Chapter Text
Earning the rank of ensign was a mixed blessing for Koby. On the one hand, it came so quickly that he couldn’t help but feel accomplished. It hadn’t been long ago that Koby felt like joining the Marines at all was a distant dream, unreachable but enticing. Getting to ensign in a matter of a few months was no mean feat.
But ensign was just the first rank in the line of commissioned officers. So after months of hard work, he was literally only on the first rung of the ladder he truly wished to climb.
Still, he couldn’t be too upset about it. Especially not after Garp, proud of his accomplishments, invited Koby and Helmeppo for a week at a vacation resort frequented by the rich and famous of the Grand Line.
Koby was excited. The first time he’d left home had been as a prisoner aboard a pirate ship, and since enlisting, the closest thing he’d had to a day off was afternoons to himself a couple days a week. There was always something to do.
Helmeppo unfortunately seemed a lot less pleased about the break in routine. While Koby was checking his reflection in the mirror - he was so used to seeing himself first in the one set of clothes he had on Alvida’s ship, then in Marine blues and whites that the bright-colored holiday clothes Garp gave him felt foreign and wrong on him - Helmeppo was complaining. Which was not unusual, exactly, but he rarely complained about something that on the surface seemed so positive.
“All I’m saying is I think I would rather be back at the base running laps.”
“You hate running laps. You complain about it every chance you get.”
“Yes. Which should tell you how much I don’t want to be here. Like, if this is a vacation, why are we still getting up and ready before dawn?”
“Don’t you want to get as much vacation as possible?"
"Let's see if there's any actual vacation first."
“I just don’t understand why you’re so upset. We’re getting a break, food, room - people would feel very lucky to be in our shoes.”
Helmeppo stepped up behind him, meeting Koby’s gaze in the mirror. “So you honestly think this is a free vacation?”
“Yes.”
“Koby, the only things we get for free, according to the enlistment papers, are basic uniforms, room, board and training.”
That was quite a lot in Koby’s estimation. But even if it wasn’t, he wasn’t quite sure what Helmeppo was getting at. “So?”
“So they’re not going to give us a free all expenses paid vacation to one of the nicest resorts on this part of the Grand Line,” Helmeppo hissed.
Oh. “So they’re going to take it out of our pay?”
Helmeppo’s face screwed up, all ready for one of his sharp retorts. But before he could say whatever was on his mind, he snapped his mouth shut. His shoulders sagged in defeat.
“Sure,” he said. “Maybe that’s what they’ll do.”
That was probably as much of a concession as he was going to get, so Koby decided to take it. He checked his reflection one last time, then the pair headed down to the lobby to meet with Garp.
If Koby thought the shirt Garp gave him was brightly colored, it was nothing next to the eye-searing tropical print button-down that Garp himself was wearing. A bucket hat shaded his eyes and shorts revealed a whole lot of highly muscled but pale leg to the world. In the moonlight, Koby's legs looked even paler though. Speaking of which…
“Um… sir?” Koby said, snapping off a salute and then continuing, “Why did we need to get ready this early?” At the question, Helmeppo crossed his arms, waiting for Garp’s response.
“Come on, just because it’s a vacation doesn’t mean we can let you fall behind on training,” Garp said.
“Told you so,” Helmeppo muttered under his breath.
“-but,” Garp continued, after shooting a warning glance in the blond’s direction. “That’s why we’re up so early. Get your exercise out of the way early, and then the rest of the day can be spent enjoying the resort. Makes sense, right?”
“Yes,” Koby said. Helmeppo was notably silent.
“And to make sure we stay focused, I have two conditions,” Garp said. “First, I don’t want anyone bringing down the mood. So no complaining, or there will be a penalty.”
That wasn’t great for Helmeppo, Koby thought. He’d do his best to help his friend keep his temper in check. “And what’s the second one?” Koby asked.
“I need you both to accompany on me on an excursion each day.”
“Excursions?” Helmeppo sounded doubtful.
“Yes! Don’t look so suspicious,” Garp laughed. “It’s going to be the sort of things people do on vacation. Trips. Events. Who wants to do that sort of thing alone?”
“That sounds fun,” Koby said. The idea of getting to just do normal, everyday sightseeing stuff with other people? It seemed like something out of a story.
“Right. Well, we’ll see how it all goes,” Helmeppo said.
Koby guessed that was about as positive as he could hope to get from him. And maybe once things turned out to not be as bad as he was expecting, maybe Helmeppo could enjoy it too.
The same way that Koby was determined to.
Turning to Garp again, Koby said, “So what’s our morning workout?”
“Oh, I think just one lap will be fine for today. It’s the first day, after all.”
“One lap… of the resort?” Helmeppo hazarded.
“What? No. Of the island.”
It probably said something about the physical work Koby had gotten used to that he didn’t mind swimming a lap of the island. His biggest problem was that he wished Garp had said what they’d be doing when he told them to wake up so early, so they didn’t have to go back and change.
In all honesty, they both finished their swim far faster than normal morning workouts would take back at the base. Koby wasn’t great at estimating his own swimming speed, but based on the size he thought the island had, he guessed it was maybe a five mile swim.
Yeah. Things could have been a lot worse.
Garp met them again after they went back, showered and dressed again. Then he led them down to the resort dining room, where they had a remarkably nice breakfast. After the filling but utilitarian meals the Marines served, it was fascinating to have options like pancakes, with their sweet syrup, or egg dishes stuffed with all kinds of meats and vegetables.
“The food here is great,” Garp said in between taking bites from a half dozen different dishes. “I’d stay here just for that, honestly.”
Even Helmeppo had to grudgingly admit that Garp was right about it. He seemed entirely satisfied with his meal as well.
Once they finished, Garp sent them off to do whatever they wanted, but told them to meet back up at noon for the first excursion. The pair spent the morning just exploring the location - the multiple buildings full of guest rooms, the fancy pool in the center of the complex, the nature paths that wended their shaded way around all the buildings.
“What do you think he has planned for this afternoon?” Helmeppo asked as they walked through a garden run riot with flowers. The competing perfumes of them all were almost overpowering.
“I don’t know,” Koby said. “There was a list of some of those … excursions, was it? In the main building. They all sounded pretty fun.”
“Well… if it’s something that they run for civilians, I guess it can’t be that bad,” Helmeppo said grudgingly.”
“That’s the spirit,” Koby said. “Speaking of which, we better head back before we’re late.”
They arrived at the main building a little early, but Garp was already there, a massive drink with a tiny umbrella in one hand.
“Ah, there you kids are!” he boomed as they approached. “How do you feel about fishing?”
Koby grinned. “I love fishing!”
This was going to be fun.
This was going to be hell.
“Sir, is this really fishing?” Koby asked.
“What do you mean?” Garp asked. He was lounging in a deck chair, another drink in hand, sunglasses and hat shading him from the sun. “Don’t those look like fish?”
Koby looked back out to the water beyond where the excursion ship had been anchored. He could see two or three… well…
“They look like sea kings, sir,” he answered.
“And you say sea kings aren’t fish?”
“Well… no, they are fish,” Koby had to admit. “Just not the kind people usually fish for.”
“I was your age when I started fishing for them,” Garp replied. “It’s a good challenge for young men.”
Helmeppo minced fewer words. “You cannot believe we can take one of those things in the water.”
Garp lowered his sunglasses and peered at Helmeppo over their top, grinning. “I have faith in you boys,” he said. “And I guess you decided to forget about rule one. Penalty for you when we get back, Helmeppo.”
“What?!”
“Helmeppo!” Koby interrupted. “Come on, let’s… let’s get this over with.”
Helmeppo grimaced, then turned sharply away from Garp. “Fine, fine,” he said. “Do we at least get weapons?”
“Did you bring any weapons?”
Koby and Helmeppo exchanged a look. This was supposed to be a vacation. Weapons weren’t usually part of the packing list.
“I guess we… go for the eyes,” Helmeppo said.
“Guess so.”
In tandem, they dove into the water.
As the trio disembarked at the island near sunset, a pleasant resort worker waved at them. “Welcome back!” she said. “I hope you had a pleasant… um…”
The word faded on her lips as she took in the exhausted, rather bedraggled state of Koby and Helmeppo, followed by a perfectly fresh looking vice admiral.
“There’s a sea king in the hold!” Garp told her as they passed. “The kitchen can use it if they want.”
“Thank you,” she said. From her expression, she wanted to ask more, but decided against it.
As they neared the main building, Garp said, “Go clean up and do whatever. I’m going to spend some quality time by the pool. See you for dinner! And don’t forget the penalty - we’ll take care of that after we eat.”
Garp headed off, humming a badly off-key song. Helmeppo somehow managed to droop further.
“Don’t worry,” Koby said, patting him awkwardly on the back. “I’m sure it won’t be that bad. And at least you can grab a nap and a meal before-”
He wasn’t sure how to end that because he honestly had no idea what Garp might decide was an appropriate penalty in a place like this. But maybe Helmeppo was just too exhausted to worry about it, because he just kind of shrugged as they headed back up to the room. Koby also decided that a bath and a nap were the best way to spend the little time they had before their next meal, so it wasn’t until dinner that they learned what the “penalty” would be.
“Volleyball,” Garp said around a mouthful of food.
“Volleyball?” Helmeppo repeated.
Koby wanted to do the same. Would it really be something so simple? So normal?
Garp, halfway through demolishing a full rack of ribs, nodded enthusiastically. “On the beach,” he said. “They have a bunch of nets set up. We can get started after sunset.”
“Why sunset?” Koby asked.
Grinning, Garp said, “You think I want to play volleyball on a full stomach? No, we’re on vacation. Let the meal settle before getting a bit of light exercise.”
Light exercise? He thought. Maybe I’m just imagining things will be worse than they are.
It turned out that light exercise for a Marine hero and vice admiral was different from light exercise for an ensign.
Garp tossed the volleyball lightly from one hand to the other. “That’s eighteen points,” he said. “Three more and I win.”
Helmepp wiped his forehead with the back of his arm, then focused in on Garp. “Whatever. Your serve. Again.”
At first Koby had been a little upset that Garp wouldn’t let him join in the game on Helmeppo’s side to even the odds, but in all honesty, he didn’t think things would be going any differently.
Garp hefted the volleyball, then tossed it into the air. His arm came around in a powerful overhand strike.
Gritting his teeth, Helmeppo lunged for the serve, but it struck the sand just inside the out-of-bounds line, heaving a small crater in its wake. Koby scampered after the ball, nabbing it before it could go too far and tossing it back to Garp.
“Nineteen points,” Garp said, dusting his hands off. “I honestly expected more of a challenge. You kids have youth on your side after all.”
That felt like a prime moment for a comeback, but Helmeppo wisely kept his mouth shut. Maybe he was worried about a second round of volleyball if he decided to let his mouth run wild here.
Helmeppo had only managed to get a hand or arm on the ball three or four times, and in none of those instances had he actually made a difference. The power Garp was putting into these serves was overwhelming, and it didn’t help that Koby was sure he wasn’t using his full power - a fact he felt like Helmeppo knew as well.
The last two points came in rapid succession, then Garp invited the pair to a bonfire the resort was hosting down the beach. They both demurred and headed back to the room, despite that it was still reasonably early.
As they collapsed into their beds, Helmeppo asked, “still think this is better than running laps?”
Koby didn’t answer him, but honestly? Despite everything?
Yeah. He kind of did.