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The day starts innocently enough. They’re all clearly restless, anticipation simmering in the air—except Robin, who looks as composed as ever, and Brook who has no facial expressions (or muscles) (or skin, for that matter). Koby gets roped into playing volleyball with Franky and Chopper, who claims he’s sitting on Koby’s shoulders purely for fairness reasons—never mind that his teammate is Franky, huge robot of a man that he is, against the two women of their crew.
He gets a bit too intense during their game, given that he’s the only player who actually knows the rules. Koby suspects Robin does too, but she’s all too happy to let Nami’s fouls slide and Chopper’s misses count as points. Franky keeps getting distracted with ways to “improve” the sport, claiming it lacks explosions and cool lasers.
Koby fears his vision.
They win, though by the skin of their teeth, because at the last second Robin uses her devil fruit powers to spike the ball Koby had just received (perfectly as well, sending it forward for Franky to score) and they all collectively decide that it counts as cheating. Nami still kicks up a storm, playing the part of the sore loser perfectly. Robin just smiles, unbothered, and pays her a gold coin as compensation for their loss. He’s sure she did it on purpose to see Chopper jumping around with joy and to find an excuse to gift the coin to Nami.
(Not that Koby blames her, especially since Luffy is just as excited for their win as Chopper is.)
The rest of their spontaneous barbecue goes just as smooth. Sort of.
First, they all gather around, sitting on the floor in a circle, and eat Sanji’s delicious grilled meat and sea king steaks, roasted chicken and vegetables, even a tangerine cake he’s gracious enough to serve the entire crew—thanks to Nami adding a couple thousand berries to their respective debts. Koby feels full just from seeing the buzz of his crew having a good time. Zoro and Sanji were even getting along without picking any fights.
Then, Usopp’s stories stop at some point and the bustle dies down along with them.
“What do you wanna do when we get to Gran Tesoro, Nami?” He asks to fill the comfortable silence.
“Oh,” she grins, pulling out her new coin from her bra and twirling it around, “I’m betting this 100 berries in the casino and walking out a rich woman!”
“I–I wanna see the amusement park!” Chopper jumps in, his headwear swaying with how fast he does it.
Koby halfheartedly defends what’s left of his cake from Luffy’s grabby hands, but gives in soon enough.
“Say, it’s like a hotel right?” Luffy spits out chunks of cake as he grins. “I’m gonna visit the buffet!! All I can eat for free?! It sounds perfect!”
“Well, not exactly,” Koby winces, picturing Nami’s enraged face when getting that bill. But, to his surprise, the current Nami just laughs.
“Oh, you’re on, Luffy!” She throws the coin high up in the air and smiles, saying “I bet I can make four times whatever that’ll cost!” as she catches it with a triumphant smile.
Everyone cheers and clinks their glasses, infected by her good energy.
“That’s the spirit, Nami!” Brook sways side to side where he’s sitting, violin resting safely by his said. “And I would know!” He cackles at his own joke, followed by Luffy, Chopper and Usopp. Robin lets out a small “ha!” that sets the crew off in another cheering session.
“Yours truly is gonna find a nice dance show to party!” Brook announces. “Maybe even find some young ladies to share the stage with,” he adds, and then takes a pause Koby somehow knows signifies a wink.
(He thinks of the life he led where no one he knew was a skeleton and he didn’t have the handy-dandy skill of reading emotions off a skull’s face. He doesn’t completely miss it, not as much anymore for sure—but remembering those times does put his current life into perspective.)
“That’s what I’m all about! I’m going out to meet all the pretty ladies around Gran Tesoro,” Sanji smiles, taking a puff of his cigarette. “Maybe get a date or two,” he winks.
Zoro clicks his tongue. “That’s right, curly. The only way you’re getting a girl is if you pay her.”
Nami bites her lips, but a small chuckle makes it out of her lips regardless. Usopp, though, has no problem falling on his back and rolling around, dying of laughter.
“Fuck off, stupid swordsman! I bet you’re just gonna do something lame and nap when we’re there!”
Zoro huffs, like a man who knows he just won. “I’m drinking the world’s best sake,” he grins about to elaborate, but gets interrupted.
“Oh, I’m definitely having some cola then.” Franky brings his hands up in two thumbs up and smiles brightly. Robin chuckles where she’s sitting next to him.
“I’ll certainly visit the spa,” she pipes in, “perhaps get a massage? I’ve read that’s what “rest and relaxation” are all about.”
“What about you?” Luffy slumps to the side, resting his head on Koby’s shoulder. “What does Koby wanna do?”
“I-I haven’t really thought about it much?” He’s suddenly very tense, not wanting to make any movement and spook Luffy away—what if Koby’s arm flexes and his captain thinks he’s uncomfortable and springs away. Seas, Koby’s nauseous. “Maybe swim in the pool? I’ve heard it’s the size of a river!”
Luffy nods, his nose tickling the skin of his shoulder. “Koby does like swimming.”
Usopp clears his throat. “Enough about Koby’s boring hobbies!” He stands up in the center of their group, planting one foot on Zoro’s slumping form and pointing forward—like he’s posing as a captain discovering land for the first time. “As the greatest storyteller—”
“Liar,” Nami snorts.
“—in all the seas, I, the great God Usopp, am gonna put on a play the likes the citizens of Gran Tesoro have never seen!”
“A play?” Chopper leans his chin on his hooves, eyes shining with excitement.
“About what?” Koby frowns, this is the first time Usopp has ever mentioned being interested in the entertainment business besides wanting to know how all of Brook’s concerts went.
It’s not the silliest thing they’ve done, far from it probably, but Koby still spends a whole hour contemplating all of his life choices. He’s tying Luffy’s yellow sash around his waist—trying not to blush and failing miserably—while Usopp is hopping around the man’s quarters and pretending to be a bunny, Chopper perched on his shoulders and giggling. The small reindeer is wearing a confusing costume—a hoodie big enough to cover both his hats. The face of a baboon and the tail of a monkey, not that Koby has much experience with either.
“I don’t think that’s right,” he’d told them, but they’d shushed him away telling him he’s “no fun” and “what do you know about my vision, huh?”
He squints now as they trip and fall flat on the wall like flies that have just been swatted by Sanji without remorse. He commits the scene to memory. Koby’s so going to make fun of them later.
Maybe Zoro will join in. Then again, Koby himself is dressed, as best as he can, like a bee. It was either this or the giant koi costume Franky pulled out of a chest. Koby’s fine with his black and yellow striped shirt with, thankfully normal, black pants—he’s sure the fake wings Usopp tied on his back are fairy wings and he wants to plan his revenge but they’re already costing him 100 berries per minute so he thinks better of it. He’s grateful Nami forgo watching their “play”, opting for a nap instead—leaving Robin and Franky in charge of their course—, he wouldn’t have ever lived it down if she hadn’t.
He walks out to the deck, still fighting the sash, and crashes into Franky’s back. He blinks up, and just stands there staring. Franky is…wearing a huge bear onesie. Soft brown fur, adorable ears and all. Koby pouts, that’s so much better than the eyesore monstrosity he’s in.
Franky stumbles out of the way with a laugh and “Sorry, little pink bro!”, and Luffy comes into his sight. Koby’s words stick to his throat, air whistling out of his lips instead. His captain’s outfit is just as perplexing as Usopp’s and Chopper’s (Koby’s trying his best to ignore how well he fits in with them right now) and he’s carrying a huge toy ax. He’s wearing a red helmet, a red and white cord tied around his waist to keep his crossed-axes banner up in front of his black shorts. It’s…an interesting look for sure.
He’s also very, very shirtless, covered in a thin layer of sweat.
Koby swallows.
(He’s supposed to be a sumo or something? Koby wasn’t paying attention, too busy trying not to overheat due to Luffy hugging him and playing with his hair while he was asking him to join their game.)
(It’s been a great, but dangerous, day for him.)
Luffy’s busy twirling the ax around like it’s a baton, giggling to himself as Chopper, sitting on the grass, applauds his antics, but then he turns slightly, catches Koby’s eye, and drops it. Chopper jumps out of the way, screaming for his life.
“Koby’s here!!” He yells, a wide smile stretching his face to the point he has to close his eyes. Seas, he’s pretty. (Fuck, Koby’s so gay.) Luffy runs up and jumps, throwing himself into his arms in a bone crunching hug. Koby wheezes, all air leaving his lungs in a flash.
“Hi, captain…” he wheezes out as he deflates. Luffy huffs and nuzzles his neck before, just as suddenly as he had gripped Koby, he hops down and away. Koby does not miss his warmth at all!
(He still searches for Zoro, though, and finds him sleeping soundly against the railing of the stairs. His eyes are closed, but there’s a huge smirk on his face and Koby knows he’s gonna tease him relentlessly later. He sighs.)
“Koby definitely looks like a bee now!” Luffy throws his head back, pointing and laughing at Koby’s…atrocious clothing—and that might be too generous still. Koby is very aware of how ridiculous he looks.
He doesn’t know why he owns a black and yellow striped shirt—Nami. Nami bought it for him with her evil money and her just-as-evil grin. The black pants and boots are fine…or would be if he weren’t wearing huge fake round wings Franky and Usopp spent all of ten minutes “making” (stealing from Nami’s closet) for him.
His only saving grace is the borrowed (from Luffy) yellow sash he’s still struggling to tie correctly around his waist. He gives up, shoving some of it into his waistband, thinks “good enough” and drops his hands. His captain is still laughing at him, slapping his stomach (and making his abs tense and ripple, which Koby is definitely not mesmerized by) with one hand.
“Ko-bee,” Luffy giggles, wiping tears from his eyes. “It’s perfect!”
“Ko-bee! It’s meant to be!” Chopper pips in, running up to them. Koby really thinks they should move away from the door, they’re clearly blocking the way and he doesn’t want Usopp to stay trapped downstairs forever.
He misses his cue to say something though because Franky cackles and the conversation keeps going on without him.
“That was a good one too, Chopper!” Luffy cheers, but the doctor gives him and Franky a confused look.
“Ha ha, guys,” Koby shakes his head, unimpressed. He opens his mouth to suggest moving away from the door to stop blocking the way, but then he just…stares at Chopper.
He blinks down. “What are you wearing?” Koby asks, for the fifteenth time since they decided to put on Usopp’s “play” half an hour ago.
The doctor tilts his head. “A costume? Like you?” Chopper says in a tone of voice that implies he thinks Koby is a bit stupid.
Luffy pulls Koby closer by his sash. “Chopper’s a baboonkey!”
“What—That’s not a real thing!” Koby insists, his face heating up due to their closeness and Luffy’s stare. “Is it..?” He turns his attention to Franky, pretending everything’s ok. Which it is! He’s super used to Luffy being touchy with him…it doesn’t make his brain freeze and his stomach flutter at all.
Franky just shrugs, picking Chopper up with his huge robot hand, and laughs. “I don’t know much about animals, Ko-bee. We all look SUPER cool though!”
They both waddle away, posing like they’re comic book heroes or something, on their way to Nami and Robin, who are watching Sanji set up an impromptu grill on the grassy deck. Which leaves him alone with Luffy. Koby’s fine.
His captain is fiddling with the sash, tying it correctly around Koby’s waist. His tongue is peeking out of his mouth, and he’s frowning with how focused he is. Koby’s skin tingles and his words get stuck on his chest. Luffy is quietly humming a small tune (probably made up, it doesn’t sound like anything Brook has ever sung) and, even though it’s high pitched and out of tune, Koby is content listening.
“My sash looks good on Koby,” he whispers and then tightens said sash, which makes Koby gasp. The air around them is alight with…something Koby can’t quite grasp and yet he doesn’t dare disturb it. Luffy inches closer, his hands now on Koby’s waist properly, and Koby allows himself to be pulled forward.
Someone clears their throat behind him, making him jump away as far as he can, and the mood is ruined. Usopp stares at them, eyebrows raised, from the doorway.
“You done?”
“I—We weren’t…”
“Oh! Hi, Usopp!!”
“Uh-huh,” he shakes his head, then walks past them. “Let’s get on with this show!”
Luffy kicks their asses a couple of times to the tune of Brook’s guitar before Usopp tries calling the play off—well, wrestling game according to their captain.
The story is supposed to be about a guy (A samurai? A sumo? Koby isn’t really sure), named Kintarō Yokozuna, who grew up on a mountain and befriended a bunch of forest animals, or something—Usopp’s narration gets lost in the middle of Luffy’s gum-gum’s. Koby is a bee simply because Usopp couldn’t be bothered to think of more costumes and Brook was already a deer—he is just wearing two branches on his hair and not even participating beyond sitting down under the deck’s tree and playing background battle music.
That’s what it was originally supposed to be at least, but it all goes downhill almost immediately because Luffy hears “mountain” and “animals” and it translates to “prey” and “hunt” in his head. A troubling glimpse into his childhood in the Goa Kingdom, Koby thinks. He makes it through longer than Chopper and Usopp, which it’s expected seeing how neither of them was taking the fight seriously—Usopp spent the entire time hopping around, dodging punches, chucking vegetables at Luffy, and yelling “It’s not that serious, Luffy!! Please calm down!!”
Koby shakes his head. Winning is always a serious matter for their captain. Koby himself would’ve put up a better fight if he had his chain with him though, but, alas, his captain wipes the floor with him in about 10 minutes. It’s all worth it in the end for Koby, because the both of them end up tossing on the ground and Luffy pins him down with his legs, straddling his chest, with this huge grin on his face and the sun shining down his face (and very naked chest)…Koby’s heart starts racing a knot a minute and his face feels hot; his captain truly is breathtaking.
“Yeah,” Luffy cheers, arms stretched above his head in a triumphant pose, “I win!! Plays are so much fun!”
“They are,” he sighs, sounding awfully smitten. A long-nosed shadow falls on him, the sound of someone clearing their throat breaking the moment.
“This isn’t what a play is,” Usopp corrects them with an unamused expression. He raises an eyebrow at Koby as if telling him he expected better from him. Koby just shrugs, the grass making his shoulders and neck itchy.
An even bigger, broad shouldered, shadow engulfs all three of them. “SUPER!! I wanna try! I’m bear-y excited for it! Get it?”
Koby groans. “The puns are killing me…” He feels Brook’s excitement from nearby and he covers his face, “Noooo…”
“It’s a good thing I’m already dead, then! Yohohoho!” Brook pipes in, but it gets mostly ignored, except by Luffy who cracks up like this isn’t his thousandth time hearing that one joke.
(Koby loses all track of the conversation from this point forward, too busy staring at Luffy’s laughing face. His captain even kicks his feet around where he’s sitting atop Koby’s chest, covering his eyes with one hand and slapping Koby with the other. The spot he’s hitting, near his thigh on Koby’s ribs, tingles with warmth. He vows to get Brook a big present, whatever he wants.)
(When he asks, he receives “some panties” as a response and that’s that, he supposes. They both stare at each other for a long awkward time and then Brook just says, “Actually, some curry would be nice.”)
“It does feel like we’re stealing Brook’s whole personality, huh?” Usopp frowns. “Puns and being a skeleton is all he really has…poor guy…”
“Oi, Franky! Let’s fight! I wanna see all your cool robot moves! Oh, and lasers!”
“Yeaaaaah!! Let’s go, captain!”
Luffy sadly—tragically, devastatingly, regrettably—stands up, leaving Koby all alone and cold on the floor. He dusts off his pants at the knees and offers him a hand up.
“C’mon, Koby! You’re gonna watch me kick Franky’s ass, right?” Luffy laughs, flushed with joy. Koby blinks up, caught in a memory of a reunion that never happened, will never happen again.
He takes Luffy’s hand, and lets him pull him up until they’re standing face to face—Koby looking slightly down, to be exact, and delighting in the few inches he has on Luffy.
“Of course, captain.”
“Gum Gum…”
“Franky Radical…”
Almost twenty minutes later—not that Koby counted, he’s not bothered at all—before the two men can finish gearing up their last attacks, a fist descends on Luffy’s head and Franky gets slapped in the face by a small pillow with enough force to make him fall on his back.
That’s the end of Usopp’s foray into the arts.
“Pipe down, idiots! Do you wanna destroy the Sunny or what?! Y’all are too fucking reckless, I swear!” Nami tells them off, gritting her teeth with frustration. Luffy, Franky, Usopp, Chopper, Koby, and Zoro, for some reason, are kneeling in front of her, sporting matching bumps on their heads. “And you woke me from my nap, too!”
Zoro gets a bit pale after hearing that, mumbling something about choosing the wrong wine too, which Koby barely makes out with how quiet the swordsman is. He blinks at him, then decides that’s none of his business and turns back to Nami’s lecture.
The sun is setting behind her, the sky darken on and letting the golden shine of the sun come through the horizon. Usopp raises his head, and then moves around trying to see something behind Nami.
They all stare at him.
Then, they look at Nami.
She raises her fist.
“I think,” Usopp mumbles, before loudly saying, “I think I see Gran Tesoro in the distance!”
The entire crew—including Sanji, who’d been drinking and laughing at them, Brook and Robin, who’d been calmly having tea and cookies—turns to where he’s pointing, scrambling to see if he’s right. He is, of course, to no one’s surprise. What Koby thought was the sun setting was actually the golden city of Gran Tesoro coming into view of the Sunny; it’s sparkling, and way bigger than he had envisioned.
Luffy scurries away, pulling Chopper and Koby with him, with the intent to get closer. Usopp jumps on his back, locking his arms around their captain’s neck, at the last second just as Luffy jumps and lands on Sunny’s head, screaming crew mates safe and secure on his arms. He dumps them both and shakes Usopp off, pulling another yellow sash from his pocket and using it to secure his big ax on his back.
“Look, Koby! We’re matching!”
Before he can respond (or pass out), the Sunny approaches Gran Tesoro, putting all of its glory on display. It’s so big, Koby can’t even see the top half no matter how much he tries.
“Woah,” they all say, one after the other.
“Let’s go! To the casino!” Luffy exclaims, wide grin in place and ready for adventure.
Koby bites his lip. Surely nothing will go wrong, right? They’re all going to have a nice and relaxing time, like Robin suggested, right? He sighs, resigning himself to whatever his crew wants.
“Aye, captain!” Koby says, and hopes the nerves simmering under his skin are just excitement.
Gran Tesoro opens its gate for the Straw Hat Pirates and then swallows the Thousand Sunny in one bite, doors closing smoothly behind them.