One Piece (Love Story) [Part One]

Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen [Rewritten]

-Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen-

"I bet Sanji's just excited about Sky Island food being such a new thing" Usopp said, quick to brush off the rowdiness that could be heard coming from the kitchen.

"Yep, that's totally it" I nodded, still listening to Sanji's muffled voice as it almost sounded like he was going off on some kind of tangent.

"So, I was wondering, could you explain some more to us about these dials you mentioned earlier?" Robin asked, quick to make conversation as if she wasn't big on just sitting around in utter silence while we waited for the food.

"Yeah, I'm kind of curious about them as well" I nodded, squirming a little from my spot on Zoro's lap in an attempt to get comfortable—being in a new place always made me feel antsy to the point that sitting still sometimes felt nearly impossible. I flinched when he suddenly grabbed a tight hold of my hips, stilling me before roughly yanking me back toward him until my back was flushed to his chest and his lips were positioned right next to my ear.

"Please, stop moving around so much" he whispered, a strained edge to his voice.

"O-okay?" I nodded. "I could move if you want me to" I offered, looking back with furrowed brows as I watched how he turned his head while covering the lower half of his face with the palm of his hand.

"No, you're fine" he grunted, that strain in his voice still there as the flush on his face slowly became more noticeable as it spread the longer I stared back at him with questioning eyes.

"Alright, if you say so..." I said, facing forward as I wondered what's gotten into him all of a sudden.

"Sure, but it's complex" Conis nodded, willing to share with us more information on dials. "I don't know where to exactly start..." she mumbled to herself, silently looking around the room before eventually wandering over to one of the tables where she then picked up a shell.

"Ah, I've never been this relaxed" Chopper sighed in contentment as he sunk down into the couch cushion beside Zoro and me, looking completely and utterly relaxed as he lay there. I smiled at the sight of him, reaching over and ruffling the fur of his chest which caused him to give another relaxed sigh.

"Hm? This doesn't look like a dial—it's just a seashell" Luffy softly frowned as he examined the shell Conis handed over to him.

"Yes, at first glance, but why don't you put it to your mouth and talk?" the blonde suggested.

"Like this?" Luffy did as he was told as he placed the opening of the shell up to his mouth and spoke. "Usopp stinks" he relayed to the shell.

"Why do you always pick on me?" Usopp whined as he glided right past the captain, causing me to laugh.

"Because it's fun" I chirped which caused Luffy to giggle and nod in agreement.

"Now, just press down on the apex of the shell" Conis instructed.

"Hm? Want to tell me what an apex is?" Luffy asked.

"It means vertex or highest point" Usopp explained as he did what the blonde instructed and pushed down on the apex of the shell for Luffy.

"Usopp stinks" the shell repeated—projecting Luffy's voice like it was a recorded message.

"Ah! The shell is making fun of Usopp too!" Luffy gasped.

"What did I ever do to you, seashell?!" Usopp frowned.

"Hey, that's a neat trick—so it can store any sound and play it back?" Zoro asked as he seemed to finally relax once more.