Chapter Text
Zoro would think this island they’d washed up on was a godsend if he believed in that sort of thing.
Not only had it appeared on the horizon not long after they’d run out of food after days adrift, but they’d beached the dinghy right next to the island village’s bar. As one, Zoro and Luffy whooped. The little ball of energy that was his new captain leapt out of the dinghy, arms shooting straight out to grab the posts of the small open-walled shack, he catapulted out with a cry of “Food!”
Zoro shook his head at the crazy bastard’s antics. Jumping onto the sand with a satisfying squelch, he put his back into heaving their tiny boat up further onto the shore. There was a solid-looking palm tree next to the squat, run-down little bar, which Zoro reckoned would be good enough to keep the dinghy from washing away. Satisfied with his work, he followed his captain, who was having some sort of argument with the short, thin woman behind the bar.
“Oh, c’mon!” The pirate wheedled. “I’m gonna be the King of the Pirates, my treasure tab will be worth a lot one day!”
The woman was un-swayed, but amusement sparked in her eyes.
“And I’m telling you we take payment up-front.”
Zoro thunked a couple beri on the bar, diverting their attention.
“I’ll have the cheapest sake you’ve got and whatever there is to eat that the change will get me.”
The woman beamed at him. “A paying customer,” she said, taking the money. “Of course, sir. Coming right up.”
Ignoring Luffy’s cries of protest, the barwoman placed a bottle and a sake cup in front of Zoro and shuffled away into the walled-off kitchen.
“But fooood,” Luffy whined, slumping against the bar. Ignoring the cup, Zoro took a hefty swig, sake burning sweetly down his throat. Taking his time, he sighed then shot Luffy a sharp grin.
“You’re a pirate. Steal some food.”
Luffy half pouted, half glowered up at him.
“I’m not gonna steal the food.” He seemed to consider this. “Well, not yet.”
Zoro barked a laugh. Fate had saddled him with a weird captain.
While the booze sank in, Zoro took in the scenery. Three sides of the bar were open to the elements, held up by worn wooden columns, allowing the late afternoon sun to crawl in. More importantly, the sea breeze cooled off the sweat that came with said sun. The village that this bar was a part of sprawled to the left–or whatever. Weather-worn wooden buildings which seemed to sag in on themselves. The island was too small for him to recognise, but Zoro would bet it was an old pirate hangout that had lasted long enough to be an actual settlement, all the pirates killed off or moved on decades before. He’d seen its like before; there were a million little towns with the same story dotted across the peaceful East Blue.
The kitchen door swung open with a creak, and the wafting scent of rice and cooked eel pulled a gargle from beneath Zoro’s haramaki.
“Here you are, we’re serving unagi don today. Fresh eel with this morning’s catch.”
Luffy’s eyes had gone as wide as the bowl the bartender had brought Zoro, who slapped away a creeping hand stretching across the bar. The woman squeaked, dropping the steaming bowl. Without pause, Zoro snatched it from the air, and Luffy’s grasping hands, shovelling a mouthful in as soon as he got it.
“Oi,” he growled through his full mouth, spitting rice onto the boy who was now right in his face. He swallowed and shovelled another mound into his mouth, dodging grabby hands. “Get your own.”
“But Zoro,” Luffy whined, “I don’t have any money.”
Zoro watched in horror as the rubber lunatic licked a speck of spat rice off his cheek.
“That’s not my problem.” Zoro hedged. Mostly just teasing. He’d give in and buy the kid a meal after a bit of begging.
Luffy narrowed his eyes and leaned out of Zoro’s personal space. Finally. Maybe he’d take pity on him sooner than he—
“You should date me.”
Zoro fucking choked.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Luffy grinned. “When you date, the other person buys you food.”
Oh for the love of—
“Fucking fine.” He flagged down the owner, who was now frowning at them, to serve more food.
Funny, he’d thought the unagi don had been cheaper.
After they ate, Zoro dragged Luffy away from the bar. Literally—the freak had wanted four bowls and would not leave without a hand around his wrist. They needed food, and not just the pre-made kind. If they hadn’t drifted across this dump they would have starved, and Zoro was not about to die from something so stupid.
The town was run down and had a weird twisting layout that turned him in strange directions, but there was a general supply store that had water barrels, dried fish and hard tack. Luffy followed along with a scrunched expression making it clear he found the whole shopping experience miserable. Well, it wasn’t like Zoro was having the best time. People thought sea-faring was all about adventure, but sometimes you had to talk a pinched-faced old geezer into lowering his prices so you wouldn’t starve to death.
“I’m sorry young sirs,” the greasy old fuck said through a grin as he robbed them blind, “I couldn’t possibly part with a barrel of fine dried tuna for less than eight-thousand beri!”
Zoro gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to draw his swords. Behind the old man, Luffy was tilting the barrels in question with his forefingers, expression blankly curious.
“The last barrels we bought cost two thousand a piece.”
The old fart pretended to look concerned.
“I’m sorry, but we're just a small village. We don’t get much business out here, and cost of living is just so high. You understand, don’t you, my boy?”
Over the geezer’s shoulder, Luffy grinned impossibly wide. Zoro met his eyes, then split into his own sharp grin. They hadn't been together long but he knew that look.
Time for some piracy.
“You got it,” Zoro said, not taking his eyes off the captain. He reached into his money pouch and pulled out a single, rumpled ten beri note, covering the writing with his thumb. The shopkeep smirked.
“I knew you’d see it my way.”
He took the note.
In one swift motion, Zoro lunged forward and swung himself and the old man around. The man stumbled back with a yelp, and Zoro scooped up the two barrels Luffy'd already left behind when he’d bolted for the now open door, arm twirled around his own barrel. They were chased into the twilight by shouts.
“Thieves! Thieves!”
“Pirates!” Luffy cheered, twisting his head sickeningly backwards and hovering in the air a moment as his body ran on. Zoro overtook him with a chuckle as others in the village took up Luffy’s shout. People piled out of houses with guns and swords, clearly always ready for a fight. Zoro found himself in the town square, surrounded by angry fishermen. It was the work of seconds to take them all down.
“You shouldn’t play with swords.” It would have been a cool quip had it not ended with a yelp as a rubber arm yanked him across the square by his waist. Hollering and hooting, with torches and pitchforks flying after them, they managed to get back to the beach and the bar. The barwoman from earlier squared them off with a shotgun, teeth bared.
“Damn queers! I should have known you were trouble!”
Luffy stretched to block the bullets while Zoro skidded to their dinghy on his knees, dumping their prize and cutting the rope as Luffy, laughing, jumped in.
Shoving the boat into the high tide, he raced them out to sea before vaulting in and grabbing an oar.
“Nyeh-nyeh!” Luffy hung off the back, pulling his eyelid down to the enraged villagers. Then, bowing: “Thanks for the food!”
They laughed with their bounty off into the night.
Zoro rowed until the little island and the sound of gunshots had both faded into the distance, then dropped the sail. He wasn't too sure how sailing worked, but figured if the sail was catching wind they'd get… somewhere faster. Luffy—the brat—hadn’t bothered lifting a finger, instead munching away at a handful of their hard-won loot.
“Oi! You’re going to eat all our food before morning if you keep going like that.” Zoro pointed out, flopping back onto the bundle of netting he’d made his improvised bed. It dug into his back, but he’d had far, far worse places to sleep. The back alleys of several seedier bars came to mind. Out here on the open ocean, stars above him and a fresh breeze filling the sail, all Zoro needed was the gentle rocking of the boat to drift… right… off…
“Zoro?”
“Hm?” He was only half aware of the other boy, the world fuzzing around the edges.
“Is the date over now?”
Zoro woke with a jerk. Luffy was perched over him chin tucked over his knees, eyes wide with curiosity.
“What?” He demanded. He had to be hearing this wrong.
“Is the date over?” Luffy repeated as if those words strung together made any gods-damned sense.
“What date?”
“You bought me food and we walked around doing chores.” He said as if this made any more sense.
Zoro blinked. Then again. A third time. It hit him.
“No—damn it—idiot—that wasn’t a date!”
Now Luffy was just more confused. “But you said—”
“It was—I was—you were joking. That wasn’t an actual date. You’re supposed to do fun stuff!” Zoro laughed, half crazed. He’d never actually been on a date—he’s never actually cared to—but he wasn’t about to let that be the first one. Especially not with some rubber lunatic that had trotted into his life, blackmailed him into piracy and was somehow now his captain. He didn’t have time to date. He had to work to fulfil his dream.
“Like eat!” Ignorant of Zoro’s spiralling, Luffy pouted.
“Yeah,” Zoro agreed, “But you’ve also gotta—I dunno go on walks and-and-and hold hands and—date things.”
Luffy crossed his arms. “We ate, we walked around the village, and we held hands at the start.”
“But it wasn’t an actual date.”
“You paid for my food.”
Zoro threw his hands up in the air. “No! Look, it wasn’t a proper date. How about the next place we go to, we go on an actual date and I’ll show you the difference.”
Luffy blinked. “OK.”
Zoro huffed and threw himself back in the boat, only rocking it a little.
“Fine.”
“I still think this was a date.”
Zoro threw some tack at him.
Three days later found the pair lounging in their little boat on open water. The heat was too much, and their dinghy was too small for them to do much more than lounge around sleeping or staring at the clouds for most of the day. This was how it went for Zoro usually whenever he found a boat, though the ease he felt with Luffy’s company was a surprise. They’d known each other for a week, but sometimes he felt like the kid understood him almost as much as anyone he’d ever met.
Said ‘captain’s’ head was currently hanging off the side of the dinghy at a frankly unnatural angle, dangling dangerously close to the water. Zoro didn’t really want to go for a morning swim, so he’d hooked his ankle over Luffy’s. It might keep him balanced, it might tip over the boat and leave them to suffer more. Who knew.
“Look!”
Luffy launched himself to the edge of the boat, giving Zoro a split second to trap his ankle in place with his own. On a normal man, this would have broken bones, but Luffy just twisted the leg around and stretched the limb behind him as he thunked his other foot on the side.
Zoro rubbed some sleep out of his eyes, sitting up as the boat rocked dangerously but it didn’t capsize, nor did the rubber man fall out. Heh. Points to him. He followed Luffy’s pointed finger to see a land mass ahead.
“Nice.” They probably wouldn’t die out at sea today.
Stifling a yawn, Zoro yanked the captain back into the boat and took up the tiller.
The island was definitely one of the larger ones in the East Blue. Probably. In any case, he couldn’t see the end of it in either direction once it rose above the horizon. It took a few hours of sailing along the coast before the cliffs opened to reveal a settlement nestled within a small harbour. This was no sleepy little fishing village but a long-established town. It was a bustle of activity which could be seen even from there, with dozens of ships in the harbour and tied at the docks, all filled with the activity of daily life. The town itself wound in tiers up a hill, houses crammed together into tight streets. Clotheslines hung between houses, chickens clucked through alleys, and everywhere people were scurrying about their business.
What was more promising was not one, but four pirate ships in the harbour.
Luffy let a whoop out into the wind, clutching his hat to his head. He turned his too-large grin Zoro’s way.
“Do you think we’ll find a navigator here?”
Zoro hummed, eyeing the bustle as he brought their dinghy into one of the smaller piers along the harbour’s docks.
“Maybe. Depends on if we find someone crazy enough to join up.”
“Yeah, I don’t want boring people on my crew”
Zoro grinned back, “Aye, Captain.”
Luffy jumped onto the pier and gazed around at the place with wonder. Zoro stepped off after him and barely had time to tie the boat off before the energy ball was off.
This was Zoro’s kind of town. There seemed to be a bar at every corner, wild music and shouts echoed through the streets, competing against the noise of the dock. Kids ran, ducking in between the legs of townspeople and pirates alike without any fear of attack. There was laughter and booze and blood in the air. The noticeboard at the end of the dock had the usual wanted posters plastered across it, but someone had graffitied ‘Hall of Fame’ across the top.
The two came to a stop at the board and Zoro scanned the bounties out of habit. None really looked worth his time except maybe Don Crieg. Zoro tapped the poster.
“We could see if this guy’s around. Get the bounty to pull in some money. A bounty that large and he must be strong.”
Luffy squinted at him. “We’re pirates, not pirate hunters.”
Zoro shrugged. “Yeah, but heaps of pirates collect bounties.”
“Those pirates are scum.”
Zoro blinked. Luffy said this as a statement of fact, spoke it and the universe listened.
“Alright then,” he conceded. “No bounties.”
From pirate hunter to pirate. With a glance back at the board, Zoro wondered if one day he’d see his face on one of these. He grinned. He’d damned well better.
They wandered aimlessly through town for a while. There were probably things they should do. They needed a decent boat and someone who knew where the fuck they were going. They needed more supplies and probably new clothes and some way to buy or steal everything they needed. But, Zoro figured as they explored this new and interesting place, it would come when it would. There was a map store open, but one glance inside had both their eyes glaze over in seconds. Instead, their stomachs led them to a small market in the middle of town—Luffy really had a great sense of direction when it came to food. The captain zeroed in on a place that had various animals on spits, drooling at the smell.
“Hey, Zoro,” Luffy said, grinning up at him. “Didn’t you say you were gonna take me on another date?”
Zoro rolled his eyes. “You just want me to buy you food. You could just ask normally.” Well. He could for now, his pockets were getting pretty light, and his sole source of income had just been blocked off for him.
Luffy leaned against the stall, smelling the displayed meats, much to the disgruntlement of the owner. Zoro handed over some beri, and Luffy let out a whoop, grabbing two handfuls of sticks. Zoro pinched a couple for himself, handing over the extra notes as needed.
They moved on, munching away at their food and weaving through the people crowded in the evening markets.
“Dating always seemed boring anyway,” Luffy said through a mouthful, dodging some running children. “But people back home used to talk about it all the time. And plus you get food.”
Zoro hummed. He’d never really thought about dating much, either. The other boys at the dojo had started getting interested in girls and stopped training as much.
“Still,” Luffy continued. “I didn’t think it would be that boring. People used to go dancing on dates back home, and dancing is pretty fun.”
“Oi!” Zoro squawked. “That was not a date. I would not take someone on that shitty date!” It didn’t matter if Zoro didn’t want to go on dates, if he did, they wouldn’t be bad ones.
Luffy snorted. “You said—”
“No-no—we were joking. Look, you agreed I could take you on a proper date to prove you wrong.” He spotted a sign for a bar in a back alley not far from where they were. A jolly roger with a flagon pouring into the skull’s mouth.
“C’mon,” He grabbed Luffy’s slightly greasy hand, deliberately twining their fingers together. “Let’s go have drinks and—dance. That’s a proper date.”
Luffy scrunched his face but went along with him. “What about food?”
“And food,” Zoro confirmed. Luffy brightened, finishing the rest of his meat skewers in one bite, sticks and all. He then cosied up to Zoro’s side as they reached the door to the dingy little bar, startling the swordsman.
“I’m supposed to do this, right?”
“Uh,” he was very close. Zoro forced himself to look straight ahead into the crowded place. Assess for danger. “You can if you want.”
Luffy hummed and stayed where he was, also looking into the room. They were definitely in the right place for pirates, though maybe not the best for a date. The bar itself was in the far corner, two bartenders and several beleaguered barmaids worked to keep up with what his former sensei would probably describe as a den of iniquity. It was mostly men: dirty with ocean spray and cheerful with drink. There were missing teeth and eyes and limbs a-plenty, and more than one game of dice or cards set up. In the corner, a photo of Axe-Hand Morgan was stuck to a dartboard, and two identical women in their early forties were drunkenly taking shots whenever they missed his face with their darts, which was often.
Luffy beamed up at him. “This place looks great!”
Hell yeah it did.
There weren’t any tables free, so Zoro strode up to a lone guy hiccoughing into a beer at a small table in the corner.
“Scram.”
The guy–tall, with wiry brown curls and thick with muscles–eyed Zoro’s three swords, then his bandanna, then Luffy snickering on his arm. Zoro gave him a look that projected just how fucked he would be if he was ignored. He scrammed.
Zoro pulled out a chair for Luffy, who was still delighted at the atmosphere. Zoro scraped his own chair around so his back was to the wall, placing him and Luffy next to each other instead of opposite. Luffy took the opportunity to entwine their hands again.
“So what’s next?” He asked. Then, hopefully: “Food?”
Zoro grinned. “Yep. And booze.”
He flagged down one of the barmaids.
“Can I get three bottles of sake and—” he looked to Luffy.
“Fruit tingle.”
Zoro blinked. OK. “A fruit tingle? And some of everything you have on the menu.”
It was the barmaid’s turn to blink. “Are you sure you want-”
“Yeah!” Luffy confirmed, squeezing Zoro’s hand. “And double the meat!”
The kid was completely delighted by Zoro’s order, which had been the point. He was food-obsessed, ordering him an obscene amount of it was probably the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for him. Zoro was a great date.
“And can you get a candle or something?”
Apprehensive, she looked between the two, noting their laced fingers.
“I guess we have some candles out the back.”
She left and quickly returned with the drinks, candle, some bread and oysters. Zoro managed to barely snag one before Luffy had gulped the rest down. That was okay, as long as the booze was coming his way.
“So, why piracy?”
Luffy flashed his teeth. “It’s the best thing to be! You get to be free and travel the world and go on adventures. What else is there?”
Well, when put that way.
“Kinda seems fun. You’d definitely get into some pretty great fights.”
“Exactly! You’ll love it, I promise! You’ll get to fight marines all the time and who knows what else. I bet your sword skills will get used all the time.”
Zoro laughed. “You know, only a crazy bastard would think of any of that as fun.”
“Well, it’s good we’ve already decided everyone on our crew needs to be crazy.”
“True,” He squeezed Luffy’s hand affectionately. He wasn’t really used to touch but this last week in a tiny boat with his new captain had him getting more of it. “Speaking of trouble.”
Curly was coming back, this time with a friend in tow. Luffy saw them too, and snickered at their approach.
“Roronoa Zoro,” the new guy said, he was almost as tall as curly and had a pot belly which he showed shirtless proudly. “Bold of the pirate hunter to show up in Offal Town.”
Offal Town? Zoro had heard of it. It was a famous pirate haven, the only one of its like in the East Blue. Under the protection of one of the Seven Warlords, though he couldn’t remember which one. He hadn’t realised it was in this area. Zoro leaned back, smirking. Cocky. Though the image might have been dampened by Luffy playing with his captured hand. Or not, who knows.
“Pirate now. Got strung up back in Shells Town by the Marines. Strawhat here took down the base captain and blackmailed me into joining his crew.”
“Hey,” Luffy pouted, “I didn’t blackmail you.”
Zoro snorted. “What else would you call ‘join me or I’ll leave you to die’?”
“Uhh…”
“Extortion.” Pot-belly offered dryly.
“There! Extortion!”
Zoro let out a full-bellied laugh, finally releasing Luffy’s hand to clutch at his haramaki, Luffy joining him in fits of giggles at his side.
“There you go.” Zoro managed between wheezes to the two, now amused pirates. “I’ve been extorted into piracy—I come in peace—or something.”
“Plus we’re on a date.” Luffy piped in.
“Ah,” Pot-belly said, amused. “Far be it from us to get in the way of young love, eh Daved?”
Zoro choked, just a little. “That’s not—”
“We’re not in love,” Luffy said, blunt as ever, if true.
Daved—who had seemingly forgiven them for telling him to scram—gave them a wink.
“Nah, kids, don’t worry about us. Offal Town is the best place to be in the East Blue, if you catch my meaning—” Zoro didn’t “—c’mon Pol, let’s leave these two lovebirds be–oi! Is that Sally the Impaler? Bitch owes me three-thousand beri.”
“Huh,” Luffy said as they watched the pair leave. “Weird guys. I liked them.”
“Of course you did.”
Luffy just laughed, leaning onto the table, chin propped against his fist observing the room.
“Pirates are so cool, aren’t they?”
Across the room an argument broke out over who owed who what. By the window someone broke a bottle over a leering man’s head. One of the drunken, dart-throwing sisters was so out of it that she launched a dart in the complete opposite direction of the board, hitting a passing guy in the arm. Said guy roared in pain, brandishing his bottle as a weapon.
Zoro grinned. “Yeah.”
One second the crowd was cheerful, the next a wave of violence swept through the room. Sally the Impaler brandished a fire poker in Daved’s general direction, someone else barrelled into her, and it was through the place like wildfire. Luffy let out a whoop of pure, unbridled joy as a barstool came flying in their direction. Sharing a grin, the two pirates leapt into the fray.
“Beware of lofty clipper ships, they'll be the ruin of you,
For she not only made me walk the plank, she set fire to me mainmast, too.”
The pair of pirates chorused, cool night air stinging their lungs. Music and laughter and calls of farewell followed them into the night, as surely as the bruises they’d both racked up from an evening well spent. Zoro clung to Luffy, whose own arm was firm around his waist. He felt lighter than he had in…
Where were they going again? He tried to focus, but Luffy’s snickers in his ears were drowning out his other senses. Or maybe that was the grog. And for someone nearly sober, Luffy was stumbling just as much as Zoro—or maybe more. Whatever, it didn’t matter, none of it mattered. The air was cold, the company was warm and—
Zoro found himself plopping onto the white sand that had appeared at some point—when had they gotten to a beach? Why had they gotten to a beach?
Luffy flopped spread-eagle into the sand beside him. Zoro looked around. It was a little cove, a bit of sand scattered before the start of the cliffs. To the right, the rocks marked the end of the docks. Out on the harbour, one of the pirate ships was having a party, violins crooning into the night.
A rough hand caught his, drawing Zoro’s attention back to his beaming date. Luffy was breathless and flushed, still giggling like a loon. It was cute, and exactly how someone should look post-date, in Zoro's opinion. Luffy tilted his head to shine in his direction. A bloom of fondness welled from his stomach, curling through to his toes, and Zoro could blame the grog on his answering smile.
“Now that was a date,” Zoro said. He was sore,slightly drunk and completely satisfied with the night’s events.
“Nah, that was too fun. You're not supposed to fight on a date.”
“What? No. That was perfect.” This would not stand. Zoro leaned black, keeping one hand in Luffy’s now familiar hand, boots digging into the sun-warmed sand. “Nothing better than a fight to get blood pumping.”
“I dunno. I still think that was too fun. All the dates I’ve heard of are supposed to be stuffy and boring. You’re supposed to do romantic stuff too, like dancing. You even said there’s be dancing.”
Zoro huffed a laugh. Luffy wanted to dance?
“Ugh, fine. If it will make you happy.” Zoro dragged himself to his feet, pulling the rubber man along until they were standing facing each other, the other giggling the whole while. Zoro fought to keep the long-suffering expression on his face as he wrapped the shorter boy’s arms around his shoulders, then took his waist in his own hands. They swayed to the distant music and it could really only be called a dance if you were blind.
Leaning into Luffy’s space, he said into the shell of his ear, “Boring enough for you?”
Still grinning—his face had to hurt—Luffy shuffled a little closer.
“Nope,” he said with a popping noise. “Dancing with you is fun.”
Warmth burbled in his chest and Zoro laughed. He’d been doing so much of that tonight.
“Well, since this hasn’t satisfied you, we’ll have to give this another go. To get it right, I mean.”
Luffy hummed, thoughtful, eyes glittering with amusement in the moonlight.
“OK. On the next island.” He squeezed Zoro tighter, resting his cheek on Zoro's chest as they slowly stilled. Impossibly fond of this boy already, Zoro allowed the dance to become a hug. The moon was mostly full and bright, the waves smooth, and a cool breeze ruffled through their hair as they stood just basking in the truest companionship he’d felt in a decade. It was nice.
If real dates were anything like this one, Zoro might start going on them.
The orange-haired navigator was a more than welcome addition to their little crew. Nami was brash and obnoxious and completely nuts, so she fit in with them perfectly. Plus she actually knew where she was going. Sure, she was claiming to just be tagging along for the short term, but when she talked about their journey to the Grand Line she used ‘we’ and ‘us’.
She also had yet to make any move to leave. It had been a week and a half since they’d picked her up from Orange Town and she’d shown no signs of wanting to untie their two little boats. Now, as she brought them into an island for a resupply, would be a perfect time for her to ditch them if she was going to.
The village was small and quiet. The sort of cosy tranquillity that was common in the East Blue, and uncommon in other oceans, if what he’d heard was right. Neat little houses and paved streets, small flowers spilled out of window boxes and cows grazed in distant pastures.
“This place is boring.” Luffy moaned, hanging off the side of the dinghy as if the very presence of normality drained him of energy.
“This place is peaceful,” Nami said, turning to Zoro for support only to see his scrunched-up face. “Ugh! Never mind, I’ve had it with you idiots. I’m going to go buy some supplies. You two had better pay me back for them and I will be charging interest!” With that, she stomped onto the pier.
Zoro huffed, getting up off his netting bed.
“Might as well go see if there’s a tavern.” He grabbed the collar of Luffy’s vest, dragging him away from the watery grave he’d been slowly sliding towards. “C’mon, captain.”
Said captain perked up at the title.
“Say, Zoro, this town would be perfect for a proper date.” He said, winding his arm in Zoro’s own. “One of the boring romantic ones that doesn’t have any fighting.”
Zoro blinked down at his stretched grin. “Are we still doing that?”
Luffy shrugged, resting his chin on Zoro’s shoulder, noses inches apart. “The last one was fun but not a proper date. The first one was boring, but you think it wasn’t a proper date. We need one more to settle it.”
Zoro squinted into the distance trying to figure out what the kid was on about. A passing old lady shot him a glare, so Zoro stuck out his tongue. Maybe to Luffy and his skewed sense of reality it wasn’t a date, but he didn’t think dates had to be boring like Luffy seemed to believe. Whatever. It wasn’t like he would have anything else to do in this sleepy village.
“Fine. But I planned the first one. You’re the one who says it’s not good enough, you can figure out what we do this time.”
“Wait—does that mean I have to pay for the food?!” Luffy became a dead weight, sagging against him. Zoro shoved him face first off his shoulder, but his arms just stretched when he tried to pry him off his bicep. Freeloader.
“Yes. Still want to do it?”
Luffy half-pouted half glared at him.
“But I don’t have any money.”
Zoro snorted. “Some date you are.”
“Excuse me.”
Zoro and Luffy paused mid-motion, a picture of stretched limbs and shoving hands. As one they blinked at the newcomer: a small woman with cropped hair, shopping bags in either hand, who had been passing them on the idyllic, clean street. She smiled at them, nervously eyeing Zoro’s swords.
“Yeah?” Zoro said, not moving. Luffy began gnawing at his knuckles. “Cut that the fuck out!”
“Erm…” the woman looked between them. “This isn’t really my business, but I think you said you were—” she glanced up and down the street. Stepping closer she lowered her voice “—on a date?”
Luffy spat out Zoro’s hand. “Yep!”
Zoro eyed the woman. She was acting suspicious, but a simple glance could tell she had no fighting experience. What was she up to? Still, she seemed to relax at Luffy’s confirmation. Suddenly, she was two steps closer and tripping over her words, voice hushed like they were all in on some secret.
“Oh! That’s good—that’s—we don’t see many of our kind around these parts—that is, my wife and I.”
Zoro crossed his arms, Luffy still attached. Did she mean pirates? How had she gotten that from a date? Was it really that obvious that they were pirates, even without bounties behind them?
“Anyway, it’s lovely that you’re so open about it, though people will react poorly if they find out around these parts—though I suppose you’d be used to that.” Damn, they really did just give off an air of piracy, didn’t they? When had that happened? Zoro had been a pirate for a month. She continued: “I know this might interrupt your date, but would you like to come back to mine for some dinner? After that, my wife and I can point you to the most beautiful date location, if you like.”
Luffy’s eyes had turned to dinner plates at the mention of food, and he was already marching their new acquaintance down the street before silly words like ‘suspicious’ and ‘trap’ could enter his mind. Zoro shrugged. This probably was a trap, but honestly, that sounded like the most fun they could have in this dump. Plus if they were pirates, they probably had booze.
Trailing after his captain and the strange pirate woman, Zoro lifted his arm and gave a cautious sniff. Did pirates smell different?
Vereldene led them to a quaint little picket-fenced, limewashed cottage. The front garden was overflowing with flowers of various kinds stacked in pots and planters. A stepping stone path led to a painted green front door, which opened to the smell of freshly baked bread, baking meats, the warmth of well-cared-for old furniture, and seashell decoration.
So this was where pirates went to die.
Luffy blustered in with Vereldene like he owned the place—so the usual—while Zoro leaned in the doorway. Better to keep an eye on the exit.
“Pettie, I’ve brought guests!”
Vereldene dumped her two paper bags on the counter, casually slapping away Luffy’s hand when he moved to pilfer. To Zoro’s surprise, the rubber man listened. Maybe this woman was so formidable that she completely tricked his sense of danger. That was… well… exciting.
“Guests?” A new voice piped up. This woman was taller than even Zoro, with mousy brown hair to her elbows. A similar age to her wife, Pettie’s brow furrowed at the two dirty pirates gracing her neat home.
“They’re like us,” Vereldene explained, trotting over to press a kiss to Pettie’s cheek. Pettie’s eyes widened and she beamed.
“Oh, that’s wonderful. We hardly ever get anyone like us coming around here—well, no one who we know about at least.”
That tracked. This town didn’t seem the type to draw pirates often. Figuring he was either far outclassed or easily out of the league of the couple, Zoro stepped in, allowing the painted door to swing shut.
“I invited them over for dinner, and—” she wrinkled their nose looking between them “—maybe a bath? I’m assuming you’ve been at sea a while?”
OK, maybe it was the smell.
Luffy rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah! I haven’t had a bath in a month!”
Zoro frowned counting back and—no, yeah that was about right. If one was being offered, they should probably bathe.
Pettie looked like she was going to hurl. “I’ll draw you both the bath—are you happy to share?”
Giving their affirmative, the pirates were swept into the little cottage bathroom, where they had a much-needed wash. Enjoying the soak, Zoro smirked imagining Nami’s jealousy upon learning they’d found a place to bathe for free.
It kind of sucked to don their dirty clothes again on clean skin, but still they came out much later feeling cleaner.
“Ah, they emerge!” Vereldene said. Pettie was just pulling a meatloaf from the oven while she set their small dining table. Really, they were very polite for pirates. “You’re just in time, come take a seat. Pettie and I settled here only a year or so ago, so we hardly ever have company.”
Huh. Zoro plopped himself on an empty seat, physically pulling Luffy’s hand away from where he was about to pick his nose. Luffy pouted at him.
“Why’d you guys decide to stay here?” Zoro asked.
Vereldene winced, pulling back her own seat opposite Zoro.
“People back home found out who we were. We’d been so careful for so long, but well, it all fell through. They were going to arrest us, so we fled.” She looked down, tears glittering unshed in her eyes. Zoro swallowed around a lump in his throat, and he looked to Luffy who had become uncharacteristically serious.
“I’m sorry you had to run,” Luffy said. Simple and honest.
Vereldene gave him a watery smile. “Such is our life. I wish it were better, but that’s not for us to choose. We’re here now, and we love each other, and the laws in this country are different. They won’t like it if they find out, but they won’t arrest us.”
“Still we have to be careful,” Pettie said, bringing over the meatloaf. Luffy’s eyes became starry, Zoro’s hand at his collar the only thing keeping him from leaping forward as Pettie began serving. “In town, we’re seen as sisters. And we’d like to keep it that way.” Her voice turned hard.
In another moment of sobriety, Luffy said, “We won’t tell.”
It had the ring of an order. Zoro nodded in agreement. These women had taken them into their home, fed them and bathed them, given their secret and safety into their hands for some simple camaraderie. No way in hell would Zoro betray that insane amount of blind trust.
The women beamed and they all dug in. They were unperturbed by Luffy’s insane apatite and raised-by-wolves manners, seemingly happy to give away all the leftovers for his seconds, thirds and fourths. They were funny and charming, regaling them with tales of how they became a couple and other pirates they knew. Once they’d brought out sherry for dessert, Zoro had been firmly won over.
“I was surprised with how open you were,” Vereldene remarked, deep into her second glass. “Just right there on the street. I can see you can look after yourselves-” she nodded to Zoro’s swords “-but I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Zoro would really like to fucking know what they’d been doing. How had they given themselves away? He’d just opened his mouth to ask when Luffy piped up.
“You guys don’t happen to have any date ideas, do you? Zoro says it’s my turn to think up something since he did it the last two times—” (“Oi! The first time does not count!”) “—but I’m not sure what to do that won’t cost money. Or be boring.”
“Well,” Pettie said, rising to clear the table, refilling Zoro’s glass while she did it. Great woman. “We do happen to have the most lovely date spot in the East Blue a short hike from here.”
“Really? Is it normal date stuff? It needs to be normal or it won’t count.”
Zoro growled, “It was one bar fight—you had fun!”
“You’re not supposed to have fun on a date!”
“That’s the whole point!”
“No, the point is to be mushy and weird. You’ll see.”
Vereldene laughed.
“Oh don’t worry, dear. Zoro’s right. Good company is really all you need, everything else comes from that. Still, our date spot is very standard date fare if you’re worried about that.”
“Sounds like he should be,” Pettie remarked. Then, to Zoro: “A bar fight? Really?”
“He had fun!”
“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to sing bawdy songs and get drunk with a bar full of pirates, either.”
Zoro threw his hands up in the air, defeated, as the other three laughed at his expense.
“Fine, it was a shitty date—but I bet whatever this is can’t top it.”
The wives shared a conspiring look.
“That sounds like a challenge,” Vereldene said.
Pettie grinned wickedly, busying herself in the kitchen. “Let me put together a dessert picnic for you. This is going to be the most romantic damned date either of you have ever had.”
Zoro couldn’t help but laugh as Luffy cheered, dashing over to the kitchen to ‘help’.
Despite this ‘help’, Pettie made short work of tying together some leftover cakes and the remains of the sherry bottle into a bandanna for a picnic. Before long, the four pirates had set out into the cool evening, Luffy and Vereldene laden with plush pillows and blankets of assorted sizes and colours that looked like they made this trek often if the slightly bashed and dirty fabric were anything to go by.
Vereldene and Pettie’s cottage was at the end of the lane, one of the last in the village, so it wasn’t long before they had crested to the top of the hills nearby, heading along a small, well-trodden path through the undergrowth.
Luffy had found his now-normal spot on Zoro’s arm again, fingers twined together, arm twisted unnaturally around Zoro’s own. It was becoming a familiar and comfortable warmth that Zoro found himself leaning into in the chill night air.
Then he noticed that Luffy was sniffing at him, eyes wide and curious.
“For fuck’s sake, do I actually smell?”
Luffy snickered, “Yes.” He deftly dodged Zoro’s swing, still laughing. “You smell different now. Normally you smell like cloves and sweat—now you just smell like sweat.”
Cloves? Oh.
“That’s my sword oil, it’s made with cloves.” He unsheathed one sword and brought it close enough for Luffy to sniff. He did, closing his eyes to inhale, then hummed in satisfaction.
“I like it,” Luffy said, “you should keep smelling like that.”
Zoro chuckled, warm and deep. “Aye, Captain.”
Curious, he gave Luffy a sniff. He too smelled vaguely of sweat. Sweat and sea salt and straw, and underneath that, something soft and musky.
“Do you like how I smell?” The rubber man asked.
Zoro’s eyes flung wide, realising what he’d been doing. A flush ran across his cheeks without permission. What was he doing? Luffy’s weirdness must be catching. Ignoring the rubber man’s snickering, Zoro marched closer to where Pettie and Vereldene were carving their path.
The mysterious path the pirate wives led them on opened up to a small, rocky cove. Trees grew rough and wild here, the cove itself covered with a rock overhang where someone had strung rope and lines of paper in various places as decoration. A little dinghy, much like the one Luffy and Zoro were currently living in, was tied up on the sand by the water.
The pair shared a look.
“No offence,” Zoro said, “but we hang out on a boat all the time.”
“Oh hush,” Vereldene chided, beckoning Luffy over to help set up the cushions in the boat. “This will be different to floating on open water with your fishing gear. Trust us.”
“Plus you don’t want to just hang out. Cuddling is a must on this date. It’s about soaking in the atmosphere.” Pettie added, moving to help arrange where Luffy was mostly hindering.
Luffy, for his part, was delighted by this turn of events. Since the strange kid seemed to only want to go on this whole escapade to prove to Zoro that dates were supposed to be boring, things must be looking up. Something twisted a little in the pit of Zoro’s stomach. Well whatever. At least there would be booze.
Once the three’s ministrations were complete, Luffy joyfully lifted the boat into the water, much to the womens’ shock. Zoro felt a little of that too, though not at Luffy’s strength. Instead-
“Wait, the water glows?!”
Pettie was the first to get over her surprise, chuckling at their faces. “Yep! There’s a kind of jellyfish that lives here that makes the water glow when it's disturbed. You can also see the jellies in the water. There’s thousands of them.”
Zoro got closer, peering into the nearly black water. Sure enough, he saw the occasional spark of electric blue lighting up short, translucent tentacles. Luffy came up beside him.
“Are they dangerous?”
“Can I eat them?”
“No to both,” Pettie said. “They won’t sting you, but if you eat them you might get a stomach ache.”
Luffy sagged, so Zoro gave him a reassuring pat on the back.
“Alright then, Luffy. Let’s get this over with.”
Zoro made to get on the boat, but Luffy gave a yelp, vaulting over him to get on first, then offered a hand to help Zoro on board. Zoro rolled his eyes, but took the offered hand.
“We’ll leave you to it, just follow the path to get back.”
“No one will disturb you.”
With those final words, their new friends left, taking the lanterns with them, plunging them into darkness.
Zoro pushed off from the shore, and the water glowed bright blue where the water was disturbed. Now that the light source was gone, every little movement of the water was brought to life, every flicker of the jellies beneath them cascading light throughout the little cove. It was beautiful.
“Well,” Luffy said, “time to eat!”
Zoro sighed, leaning against the admittedly soft pillows cushioning the edge of the boat.
“Pass the booze, would you?”
A bottle came flying at his face, which he caught happily. Sherry was a bit too sweet for him, but it went down just as well.
He was just thinking of taking a nice nap when a body flopped against him. Blinking, he looked down to where Luffy had settled himself in the crook of his shoulder as if he owned it. The younger man had made quick work of the picnic and was apparently taking what the pirates said to heart.
“We don’t actually need to cuddle, you know.”
Luffy wiggled a little against his side. “But we need to do romantic, mushy things, or we’ll just get stuck on whether or not this counts as a date. Plus, you’re comfortable.”
That seemed fair enough. He curled his arm around Luffy’s waist, noting the hardness of his muscles. His captain didn’t look like much, but he was a tough bastard. Funny, he should be bored, lying here with Luffy pressed against him. But it was kind of hard to be bored when it was all just so damned beautiful. When the body pressed to his side felt like warmth and companionship, a kindred spirit.
“So, is this romantic and mushy enough for you?’ He asked.
Luffy hummed. “Yeah, definitely.” He sat up suddenly, looking at Zoro with wide eyes. “Do we have to kiss?”
Zoro’s mouth went dry. “No,” he assured. “No—no. Only real couples kiss.”
And they weren’t. A real couple. So why could Zoro suddenly picture—vividly—what Luffy’s mouth would feel like against his? Why was he struck with the desperate urge to lean in and taste? Suddenly, he found it difficult to tear his eyes away from Luffy’s mouth, so he did just that, heart beating a tattoo against his chest.
“Oh,” Luffy said. Did he sound disappointed or was that just wishful thinking? Wishful thinking? What was wrong with him? A blush crept across his cheeks.
Luffy hummed again, resting his head against Zoro’s chest.
“Hey, Zoro?”
“Mmm?”
“I’m not bored.”
Zoro’s heart kept its rapid beat.
“Me neither.”