A/N: I was a little more lenient on this one with the whole more accurate treatment thing because molten metal burns are just no joke. It's not really the kind of thing that can get slotted accurately into the story, as far as I can tell. The comfort is still on a good level imo. My sincere thanks to guest reviewers since I can't answer them through PM! Glad to hear people are entertained.

All Downhill from Here

The party's been going for maybe an hour when Chopper finally finds out what happened to Luffy during his fight with Enel. He's changing Wyper's bandages and the little Shandian girl, Aisa, stops in to check on him, mentioning in passing, "How's your captain's arm?"

And it all goes downhill from there.

The party parts for him as Chopper, in heavy point, marches toward the bonfire, blue doctor bag held tightly in one clenched fist. Luffy is taking a break from the dancing, instead. He's seated himself beside the feasting table and with one arm is shoveling food into his mouth, the other is looped loosely (like an arm thrown over the shoulders of a supporting friend) around one of the green melon fruits, a straw poking out of the top.

Chopper can count on one hand (when he has hands) the number of times he's seen Luffy only eat with one arm.

As he approaches Luffy looks up at him and his smile is particularly gleeful with the firelight dancing on his cheeks, it melts away as Chopper grabs his shoulder and twists it away from his side, forcing the melon out of his grasp and extending his forearm.

The skin is red and blistered, shiny smooth in some places, cracked in others.

"You're burned," Chopper hisses and Luffy shrugs, turning his head away. "You were burned by molten. Metal. And you didn't tell me?"

"You were busy," he offers, meek and a little sullen, and Chopper wants so bad to slap him but at this point he's scared to do anything potentially harmful. Luffy may be rubber and therefore hard to injure, but what hurts him often hits him hard. Hard enough that Chopper has to be careful with how he handles the man in the aftermath.

"It doesn't matter if I'm busy, I'm your doctor before I'm any of theirs, I need to at least know about these things." he guides Luffy out of the chair and towards the edge of the party, the man complies with a grumble, dragging his feet. "Is there anything else I should know about? You didn't get electrocuted right?" Luffy shakes his head and Chopper almost faints with relief as he forces him to sit down at the base of a tree and hold his arm out for Chopper to see.

"Ah, I did get electrocuted, but it didn't matter cause I'm rubber. I almost got stabbed…" he gestures to his stomach and Chopper's heart seizes up as he unbuttons the vest to show him. He sighs in relief when he sees it is only a shallow gash.

The burn is still the main concern, clearly, and Chopper shrinks down to brain point so he can work with a gentler touch. Luffy winces anyway as Chopper pours water onto a washcloth and dabs it up and down his arm, and Chopper winces as the cloth gets caught on raised and rough patches of skin.

It's a deep burn, and it covers his entire forearm, Chopper has no idea how Luffy made it past him, or did anything during the party, moving must be agony…

"Are you gonna bandage it?" Luffy asks and Chopper starts. He'd already spread a heavy coating of burn salve over the wound but he'd gotten lost in his own thoughts before he'd gotten the bandage on. Luffy was getting impatient.

"Yeah, sorry." He wraps the white cloth around the arm in tight circles and he knows it hurts and it chafes but he can't do a thing.

Frankly, Luffy is beyond lucky that this is as bad as it is. It could have been so much worse.

His captain bounces to his feet and with a slightly pained smile he's off again towards the buffet table, the fresh white limb gleaming clean in the firelight.

Chopper is left to wonder if this is how his job is going to be every time, if it's not so much healing as preventing further damage.

Because if some salve and a bandage is all he can do, he really has no idea how to keep up with the kind of pain Luffy endures.

Navarone comes and the Straw Hats split apart, each have the same goal but completely different ideas as to how to accomplish it. Chopper ends up in the med bay and he may or may not take the opportunity to stock up on a number of rarer compounds and supplies, in particular, a certain salve known for healing and soothing burns. It's a common ailment among seafaring people, more marines than anyone else. Too close to cannon fire? Devil fruit fight? Even just the grand line climate could cause some vicious burns. Smooth and shiny scars speckled marines more often than actual sword marks, perhaps partially because most pirates who carried swords didn't leave marks, they left mortal wounds…

Point is that he stocked up on a deep healing coolant, meant to salvage flesh and prevent scarring. It'd been nearly a week since Luffy had first acquired the burns from Eneru but… but he was their doctor, and if there was something he could try then he'd better do it!

The second they secure their escape, as everyone is dispersing from the deck and Nami is blackmailing Zoro and Sanji into watching their course for the night, Chopper grabs Luffy's unbandaged wrist and tugs him off course, away from the men's sleeping quarters and instead towards his little makeshift infirmary in the kitchen.

"...Whatizzit Chobber…" Luffy mumbles at him when he realizes they aren't going to bed. "Is somethin wroawnnn?" he trails off into a yawn.

"No, I… I think I might be able to make something better." Chopper replies and guides his half asleep captain to sit on the table. "I'm going to undo your bandages, alright?"

"But you said not to do that?"

" You can't do that, but I can." Chopper corrects and snips through the top layer of wrappings down at the wrist, finding a loose end and beginning to unravel the carefully wound cloth. He'd changed them once more before leaving Skypeia but after Navarone it's a good idea to check that the burns weren't aggravated by all the chaos. The salve is a bonus. Beneath the bandages the arm is a gruesome mix between pasty pale and lobster red. Splotches of skin have peeled away to allow new skin to grow and in other places the old skin clings like shriveled snake scales. Luffy blinks down at it impassively, like he can't be bothered by his arm looking like an alien appendage.

Chopper grits his teeth and begins to clean away the dead patches, the scratching of the washcloth against charred skin still sets his nerves on edge but it's easier now because Luffy flinches less, tired and uncomprehending, and also because some of the skin comes away and beneath it Chopper can find new, mostly healthy cells ready to surface.

When he's done he can't deny that he's amazed at the shape his captain is in. Molten metal burns are no joke, Luffy could've lost the limb entirely, but something tells him it is still a good thing that he has the salve.

Burns are one of the few things that can hurt him, he recites mentally as he smoothes green paste over the skin, I'm not entirely sure why these burns, which should be so horrible, are mostly superficial but that doesn't mean there won't be others that aren't.

Luffy nods off entirely as he finishes rewrapping his arm and Chopper transforms into heavy point to carry the man back to his bunk. Usopp gives him a weird look as he deposits the rubber boy in his hammock, hastily arranging his bandaged arm over his stomach so it isn't crushed beneath him in the night.

"That's the third time you've changed the bandages in, like, four days, what happened?" he whispers and Chopper shoots him an incredulous look.

"The gold on his arm, Eneru melted it on there. " Usopp goes white in the dark of the cabin. "He'll be alright, really!" He assures as Usopp opens his mouth to argue. "He's got amazing recuperative abilities… but I'm keeping a close eye on it, just in case."

"Molten metal…" Usopp stares at their sleeping leader for a swift moment before shaking his head with a bemused frown, turning over and pulling the blankets up to his shoulders. "I don't know how he survives this stuff."

Chopper doesn't either.

In this case, it's probably something ridiculous, like his arm actually melted rather than being burned but reformed in the right shape, or maybe the gold was only molten for a split second and the heat didn't have time to penetrate. Regardless of this particular time though, Chopper's mind races forward, predicting what other injuries he'll be expected to care for in the future. Chopper had the means to battle the merciful results of this burn, and now, with a little more preparation, hopefully he'll be able to combat any more that follow.

A/N: Chapter title feels ominous but I go way less hard in the upcoming bits. Canon provides enough angst for me in a lot of ways so I didn't have to stretch it out on my own! This one absolutely needed addressing though. Also, pleased to name drop Navarone because G-8 is just the best, I am so fond, good filler arc!

Let me know what you think ; ) Stay safe and healthy!