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Koby never thought of himself as particularly attractive.
He was an underfed teen, which hindered his growth and made him look way younger than he actually was. Then he had a series of growth spur, during which he went all out of shape in all the possible directions. Only after all that had he started to grow the muscles that were supposed to come with Marine training. He’d felt so self conscious when other cadets would grow big and strong and all he did was become taller and ganglier.
But then, he’d been upgraded to Captain, and he’d gotten his own Marine vest, and all of a sudden, people were noticing him on the street. People looked him up and down, came to ask him questions, offered him special treatments. Koby always refused. People were just into the uniform, and Koby didn’t want to take advantage of his status.
When Koby had explained that to Helmeppo, though, the swordsman had rolled his eyes and called him an idiot. According to him, people had always noticed Koby, Koby was the one who didn’t notice people back. And Koby had to admit… Helmeppo wasn’t that far off the mark. At some point, Koby had been mooning over Luffy so much that he wouldn’t have noticed if someone had confessed to him.
But now… Now Koby noticed, and he wasn’t the only one.
“Mine!” Luffy growled, wrapping his arms and legs several times around Koby’s body as he glared at the woman who’d been flirting with Koby.
She’d complimented him on his hair and smile and Koby had to admit he’d felt very flattered. It was really sweet of her to point out something other than his muscles.
The woman took a step back, shaken by the intensity of Luffy’s glare.
“Luffy, that’s a civilian, don’t use your haki on her.” Koby tried to placate his boyfriend.
“I don’t care. Koby’s mine. I stole him fair and square and no one is taking him from me.”
Koby smiled, fondly remembering how they got together in the first place. Luffy called it ‘stealing’ but Koby had followed him willingly. It had been right after Luffy had become the Pirate King and Koby had learned some very… unsavory things about the world government and what it stood for. After that, Luffy’s offer to join his crew and become his Nakama had been more than easy to accept.
At the time, Koby hadn’t realized immediately that he was a very special Nakama, for Luffy. His ‘treasure’, Luffy called him. Koby should have known.
“Alright, Captain, how about we go home to the Sunny?”
Luffy broke into a self satisfied smile, before sticking his tongue out at the poor woman. Koby waved her goodbye and Luffy’s limbs wind up even tighter. That night, Luffy stayed glued to Koby’s side, cuddling him late into the night and whispering between snores, “Mine, my Koby, my treasure,” into Koby’s shoulder.