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Robin leaned over papers, scrolls and books like always. It was quite a collection she knew, finding such a treasure trove was a rare thing. Ivankov truly kept some excellent records. Verbal histories were such a hassle to keep track of but they had such a large collection.
“Iva says you can make copies, but anything with a purple star stays in the room,” Sabo stepped back into the room, recently off of a call with the anarchist in question.
“Did she say anything about things that already have copies I could take with me?” Robin knew this place was much closer to a personal collection than a library and she needed to be mindful of all the rules Iva would have for his collection.
“Anything with a capital A, those are just transcriptions and Inazuma does those for fun,” Sabo walks off to one of the shelves around the office. He pulls down several books, skipping a few before taking the next one. The skipped books were probably the repeats.
He comes back with a small stack, four books in total. ‘The Big Book of Being Gay, The Big Book of Being Lesbian, The Big Book of Wanting Both (and More), The Big Book of Gender ,The Big Book of Not Wanting and The Big Queer Dictionary.’ These books all had little cuts in the side, an N, E, S, W, or G sticker in the cuts, for the seas and the Grand Line respectively. What a trove.
“Please thank them for me, this is quite a collection to part with,” Robin knew these books were both some of the most extensive dictionaries on queer identities throughout the seas and also some of the rarest. A particularly pissy Celestial Dragon was upset that these books were more popular then his untrained hobby project about how homosexuality was unnatural and caused by evil spirits. He had most other books on the subject burned, both good and bad, and the study into the subject was only now healing because the bastard kicked the bucket.
“If you stick around any longer you could say it to her yourself. She’ll be back in a week or two,” The Revolutionary Army never really liked that Robin was only sticking with them until her captain came back. There were both some subtle and not so subtle nudges that she should stick around. If she would have found them before the Straw Hats she probably would have joined up.
“It’s a shame I’ll be gone by then. Are you sure you won’t see me off? Perhaps see your precious little brother?”
“I… No. Not yet,” Sabo tugs on his gloves, moving around until he finds a chair and sits in it.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Robin made it look like she was a bit more disengaged, shuffling around some of the books around her and looking down at that instead of Sabo.
“I’d rather not,” Sabo takes his hat off, smooths out his hair and then puts the hat back on, “but could you tell me a few more stories about him?”
“Sure. Quick question first, is Pride really in February in East Blue?” This wasn’t something that important, but Robin remembers that there was some mix up with when Pride was because it apparently happened at a different time depending on which sea you were in.
“Of course Pride’s in February, that’s when all the lovers' holidays are?” Sabo almost seems completely baffled by this.
“When do you celebrate Pride in…Ohara?” Sabo pauses, remembering where Robin comes from but not remembering where that is.
“West Blue. Pride is in November, a reminder to hold your loved ones close before the winter,” Robin remembers Professor Clover picking her up to help her put up little rainbow streamers, him helping her pick out a name when she realized she was a girl. Back then she was partial to Andromache, she still was to be honest, but Professor Clover told her that if she was born a girl her mom would have named her Robin and that won out in the end.
“Wait, hold on, Iva told me to ask you some questions,” Sabo flipped through his jacket until he found a small notepad tucked into one of the inside pockets of his jacket.
“First question: Do any members of your crew openly identify as some form of queer? The follow-ups are both optional, but how many of the are openly queer and what do they identify as? Iva is collecting this stuff so that they can prove that being a pirate is gay culture,” Sabo never really got the point of ‘water is wet’ studies.
“Honestly most of the crew. I am a bisexual trans woman, Franky is a bisexual trans man. Luffy’s aromantic but he says it as aromatic, and asexual,” She remembers the first time someone had shortened asexual to ace around Luffy and how he had immediately chimed in with that that was his brother. Luffy sometimes got a bit mixed up on terms but the captain was always sure of who he was.
Sabo nods and writes some of this down, probably taking some relief in the fact he doesn’t have to worry about Luffy dating. An eye hidden in the corner sees him writing down T4T, Bi4Bi by her and Franky’s names. Sometimes it shocks her just how well known it is that they are a couple, but at least this is someone who’s had a conversation with her and not just assuming.
“Sanji’s cis and flips between different m-spectrum identities about every month or so, last I saw him he was using heteroflexible, but it has been a while. At every point he will emphasize that he prefers women over men, especially when it's unnecessary. Odd choices, but it’s his identity, not mine. Zoro is cis and gay, Usopp is a trans man and pan, Nami is cis and a lesbian, “ Robin pauses before continuing, giving Sabo enough time to write some of this stuff down. Being able to see his writing from over his shoulder allows her to time it just right.
“Brook’s identity is a bit more complicated to unravel. He turned ninety in March and doesn’t really know much about the modern terms,” Robin pauses for a moment, unsure of what to say next.
“If it’s a term anyone else has ever used to describe their identity before Iva’ll know and if it hasn’t then he will be all the more thrilled to have it,” Sabo had been raised around Iva, almost viewing them as a parent. He knew that they would love a term obscure enough that they wouldn’t know it.
“The main one he uses is confirmed bachelor, but sometimes he will use a sailor for life, or unlife in his case. I remember he often says that he used to be a hundred-footer but I don’t have an idea what that means. Chopper is cis and currently considers himself unlabled, based off of what he has said in the past he’d prefer to not be put under the queer label at this time,” Robin had finished what she had to say and started to pick out which one of the documents she’d start copying.
“Alright. Now Iva won’t yell at me. Brother story time,” Sabo quickly tucks the notepad back into his jacket, before putting his elbows on his knees and dropping his chin into his hands. Robin had almost forgotten that that was part of the conversation.
“ I have a few I could tell you” Robin uses this brief time to try and think of some stories “Do you want the one about Luffy getting challenged to a Davy Back fight, the time we spent in a pirate town or the time Luffy punched a Celestial Dragon in the face?”
“I’ve gotta hear about him punching a Celestial Dragon,” She watched as Sabo’s eyes filled with glee at the story before him.
“We were stocking up in Sabaody, like most other crews before crossing over to the New World…”