#sanji and usopp curse luffy to hell and back for interrupting them. and luffy is like right but remember when i made sure you guys kissed??

[redriotinggg]

Luffy’s lovesick crewmates need a little push. He’s more than happy to give them a necessary shove.

—

Luffy is grumbling as he approaches Nami and Robin on the uppermost deck. They watch curiously as the rubber man mutters to himself, an unhappy look on his face as he drapes himself along the railing.

“Is everything alright, Captain?” Robin asks. The women come to stand on either side of him.

“I wanna play with Usopp, but he’s busy talking with Sanji.” His frown deepens. “He’s always hanging out with Sanji. It’s like they love each other or something.”

Nami’s eyebrows raise, a mischievous smile spreading on her face. Robin just shakes her head, silently telling her to stay quiet.

“What do you think?” the archaeologist asks. “Do you think they love each other?”

The pirate captain hums thoughtfully. All three of them are watching their two crewmates sitting on the grassy deck below them.

Sanji and Usopp are sitting together, close enough that their knees are touching. Sanji is uncharacteristically talkative, all smiles and sweeping gestures as he keeps his eyes on the marksman.

Usopp is listening raptly, a fond grin on his face and stars in his eyes. He’s nodding along, asking questions and making jokes.

As they laugh and converse, the duo seem to unconsciously lean toward to one another, as if drawn to their respective energies.

Sanji’s hand, the one closest to Usopp, comes to rest on the grass. As he adjusts, his fingers brush Usopp’s. Both men freeze before leaning back and snatching their hands away, averting their gazes with red-tinged faces.

“They do that all the time!” Luffy exclaims in exasperation. “They get closer and closer but then they pull away, like they’re scared. Usopp shouldn’t ditch me if he’s not even gonna do what he really wants,” he pouts.

“So, you think they love each other but they’re too scared to admit it?” Nami clarifies.

“Yeah! And that’s stupid. If you love someone, you should tell them.”

“Y’know Captain, I agree with you,” Nami says, a false sweetness to her voice. “But it seems that Sanji and Usopp haven’t gotten the hint.”

“I think the two of them need a little push,” Robin suggests. “Perhaps their Captain can help them get their affairs in order?”

Luffy stands with a decisive nod. “I’ll do it. I won’t let anyone stand in the way of my crew’s happiness. Not even my crew!”

Without another word, Luffy hops onto the railing and stretches his arms downwards. He gets one hand on Sanji’s shoulder and the other on Usopp’s, startling the two men. They don’t even have time to protest before Luffy is launching himself at them, knocking them all over.

“Usopp! Sanji!”

“What’s the big idea, Luffy?!”

They all sit up, Sanji and Usopp glaring at their Captain while he frowns back.

“I’m mad at you two!”

“What? Why? What’d we do?”

“You two aren’t being honest!” Luffy accuses.

“We aren’t being honest about what?” Sanji asks, frustration obvious in his tone.

“Your feelings! Usopp loves Sanji, and Sanji loves Usopp, but neither of you will say so! It’s dumb!”

Luffy continues his rant, unaware of how he’s rendered his red-faced crewmates speechless.

“Don’t forget that we’re pirates! We’re supposed to be free and take what we want! And we’re nakama. We’ll always be there for each other, no matter what. Do you get it? If you love each other you should say so!”

“B-b-but Luffy—”

“No buts! Get your shit together, Captain’s orders! In fact, you guys should kiss right now.”

“We are not kissing in front of you, Luffy!”

“But you will kiss, right?”

“I-I mean, if Sanji wants to…”

“I want to! I really want to.”

“Great! So go kiss, lovebirds!”

Usopp and Sanji sit in stunned, embarrassed silence for a few moments. Ultimately, Luffy’s expectant look is what spurs them into action.

Sanji jumps to his feet. He’s practically glowing from how hard he’s blushing, but he pushes through his overwhelm to extend a hand out to Usopp.

“Come with me to the galley?”

Usopp blinks up at him in astonishment for a moment before he takes Sanji’s hand, allowing him to pull him to his feet. The sniper grins shyly at the chef, softly twining their fingers together.

“You really want to kiss me?” Usopp has to ask, bashfully batting is long, dark lashes.

“I do,” Sanji smiles. He looks at Luffy, then up at Robin and Nami, who he’d noticed are watching them. He cringes at the attention, returning his gaze to Usopp. “Just, not in front our crewmates. At least, not the first time. And I’ve got some things I want to tell you that are probably better said in private, for both of our sakes.”

“Me too,” Usopp whispers.

“Well then, looks like we’re in agreement. Shall we?”

Sanji leads Usopp to the galley, both of them ignoring the cheering from the nosy trio. The door slams behind them, muffling the sound of shared laughter and whispered confessions.

Luffy launches himself back up the ship so he can peek inside the window and check on his handiwork.

“So, Captain?” Nami asks, leaning over the railing above him. “Did they keep their promise?”

Luffy giggles happily. “They sure did! They look super happy now. Problem solved!”

He takes a moment to observe his crewmates as they seal their bond. Robin and Nami watch as a look of panic overtakes his face as he seems to realize something. “Wait! Now that they’re in love, will Usopp spend even less time with me? And will Sanji be too busy to make me meat and snacks? No!”

Nami shakes her head and Robin chuckles as the Straw Hat bursts into the galley, loudly interrupting the union he insisted on.

Neither of them try to stop him to protect the moment for the newly established couple. Their Captain needs his food and attention, after all.

[itsthemoofacewriting]

Burnin’ up

Summary: On a ship as lively as theirs, Zoro should have known there’s no such thing as privacy. Aka Zoro and Nami keep getting cockblocked. Rating: M. Explicit. 

Can also be found on FFN and AO3.

So, this is a sequel to ‘Feel the burn’. It’ll probably help if you read that first, there are a few references from that story in here.

Amazing Pink left a really nice review on FFN, saying they were looking forward to more and I was so adamant that this was a one-shot and at the time, I was so sure too! But my other WIPs are being difficult right now and my mind drifted over to what a sequel to this would look like… at 2am and thus, this was born! So really, we all have Amazing Pink to thank for the gentle prod, I’m not sure I would have given it any thought otherwise.

Also, no, I was not inspired by ‘Burnin’ up’ by the Jonas Brothers (but I did listen to it after I realised… it’s a good song, let’s not lie).

Enjoy.

It’d been weeks since the crew had found out about his relationship with Nami. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was expecting back then when they inevitably did find out. They’d blinked up at the crow’s nest as him and Nami peered down at the crumpled form of Sanji, who was still laying there holding that stupid drink upright like it was the most important thing, and watched as a lightbulb slowly appeared over their heads as they pieced it together.

Well, Luffy took longer but when he finally realised, prompted by Robin and Usopp, he’d shrugged like it was nothing new and asked Sanji if he could have the drink.

They… didn’t care.

Not in the slightest.

Nami had rolled her eyes and said they should go down and get it over with. He didn’t enjoy the knowing looks, but it could be worse. He wasn’t sure what that worse was. They were crewmates… friends, what did they have to actually be upset about?

Instead they’d looked apprehensively as Sanji got to his feet, his eyes had flitted from Zoro to Nami, no doubt trying to decide what absurd reaction to have. The last thing Zoro had expected was for him to kneel in front of Nami, taking her hand in his and press his forehead to it, telling her he’d pray for her good luck, that she didn’t deserve whatever curse had been put upon her to have to deal with that marimo idiot.

Nami had been stupefied for a second but then she’d laughed, head thrown back and Zoro grit his teeth. Neither of them had expected this but of course he should have known that the stupid cook would take this opportunity to take a shot at him.

And just like that, the moment had passed. Everyone was up to speed and watched as Zoro and Sanji duked it out before Nami stepped in.

Nothing had changed.

.

.

.

Considering how easy everything had been up to then, from getting together with Nami and the crew finding out, this wasn’t a hurdle he was expecting.

They kept getting cockblocked.

Whether it was in her room, in the bathroom, in the men’s room… even in the library when she was supposed to be working on maps- they were interrupted. The main perpetrator was Sanji. Zoro suspected he was doing it on purpose, he wasn’t sure how, but he just knew it. It was to get under his skin, the cook was definitely thatpetty and what made it worse was that it was working.

This time was no different.

It was late and Nami had been sitting by her trees when he’d found her with a drink in hand. Dinner had long since passed and they could still hear Luffy and the other’s playing in the distance somewhere on the ship. But it was far enough away that they didn’t have to worry about being interrupted.

Nami’s head settled on Zoro’s shoulder and as much as he put on a show of griping about having to share his alcohol, he still let her have it relatively easily.

“Mm, this is nice,” Nami hummed.

Zoro didn’t respond verbally, but he did hum back at her in agreement. It was rare they could have a quiet moment together. That didn’t last for though as Nami’s hand came to rest on his thigh and started to play with the fabric of his trousers.

He looked down at the hand and although she wasn’t looking, he still raised an eyebrow. “Playing with fire there, Nami.”

“Nothing I can’t deal with,” she said, tilting her head up to look at him and even he knew that was an invitation.

Leaning down, he pressed his lips to hers and although he meant to keep it brief, her free hand snaked up to the back of his head to hold him there. Not one to be outdone, he slanted his lips against hers and pulled her into him. She hummed again but this one wasn’t to convey content; it was to spur him on.

It worked.

He was pushing her back after that, so she laid beneath her trees and he was hovering above her. Her arms wrapped around his waist and her hands ran along his back. As he slipped his tongue into her mouth, his own hand ran along her bare thigh to play with the hem of her skirt.

Just as his hand was about to explore further, that’s when it happened.

“Nami-san~”

A voice that wasn’t his, calling after his girlfriend.

“I don’t believe in God, but I’m willing to if it meant he’d leave us alone,” Zoro said, irritated, against her lips. His hand already retreating down her leg.

“This was funny at first but now…” She sighed heavily; her head thumping back against the decking.

“It was never funny,” he hissed. His trousers were always way too tight when this happened, he couldn’t see the humour in it.

“Oh come on! Seeing the normally composed, aloof swordsman all worked up? Pure gold,” she teased, now looking at him and leaning in to press a lingering kiss to his lips. It was a winding down kiss and Zoro knew it all too well by now.

“Nami-san~” The voice sang again, much closer than either of them expected and the loud footsteps told them the interloper was drawing in quickly.  

How the hell did he find her so easily? Zoro was convinced he’d put a tracker on her.

Hurriedly, he was tugging her back up as she was smoothing her hair down to look presentable when Sanji appeared. Sanji didn’t look phased in the slightest, either he didn’t know, or he didn’t care what they’d been doing. It was too early to tell which it was. Zoro glared at him but Sanji wasn’t looking, eyes trained on Nami instead.  

“Sanji-kun,” Nami greeted, although even her voice sounded strained, at least he wasn’t the only one affected. However, that wasn’t the name he wanted to hear coming from her lips right now.

“Nami-san, I’ve made a dessert in the kitchen for both you and Robin-chan, would you do me the honour of accompanying me there?”

As soon as he asked, Zoro knew she wouldn’t refuse him. Nami could be rude when she wanted to be, normally when she was busy, but evidently, she wasn’t now, and she definitely wouldn’t continue where they’d left off. So, it was no surprise when she stood to follow Sanji, telling Zoro that she’d find him later.

When Nami wasn’t looking, Sanji threw an all to knowing smirk over his shoulder at Zoro.

He knew it! Bastard.

Zoro wondered if during the next storm that hit, he could push the cook overboard and make it convincingly look like an accident.

But even that thought didn’t make him feel much better.

.

.

.

Now, Zoro had no shame about being walked in on. In his opinion, it’s the person’s fault for not knocking or for not minding their own business. But that wasn’t the case for Nami. For someone who’s so forward and confident in her sexual appeal, she’s oddly shy. She goes red, either gets angry or fumbles through being caught (depending on who catches them) and then leaves shortly afterwards.

And that’s fine, the mood’s been lost and if she’s not completely into it then even he doesn’t want to continue. But someone needed to tell that to his dick. Because that’s still ready to go afterwards, ready to soldier through and he’s not sure if he can bear having to calm himself down again.

All of that is thrown out of the window however, when Chopper walks in of them.

Things are getting hot and heavy in the library. Nami’s hovering over Zoro, her lips firmly attached to the junction between his neck and shoulder and when he feels her teeth, he knows he’ll be wearing a shirt for the next couple of days. He doesn’t need the heckling in the men’s room.

Both of them are shirtless, having got rid of them ages ago and at this point, Nami’s skirt should join the pile too because his hands have travelled from the back of her thighs up to her behind to play with sliver of lace there. It really served no purpose now other than bunching at her hips.

He’s about to move things forward when she beats him to it. Her lips trace up his neck the same time her hand moves down to rub over the bulge in his trousers. It takes her almost no time to find his length and stroke him through the material. His head’s thrown back and he’s groaning at her ministrations. He could happily come like this.

“Feel good?” She whispers hotly into his ear, but he can’t respond with words. His loud groan is enough though as she laughs lightly.

Feeling encouraged at his heavy breathing, her hand plays with the waistband of his trousers, fingers tracing along the skin there and making his hips jerk upwards. She pushes past his waistband, past his boxers and he exhales loudly as her fingers delicately touch his dick.

But the strangled squeak at the door brings everything crashing to a halt. They both freeze and turn their heads in horror to see the tiny reindeer stood there. Chopper’s expression mirrors theirs, his eyes round like marbles, and they can see him silently panicking, unsure what to do. But Nami and Zoro aren’t sure what to do either. So all three of them, stay frozen and staring at each other for another moment.

Nami seems to realise their position quickly enough and her hand shoots out of Zoro’s trousers. Her mood does a complete U-turn after that. From the confident, sexy woman above him that just had him squirming for her to a blushing mess that is trying to bury herself into him… or through him, he’s not sure.

That leaves only Zoro and Chopper still staring at each other because Nami’s left him to deal with this as she tries to master how to be invisible.

That lack of shame from earlier was a lie in this moment when Chopper darts out, slamming the door behind him without a word.

Nami’s face is still buried in his neck and he can feel the heat from her face on his skin. He’s pretty sure his face is matching. But on the bright side, his boner has instantly disappeared. Apparently, it’s one weakness is tiny, talking reindeers.

At least he doesn’t have to calm himself down now.

“Oh god. That’s mortifying,” She mumbled against his skin after a few silent moments. “Do we… go after him?” She’s finally pulled her head back to peer up at him.

He shrugged back. How was he supposed to know?

“You should talk to him. You’re close, he looks up to you.”

He spluttered. “And you’re not?”

“This feels like a guy thing.” Sitting up now, she gives him a thumbs up, completely over her embarrassment. “Good luck, Zoro!”

He glowered at her cowardice but knew there was no use arguing. Apparently, this had been settled.

Nami had just got her top back on and skirt straightened when the door opened again and both of them turn to gape as Chopper re-entered. Except this time, he inches in with much more caution and a hoof covering his eyes.

“Is everyone decent?” Chopper asked, slowly moving his hoof down but keeping his eyes closed.

Nami’s gurgling is apparently enough confirmation for Chopper to open his eyes and when he does, he looks incredibly determined. Nami quickly scampered off of Zoro’s lap to sit next to him and attempted to look presentable. Zoro snorted but winced at the elbow he received in the side.  

Chopper approached them both and in his free hoof he was holding condoms. Nami’s eyes bulged and Zoro grit his teeth, knowing exactly what was coming.

“Safe sex is really important. It’s dangerous to not be prepared for a number of reasons, mainly unplanned pregnancy but also for sexually transmitted diseases.” He’s looking at both of them as he speaks, completely clinical and in doctor mode. “Even if you don’t sleep with other people, it’s possible to contract them in other ways and pass them on through sexual activities.”

“Oh god,” Nami said quietly, face burning but still nodding.

Zoro has enough sense to stick his hand out and accept the condoms. He almost balked at the amount of condoms Chopper puts in his hand and is that lube in there?! He doesn’t ask, he’s not sure Nami would survive it.

“Do you need a demonstration on how to put a condom on? Because incorrectly done makes the condom useless.”

Nami wheezes but shook her head and Zoro replied for the both of them. “No, we’ve got this covered.”

Chopper seems to accept that and nods.

“If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate.” Chopper paused, giving them both a moment to think it over, before continuing, “I’m the ships doctor and this is important. I’ve already had this conversation with Robin and Franky.”

That lightens the tension and their embarrassment floods out at the knowledge of tiny little Chopper giving their oldest members the talk. At least Nami doesn’t look like she’s going to combust anymore, and he knows that she’ll be getting details from Robin about that later.

Chopper left shortly afterwards, with a final comment to please come to him with anything, and Nami relaxed slightly, letting out a deep breath in relief.

“Well, looks like I don’t have to talk to him now.”

He felt like he didn’t deserve the punch.

.

.

.

“Whoops, sorry guys,” Usopp said, hand covering his eyes immediately after walking into the library and seeing them sat next to each other. “I didn’t see anything.”

“We weren’t-”

“No need to be embarrassed-” Usopp cut in.

“We’re not embarrassed!” Zoro said. What’s there to be embarrassed about, they’re not even touching.

“It’s a completely natural thing between a couple-”

“For god sake!” Nami snapped, “Uncover your eyes, we’re not doing anything!”

“Do you guys need more condoms? Chopper said-”

That was enough for Nami’s temper to snap. “Get out of here!” And then a book’s being thrown where Usopp once stood.

The door slammed behind him and they’re left in the silence of now knowing that there’s no way the crew aren’t talking about this amongst themselves.

Because Usopp had never walked in on them before.

.

.

.

Zoro wonders how Franky and Robin do it.

He’s currently in the crow’s nest and, normally, he’d be completely focused on what he’s doing but he can’t stop his mind from wandering.

It’s apparently no secret in their crew that him and Nami haven’t been able to get very far, much to his annoyance. Annoyance that they haven’t got far and that they’re all talking about it. He knows they are, based on the looks he’s getting from Franky and he hasn’t even walked in on them. The older man keeps giving him looks like he wants to come and talk to him about it. For now Zoro’s keeping him at bay with his glaring but he knows that only works for so long. He didn’t want to have another sex talk.

Maybe it’s all Robin, Zoro thinks, circling back to his original thought. Franky was huge, there was no missing him, but Robin was crafty. With all the hands and eyes and ears. Maybe she uses them to stop people walking in on them… and can’t she duplicate herself?

Zoro suddenly grimaces, catching himself before his thoughts go elsewhere. There is no way he’s thinking about someone else’s sex life right now. Especially his friends.

Maybe he should just suck it up and ask Franky for advice. He could already imagine Franky’s blubbering but Zoro knew he’d keep it a secret… although he’d definitely tell Robin and she’d tell Nami. And Nami would tease him, even if it helps her too.

Urgh.

“You’re doing it wrong,” a teasing voice called from behind and he turned to see Nami grinning up at him from the entrance of the crow’s nest.

Well aware of the familiar scene before him, he teased back, “Enjoying the view? That costs you know.”

Nami laughed sharply, pulling herself up into the crow’s nest to walk towards him. “We’ll call it even from the last time.”

“Oh, so you admit you’re staring now?” And just like that, any of his previous thoughts vanish as they fall into their normal routine.

Although he’s already warmed up, he still waits for Nami to catch up and stops his squats to walk over and correct her stance. They’ve fallen into a natural rhythm working out together. She doesn’t always join him, he works out every day and sometimes she just doesn’t have the time, so she appears whenever she has a moment to spare. He’s come to enjoy this time they spend together and sharing his knowledge with her. Also, from his appreciative glances when he’s not entirely focused, he can see she’s starting to tone up.

“Is there even a point to me spotting you? I’m pretty sure that weighs more than I do.” Nami’s warmed up by this point but she’s taking a small break before going into sit ups.

“No, but the view’s good so don’t move.” And shamelessly his eye flicked from her face to her chest and back. His grin only widening at her flushed cheeks, but he doesn’t miss the way her own eyes linger around his chest and arms. “Helps if you watch the weight though.”

“I could say the same to you!”

Despite his teasing, Zoro’s kept his hands to himself, only touching her when he needs to. A stark contrast from their normal workouts together and so far, Nami hasn’t noticed. As much as he wants to, he doesn’t know if he could face another interruption. Normally they don’t bother him up there, but if Nami’s with him the crew suddenly turn into blood hounds.

He’d back off until he can at least speak to Franky.

Pride be damned.

“Okay, that’s me done here. You’re going into sit ups,” Zoro said, pointing towards the mat in front of the crow’s nest bench.

With no hesitation she walks over to lay on the floor and start. Normally, he was taking orders from her but up here she followed his word so easily. It surprised him at first and at one point he wondered whether he missed her normal bossiness but she more than made up for it with smart remarks.

“You going to keep gawking like Sanji-kun or are you going to do something?”

Like that.

“Unlike the pervert, I can do both,” he said as he sat on the bench in front of where she was laying and picking up the weight there.

There was a peaceful silence between them as they focused on their respective tasks but Zoro found his gaze drifting over to Nami. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her breathing steadily getting heavier, but she was lasting much longer than normal these days. He’d have to switch up her routine soon to keep her on her toes.

When she laid down after her last sit up, he couldn’t stop himself from looking her over. From the blue leggings to the matching sports bra, she was panting on the floor and he had to try and keep himself from imagining her like that for different reasons. He’d made his mind up and getting himself worked up would only come around to punish him in the long run.

“Sorry to interrupt, but the rest of us are stepping off the ship for a bit.” The sudden appearance of a mouth on the wall didn’t faze either of them, they’d been around it for far too long. “We’ll be gone for a few hours… do with that what you want.” Humour was thick in Robin’s voice before the mouth disappeared in a flutter of flowers.

There was a short silence that followed afterwards as Zoro and Nami looked at each other. The atmosphere shifting slightly in the crow’s nest as the words started to sink in.

Except Nami didn’t seem surprised.

“You’ve been speaking to Robin,” he accused, narrowing his eye.

“Maybe.” She sat up and attempted to look innocent. “Can you really blame me though?”

“Desperate for me then?” He smirked and leaned towards her.

“Like you haven’t been thinking about talking to Franky.” She rolled her eyes, leaning back on her arms to stretch out her body. It worked when Zoro gave her a once over.

Well, she had him there. Sometimes he wondered if she could read his mind. He said nothing but that told Nami everything as her smile broadened.

“Anyway, you should be thanking me.” She stood, getting to her feet to stand in front of him and he wasted no time in making a gap between his legs for her to stand between. “We have a free ship. No interruptions,” she said lowly.

“At this point, I don’t think I’d care if we were interrupted.” His gaze darkening as his hands palmed at her hips.

“Big words coming from someone who still can’t look Chopper in the eyes,” she snorted, her hands equally adventurous as they ran along his shoulders.

“You can’t either!” And he pinched lightly at her hip in retribution.

“Shut up and kiss me Zoro.” She’d long since had enough of this conversation but it didn’t matter for Zoro because it’s a command that he can wholeheartedly get on board with.

He wasted no time in pulling her down onto his lap

The kiss is bruising, and it’s with more force than he’d intended, but honestly, he didn’t care. Because she’s kissing him back just as roughly, lips frantically moving against the others and their teeth clash together at one point, but it doesn’t deter them. They’ve both been waiting far too long for this and it’s obvious in the way she’s already pulling at his hair and he’s probing her lips with his tongue.

They pause to breath roughly against the other’s lips but there’s no rest when her hands insistently start pulling up his top. “You never wear a top to work out and you pick today of all days to?”

“You should have told me your plan beforehand and I would have made sure I was wearing as least as possible.”

The moment his top’s off and thrown behind them, her hands are smoothing across his chest and he’s pulling her back into their kiss. It’s less bruising now but still just as desperate, enthusiasm dripping into the kiss. His hands slip up her waist lingering around the dip in it before fiddling with the clasp of her sports bra.

The bra teases him when they work out together and it’s still doing it now.

“Would you hurry up,” she said against his lips, impatient but unwilling to break the kiss properly. Her hands are now playing with the waistband of his bottoms and it’s not helping him focus on the task.

“Well it’s hardly like I’ve had much practice with taking your clothes off, is it?” He grumbled back. His fingers felt far too big for such a tiny clasp, how did women do this every day?

“We’ll work on it, but now’s not the time.” Her hands leave his waistband to meet his at her bra clasp and she pushes them away to unhook it with such an ease that it almost mocks him. It’s hard to still be annoyed when the bra’s off and joining his top of the floor.

With her breasts now free, he aims for her neck, working kisses down it and nipping as he works his way down. Her hands are in his hair, threading through it and encouraging him to continue. He kisses a particularly sensitive spot when she shallowly gasps but it’s nothing compared to the noise she makes when he finally reaches her breasts. It’s louder, less surprised and filled with pleasure that makes him twitch in his trousers.

He’s rewarded with the sound again when he takes her nipple into his mouth and licks. Her hips are grinding into his and it’s hard to focus but he doesn’t stop her. If anything, his free hand is pressing her hips into his even more to increase the pressure.

When she bounces this time, he’s pushing her off of him and onto the mat on the floor. He follows after her quickly to cover her body with his own and this position is much easier to roll his hips into hers. They both moan when he does.

“Zoro- hah- take off your trousers,” she rushed out, breathless when he doesn’t relent on sucking on her nipple.

He just about hears what she’s saying over the pulsing in his ears but he’s more concerned with getting her leggings off. He leaves her nipple then, leaving it with a parting kiss before he’s sitting up and pulling down the waistband of her leggings. He doesn’t need to say anything for her to lift her hips, but he does when he struggles to get the leggings off her legs.

“What are these things made of?” He huffs, now sat back on the ball of his feet and glaring down at them.

Nami doesn’t respond but she does start laughing when he gives a particularly harsh tug and they barely give.

“Laughing isn’t helping here Nami!”

“Sorry- it’s just- your face!” She snorts in laughter. “Actually, take these too.” And she’s pulling her underwear down to meet the leggings now at her calves.

Zoro tried to stay focused but she’s almost naked before him for the first time ever and he can’t look away. The leggings finally give and he’s angrily flinging them across the room, hoping he never sees them again.

The foot on his arm distracts him from lingering on that thought for much longer and Nami’s nodding towards his own bottoms. “Take them off too!”

Something that he wholeheartedly agrees with and he’s standing

Nami’s looking up at him in disbelief and eyebrows raised when he joins her on the floor again. He quirks an eyebrow.

“No underwear?”

He snorts. “Never do. Waste of time.”

He’s not interested in her response, although she definitely does mutter something under her breath and it’s most likely snarky. Instead he’s kissing her again, less rushed as it sinks in that they’ve really got time and there’s no one ready to walk in at any second.

His hand wanders down, skimming over her stomach and all too quickly it’s grazing over wet lips. He bites back a groan when he realises how wet she is when they’ve barely done anything but Nami’s moaning below him as his hand teases her. Stroking up and down, he watches her eyebrows knot and she’s biting her lip to hold in her moans.

That won’t do.

With his free hand, he holds her jaw to make sure she can’t look anywhere else but at him and the thumb on his other busy hand stroke over her clit. She gasps then, unable to hold in the noise.

“Come on Nami, you’re not normally quiet. I want to hear you loud, tell me how much you’re enjoying yourself.”

The pinch in her eyebrows and downward curve of her mouth tells him she’s about to refuse him but when she opens her mouth his thumb picks up the pace and instead of words, a wanton moan breaks free from her lips.

“That’s it,” he praised and as much as he’s desperate for his own relief, hers is far more important to him. He’s trying to take in as much of her face as he can, and he almost wished he still had his other eye in this moment.

“Okay, enough,” Nami panted out and she’s pushing his hand away. Before he can ask what’s wrong, she’s cupping him. “I want you in me.”

Damn.

And he’s all too ready to follow that command.  

“Hang on.” Zoro got up and walked over to the locker across the room. He pushed some stuff out of the way before finding what he was after. He turned back to Nami and smirked as he held up a condom.

“Chopper would be so proud,” Nami laughed. “But you called me desperate yet you’re the one storing condoms around the ship?”

“Saved us time, didn’t it?” He said, shrugging, as he walked back over, throwing the condom down next to her and covered her with his body again. “And don’t mention Chopper right now.” That’s the last thing he needs going through his mind.

He kisses her after that, trying to quickly reclaim the mood and it’s not as lost as he thought it was when her legs start to wrap around his waist. What he doesn’t expect is for her to suddenly roll them so that she’s on top.

“I’d rather be on top if that’s okay with you?”

Oh shit. “Fuck, you’re sexy.”

“I’ll take that as a yes?” She winks at him and moves her hips against his. He can feel her wet heat on his dick, and it makes his head go fuzzy for a second. He needs this to speed up before he loses his load.

“Yeah, you’re sure? We can stop at any time.”

She’s smiling down at him softly and nodding back at him.

After that, she’s picking up the condom and rolling it down his dick. He stops breathing as she does. Then she’s taking his dick into her hand, lining him up and sinking onto him. He grips her hips and shit; this feels better than he could ever have imagined. Nami throws her head back and her palms are spread across his chest to give her some leverage.

He shouldn’t be surprised that she wants to be on top and in charge. It’s no different to their normal daily interactions, where she’s bossing them around and although he’d normally argue back- this he doesn’t mind. In fact, it gets under his skin in a pleasant way and makes him feel even hotter. It’s no secret that her bossiness turns him on a bit and the look she’s throwing at him now tells him she knows it too.

The first time she moves bobs up and back down he almost smacks his head back into the mat but he’s not about to take this laying down. The second time he digs his feet into mat to match her thrust and he’s rewarded with a load moan from her.

The pace only picks up from there and the room is filled with the sound of their moans and skin slapping as they both work towards their high together.

Except, far too soon, Nami’s pace is starting to slow and the way her legs are twitching tells him that she’s getting tired.

He sits up then, more than happy to take over the reins. “More squats for you next time,” he quips in her ear.

She swats his shoulder but buries her face in his shoulder and moans weakly at her last attempt to grind down on him. Gathering her in his arms, he started to stand, refusing to pull out of her and walked them towards the empty wall of the crow’s nest.

He’s well aware of how familiar this scene is, except this time around they’re having sex instead of making out. He presses her up against the wall, her legs still tight around his waist and he thrusted back into her.

“Do you know how good you feel?” He whispered to her.

He restarted the pace, slowly grinding into her and picking it up from there. He continued to whisper into her ear, about how she feels, how he’s going to make sure she sees stars and it worked as her moans start to pick up and she’s moving her hips against him.

She grips onto him, clinging to him in her pleasure and he knows he’s doing something right when he nails start to dig into his shoulders. Maybe it’s the masochist in him but it only turns him on further and makes him work harder.

The way she started to babble nonsense means he’s close to pulling her with him over the edge and he sure hoped so because he can feel his end coming.

“Touch yourself,” he said, his hands too occupied with keeping her up against the wall.

“Zoro.” The way she moaned his name really does something for him and he wants to hear it again. “I’m really close,” she whined.

“Me too,” he panted against her neck.

He kisses her after that and it’s sloppy and uncoordinated and they take more breaks to breath against each other’s lips than actually kiss but it only heightens the feeling.

It’s then, when her moans start to break apart and tumble out of her lips that he felt her tighten around him and he can feel his high drawing in. He can’t last though that feeling of her clamping down of him or her calling out his name. He thrusts in relentlessly to chase after his high and join her and he felt it shortly after, pleasure streaking down his back.

He isn’t even sure how he’s still on his feet or holding her up, but he managed it as he worked through his orgasm with her. It’s only as he started to come out of it that he realised he’s probably crushing her into the wall now instead of holding her up against it.

Stumbling over, he made it down to the mat and collapsed back, pulling Nami on top of him. She moaned weakly when he pulled out of her. Considering how his back stung, he can only imagine the marks he has there.

Nami came to when she started to press kisses against his chest and his hand continued to run a path up and down her back.

“Zoro, that was-”

“Great? Yeah, it was.” He smirked down at her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Makes you want to kill our crew members for constantly interrupting us when we could have been doing this sooner? Yeah, it does.”

Nami laughed lightly at that but groaned shortly after. “I feel gross.”

And she had a point. They were sweaty from working out beforehand but mixing in sex with that only made it worse. He grimaced as he peeled off the condom.

“Let’s go get cleaned up.”

“Bathhouse?” She asked, eyes lighting up and it’s evident from her tone that they’ll be doing something other than getting clean.

“The door has a lock too.” His expression mirroring hers and promising other activities.

Nothing more needed to be said as Zoro hauled Nami up and towards the exit of the crow’s nest, clinging to one another as they went.

-------------------------------------------

Shout out to Marimoandtangerine from Tumblr. She drew a scene of Nami and Zoro working out in the crow’s nest for the Tumblr event that we both took part in and joked how much our pieces mirrored each other without us even knowing… but now they definitely do because I incorporated that scene when writing this.  

You can see her fantastic art here.

Chopper said safe sex! The moment I had him walking into this cockblocking escapade, I had to have him giving a lecture.

As always, please excuse any errors.

Thanks for reading.

[fangirl-1523]

My Sworn Brothers [Luffy x Crossover!Sister!Reader x Ace x Sabo]

A/N: Hey, so I want to write a High School AU of the many, many anime I have watched/ read. Bleach, Blue Exorcist, Devil is a Part-Timer, Durarara, Fairy Tail, Fullmetal Alchemist, High School of the Dead, InuYasha, Kill La Kill, Magi, My Hero Academia, Noragami, One Piece, Ouran High School Host Club, Pokemon, Saiki K, Sailor Moon, Seven Deadly Sins, Soul Eater, Sword Art Online, Vampire Knight, Your Lie in April, and Yu Gi-Oh. And I was wondering who would you like to be apart of your friend? And would you like to have a relation to any of the characters of the world. 

Summary: [Y/N] is the oldest sworn sister to Luffy, Ace, and Sabo. And after finding Ace and Sabo aboard Luffy’s ship, the Thousand Sunny, she explains to them who she is, her other sworn brothers and sisters, embarrasses the three of them (a regular Tuesday for her), and threatens them with a chalkboard for interrupting her. Multiple times. In this story, most of the anime I am into is in the same world (Bleach, Blue Exorcist, Fairy Tail, Fullmetal Alchemist, InuYasha, Magi, My Hero Academia, Naruto, Noragami, Seven Deadly Sins, and Sword Art Online.  I might do a part 2. 

Warnings: spoilers for the above mangas and animes, also, even though this is along the timeline of after the time skip (at some point), I took the creative liberty to have Ace alive during this meeting for a quad family reunion, might be language

Word Count: 1, 668

“How the hell am I suppose to believe that my three idiotic brothers would be in the same place at the exact same time I’m trying to find them?” the girl with [H/C] hair, old enough to be Luffy’s age, maybe a year younger or a year older than him. 

“[Y/N]!!” the rubber boy flung himself at her in a hug.

She fell down on her butt from the impact of the hug. She groaned before pushing the boy off of her and standing up, dusting herself off. “Geez, Lu. I was on a job, just finished, and I heard something about a Straw Hat, a Fire Fist, and a blonde with a top hat that put the mad hatter to shame. I just came to see if the rumors are true.” 

“What job did you have, sis?” Sabo said as he sipped a smoothie created from Vinsmoke Sanji. 

“Well, you see. In the ten years I’ve been gone, I’ve been busy. Both with being lazy and being diligent.” the girl explained. “I am a member of Fairy Tail. Dragon Slayer Magic, particularly fire, water, earth, air, and plant. Requip the Knight. Some space jumping there and vortex opening here.” 

“You got the two mixed up, kid.” Ace said from his spot next to Sabo. 

The girl grinned an evil grin. “Oh, did I, Ace of Clubs?” 

The raven haired pirate groaned at the nickname while Luffy’s crew members wondered after the nickname. Ace kept giving her the don’t-tell-them-anything look with a cut-it-out motion. She, like most people she knew, did not listen to reason. 

“Well, when we were younger, I attempted to teach the pour unfortunate souls that you call Luffy, Sabo, and Ace golf. And we played mini-gold. First hole we went to, the club flew out of Ace’s hand and crashed into the window where the pour lady working the club stand was clonked on the head and fell unconscious. Another fun fact: I’m overly competitive and therefore master of mini gold. Luffy on the other hand... beat my bowling high score of just a little over four hundred points.” [Y/N] explained. 

“THAT’S NOT HOW YOU PLAY GOLF, YOU IDIOT!” Usopp shouted at his captain. 

“Ace was a lot worse. However, on the eighteenth hole, got a hole in one. Although with team sports, I always sided with Luffy ‘cuz he was the baby of the family.” she explained. 

“Never play Volleyball with her unless you’re Luffy.” Sabo warned the Straw Hat Pirates. 

“Could you... possibly.... explain who you are?” asked Nami. 

“That’s an easy and excellent question, m’lady. I am [Y/N] [L/N], the daughter of the Demon King from the Demon Clan, Niece of Solomon, adoptive daughter of the great dragon, The Curse of Depravity, a mage of S-Class ranking, the best older sister anyone can have, a Shinigami, and the Pirate Fairy.” [Y/N] said with her hands on her hips like wonder woman. 

“You’re not wonder woman, dumbass.” Ace muttered. 

She scowled at the boy (who was now physically older than her). “I know that, asshole.” Ace shrugged his shoulders at that. “Anyways, I should get going. I’m here with my teammates. And Salamander will have a cow if he finds out I’m on a Pirate Ship. Which may or may not include Natsu asking you all to fight him at once for his sister.” [Y/N] shrugged. 

“SISTER?!” Luffy screeched. 

“YOU ALREADY REPLACED US?!” Ace and Sabo said in unison. 

“This is why I never took you to Amusement parks or sat next to you on a ride.” she clenched at her swollen ears.  “No, I was merely saying that I have something called [Y/N]’s Council of Brothers. They’re basically a band of boys I feel need my protection, wisdom, and power to embarrass them until they’re six feet under and rotting.” 

“She’s dark.” Nami said. “But can you explain this whole Council of Brothers thing. Because I’m not sure they,” the ginger pointed to the three brothers, “understand.” 

“Alright! I will go over a lesson here!” and suddenly a white board appeared by her side with writing already on it. 

“Where did you get the white board?” asked Luffy. 

“That’s not important right now.” she scowled. “Yes, Sabo.” 

“Was that Whiteboard always there and we just never noticed it?” the blonde asked. 

“No. Ace if this is a question about the white board, I will smack you with the same gold club that flew through that window. All questions about the stupid whiteboard will be answered after I explained everything. Got it?” 

The three brothers grumbled out a, “Yes.”  

“Good. Anyways, to start it off I have two half-brothers. Meliodas and Zeldris.” she slapped a pointer stick against the whiteboard. 

“Did she always have that?” Ace asked, whispering it to his two brothers. 

“I don’t know. I’m just glad someone noticed it besides me.” Sabo murmured back. 

“SILENCE, YOU INSOLENCE FOOLS!” and she threw a frying pan which hit Ace in the head. 

Why does she have a frying pan in her requips? Sabo wondered in his head, not wanting to get hit in the head with anything else she might have to throw at them. 

“Anyways, Meliodas and Zeldris are my half-brothers. Zeldris is the captain of the Demon Clan’s ten Commandments while Meliodas is the captain of Liones’s Seven Deadly Sins of which I am co-captain and the Phoenix Sin of Darkness. To be fair, I look more like my mother and I think the only thing me, Meliodas, and Zeldris share is our dumbassery we inherited from our father. Second off, my cousin is Magi Aladdin since my mother is his father, Solomon,’s sister. Now, that’s enough of my actual biological family. Now, I won’t go into detail about those three. Because you already seem well-acquainted with one another. Anyways, onto the next one. The next one on my list of brothers is a half-demon named Rin who is the son of Satan along with his younger brother, Yukio, but he doesn’t really need protection. next is Kazuto Kirigaya also known as Kirito. I prefer to call him that. He got stuck in a game where if you die there, you die in real life, but he defeated them. next, we have Satan himself, a king of demons, Sadou Maou. He works as a part-timer for a fast food chain which is sad to be honest. Next, we have Alibaba Saluja, a prince and a king’s candidate, also my cousin’s best friend. He wields the fire djinn, Amon. Also, he’s trying to be a gladiator while figuring out his feelings for Fanalis and former slave Morgiana. Next, we have actual God Yato who is a former god of calamity and a current god of war. I think. I’m not quite sure. But he and his two regalia, Yukine and a Nora named Kazuma, but also Kazune under Yato, must be protected by me at all cost. Then, we have Edward Elric, a alchemist missing both a leg and an arm because he wanted to see his mom’s smile again which kicks me in the heartstrings whenever I hear it. His brother, Alphonse, is an honorary member of the Council of Brothers. And he used to be entirely a soul attached to a suit of armor. No joke.” 

“Does no one else notice that they are mostly raven haired or blonde?” Nico Robin commented. 

The Straw Hat Pirates turned to the three sworn brothers who just shrugged their shoulders at that. “I admit I am guilty for that. But my actual brothers are raven headed and blonde, so that may be the reason. Anyways, off to the next people. Now, this person could make Luffy look like a genius. Sometimes. Natsu Dragneel, a salmon haired fire dragon slayer, is the brother of Zeref Dragneel, the black wizard, and also simultaneously END, the most powerful demon of the book of zeref which makes him one of the top fifteen most powerful demons. Next, we have strawberry boi, Ichigo Kurosaki, a shinigami who I’ve been helping train. He could see the dead and then he discovered his spiritual power, stole the shinigami powers of Rukia Kuchiki, and started to exorcist hollows and send souls to the soul society. Then, we have my favorite band of brothers since they could literally be in a band. Broccoli Boi, Izuku Midoriya, kinda has a power augmentation quirk, best way to describe it without giving too much away, Porcupine Katsuki Bakugo who can blow things up with help from his sweat. Zuko Wannabe Shoto Todoroki who can wield fire and ice. Also, his brother Touya may or may not be Dabi. Then, Pikachu Kaminari Denki who can utilize elctricity, but too much and he makes Luffy look like a genius. No joke. Well… maybe… I don’t really know. Anyways, then we have speedster Tenya Iida. Oh, there’s sharkboy Eijiro Kirishima. He can make himself go as hard as rock, but he has limitations. Then, we have spidertape Hanta Sero that can shoot tape out of his elbows. Then, half-demon InuYAsha who is the son of a dog demon and a mortal woman. There’s also Shippo who is an adorable little kitsune. And I think I got everyone.” the girl looked at her board before smacking it again as she noticed Luffy had begun to doze off while Ace had totally fallen asleep. 

The action alerted the two boys to wake up at once and glare at their older sister. And then, a silver haired undead man with a flying blue cat landed on the floor of the ship. “Thank goodness we found you. C’mon. We got a mission and you and your ‘Team Natsu’ have a job request from the old man and a princess.” 

“So Hisui and Bartra both agree to have us do something, but what is this so-called mission?” asked [Y/N]. 

Ban smirked. “We’re fighting slave-trading pirates.” 

“I want in!” Luffy cheered.

[visualfallacy]

Go the Fuck to Sleep

For a while, when it was just the two of them, that was that. And then came Nami and Usopp and Sanji, and everyone else after that, and Luffy had clearly started something, because somehow one of the things that Zoro always learned about his new crewmates was when they slept, and when they didn’t.

Companion (sort of) to my fic Sleep is a Beast, Polar and Bear.

Usopp’s first night on the Going Merry involved very little sleep at all, since both Luffy and Usopp were way too excited, but in the following days Zoro learned that Usopp was a very restless sleeper.

Given Usopp’s story-telling and his general outlook on life, Zoro was thoroughly unsurprised to learn that their new sniper had fairly frequent bad dreams, during which he, also unsurprisingly, yelled and thrashed. When Zoro laid a hand on his shoulder to wake him up, Usopp would then jerk awake, wide-eyed and frantic. But he also calmed down fairly quickly, the solid unjudging presence of Zoro and the quiet creak of the ship restoring normality to Usopp’s world – as much as there ever was.

He also talked. A lot. Because of this Zoro knew that mostly, Usopp’s nightmares had to do with giant flesh-eating plants, or poisonous glass spiders, or enormous sniper-crushing babies. Some of these terrors fuelled the stories Usopp told to Luffy, and later on Chopper, suitably embellished with Usopp’s own bravery. The bad dreams ramped up after any particularly nasty fight, but would always settle down afterward, and Usopp seemed to regard them as fair trade for a healthy, active imagination. Zoro learned that once Usopp had given the dreams voice, and set them apart from his own personal terrors, they held no power over him.

So when Usopp babbled, Zoro listened.

---

Sanji – the asshole – kicked. On the cook’s first night on the Going Merry he had thrashed so much during a bad dream that he’d fallen out of his hammock. While this was admittedly amusing to Zoro, it was hilarious to Luffy and Usopp, who had howled with laughter and Sanji had then made everyone, including Zoro, suffer as a result.

Unfortunately any attempt on Zoro’s part to calm the cook during his bad dreams had resulted in countless bruises on Zoro’s thighs and arms from Sanji’s restless – and stupidly fucking powerful – legs.

Now, though, Zoro knew to leave those sorts of dreams well enough alone. When Sanji had room to fight, Zoro knew he was gonna be fine. All Zoro would need to do was deliver a sharp poke to Sanji’s back through the mesh of the hammock or, later on, thump the underside of Sanji’s bunk hard enough to rattle the frame. Sanji would wake with a start, deliver a glare with half-lidded eyes, or sleepily curse Zoro, and then he would roll over, and go back to sleep. Problem solved.

It was the other sort of dream that Zoro had to watch out for – when Sanji was curled into the foetal position so tightly that in the morning watching him unfurl was painful, for all the stiff muscles and cracking joints. Zoro never asked what caused those dreams – like hell Sanji would ever share something like that with him – but he knew they were far worse than the others, if only because they made Sanji’s spirit go sad and small, and then Zoro would be reaching for his swords before he realised what he was doing.

The first time one of those dreams happened, it interrupted Zoro on the way back from appropriating a midnight snack from the larder. Zoro looked down at Sanji’s tense and unhappy form with a frown. Then, following some half-formed thought, waved his half-eaten sandwich under the cook’s nose. Sanji, ever so slightly, uncurled.

Which led to Zoro sitting at the galley table, surrounded by small piles of herbs, squares of muslin nicked from Chopper’s bandage stores, and pieces of string. As Zoro clumsily tied the small bundles of herbs closed, struggling to knot the piece of string with large fingers, a distant part of him pointed out that he was a grown man, and this was a fucking ridiculous activity.

Zoro ignored the voice and resorted to using his teeth to tighten the knot. He wondered how long it’d take the herbs to loose their scent, and whether Sanji would notice the infrequent pilfering of his rosemary. Or if Sanji would notice the bundles tied discreetly above his hammock, wedged in the nearby wall, and buried in his pillow.

Whatever. Sanji slept better from then on, and Zoro would deny any involvement to his dying breath.

--

Nami had this stubborn thing about what she called a ‘proper sleep schedule’. Zoro supposed it was some sort of hopeless attempt to introduce a sense of grounding into the pretty shitty life she had led under Arlong. In practice, what it meant was that when Nami had nightmares she didn’t just give up and stay awake like a normal person (Zoro), but tried to get back to sleep. Which would get her stuck in a loop of nightmares that, for the continuous waking up and low-level dozing, had her trapped in a hellish half-lucid world that was dark and unforgiving.

It felt shitty to Zoro – as he stood outside Nami’s door, a couple of nights after she joined the crew proper – and he could only imagine what it must be like to live it. Unfortunately, Zoro couldn’t just walk in there. Nami had very strict rules about privacy which, while mostly for Sanji’s benefit, apparently still applied to the rest of the male crew – and Zoro was not going to betray Nami’s fragile trust like that.

All Zoro could do was try and interrupt the cycle by making enough noise outside Nami’s door to wake her up enough that the next time Nami fell asleep it was, hopefully, dreamless.

Not too much noise – because then she’d yell at him (though that worked too) – but weight training on the directly adjacent deck worked; as did jumping jacks (which Zoro, personally, loathed, but – sacrifices); bouncing Usopp’s hideously annoying rubber balls against the wall (which during the day Zoro would have personally fed to the sniper through sheer irritation); and a variety of other odd pursuits that, if Nami were thinking clearly, she would have perhaps stopped to question.

Anyway, they seemed to provide enough proof of an outside world that Nami could shake off whatever it was that was giving her night terrors – probably Arlong, that asshole, and Zoro was deeply thankful Luffy had punched the damn fish into oblivion – and get some actual rest.

---

Chopper was scared of monsters – not the normal ones in the closet or under his bed, but the ones he sometimes turned himself into. When the monsters rose up in Chopper’s sleep, Zoro could feel them too, looming in the back of consciousness and namelessly threatening Zoro and the people Zoro loved, his new nakama and Doctrine and Hilulik-

Which is how Zoro knew Chopper was slipping into a nightmare; other people’s ghosts had always had a way of sticking to Zoro. Yet another reason to chase away his friend’s nightmares.

The nightmares left the littlest doctor trembling violently in his smallest form, trying desperately to be brave but clearly terrified by the residual terrors his mind had conjured up. Zoro honestly found this situation pretty easy to fix, because all it involved was – and there was no other word for this – cuddling.

It’s fine, Zoro told himself determinately, Totally Manly, because his crewmate needed him and he could meditate just fine with a ball of fur in his lap as without.

---

Robin, who was perhaps the only member of the crew who had as many sleepless nights as Zoro, seemed to have perfected the cat nap. Zoro wasn’t entirely sure what it was in her past that gave her such bad insomnia, and seeing as it made her damn near suicidal Zoro was just gonna go ahead and adopt Luffy’s standard Don’t Ask Don’t Tell position when it came to his crewmate’s past. So Robin grabbed sleep at random times, an hour here and there when nothing much was happening and was unlikely to happen. Zoro got the feeling that the habit had been developed over years of practice, and it was not going to change soon. Sometimes Robin napped at night, but she never slept for more than a few hours at a stretch.

Once though, she did, accidentally.

One night, not too long after Water 7, Zoro was halfway through a set that even he was starting to get bored with, when something caused him to jerk with sudden alarm towards the door of the crow’s nest. There stood Robin, pale and somehow… less, than usual. Zoro had seen her enter the women’s quarters at the same time as the rest of the crew went to bed, to catch a few hours sleep like she usually did before she woke and spent the rest of the night reading. Zoro rapidly surmised that Robin must not have woken up after two or three hours like usual, but had slept for – Zoro squinted at the position of the moon, visible out the windows – maybe five hours.

And fucked if Zoro knew what to do with this one, having little experience with Robin specifically and women in general. But all Robin did was walk – stiffly, like a puppet – to one of the benches against the wall and sit down. Her face was shadowed, but she waved one arm vaguely at Zoro. Zoro took this as an indication he should resume his set, which he did out of a lack of anything better to do. After a while, the tight, awful feeling that wound around Robin like a coiled spring eased, and the tense lines of her body softened slightly. The simplicity and rhythm of Zoro’s training routine had seemed to help, somehow.

After that, Zoro had clocked Robin’s naps, and anytime one stretched to anything more than three hours he made sure to do something loud in her vicinity. It probably wasn’t necessary, but it made him feel better.

---

Franky built the Sunny with enough bunks for all of them, but he himself was easily twice the size of any of them. Zoro wondered about this, until the night he took a wrong turn. The Merry’s replacement was much larger and unexpectedly unfamiliar, and Zoro was looking for the cellar for a night-cap when he found the engine room instead. The engine room, and Franky, who was dead asleep and snoring, partly curled around something that to Zoro's untrained eyes might have be a boiler. Subsequent, less accidental, excursions to the engine room in the quiet hours of the night satisfied Zoro that Franky was generally a heavy and undisturbed sleeper.

Until, that is, one of those rare nights spent ashore. The small town welcomed any ship that looked like it might perk up their island’s economy, including pirate ships. The Straw Hats spent a fun day causing minor havoc – well, Luffy did – and then found themselves passable accommodation to spend the night. Franky tried to slip off back to the Sunny, but Nami pinned him with a glare and said that if she was forking out for the luxury, then everyone was going to damn well enjoy it. Franky’s shoulders tensed, but he laughed like it was no big deal.

Zoro frowned. He didn’t buy it.

And so at least one of them was entirely unsurprised when Zoro and Franky plowed into each other at two a.m. in a darkened hallway.

It was of course Zoro who was left rubbing the sore spot on his head (because Franky was made of metal), but he wasn’t surprised.

“Zoro!” Franky said sheepishly. “Don’t suppose you know where the can is in this place?”

Zoro shrugged, his nose and left eyebrow still smarting. “Outside, in the back alley.”

“Cool, thanks bro.” Franky started to head off. “Goodnight!”

Uh huh. Zoro waited a few minutes, and then followed Franky downstairs into the deserted dining area.

He joined Franky at a small table. The cyborg dwarfed the furniture in the room; he looked like an adult sitting at the kid’s table.

Franky didn’t look surprised to see Zoro joining him. He reached down and popped open his chest – revealing that most of the storage space was used for cola – and pulled out a pack of cards.

“Poker, blackjack?” Franky offered.

Zoro wouldn’t have had the first fucking idea. “How about Go Fish?”

Franky laughed at that and dealt out the cards.

They were several rounds in when Franky rolled his shoulders with a noise like sliding metal. Zoro waited.

“Can’t usually sleep off-ship,” Franky said, eyes on his cards.

Doesn’t want to, Zoro mentally translated. But he merely said, “Any sevens?”

“Go fish,” Franky said. “It’s weird, you know? Like I lie down and all of a sudden everything’s itchin’ and achin’, phantom limbs and organ rejection and shit. Any Jacks?”

“Go fish,” Zoro said, also keeping his eyes on the cards. “It doesn’t happen during the day?”

“Nah,” Franky said, drawing a card from the stack, and matching four cards out from his hand. “Doesn’t happen on-board my girl, either."

Zoro made a thoughtful noise. "Kings?” Franky handed over two cards.

They played a few more rounds without further conversation.

“Sunny,” Franky murmured, as the stack got lower, “Sunny, she keeps me human.”

And afterwards, on those away-nights – ashore, away from Sunny – Zoro and Franky whiled away the evenings with conversation, cards, and cola.

--

When Brook joined the crew, Zoro fully expected to add another regular stop to his nightly nightmare-be-gone patrol, because boy was that some tragic backstory. But after several hours of skeleton jokes, Zoro started to wonder. He found a time to corner Brook and straight up ask him.

“Do you even need to sleep?”

Brook somehow managed to look sheepish, despite his complete lack of facial muscles. “Well, yes and no, Mr Swordsman.”

Zoro scowled at him, because his question was a little more meaningful than ‘can you poop?’ and sleep was an issue near and dear to his heart.

Brook hastened to explain. “I do not need to sleep, but sometimes I find it highly beneficial to do so.”

“You mean, to give your consciousness a break?” Zoro asked uncertainly, not entirely sure he wanted to follow that particular train of thought down its tunnel.

“Yes, exactly!” Brook beamed toothily at him. “Yohohoho,” he added, encouragingly.

Zoro still wasn’t happy despite Brook’s ineffable and slightly manic optimism, because Zoro had just added ‘ghost ship’ together with ‘permanently conscious’ and come up with ‘Not Good’. He resolved to keep an eye on Brook in any case.

It turned out that Brook didn’t sleep so much as switch off. Quite frankly it had creeped Zoro out, the first time he’d checked on the musician, because when he was unconscious Brook looked like, well, a skeleton. And nothing more – like Zoro could just pick up one of Brook’s bones and he would fall apart or crumble to dust. On the upside, it also seemed to be that when Brook’s consciousness took a hike, his subconsciousness went with it, which meant no nightmares as far as Zoro could tell. Zoro wondered how long it had taken Brook to learn that trick, on a ship full of dead nakama, and suspected that as much as Brook’s ‘sleep’ was restful now, it hadn’t been for a long, long time.

---

Sometime in the gap between Thriller Bark and Sabaody Zoro wonders how many more people Luffy’s going to adopt into his crew. He hopes it’s less than five – there are only so many hours in a night.

---

There's kind of a part 2 on AO3

[hotcaramelmachiatto]

Luffy x Reader

Imagine: Being Luffy's friend when you were children with Sabo and Ace and running into (quite literally) him at Loguetown. He asks you to join his crew!

Pairing: Luffy x fem! close friend! witch! Reader

Warning: fluffy

H/c=hair color | s/c=skin color | y/n/n= your nickname

You sighed, pulling your cloak over shoulders and tucking your wand into your belt. Being the extremely clever witch you were, you had just swindled your way into halfing the price of your ingredients for your next potion. You desperately needed them and if swindling meant using a sleeping spell on the shop owner, then so be it. Your dream was to become the worlds greatest and most powerful witch. As a child, your parents died and you were raised by a small coven of witches who taught you everything you knew.

You smiled softly at the memory of your adopted family until you heard the shop keeper shout at you from the small distance you had put between yourself and the shop of oddities.

"Thief!! Stop her!!!" The shop keeper started yelling and causing a commotion, so you did the most logical thing you could think of.

You ran. Down the alleyway and down the street.

"Shit," you cursed to yourself as you dodged the streetfolk.

Only recently did you get a high bounty, being worth 100,000,000 belly, dead or alive. You attacked a Marine base and managed to flatten the entire building because some oppressive Marines were abusing your little coven. Your witches weren't the strongest but they were kind women with warm hearts. When one of them, Grandmother Poppyseed, refused to comply to their demands any longer, they killed her in front of your eyes. You were so filled with rage that you attacked the Marines for revenge. Not your proudest moment but you don't regret a single thing. You free your coven and gave back the stolen goods the Marines had taken from your fellow witches. But, because of your bounty, you had to leave them. You couldn't make yourself put them in harm's way. So you left to pursue your dream, landing you here. Running from a shop keeper.

You made a sharp turn, hoping to shake anyone who was on your tail, and ran right into someone. Their skin was so . . . . rubbery? Wait. . .

You know this skin. You've felt the rubber before.

"Uuugggghhh. . . what the?" It was. It was Luffy!! You had him sandwiched (hehehehe sand witched) between your bust and the cobblestone ground. "What's goin on?"

"Luffy!! Is it really you?!" You squealed, throwing your arms around him in a tight hug. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at you with a perplexed look on his face before his eyes brightened and shone like the sunlight bouncing off the ocean waters. He wrapped his rubber arms around you three or four times and squeezed, his legs wrapping around your waist, causing the pair of you to roll over giggling like morons.

"Y/n!! Its been so long!! I'm so happy to see you!!" He buried his face in your neck like he always used to and you squeezed him tighter. Its been years since you've seen him. Of course you kept up with the News Coo and read all about him as well as supported him in spirit, but you never thought you'd run into him. Literally.

"Luffy! I can't believe it!" You pulled away just enough to look at him, cupping his cheeks in your hands tenderly. You smirked and squeezed and pulled on them, making him make all kinds of faces.

"Oooowww! Y/n/n at uuurrrtttssss!!!" (That hurts!) He whined and pouted, unhooking his arms around around your curved waist to nurse his cheeks. You two were so lost in each other's world that you completely missed the several stunned faces staring at you. Luffy's Nakama, the Straw Hats, were watching this little reunion in utter confusion.

"Can someone explain to me what the hell is happening? Is- does Luffy have a-?"

"Y/n/n has been my best friend since we were kids! Isn't that right, y/n/n?" Luffy interrupted a beautiful young girl with short orange hair. You nodded in response and wrapped your arms around his shoulders, his hugging your waist.

"Sorry, Lu. I didn't mean to just run into you." You stood up and offered him your hand, to which he took and stood up. You opened your mouth to intoduce yourself until a man with big pink heart eyes and yellow hair threw himself at your feet.

"Oh Y/n-swan!! You're absolutely gorgeous!! Your smooth s/c skin, your h/c hair, your beautiful perfect eyes!! You're perfect!! Please, find it in your heart, marry me!!" He squealed as he took your form in. Your curves, your bust, your long legs. He was practically drooling until the green haired swordsman smacked him with the hilt of one of his . . . three swords?

"Damn ero-cook." He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Teme!! You dare swear in front of such a lovely woman?!??" The yellow haired man growled, practically on fire. You chuckled and slung an arm over Luffy's shoulders.

"Its all good. I'm Y/n. I knew Luffy when he was a snot nosed brat." You bumped him with his hip and he pouted.

"Its nice to meetcha. Im Nami." The orange haired woman spoke up with a smile. "Ero-cook is named Sanji and the green Morimo is Zoro. That guy is Usopp." She pointed to each guy.

"Hi! I'm Usopp!!" He puffed his chest out to look more manly and you snorted at him. "I'm the strongest sniper you'll ever meet!"

"I'm sure. Its nice to meet you all too." You smiled, resting your hand on your hip.

"What're you doing here, Y/n/n?" Luffy spoke up, tilting his head and making you smile softly at your childhood friend's cuteness.

"I was just doing some shopping for my next potion. I'm hoping to make the first potion that let's devil fruit users able to swim again." You smiled proudly and Luffy's eyes practically popped out of his head.

"NANI?!?!?!" The whole crew exclaimed in unison.

"Its not possible, though! Devil fruit users make the ocean hate them. You couldn't possibly undo something like that." Usopp's jaw looked like it needed to be lifted off the ground with a forklift and you laughed lightly at the sight.

"Do you know how much money you could make if you made one of those?!?" Nami screeched and buried her fingers in her hair.

You shrugged, "Probably a lot. But I'm not interested in the money."

". . . . can I have it then?" Nami pursed her lips in a puppy faced pout that Sanji gushed over and Zoro rolled his eyes at.

"I guess. I'm still in the process of figuring things out but its hard because I dont have anyone to test it on. I'm not a devil fruit user." You peaked into your bag and grabbed your prototype. It was a green and orange thin liquid that sloshed around in the purple vial you had it stored in. "This isn't the final product but with this I got fairly close according to my limited research." You were about to put it away when Luffy took it from your hands.

"Ill test it for you!" He chimed happily, opening the vial. A foul smell came from the green and orange steam that floated out of the vial.

"Luffy, it could be dangerous! Its not-"

Before you could continue further, he doesn't the whole thing and made you facepalm.

"Ew!! Y/n/n, that's gross!!" He stuck his tongue out and made a face. "Now I feel sick." He whined and clutched his stomach.

"She tried to tell you. Baka." Usopp spoke and shook his head and so did the rest of the crew.

"I have some golden ginger root that's really good for stomach aches when you make tea out of it. If you like, I can make some." You offered, shrugging your shoulders.

"Yay!! Y/n/n is coming back to our ship!!" Luffy squealed happily.

"Yay!! Y/n-swan!!!" Sanji squealed along side Luffy. This was perfect. You got to be with Luffy again and you got away from being in trouble.

"You guys go ahead. I need to do some shopping." Nami slung her satchel full of belly over her shoulder.

"Me too," Zoro agreed and started walking off.

"I better go with him to make sure he doesn't get lost." Usopp ran after Zoro and Nami split off as well with a smile and a wave.

"I actually need to get groceries. Luffy, do you remember where we left the ship?" Sanji asked like the responsible adult he really wasn't. But he was the most responsible one left.

". . . . yes." He pouted and held his stomach.

"You don't. Just go that way. Its the Going Merry." Sanji explained to you gently and pointed in the general direction.

"Sounds good. Luffy will recognize her when he sees her." You nod and take Luffy's hand in his, just like when you were kids. "Be safe on your grocery run. Marines are crawling all over this place. We'll be back after a couple of hours." You smile and lead Luffy towards where Sanji pointed. You were a little surprised at how quickly the crew seemed to have trusted you but you assumed it was mostly because you were so close with their captain.

It was a fairly short walk to the Going Merry. You boarded the ship, helping a complaining Luffy to his seat.

"You should know not to drink my potions without asking me first. Remember my fire resistant potion? Your arms had to get all wrapped up." You giggled when you remember Luffy purposely pissing off Ace to make him punch Luffy in the arm and practically light him on fire. You gently smile and bend down so you were shorter than him. "Are you alright? Does it still hurt?"

"You make me feel better, so my tummy is better." He wrapped his arms around your waist and bury his face in your breasts. "Soft~"

"You're such a baby." You giggle and take his hat, putting it on your head. He always let you take his hat without a fuss, but if anyone other than you ever touched his hat he would freak. Softly, your fingers ran through his black locks and massaged his scalp. He let out a small sigh of appreciation and let his muscles and body relax at your touch.

"I missed you, Y/n/n." He spoke up.

"I miss you too, Lu. I'm glad to see you're ok. I got worried when I stopped hearing from you." You pulled on his cheek a little bit, watching it stretch.

"I know. I got my crew and my ship and how all I gotta do is find One Piece and become King of the Pirates." He mumbled into your flesh and squeezed you tightly. "Y/n."

"Hm?" You kissed his forehead sweetly, like you always do when you cuddled when you were children.

"Become my nakama." The way he spoke didn't leave any room for argument.

"Lu, I'm a witch with a big ass bounty on my head. I'm not so sure-"

"My bounty is bigger than yours!! I'm worth 500,000,000!! Zoro is worth 320,000,00!! It doesnt matter. BECOME MY NAKAMA!!!!! AND WHEN THATS OVER BE MY PIRATE QUEEN!!!!!!" He jumped up, his stomach ache forgotten completely. To say you were shocked would be an understatement, but you had no problems with it.

"Ok."

"Yay!!! That was easy. Now, can I have some tea? My tummy hurts." He rubbed his stomach and pouted.

"Luffy, you're such a dumbass." You giggled and got to work boiling the water. ". . . . . Queen of the Pirates, huh?"

Luv: welp. That's a thing I did. It was long. Feel free to leave comments, suggestions, anything! ❤ 😊

[genogenocrazycatman]

Stillwater - Chapter 4

Stillwater [Archive of Our Own, FanFiction.Net, Mibba]

Characters: Original Female Character, Monkey D. Luffy, Rorona Zoro, Vinsmoke Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Tony Tony Chopper, Nefeltari Vivi

***

"We build as only children know to build

We made a way where there's a will

No slowing down or standing still

Innocent and reckless

"How did we get so old and never notice

How did we gain the world and lose the moment

Rise and fall, the tide surrounds us

And drowns us all"

-Hands Like Houses

***

If it seems like it’s too good to be true, it probably is, which is why despite the jovial atmosphere of the tavern we were in, I was still wary.

It seemed that Whisky Peak had a certain fondness for pirates, greeting us with cheers of celebration when we first arrived. We had barely set foot on solid ground, when we were met by the town’s mayor, who immediately offered up booze, food and smiles. I admittedly hadn’t spent much time in Paradise, immediately, starting my way back home after I had been beaten by my father, but none of the islands I had landed on before had ever been this happy to see pirates, not unless the crew in question was their protectors.

Something was up. I mean they were even fawning over Usopp, going along with his blatantly obvious lies. However, none of the possibilities that I had come up with were too much for the crew to handle, so I kept my mouth shut and plastered a smile on my face, opting to just go to the flow. As far as I could tell, nothing that we had been given had been poisonous yet, so I figured we might as well get our fill, while we could.

“You’ve been nursing that mug for a very long time. Go ahead drink up,” one of the guys sitting at the bar urged.

“Not everyone can drink like you Boyd, especially not a little girl.”

I looked further down the bar at the man, who had spoken. His tone was mocking, patronizing.

I glared at the man. I had little patience for men like him. Over grown gorillas, who liked to pick on those that they perceived to be weaker than them.

“I’m not some little girl,” I snipped.

I was so far from it.

“Uh-oh. You’ve pissed her off,” the original guy, Boyd, said chuckling.

“How old are you?” the second guy asked. “Fifteen? Sixteen? Are you even allowed to drink?”

I cursed my appearance. Usually it worked in my favor. I was plain, which allowed me to blend in, and unassuming, which kept people from seeing me as a threat, but it was a double edged sword. It made people think I was weak and naive.

“I’m nine-h-“ I stopped.

‘Fuck.’

Years at home had spoiled me. I was free to be myself in the safety of my friends and family. I didn’t have to worry about keeping up appearances and false pretenses. For short periods of time, it was fine, but extended periods like this were proving to be exhausting.

“-teen,” I grumbled the latter half of the number.

The pair laughed.

“I can handle my liquor better than anybody else in this bar,” I declared.

“Oh really?” Boyd smirked.

“Really.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing that the mayor is about to annoyance toast competition.”

I followed his eyes to the mayor. “We had an excellent grape harvest this year. To celebrate that harvest, our traditional toast competition!”

Everyone cheered.

“Make a toast take a drink. This continues as long as you can hold your liquor. Last one standing is the winner.”

“I’m gonna feel real bad embarrassing you boys like this. After all, you’re about to be drunk under the table by a little girl.”

“Mira, you’re competing too?” Nami asked when I walked over.

“Gotta show these two how it’s done. I thought you weren’t drinking.”

“Weren’t you paying attention? There’s money involved,” Zoro explained.

“Ah.”

“Then let’s begin!” the mayor announced, raising his mug. “To our new friends!”

We went around, people making a toast after toast downing drink after drink. We didn’t start losing people until four.

My two challengers were both in the running still. I could tell that they were feeling it. Guy number two more so than Boyd. I was perfectly fine, but had to keep appearances, so I swayed and stumbled and slurred my words.

Nami and Zoro were both holding their own pretty well too. From the looks of it, they were just getting started.

Nami toasted to money, not surprisingly, and Zoro to becoming the world’s greatest swordsman. That took out guy number two and brought the toasting to Boyd.

“To my victory,” he slurred.

I snorted, finishing off my drink and being handed another, my turn. “To the future king of the pirates,” I said, looking at Luffy, who was downing food faster than the cook could prepare it.

Twelve took out Boyd. He collapsed to the ground.

I looked down and smiled. “I’ve made my point,” I said, setting down my thirteenth, before I had to drink it. “I quit.”

“I can’t believe you’re quitting,” Nami said. “Pansy.”

“Last thing I want, is to have to listen to you bitch, cause I won the prize money.”

“You wouldn’t win,” she called, as I turned.

“That’s what you think,” I shot back.

It was down to her, Zoro and a nun. After the thirteenth mug, it was just Nami and the nun. I didn’t watch, instead, stumbling through the crowd and out the door, but I would hear, Nami’s shouts of victory, once the nun went down.

Luffy was down as well, stomach blown up the largest that I had seen. Sanji I was pretty sure was love drunk surrounded by a crowd of pretty women. If the color on Usopp’s face was anything to go by, he was pretty far gone as well.

I stumbled outside and around the side of the building until I was out of sight of the townspeople. Once I was in the clear, I dropped the drunken act, and climbed up the building until I was on the roof, where I laid and basked in the moonlight.

Eventually the party died out, and the air became still and quiet, the only sounds being that of the ocean lapping on the shore in the distance and the snores coming from the people passed out inside.

A short while after everyone passed out, the quiet was broken by the mayor. I crawled over to the edge of the building to get eyes on him.

Now I could figure up what was with him and this weird town.

Our two strays were there as well, sitting directly underneath me.

“They’ve worn themselves out partying and are fast asleep. Sweet dreams, brave adventurers. My how the cactus rocks gleam under the pale moonlight. Beautiful as ever.”

“If I may say, your poetic skills are beyond compare, Igarappoi- I mean Mr. 8.”

‘Of course,’ I thought dryly. ‘More of the dumb numbers.’

“So where are they?” Wednesday asked.

“They’re falling... Straight to hell.”

I almost wanted to laugh at how dramatic this guy was being. I mean really? Take us to hell? Between that and the gleaming rocks, this guy was starting to sound like my cousin after he had a little too much wine.

The trio was joined by the nun, who removed her habit, revealing a short pink and white checkered dress underneath.

“Damn. My head is killing me. Our guest didn’t have the good taste to pass out gracefully, so I doctored they’re drinks a little, or else they’d be up all night drinking us into oblivion.”

If that was spiked with something, then I hated to think of what they’d been drinking before. Grape juice.

“So tell me was it really necessary to put on this elaborate show for those idiots?” the nun asked. “I get that no one wants to hear me whine, but it’s my duty to point out the amount of food we’ve wasted, when we could’ve just ambushed them at the harbor.”

This was a trap. No surprise there. I was under the assumption that they were after our supplies and treasures. It wasn’t like we were rolling in gold or anything. Nami probably was, but as far as pirate crews go, we were pretty broke.

I wasn’t really sure what the bounty situation was on board. After all the fuss that had been made over Luffy in Logue Town, I figured he had one. Maybe Zoro, but I doubted the others were worth anything. If it was worth the effort that they’d put into this party farce, then Luffy had to have one hell of a bounty.  

“We’re already short on supplies. It’s not like anyone had high hopes for that whale meat or anything.”

Mr.9 puffed up defensively. “Why don’t you go try to kill that damn whale? We tried our best.”

“Both of you calm down. Before you question the validity of my plan, why don’t you take a look at this?”

The mayor, Mr.8, whatever, pulled out a wanted poster. Luffy’s smiling face was printed on the page. I checked the number below it. ‘Thirty-million, before he even made it to the Grand Line.’ That was a pretty respectable number, well worth the effort they’d put in so far.

Too bad it was all going to be for nothing.

The nun and the strays balked at the number. “THIRTY-MILLION BERRIES?!”

“For those morons?’

“Don’t be foolish. Appearances can be deceiving. That goes for-“ the mayor cleared his throat and performed a vocal exercise. “That goes for all of you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s no matter. Our prey has been trapped, and that’s news the boss will enjoy.”

“That’s what you think,” I mumbled.

I hadn’t been with the crew for long, and I had only seen them in action once, but that was enough for me to know that these guys didn’t have a chance.

I wasn’t the only one, who had been playing drunk earlier. I could feel Zoro approach that cursed blade of his giving him away.

I glanced back at Zoro. “What? Can’t sleep now, because you were out all day?”

“Ha ha,” he deadpanned. “This place gave me a bad vibe.”

I nodded. “As it should. They’re going to raid the Merry and cash in on Luffy’s Bounty.”

“So what do we do with them now?” Ms. Monday asked.

I was wondering the same thing about the people below.

“I thought it was something like that. I guess I’ll take care of this, since you guys dealt with all that weather crap earlier.”

“Oh how chivalrous.”

He rolled his eyes at me.

“Kill them?” Mr.9 asked.

This time it was Zoro, who scoffed.

“If they die, the bounty drops thirty percent. The government prefers to hold public executions. Now go. I want them alive.”

“Hey, sorry to interrupt. You mind letting my friends sleep? They had a long day and the journey was exhausting, so I’ve been told.”

“Hey Mr.8, Ms. Monday, one of them escaped from the room, when we weren’t looking.”

‘Well well well, if it isn’t Boyd and that other guy.’

“Ugh. He’s right over there.”

“Sneaky wretch, you should’ve stayed asleep with your friends.”

“A good swordsman never makes the mistake of letting his guard down. Plus, I took a nap earlier. Judging by the scowls and cheap disguises, you’re all bounty hunters, whose specialty is robbing drunk pirates, who fall for your hospitality. It’s original. I’ll give you that at least.

“I count a hundred of you scum bags give or take, and I’ll fight all of you. You hear me, Baroque Works?”

It was helpful having a name for the organization. We had a concrete enemy now, someone specific to fight.

Well Zoro had someone to fight.

Everyone down below freaked out.

“How do you know our name?”

“I was in a similar line of work once upon a time. Your company tried to entice me with a job offer. Naturally, I said no. Do the same rules still apply? Employee identities kept secret, cheesy code names, the boss’s identity and whereabouts also a mystery? Baroque Works, the criminal group that faithfully carries out their orders like herded sheep. That’s some secret.”

“This is a surprise. If you know all of our secrets, then we are left with no other choice than to kill you, and another gravestone will be added to the cactus rocks tonight.” The mayor guy chuckled darkly, before issuing the order to kill Zoro.

Before any of them could move, he’d moved, appearing in the midst of their ranks.

I sat up right, so I could watch the show.

“It’s her!” Boyd yelled.

“You have a lot more to worry about than a little girl,” I informed them, pointing out Zoro.

He grinned. The bounty hunters drew their weapons and fired at him, but he was too fast. Instead of hitting him, the bullets flew into their fellow Baroque Works agents.

The mayor was getting frustrated, but even more evident, he was worried. He was beginning to sweat. The muscles in his neck were tense. His eyes were wide and flicking back and forth wildly.

“Incompetent morons, they just shot each other.”

“Yeah and the pirate got away.”

‘Way to state the obvious.’

The mayor turned around to bark out another order to his minions. “Just kill him! He’s only one man.”

Zoro’s blade slid through the idiot’s hair, glinting in the man’s peripheral.

“Ask yourself. Will one grave stone really be enough?”

“There he is!” The bounty hunters aimed their weapons at Zoro and by extension Mr.8.

All semblance of calm and control was out of the widow at this point. He screamed at the men to hold their fire, to keep him from being shot. He pulled out a saxophone of all things and blew into the instrument, causing it to shoot bullets.

Zoro ducked, avoiding them, before vanishing once more.

A few flew up towards me, but I dodged them with ease.

“Your friend isn’t going to make it through this, and once we get him, we’re coming after you,” the mayor said.

“Cause that’s going real well for you right now. You don’t even know where he is.”

He shot at me once more, but I jumped out of the way to another rooftop, down through a window inside. No one as home, seeing as the whole town was hunting Zoro. They ran into the first floor, while I hopped out of a side window on the second and into the adjacent house.  I exited out of the back door of that one, putting some distance between myself and the bounty hunters, before taking to the roof tops once again.

Zoro said he had this, so I was gonna leave it to him. Now if Boyd and his friend ended up in my path, well then maybe I would join in on the fun.

I caught site of the swordsman from my newest perch. He was having himself a grand old time, slicing through the bounty hunters, knocking them off of ladders, cutting holes into the ground for them to fall into.

Ms. Monday swung a ladder at Zoro, which he barely dodged. She slid her brass knuckles onto to her fingers.

“It was a good effort, swordsman, but there is no man, who can best my strength.”

‘Why should he get to have all the fun?’

“What about a woman?” I asked, jumping from my perch. My foot nailed her elbow, the impact, causing her to release Zoro. I wrapped both legs around her neck, and threw myself back, flipping her over, so that I landed on top of her, my legs pinning down her arms. She tried to fight out from underneath me, to push me off, but despite her advantage in terms of actual size, I had more strength. I raised my fist and drove it into her face, knocking her out.

“You still a little groggy from that nap earlier or something? Letting her get the jump on you.”

Boyd and the other guy charged at me from behind. I ducked the wire that they held between them and grabbed them both by the back of the shirt. I grabbed the wire, pulling it from their grasps, slicing my hand in the process, before slamming Boyd into the other, the impact strong enough to toss them both off of the roof.

“I could’ve handled that,” he said.

“’Thank you, Mira.’ ‘Oh you’re welcome, Zoro.’”

There was something about teasing Zoro that was just so much fun. I mean he made it so easy. He left himself wide open. It was even better because he didn’t have an argument for anything that I had said so far.

“Yeah yeah, I told you I got this.”

“Alright then,” I backed off. “Go ahead. You got this.”

Zoro strode over to the edge of the building, gazing down at the Baroque Works members below.

“Is that all you can offer Baroque Works?” he asked. “Cause you’re gonna need to do a lot better than that.”

I sat on the edge of the building.

Zoro carried a cursed blade. Initially, I had thought that that was the source of the dark aura that seemed to radiate from him, and it was, to an extent, but there was something else. There was something coming from within him. It was dark and violent. It was demonic almost.

It wasn’t noticeable earlier, but now it was. That sword of his, despite having sliced through over ninety people, hadn’t been satiated yet. It was still thirsty, begging for blood, and so it seemed was Zoro.

Mr.9 explained Baroque Works’ ranking to us. I think it was supposed to intimidate us, but neither Zoro nor I were impressed.

“I’ve found that fancy titles mean nothing, when it comes to fighting. The strongest wins and that’s that.”

The mayor fired at us with that stupid saxophone of his once more. I shuffled out of the way to the side, while Zoro, jumped up a level.

Mr.9 pursued him, while Wednesday whistled, calling her duck.

I raised a brow. “That’s your trump card? A duck?”

“Are you kidding me? A duck?”

“You get distracted so easily,” Mr.9 said, standing atop a belfry. “How can you hope to follow my acrobatics?” He began back flipping down towards Zoro. “You better prepare for my bloody bats!”

Zoro easily blocked his attack with one of his swords.

“You better be careful not to chip your precious blades.”

Zoro sheathed one of his swords.

At this point, Zoro was just toying with Mr.9, forcing him to go on the defensive and backing him up to the end of the building, which he wasn’t aware of. He attempted another one of his acrobatic moves, but ended up jumping off of the building.

“Is this really the best they can do?”

“There’s better. I’m still here. Are you ready, Mr.Bushido? Now, enjoy my perfume dance.”

Wednesday lifted her arms over her head and swayed back and forth. The fragrance of her perfumes choked Zoro out and brought him to his knees.

“Good boy,” he cooed. “And now, peacock slasher! Now Carue!” she hopped on the duck, and charged at Zoro.

Her weapon was a unique one, wires with a small jewel at the end of it. I had no doubt that they were effective cutting weapons, especially at the speed she was swinging them around.

Too bad the duck wasn’t as effective. He blew right past Zoro, and straight towards me. I quickly got up and pushed off the roof, jumping onto the building across the street. They fell of the building into a pile of junk on the side of the building.

They mayor’s saxophone sounded off, a barrage of bullets aimed at Zoro. Zoro cut a hole in the roof of the building, disappearing into the building below.

Mr.9 jumped out of the pile of debris he had created upon landing. He produced a chain from his bat, using it to tie up Zoro’s arm.

“Watcha gonna do now, tough guy?”

“Kick your ass,” Zoro replied easily.

I snorted.

“Excellent work,” the mayor commended.

“Come on, Mr.8, kill him now. You won’t get away!”

“That’s right, don’t move,” Miss Wednesday said. She had a machete in hand aimed at a still engorged, still sleeping Luffy. “If you even think about doing anything foolish, Mr. Bushido. Your friend here will be paying the price.”

“You idiot. Can’t he at least wake up, when he’s being held hostage?”

Mr.9 cackled with glee.

It had been fun and games up until this point, mostly, because these guys were kind of like gnats, annoying, but essentially harmless. This was different, because Luffy was asleep, oblivious to the danger he was in.

“Foolish is taking a crew’s captain hostage,” I said, standing up.

“Ah ah ah.” She wagged her finger. “Take one step off of that building and your precious captain meets his maker.”

I stayed still. I just had to bide my time

“Well done Ms. Wednesday. It looks like there will be no escape for the swordsman this time, unless he wants his friend to die.”

Mr.8 pulled at the strings of his neck tie, exposing the gun barrels hidden in his curls. “Firing squad ready!”

“What?!” Zoro yelled, caught off guard.

He yanked the strings further, the barrels firing. “Igarappappa!”

Zoro yanked on the chain, pulling Mr.9 with it, putting him between Zoro and the bullets.

Ms.Wednesday was shocked by this, which gave me my opening. I hopped off of the building and knocked the machete from her hand, before hitting her with a kick to the mid section, that sent her flying backwards.

“Duck!” Zoro yelled. I did as he said, hitting the ground.  He threw Mr.9, using him to take out Carue, sending them both into the same crater that I had hurled, Ms. Wednesday.

Mr.8 fired again, but Zoro managed to evade it. He used Luffy as a trampoline, jumping up and slashing at Mr.8, taking him out of commission.

Luffy lifted his head, opening his eyes. “Where am I?” he asked.

I shook my head and chuckled. “Just go back to sleep.”“

“How’d I get outside?”

I didn’t have time to respond, before he was out again.

I looked up Zoro, who was sitting on the roof of the building.

“I got say I’m impressed. Your skill with your blades is amazing, especially wielding a cursed sword. That’s even more impressive.”

“You can feel it too.”  It wasn’t a question, just an observation.

I nodded anyways. “Have you had it long?” I asked.

“Only since Logue Town.”

“It must’ve been there a long time. Its thirst for blood is strong.”

“Must be why it was being so disobedient.”

I looked at the carnage around us. “It’s only a matter of time, before they send some more. We should probably get out of here.”

“Meh, let ‘em. Everyone needs the rest. If they come, then I’ll just have to cut them down.”

Zoro seemed pleased at the prospect.

I shrugged. Based on what I could tell, he was first mate. No one really used titles on the crew save for when it came to Nami and Sanji.

He took a large swig from his bottle.

“Well then, since you have everything under control here, I’m going to head back to the Merry, make sure they didn’t steal or break anything.”

“You should get some rest. You worked just as hard as the other earlier. If you push yourself too much, you’re gonna burn out.”

I nodded at him. He was right. Plus, I was more than ready to go to bed. I had gotten my fill of crappy booze, entertainment and food. Sleep sounded great.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” I said, heading towards the Merry. “Good night, Zoro.”

“Night.”

***

Notes:

***

Previous | Next

***

Master List | Mobile Version

[eternal-bruh]

Why being caught in a Casual Loop is best to be avoided: I

Chapter 3

With the significantly less amount of food Luffy has the option to ingurgitate, the time travelers finish their meal relatively quickly. None were more shocked than Sanji and the captain himself – the former becoming somewhat angry now that he knows that Luffy can survive without needing to eat a mountain of food, while the latter is trying his best not to start complaining. Their bill was fifty Pons, leaving Nami to collect the change in the form of smaller gold coins with the same engravings, but different amounts of value to them.

The afternoon sun was slowly starting its descent west when the group finally arrives at the gates of the palace. After bypassing the last row of houses and the suspiciously – but they cannot complain about it – largely open golden gate, they enter a trimmed garden filled with flowers of all kinds that gradually transforms into a small, exotic forest.

The large building stands at the other end of a stone path flanked on both sides by bushes and small trees, the occasional big crown of leaves towering over their heads and obstructing the sun's rays as they walk toward the large, gold tinted doors. At first glance Franky would be inclined to say they are made of wood, but the shipwright has his doubts that such a rich nation would waste so little money on their palace door. So he places his bet on heavy metal plated with gold and engraved with different scenes and images from nature to form a mural of sorts. It is painted in such a way that easily resembles wood, though.

"Stop right there!" A rough voice barks from the underbrush. The unrelenting sound of footsteps thudding on the ground that follows distracts the compact group long enough to let themselves get completely surrounded by the palace's supposed soldiers.

Zoro's snort is audible in the descending silence and it makes none too few of the armed men send scorching glares in his direction that are eagerly returned by the swordsman.

"What are they wearing?!" Usopp's question sums up in a few words all of the things the Strawhats are probably thinking right now.

The guards standing in front of them are only wearing a knee length pair of pants. A material of the same color of black that can be easily associated with a skirt over which there are two broad gold plates of armor. Their torso also sports a gold enhanced armor over a simple blouse and in their feet are strappy sandals. This ridiculous outfit completes itself with a curved, long, golden-tipped spear.

"I'm not sure, but I never want to see this sight again." Nami moans, resisting the urge to laugh out loud and instead chooses to rub her eyes as she tries to get rid of the image.

"Check this out – that guy on the right has a stupid looking helmet to boot." Sanji snickers behind his cigarette, looking entirely too nonchalant standing at the front of the captured group.

"Maybe it's a custom." Chopper tries, but even the small doctor does not look entirely convinced of his suggestion.

“Yeah, a custom of looking retarded-“

"What are you doing here?! State your names!" The man with the helmet barks out, interrupting Zoro and signing himself as the obvious captain of the squad slash overall idiot.

"May I, cook-san?" Robin smiles in amusement and steps forward, trying to look as unthreatening as she can under these circumstances. "We are sorry for intruding. We want to speak with the head of Science." She tries to repeat Sanji's earlier words as best as she is able to remember.

The man's brows furrow comically under the low edge of the helmet.

"And why would you want to speak with him? Normal citizens should know better!" He empathizes his declaration by slamming the end of his spear into the cobblestone walkway. "Who are you? Speak!"

Robin clicks her tongue quietly, not entirely sure what part of the truth she can answer him with. She sees Sanji and Zoro open their mouths at the same time and knows that this situation will get infinitely worse than it already is if they start digging. But before she can come up with a good enough lie, the trio’s simultaneous speeches are cut short by a new voice coming from behind the human barricade. The archaeologist sighs, thankful to the stranger for stopping the disaster.

"What is going on here?" The tone is low and smooth, but not thick enough to be attributed to an entirely gruff man.

Robin waits patiently along with her fidgety friends and quickly bored captain for the new figure to make his entrance. Inwardly, Robin allows herself a small spark of hope. Maybe this bad situation can somehow be solved. She may be able to find a way, especially if the newcomer is a high ranked member of the royal palace.

The line of soldiers breaks and they draw to the side to reveal a relatively tall black haired man. He does not step forward, opting to stand where he is and watch them with a disdainful expression plastered on his face. His dark eyes study their appearances attentively while a hand is securely placed on the hilt of the broad sword strapped at his hip. Fortunately, the newcomer is not dressed especially strange for the new standards they have encountered. He sports a long, dark blue toga tied with a yellow sash around his middle and a long red shawl cascades toward the ground bound by a golden brooch. His feet are clad in high sandals with armor plates strapped until his knees and wears golden bangles on his wrists.    

"Well, who the hell are you?" The man prods after a few tense moments of their stare down.

It strikes Robin as strange the way he carries himself around the soldiers and the woman realizes that they have just struck gold – pun ironically overlooked. This man is an important official on this island and he is from now their only way of achieving their task.

"We are travelers." The archaeologist sends a quick, warning look to the five people behind, who have their mouths immediately open after her first words. "And we wish to speak with the head of Science."

The official does not seem fazed. "So you know about it. What kind of travelers are you that you need an audience with him?" He returns, rightly suspicious. "You do not seem thoroughly important to me."

Robin's smile is tight, but still polite. "We are one of a kind."

The black haired man snorts. "I'm sure you are. Get them out of here." He addresses the soldiers, turning on his heels and starting to walk away from them.

The crew's historian feels a surge of panic as their captors start advancing on them, cutting off the image of the man's retreating back and she bites back a curse. There goes their chances of infiltrating this place without using blunt force or causing imminent destruction.

"What did he say, Robin?!" Luffy exclaims as he lifts his fists, willing to fight his way to wherever they are supposed to go.

"That bastard just turned and left!" Zoro roars, taking out two of his katana from under his dress and brandishing them in a sign of warning to their enemies.

"I guess the nice way doesn't work." Franky sighs, exasperated and whines. "Why do we always need to break our way through things?"

"That's what I've been asking myself ever since I joined up with Luffy!" Usopp cries out in agony, not willing to put up much of a resistance, but not up to the idea of getting caught and imprisoned either.

The Strawhat pirates form a tight circle, facing their soon-to-be captors with determined and battle-ready stances, an unspoken agreement passing between them as they watch their enemies slowly advance. They have to get to the head of the science department no matter what.

"Wait." The simple word reverberates through the air and serves as a shock even to the natives. They turn doubtful gazes towards their superior, silently asking him of the reason for the sudden interruption. The man steps forward this time, fixing the nine strangers with an unrelenting stare and he seems to ponder something.

Robin feels that scorching gaze burn her own brown one, ceaselessly searching for any kind of hint to their real identities. She knows that their language is what threw him off in the first place and turned him back around along with renewed interest. This is their last shot at this and she has to make sure that they find a way to explain everything.

"Bring them to my office." He consents in the end and Robin could have sighed in relief would it not looking too suspicious.

Instead she opts for a small smile and follows the man's retreating form with her gaze. He has already started trekking up the alley, leading the compact circle of soldiers keeping the Strawhats squeezed tightly in place toward the palace. It takes them five more minutes to reach the large doors, but their capturer sidesteps the entrance and makes a left turn, moving with practiced ease under the stone arcades along the polished wall of rock. Robin notes many more entrances which are either guarded or simply sealed off by doors and heavy bolted locks before the throng of people undulates to the right and sweeps her off along with them under a midnight blue mosaic featuring a lone moon and wavy sea.

The marble floors squeak under their footsteps, but these sounds barely register as the frescoed walls make way for a wide wooden door decorated with floral regalia and an intricate looking knob. The official pushes it open without hesitation and steps inside.

"Leave them here and close the doors!" He speaks over his shoulder, still awfully rigid and unwilling to offer anything but orders.

But that is to be expected, Robin muses to herself as the soft carpet greets her sandal clad feet and muffles their steps.

The man sporting the helmet looks to be on the verge of fainting.

"B-But my lord! They-"

Lord, huh?

"It's fine." A sharp look from him is all that the chief soldier needs to shut his mouth and execute the order.

A heavy latched silence settles above the grand room immediately as the pirates work to get accustomed with the lavishly decorated interior and the cluster of different items arranged in a haphazard manner. Nami is basically drooling at that moment and Robin surreptitiously tries to divert her attention from the too expensive objects thrown about the place in order to prevent any possible thievery that might result with them ultimately in jail.

Franky and Zoro have already made themselves comfortable on a soft looking sofa that is only big enough for the two of them. Usopp and Chopper started to follow Luffy's lead, aiding him in inspecting everything around the room. They look from the wall painted maps to the handmade tall vases and leather-bound books while Brook keeps himself busy by looking over a strange shaped piece of wood that – Robin realizes with no small amount of mirth – can pass for a large music instrument, if the cords attached to its length are anything to go by.

She angles her head to see the last of her crewmates quietly assessing their captor and she follows his lead, letting her brown orbs settle on the man's immobile form. He is leaning against a large office desk full of papers, the probing expression never wavering off his oval face. The archaeologist busiea herself with inspecting the rest of the space until the maddening stillness becomes too much for her. She lets her eyes find his and is surprised by the sudden spark of victory in them.

"You seem to be the one in charge." His words ring through the empty space, startling a few of her distracted friends.

Robin simply raises an eyebrow in return. "Why are we here?"

"What's your name?" The blunt inquiry leaves her speechless for a moment.

Zoro grunts from his lounging place and Sanji is already in the middle of opening his mouth, no doubt to mouth him off. Inwardly sighing at their quick to irritate wits, she cuts in calmly.

"Robin. Yours?" She counters curtly.

It is the man's turn to quirk an eyebrow.

"Linus." He states grudgingly, seeming to not have expected an answer at all.

"Linus..." Robin tries the name and finds it surprisingly simple to pronounce. "Can you help us?"

Linus remains silent, allowing her to explain herself before he answers her unexpected plea. He is still judging their existence here at all.

"We are in a strange situation. I know you might not believe us, but we are not from here."

The black haired man snorts in contempt. "Of course you are not! You might handle the language well enough, but your companions don't look like it for sure." His sharp gaze trails over the scrunched up faces of concentration the Strawhats have, studying them back with equal intensity. "Well? What is it you are?"

Robin braces herself for the inevitable reaction, although a part of her can't help but be tremendously curious what his response will be.

"We come from the future. Almost one thousand years in the future."

Silence rears its fangs for a short amount of time until Robin figures she might as well continue speaking.

"A strange man sent us here-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Linus explodes, face caught somewhere between amusement and mockery. "You are seriously telling me that you traveled through time!" A snicker manages to escape him this time, earning a few glares from the pirates in return.

"Yes. Problem?" Zoro growls, not liking this ridiculously clothed man one bit.

"We tell the truth!" Sanji adds, scowling at the cynical bastard.

"Please help us-" Nami trails off when Linus bursts in full out laugher.

"Seems like you're all in on the joke!" He wipes his eyes, the corners of his mouth dropping into a grim line. "I must admit – this is a pretty bad lie, even for ordinary spies."

"... Spies?" Robin chokes, unable to believe how his thought process works. Surely this has to be a misunderstanding, but it is a little too big for her to consider it only their fault. Now she understands why Linus came back and knows that his sudden decision to take them here is to entrap them with no further chance of escape. And they let him, trusting that they might find a way to make him understand and help them.

Seeing the distressed expression on their archaeologist's face, the Strawhats immediately spring into action.

"What!" Franky roars, not knowing enough to form a full sentence.

"... Sounded bad, I think." Usopp is telling a frenzied Chopper, trying to calm him down without using their native language.

"Robin-" Nami shakes her shoulder, beads of sweat trailing down her forehead and eyes darting to and from her friend to Linus's laidback form, still watching them frigidly.

"What'd he say, Robin?"

The question sounds so awfully familiar, but still too foreign to have a place in a setting like this. Feeling a tap on her other shoulder, Robin turns around to face her captain who is calmly picking his nose, though there is a light of concentration in his eyes that is usually common in such situations. She tries to convey through her gaze the tremendous amount of helplessness that she is experiencing now, some primal instinct inside her head speaking in reassuring whispers that Luffy will make this right.

"Yohoho, it seems that this is not helping our position with Linus-san at all!" Brook's trademark laugh is visibly subdued at the back of the room, almost spoken like a hushed warning.

But Luffy is having none of it and Robin fights against that easy road of letting her captain do the bidding where it is not due. This is her problem to deal with because no one can withhold the diplomatic charade. Luffy least of all.

Robin looks in Linus’ direction and knows that the skeleton was speaking the truth. The man is clearly tense and a frown is etched deep on his forehead.

But under all this, she is curious. "You know this language?"

Her inquiry throws the official off for a second.

"Of course I know it." Linus barks, having regained his composure. "Don't mistake me for an ignorant, continentals!"

"Continentals? You mean those from the continent?" Nami inquires, smiling proudly when she gets an affirmative answer.

"So only those living on the continent speak this language?" Robin taps her chin as she recalls the map Zahra had shown them and tries to put the facts together.

Linus nods warily, eyeing their various mix of surprise and lost reactions with undeterred suspicion.

"But why do those tribe’s people speak your language then?" Because she is fairly certain that the place they've woken up in was on the continent. Especially now that it is confirmed that their language is spoken there.

The black haired man purses his lips. "We have conquered some of the towns near the shore and they learned our language as a result." His eyes narrow in distaste. "But this was over a hundred years ago! Why do those bastards keep sending you over and over?!"

"Who?" Sanji, Usopp and even Chopper burst out at the same time, making Linus reel back.

"Your bosses!" The official roars, tired of their clueless attitude, though his chest deflates a little bit when his prisoners only continue to give him blank looks that turn out to become quite unnerving. Particularly that black haired kid's with the straw hat that is digging through his nostrils still. He looks capable of murdering someone with that face while eating dinner at the same time. Even so, he ignores it all and nicely tries one last time to make them speak.

"The damn continentals living in that so-called Holy Capital, Mariejois!"

"Ohh!" Luffy's finger pops out of his nose with an uncomfortably explicit sound and he smiles widely. "What's up with them?"

Linus waits, but the translation does not come to him willingly. Feeling a vein begin to pulse dangerously in his temple, he turns to Robin with a nasty glower that makes the woman blink.

"What did he just say?!"

The archaeologist takes a moment to look at Luffy. Her captain only shrugs, helpless.

"He asked what is it you want with them?"

Linus moves his glare back on Luffy. "I want you to spill all their secrets, of course!" He raises his head to face the room at large. "Who are you and what have you been ordered to do here?!"

Robin bites her lip as the last echoes of his exclamation fade out. She’ll be damned if some of his words just don't make sense to her.

"Robin told you. If you trust us or not is not my problem." Zoro intervenes, fixing the pretentious guy with a deadpan stare.

It is obvious to Linus that none of the others are going to add anything else to the guy’s words.

He scoffs. "You expect me to believe you?"

"Not our problem if not. Yohoho!" Brook takes the swordsman’s example and happily answers in the same manner.

"We do not have anything to do with the continentals since all of us have been living on islands until we set out to sea." Robin explains patiently. "This is our captain," she rests a hand on Luffy's shoulder, "and he has already kicked a citizen of Mariejois in the face in the future."

Linus' jaw hangs open by the end of her statement. He sways unsteadily between Luffy's unconcerned gaze and Robin's amused one with no short amount of doubt.

"Time travel is impossible." Since they do not seem to be joking on the former story, Linus decides to tackle another important point in their conversation. Though he grimaces when his mind counters his own statement right way.

Robin lets her restless captain go join Brook and Usopp in their latest discovery, never once breaking her gaze from Linus'.

"We thought so, too. But here we are."

Her words seem to resonate with the official well enough and the archaeologist feels a new surge of hope wash over her. Maybe now she can make him listen.

"If you would just listen to our story-" Robin's words halt as abruptly as Linus' face blanches and looses all color.

All in the space of five seconds.

The black haired woman does not have to turn around to know what is probably happening behind her back and, judging by the snap of rebounding rubber, she is tragically correct.

Nami's hiss of his name interrupts the straw hat wearer from admiring his latest catch – a golden monkey with a big smile on its face and hands full of carved fruits that is almost the same height as Chopper. Brook was the first one to spot it on one of the bookshelves, but even the musician's reach proved to be too short to get to it so the captain had taken it upon himself to remedy the pinch they found themselves into. Angling his head to the side, Luffy blinks innocently when he sees that the rest of his friends are in similar states of incredulity as that Linus man that has caught them. Speaking of the guy, he does not look too friendly in that moment as he takes a series of wide, confident steps toward Luffy. He closes the gap in five strides. As the man draws to a stop in front of him, Luffy wonders if maybe that monkey is that important to him after all.

Smiling amiably and certainly not minding the heat emanating from his stare alone, the pirate captain offers it back to him.

"Sorry!"

Linus lifts his hand, presumably to take it back. Luffy is almost prepared to sigh in relief at the aloof face accompanying the gesture. That is, until he finds the corner of his mouth caught by a finger and stretched to its maximum length. An obvious gap between him and normal people becomes awfully visible as the skin keeps on stretching and stretching. He watches as Linus studies him calmly and tries to keep as still as possible, though it is to no avail in the end when his fidgety nature takes hold of him after five minutes tops.

The official sighs and lets the rubbery mouth go when Luffy starts shuffling his feet on his polished floor, creating a series of infernal squeaks from hell. He marches back to his office desk, ignoring the strangers' darned stares boring into his back. A hand goes to ruffle through his already unruly hair in frustration, his mind working a thousand miles per second to make sense of what he has just seen. It isn't that he is shocked – no, he is stunned, perturbed and maybe a little bit offended on the side.

"I know our captain is a little... different. But I can explain!"

Linus hears that Robin woman speak hurriedly, jolting him out of his thoughts. He has unwillingly ended up behind his desk office with her on its other side. Robin’s face is a mask of desperation and her eyes are pleading for him to understand.

Not in the mood to hear any more excuses, he holds up a halting hand to her open mouth.

"I believe you."

Robin chokes back her tears, unable to comprehend how such a simple act as Luffy showing his powers can make him believe their story, but she doesn't dare try her luck.

"How come?" Zoro stands up from the couch. He takes slow, deliberate steps toward the man behind the desk.

Linus does not mind the approaching stranger and instead focuses on the kid holding his family’s legacy and looking as present as a tree.

"Who the bloody hell are you, kid?" He asks, anticipating the nonexistent answer. It seems that he is only capable of understanding that reeking language of theirs. "Name?"

His shout is more of an order and it startles Luffy enough to almost make him drop the statue, but the usually carefree teen returns to his friendly personality at once when his brain finally makes the connection. That, and Sanji and Franky making ‘cut it’ gestures behind Linus’ back while Usopp keeps mouthing the translation.

Grinning broadly, the raven head answers the easily irritated guy boldly.

"I, Monkey D. Luffy! Nice to meet you!"

Robin watches Linus' face fall for the second time in ten minutes and feels an alarming need to run away as the first waves of understanding nip at the edges of her mind. He declares it is impossible, but then says he believes them. No matter how she looks at it, there is only a plausible answer – somehow or the other, he knows something about Luffy's powers. The archeologist is sure that she should have intervened earlier, but it is too late now. The ball is already rolling down the hill of disaster and the destination is a miserable plain full of lava where maybe they will be thrown in once this deal is over.

"Impossible." Linus's face does not betray the wide array of emotions raging inside of him.

"It's the truth."

It is Zoro who decides to give said metaphorical ball one last good kick into the abyss with a well formulated grammatical sentence to booth. He crosses his arms, daring the strange man to offer a half assed answer this time.

The black haired official's blank expression does not falter as he lifts his hand, hooks his index finger at the corner of his mouth and pulls it to shocking lengths. The Strawhats' jaws fall open collectively and the sound of rebounding rubber seems to echo forever in their ears.

"Because this is my power. And I'm Monkey Linus."

"Please tell me that I translated it wrong in my head!" Usopp's desperate whisper easily carries across the still air inside the room.

"Unfortunately," being easily the most collected out of them all, Robin settles on making sure that this revelation won't degrade into another argument, "your proficiency in the language is very remarkable."

Despite the fact that the statement is supposed to be a compliment, the sniper's spirits quickly deflate and burn away to nothingness.

"Eh?" Luffy's back draws up, shoulders squaring as if in preparation of a strike even though he is watching the situation unfold without a clue as to what is going on. An easy-going smile finds its way on his face as he asks in a broken, foreign language he doesn't even have the patience to learn.

"You have the same name kind of me? How come?" Jet black eyes narrow in mock suspicion. "Are us revealed?!"          

"Related is for related, captain." Robin gently corrects him. "You just said you two are revealed."

The raven head blinks and simply breathes out an "Oh." without any meaning or emotion behind it.

“Shit, Luffy and I thought he looked like you.” Sanji shakes his head at the ridiculousness of it all. “But seriously!”

“Wha! He looks like me?!” Luffy exclaims, swiveling his head to see if his friends are of the same opinion. Or maybe he is just looking for a mirror in the hoard of things Linus has cluttered in his office.

"But this is probably the only explanation." The archaeologist continues over her captain’s shouts, minding how the man behind the massive office table stiffens, tenses and deflates all in that particular order while a hand is raking through his locks and another pulls at his collar.

Now that she looks at it from this perspective, Linus and Luffy have a few things in common appearance-wise that she hasn’t had the chance to spot until now. Their eyes and hair are both similar in color, though Linus' hair is already reaching the nape of his neck and cascades over his eyes in disheveled waves. His nose is the same shape too, though the skin tone is way darker than Luffy's. The two are lanky, but the native is a little bit taller and Robin wonders how she didn't see all of these similarities behind the subtle differences that have impeded her to look further into it.

"You might be our captain's ancestor." Robin winces at the bluntness of her well-thought out statement and the overwhelming effect it has on its victim.

Linus jumps and looks at them with a face well worthy of the most distressed of people, looking like he doesn’t know how they got in there and what they want from him. The man shakes his head fervently, making his longer hairs sway wildly with the motion.

"This is too much."

In spite of the heavy atmosphere clouding the office, Luffy is full of boundless energy. The pirate captain struts up to the edge of the desk without any consideration for personal space and distance advisable for this kind of situation.

"Do you have a family, too? You're living on Raftel right?! How awesome is that! Hey, where's the D. in your name, though? You don't have it? By the way – did you eat the Gum Gum Fruit?"

Linus lifts up a halting hand in front of the kid's way too close face. He scrunches up his nose at the position he is in – almost all over his desktop – and the joyful smile is not helping matters any. Not to mention that he didn’t understand a shit of what the kid has just rapid-fired and it only serves to annoy him further. His eyes shift to Robin, patiently waiting, and grits his teeth. He doesn't like relying on that woman because maybe – just maybe, please Lord make this surely – this is all an invention in the end and they are amazingly good actors despite the fact that none of them really look the part.

She can be easily translating some other shit that the kid hasn't said and he will be none the wiser until it is too late. No, he won't fall for tricks without any real solid evidence. What does he know – maybe they managed to duplicate his innate power, those bastards from the continent. No, he will put a stop to this charade even if he has to learn the language of the continent.

Robin seems to get the general idea behind his stare so he says. "Translate."

The suspicious foreigner smiles thinly and Linus knows that she isn't all that oblivious to his inner thoughts as he has hoped.

"Our captain asks if you do not have the name D. too." The black haired woman abstains from asking the other two very personal questions. It surely won’t help them if her suspicions that they haven't yet been fully believed prove to be right.

Linus quirks an eyebrow in confusion. He has never heard of the name D. before.

"The hell’s D? Is this how continentals call us?"

In retrospect, he should have thought it out better, but whatever. It isn't like he wants to make friends with these people anyway. Robin giggles behind her hand.

"Probably." She answers airily.

The native blinks when a finger invades his field of vision. Luffy's face is contorted into what should have been a serious expression – on a normal person's face.

"You..." The rubber man begins, but trails off as he tries to search for another word he knows. "Eat... Devil berry?"

"How do you know berry, but you don't know fruit?!" Usopp and Sanji yell as one from the back.

"What is he asking me if I ate a berry?" Linus asks Robin curiously.

"He is talking about fruits. Devil Fruits to be exact. Did you eat one?"

The man's eyes involuntarily narrow on the rubber culprit as he chooses his next words carefully.

"No, I did not." This notion does not seem to shock Robin too much. "What are Devil Fruits?"

"Stop asking stupid things. Take us to Science or we will find it." Zoro speaks up suddenly, a hand going under his heavy green shawl to rest on his swords in a gesture of warning.

"Unfortunately, our friend is right." Robin smiles at the way Linus frowns heavily when she confirms that the green haired man near the door is armed and ready to strike. "I am sure that you have heard of Devil Fruits since you look like an important person around here. As he said," she crosses her arms over her chest, summoning four new limbs that sprout from her shoulder blades, "please take us there or step aside."

A few minutes of silence punctuated only by Luffy's incessant swaying in place and Brook's attempts at playing the strange instrument he had discovered have Linus at the edge of his fried nerves and he swears that the gazes boring into him are starting to catch fire. He doesn't want to give them the satisfaction of winning and letting them infiltrate deeper into the castle. But at the same time – when he thinks about it – this is the best place they should be in. Not roaming the streets, but kept under strict surveillance. He supposes that if he plays his cards right and keeps it in a safe zone with at least five soldiers per intruder, there is no chance of escaping or destroying too many things in case a fight breaks out.  

Yes, under his watchful gaze they can't leave anywhere and he'll always make sure that they stay glued to each other. So he supposes that he can indulge their stupid pleas and guide them to the Science department. As much as he isn't a fan of that place maybe that idiot head of the department can figure out why the hell they possess such powers in the first place. Now that Robin woman presses on with her faux powers that seem too real and he feels this... whatever it is, is going too fast and too far for him to be completely comfortable living through.

The black haired man clears his throat, making sure to not look at the rubber kid picking his nose again lest he'll lose hope for his future. He steps away from the desk.

"Alright. But it will be done under my conditions."

Not holding any qualms about showing his powers – they already know all about them, he is sure – he extends his hand all the way to the other side of the room and bangs on it loud and hard. As expected, a soldier opens it just as his arm returns to its normal size.

"Sir?"

"Surround them and follow me. Make sure none of them gets away!" Linus commands as he exits the room first. "If they aren't nine by the time we arrive at the Volcano, some of you will lose their heads!"

The chief soldier gulps and nods.

"Hey, old man! Can I take the monkey?" Luffy yells after Linus' retreating form, but is not once acknowledged.

Nami slaps him over the head and tells him to let it go. Pouting heavily, Luffy falls to the back with Franky and Brook.

"I believe that it will be better if you leave it here. Lest you risk bringing damage to it, Luffy-san." The joyful skeleton pats the younger pirate on the back reassuringly.

"Brook's right, bro. You can just come back and see it later." Franky wisely advises as he follows his crewmates out of the door, making a point of glaring at the men all around them.

The rubber pirate nods hesitantly and deposits the statue back on the ground. He promises it that he’ll come back, though he never stops pouting in protest.

They pass by a series of other spacious hallways, each one decorated in a radically different style than the others. None of the works of art and design even remotely blend with one another. The abrupt change whenever they pass into another room is almost nauseating, but Robin is of another opinion.

"It just demonstrates the vast culture of this kingdom." She explains to her friends, eyes alight.

"Or maybe they just don't know how to decorate." Usopp whispers to Chopper who is perched on Zoro's shoulders. The two nod sagely in return.

After ten minutes of continuous walking and seeing nothing but furniture, protests from Luffy predictably spring up from the back, mingling with Usopp's own mumbles on random things that have caught his eye. Linus is already sick of it five minutes later when they exit the building and are in the middle of traversing the courtyard, stealthily making their way around the officials' offices on the less popular path that will be able to hide their significant numbers. It’s late in the evening so people are either still working or have already gone back home.

The first tower has just sprung up from behind the corner when he hears it. Loud and clear. It is a fleeting wish to hope that he has imagined it, but when his name is clearly shouted out for the second time from behind, Linus knows that his masterful sneaking has been in vain after all and resigns himself to his fate.

"Lord Draco!"

As one, the soldiers step away to make way for the newly arrived. Linus' eye twitches when he realizes who it is.

"Father." He inclines his head out of respect. "What brings you here?"

Both decidedly ignore the sputtering coming from the glob of soldiers and, incidentally, the Strawhat pirates. The older man does not need to know that, though. The tall, black haired official nods and smiles serenely at him.

"I was just passing by. It's so rare to catch you out and about. Are you paying him a visit?"

Linus sniffs in disdain, a motion that makes him feel like he is ten years old again. "Hardly." He allows reluctantly. "I have some business to attend to in the Volcano."

"I see you have guests, Linus!" A woman's voice chirps from behind Draco and a face immediately appears to match it. "Are you telling me that he's given you an important job?" She teases, a smirk crawling its way on her face.

The young woman is petite, easily blending behind the taller men. She has a shawl over her head that she takes off, revealing long, curly orange locks.

"Mellorine~!"

"You mean that you know the word for that in this language?!" Usopp cries out as quietly as he can, one hand tugging at his hair while the other yanks at Sanji's clothing to keep him from assaulting that pretty lady.

Ignoring the ruckus behind her, Robin studies the fair young woman with eyes the color of the sea, round and shining and a slim body dressed in a silk white dress with another colorful semi-transparent shawl draped over her shoulders. She is holding a thick book in her arms, having no qualms about not keeping a respectable distance from who, Robin guesses, is her superior.

Linus' dad, the archeologist has to admit, looks almost exactly like their captain's own father – the revolutionary Dragon from their time. Which is eerie and completely scary if she is going to be entirely honest. He certainly sports the long hair part, though what keeps the tattoo's place is a scar from the corner of his left eye that trails along his neck and under his white shirt. And he looks the tough man part, too.

Draco smiles in amusement at the sputtering glob that is his son and the winning grin his secretary has. Those two can never get along, can they?

"Now, Laelia, don't aggravate him further. I have trust that Linus knows what he's doing best."

Linus stops short, straightens his back and throws the irritating woman one last glare before inclining his head toward the other respectfully.

"Thank you father. Now if you will excuse us-"

"Governor!"

The trio looks to the caller, a man with a violent green mohawk hairstyle and green tinged sunglasses who is approaching with a noticeable skip in his step.

"He's dressed normally like us, though..." Chopper's remark trails off into nothingness because the sheer impossibility at pulling off such a look is beyond zero point one percent whatever era you live in.

"Robin, what is that?" Nami hisses a little too audibly, causing a few soldiers to shoot her warning glares. The orange head could care less in that moment, though, since she is too preoccupied with assisting Usopp in stopping an impending love ballad by their love-struck cook for the ‘fair Laelia’.

"Governor.” Robin replies. “It seems that Draco-san is the governor of this island."

"Meaning a high-ranked official." Zoro concludes as he crosses his arms behind his head. "You seemed pretty attentive to the guy." The swordsman eyes the archeologist critically. "Anyone you might know?"

Robin releases a soft snort. "That man is in the same situation as our captain."

She angles her head to look at Zoro’s raised eyebrow. He could never let go of his curiosity about the Revolutionaries. "He bears much resemblance to Luffy's own father, Dragon the revolutionary. Though that is when the similarities stop. Because this man is clearly not a world-renowned criminal."

"You never know, Robin." Franky says dryly and fixes his sunglasses up on his nose, more at ease now that they have proof these existed in this time, too.

Robin is about to answer the ridiculous assumption, but freezes when her eyes meet Draco's. It is the first time he has looked in their direction and she can't help but feel a bead of sweet trail down her spine. Every instinct she possesses scream that this man is as dangerous as they come and she honestly believes it when she finds herself standing under that scorching black stare. The historian abstains from sighing in relief when he finally breaks eye contact and gulps a much needed breath of air.

"You felt it too, right?" Zoro's question brings her back to reality and she nods, still a little wobbly. She catches his hand clenching around the hilt of Wado from the corner of her eye and knows that the swordsman will be watching out for this man. As will she.

"Well then, see ya' later!" Laelia winks in Linus’ direction and lifts her enclosed hand as if to throw something at him.

The Strawhats tense, but their host remains impassive under the sparkly shower that seems to erupt from the palm of her hand which compromises of small spheres of light – courtesy of the annoyingly persistent woman who has made it her personal mission to tease the hell out of him. He will never understand the kind of people his father works with.

Shaking his head slowly after their departing forms, Linus turns his head and finds dumbstruck faces that belongs to his current... chores. And immediately regrets turning at all. Why, oh, why him?

In the end he huffs in discontent. "Come and don't cause a ruckus."

He is pleased to see that they follow him obediently enough.

They finally arrive at the so-called 'Volcano' – which proves to be a circular building shaped exactly like one and thus deserving of the name – and enter through a conspicuously named door that spells 'Exit'. Linus insists that they are not officials on business or anyone too important and so makes sure to remind them that he still doesn’t trust their intentions or their freakishly fictional story. Usopp lifts a finger up in protest and wants nothing more than to remind Luffy’s freakish ancestor himself about his not-at-all freakish, of course powers that don’t, apparently, come from a Devil Fruit.

But now the Strawhats are captives here. And judging by the sturdy walls of steel, now with no escape.

Nami continues to look out of the nearest window whenever they pass by one and sees the 'cone' of the thing. It has a large circumference closed off with glass, and it’s smaller than the encompassing walls like a snail in a shell. She figures that they are inside the outer wall that is a large, almost cavernous structure which does not give any good vibes no matter how you look at it. It’s obvious that it stops or allows 'official entrance' to presumed visitors. Not for the first time, the navigator is sure to direct a burning glare at the back of Linus' head. Even if the man is supposedly Luffy's ancestor, though even this is at the stage of theory only, he proves to be an annoying little prick with trust issues. Unlike their captain, who is annoying but means well most of the time and especially when it matters. And he smiles not scrunches up his nose or scowls like a certain somebody is prone to do.

"I question what power she has. Hmm..." Brook breaks the silence with a joyous hum of melody, handing the little notebook back to Robin in silent gratitude.

"It was all... light." Zoro tries, but gives up when he can’t find the right word.

"Sparkly, maybe? Sparkly." Robin offers and receives a grateful nod from the swordsman in return.

"Sparkly, sparkly!" Chopper agrees happily, clapping his hoofs. "Maybe she light power?"

"Probably. I wonder who has this in the present." Usopp ponders, rubbing his chin like he is trying to summon all the answers.

"I have feeling it that guy in Sabaody." Franky scowls at the sour memory of their asses getting beaten and sent to the five corners of the world.

"Eh?" Luffy's head snaps up from whatever he has been doing with his head bent down to that unfortunate angle. "Why's everyone speaking in that mystery language?"

He gets himself a fist over the head for his wonderings.

"Because we have to mix with the other people!" Nami barks at the clueless idiot.

"Kind of late for that now." Linus snorts, but never falters in his rapid pace through the deserted hallways. "But it is admirable to see you are trying. You were close by the way. That woman can control light."

"Light." Robin translates. She raises an eyebrow. “You seem rather disgruntled, Linus.”

Linus scoffs and ignores her. He doesn’t feel obligated to explain anything to her.

"Light?" Luffy's head falls to the side. "Like that Kizaru guy, right?"

"Seems so." The cyborg grunts.

"What did he say that it 'seems so'?" The official turns his head and – oh, there it is, Nami thinks – he frowns at them.

"A man named Kizaru from our time has this kind of powers.” Robin helpfully details. “He can control light at will and move at blinding speeds."

Linus raises an eyebrow, but continues to remain otherwise unresponsive.

"This guy irritates me." Sanji mumbles, rolling an unlit cigarette between his lips stressfully. "But that mellorine was such a beauty!" The cook coos, eyes already transformed into beating hearts.

In front of the group, Linus discretely mimics repeatedly throwing up at the guy's stupid bouts of gushing over someone he hadn't even met in person. Linus kind of envies him for this.

It was fifteen minutes of continuous walking through incessant halls and connecting archways before they arrive at a nondescript metal door displaying nothing but the inscription for the number one on it. Linus opens it without knocking and the soldiers step aside obediently to allow them entrance in what seems like another world.

There is technology everywhere you look, ranging from machines to several doubtful substances flowing through loops of tubes and a variety of tools sometimes glimpsed in Franky's own arsenal. The shipwright himself whistles at the piece of future in the very past that greets him. He lifts his sunglasses in order to inspect a cutting machine that is carving through rock as his friends further examine the room at large.

None of them are remotely in touch with the equipment here, but they can understand the probability of finding such things here would be virtually null under normal circumstances. Or is it?

"Is that really you?!" A man's voice that is decidedly not Linus', cries from one corner of the room.

Then clanks and chinks follow along with the sound of things probably breaking or colliding with other hard surfaces before a middle-aged man, dressed in contrastingly simple clothes consisting of brown pants and a shirt, stumbles out from the mess. He catches the grumpy official standing in the middle of the mess that is the room in a bear hug.

The Strawhats can only make out his dirty blond hair and freckled face under the cascade of tears that flows from his eyes.

"Stop this already!" Linus shouts and hauls the man back on his feet. He clicks his tongue, trying hard not to rearrange his disheveled clothes. "I swear this is why I don't ever visit you!"

The scientist laughs merrily as he wipes his eyes and attempts to straighten his rumpled white shirt, though it seems like a lost cause.

"Sorry, sorry! But I still can't believe you're here-"

Linus rolls his eyes, already tuning him out. Unfortunately, this allows his mind to register other things such as the sharp intake of breath that comes from the group behind him. It can only be possible if at least three of those crazy pirates would inhale in unison and how the hell can someone even do this unconsciously?

The Strawhats part under his accusatory gaze until he is staring at the troublemaking kid that they call their captain.

The straw hat wearer sports a peculiarly shocked and troubled expression that Linus doesn’t dare start to question lest he'll want to lose half a day doing so. It looks like the kid’s seeing a very well projected ghost. But Linus doesn’t believe in ghosts – or well, at least he doesn’t yet. After today he’s totally prepared to find one, too.

So he simply turns fully around to face the group and notes with approval that the guards have closed the door and remained obediently outside. He lifts a hand to introduce the man shifting from foot to foot next to him.

"S-Sab-"

"This is Sappho. He is the head of the science department that you've been so adamant to meet." Despite the lingering smugness swimming inside his chest, Linus is becoming concerned over the level of shock that emanates from the group at large now. It is like that they are seeing a ghost.

"Why the hell are you all looking like idiots now?" He asks dryly.

"Ah, it is just that someone we know looks like him." Zoro inwardly congratulates himself for pulling that sentence out right at first try.

"Really? I'm kind of surprised." Sappho scratches his cheek in embarrassment before a warm smile blooms on his face.

Linus is taken aback by the sudden outward display of emotions. He knows the man better than that to know that he wouldn't normally act like this, but the Sappho’s next statement shakes him to the core.

"I'm happy to finally meet you! I've been waiting for the ‘Strawhat’ pirates to arrive."

Chapter 4