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“Hah!” Ace cheers, throwing up his arms in victory. Koby slouches in defeat and glares at the small screen on the wall. “Dude you suck! How did you even manage to get a score that low?” The man next to him continues his teasing.
Koby huffs, “You were literally camping the rail, what do you mean ‘how did you manage to get a score that low?’!” Ace just snickers in response, waving a hand dismissively. “Yeah , yeah. We all know it's because you play Rodney."
Admittedly, there could be a bias. The game is called Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland. No wonder the guy who chose Tony won by miles. However, it doesnt change the fact that Ace spent the whole round doing repetitive grinds rather than utilising the entire park. Koby squints at the controller in his hands as he remembers counting 6 noseslides on Ace’s side of the screen.
He’s knocked from his thoughts by the sudden weight on his left shoulder, a tuft of black-brown hair now in his peripheral. His eyes shift to source and he has to stifle a jump. His cheeks swell to the same tint as his rosy hair and he almost bites himself in order for him to not squeal. Luffy’s eyes are still open but they very soon flutter closed and his breathing gets slower. In the last few seconds of consciousness, Luffy snakes his arms around Koby’s left as if he were a stuffed animal on his bed. This seems to grab the victor’s attention again.
Ace nudges Sabo, smirking as he nods his head towards the opposite end of the couch. “Nap time?” Sabo chuckles, Koby’s eyes snap from Luffy to Sabo. His face burns along with the rest of his body, it doesn't help that he can feel Luffy's body heat rivalling his own.
Koby smiles weakly at Sabo’s comment but it must have looked like a grimace due to the complete sensory overload Koby’s feeling right now. “Loser's punishment I guess.” Ace punches Koby’s arm gently and throws his leg over Sabo's lazily. Sabo snorts, "Punishment? I'm fairly certain he's enjoying that."
The two college boys had been teasing him all afternoon - moreso Ace than Sabo - throwing jabs at the pinkette for his obvious crush on their little brother. Koby recalls a moment from earlier when they had walked through the door and started taking their shoes off; Ace had to physically stop himself from falling over laughing at Koby for his socks. (Understandably so. Who the fuck would wear teal on green?)
"Jesus Kobes, you're the same colour as this couch." Ace laughs and the noise makes Luffy stir. Koby holds his breath and stays so still, which apparently was even more comical than the colour of his face. Ace laughs louder. Luffy grumbles and Ace shuts up, the three all silently staring at the - presumably - sleeping boy.
Luffy shifts closer to Koby, snuggling his head further up his shoulder. The boys let out a sigh of relief when Luffy begins to snore, Sabo hitting Ace's shoulder scoldingly.
The next five minutes were filled with the sound of the ancient second hand Xbox 360 whirring away as if it's about to take flight back to 2015 where it should have stayed. Luffy had explained to Koby before that Garp refuses to buy them any other console as he believes screens will 'rot their brains'. Luffy rarely plays video games anyway; half because he prefers physical activities, half because Ace is a sore loser and Luffy always beats his ass.
Ace breaks the silence by suggesting they play a different game mode. "Sure. Which one?" Koby asks, Ace hums in thought before going to the main menu to browse the multiplayer options. "Firefight?" He suggests, Koby shakes his head and holds his controller out in Sabo's direction. "I'm so bad at Firefight. plus it's your turn anyway."
Sabo chuckles and takes the half broken controller. With the amount of times Koby has visited Luffy and his brothers' apartment he's surprised hes never noticed how beaten up the controllers actually are. He can only assume it's mostly Ace's doing.
The annoying sound of trick combos flood the room when Ace begins the game, Koby hopes it doesnt wake Luffy.
He watches them play 4 or 5 more rounds before he begins to get drowsy. He almost joins Luffy until Ace waves a hand in front of his face. "Hellooo?" He sings, Koby blinks a few times and hums in acknowledgment. The older boy chuckles and puts his hand down, "Ace and I are going to finish watching a movie we started last night. You can stay and watch too or you can take Luffy to his room." Sabo says as he stands up to switch the Xbox off.
Koby looks down at Luffy and back at the older two. Luffy's snores had been getting quieter - a telltale sign of him not sleeping as well as he could be. Though he does want to spend more time with the other two; usually when he visits it is to see Luffy, so he never actually has time to sit and chat with the twins.
He likes Ace and Sabo. Not just because they are Luffy's brothers but also because they're nice to talk to. He thinks it's probably due to them being used to having a younger brother that they're so easy to talk to. Sometimes it can be awkward, especially when the two of them like to take the piss out of him for a lot of things. Such as; his choice in socks, his bandana, his glasses that he hasn't actually worn since middle school and a lot more.
He smiles, "I'll take Luffy to his room, he's gonna cramp if he sleeps like this... Um, I'll be back though." Ace shoots him a grin and Sabo gives a thumbs up, fiddling with the buttons on the side of the TV.
Koby slowly eases his way out of Luffy's hold on his arm, trying not to wake the boy. He cringes at the realisation that luffy is still in his school uniform, them having not changed when they got to the apartment.
Ace snorts as he watches Koby fuss over how to pick him up. "Just chuck him over your shoulder, man. Once he's snoring it's like he's dead until he gets hungry." The oldest says, fishing around for the remote Sabo had left on the floor somewhere. Koby can't help but giggle at the statement.
He eventually settles with carefully scooping Luffy up in his arms and cautiously tip-toeing down the hall to Luffy's room. He opens the door with his foot, pursing his lips when it creeks louder than expected. Luffy doesn't stir though, Ace must've been right. Koby doesn't know why he ever doubts him. Jeez, maybe his socks really are ugly.
He walks over to Luffy's bed and lays him down as gently as he can, still worried the brunette might wake up no matter what Ace says. Luffy rolls over onto his side and begins to snore louder. good, Koby thinks, now he's actually gonna get a decent night's sleep...
Koby double checks that Luffy's still asleep (he's literally snoring louder than any pig ever could) before backing out of the room and shutting the door as quiet as possible. When he hears the click he lets go of the handle and makes his way back to the other two.
As he walks back into the living room the credits of the movie the college boys had been finishing were rolling and Ace leans his head back to look at Koby, "Did sleeping beauty wake up or did he stay asleep like i said he would?" Sabo snickers at Ace's comment, turning his head to look at the pinkette as well. Koby smiles, "If he weren't snoring so loud I would have been worried. I don't know how he slept through the noise that door made." Koby says, sitting down next to Ace.
Sabo chuckles at that and elbows Ace, "Oi, its your turn to turn the Xbox on." Ace groans and rolls his eyes. "What're we playing now?" He asks, tone bitchy as he rubs his arm where Sabo had elbowed it. Sabo taps his finger on the arm of the couch in thought, "Tekken?" Ace nods and picks up the box for Tekken 6.
Sabo grabs the controller closest to him, "Dibs Heihachi." He blurts, Koby giggles. Whenever Sabo and Ace played Tekken they would always fight over who got to be Heihachi, for the soul reason they think he looks like Garp. Garp, of course, denies this with a swift slap to both their heads. 'I'm not bald on top, you brats!' he'd shout.
Ace sputters, "What! No way! You got gramps last time. It's my turn!" He argues. Sabo shakes his head and selects Heihachi's character, "Snooze you lose, Ace."
Koby shrugs as Ace looks at him in defeat, "Don't look at me, he's got a point." A smile makes its way onto his face as he watches Ace sigh and slink his way back to the couch. "Fine. I'll play Anna." He grumbles, selecting her. "Koby who are you choosing?"
"Roger Jr."
"What is wrong with you."