When He Thrives On Touch (Share the Love)
Day 9: Freer Than Anyone Else
Idea: In which Luffy is free with his kisses and touches. He’s actually surprisingly tactile, but he learned it early on. So it’s not his fault, right?
(Zoro’s used to it. Nami doesn’t mind, Ussop is confused by it, Sanji finds it odd, Chopper enjoys the affection, Robin likes kissing back, Franky finds it SUPER, Brook doesn’t know what to do, while Ace and Sabo don’t want their little brother kissing anyone but them!)
I was listening to the Hamilton soundtrack and the song “Wait For It” came on and I started bawling, so that’s why the beginning is kinda sad. The song reminds me a bit too much of Ace, and it makes me weepy. Also I wanna thank @wordsdrippinginink for listening to me complain and Betaing this for me. It was too long for me to Beta by myself.
I’m also writing this after I caught up to the manga so KINDA SPOILERS for Sanji’s backstory. It kinda skips around, I wrote the Strawhats in order of when they joined, but that doesn’t mean that their individual “stories” are in that order.
This also continues from my Day 6 and Day 7 prompts, so there, continuity!
I happily blame and acknowledge @faronarting’s ASL drawings for getting me through the writers block I had for the last part, it got shippy-er at the end because of you! Thank you so much for your adorable drawings!!!
I tried to write at least 200 words per character, some of them ended up being longer than others. But I hope you like it?
When Luffy was seven, Shanks arrived in Foosha Village. He was taking a vacation apparently, Luffy hadn’t really understood the idea of taking a break from the sea but that was the red-headed man’s choice not his.
Akagami Shanks was one of the most tactile people Luffy would every meet; he was always touching one of his crewmates. A hand on the shoulder, a casual lean against someone’s side, the brush of hand against hand, a playful kiss on the cheek.
To Luffy, those touches and kisses seemed magical, the crew brightened up when the captain came over and provided body contact. But the kisses were magical in the young boy’s eyes. No matter what was wrong, the person who received a kiss almost glowed with happiness. It was awe-inspiring to the little boy, the power that Shanks had to give happiness to his crew.
To be honest it was something Luffy wanted too. The boy was alone in his grandpa’s big house, sure Makino watched after him but what Shanks had with his crew was something special. So like any child at the age of seven, Luffy copied his role model. Luffy started giving Makino kisses on the cheek as “thank you’s” after meals.
Shanks also involved Luffy in his affection, and found it adorable when the small boy lit up when the man pushed his hair back and pressed a kiss to his forehead. It also made him sad, what kind of monster would deprive so small a child something as base as affection?
When the crew noticed that their captain was being overly affectionate with the boy, they all quickly followed suit. They would drag the boy into hugs squeezing him till his ribs ached. Yassop would speak of his son, eyes distant before pulling the young dreamer along to teach him to shoot cans, Luffy wasn’t that great at it but the sharpshooter taught him to at least handle a gun without killing himself.
Lucky Roo, the glutton that he was would offer him pieces of meat as he shared stories of fights out on the open waters. Benn was the most practical, teaching Luffy some basic hand to hand combat, training him so that one day he could be a force to be reckoned with. The training went to hell after the raven-haired boy ate the gum gum fruit, but now the child had the foundation, he could relearn the small tricks and cheap shots that the first mate had practically ingrained into his mind.
Luffy enjoyed it more than he should have, for the first time he was touching and being touched. He was allowed to interact, with people he cared about, people that he himself chose to love. So he once again copied Shanks, he started pressing kisses to cheeks as thanks, he enjoyed the way it lit up their eyes as they received his tiny blessing.
By the time it was time for Shanks to leave, Luffy was so attached that he felt more like Shanks was a father to him than his grandpa was family. The man had given up an arm for him, and then laughed it off when Luffy started weeping, the boy hadn’t wanted to be the reason someone he cared about was hurt. And while Red-Hair had only spent about a year on the island but he had helped raise Luffy into a better boy, nay man. Luffy cried when Shanks left, pulling the hat down over his eyes he kissed everyone goodbye, enjoying the glint that sparked in their eyes as they sailed away.
Luffy was going to be like Shanks. Luffy had always been like Shanks; He just hadn’t realized that he needed someone to guide him towards what he wanted to be to people. He wanted to make their eyes shine. But to do that, he needed to become king.
Zoro was used to being kissed by Luffy. He didn’t mind all that much either, it felt like a natural part of who Luffy was.
The first time Luffy had kissed him it had actually scared him. He just hadn’t expected his slip of a captain to press a soft, butterfly wings on muslin, kiss to the corner of his lips.
It had startled the people around them too; Rika laughed happily hugging Zoro and Luffy’s legs before letting them go reluctantly. Luffy had grabbed him by the wrist and started to bounce away, dragging a gaping Zoro behind him.
“C-captain, you can’t just k-kiss people like that!" The swordsman was stumbling as he tried to keep up with his hyper captain.
“Why not? You’re my first mate and it’s my job to keep you happy!” The raven-haired boy said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. One of the rubber fingers came up to tap Zoro’s forehead and then his chest over his heart, as they slipped into the dingy and set off. “These are my responsibilities, Shanks taught me that when I was little.”
So Zoro accepted the contact, given by the younger man, it had been something that he had attempted to shy away from since Kunia had died. But there was something about the smaller boy in front of him.
Zoro enjoyed the butterfly kisses that Luffy pressed to his lips on occasion. They were sweet, and reminded him to take a break to enjoy little things that were available to him.
Sometimes when the swordsman fell asleep on deck he could feel the captain slip into his lap so that they could snuggle up.
Nami didn’t mind when Luffy scooped her up into a hug after he took down Arlong, in fact she was crying in gratitude. A quick kiss to the forehead quieted the tears as he carried her to the seat of honor, pressing his hat onto her hair he patted her cheek and placed a plate on the table in front of her. He was coddling her which would normally piss her off, but she had seen the way he treated the other’s on the crew.
It was almost sickly sweet the way he watched after them. Carefully making sure that they took care of their emotional health, cheering them up when they most needed it. Kisses were always available, if you walked up and grabbed his hands he would automatically raise it to his lips.
Even after making sure she was fine, he hovered for a few minutes before going off to feed the beast that was his stomach. But as he left, Nami watched as he checked in with the others, a hand on Ussop’s shoulder, fingers brushing against Sanji’s, a kiss to Zoro’s cheek. He also patted some of the children on the head as they crowded around him, looking up to him like an idol.
Luffy was too kind a person, but she had a feeling that she’d continue to take ‘advantage’ of his kindness, after all, she did want to stay by his side. And he had said that they were Nakama so it was ok to stay with him, and soak up the love that he was willing to offer her.
Ussop’s mother had died when he was about 7, he was alone from then until the time he met the three kids. Then he met Kaya right after her parents died and tried his best to lift her spirits up so that she would get better. He didn’t want to see someone else all alone, that was why he was so nice to the sick girl.
It was why Ussop was so confused by Luffy’s need to show affection for everyone on the crew.
So Ussop did what he always did, he watched the people around him. Eyes almost hard as he tried to understand why his captain was the way he was. Here was this Super strong pirate, and he had wanted Ussop of all people on his crew.
Sure, Ussop was a good sharp shooter, but he was a coward, so when Luffy had hugged him happily after he joined the others on the Going Merry, he had nearly jumped out of his own skin. The action was so foreign to him that he genuinely hadn’t expected it.
It was however something that he had needed, he felt relieved and almost slumped into the slightly shorter boy. His head resting on Luffy’s shoulder as he whispered an almost silent "thank you”.
Luffy just laughed it off and kept hugging him, Zoro and Nami watching on with almost exasperated expressions on their faces. "It’s my job Ussop! Oh! When we get to the next island with a gunshop, I’ll show you how to handle a gun, your dad taught me how to look after and handle one, but I can’t shoot to save my life!“
Sanji found it really weird, the way Luffy was always touching his crew. At first he had been furious when he had seen the slip of a boy touching Nami-swan, but as he watched he noticed that the other two, both of whom were men, also received the shorter boy’s unyielding affection.
Considering his father had practically hated him, Sanji didn’t understand how Luffy could be so affectionate with a failure like him. Fingers brushing against his own reminded him of all the times he had said that his hands were only for cooking. Luffy used his hands to protect the people around him, he used them to hold people he loved close to his heart.
When Luffy pressed kisses to his cheek, caused his heart to race in an uncomfortable staccato. It wasn’t as if he was attracted to Luffy, it was just that the affection in and of itself made his skin crawl.
While Zeff had been kind in some ways, he was also an extremely harsh taskmaster, at times literally beating things into his head, forcing Sanji to take up the mantle a vice-head chef at about the age of 14. But he had enjoyed that harshness; there was true kindness and caring under the cruel surface.
Once he got used to the affection he both saw and received it was a lot easier for him to function as a member of the Strawhat Pirates. There were still times that it made him flinch when Luffy got into his face, or suddenly hugged him around the waist. But he was recovering from the psychological damage he had accumulated over the years.
When Chopper finally accepted Luffy’s offer to join his crew, he was startled by the flying hug that he received. He hadn’t been hugged since before the Doctor had gotten sick.
Sometimes when he had a dream about the Doctor or Doctorine, he would toddle over to Luffy and tug on the leg of his pants. No matter how many times Chopper did this, Luffy would react the same way each and every time; he’d scoop the small reindeer off his feet and lift Chopper into his arms, once in a while the captain would even carry the tiny doctor around the ship with him. Luffy-san told him tales of the adventures that they will have together with the rest of the crew.
In Chopper’s head, he equated Luffy with warm hugs and nuzzling kisses that he should have received when he was little. Luffy was almost stepping in as an older brother, which shocked the reindeer, but it really shouldn’t have.
Luffy also took an interest in Chopper’s work as a doctor, sitting down with him when he ground up herbs to make different medicines, and even though Luffy was completely clueless to the complexities of medicine he would gladly just cuddle with Chopper as the reindeer studied his books intently.
Chopper used to see the word monster as an insult, but now, he is more than happy to be called a monster. After all, Luffy’s the kindest monster he knows.
Once Robin got used to the affection that Luffy showed everyone on his crew, she enjoyed kissing Luffy back. She’d return playful pecks to the cheek, use her Devil fruit to completely engulf him in a hug. Saul had been right; there would be people that would do anything to protect her.
Luffy was one of them, in fact he was practically the leader of the Robin Protection Squad. She found that out the hard way when he raged through Enies Lobby, taking down hundreds of marines on his own. It had been both terrifying and awe inspiring to watch. Monkey D. Luffy had been like a god in a terrible rage, taking out people left, right, and center.
Not only that, but he had declared war on the world government just for her! Robin had learned later that it was a mix of things that had him tell 'Sogeking’ to burn down the flag. But at that moment in her mind, he had done it just for her; Luffy had been willing to go against the entire world just to tell her that it was OK for her to live. That she was allowed to want to live.
He was unwaveringly loyal and ready to fight to the death for what he believed in. For those simple reasons, Luffy would forever be one of her favorite people.
She enjoyed draping herself over his shoulders during those rare times when he stood completely still, didn’t seem to mind at all seeing as he would reach a hand up to pet her arm a few times before going into silent contemplation.
But sometimes she wondered, why did her captain feel the need to keep such close physical contact with his crew? Not that it was unpleasant, it just didn’t make sense to her. Robin found herself questioning his childhood, had he grown up in such a spartan environment?
Her question was easily answered by Garp when he came to give Luffy the chewing out of a lifetime. Yes, Luffy had grown up in an exceedingly cruel environment, while Garp had successfully made Luffy a strong man, he had practically stunted his emotional growth.
Franky found the straw-hatted captain’s actions SUPER cute, and he rather enjoyed the attention that he was given by the shorter man. It was kinda like being around the old Franky Family, or even his parents before they abandoned him at Water 7. At times the affection that he received was almost stifling. Luffy was always around, either silently watching over him or loudly gushing over a silly idea he had and he "wanted Franky to make it happen”.
Sometimes his small Captain would beg and cling, hanging off of one of his large arms, whining until he got what he wanted from the larger man. Sometimes the idea would be sound and could be applied to the defenses of the ship or made into a spare weapon. Most of the time though, the idea was interesting, but nonsensical.
Nevertheless, it was almost unnerving when he looked up from working on his latest project and his captain silently sitting there smiling at him. The first time it happened Franky nearly had a heart attack, he hadn’t known his new captain could be so quiet.
He could enjoy it now though, what had once been unnerving silences were now reassuring and calming lengths of time they spent together as Franky worked.
Brook didn’t know what to do; he had been on his own for a full fifty years. There were times when he imagined his old crew, the Rumbar Pirates still there and alive. Most of the time when he snapped out of it Luffy would be standing or sitting there with that same smile that he remembered so clearly on Yorki’s face.
Brook accepted initial Luffy’s offer immediately because the teenager had asked so sincerely. The skeleton knew that people would question his choice, he had been first mate and then captain of the famous Rumbar Pirates 50 years ago, he knew he was a bit of a legend as he was the “Humming Gentleman Brook”.
His crew had been a bit of an anomaly, they hadn’t attacked civilians, they had made crying children laugh. They’d looked after their own. It was why the death of his crew have been so painful for him. It was also why Brook enjoyed singing with his captain, playing music to lighten the crew’s hearts. He would follow Luffy into the afterlife, because that was what you did for a good captain.
He was glad he had formally asked to join after he had gotten his shadow back. He was grateful that the crew had accepted him after he explained his story to them. Luffy on the other hand looked almost benevolent as he smiled on, watching his crew fuss over their newest member as if he had expected this to happen.
Brook gladly accepted the endearing smiles and encouraging nods that he got. Captain Luffy respected the fact that he hated being touched, but there were times where the raven-haired boy would force the musician to accept the affection that he as captain showered upon his crew. Brook would accept that to, grudgingly, they were working on it.
So Brook would keep playing his violin and singing along for his new captain, glad that he was somehow still alive.
While both brothers had times where they bitched about growing up with Luffy, they were both very happy that they had. Luffy had added a new dimension to their relationship with one another, they had become closer, before Luffy they had been friends but after meeting the small raven they were brothers.
Once Ace had stopped trying to kill Luffy, the three of them got along just fine. The youngest of the three was of course clingy and obsessed with hugging and pressing kisses to their cheeks and the corners of their mouths. So it wasn’t really that much of a surprise when they both developed a brother complex for Luffy. They were protective to the point of obsession, making sure Luffy did nothing that he couldn’t do on his own or without a little help from the two of them.
At first Ace hated being touched, Luffy was a very hands-on person though, and he was determined to make Ace more comfortable in his own skin. Sabo was better off than Ace, he was more willing to touch and be touched. But there was still a space the blonde kept between himself and the rest of the world.
The two slowly, oh so slowly got used to it, and by the time they had to leave to start their adventures, they were actively hugging and kissing Luffy back.
At times Luffy was actually shy around his sworn brothers, their kisses could be desperate and searching. Ace was more likely to deepen a kiss than his blonde brother was, but both Luffy and Sabo agreed on the fact that Ace needed more from people than Sabo. It was never forceful though; Luffy would gladly both take and give what he could.
Sabo’s kisses were sweeter, a bit less demanding and a little more coaxing. The blonde enjoyed pressing kisses to his cheeks, hands, and shoulders. Sometimes when the blonde had fighting thugs all day he’d come back to the tree house and just hang off Luffy and start pressing kisses to his face and lips. Luffy thought it was sweet, and encouraged the habit; hugging Sabo back and the older man slumped against him.
When his older brothers left Luffy, was super lonely. Because he stayed in the treehouse by himself he had a bountiful amount of time to train. He was generally by himself for the three years between his brothers leaving, and his own departure from Foosha Village. Thankfully he did receive letters from both of his brothers, Ace wrote rarely but his letters were pages upon pages long, Sabo wrote weekly, detailing his continued training with Dragon and his rise in ranks as if they were no big deal.
It was horrible for someone like him who thrived on touching and being touched. While it was a learned behavior it had clicked with the young boy.
When Ace came to visit the StrawHats when they were docked in Alabasta it had almost shocked the crew when the taller man bent down slightly and pressed a hard kiss to his little brother’s lips. But Sanji had choked on his cigarette a little bit when Luffy pressed a hand to the taller raven’s cheek and kissed him back.
Ace had twined his fingers into the hand that Luffy held against his cheek, and when he pulled out of the kiss the raven had pulled his younger brother into his chest. Ace had the audacity to smirk at Luffy’s crew; he was enjoying the annoyance that he saw on their faces. “Luffy!~ Did you miss me? I know I missed you."
The smaller man huffed against his brother’s chest happily, deciding to ignore how petty Ace was being. "Of course I missed you; it’s been three years since you left Dawn Island! How are you, is Pops treating you well?” They descended into small talk and traded kisses, enjoying each other’s company while they got the chance. And when the elder of the two finally left, he gave Luffy another soulful kiss, opening his eyes and watching the gathered Strawhats squirm as he kissed their captain. “see ya Lu! Stay safe! Don’t go around kissing people, ok?” And with the parting jab he was gone.
Sabo’s introduction to the Strawhats was a bit more interesting; he had gotten there after Luffy had taken down Crocodile. He had infiltrated the castle. Walking towards the banquet hall, hearing Luffy’s loud laughter made him smile. Wasting no time the blonde threw open the doors to the extremely grandiose dining room, smiling as people jumped up to intercept him. "Don’t worry; I’m just here to see Luffy!"
The sudden entrance had made the entire room fall into a hush. Luffy had actually dropped the meat he was eating, much to the shock of his crewmates, once he had gotten a look at the intruder. Luffy jumped up from the table and threw himself across the room squealing his older brother’s name happily. Sabo of course, braced himself and caught the rubber pirate, he had years of practice dealing with the small raven. Spinning the smaller man into a hug the Revolutionary pressed a tiny kiss behind Luffy’s ear smiling as he inhaled the seawater scent that had always clung to Luffy.
"Luffy, it’s been almost three full years! I’m so proud of you! Already taking down Shichibukai, what more could a Revolutionary of a big brother ask for?!” Sabo’s hand messed with Luffy’s hair as he ruffled the messy mop happily. Luffy was almost vibrating due to the praise, bouncing so fast that he was slowly becoming a blur.
Zoro and Nami could ignore it, they had been sailing with Luffy for the longest period of time. So they were generally able to tune out the insanity that occurred around their rubber captain. The rest watched on in bemused amazement, equal parts impressed and horrified by the blur that was their captain.
A timid, “how does he move that fast, does he do that often?” came from Chopper’s general direction. Nami quickly responded with, “only when he’s excited” in a vain attempt to calm Chopper down. Sanji managed to destroy any hope that the blue nosed doctor had, “he’s always excited though, not that excited, but ehhh…” The exchange went completely unnoticed by the two brothers, they were already off in their own world.
Luffy decided that he could eat more later, so he walked out of the room with Sabo, Intending to spend some time with his brother.
Sabo escorted Luffy back to the infirmary wanting to make sure his little brother was fine after the intense fight that he had been in. The conversation flowed between them easily; Sabo mentioned that he was going after their brother, trying to stop him from making a mistake before it was too late. But he had wanted to stop in with Luffy before finally catching up to Ace.
As they sat down on the infirmary bed, Sabo pulled Luffy into his arms hugging him tightly as he pressed his face into the fluffy mane of hair, inhaling softly as Luffy hugged him back.
For a few silent minutes the two sat like that before Sabo stood up removing his jacket, collared shirt, cravat and hat hanging them over a chair so that they wouldn’t get to wrinkled. He slipped back into the bed and laying down, exposing all his old burn scars while Luffy hung his own hat on the chair as well, snuggling up against Sabo’s broader chest. This was one of the things Sabo enjoyed, just snuggling together.
The simple action of laying in a bed with his little brother, help soothe all of the old emotional wounds he had gathered in his childhood as he lived with his beasts of parents. The physical contact was something they both craved he could enjoy this. He would gladly and greedily take anything Luffy would give before he had to go chase after Ace again. But for now sleep was calling the two brothers, and so they let their dreams claim them for the night.
