed in the air, along with sanji’s shouts of fury. the trail of smoke coming from the cigarette in the h/c haired man’s mouth disappearing into the night as sanji continued chasing [name] until they arrived on merry.

the blonde watched as [name] jumped onto the ship with easy, throwing the cigarette into the ocean, and teasing him once more by sticking his tongue out. then he was disappearing on deck, probably to the bathroom to shower before bed.

and sanji was breathing heavily as he watched, still on the ground and not on the ship. and he sighed to himself, putting a hand to his chest to calm his breathing. as well as racing heart. the other hand went up to his face, covering half of it as he mentally scolded himself to calm down.

god, [name] really did exhaust the hell out of sanji. in more ways than one.

tony tony chopper - forrest gump by frank ocean

“you run my mind, boy. running on my mind, boy. forrest gump. i know you, forrest. i know you wouldn’t hurt a beetle. but you’re so buff and so strong. i’m nervous, forrest. // forrest green, forrest blues. i’m remembering you. if this is love, i know it’s true. i won’t forget you. it’s for you, forrest. it’s for you forrest. forrest gump.”

chopper idolized [name], to put it very simply. from their first meeting, [name] had made a strong impression on the boy. first off, he knew he was a reindeer and correctly addressed him, which chopper learned would be a rare occurence since people seemed to think he was some sort of raccoon dog…

and ever since that moment, [name] had only shown chopper how strong and capable he was. sometimes, it makes the doctor feel inferior and not an adequate member of the straw hats because of the strength difference, but those feelings were truly rare. because [name] made sure to treat chopper as an equal as well as a friend, not someone beneath him.

chopper was currently lounging on the railway of merry, near the back of the ship and simply enjoying the breeze. it was a nice day outside and the smell of the sea was something he could never get tired of.

“chopper? what’re you doing?” [name] voice made chopper lift his head from the planks and offer a cheesy grin.

“just relaxing,” [name] smiled at the response, plopping down next to chopper and spreading his long limbs out as he sighed in content.

“do you mind if i join you?”

chopper shook his head, a smile on his face as he watched [name] visibly relax and get comfortable next to him.

“the sun’s not bothering you? it’s pretty hot, y’know,” [name] commented, waving his hand to fan the reindeer, who merely shook his head.

“nope, cause the sea breeze is cooling me off,” chopper explained, making [name] hum in understanding. chopper watched as [name] flapped the bottom of his shirt up and down to allow more air flow, showing that he was affected by the heat.

chopper remained silent, eyebrows furrowing ever so slightly before he decided to not ask the question that was on his mind. as a doctor, he had a hunch as to why [name] was so sensitive to hot and cold weather, especially since their first meeting on drum island. but it was just speculation and theory. he never got a clear answer from [name]. but, then again, chopper never asked.

honestly, he was very curious about [name]. he was like a medical anomaly. dr. kureha and him were probably the only people that knew about how strange his existence was. well, chopper definitely was way more shocked about his being, but dr. kureha simply shrugged it off. this made chopper believe [name]’s case wasn’t all that crazy…

but the more he thinks about it, the more it pesters him. how is something like that even possible?

just as he was drowning in his thoughts, there was a sudden pressure against his nose. he blinks, eyes zoning in on the finger that was pressing against him. he looks up, finding a grinning [name] already staring at him.

“what were you thinking about? i could practically see steam coming from your head, chopper,” his own observation made him chuckle and chopper smiled sheepishly at being caught.

“nothing,” chopper clears his throat a couple of times before speaking again, “say, [name]?” a hum from the man he was addressing, “you’ve been a pirate for a long time right?”

e/c eyes stray away and stare out at the sea before he nods in confirmation.

“then, have you ever met anyone stronger than you? what was the craziest thing you’ve ever seen?”

[name] chuckles at the question, pursing his lips, “what’s up with everyone wondering about strong people and things? i swear, you and usopp are obsessed with that type of stuff,” it wasn’t a mean comment, the fond smile on [name]’s face made that obvious, but chopper still felt his face get warm in embarrassment.

“ever since we’ve left my island, i feel like we haven’t met anyone that exceeded you. that’s why i was wondering if before you joined luffy’s crew you had a run in with someone stronger than you,” chopper explained, feeling shy. “even in alabasta, you didn’t have a lot of trouble with the people we were facing…i didn’t see any fights! but, everyone was so badly injured, and then you were only injured because of the whole falling out of the sky thing,”

[name] laughs at the memory, scratching his neck, “that’s true, i guess. but to answer your question, there are many physically stronger people than me, without a doubt. but i still think i’m the strongest,” he’s confident and chopper can tell the man truly does believe that. it’s obvious in the way he speaks and carries himself. but what he just said was directly contradictory, wasn’t it?

“the craziest thing i’d ever seen…” [name] thinks out loud, making chopper look at him in wonder, “a guy that could control everything in a certain radius! he was a doctor like you, actually. when i first met him, it was kind of scary,”

“woah!!” chopper’s eyes immediately sprouted stars and [name] almost cooed at the sight. sometimes the man forgets how unique his experiences are, especially to someone like chopper. someone that had known only his island and that was it. “did you guys fight?! was he also another pirate?!”

“he’s another pirate, yeah, but…well, i don’t think you can call what happened fighting since i beat him up!” [name] flashed his widest grin at chopper and threw up a thumbs up.

“so cool!!!” chopper exclaimed, clapping his hands.

“i have a lot of stories, if you want to hear them?” [name] offers, stretching his long limbs out and letting out a groan at the relief.

“how about fights and stuff? i wanna see you fight some day!” the stars in chopper’s eyes seemed as if they were going to never go away as he giddily spoke to [name].

“i don’t know…most of them are really lack luster,” [name] sweatdrops, watching as chopper visibly deflates, “but that’s only because i beat everyone before they even had a chance,” and he was back to having stars in his eyes.

“woah!! so cool!!” chopper’s hooves were glasped together as he eagerly waiting for more stories.

“by the time luffy becomes pirate king, chopper, you’re going to have so many more stories than i do,” [name] comments fondly, “i never got to properly thank you, i think,”

“what for?”

“for not telling anyone about,” [name] gestures to his scars, a grin on his face despite the sad reality of his appearance, “i appreciate it,”

chopper only nodded, remembering the first time him and dr. kureha discovered the markings as well as their origins…or at least their theories on where they had come from.

”were you scared when you saw them? why do you look so scared now?”

the poor reindeer flinched at the question causing [name] to start laughing at the reaction. chopper flailed in explaining himself, not wanting to offend the man, “no, i was just, just remembering! the first time i saw them! and no, i wasn’t scared! there was no reason to be scared,” chopper’s voice trailed off as he realized that [name] was only teasing him earlier, looking off to the side to avert his eyes.

“if you say so,” [name] continues on teasing, poking the reindeer’s blue nose to which chopper smacks his hand away.

“me and dr. kureha were studying them,” chopper murmurs, “whoever had done the stitches, considering how miniscule they are, obviously did a good job. but…how were they even able to get the me-”

“pft, that’s not important,” [name] says with a carefree smile, waving his hand, “well, you’re right, the person who did them was a reaaalll professional, but i don’t think it’s important in explaining how or why,”

“was it the pirate you mentioned earlier that did them?” chopper curiously asked.

“definitely not,” [name] laughed, trying to imagine his friend being the one to give him those scars, “no, i’ve had these for a long time, chopper. which is why it’s not really relevant to me in talking about them. it doesn’t matter to me anymore, but i still don’t want people knowing so — shhh!”

chopper blinks a couple of time before nodding his head, “i’ll keep it a secret, [name],”

“thanks, chopper, i know i can trust you,” as [name] reaches out to pat chopper on his furry back, the light hit his silver necklace so perfectly that it made chopper cover his eyes to hide from the shine. that was also a big deal to [name] back then, but it was something that probably had heavy sentimental meaning.

either way, chopper was going to keep everything [name] had just told him a secret.

seeing the pleased and relaxed expression on [name]’s face, chopper was glad to know he had some sort of impact on him. it made him especially happy to know it caused a positive reaction from [name]. for how much the man does for the crew and chopper, such as dealing with his “scaredy cat” antics, the reindeer was happy to somewhat return the favor — even if it was miniscule.

meanwhile, in the back of [name]’s mind, he couldn’t help but feel a dark looming feeling only grow larger. he fought back the urge to frown, reminding himself on how understanding and sweet chopper was for keeping his secret safe. but, deep down, he was plagued with the truth and it stressed him to no end to think about the one day his secrets would have to be laid out for all the other straw hats to know too. even now, chopper didn’t even know the full truth and it was already stressing him out.

but, [name] would deal with that when the time came for it. right now, he was just happy to be looking out at the sea with his dear crew mate next to him.

nico robin - wurli by dominic fike

“stepping outside for you, then i put links on both wrists cause you got control over me. and you got jokes like you don’t need love, baby. we don’t need long. just follow my lead for once. i can never make up for the time. i’m gone make the wait all worth the ride.”

robin found [name] to be an interesting person to study.

a couple of years younger than her, a significant amount, actually, and still holding onto such a heavy weight of trauma and relatability to her. she smiles softly each time she thinks about him for too long. it’s a sad smile. on one hand, she’s happy that there could possibly be someone in her presence that could understand where she comes from as well as understanding her secrets.

but it pains her to know that someone so similar, with such similarly lived experiences, is beside her side. she wouldn’t wish a fraction of her life onto anyone else, to know that [name] undoubtedly had more than a fraction of it was heart breaking.

to many people’s surprise, nico robin is an extremely sentimental and emotional person. she has just simply forced herself to suppress those attributes of herself due to the world she lives in. but she knows herself, she knows that one of her weak point could be her emotional side.

he’s a grown man, she tells herself, to prevent herself from pitying the man too much, especially because she knows he would not appreciate a feeling of pity from anyone.

“do you want a cup of coffee, robin?” his soothing voice breaks her out of her daydreaming, collecting herself fast enough that she is able to answer with a quick nod and soft thank you. “no problem~”

she watches him expertly maneuver through the kitchen, an obvious sense of comfortability around him as he does.

what robin doesn’t know is that in the same way she finds [name] interesting to study, he feels an immense sense of wonderment and curiosity for the older woman. he knows that behind luffy, she is the only crew member that knows the most about him — beyond the headlines and bounty on his head. the other straw hats had their first impressions of him already set in stone, and he can’t blame them for that, but robin is different.

she had undoubtedly knows more than she currently lets on. only hinting to it briefly before, as far as [name] can recall.

he wonders if she has the wrong idea about him. but then he thinks of her situation and finds it hard to believe she would believe only surface level information about him. he has more faith in her than that. frankly, he’s curious enough to ask her. but he’s too scared.

genuinely terrified to know what it is that she knows, how much of his past does she know and have full capabilities of telling others about. not that she would, but naturally [name] doesn’t like not being in control of what others know about him. he often thinks if its worth it to take that risk and just ask her, he’d probably get the answer he wants.

but, wouldn’t that just be awkward?

he shakes his head as he pours the water over the ground up coffee beans, stealing a couple of whole beans from the bag to his right and chewing on them, deep in thought. he carefully carries the two tea cups to the kitchen table, taking a comfortable seat across from her and sipping his beverage.

“what are you thinking about, [name]?”

“i don’t know,” he answers semi-honestly. he can’t actually tell her where his mind wanders, but what he was thinking about…he couldn’t even collect his thoughts properly.

she only hummed, leaving them to sit in silence. but then out of nowhere, [name] slammed his head onto the table and let out a loud groan. she blinked in shock, poking his shoulder several times across the table.

“are you alright, orphan-san?”

“don’t call me that,” he mutters against the table. “that just doesn’t even sound morally right,”

she laughed behind her hand, apologizing quickly, “well, the government was never one to give morally correct names to wanted pirates,”

“yeah, i’m familiar,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair, “devil’s child, cursed orphan…it’s all such a shit show over there,”

robin isn’t surprised when he brings up her own epithet, “after hearing my name, you knew right away, huh?”

he thinks back to after they had left alabasta, the moment of realization, and nods in confirmation. a name was all he needed to know the woman’s entire history. he frowned, remembering exactly what it was.

“yeah, we’re the same,” he says with zero hesitation. “robin, we have the same enemy, y’know?” she hums and nods, unsure of the direction he was taking the conversation, “so, you know you’re not alone in this.”

she paused, sipping her coffee to avoid looking at him. because if she, she knew his e/c eyes would be expectantly peering at her and waiting for some form of agreement. truthfully, she didn’t want to make some sort of known “alliance” with [name] on where they stood on their shared enemy.

she’d rather not involve him. even if it were partially true.

”i sailed alone on the seas for a long time, both recently and a while ago,” he continued on, leaning into his chair and looking up at the ceiling, “being alone is more painful than getting hurt, luffy said that to me once. and for once that idiot was right about something. that’s why i’m trying to tell you now that that’s not your case.”

“i appreciate the sentimen-”

“i don’t want to get too emotional and dig too deep on stuff about this, though. i think just saying it is enough, if you ever had doubts, y’know?” he suddenly stands up, an embarrassed look on his face, “this is definitely not my style, blegh, i hate getting sentimental out of nowhere,” he hunches his shoulders, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he digests the situation he had just created.

she watches as he chugs the rest of his coffee down, places the empty cup into the sink, and easily walks out of the room. the kitchen door is softly shut behind him and robin is now left in silent stupor by herself.

she glances at the dark cup of coffee in front of her, smiling softly as she thinks about the man.

“he really is an enigma,” she muses to herself, finishing the last drops by herself, “knowing everything about him is like knowing nothing,”

[name] was on the forefront of her mind the rest of the day, studying him and the behaviors he had shown her the entire time they had been acquainted. he had turned what would have been a soppy, probably emotional conversation, into a curt and brisk one-sided pep talk. regardless, she still had much to think about how he interacted with the others on the crew. what his dynamic was with everyone. and the state of their relationship, even though they had only recently juts met…robin feels a strong connection with him.

he really was interesting to study.

ace - dress by taylor swift

“our secrets moments in a crowded room, they got no idea about me and you. there is an indentation in the shape of you, made your mark on me — a golden tattoo. pining and anticipation, my hands are shaking from holding back from you. all of this silence and patience, pining and desperately waiting, my hands are shaking from all this. say my name and everything just stops. i don’t want you like a best friend. only bought this suit so you could take it off. take it off. carve your name into my bedpost because i don’t want you like a best friend. // and i woke up just in time, now i wake up by your side. my one and only, my lifeline.”

“ace! c’mere,” [name] called out, making the ravenette’s head snap up and look for the man calling him. he briefly apologized to usopp, who was showing him a contraption he made, and then walked off in the direction of where the sound came from. usopp and chopper watched as ace was eagerly walking away, shrugging their shoulders at the man’s rush.

“[name]? where are yo-”

suddenly, a hang was coming out from around the corner and yanking ace by strands of his hat and into a soft embrace.

“wanna show you merry,” [name] whispered, smiling softly as he felt how warm ace was in his arms. “were you doing something important?”

“no,” ace answered instantly, looking up at [name] and taking off his hat. it was placed back onto [name]’s head and the two were walking through the ship, [name] leading.

their arms were looped with one another to stay close, and because [name] found the warmth from ace so comforting, and soon small talk spurred alive between the two.

“how is everyone treating you?” ace asked first, smirking as he watched [name]’s expression, “they’re all being good to you?”

the man rolled his eyes and shot ace a deadpan look, “why are you acting as if i am a kid and that they’re the scum of the earth? obviously everything is going fine, we’re a crew, ace,”

“sorry, can’t help but worry sometimes,” ace shrugged, tone light and teasing. “gotta look out for you when i can,”

“who said you had to do that?”

“i did, it’s my duty,”

“your duty is to keep yourself out of your own trouble, not worry about others. worrying about others like you do is gonna get you killed,” [name] advised, squeezing ace’s arm against his body and turning them into the dormitories. “well, i guess i’m a hypocrite — i worry about you a lot too,”

“you’re not gonna ask if my crew is treating me well though? that stings, [name],” ace fake winces, taking a seat into a hammock and letting it rock him back and forth.

“shut up,” [name] smirks, pushing ace down and climbing in next to him. ace tries his best to relax, not wanting to show that he was obviously freaking out at [name]’s actions. the h/c-haired man is none the wiser, simply getting comfortable against ace’s chest and hugging him tight.

“i missed you a lot, ace,” [name] speaks softly, like a whisper, “you fucking idiot, you should’ve just swallowed your pride and joined luffy’s crew,”

“or, you should’ve been smarter and joined the whitebeard pirates,” ace countered, resting his hand on top of [name]’s head.

“and leave the pirate king’s crew? don’t be dumb,” [name] shoots back, faithful to the idea of luffy being the pirate king.

ace can only scoff, a lazy smirk on his face. luffy, that brat, had truly shook their childhood selves when he declared what his dreams were as well as so confidently saying that he was going to be the king of pirates. and ace couldn’t believe that [name] so easily threw himself into luffy’s arms and crew, even when they were children.

ace envies luffy in that aspect, he supposes. how he was so capable of swaying [name]. if only ace had that ability, he’d have used it for his selfish leverage at this point. especially with [name] in his arms like this. if he had a fraction of an influence that luffy had, ace would have offered once again for [name] to join his side forever.

but knowing how devoted to luffy [name] was, ace knew it was useless.

so he’ll just cherish this moment now.

“ugh, i’m hot,” [name] groaned, sitting upright and throwing off the shirt that he was wearing. cuddling up next to a human oven was not for the weak!

ace watches with practical hearts in his eyes as he watches [name] move so fluidly in discarding his layers. then his hands reach out and lift the bottom of [name]’s shirt for him, the fabric falling from his fingers the second they weigh into his hand.

“thanks, ace,”

the ravenette can only hum in acknowledgement. he bites his lip, forcing himself into silence to not ruin the moment, and shuffles his body over to accommodate [name] by his side.

the taller man so easily fit into his side. despite the obvious size difference, but neither of them minded.

then ace’s thoughts began trailing off. he can’t help but think about if things were different. his mind often went to that when it was silent. how the present would be if it were ace in the forefront of [name]’s mind, instead of god knows what. he yearns to know what the man truly thinks of him.

he wonders what would [name] think of him he had found out that his name was etched into his skin.

he doesn’t blame anyone for not really noticing the ink. it was on his back and was miniscule in comparison to his whitebeard tattoo. on the backside of where his heart would be, permanently tattooed into his skin is the other man’s name. ace had gotten it as one of his first tattoos, actually, much before he got the whitebeard one.

he was pretty worried that the jolly roger would cover it, but after the artist on the no-name island assured him it wouldn’t, he relaxed. and to this day, the ink remains strong and bold, hardly faded with the time that had passed.

and despite it being small and barely noticeable, ace simply knowing that it’s there is more than enough for him.

ace wonders how [name] would react if he saw it. if he saw for himself how far ace is willing to go to prove his devotion and love for the man. he’d get his name tattooed and so much more, in a moment’s notice with no doubts.

ace was a loyal and devoted man. this [name] knew, but he didn’t truly know the full extent. the freckled man smiles to himself as he thinks about how [name] would react.

he shivers as he remembers the feeling of the needle etching the name permanently into his skin. it stung, but after a certain amount of time, it became a dull, vibrating sensation. he squeezes you close to him as he thinks about it, wishing he had had you there with him in that moment.

“[name]?” he drawls out his name, as if that’ll make the moment between them last longer.

“ace?” he mimics it easily, making ace smile at his behavior. he really hadn’t changed all that much from when they were younger…

“would you consider getting a tattoo for me?” he asks, the question slipping past his lips in a rather meek tone.

there is a hum to show that [name] was thinking before the man finally announces, “i would, i definitely would,”

ace thinks of the tattoo that [name] already had, the one he had seen for himself again when the man discarded his shirt. the expansive wings that were tattooed into his beautiful s/c skin. ace’s finger began dancing on the outline of them, a soft smile on his face as he remembers their meaning.

”what would get for me? something as big as this one?”

[name] weakly slaps his hand into ace’s chest, “don’t say that, don’t be dumb,”

“what? it was just a question,” ace weakly defends himself, but he understands where [name] was coming from. he’d be the only one that did, to be honest, and maybe luffy — if they’re trusting that the younger one wasn’t as emotionally constipated as they thought. “but, what would you get for me?”

“i don’t know, i haven’t thought about it,” he answers honestly, making ace pout at the lack luster answer.

“not even a little bit?”

“i don’t want to get a tattoo for you for a long time, ace. ideally, never,” ace was about to question why, feeling somewhat offended, but catching the distraught look on [name]’s face he bites his tongue. it doesn’t take him long to realize why [name] had said that. silently, he holds [name] close and hugs him. “i never want to get something like this for you,”

“it doesn’t have to be something like that-”

“why would i need a tattoo of you when i know i’ll see you again then?” [name] cuts him off, holding ace tight to his person, scared he’ll slip away, “i know i don’t have to, but the association of it is too much for me…i don’t want to think of it like that, but i can’t help it. i’ll only get a tattoo for you if you die, but that won’t happen for a long time, so just drop it.”

that leaves a long silence hanging in the air.

“you’re right, i won’t die for a long time,” ace finalizes, smiling softly at the way [name] was so easily turned into a vulnerable state of a man. not because he enjoyed the sight of it, per say, but found it heart warming to know he could invoke such an emotion in him. he was stupid for assuming he couldn’t, but insecurities are insecurities for a reason. not insecure of who they were referring to, but rather of luffy. insecure of how much that boy with the straw hat could alter [name]’s emotions and well-being. to know he had that same affect on [name] made his chest bloom with a raging warmth.

“i know you won’t, which is why i won’t think about it for a long time,” it sounds like that’s the final end to their conversation and ace is almost ready to leave it as it is. but leaving it on such a sour note leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

so he says in a light tone, “get a spade for me, right above your heart. that’s all i want,”

another slap to his bare chest is shamelessly delivered to ace and he takes it, this time with a hearty laugh.

“don’t talk about it anymore, okay? i’m serious.” [name] weakly scolds, resting his palm on ace’s heart and trying to immortalize the feeling of his heart pumping against his hand.

at the feeling of his large hand resting on his skin, ace remembers just how badly he had missed this. just being close to each other and being able to just touch each other. being so far apart took a bigger toll on him than he imagined.

“what about you? want me to get another tattoo for you?” ace asks, curious to hear what [name] had to say.

“hm, i don’t know, what would you have had in mind if you did?” now it was [name]’s turn to have his fingers dance on the ink of ace’s skin, “i really like this one already,” ace can feel the smile on [name]’s face grow in size, “i really do,”

“i’m glad,” ace comments, “i got it for you after all, it would suck if you didn’t like it.”

another slap to his chest.

“as for another one…” [name] goes silent, trying to think, “wouldn’t you just get my name? i mean, that’s the only one other thing you could get for me,”

ace blinks, wondering how [name] could so easily read him.

“really, you think so? that’s a pretty big commitment,” ace comments, trying to play it off casually and not show that he was freaking out very hard on the inside. [name] had so easily predicted him! but, at least the man didn’t know that it was a reality…

“i know, but that’s the thing with you — you’re completely committed and loyal. i think you’re definitely the type to just get my name,” [name] grins up at him, teasing him by rufflinf his hair.

“oh, shut up,” ace defends himself, smooshing [name]’s face far away, “i’d never get something as cheesy as that,”

“i never said you would, i was just predicting!!” he puts his hands up in surrender, making ace sigh and release the palm he was resting on his face. “who knows, maybe next time we see each other you’re gonna have my name tattooed on your forehead because you love me that much!”

it was an obvious tease, but it got ace incredibly flustered. he sighed, looking off to the side, trying to hide his blush and be stubbornly in denial of how accurate [name]’s prediction were.

“well, i like this one you have for now and i think it’s perfect,” [name] says, lifting ace’s spirits one last time and tapping the skin before getting out of the hammock and grabbing his shirt off of the floor. “let’s go back up, the crew might have discovered something,”

“you don’t wanna stay here longer with me?” ace whines, half joking and half serious. he wishes he could stay here forever. just with [name].

[name] smiles softly, shaking his head and watching as the ravenette reluctantly gets out of his resting position.

“whatever, next time you owe me a proper nap,” ace grumbled, stretching and walking out of the dormitory area.

“yeah, when’s next time?”

“i don’t know, but i guess on my pop’s ship. i’ll bring you to meet the family, then,” ace shrugs as if it’s no big deal, but deep down he’s eager to have the most important person in his life ([name], if it wasn't obvious) meet his found family.

“i’ll look forward to it,” [name] says sincerely, smiling as he looks at the tattoo on ace’s back. he’d be more than honored to meet them, meet the people that had given ace hope in having a shot in the world — for people to take him seriously.

if he had just shifted his e/c more downwards, he would have seen the commemorative tattoo of the person that had singlehandedly given ace’s life meaning. an etching of ink that was more powerful and sentimental than [name] would have probably realized.

after all, [name] was the first only and only person to make ace realize his life wasn’t completely worthless and that there was hope for him. but that’s a story for another time.

[ .ᐟ ] if there are any typos, ignore for now. it is 5:55 am (omg coincidence) as im posting this and i plan on knocking out immediatley after i hit publish <3 i will fix any major mistakes hwne i wake up I HOPE U ENJOYED EVERYONE OKKKK BYE (im going to update very very very very soon btw <3) (and i actually mean it by very soon) (porbably tomorrow / technically today)

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sanjisboyfie · 1 year ago

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guys i am genuinely so close to finishing these specials. give me approximately 48 more horus and then they should be done I HAVE FAITH IN YMSELF i rlly wanna get these out RIGHT NOOWWW

#jaime is talking

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sanjisboyfie · 1 year ago

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lowkey g ot back into haikyuu...:.might have to update my haikyuy x male reader that i dropped four million years ago

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sanjisboyfie · 1 year ago

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๑ four hundred years is not too late (30)

one piece x male reader

every day i spend my time

drinking wine, feeling fine

waiting here to find the sign

that i can understand

『 prev 』

enel grit his teeth, clutching his abdomen with one hand and using his other to shoot out a stream of lightening, “die!”

[name] shivered where he stood, but remembered his counter. without hesitating, he shifted the bag that was resting on his shoulder to move in front of him and act as a shield. the cloth held pieces of wood that was the remnants of the doors and walls he destroyed earlier.

the collection of wood successfully blocked the attack and took the lightening head on, in the place of [name].

“hah?! such a foolish means of trying to save yoursel-”

enel’s boisterous voice was cut off when a familiar stinging pain invaded his senses. but this time, it was a thousand times more painful. how did [name] manage to get behind him that fast?! he grit his teeth, about to swat [name] away and attack him, but the assailant proved to be faster.

the h/c haired man dragged the dagger through enel’s flesh, making a yell rip through the god’s chest. [name] had stabbed enel in his shoulder and was dragging the knife down his back in a diagonal direction. starting from his right shoulder until his bottom left hip bone, there was a deep, jagged cut running through enel’s flesh. blood began coating [name]’s features immediately and all he did was lick his lips in pleasure.

“god’s blood tastes good,” he taunts, shoving enel away and dodging the reflexive attack that was sent his way. he flipped out of the way before the lightening could strike him, tumbling once more when enel sent another blast in his direction.

“you annoying scum!” enel shouted, wincing under his breath. every motion that he moved in now hurt and he was bleeding profusely. perhaps he underestimated his opponent too much…

“[name]!” nami shouted in disbelief, unable to believe her eyes.

“nami, grab usopp and get out of here!” [name] shouted, breaking her out of her stupor, “this is your only shot of getting away!”

“what about you-”

“just go! don’t think, just go!”

nami bit her lip in frustration, not a fan of [name]’s sacrificial attitude. but she focused on usopp’s weak and frightened body that was a couple feet in front of her. she ran towards him with her arms outstretched.

“don’t even think for a moment, i’ll let any of you escape!�� enel shouted in fury, redirecting his attention away from [name] for a moment and sending a strike of lightening towards usopp and nami.

[name] grit his teeth, about to use soru to save the two, but he was beat to it by a certain blonde. sanji emerged, from seemingly nowhere, and pushed nami and usopp ahead so that they crashed into their waver.

“go,” he calmly commanded, making nami shriek in fear for what would happen to him, who took their place. the h/c haired man watched in disbelief as sanji took the lightening strike head on. a cigarette hanging from the man’s smirking lips.

”nami, don’t waste the opportunity, escape! go!” [name] shouted, kicking nami’s fight or flight into high gear. and she started the engine for the waver up, screwing her eyes shut so she wouldn’t be tempted to look back, and sent her and usopp flying off the side of the ship.

“i was just about to ask…for a light…” sanji said through gritted teeth, calmly standing in front of enel with a lax expression. “yeah, you’ll pay for that…”

[name] reacted quickly, moving to catch sanji’s falling body and cradling him in his arms. first, he checked his heart, breathing a sigh of relief when he felt it was still beating. enel didn’t look pleased with the sight of his most annoying assailants, raising his hand upward and preparing to discharge another attack.

“you two-”

“fuck off,” [name] snarled, throwing the dagger forward and not waiting to watch where it landed. he took sanji into his arms, careful and minding his head and neck, before jumping off the side of the railing.

he used his finger nail to rip into his already sensitive skin of his arm and let the blood flow freely. he screwed his eyes shut at the feeling and at how lightheaded he began feeling, forcing himself to focus on anything but that.

“sanji, i’m sorry,” he said under his breath, letting the blood from his cut form into an impromptu glider for them to use to reach the cloudy ground below. it was messy work, barely functioning, but it did make their landing less harsh than what it would’ve been if he didn’t do anything at all.

“[name]! sanji! are you alright?!”

the revving of the waver’s engine was all he heard, next to nami’s shouts. he sat upright, still holding sanji in his arms with utmost care, before waving his bleeding arm to flag her down.

“over here, nami, usopp!” he shouted, making the duo drive in his direction.

“oh thank goodness you’re alright!” nami shouted, jumping off of the waver and sending it, and usopp, crashing into some bushes. she took sanji and [name] into her arms, breathing a sigh of relief.

“thank you for acting fast, nami,” [name] said, pulling away from the hug and ruffling her hair, “saved both of your lives,”

“obviously, when my life is at stake, i don’t mess around!” she said, as if it were obvious, making [name] laugh. “but still, i wish it didn’t have to end with you guys injured like this,”

[name] waved his hand, fixing his grip on sanji as he spoke, “don’t worry. sanji’s a tough guy and i’m feeling fine,” his words would have been reassuring had it not been for the way his eyes were beginning to become more and more heavy, “the cut isn’t even that deep, that’s the only injury i sustained,”

“liar,” nami said, watching with panicked eyes as he began swaying where he sat, “oi, oi, oi, no passing out!” she shouted. but her wails fell on deaf ears as [name] passed out in front of her, his head crashing onto her lap.

“shit, is he okay?”

“it must have been from the blood loss,” nami said, noting the way his cut was still bleeding, “usopp, take off your bandages and wrap them around him,”

“hey, that’s pretty nasty-”

“i don’t care, treat him to stop the bleeding or else it might get worse!” she shouted, making the usopp duck his head down and follow her instructions.

“he must have also been suffering in that fight with enel…” nami said, voice trailing off.

usopp was going to lift [name]’s arm up, but he dropped it the moment they came in contact with each other, “ouch, that’s really hot!”

“just do it already,” nami sighed, rubbing her forehead, “just as i thought, he really was suffering more than he let on. it’s just like before…”

“like before?” usopp echoed, biting his lip as he worked with the boiling touch that was [name]’s arm and forcing himself to go through with wrapping his injuries.

“yeah, when you and sanji were knocked out, [name] was the next target. he was in really bad condition when he was face to face with enel — burning hot like he is right now and bloodied everywhere. it’ll be really bad if we don’t get him to chopper soon. the treatment we gave him was just first aid. and now, he has to go and fight enel head on and reopened all of his previous wounds,” nami explained quickly, standing up and lugging sanji’s deflated body onto the waver. she didn’t realize it, but tears were falling from her eyes. “now, help me with [name],”

“nami…” usopp softly called out, hand reaching up and wiping her tears aside, “he’s gonna be fine. c’mon, this is [name] we’re talking about! he’ll walk this off no problem, like he does all his other injuries! what does he always say? he’s the strongest! there’s no doubt about it. he’s the most durable crewmate, he’ll be fine!” he tried cheering her up, speaking boisterously of [name]’s strong spirit.

nami sighed, feeling silly for beginning to cry. she dried her face with the back of her hand and nodding in agreement. the two worked on lifting his deadweight body and dropping him on the waver.

finally, they were able to move forward. both of their minds were clouded with worry; for the situation they were going to be in and also for their two injured crewmates. after some time of riding the waver, they were able to join back with the crew. they were all at the bottom of the giant bean stalk, most unconscious.

“navigator! long-nose! cook! [name]!” robin called out when she was able to properly see who was approaching.

“robin?! you’re here!?” usopp cried out, lugging [name]’s body from the waver and gently setting him down onto the cloudy flooring.

“aisa! thank goodness! are you all right?!” nami shouted, reuniting with the young girl she had met only hours before. she welcomed the girl jumping into her arms, hugging her and sighing in relief.

“zoro! chopper! weird old man! yikes, a guerilla!” usopp listed off all the people waiting, grunting as he had dropped sanji’s heavy body onto the ground.

”where’s luffy? did he meet up with you guys yet?” nami asked, gently holding aisa’s hand.

“luffy just went up the vine to rescue you from enel!” aisa announced, making nami gasp in shock.

“talk about bad timing! there’s no time left to escape now!”

nami shook her head, pushing aisa forward and going back to the waver, “you guys just get going to the merry somehow! i’ll follow him up there on the waver!”

just as nami was going to kickstart it once again, the ground beneath them began shaking. and soon all they could hear were repeated booms of lightening, going off almost every second.

“[name]!” nami shouted in worry, noticing the way his body was convulsing on the floor, “this is bad! this is really bad,”

“what’s wrong with him, nami?” aisa asked in concern and fear, watching as the body looked as if it were a mangled, bloody mummy.

“i don’t know, it’s just whenever those lightening strikes go off, he reacts badly to them. worse than just you and me, i don’t know why!” nami shouted, worriedly trying to stop [name] from moving, “shit this is really bad!”

“well, we don’t have to worry about the lightning hitting us directly,” robin added in, using her devil fruit to restrain [name]’s movement. it wouldn’t do much for his current condition, but it at least prevented him from accidentally injuring himself further, “with our location, the lightning will probably strike the trees and surrounding buildings first. but once those are all gone, well…”

her voice trailed off, letting the others piece it all together.

”then we need to hurry to merry as fast as possible!” usopp shrieked, already going to pick up sanji.

“hurry up everyone! i’ll get luffy and bring him back!” nami shouted, setting off before anyone else could get a word in.

with all the ruckus going on around them, some of the unconscious members woke up. gan fall, wyper the guerilla, and zoro all sat upright and took in their surroundings.

“what’s wrong with mummy boy over there?” zoro gruffly asked, eyes lingering on [name]’s figure with his eyebrows furrowed, “he looks stupid,”

“that’s what a man on the brink of death looks like, zoro, don’t be so rude!” usopp cried out, fighting for [name]’s honor. “he saved us up there, y’know?! made enel bleed and everything! he was so awesome! i won’t let you say he looks stupid when he risked his life to save us-”

“alright, alright i get it,” zoro said in a bored tone, covering his ear with one hand and glaring at usopp.

“don’t cut me off!!”

it felt like everyone was just playing the waiting game, for how in shock they were of everything going on around them. enel had seemingly destroyed the entirety of angel island and was reeking even more havoc on any other surrounding land.

soon after the destruction of the nearby land, there was a giant leaf that had fallen to their location. nami had written them a message: cut the vine in the west direction. they all looked at each other in stupor, wondering if they were really going to do it.

but when the skies cleared and the charge up spherical ball of electricity and lightning revealed itself, it proved that there was no other choice. in order to stop enel and stop the destruction of the sky islands, they had to cut the vine. or zoro did to be more specific.

he picked up [name]’s body with ease and threw him in the direction of wyper, who was probably the only one capable of handling the weight of his limp body. then he threw chopper towards robin and sanji towards usopp.

“go ahead and reach solid land, that’s the safest place right now! i’ll meet you there when i’m done!”

everyone obeyed easily, running ahead and watching from a safe distance as zoro prepared his attack. from that point onward, it was as if time was passing slowly and fast at the same time.

they were able to knock the vine over, sending nami and luffy upward. but with how far down they were, they weren’t able to see the exact details of what was happening. they did see how the skies cleared up, that impending black spherical ball had dispersed and back were the clear skies of sky island.

and then out of nowhere, the ringing of a bell could be heard. it was so loud that [name] jumped awake. he coughed up blood, being turned to his side by robin’s sprouted hands. and once he was finished, he looked up at the sky with a grin. his bloodied teeth and lips on display, smiling in such a carefree manner.

“luffy did it,” he breathed out in both disbelief and confidence, “of course, he would, that maniac,”

as the chaos and anxiety of luffy and enel’s fight died down, the uplifting mood of their victory began coming over the people of the sky island in waves. it was obvious the moment the bell had been rung who was the victor, but seeing that ship enel was flying fall from the sky and sink into the white sea had only confirmed their suspicions.

and with everyone waking up, chopper was finally able to gain his consciousness back.

“chopper, treat [name]! he’ll die!” usopp cried out, alligator tears falling from his eyes.

“i won’t die, chopper,” [name] said quickly, reassuringly smiling at chopper.

“if the man says he won’t die, he won’t die. treat that guy instead, he’s really gonna die,” zoro chimes in, pointing a finger in wyper, the guerilla’s direction.

“nonsense, the both of you can be treated at the same time! i won’t take any risks! come!” chopper said, bringing [name] over to where wyper was laying down and forcing the h/c haired man to lay down as well.

[name] looked to his side, eyes widening in realization, “ha! you’re the guerilla that tried attacking us when we first arrived!”

the little girl from earlier, aisa, ran over and kneeled at the guerilla’s side, sobbing out a quiet, but hopefuly, “wyper,” as she held onto his arm.

chopper blinked before recognizing the man as well. that didn’t deter him, though, only making him work faster in treating both of his incredibly cirtical patients.

wyper, on the other hand, was barely holding on to his consciousness. he turned his head to the side and squinted to be able to see [name] properly. and when he saw a s/c man beaming at him with a wide, carefree smile and a blinding presence, he almost shut his eyes on instinct.

too bright…

“i’m the one who beat your ass, i’m [name]! really nice to meet you, wyper! ha, isn’t it funny? we’re both in really bad condition, we really might die!” [name] laughed, looking at his “bedside” companion and laughing even harder.

wyper could only screw his eyes shut and hope that he would be able to receive treatment in peace. blue sea people and their shenanigans, he thought to himself.

after chopper diligently worked on both of their injuries, nami made her way over and looked down at [name]’s bandaged, sleeping body and smiled to herself. carefully, she pet his head with her soft hand and felt her grin grow wider when he had instinctively moved towards her.

“this idiot…” she said under her breath, thinking about just how much stress he had put her under. then her mind wandered to how he had very bravely put his life on the line for her, multiple times, “i guess i might owe you an apology when you wake up,”

“owe who an apology?” luffy curiously asked, looking at nami’s sullen figure, “come on, join in on the fun already!!”

the bonfire was lit so bright that it almost mimicked the heat of a warm sunny day. nami looked up from gazing at [name], nodding and leaving him be.

“he’d be knocked out for the rest of the night, maybe a couple of days even,” chopper informed them. from the look on his face, he wasn’t worried about him at all. “he’s lucky his body works fast in reproducing blood cells or else he’d be in a really bad condition. plus the fact he wouldn’t be able to get a blood transfusion…”

“but he’ll be fine?” luffy asked, poking [name]’s cheek with a pout. when he had caught word of how injured [name] was, he felt nothing but worry. but after hearing chopper’s reassurance, his worry eased up a little bit.

he had refused to leave [name]’s side for a long time, though. not until they had brought out the massive feast for them to eat.

it had been four days since the battle with enel. the shandians and skypieans were finally getting along, not quite living in harmony, but at least not being at each others necks for every little thing.

when [name] woke up, he stretched his arms out, unwrapping the bandages that were carefully put around him and taking in a deep breath. he had been passed out for the past two days, waking up on the third day and enjoying the festivities with the rest of his crew.

thinking about the night of celebration, he suddenly smiled at the thought of a familiar face.

quickly, he shook his head to rid himself of his flusterment, and stood upright. presently, he was tasked with waiting on the ship with nami for the rest of the crew since the navigator and doctor insisted he not do any heavy lifting or a lot of work considering his injuries. after all, the “mission” of the day did require a lot of heavy lifting and running. the moment their party from yesterday wrapped up, they shooed him off to sleep on merry.

he got to sleep and wake up on his own bed, though, but that was the only plus.

after a couple of hours of waiting, the rest of the crew was finally in his line of sight, “oh, nami! they’re here!!”

she sighed in relief, looking at the heavy bags of gold that they were carrying on their backs, “it’s about time, i was starting to get worried that the plan failed…luffy would’ve definitely been the one to ruin it all,”

[name] laughed, waving his hand in the air to the rest of them. nami sighed, leaning her back against the railing and looking at [name]’s carefree figure.

“say, why were you so sensitive to enel’s powers?” she asked suddenly, remembering that her raging curiousity was never quenched after the battle. they went straight into festivities, plus he was passed out for most of the days.

but seeing as they were alone, maybe she’d get some answers.

“i’m really sensitive to only five things, really,” [name] answered easily, still looking onward at the rest of the crew, “sweets, hot weather, cold weather, electricity, and-” he paused, pursing his lips and shaking his head, “the last thing we won’t have to worry about…we won’t encounter it any time soon,”

nami blinked in confusion before pouting, “that doesn’t really answer my question,”

[name] stopped waving his hand, grinning ear to ear, “sorry, but that’s all i can say. don’t worry, nami,” he draped his arm over her shoulder, pulling her in close to his chest and speaking with a carefree tone, “there won’t be anything to weaken me anymore, i’ll be your perfect protector from now on!”

“idiot!” she shouted, slapping his chest and forcing him away, “i’m not worried — just curious, as any other human being would be!”

”right, right.”

“it’s the truth!”

“get your hands off of nami-san!!” sanji shouted, kicking himself onto the deck and swinging his foot in [name]’s direction. the h/c haired man dodged with ease, jumping back a couple of feet and welcoming the rest of the crew with a smile.

“let’s get going?”

“yeah! hurry, hurry, before they catch up!!” luffy grinned, dropping the heavy bag of gold onto the deck and running into [name]’s arms, “[name]! you should’ve seen it, they had a canon pointed at us and everything! they’re so funny!”

“how’s that funny?!” nami shouts, jaw dropped at the new information.

“whatever, doesn’t matter, get merry going now or else they’ll really kill us!!” usopp cried out desperately, making nami agree and set the merry in motion. conis and her fatehr were riding alongside them, giving them directions on where to go to find the exit.

[name] walked to the edge of the railing, carrying luffy on his back piggy back style and fighting back the bittersweet feeling from creeping up on his emotions.

he’d definitely come back to the sky island some time. he had the matching tattooed wings on his back to prove as his entry fee next time, too. he grinned at the idea of visiting again in the future, squeezing luffy’s calf that was in his hold.

the captain looked at him with wonderment, trying to read his facial expression.

“the journey is just getting started,” [name] breathed out after a couple seconds of silence. the grip he had on luffy’s calf tightening, the slightest amount, “isn’t it all just so exciting, captain?”

[BONUS: the one night [name] was able to party]

the strawhats, skypieans, and shandians have been throwing a feast celebration for the past three days. for the most part, the strawhats were slipping in and out of the partying. [name] was passed out for the first two days of it, but when he woke up on the third day — he was quick to jump into the feast too.

literally.

he smelt food and ran over to the mass array of food that was laid out before he even realized it. being passed out for the last 48 hours made his appetite grow over tenfold, even when he was unconscious.

a particular shandian caught sight of his antics and scoffed at his behavior. then he began to wonder if all blue sea people were like this group. their captain was already a rambunctious individual, then the one who had just awoken from deep sleep is up and partying…he wonders if they really are human. or just stupid.

“whatcha scoffing about mr. grumpypants?”

he flinches at the sudden booming voice near his ear. the one who he was just thinking about (mentally making fun of) had magically spawned near him and nearly gave him a heart attack.

“none of your business,” wyper said in a rushed tone, wanting to escape the man and his curious expression. but before he could stand upright from his seat, a heavy arm was thrown over his shoulder and the entire weight of the taller man made him sit back down.

“urgh-” wyper grunted, almost toppling over at the imbalance of weight.

“y’know, i really love your homeland, it’s beautiful,” [name] said, stars in his eyes as he fondly looked at the warrior, “it’s a shame it’s now only become properly yours after such a long time, but four hundred years can’t be too late, huh?”

while [name] giggled to himself at the poor joke, wyper was sitting there wishing he was at his full potential in strength to make this guy get off of him.

“i think of all the places i’ve been, i’ll miss this island the most,” [name] continued on, in his dream-like trance. “i mean, it was super fun here despite almost dying to a so-called god. but i think it was plenty worth it.”

wyper gave the man a chance, hearing how sincere he was and also seeing as he really was one of the main persons involved in saving his home and people. so he shuffled where he sat, aggressively shrugging off the arm on his shoulder, and shot [name] a side glance.

he almost flinched when he saw [name] already staring at him.

“you’re real lucky,” he said out of nowhere, making wyper blink in confusion, “you get to be so close to the sun. i really like the sun, y’know? i really, really wish i could be as close to it as you guys are. i bet it feels amazing. not to mention the beautiful scenery and yummy food — but i bet, sanji could make this stuff even better if you gave him a shot!” his rumbling laughter erupted from his chest, making wyper avert his gaze.

“don’t be such a grump and worry wart, is what i’m really trying to say,”

now this, this intrigued wyper.

“what would you know about worrying? you were rather carefree and reckless before all the fighting occured, from what i heard,”

“we live different lives, though. you’re a leader and i’m a simple crewmate. but as someone who’s life used to solely revolve around worrying about others, i’m telling you, there’s nothing i regret more than letting that feeling consume me. there’s a lot of things i would have done differently if i’d had known.”

“known what?”

“hm, nothing relevant to what i’m telling you. just, try to live life in the moment, not thinking too much ahead. time flies fast, next thing you know you’re gonna be bald and incapable of anything,” a rather unserious remark for such a tense subject topic, but [name] slipped it into conversation rather easily.

“well, like you said, i think we are too different for either of us to impose advice on the other.”

“that may be true, but i never said you had to actually listen to me,” [name] said, roughly slapping the center of wyper’s back. “i don’t know about you but i like to think that the wings on my back show a fond memory of mine and my freedom. you actually have wings, wyper, why not spread them and relax?”

and with that, [name] had stood up to get more food and left wyper with his thoughts. as he walked away, wyper squinted at the inked skin of his exposed back.

freedom and a memory.

wyper blinked, looking at the white pair of wings on his own back and grit his teeth. for how obnoxiously loud of an individual he was when partying and how carefree and reckless he was when fighting, to the point of it being worrisome, it seems, [name] seemed to make a fair argument.

—

at the end of the night, when wyper was sure that the straw hat crew was properly sleeping, he had tucked a secret letter away into the bag he recognized as [name]’s.

his gaze lingered on [name] for a moment longer, feeling his ears get warmer before walking away and leaving the crew be to rest.

—

“i don’t know why i’ve taken the effort to write this to you, but what you had said to me earlier had irked me. throw away my worries? if you truly understood my position, you’d understand that that is impossible. if you understand what weight i carry you’d never had said that to begin with.

that leaves me with the impression you have no sense of responsibility. with a leader as reckless as yours, someone has got to keep him in check, or who knows what else he may do in the future — something you’d end up regretting for not taking initiative. we share the same wings, the same responsibility and duty, so take it as a souvenir and a reminder. it weighs a fraction of the burden we have, but i trust you’ll feel it as heavily as i do.

in return, i’ll try to uplift a new sense of self by taking a piece of your wings. that feeling you seem to reflect in everything you do: freedom. a contractual agreement and next time we meet we can ensure the other was living up to their deal.

do not forget the shandians as we won’t forget you.

wyper”

when the letter opened, a singular feather floated down to the floor and rested near [name]’s feet. he grinned in amusement, picking it up and looking at it with fondness. silently, he tucked it back into the paper letter and stowed it away in his private drawers.

a comfortable smile was on his face as he walked back onto the deck. looking at the crew, he crossed his arms over his chest and relaxed his posture. thinking about their newfound “deal”, he was determined to not disappoint.

[ .ᐟ ] i know it has been more than two months since my last update but if you're still here thank u so much for your patience. im currently stuck on writing the 666 special (<- on quotev) (i know,….that was supposed to be don4e a lonnnggg time ago omg) but hopefully i can get back into the swing of things !!! sorry if this chapter was poorly written, im still trying to get used to doing this again LOL either way: thank u if u waited for me all this time, obvs i understand if there is lower interest now because of the rlly inconsistent update schedule, but if u are still here: i really do appreciate and love u sm thank u sosososo much and i hope i can update more frequently <3

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