"We are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen." - John le Carre

-x-

a world no one else has ever seen
unhurried footfalls

-x-

Robin hears him coming. Heavy, unhurried footfalls on the deck outside; the door creaking inward, clicking shut; the shuffle of bare feet across the carpet, before a weight eases onto the edge of the mattress behind her, first hands, then knees, each more tentative than the last. Robin smiles without uttering a word, without even opening her eyes. She lifts the blanket with an extra hand so he can slide underneath, and he dives in at once, curls up with his back firmly pressed against hers. Nami has been listening for him, too.

Her voice is soft and edged with worry as she lifts her head, "Luffy?"

Robin feels the captain's shoulders - she finds herself forgetting, they're very broad now - shift as he crosses his arms over his chest, his hair tickling the back of her neck as he turns his face into the mattress and answers, "Yeah."

"You okay?"

"'M fine."

"...Alright."

Nami's voice is reluctant, but full of warmth and understanding. She settles slowly into her pillow again, arms crossed underneath it and chin propped up, watching the captain in the half-dark. Luffy, for his part, lets out a deep breath - and Robin is the only one near enough to catch the way it almost trembles out of the young man's lungs. He is incredibly tense for someone who has come in here to rest, and Robin's only way of soothing him is to sprout an arm out of the mattress. She fusses with the blanket, makes a show of tucking it around him properly with a few gentle tugs, and then she firmly pats Luffy's cheek, affectionate and playful.

She feels the muscles in his face jump at once when he grins. He uncrosses his arms and lifts his hand, but her extra arm vanishes the moment he moves and Luffy's hand falls across the cool mattress, fingers curling into the sheets. A new hand pats the back of his, more insistent than before, and Luffy's hand darts up, clapping against the back of Robin's extra and pinning it down against the mattress. She sprouts another to clap the back of his.

Nami's giggling bubbles up out of the quiet at the same moment that Robin's does, and Robin knows that Luffy is grinning, even though she doesn't see it.

"What are you two doing over there?" Nami inquires, the mattress creaking as she pushes up on her elbows.

There is that energetic chuckling Robin has been waiting for - a bit deeper than she remembers it, more from the chest than the throat, and she is reminded again of how much he has grown in the time they've been apart.

"Nothin'. Sorry."

"You're stupid," Nami says, soft and smiling, nestling back into her pillow. Her exasperation is comfortable, as endearing as it always is. "Honestly."

Robin keeps a similar tone when she finally speaks, though she pretends to chastise him, "Please settle down and go to sleep, Luffy. You're being quite troublesome." The fingers of her extra hand wiggle a bit underneath his, drumming the mattress as if to say shame on you.

Luffy's fingers squeeze her hand.

"Sorry," he mutters again. And Robin can hear how he struggles to keep some of that smile, the way he clings to it when before it came so easily. She makes sure to laugh sweetly, shifting and leaning back against his broader shoulders, turning just enough so that she can see him peeking at her over his own shoulder.

"It's alright, Luffy."

And if his hand trembles a little as he buries his face into the mattress, knees and elbows digging in a he curls, if his fingers squeeze a bit too tight -

Well.

It's alright.

-x-

(A/n) boy y'all i have had this sitting in my WIP folder for the better part of forever and finally got up the motivation to finish it to some degree! Five out of the eight are ready to post, but I still need ideas for what to do with Franky, Nami, and Chopper's chapters, so if you guys have any suggestions let me know!

-BobTAC