* 11 *
"San~ ji~ where are~ you!" Luffy crawls out of the lounge a number of agonizing minutes later, dragging himself length by groaning length along the planks.
Robin glances down at him from her seat by the door. Her lips twitch up at the corners. "Captain-san, are you alright?"
"I'm hungry," he moans. "Where's Sanji?" There's no sign of him on the deck below, and the only other sound besides the grumble and rumble of his stomach and the soft rustle of turning pages is the tap-tap tap of Usopp still hard at work on Merry's hull.
"I believe he went below with Doctor-san," she says, returning her dark gaze to the book in her hands. "They've been gone for quite a while. I do hope they haven't tripped in the dark and broken their necks," she adds with a slow, sideways smile down at Luffy.
Luffy leaps to his feet. "Robin! Don't say that, who will feed me?"
"Indeed, we would all starve to death without Cook-san, wouldn't we?"
Luffy's stomach turns just at the idea, or is that a pang of hunger? He clutches his abdomen through his sweatshirt and hunches over as his stomach growls a loud complaint.
"Ooooh," he groans, pouting at his raven-haired archaeologist. "I better find them quick! It'll be okay, Chopper can fix anything!"
He vaults the balustrade to the deck below. He lands with a thump and slap of bare feet, and a creak of tired planks loud enough that the hammering pauses.
"Luffy," Usopp calls from out of sight, "be gentle, would you! I may be the World's Number One Handyman," he boasts, and Luffy can almost see his chest puffing out - "but if you damage even one more of Merry's planks before we find a shipwright, I swear I'll use that hard head of yours as a mallet!"
Luffy grins but as he turns to charge into the aft storage room, he hears a giggle from above and freezes.
Usopp's hammer resumes its tap tap-tap tap but Luffy can still hear his sniper mumbling to himself as he works and Robin stifles her next giggle. Luffy tilts his head back and to the side, letting the brim of his hat shade his eyes.
She gazes off to the side as she listens to Usopp's mutterings, one hand pressed to her lips as if she can smooth away the smile there by sheer force - and her eyes crinkle with quiet humor but the fingers of her other hand are restless on the open book in her lap, caressing the page like she's trying to iron out some nonexistent creases.
Luffy has the picture dial out before he realizes what he's doing. A hasty glance around tells him no one's watching, and Robin's actually grinning now as Usopp's carping carries over the gunwale.
"Don't worry, Merry, I'll take care of you," he grouses to the ship, hammering a little harder.
Robin laughs behind her hand and Luffy presses the button.
Then he frowns, because her eyes gleam weirdly wet, and is he just dizzy from hunger or does her laugh sound a little choked?
He lowers the dial, shoves it into his sweatshirt's pocket and sucks in a breath.
"Robin," he hollers and she jumps in her seat. Her book almost falls from her lap, but an extra pair of arms rights it just in the knick of time, and saves her page, too.
She blinks down at him, and the strange moist shine is gone from her eyes, leaving her face flushed, her lips parted but faintly smiling.
"What is it, Captain-san?" she calls when he says nothing.
"Uhhh." He pats his hat but can't think of anything to say, until his stomach clenches and growls again, and he yells the first thing that pops into his head. "I'll get Sanji to make you something hot!"
Her eyes crinkle again, so he adds, "So don't go anywhere!"
"Aye, aye, Captain-san."
-x-
(A/n) - Hope you guys like bittersweet feels because they're my fuckin favorite. ;) So so glad you're all enjoying! The next chapter is already in the works~ Will Luffy ever get his second lunch?
- weiss