“i wonder if i’ll be alive in tens of thousands of years..” luffy muses to himself.
you don’t know what could have possibly made him want to speak this thought aloud, but you’d learned to stop asking yourself why with luffy.
he doesn’t even mean it in a poetic or melancholic way, in fact he looks no different from five seconds ago while you’ve been cloud watching together on the deck. his hands are still nonchalantly supporting his head, lips pressed together as he blows to make them tremble; absentminded, distracted, too lighthearted for the question he’d just posed into the air. straw hat sitting behind him where it had fallen off but never far.
(if it weren’t for that, you’d be halfway sure the damn thing was surgically attached to his head)
it’s rather silly, really. luffy wasn’t one to think about mortality—granted, he didn’t think about deep subjects often. and with the simplicity of the way he’d worded his thoughts, you’re sure it isn’t even that deep for him. it’s not gut churning or some type of realisation—hell, you’re quite sure he already knows the answer.
“i don’t think people live that long.” you respond softly anyway, turning to look at him. luffy hums softly, a non committal noise to let you know he’d heard you. then he starts humming a bit louder, same noise and pitch, until he’s humming a soft tune to himself. you let out a snort at the absurdity of him moving from such a nonsensical moment so quickly, but you're truly not surprised. you resort to turning back to the sky, looking ahead as the skies continue along their merry way, far ahead to where your eyes cannot reach.
you doubt it, but you wonder if those clouds will still be the same in tens of thousands of years.
oh great, now he had you thinking about it, you groan fondly to yourself.
luffy stretches just a little bit with a grunt, scooting his elbow closer to your head but careful not to poke your eye out. you shuffle closer to lean on him and he hums happily. a slightly sharper wave causes the ship to shift and you look up to see his straw hat follow him.
(on second thought, it might actually be attached to him, you almost giggle.)
“kinda sucks,” he admits after a long moment of quiet “i would’ve wanted you to live for tens of thousands of years.” he adds quietly.
there’s nothing poetic or melancholic about it—there’s no way one person could live for that long and he knows it. but the sweetness in his tone makes your heart squeeze.
“yeah, me too. we could’ve kept hanging out like this.” you joke, although your voice has gone softer, warmer, eyes half lidded and looking up at him.
he looks down at you with a smile, so bright it almost makes your heart lurch. stupidly, of course, but he’s luffy and he makes it seem valid. he’s so precious to you, you wish luffy could live tens of thousands of years, too. even without you if need be, but he most likely wouldn’t see the point in it if you or the crew—weren’t there with him.
luffy leans down to press a kiss to the skin of your temple he can reach without stretching, just because he feels like it. no deeper reason.
“i’d keep hanging out with you every day. even if i’m all old an’ wrinkly. and you’d yell at me for falling overboard again.”
“no, i think i wouldn’t even bother to yell anymore if you still haven’t learned your lesson in a thousand years,” you laugh, tucking into his shoulder more “i’d just let zoro do that.”
luffy giggles in return. “but i bet you’d still come catch me, right.”
“hmmmm,” you pretend to think, tilting your head. luffy knocks his forehead to yours in mock reprimand as he bursts out into a fit of giggles.
“hey!” he chides while you laugh together.
you’re still giggling, but you relax enough to respond “yeah, i would. i really would.” and despite it being said through laughter, you meant it with your whole soul.
luffy slowly returns to smiling, a giggle or two slipping past his lips but he remains calm as he looks at you. no more needs to be said, you know. about this or about how many times you’ll have to fish luffy out of the ocean from now until the years to come.
“hey, look!” luffy suddenly points up to the sky, “that one kinda looks like what ussop looks like while he’s sleepin’!” he cackles.
to others, this might seem like a mood killer. but your spirits remain high, you know no more needs to be said. you laugh, because you truly don’t see it even as luffy tries with all his might to convince you otherwise.
you’ll continue to enjoy every single moment you have with luffy, even if you don’t have tens of thousands of years. moments like this, right now should be more than enough, but you think your captain's greediness might be rubbing off on you; you don’t even think forever could satiate your need to be with him.