Prompt: Sleeping Habits Part I

Set: East Blue Saga

Summary: When you have amnesia, little things like how people sleep become a precious treasure.

Everyone loves sleep. I think Zoro and I are the ones who love it the most. I should have known that being a pirate would come with very awkward sleeping hours, what with watch duty and any ship problems being out on the sea. Because of that, I tend to end up sleeping with whoever I'm closest to, or whoever I follow in a half-asleep stupor.

I rarely sleep alone; I always feel better when I have someone near me. Maybe it's the whole amnesia thing, but I hate the idea of waking up all alone. Being a pirate either means you get no sleep or plenty of sleep, at least in my case. I have the luxury of being able to nap if I want to and no one will tell me otherwise.

But if I'm being perfectly honest...napping is great and all, but I've slowly grown to love the feeling of one of my friends next to me while I sleep.

Zoro is definitely the calmest sleeper. Even though I often join him for naps, he's always slightly on alert whenever he sleeps in broad daylight. Unless a storm is blowing through, in which case, he completely ignores it.

When he actually sleeps at night, he's way more relaxed. Most likely because he knows that whoever's on guard duty will alert them to any danger. I tend to sleep on his stomach or his chest because Zoro sleeps in only two positions on his hammock. On his back with his arms folded on his chest or behind his head. And he never tosses or turns, even when he's having a nightmare. He just fidgets and squirms on his back!

Zoro's a good place to sleep when I just want to have some relaxing quiet time, but it always feels detached. Zoro isn't exactly the cuddly type, which is why I prefer sleeping with him when he's napping outside. That way, the sun can keep me warm instead.

There is only one word to describe Luffy when he sleeps: clingy. I can see why Monkey is in his name. I only sleep with him if I really want to cuddle or get warm and risk getting my spin cracked in the process. Not to mention that the boy snores; really really loud.

Thankfully, he doesn't toss and turn, but if he does move in his sleep, it's always when we're both a long ways away in dreamland so we don't realize it until we wake up. That usually ends up with one or both of us falling off the hammock. Yeah, sleeping with Luffy is a risk that I really only take if I'm too tired to care or if he's the only option available.

But despite all the downsides to sleeping with him, there is something...special about it. Yeah, he holds you and never lets go, and while it can be painful, it also feels...safe. Whenever I'm with him, Luffy always holds me to his chest, his arms wrapped around me in two large rubbery straps. It's like something will rip me away if he lets go for even a second.

So yeah, sleeping with Luffy is annoying, but I'd be lying if I said I never felt safe whenever he holds me.

Usopp is a pretty lax sleeper. Meaning that his limbs tend to hang off the hammock or wherever he's sleeping. But he's also pretty cuddly too, depending on the weather. If it's hot, he'll spread his body as if he's trying to air himself out, giving me plenty of space to find comfort. But if it's cold, he practically curls into a ball, and if I'm there, I get trapped in that ball. But then again, that only happens when it's cold out, so I'm usually cold too.

Usopp's clinging is like Luffy's only ten-times gentler. He kinda reminds me of a kid, kinda like Luffy only less intense. He's cuddly when he wants to be, and relaxed when he wants to be. He's the kind of person I can just fall on if I'm super tired, and no matter what position he chooses, I'll be comfy.

He's an all-around sleeper in every sense of the word, and it's a nice change of pace every now and then.

Nami is also a very normal sleeper. But sleeping with her is a plus cause she actually has a bed. I tend to sleep by her feet or next to her, because she's not, ah, accustomed to sleeping with a small creature like me.

Because of the blankets on her bed, I end up making it hard for her to move while she sleeps, since I'm weighing down the blanket. In the end, we both end up having trouble getting to sleep. We fixed this problem by Nami just inviting me under the covers, which does help, but, again, Nami's not accustomed to having something else in her bed with her. She either wakes me up when she moves, or she wakes herself up trying to be careful and remember where I am in her bed.

So, yeah, sleeping with Nami isn't the easiest or most practical, but we've figured out work arounds. On rare occasions we're able to successfully share the bed, and it's a great feeling to wake up to.

Sanji is...well I've slept with him the most out of everybody, since I've known him the longest. We started out on the Baratie, sharing a bed, though I was pretty distant back then. But over time, I found myself moving closer and closer to him.

By the time we became Straw Hats, I was either sleeping on his stomach or in the crook of his arm, pressed close to him. Sanji really doesn't toss around that much, only turning onto his side every now and then. And every time he does, his arm carefully goes around me, holding me closer. Sanji's body has pretty much trained itself to know where I am and how to move so as not to wake me or crush me.

It's true; I honestly can never tell when he moves in his sleep, unless I feel some kind of emotion coming off him from a nightmare. I'm actually kinda surprised when I wake up and find that we've moved in our sleep on the hammock. I sleep with Sanji the most now because I know him the most and he knows me. It's gotten to a point where it feels almost alien if one of us sleeps without the other.

I guess that's how you know how close you are with someone, if little things like this can cause a small stir of panic if it doesn't happen correctly.

Like the Petting one, once we get to Thriller Bark, this will have a part 2 as well :)