Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.
Happy birthday Zoro! It's not a birthday fic, but it was a one-shot that I was itching to write.
Usopp was in high spirits.
For the past three weeks, the sea was peaceful. The weather was always sunny with the best wind strength, in which Nami only ordered him or Franky when the ship was sailing off the direction. There was only one instance when a wandering storm charged at them at full force, and it required everyone's strength agility to close the sails and keep the Sunny stable. The ordeal was only a few minutes, thanks to Franky's installation of the Coup de Burst, that sent the ship flying out of danger. However, that was the only grueling exercise they had for this month.
The sniper enjoyed this moment as if it were a gift from the divine. He, Luffy, and Chopper spend the mornings fishing to refill the aquarium for upcoming lunch and dinners. He preoccupied his captain and the ship's doctor by sharing his newest application on the fishing pole that calculates how deep the lure sank. With the help of Robin's books, they were able to accurately bait in the fishes they were looking for. The only issue was patience, which Luffy never had. When he was alone, he was in the men's headquarters or in Franky's workshop working on a new invention. He also took this time to begin painting and polishing his art skills. He got a few commissions from Nami, Robin, and Sanji to fancy up their rooms with art. (Sanji's commissions were lewd, but Usopp took them anyways to save some pocket money).
He wasn't the only one who cherished this time. Nami and Robin had a stack of novels they purchased during their trips, and they were eager to read them. The navigator collected atlases, so she could compare her map writing abilities by learning from the masters. She also needed to catch up on her money spending log because she was too busy to do them. Nami wasn't looking forward to that, but the three weeks had given her enough time to be back on track and help her understand her spending habits. Although the calculations turned out to show that she was 'not so' frugal, she decided this could be solved by discreetly cutting down allowance for each of the male crew members by 0.2%. Besides, Sanji, none of the guys doubled checked their allowances anyways, and they always spent it on silly things. Good thing they weren't on an island or else Luffy would've spent it all within an hour.
It was nearing the end of the third week. These past days had been so beautiful and tranquil that Usopp thought they were back at his village. Everyone was in the kitchen to begin—hopefully another peaceful day—with stacks of pancakes. The tabletop was hidden with bowls of dried fruits and jam. Sanji's food was so delicious, but the sniper noticed that fresh fruit stopped appearing on the table, and dinners contained more root vegetables. This was probably because they were on the sea for quite some time: Sanji was running out of fresh produce. Maybe it was coming to a time to land on an island to restock, which Usopp dreaded. Landing on an island meant that they would meet people, and sometimes those people causes trouble. Most of the time, however, it's Luffy who causes the trouble.
Lunch time was almost done and all of the plates were empty except Luffy's (but he was still eating). He was busy scarfing down the remaining three slices of pancakes, drenched in a mixture of maple syrup and orange sauce. He also piled it over with over five different types of dried fruit. Not sure if that was the delicious method, but his vigorous eating made anything look good. Usopp looked away from his captain to take a moment to hear the conversations at the table. They were all random, of course, but it was wonderful to listen to light discussions about today's activities and hobbies.
"So, I was thinking of creating a new piece—"
"Ow, super!"
"Say, how was the book you were reading?"
"Franky! Can we play in the submarine today?"
"It was okay, but ending was disappointing."
"Franky-san, if you have time, will you proofread my sheetmusic?"
"I see…Sanji-kun, how are you with the ingredients?"
"Sure thing Old Bones! And Raccoon-Bro, I can get that ready for you after lunch."
"Thank you kindly, Nami-san, but I estimated that we will be fine for another week."
"Yeay! I can't wait!"
"That was good!" There was a bubbly burp and a short sigh leaked from Luffy's voice, "Hmmm…I have nothing to do…"
Everyone at the table froze up and clamped their mouths shut. Sweat cascaded down their face. Oh crap, Luffy's bored.
Over the weeks, there was one rule many followed and it was to never make Luffy bored. Luffy's energy was like Franky's soda bottle with an unlimited source of soda and carbon dioxide. This energy was easily depleted by adventuring on islands or defeating marines and pirates. However, on relaxing days like now, the soda bottle was capped with a tight lid. As the soda continues to fill inside, the energy has nowhere to go, and this could cause major symptoms. One of them is Luffy becoming increasingly lustful. Luffy, suddenly glanced up toward Zoro, who had been sitting at the table quietly the entire time. The swordsman caught the glance, and for a second the kitchen fell silent.
"Ni hi hi hi!" Luffy giggled and slapped his hands on the table to leave, "I'll see you in a bit."
"…ahh." Zoro turned away from the glance, and his ears glowed red.
Crap.
"N-Nami, do you know when we can reach the next island?"
"I-I take that back Nami-san, I am struggling bit on supplies, and I think I want to restock soon…!"
"Old Bones! I want to test your music with these rad speakers I made! They're loud!"
"Oh, yes! I would love to hear that! I hope it's not too loud that I become deaf, although I don't have—"
"I want to listen too!"
"I-If it's too loud, I have earplugs!"
"I want those!"
"Chopper," Zoro walked over to the doctor and gestured him to follow him. Chopper nodded, but everyone knew why the swordsman called him. Nami turned to everyone.
"Quickly, I will search for an island we can stop for an hour. If I can't find one, I'l search for an area with a storm, and we will steer right in it. If I can't do neither—" loud gulps echoed across the table, "—bear for a week. It's going to be loud."
Chopper burst from the kitchen, "Zoro asked for a whole box!"
"Oh no-!"
"Hurry Nami!"
"—In the meantime, plan ahead for new activities that can distract Luffy!"
"Damn, I thought we had it!'
Robin giggled, "We can't help it, our captain is full of energy. He needs to discharge it somewhere."
"Oh god, sorry Zoro."
"But he likes it."
Franky slapped his enormous hands over his ears. Unfortunately, he had the keenest hearing.
"It has begun."
The End