Title: The Sound Of Other People.
Word Count: 266
Character(s): Luffy.
Topic: Listen
Media: fic
Spoiler(s): Up to the break.
Rating: Gen
When Luffy had lived alone, the house had been too quiet. It was scary when Grandpa had been called back to the Marines and left him alone. Luffy hadn't been able to sleep.
Makino eventually took him back to her tavern with her and although he still officially lived in that lonely house his lullaby became the sounds of the customers downstairs and Makino moving about her bedroom. He'd roll over, hear the sounds of the waves from the shore and sleep well.
Living with the bandits it had always been easy to sleep. They snorted, murmured, rasped, coughed and snored heavily. Even when he moved out into a new 'house' there had been the gentle sounds of his brothers' breathing to lull him asleep. He could sleep anywhere he could still hear the sounds of people that were alive.
The bunks of his crewmates were comfort itself. Zoro and his constant snoring, Usopp with his strange sounds, Sanji as he muttered in his sleep about menu plans and 'mellorines'.
The further they travelled on the line, the more people joined their crew and the better his lullaby.
Luffy couldn't sleep unless he could hear other living beings. The sound of their voices, their movement and their breath.
He closed his eyes and strained his ears. In the distance he heard the faint crunch of leaves beneath Rayleighs' feet. The soft, barely discernable sound rolled around his head and he allowed himself to drift off, comforted by the solid truth that another person existed in the same place as him.
It was far too lonely otherwise.
A/N: Everyone should really pop on over to livejournal and contribute to the OP_300 community. It's really good fun and some amazing pieces emerge.