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Evil goblins and fiendish ghouls had chased you from sleep, your skin covered in a thin layer of sweat and your chest heaving up and down in a struggling effort to calm your pounding heart.
You gripped at the thin sheet you’d brought from the ship, keeping it nice and tight over your chin. Your feet worked slowly to wind the fabric around them all in some foolish hope that the thin, flimsy sheet would keep you safe from whatever horrors might be lurking within the dark corners of the inn your crew was resting in for the night.
Your breath sounded all too loud in your ears.
So loud you feared it might alert whatever demon wished you harm of your sleeplessness.
Though, in the more logical part of your brain, you doubted such demons and monsters and creepy creatures would be able to hear your breath over the room shaking snores emanating your sleeping crew mates litter around the small room. But you weren’t truly thinking with any sort of logic.
Not after that dream.
No, no, no.
All your mind was insisting on repeating was the wicked laughter and horrid sights your nightmare had entailed. All it did was have you panic and freak out over every little bump and spooky sight you spied out of the corner of your eyes.
You tried to hyper-focus on the snores that overpowered the space.
There was Zoro’s chest rumbling snore.
Luffy’s mouthy rushed sounds were broken up by a murmur of words along the lines of meat or hungry.
Sanji’s, which was a little more breathy but would let a rumble of a snore loose here and there.
Chopper’s was a cute little Wee-wee-wee, Franky’s snore a strange whizzing noise, Brook gave a sound not much unlike his laughter, and then Nami’s, whose breath came out in an audible whoosh, which she would deny if you ever brought it up.
The only one who was deathly silent was Robin…but Robin slept like someone holding their breath which gave off its own eeire loudness.
There was one snore missing from the collective. The nasally snore was the one you were truly searching for and its absence only made your heart beat painfully against your ribs.
“...Usopp.” You braved, voice coming out weak and hardly even a whisper.
A long pause filled the space. A pause that had your brain coming up with horrible ideas about what might have happened to him.
“...yes?” You almost breathed a sigh of relief at his voice breaking through the dark, but the way it spoke on a weaver kept those monsters close at hand.
“Are you awake?” You whispered back.
“Of course not…I’m--sleep talking.” You would have chuckled at his humorous lie had your throat not been so tight in fear.
“Usopp?” You quietly called again.
“Yes?” Your fingers wound tighter into your sheets.
“I’m…I’m scared.” Just voicing it made your fear-filled brain race with terrifying ideas.
What if acknowledging your fear made the monsters even more bloodthirsty?
“Oh…well…I’m definitely not scared…nope. Not one bit.” The tremble in his voice told you otherwise, but you didn’t comment on it. You never commented on his lies, not when some of them gave him the strength to be brave in the most horrific of situations.
You prayed his faked bravery would keep the nightmares away tonight.
“Oh…good…good.” You responded, squeezing your eyes shut so that they wouldn’t continue to play tricks on you.
“It’s…kinda dark, huh?” Usopp spoke, your eyes instantly flying back open as if you might be able to see him in the darkness of the room.
“Just a little.” You breathed.
Luffy mumblingly demanding food gave your conversation pause.
“And…you’re kinda far away…would be hard for me to protect you from all the way over there…you know…if someone were to break in.” Your breath hitched in your throat on a terrified gulp.
“Why--gods, why would you say that?” You all but whimpered in your fear, eyes glancing upward to look at the dim light seeping in under the doorway as if someone might come busting in right then.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean--” Usopp’s voice came out in a rush of nerves. “If you come over here…I could keep you safe…like so safe.”
“Please?”
“Please,” Usopp stressed.
You took a deep breath in and out, stealing your fears, before you rushed to your hands and knees. You fumbled around, sheets tripping you up and making you stumble over a bony body that could only belong to Brook. You panicked an apologily, though surprisingly the skeleton stayed asleep as you all but climbed over him and rushed through the dark to where you knew Usopp lay.
Calloused and warm hands reached for you blindly. Hands that grabbed hold of you tight and helped pull you close.
Fearful curses spilled from your lips as you and Usopp struggled to wrap his fluffy blanket around you both.
You latched yourself around Usopp who latched right back onto you.
Snores filled the air once more once your fumble in the dark settled.
Your heart began to finally slow and calm now that you were wrapped up so nicely and snuggly within Usopp’s arms. You’re eyes drooped in your need for sleep when--
“Not to make you even more scared.” Usopp started, pulling a greatly displeased sound from you.
“Usopp.”
“But were you maybe scared because that pile of jackets on that chair turned into a terrifying shadow demon?” Despite your better judgment, you glanced towards where that chair sat in the corner. A chair that looked so hulking and demon-like in the darkness. Your fingers pressed a bit deeper into the flesh of Usopp’s back. “Cause I’m not scared of it, but I know you might be.”
“Only part of the reason.” You felt Usopp gulp down the growing dryness in his throat.
“And…the other reason?” You shook your head as you buried it against Usopp’s chest, deeply taking in his scent of gunpowder and something fresh--like fruit.
“I really don’t think you want to know.” You murmured into his skin. He chuckled nervously, scooting down further to bury his face in your hair.
“Heh…yeah…smart.” You two fell quiet, breath and heartbeats beginning to match each other. Beginning to pull you into sleep you so so craved.
The air filled with quiet.
An uneasy quiet.
A quiet that let you two hear the soft creaking of the single bed you two lay at the foot of.
Breath became thin.
Arms gripped so tight they locked in place.
Hearts pounded like some menacing drum against each other.
You both braved the sound and turned your heads slowly upward.
A shadow peeked over the edge of the bed to look down at you two. One the dim light only confirmed was real and not some figment of your imagination.
“You know,” The silky smooth voice that spoke was chilling. So chilling you almost didn’t recognize it as Robin’s voice. “Statistically you are more likely to be murdered while awake than while asleep.”
Horror clutched at your heart at the stats Robin offered up to you two. Horror that had you and Usopp utterly frozen in place.
“I hope that helps,” Robin spoke before slowly slinking back towards the head of the bed.
Zoro let loose a bone-rattling snore once Robin was settled back down.
“....I--I don’t think that helped.” You breathed.
“I…yeah.”
Your nightmares, Usopp’s own fears, and Robin’s chilling facts only made it that much harder to find sleep. Eventually, the warmth Usopp gave off lulled you into a mercifully dreamless sleep.