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Sabo was different.
At first, Ace thought he smelled different because Sabo came from a noble family and had this weird thing about taking baths all the time. Sabo didn’t care if he got messy though, so it wasn’t that annoying. Sabo was also touchy, wanting to put an arm around his shoulders or drag him by the hand. Sabo also had this annoying obsession with blankets, sometimes he would even make a huge pile of them and force Ace to lay with him in it, like they were birds or something. It wasn’t until after Luffy came and turned everything upside down that Ace found out why, because Sabo wouldn’t tell him.
Luffy, in his characteristic fashion, blew Sabo’s cover as easy as breathing.
Sabo had made another blanket pile thing, and was dragging Ace towards it. Luffy, never wanting to be left out, had seen the struggle and thrown himself into the middle of it. Crashing into his older brothers, they landed in a heap on top of Sabo’s blanket pile, rubbery limbs and pillows going everywhere. Luffy was laughing, insisting that he wanted to “be in the mystery nest too”. Ace opened his mouth to tell the Crybaby that he was welcome to trade places, but was interrupted by Sabo yelling.
“You ruined it! Dang it Luffy, why!?” Sabo was crying, and Sabo didn’t cry. Not over dumb things. It was enough to render Ace speechless.
Luffy blinked up at him, worried and confused. He looked around him, taking in the flattened pile and the scattered pillows. He seemed to realize something, and his eyes began to fill with tears.
“I’m sorry Sabo, I didn’t mean to break it, I promise I won’t do it again. Please don’t cry Sabo, we can fix it better, we can fix it and I won’t touch it anymore, just please don’t cry Sabo.”
Luffy had wrapped him in his arms at least three times, and now Sabo was crying harder and Ace really, really wanted to hug Sabo too. He had learned early to follow his gut, but this was so weird, it left him frozen where he had been knocked over. HIs instincts were screaming at him to help Sabo, to make him feel better, but Ace didn’t know how. He wasn’t good at making people feel better, or even any good at talking to people. He was awful at it and the sole reason he and Sabo had become friends was because Sabo was good at it and for some reason didn’t mind that Ace was awful.
Luffy kept making promises to never touch Sabo’s “mystery nest” ever again and it kept making Sabo cry harder and Ace just wanted it to stop. He finally forced himself up. He couldn’t become a pirate if he was scared of his own brother’s crying. Stepping carefully over the blankets, Ace made his way over, putting his arms around Sabo and pulling him close.
“Luffy, stop talking.” He snapped.
He must have been really upset, because he went quiet immediately.
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Sabo was still crying, but it was quieter now, the anger gone.
Sabo was hurting, but it wasn’t from Luffy, not really.
It was all remembered times from a big fancy house filled with money and empty on love.
Full of rules and resentment and disappointment, because Sabo had never been what he was supposed to be.
Sabo was hurting because he was loud and aggressive and smart but he was an omega so he wasn’t supposed to be, but he was and that meant he was supposed to be quiet and shy and not ask questions.
Sabo didn’t like to listen, he asked too many questions and he liked to fight, but he liked soft things and he liked cuddling and he was still an omega and no matter what he did his father always thought there was something wrong with him.
Something in him that needed to be broken.
But out here, with Ace and now Luffy, he wasn’t supposed to be anything, do anything, there was only what he wanted, what Ace wanted, and if they wanted different things they would fight and argue until someone gave in.
Ace didn’t try to use his alpha status to make Sabo do anything, and at first Sabo thought he was just waiting. But then he soon found out that Ace hadn’t realized he was an omega, didn’t even know what that meant. Ace had only ever been around Dadan and the other bandits, all alphas aside from Dogra, a beta.
Which meant Ace had only ever been around aggressive, loud people who liked fighting, and Sabo fit right into the framework of Ace’s world.
Sabo could fight and argue and be loud and messy and sometimes even boss Ace around, and now with Luffy, an alpha three years younger who was clingy and cheerful and far too nice for his designation, Sabo had an alpha he had to take care of, who looked to him to be in charge, and now Sabo had gone and yelled at him over a hurt that he didn’t cause, and now Luffy thought he didn’t want him to be a part of the nest now, and it hurt but he couldn’t stop crying.
Luffy was hugging him, holding him tight and trying his best to soothe him, but Luffy was only seven, and he didn’t know how to use his alpha senses at all. Then Ace was there too, making Luffy stop talking about never being in his nest and hugging him too. He was a little better at using his senses, but he relied mostly on instinct and the jungle and the bandits were not gentle, for all that they cared.
Sabo kept crying, but it was quieter now. He didn’t want Luffy to leave, he didn’t want Ace to leave, he wanted all of his brothers in his nest together.
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When Sabo woke up, it was nighttime. He was startled at first, seeing the stars above him instead of the roof of their tree house. But then he felt Luffy’s foot shift, moving from being shoved against his knee to dig into his ribs. Ace was on his other side, sitting up but still asleep, holding his busted pipe. They were all together in the nest, in the dim moonlight he could see where they had tried to put the nest back together, and a part of Sabo was irritated that they had moved things, but the more rational part of his emotions was happy that the alphas had tried to give him the nest he wanted.
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Sabo had fallen asleep crying, and Luffy had been insistent that they fix the nest and all stay in it until Sabo woke up. Ace had argued that sleeping out in the open wasn’t safe, and Luffy had just said that it wouldn’t matter because Sabo would feel safer in the nest. Ace was boggled. He tried to argue with Luffy again, because Sabo wasn’t dumb. He was the smartest, even if Ace didn’t want to admit it out loud. Sabo would know that it was safer to sleep in the tree house than out in the open.
“But Ace, Sabo’s an omega, he needs the nest to feel safe!” Luffy said with exasperation, like how their brother felt mattered more than anything else. He was stacking a pillow on top of two others in a way that was definitely not the way Sabo had it.
“A what?” Ace asked. He’d never heard of that before.
“An omega.” Luffy said seriously. “It’s a mystery thing, but Makino said omega’s need a lot of cuddling and like making nests to sleep in, so they feel safe.”
Ace usually didn’t pay much attention to anything Luffy dubbed a “mystery”, because he thought anything that didn’t make sense was a “mystery”, but Makino knew a lot of things about people that Ace didn’t, and she wasn’t a liar.
And Sabo always got this weird shaking in his arms and legs before he made his blanket-piles, and he usually fell asleep on top of Ace as soon as he had finished dragging him into one. He also hadn’t slept alone in one since they first few months after they’d met. But if Sabo wanted to be safe, why did he want Ace to be there with him? Luffy he could understand, he was their baby brother, he needed to be kept safe, but Ace didn’t need to be kept safe.
“...and then they share with other special people, like family and they all cuddle until they feel better.” Luffy had been explaining.
Ace only caught the end of it, but it sounded like Sabo wanted someone to guard him while he was in his blanket-nest-thing. Ace could do that. Fighting was about the only thing he was could at, and he was very good.
“Okay,” He said decisively. “I’ll stand guard then, and you fix the nest while Sabo sleeps. We can stay all stay here until he says it’s time to leave.”
“Yeah!” Luffy grinned, setting a blanket carefully down over Sabo before running around collecting the scattered bedding.
Ace stayed next to him in the nest, focusing on the forest around them. He didn’t realize it at the time, but the haki and alpha senses coming off of him warned even the tiger lord away.
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Years later, on a ship with a Ram’s head for the mast, Luffy would drop a huge pile of blankets and pillows in front of his sniper, grinning. Usopp, who had tried to hide his designation, stared up at his new captain in shock and horrified disappointment. He braced himself for being called out on yet another lie.
“You’re gonna need it aren’t ya?” Luffy asked, “Sanji brought a lot of cool blankets too, so he helped me pick these out. Look, this one has a giant octopus on it, and this one has-”
Usopp didn’t even bother listening to the rest, throwing his arms around Luffy and bawling, because Luffy still wanted him on his ship even though he was an omega, and he wanted Usopp to take care of himself, to be an omega and a pirate.
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A few years before that, on a ship resembling a giant whale, Ace is sparing with the first division commander for the first time. He had agreed to join, but they still needed to set a few things straight before it became official. Pops had a lot of children, omega and beta and alpha, and the rules on the Moby were unconventional by most standards.
The plan was simple, the same one they always used. Marco, being an omega and the first mate, would kick Ace’s ass, Ace would posture and try to bully him, and Marco would tell him not to try and pull any of the alpha bullshit and they would all get along fine. They would probably have to knock him into the water a few times to get the lesson to stick, but Ace was a good guy, it wouldn’t take too long to iron out.
But Ace surprised him, not by winning, of course, Marco always won, and not by asking for a rematch. They always wanted a rematch. It was the way he asked for it. Laughing, a touch of embarrassment and not a trace of anger or shame. His alpha senses were staying close, calm like there was nothing in the world to be angry or territorial about right now. He was still laying flat on the deck, Marco standing over him, watching him curiously. Behind them, Pops was laughing.
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Many, many years before two other brothers set sail, a little omega lay in a hospital bed in a secret base, hidden from the World Government and the Celestial Dragons. The little boy knew his name was Sabo, but could remember little else, but he often dreamed of sleeping in a nest outside in a jungle, surrounded by the smell of alphas that were somehow safe.
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Sanji had thought the Mosshead’s complete disregard for anything approaching manners and civility had been through a sense of alpha entitlement. The cook had seeen it all through his life, and had boarded the Going Merry expecting the same from the swordsman and even from Luffy, though he seemed to be more of an idiot than an ass.
Sanji quickly found out that wasn’t the case. The Mosshead was just that fucking dense. It was like the moss really was growing over a solid hunk of rock. He just did not understand the finer details of how to treat ladies or omegas, and what was worse, he didn’t fucking care. The cook would never admit that he was happy that the brute was so ready to fight with him over everything, or that when he threw insults it was always about him, not his designation. It was his eyebrows or his fighting or the way he treated women the way they should be treated. Designation never had anything to do with it.
The Mosshead never even said anything about his cooking being connected to his designation. He’s not sure if that kind of insult would ever blow over.
Deep down, Sanji knew that cooking was an outlet for those instincts. The need to take care of people, to see them fed and full and happy. It had always been an outlet, especially before he left the North Blue, when there had been nothing soft or safe or kind to help him settle. Kitchens had always been warm, and food was a way to take care of people without having to touch them, without having to always be near them.
It wasn’t until a few months into their journey that Sanji saw designation be brought up at all. He knew Usopp was an omega as well, the only other omega onboard. A part of him had been surprised that such a nervous wreck had actually agreed to join a ship with two alphas who were so much stronger than him, but Luffy and Mosshead didn’t show any interest in throwing their hormones around, and Luffy had shown more fascination in finding fucking bugs than being intimate with anyone.
But today, Usopp came into the galley shaking. It wasn’t his usual anxiety rearing up, and the water had been quiet lately. The sniper came in, pale and trembling, hunched over and hugging himself. Sanji bit back the urge to tell him to go lay down. Men had pride, and Usopp most of all.
Luffy poked his head up from staring at the breakfast sausages, took one look at Usopp, then took the whole platter and marched over to him. The sniper looked up in surprise.
“Huh, L-luffy? What’s-“
“Usopp needs to nest.” He stated bluntly.
“What? N-no! The Great Captain Usopp never needs-“
Luffy didn’t let him finish, just grabbed his hand and started pulling him-gently, for a wonder- towards the door. “Everybody needs to nest. C’mon, I’ll even bring you more meat, but Usopp needs to take a nest-nap until he feels better.”
Usopp opens his mouth to argue, and Sanji is about to argue too, because alphas can’t just tell an omega when to nest, but the Mosshead opens his mouth instead.
“Hey, it’s Captain’s orders, we’ve all got to rest sometime. It’s not like anyone but the damn curly-brow gets mad when I meditate.”
“Because you lay in the middle of the way every damn time you do, stupid Mosshead!” Sanji yells back, forgetting for a moment that there’s an unsettled omega in his kitchen.
Luffy giggles, tugging on Usopp’s hand again. “See? Nap times are the best times!”
Usopp looks at everyone, his eyes filling with tears. Sanji sighs, blowing out a cloud of smoke.
“Go on and rest, we can’t afford to have our sniper down when the marines come by. I’ll bring you some snacks later.”
Swallowing, Usopp puts his shoulders back, lifting his head high. “You’re absolutely right, this crew could never survive a marine attack without the Great Captain Usopp standing at the front of the defense!”
From the corner of his vision, Sanji sees the Mosshead smile, just a little, before Luffy finally drags him back out to the little storeroom that had been set aside for nesting. He also sees the empty spot on the table where the platter of food had been. Sighing, he turns back to the stove. Usopp wouldn’t eat the whole thing, but Luffy could and likely would.
A few hours later, Sanji steps quietly into the nesting room, a laden tray in hand. Usopp and Luffy are both laying in an elaborate nest with an actual roof and what looks like a moat of some sort, and the cook can’t help but be a little impressed. He usually just piled whatever soft things he could on top of and around himself and went to sleep.
Shoes had been kicked off haphazardly, and goggles set carefully on a high shelf on the far wall, next to Luffy’s hat. Luffy had a leg sticking out, and upon stepping closer Sanji could see that the rubber moron hadn’t actually kicked a whole in the nest, just decided to put his leg through a drawbridge big enough for a man to crawl through.
Sanji set the tray down on the table, surprised to see the breakfast platter still sitting on it, half-full. At the smell of food, Luffy’s leg twitched, and the his snoring stopped. The rubber leg went into the nest-castle, and a moment latter his head popped out, staring up at Sanji.
“Usopp is still napping.” He said quietly. The cook was surprised he was even capable of being so quiet. And of somehow not leveling the whole nest.
Sanji shrugged. “It’s fine, he can just eat it when he wakes up.”
“Okay.” Luffy said. He didn’t move, just kept staring seriously at the cook, like he was figuring something out.
It made him want to leave. Instead, he tried to distract the Captain. “You didn’t finish the food?” It wasn’t like Luffy not to eat. He never wasted food, whether it was edible or not.
The rubber man shook his head. “Usopp got full, so we’re saving it for later.”
Sanji stared at him, dumbfounded.
Luffy’s gaze turned quizzical, his eyebrows scrunched. “Why is Sanji looking at me like that?”
The cook shook his head, firmly reminding himself that not all people were like the Vinsmokes. “Nothing, I’m just surprised. You’re usually trying to steal food.”
Luffy frowned. “You don’t steal food from omega’s when they’re in the mystery nest, you’re supposed to give them food and cuddle them. Stealing their food is wrong.”
Sanji stared a moment longer, then smiled. “Yeah, you’re right.” It was surprising how often Luffy just knew things that most hundred year old alphas couldn’t grasp.