You have been looking for Usopp for quite some time now. He was nowhere to be found, having checked most obvious places on the Sunny for him. There was something you were trying to tell him, but his presence seemed to evade you no matter where you looked. It was time to start questioning people now to find out where the hell he was, so you decided to ask the one person that knew everyone's whereabouts without fail: Nami.

"Oi Nami!" You called out, running up to her. "Have you seen Usopp anywhere? I can't find him."

"Usopp? He's been in the garden for like an hour now." She answered nonchalantly.

"The garden? Oh my god- that's literally one of the only places I didn't check." You groaned, face palming. "Thank you so much for helping my blind ass."

"Of course! Are you off to finally confess your love to him?" She teased as you started to walk away.

"Maybe. You'll find out eventually." You shot back casually, completely unfazed.

You could hear her laughter in the background as you marched off to the garden to find Usopp. She was right, but you'd never admit that to her. Carrying on you climbed up to the little tangerine grove and thankfully spotted Usopp right away, crouching amongst various plants near the back of the garden. He was wearing a pair of his old overalls from before, but sized up to fit him as he was now, his hair tied up high while nose deep in his exotic weaponized plants. You took a moment to admire him lost in his work, letting out a sigh of weakness before you finally approached him.

"Hey Usopp. I've been looking for ya!" You greeted, giving him a gentle tap on his shoulder.

He jolted with surprise, your presence shocking him before he got a grip on his surroundings.

"_______! A little warning next time, hey?" He greeted in return with a wry smile.

"Sorry~! You were in the zone and I didn't want to interrupt." You apologized as you knelt down next to him. "Do you mind if I just hang out here with you for a bit?"

"I don't mind at all! I'm honestly just finishing up with watering before I go down for some food." He told you.

"Fine by me! I can hang until you're done." You nodded.

Content with your presence now, Usopp went right back to tending to his incredibly deadly plants without batting an eye. You settled yourself and watched him carefully, rather impressed by how effortlessly he worked with each plant. Without caring, you stared at him as he worked, totally unashamed as you rested your shin in your hands and observed his activities. Your gaze was quite piercing though, and soon Usopp could practically feel your eyes on him. Turning to check on you, he became fidgety and embarrassed when he saw you staring so intently at him. The little smile you had on didn't help his case either, unable to suppress the thought of how cute you looked.

"_______. Y-you're staring." He brought up nervously.

"Oh, I know. I just think you look cute when you're in your element." You replied with a smirk.

"P-p-pardon?!" He sputtered, not quite expecting you to say that.

"You heard me. By the way, you've got dirt on your face, cutie." You added, reaching over and wiping off a bit of dirt from his cheek with your thumb.

He was completely red by now, frozen in place while you smirked at his adorable antics. In fact he was so shocked that he didn't realize he was overwatering one of his plants, the water having started to overflow onto the ground as the soil became supersaturated. You snickered at the sight and had to push on him a little to regain his attention, pointing at the soaked planter. When he realized what he was doing he fumbled the watering can, tossing it away to stop the overwatering. You laughed a little louder, amused and charmed by his goofiness.

"Oi, look at me for a sec." You said, nudging him again.

Still wordless, he turned his reddened face towards you wondering what more you could possibly do to fluster him further. Turns out it was a lot more, as from the moment he faced you, you had your lips pressed up against his without any explanation. He went scarlet down to his neck, unsure of what to do with himself as you kissed him with such surprising tenderness.

You weren't a huge fan of his stiffness, so you took his hands in yours and gently rubbed your thumbs over the backs of them to tell him that this wasn't an extended joke of some sort. Luckily your gesture worked and you could feel him calming down already, his hands gently squeezing yours back after a few moments. You could feel the callus of his always working hands on your skin and you smiled, tugging him a little more to keep him close. He finally began to relax now, content with the feeling of his lips against yours, suddenly missing it when you pulled back out of nowhere to speak to him again.

"Quick question: can I come help you in the garden more often? I mean, I like you so much that I feel like I have a right to be here more often." You asked playfully.

"S-seriously? That... That's how you're gonna confess to me? Y-you should be the one getting flustered, not me." He grumbled, still so very red in the face.

"That doesn't answer my question, Usopp~!" You hummed.

"Yes! T-the answer is yes. But only on the condition that you stop causing me to overwater my plants." He bargained.

"Mmm, I'm not so sure about that one." You grinned mischievously. "Buuut, maybe I'll be nice and at least wait until you put it down before I lean all over you."

"Oh my god..." He mumbled, still incredibly flustered as you pressed your forehead up against his.

"Sorry~" You hummed. "Can I assume you don't mind too much then?"

"... Yes. You can assume so because... I like you too, _______." He said quietly. "Just... Help me fix the garden, hey?"

"Deal~"