[[ AUTHOR'S NOTE Yay for the Devil's Fruit!! But am I gonna eat it? WE DUNNO! XD But this is a quick li'l chapter to make the story a little more... realistic, one could say. We're getting ever closer to more adventurous chapters.

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CHAPTER 13: Usopp's Project

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THUMP!

Lacy fell off her metal spring bed, that she put together herself... again. She sat up and looked around to see if she woke anyone up on accident; after scanning the room, she realized it was late in the morning and she was the only one in the girl's room.

"Ow..." She rubbed her head where she landed. "I gotta get a new bed... I might as well just sleep on a damn futon and mattress."

"Not if you're not used to your back laying so straight."

Lacy whipped around and saw Chopper standing on the stairway. "You're used to mattresses. Sleeping flat on the ground could hurt your back."

"I know... " Lacy answered back. "It's just that this bed sucks."

The little deer walked over to her bed and touched it, poking it really. At the slightest touch, it jiggled and made an annoying metal grinding noise.

"That sounds awful! How can you sleep on that?"

She sighed. "It's a start. When I get more money I'm going to buy a cheap ol' bed that can give me the rest I need."

"Why not just ask Usopp to build you a bed?"

"Hmm... that's not a bad idea. But I don't want to be a burden."

Chopper shook his head. "Not at all. In fact, he's been looking for new projects to do since he's set on his bombs and repairs on the ship."

"Really?"

"Sure!"

"Well... I'll think about it."

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As the day played on, Lacy was unsure of asking Usopp to help her. But after a few hours of observing, it was true what Chopper said about him being bored. After doing his regular chores, he sat around and whined on the deck. Then he tried fishing and just fell asleep with his pole still in the water. He tried doing something in the kitchen until Sanji kicked him out. Finally, he sat around and poked Luffy in the head since, he too, was bored out of his mind.

"U-umm... Usopp?"

"Eh?" Usopp looked over slowly as if gathering his strength to move his head. "Oh, Lacy. What's up?"

"Umm..." She looked down at the planks and tried wording her request as carefully as possible. "I was wondering if you... and if you don't want to it's TOTALLY fine... if you could possibly build me a better bed than what I have...?"

Usopp's eyes popped open wide and he jumped up onto his feet with a smile on his face. "Of course!! Captain Usopp - brave warrior and miracle builder - at your service!!"

Lacy smiled, thankful he wasn't offended. "Thank you, Usopp!! I owe you big time!"

He looked proud and turned his head away from her dramatically and placed one foot on the edge of the railing. "No need to thank me! Ah This reminds me of a time when I once killed 10,000 sea monsters and overthrew their sea king in the East Blue."

Her eyes glittered. "Really?! 10,000 sea monsters?! Do tell!!"

He shooed her. "Perhaps when I'm done with your bed I shall tell you the story? If you can handle it!"

She clapped her hands together. "That would be great, Usopp! Can't wait!"

He laughed maniacally and ran to the storage room to find some spare wood and for his tools.

Nami came up behind Lacy and rubbed the back of her head. "You don't seriously believe him about that sea monster story, do you?"

Lacy giggled. "Of course not! Remember, I watched One Piece everyday, I know how everyone ticks and when Usopp's lying. Besides, I was just playing along as a way of showing my gratitude to Usopp's assistance."

Nami slapped Lacy on the back. "You sly dog, you!"

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For the next few days, everyone rarely saw Usopp. He took his meals in the storage room and everyone figured he rarely slept.

Dinner was served on the fifth night of Usopp's "disappearance" and still, no sign of their cowardly sniper. But this night was different from all the others: he didn't come up for his meal.

"Where the hell is that long-nosed idiot?" Asked Sanji, serving everyone drinks (and by serving everyone, it was the ladies). "He knows my meal policy of not waiting for him OR saving him anything."

"What did you say to him?" Asked Nami to Lacy in a shocking tone.

"What?! I just requested a better bed! I thought it would only take a day or so!"

"So you did request a bed from him, ne Lacy?" Asked Chopper.

"Yes! But there was no specific design I asked for or anything special... Just an upgrade from what I'm sleeping on now is all."

Suddenly, the door flew open and there stood the shadow of Usopp, looking proud and ambitious.

"Ooooooooooh! Usoop!!" Cheered Luffy with a mouth full of food.

"Where on Earth have you been doing these past few days, Usopp?!" Asked Nami.

Lacy stepped forward. "I'm sorry Usopp to be so much trouble! I just asked for a bed, nothing complicated or anything–"

Usopp held up his hammer firmly gripped in his fist. "Minna! It's finally ready!"

"Hm? What's ready?" Asked Robin.

Everyone followed Usopp to the storage room. They gathered around with Usopp in the front, letting everyone's anticipation rise.

"Why are you stalling?" Asked Sanji, annoyed.

Usopp ignored him. "Go ahead, Lacy. Open it."

Nervous and excited at the same time, Lacy stepped toward the door and opened it slowly. Inside in a corner, she found the most beautiful bed she had ever seen. The headboard was tall and shaped like an arch. It has thousands of detailed Celtic designs carved into the wood frame, and her name written in kanji off onto one corner, blending in with the designs. The footboard was smaller of course, and had bigger Celtic designs. She noticed the bed was already made with her favorite quilt on top.

"Wow, Usopp! It's wonderful!" Complimented Nami.

"You did the designs yourself?" Asked Chopper, astounded.

Luffy stood closer to the footboard and rubbed his hand against the wood. "Oi oi oi! This is awesome! Can I have one?!"

Sanji hit him on the head. "The women get the comfortable beds, baka! You're still sleeping in the hammock!"

He whined. "Naaaaaaaaaaah Sanjiiiiiiiiii!! I'm the captain! I should have a nice bed too..."

Usopp crossed his arms while smiling wide, proud of his great artistic work. "Well? What do you think Lacy? Pretty cool, na?"

Lacy turned away from the bed to face Usopp, with stars sparkling in her eyes. "This is the most wonderful thing ever, Usopp! This is simply amazing and gorgeous! How did you know I liked Celtic designs?"

He sneered. "Heh heh! From some of the pictures you drew, of course! You drew them as tattoos for most of your characters, so I just figured it's what you liked."

Sanji stood in the center of the storage room and looked around. "Oi, Usopp. Where you living in here or something?"

Everyone else looked around and noticed the storage room had changed looks. There was a desk, a closet, a dresser, and even a mirror hanging in the room with a trunk at the end of the bed.

"Where's all the extra stuff?" Pondered Luffy.

Once again, Usopp sneered. "Heh heh! This is Lacy's new room!"

"EH?!" Everyone turned to stare at Usopp with wide eyes and lowered jaws.

"M-M-M-M-M-MY ROOM?!" Repeated Lacy.

Usopp nodded. "Yup! I took a look at the girl's room for the bed's measurements and see where it could fit. But then I realized it couldn't fit! I mean, the girl's room has stuff everywhere and taking up space, so it'd be hard even for just your things to settle comfortably down there."

Nami raised a brow. "What do you mean 'taking up space'?"

He continued. "So I started working on the bed and had so much fun building it, I just couldn't stop! Before I knew it, I was making a dresser and a bunch of other roomy things for you! And this," he walked over to on corner of the room where the desk was, "is for your artwork. I made you a little work space. It's a low desk so you can sit down on the floor and draw. You're always drawing on the bed, so I thought it'd be better on your back if you had a bit of 'help' - if you will - for yourself."

"Wow, Usopp! That was so sweet of you!" Smiled Nami.

"You truly outdid yourself, Mr. Sniper." Commented Robin.

"Geez. All she asked for was a bed." Sighed Zoro.

"So wait, where did you move all of the storage space to?" Asked Sanji.

"To the water room. There was plenty of space in there. I mean there's only the water boiler and pump in there. So all storage equipment has been moved to the opposite side of the ship."

"YOU'RE AMAZING, USOPP!!" Lacy ran over and glomped Usopp, causing him to fall down.

"O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oi!! Easy easy! I'm sore from all the work."

"You have no idea how cool this is! You REALLY didn't have to do this, you know!"

"Well, thanks to you, I had something to do and kill time for the past few days." Usopp replied, scratching the back of his head.

Lacy kissed him on the cheek, smiling from ear to ear. "You're the best!! I can't thank you enough!!"

Usopp blushed. "Aww, it's nothing. Heh heh!"

Everyone laughed at Usopp's red face and looked around to admire the craftsmanship of the new room. Once everyone was ready for Sanji's dessert in honor of Lacy's new room and Usopp's hard work, they headed back to the kitchen. Lacy and Zoro were the only ones left behind, alone in the room.

"Damn." Zoro said.

"I know! This is so freakin' amazing! Can you believe he did all that?! For me?!"

"Actually, no. It's not like him to do this sort of thing."

"Well, I know that. But he did make Nami a new weapon and a couple of new gadgets for himself and everyone to use."

Zoro sighed. "I suppose."

Lacy stepped closer to Zoro, hugging him as she admired the room. "It's nice to have my own room again." She smiled.

"I can already tell you're going to hang out in here a lot, right?"

She nodded. "Yup!"

They caught up with the others in the kitchen, just in time to receive dessert with everyone else. They laughed and talked and joked about different things and sometimes the thought of Usopp blushing kept popping into conversations. After a while, Usopp froze and he began to frown.

"What's wrong, Mr. Sniper?" Asked Robin, noticing his sadness.

Usopp held his head as if he were in pain and fell backwards on the floor, sobbing childishly. "Now since I'm done with Lacy's bed and a new room, what am I going to do to pass the time NOW?!"