Post-It Notes are not precisely square, either, much to my dismay.

[chibi_trillian]

This was not written in Word, so please tell me if there are any typos. Hey, it's the Obligatory Chapter 438 Reaction Fic. *expires*

Title: Off-Center
Series: One Piece.
One Piece: Not mine.
Rating: G.
Summary: Post-438 spoilertastic. Vaguely Luffy/Usopp. Chopper wanted origami animals, dammit.


He was playing with Chopper, pieces of square paper turning into a parchment menagerie on Sanji's big new

(too big, this place echoed, how were they ever going to fill it all?)

kitchen table. The doctor hugged a small paper reindeer to his chest while parrots and camels and whales and frabjous bandersnatches (which he swore he had successfully hunted as a small boy) formed harmonious herds on the sleekly varnished dark wood. Chopper cheered every time his still-bandaged but dexterous fingers produced something new, and Sanji hummed softly to himself over by the stove.

Luffy would have been here, but he was

(avoiding him)

testing out the new figurehead for napworthiness.

On the bottom of the pile, his fingers discovered a cream-colored sheet, the color of sailcloth

(and Merry's trim)

and clouds on a sunny late afternoon. The paper was high-quality, but the sheet wasn't quite square. He could see it, as he made his first guide creases. The discrepancy was tiny, a sliver, almost unnoticable,

(like five seconds alone on a celebratory tropical night, seeing something no one else could)

but as he folded, it made tiny little tail-ends, little bits of leftover paper that looked slovenly and haphazard when compared to the smooth precision of the animals that had come before. He folded and refolded until the paper was worn and frayed, but it wouldn't even out. He finished the model with a sense of frustration

(like patching the small leaks and knowing he could do nothing for the bigger problem)

and dropped it on the floor, annoyed.

Chopper feigned not to see and asked him to fold a model of Pell instead. He lost himself folding small, delicate paper feathers, and forgot to throw the ruined creation on the floor out.

When he came in for breakfast the next morning, Luffy had a paper ram tucked in the scarlet band of his hat, frayed and battered and half-stepped on, but still the same warm

(like fresh tears and a rubbery hand stretched across the water to clamp onto his shoulder)

color of cream.

Comments

[maldoror-gw.livejournal.com]

I like the way it *feels* like thoughts; the way someone tries to maintain an even temper and pretend everything's fine and these little *thoughts* intrude and are quickly hushed up. The intruding thoughts fold back into the rest of the fic to give it even more layers. Me like ^_^