I remember seeing art once of a merman Koby kissing Luffy with the captions Koby: “thought he drowned” and Luffy: “his ass is completely fine” and I can’t find it again but I do love the idea of Luffy being like. Kind of a sex pest about his merman crush and the misunderstandings that come from it.
Luffy can tell Koby is nervous and uncertain and not really ready for a relationship but he can ALSO tell that Koby is actually into him and that he kind of likes the attention. Luffy can’t put his finger on exactly why Koby is kind of wishy-washy about them (he’s empathetic, not psychic) but he figured he’ll just make it really really clear that he does want Koby every time they see each other so Koby that doesn’t need to question how much Luffy cares about him and they can pick things up whenever Koby gets over whatever it is he's being stupid about.
Meanwhile for Koby with all the dehumanization and sexual objectification that fishfolk and mer in particular are used to, coupled with his natural insecurity and the way the years of bullying plus his time with Alvida (in this he wouldn’t have been a cabin boy instead he like somehow ended up in the East Blue and was nabbed by her and she would like sell tickets to see him and stuff, maybe there’s even some implied noncon-y gross petting zoo type stuff idk) have all convinced Koby that there’s no possible way Luffy could ever actually want him as like, a companion or a lover or a partner.
As a friend, sure, Luffy is extremely kind and very good at connecting with people. As a fuckbuddy, well, yeah, everybody wants to fuck a mer and Koby basically does owe Luffy his life and his body and Luffy is actually being really nice about it by letting Koby shove him away instead of reminding him what Koby owes him and demanding he pay up. Name a pirate who doesn't want the bragging rights of saying they got to fuck a mer. Koby is really really lucky that it was Luffy who found him and not someone else.
This all finally hits its boiling point when Luffy and Koby have their first time and in Luffy’s mind this is proof that he was right to be patient and persistent and Koby finally realizes how much he means to Luffy and feels safe enough with Luffy to let Luffy touch him, and Luffy is being as attentive as he knows how to be and babbling about how good Koby feels and how much Luffy loves him and how happy he is that they’re finally together
And for Koby this is him finally giving in to Luffy’s subtle pressuring and feeling guilty he made Luffy wait so long — Luffy gave him everything and he only asked for one thing back and Koby was too caught up in wishing they could be something they weren’t that he was selfish and standoffish and kept turning Luffy down, Luffy really is more patient with him than Koby deserves — and Koby hears Luffy’s love confessions and cries a little because this. This feels cruel.
But Koby cries about everything all the time, and Luffy is really felling all those gushy emotions too, so he doesn’t think anything of it. He kisses Koby’s tears and holds him tighter and keeps going.
In the afterglow while they’re laying there and Luffy is catching his breath and smearing kisses all over Koby’s neck and shoulders and thinking about falling asleep like that, Koby breaks the silence by very, very quietly saying that Luffy didn’t need to do that just to get laid. Koby would have fucked him even if Luffy hadn’t pretended. He knows he’s been a tease and he keeps leading Luffy on, but Luffy didn’t need to say that.
Luffy sits up to ask what the hell he’s talking about, but Koby won’t meet his eyes.
Obviously they talk it out and things get fixed and they fuck again on the same page this time and Koby can really relax into it and let himself feel good and secure in the knowledge that Luffy does love him and he doesn’t just see Koby as an opportunity to fulfill a fantasy and then Koby joins the crew and they become that obnoxious couple who can’t keep their hands off each other. But I don’t have brain for that rn I had angsty misunderstandings brain
