Eating and Being Eaten
"I'm TELLing you guys, I ate these things all the time!" Luffy said, twirling a giant, skewered caterpillar over the fire. It sizzled. "When I was five, Gramps left me for a month in the jungle and I had ten or more a day!"
Sabo jabbed at his own stick and made a face when he poked a hole through the insect's lightly charcoaled outer layer and hot goo clung to his finger as he pulled away. "This is nasty! We should just catch that gator I saw over by the river – then we'd have enough for supper later, too."
"Un, I love gator," Luffy agreed, salivating just thinking of the chewy meat. "We can catch it after. I want you guys to try this though!"
"Oi, don't think you can trick us, squirt. Just 'cuz we got you to eat those spotty mushrooms last week!" Ace declared, shaking his grub at Luffy.
"Dadan made me drink two barrels of water to pee that all out!"
"Don't be such a baby."
"Oh yeah? Who's the baby now, can't even eat a little bug?" crowed Luffy, dancing up on his feet, still passing his afternoon bite through the flames.
"Who're you calling a baby!"
"Ace is a baby, Ace is a – whoah!" Luffy dodged the swipe, but accidentally stepped into the fire. "Missed me! Haha-hothothotHOT!" He hopped/ran out of the clearing.
Ace watched Luffy go, shaking his head, fondly irritated.
"Hey, this actually isn't too bad," Sabo said around his finger. He licked the rest of the goo off and smacked his lips. "Tastes a little like that new mystery meat jam Dogura makes sometimes."
Ace pulled off one of the many stubby legs on his own skewer and popped the jelly end in his mouth. He paused thoughtfully, "Yeah, not bad. Kinda like Dogura's secret-special stew."
The two older boys sat next to the fire and leisurely finished their crispy-on-the-outside, gooey-on-the-inside snacks.
"Hmm, where'd Luffy go?" Sabo asked, pointing his chin at the uneaten caterpillar.
"Dunno, probably to the river?"
"…"
"…"
Sabo and Ace threw down their sticks and dashed off to save their little brother.
(Fortunately, Luffy had only been swallowed whole this time. A few judicious kicks and punches had the youngest of the trio out in a jiffy.)
(Also, Dogura's secret ingredient to all his recipes was something Luffy introduced him to when he caught the boy trying to steal food from the kitchens. He'd had Luffy swear, on pain of no more meat ever, never to let anyone else - especially Dadan - find out.)