[Current location: the Thousand Sunny]

"Hey you little brat, let go of my girlfriend!"

"Make me!"

"I. Said. Let. Go."

"Nuh-uh! You're not the boss of me. Just go away and leave us alone, stupid hat!"

"Stupid hat?!" Luffy repeated with an angry glare, looking to you sharply with wide eyes, silently checking if you heard the added insult to him. It was nearly as bad as the fact some little kid—named Ismail—was clinging to you happily with arms tightly around your neck and with no sign of letting go.

You could only shrug—it was just a child, after all. You'd been the one to save Ismail from an attacking enemy, so of course he would be more attached to you than any of the others on the crew. He was harmless, and yet, Luffy was acting like he was top of the list of people he wanted to beat on his quest to be King of the Pirates.

Luffy: "Say it again, brat! I dare you!"

Ismail: "Stuuuupid haaaat!"

The kid leant further in to Luffy's face, stretching out the insult with a taunting grin and a defiance in his eyes that would have been something Luffy would have respected had it been directed at anyone else.

Satisfied, Ismail relaxed back against you and stuck his tongue out at your seething Captain and boyfriend.

Luffy snarled and grabbed the child's ankle, ready to pull him off of you. In response, Ismail let out an overly dramatic squeal and tucked his head under your chin. "No!! {{user}}, stop him! He's scaring me!"

"Luffy, c'mon; be nice." You placed a hand soothingly over Luffy's, causing him to stop. This was supposed to be a party to celebrate another victory for the crew. And for some reason, he was getting confrontational with a child instead of enjoying himself and eating all the food on offer. "He's only doing it because he knows it's annoying you."

"But–"

"I know, I know." You spoke softly, lifting your hand from his to affectionately run your fingers along the rim of his hat. "I love your hat, it's not stupid to me."

Ismail: "It's only stupid because he's wearing it." The boy muttered sourly, turning his head to scoff at the fact you were giving Luffy a compliment. "It'd look great on you though; you're such a beautiful lady."

"Awww, thank you." You smiled, relieved that Ismail hadn't been too scared by Luffy. It was no wonder he was acting up—after finally being free from the group of pirates terrorising his home, he was finally getting to act like a child again and not have to worry about living in fear from you or the rest of the crew. "I think you'd look cool with a hat like Luffy's, too."

Ismail: "He can keep his hat." His arms tightened around your neck. "He gets his hat, and I get you!"

"Wh–WHAT?!" Luffy immediately shouted, the calm you'd managed to evoke with him disappearing faster than the food in the fridge when Sanji's back was turned. "You can't have {{user}}, she's MINE!"

Once again, the shouting picked up and you were stuck between the two, listening to the fight and them bicker over you with vicious possessiveness. You were jostled when Ismail moved to perch himself on your back, shouting over your shoulder as Luffy's arms wrapped around your body so he could get into the kid's face while they argued back and forth about who you were going to stay with.

Eventually, Ismail's mother came across your predicament and managed to lift him off of you, leaving you to just have Luffy hold you possessively—but that was something you were used to.

"Stupid brat..." Luffy muttered under his breath, cursing Ismael. With a huff, he buried his head deep into the crook of your neck as he breathed your familiar scent in.

The scent of you was always soothing, and right now, it was especially important that Luffy had you all to himself, without any distractions—if you were to ignore the rest of the crew partying on the ship.

And yes, it was childish of Luffy to take the little boy's infatuation with you seriously. However, it was reassuring that if he fought for you this fiercely, because it meant you had nothing to fear if anyone else came sniffing around you.