[For a few moments after the feed clicks off, he's left staring at where Ace's smiling expression used to be. It was a fake, it had to be. Ace died--Ace died with him, he'd watched it happen and there just wasn't any possibility that his precious older brother had survived what had happened.
A twisting mix of emotions made him drop the torn coat he'd been holding to the side, looking down at his plate of food like it had done him wrong. What kind of place was this, to play jokes like that on him--or, if it really was Ace, then...
Not that Luffy had enough time to really think about it. He was pretty bad at thinking things through on a normal day, so the process of trying to figure out if what he'd just seen was a bad joke or not... would take just about the same amount of time that it would take the other pirate to show up in the dining hall. His head turns at pretty much the perfect time to see that arm coming, but certainly not with enough time to keep from suddenly being grabbed.
In that way that's too familiar, in a way that can't just be copied by some idiotic shapeshifter. His hands come up, trying to grab at that arm with a loud, startled yelp, his eyes blown wide as he stares up at the other in utter disbelief.
He was warm. Funny, that was the first thing that goes through his head. He's warm, and as his fingers dig into that arm that's gripped around his neck...]
...How? [The words choke out, shaky and confused, his shoulders bunching up like they had springs in them.] How am I supposed to believe you're here right now? [Luffy! Listen up and remember this--I'm not going to die!] Ace--!
ohhh my god I'm so pumped for gold > ACTION TIME
A twisting mix of emotions made him drop the torn coat he'd been holding to the side, looking down at his plate of food like it had done him wrong. What kind of place was this, to play jokes like that on him--or, if it really was Ace, then...
Not that Luffy had enough time to really think about it. He was pretty bad at thinking things through on a normal day, so the process of trying to figure out if what he'd just seen was a bad joke or not... would take just about the same amount of time that it would take the other pirate to show up in the dining hall. His head turns at pretty much the perfect time to see that arm coming, but certainly not with enough time to keep from suddenly being grabbed.
In that way that's too familiar, in a way that can't just be copied by some idiotic shapeshifter. His hands come up, trying to grab at that arm with a loud, startled yelp, his eyes blown wide as he stares up at the other in utter disbelief.
He was warm. Funny, that was the first thing that goes through his head. He's warm, and as his fingers dig into that arm that's gripped around his neck...]
...How? [The words choke out, shaky and confused, his shoulders bunching up like they had springs in them.] How am I supposed to believe you're here right now? [Luffy! Listen up and remember this--I'm not going to die!] Ace--!