Someone should write a fanfiction where all the first mate/vice captains (and Nami) go on a vacation together. They founded a CLUB (see the previous post on this), they need a raise, they need a vacation and they need it now. So, their captains are left to fend for themselves for, let's say, a month.

For people like Shanks or Luffy, a week is probably their breaking point (or the time range before boredom and lack of adult supervision pushs them to declare war on the world government, thus forcing their first mates to come back ASAP from vacation).

Absolute chaos becomes unstoppable for the crews who never noticed how much life changes when a more adult adult than you fixes your messes in exchange for the stability of their own blood pressure. When they finally understand they NEED some adult supervision in order not to explode and/or commit mutiny, they despair at the notion that they are supposed to be their own adult for a whole month.

The first mates, who are relaxing on a tropical beach without a care in the world for once in their lives, watch their crews' shenanigans unfold on a maxi TV and start betting on whose captain will break and/or give up first. Shanks. They've never had so much fun and they all know they deserved it.

Finally, they return to their babysitting duties, relaxed and regenerated, and all the captains have never been happier to see their first mates again in all their lives (if Luffy's and Shanks's bear-like hugs are almost unbearable then it's just a matter between first mates, captains and the latter’s deep-seated abandonment issues).

Hello! I LOVE your mermaid au and I had a couple questions about Luffy’s bathing habits. In canon, Luffy bathes once a week, but being a mermaid, does she bathe more often? Also, would she mind bathing with other guys? I assume she still likes taking baths with her brothers (much to everyone else’s envy), so what difference is another male? I just imagine in Alabasta, she tries going into the male side, only to get dragged away by the other girls.

So I found this ask hilarious, bc if this was just a regular genderbend AU without the mermaid element, I would ABSOLUTELY say that Luffy is every bit as nasty as canon and bathes only one a week. The only person who could really change her mind is Ace, but keep in mind they lived in the jungle as wild children together, so he doesn’t really care all that much either. (adult!Sabo might be slightly concerned when he finds out, but let’s be real. Despite dressing posh and admittedly enjoying baths when they’re available, he’s also used to long under cover missions and war zones, and is not particularly bothered by it. He’ll still smother his siblings in hugs even if they haven’t bathed in a month...)

That being said, Luffy IS a mermaid. And as a mermaid, she loves water. Specifically, she loves soaking in it (and there’s a story on this on Patreon, which I may share here eventually). Sure, she loses her strength in it and has to be supervised so she doesn’t accidentally drown, but she loves how it feels to be in it, there’s something right about water that soothes her and makes her tail feel nice. So she does it whenever there’s any down time and she doesn’t feel like she needs to create a havoc (it happens, once in a while).

So while it’s not necessarily bathing, in the sense that there’s no conscious intent to clean herself, it’s perfectly normal to see Luffy completely submerged in a shallow pool on the deck for hours, Ace or someone else from the crew chilling by her side and poking her once in a while to make sure she’s awake. And oftentimes, said crew member will pamper her by stroking her tail or swishing the water around to make fake waves, which she loves. As a result, she doesn’t smell nearly as terrible as she otherwise likely would have.

(as a side note, bc I love thinking about scents (that are hopefully pleasant), I high-key headcanon that Ace and Sabo post eating the Mera Mera fruit actually smell pretty nice (or at least neutral). Bc their whole bodies and everything they’re wearing can turn into literal fire, so I feel like they should be able to just, burn off any muck and sweat on their bodies whenever they want, and just constantly have a strong undercurrent of fire/smoke/soot scent. Convenient, logias)

As for who she actually bathes with, given her actual bath times, made absolutely mandatory by Nami for the entire crew? Well, of course her brothers. Luffy wouldn’t mind bathing with anyone else, in fact everyone at once sounds fun! But Ace and Sabo won’t have it for some reason, and well, she likes bathing with them too so she’s not complaining. It’s nice quiet bonding time, away from the rest of crew, and she can lean against Ace’s chest while Sabo’s fingers work wonders on her scalp with Nami’s shampoo. And yeah it’s a tight fit, but she’s got water on her tail and both her brothers pressed close, what could be better?

And of course she tries to go to the mens bathing side in Alabasta! She goes where Ace and Sabo goes, this is very natural to her, and she only has the vaguest understanding what the difference between men and women is anyway (she thinks the wall barrier is stupid, they finally have a bath big enough to swim in, why can’t everyone have fun together?). Ace and Sabo very, VERY reluctantly tell Luffy to just this once, go bathe with the girls, because Vivi looks sad at the thought of Luffy not joining them, and well, the princess is their host and just saved her country and gets special privilege today.

But they still request some private time later on so that they can bathe with just the three of them, which Vivi arranges for them.

(to be clear, the brothers don’t like Luffy bathing (or bunking) with the women any more than the men, bc the women are almost all gay for Luffy (certainly Nami, Vivi, and Koala who are there at Alabasta), and the issue is less gender, and more that they don’t want Luffy naked and alone with people who have clear romantic interest in her. It’s not that they don’t trust the women, or think they’ll actually do anything to Luffy, and tbh it’s the same for the men in the crew. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t rather keep Luffy’s bathing to themselves)

Thanks for sending this ask! <3

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~