* 3 *
It's Zoro's snort of surprise and pained grunt that wakes him a few hours later, sweating under too many blankets.
"Hold still," Chopper says, his voice high with exasperation but stern, somewhere just behind Luffy's head.
Luffy wriggles, shoves blankets open to let in some air, and lets his head drop off Zoro's thigh so he can look up and back at the little doctor. The reindeer is gently but firmly pressing a bitter smelling salve into the frost-burns on Zoro's arm.
"I'm fine," Zoro says, but he shifts under Luffy as Chopper presses a little harder. "Stop already, I don't need your smelly ointment, alright?"
"You want the burn to heal, right? There, I'm done, anyway." Chopper wipes his hooves on a towel. "Luffy," he says, when he sees he's awake, "I brought some more tea for you. Drink it this time, okay?"
Luffy wrinkles his nose. "I don't wanna," he says, "it tastes gross." Still he takes the offered mug and downs the astringent herbal tea in one whiny gulp. He sticks his tongue out with a loud, "Eeyuck," then drags Chopper into the folds of his nest of blankets on Zoro's lap.
The little reindeer giggles and wiggles out of his grasp. "Luffy," he cries, "you're like an oven in here."
Zoro doesn't protest when Chopper settles into his haramaki instead - maybe he's already asleep, his head tilted back against the gunwale. Luffy pretends to fall asleep too, curled around the little hump the reindeer forms on Zoro's abdomen.
But when the doctor and his swordsman are both sawing logs, he draws the picture dial back out and angles it up at their slumbering faces.
He bites his lip to stifle a giggle and presses the button.
He tucks the dial back into his pocket and nestles closer to his nakama, nosing his doctor's fuzzy ear.
"Dammit, Luffy," Zoro grumbles without opening his eyes, "hold still."
And even if the strong hand on his shoulder is to confine his restless wriggling, the calloused fingers squeezing him closer feel more like five firm hugs.
The more, the merrier.