“Why the long face?”
You would recognize Luffy’s voice from miles away.
This would be a more fortunate realization if you weren’t festering in a pool of your own annoyance, finding life on a ship harder to adapt to than you originally expected. It has only been a few days since you agreed to set off on this adventure.
Needless to say it hasn’t been exactly what you imagined.
The waves rock the boat continuously, your shaky sea legs still figuring out how to keep your center of motion. Your captain’s antics aren’t always as unwelcome as they are right now but at this very moment you sigh, looking up from where you’re hanging clothes on a line to see him gazing back down at you.
His face is upside down, eyes wide and mouth open and askew. The attempt to get you to smile isn’t an abject failure, a little curve slips across your pretty mouth, but the sigh that shakes your shoulders sets him straight.
“Not right now,” you exhale, pinning another breezy linen shirt to dry in the sun. The ship lurches again and you stumble, steadied by a firm grip on your hip.
Luffy’s second hand joins the first, each of them placed on your hips and holding them.
“Seasick?” He asks, head dangling just above your shoulder but not touching it. You couldn’t handle his chin resting on your shoulder, already feeling a little skittish thanks to his hands on your hips.
“Nope, not me.”
Your response comes a little too quickly, the dark haired man next to you keeping his hands where they are and leaning in closer.
“Next time the boat hits a wave, do what I do.”
Despite your annoyance, feeling stable on your feet for the first time in days is undeniably welcome. You nod in agreement, breathing in fresh sea air and feeling the warmth of his body next to yours.
“We’re about to hit another one. Lean forward when I do,” he instructs as the ship hits another choppy portion, his body now leaning fully against your back and chin resting on your shoulder.
He’s so warm, you note. Luffy’s blood runs hot for many things but you never really considered that the man himself may very well be the same.
Hot. A flame. What are you if not a splendid, grand moth drawn to it even in your worst moods?
You lean forward just as he does, smiling when you find that you stay upright. The feeling of being close to falling slowly lifts while he guides your hips, tilting them to the opposite side while the two of you lean in the same direction.
“If you practice just like this you’ll feel better in no time!”
His excitement isn’t thawing you. At least that’s what you tell yourself, biting back a smile while he stands up to his full height and extends his neck out into the distance.
“Okay! Another is coming! Are you ready?”
Swallowing to moisten your dry tongue, you nod. His hands swing your hips to the opposite direction once again and the two of you complete another step in your unofficial dance, bodies bending and moving perfectly with one another just like a boat and a wave.
i'm so in love with him how could you spoil me like this give me a minute
