#anyway I like how this could be a back-and-forth with nami or sanji or even luffy about nothing

[wellfine]

argument

[eand47]

Chapter VII | A Little Death

Summary: You moved to one of the biggest cities in the world - Grand Line to pursue filmmaking career. Soon enough your path will cross with the vocalist of upcoming band called “The Neighbourhood”. At first you decided to be just friends - because it would be easier, but sadly as everything in life sometimes by taking the easy path we regret a lot of things.

Main characters: Portgas D Ace x Reader (female)

Supporting characters: Nami, Usopp, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Law, Deuce, Shanks, Buggy, Sabo, Eustass Kid, Koala, Robin, Dave (OC)

Description: Modern AU | Musician Ace

WARNINGS: explicit language, mentions of alcohol, mentions of cigarettes/nicotine, mentions of sex, mentions of tattoos

Word Count: 21,2K

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NOTE: This chapter drained me mentally and physically ngl… I literally edited it for five hours and still I’m not 100% satisfied with it but my brain is fried as this is idk which day in a roll where I’ve been awake until 5/6am to write… anyway I hope that you will enjoy it as I really tried to make it as good as possible guys. Also most of you are going to hate me for what you are about to read…. anyway enjoy ♡

The songs for the chapter are - ‘A Little Death’ by The Neighbourhood, ‘Attention’ by Tokio Hotel, ‘True Disaster’ by Tove Lo and ‘A Big Jet Plain’ by Angus & Julia Stone.

Yelling filled up the hospital room. I winced when Shanks continued to scream at me. I had woken up like an hour ago. Opening my eyes and seeing that I was in a hospital bed confused and scared me. I didn’t remember anything from last night, since the moment I was with the creepy guy by the bar. But what happened after that I had no idea. The first person who I saw waking up was Shanks. He seemed so stressed and pissed at the same time. When he saw me waking up, the only thing he said was that he was going to call the nurse without giving me any explanations of how I ended here. The nurse came fast and told me she would run some test. When I asked her what happened to me, she just looked at Shanks as she was hesitating if she should tell me or not. In response Shanks told her that he would explain to me. Once she left the room, he told me what had happened and since then he hasn’t stopped screaming.

 “How stupid you are? Explain? How could you take a drink from some stranger then on top of it leave with him?” Shanks yelled. The room filled up with silence. “Answer!” I twitched when he screamed at the top of his lungs. I was in a state of shock as it was still hard for me to process what had happened. My bottom lip trembled, and my eyes were filled up with tears. I have never seen Shanks this mad, neither he has ever raised his voice at me like this. The only thing I had my eyes focused on were my trembling fingers with which I was nervously playing with in my lap.

“Answer.” He said once again, but at least this time he wasn’t screaming, but his voice was still sharp. I couldn’t withhold the tears anymore and they started falling from my eyes. I lowered my head even more as I tried to hide my face with my hair, ashamed of what had happened. Ashamed and afraid.

“I-I... S-Shanks... I-I’m so-sorry...” I couldn’t find my voice. Everything came out as a whispered. “I d-don’t want to t-talk about i-it now... please...” I begged him as a sob left my lips.

“Oh no, we are going to talk about this now.” He said, walking back and forth around the room. “You had no idea, how lucky you got that you ended up in the hospital, rather than God’s know where.”

“I-I’m realising t-this Shanks. I g-guess the security a-acted fast.” I quietly said in between sobs.

“Oh, did I forgot to mention. No, no Foxy.” He stared to laughed, but it wasn’t a happy laughter. His laughter was mocking and full of rage. “The fucking security didn’t do shit, and this is something that I will personally take with the club owners.” I raised my head a bit, still hiding my face with my hair I glanced at Shanks. If it wasn’t the security, then who safe me?

“W-who was it t-then?”

“Your Romeo, who else.” Shanks chuckled mockingly. “I own Ace a big time now.” He murmured but I heard him. My heart skipped a beat. Ace saved me? But how? Panic took over my body again from the fact that I couldn’t remember anything that happened. Shanks started to fuss again but I didn’t pay him much attention this time, last thing I needed right now was this. “I told your father as well.” I snapped out of my thoughts the moment I heard Shanks saying this.

“Why did you do this Shanks?” I cried. The thought of my dad waking up to such news broke my heart. I didn’t want him to worry about me and to know that such thing had happened to me.

“Because he is your father, and he must know how stupid his daughter is.” Shanks spat, pulling his red hair frustrated. “God, I hope my kid is not as stup-“ He got interrupted by the door opening. It was Ace standing at the door. He looked at Shanks first then he moved his eyes to me. I lowered my head again not wanting him to see me in such state.

“Shanks why don’t you go out for a bit? I think you need some fresh air.” Ace held the door open and nodded to Shanks to get out of the room.

“Ace be careful with the tone.” Shanks pointed his finger at Ace warning him.

“Or what Shanks?” Ace crossed his arms in front of his chest, his posture straightened. He wasn’t afraid of Shanks, but he also knew that Shanks wasn’t going to do anything.

“I’m not done with her. She has a lot of questions to answer.” Shanks turned his piercing glance towards me. I didn’t dare to look towards neither of them.

“Sure, but I doubt this is what she needs right now.” Ace’s voice was stern yet protective. Shanks breathed out loudly.

“I will be back in ten minutes and you better start talking when I get back.” He pointed his finger at me this time before storming out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. I winced at the sound of it. Neither Ace nor I said anything at first. My head was still lowered, not daring to lift it up and look at him. He grabbed a chair and placed it next to the hospital bed and took seat on it. His fingers grabbed my chin gently and lift my head making me look at him. My chest rose and fell quickly as I looked into his eyes. I bit on my trembling lip hard as I tried to not let out any sobs, but the tears escaped my eyes. Without saying anything Ace just pulled me closer to him and wrapped me in his arms. The sob that I was holding escaped my mouth the moment I buried my head in the crook of his neck. I wrapped my arms around him holding on tight for dear life.

“It’s okay, doll.” He cooed in my ear. “You’re safe. I’m here.” Ace whispered the last part. He was gently rubbing circles on my back with one of his hands while with the other he was running his fingers through my hair. I was not sure how long we stayed like this, but he held me until I pulled away from him first. I sniffed and swallowed hard before I could find my voice to speak up.

“Aren’t you mad at me like Shanks is?” My voice was barely audible. I thought I had no more tears left to cry, but one escaped the corner of my eye.

“Oh, I am.” Ace said. He reached with his hand and whipped the tear away with his thumb. I lowered my head again, not wanting to look at his eyes and see the same disappointment Shanks had. He lifted my chin up and made me look at him again. “But I’m more pissed at your friends for not looking after you.” His voice was soft, but his face was stern.

“I’m not a child. They are not responsible for my safety nor my mistakes.” I said and Ace just sighed and let go of my face. He shook his head and closed his eyes rubbing his temples. “Don’t be mad at them I beg you.” I carefully reached out and placed my hand on top of his squeezing it, making him look at me again. His nostrils flared as he inhaled and exhaled before he gave me a stern look.

“Promise you will never ever, no matter the circumstances, accept anything, not just drinks, I mean anything from strangers, especially men.” I have never heard or seen Ace being so serious about something as he was now. I swallowed hard and nodded, lowering my gaze. “Look at me and say it.” His voice became low and warning.

“I-I promise.” I breathed out. He nodded with a huffed, looking away from me. I eyed him and just now noticed how tired and tensed his body posture was. Dark circles were placed under his eyes, which meant he hasn’t slept at all. I looked around the hospital room for a clock. My eyes landed on one placed by the door. It was almost one pm. How long have I been out exactly? Salience took over the room once again, but this time I was the one to break it. “Thank you.” I whispered. Ace tilted his head at me and slightly nodded. “How... how did you find me... like... last thing I remember is being by the bar with...with...” I couldn’t finish the sentence. Chills ran down my back when I remembered the guy’s face from last night. I should have trusted my guts and tell him to fuck off. My breath quickened as I started trembling and Ace noticed it.

“Calm down. Don’t think about it.” He was quick to reassure me. “I went looking for you, as no one had seen you for a while. Just before you went out of the club, I saw your skirt and ran after you.” His jaw clenched and his eyes darkened. Something was running through his mind, and I wasn’t sure what it was.

“W-what h-happened to the g-guy?” My voice trembled with fear. A puff of air escaped Ace’s nose in a makeshift laugh.

“You don’t need to worry about it, doll. He has been taken care off.” He moved a strand of hair from my face and tucked it behind my ear. I gave him a doubtful look.

“What do you mean he has been taken care off? Did the police lock him?”

“Yeah. As I said, don’t worry, you are safe.” Ace gave me a smile, but something in this smile wasn’t sincere. But I wasn’t stupid, and I knew it was pointless to try to get any information from him or Shanks, because if they have sat their minds on not telling me then no matter how much questions I asked I would receive no answer.

“I’m sorry if I destroyed your big night...” I nibbled on my bottom lip. The guilt was written all over my face. “I hope you won’t get in trouble because of me.”

“Didn’t destroy anything and you don’t need to worry about me.” He said as he got up from the chair and ruffled my hair. “I think they will let you go home later today, so if you need something call or text me, okay?” I frowned when I realised he was going to leave now. I didn’t want him to leave. Not yet at least. Having Ace around felt safer than Shanks, mostly because I knew he wouldn’t let Shanks scream at me and right now all I needed was some peace and quiet.

“A-are you l-leaving?” I looked at him from under my lashes as I played nervously with my fingers. Ace was clearly taken aback from my question, which surprised me. He placed a hand on the nape of his neck and gave me an awkward chuckle.

“I, um yeah. Do you want me to stay longer?”

“No.” I shook my head fast. “I-I... No. You have done more than I could ever ask for. Thank you, Ace. I-I... I own you a big time.” I didn’t want him to stay longer, I needed him to do so, but I could see that he was tired and the tension between him and Shanks was visible. He had really done more for me than I could ask for – he did safe my life, as no one knew what that guy could have done to me.

“You don’t own me anything.” Ace half smiled at me and before he left, he stopped for a second and looked over his shoulder at me. “Take care, doll.” He told me before he closed the door behind himself.

It has been a week and some days since the ‘accident’ happened. My phone was blowing after I got out of the hospital. Nami even called me crying and I had to reassure her that I was fine, and it wasn’t her fault. The only thing I requested from everyone were two things: first – no one at our university must find out about what happened as I didn’t want people coming at me and asking me questions and whatsoever, and second for some piece and quiet. Then I had to face my dad, which was the hardest conversation I had with him in a while. He had come here the day after I came back from the hospital. The conversation was long and very emotional, but at least he wasn’t as harsh as Shanks was, and it was nice to have him so close to me again. Speaking of Shanks, he had calmed down, but at the same time I understood where his frustration came from, and I knew that he reacted this way out of love and care for me. My father and Shanks were checking on me everyday to a point where they were becoming a little annoying, but again probably if I were on their place I would have done the same. I was spending most of my days with my father, catching up with him for the time we had spent apart. He was staying over at Shanks place, so it was only at night when I was alone. That was when I would get triggered, but I wasn’t entirely alone. There was always this one person who was checking on me daily, especially at night before I went to sleep. Ace was texting me everyday to check how I was doing or if I was in need anything. Every time my phone would vibrate, I was hoping it was a message from him and when it was my heart would skip a beat, and the smile was immediately on my face. Which was so hard to control especially when my father was around, but I couldn’t stop it no matter how hard I tired.

It was already ten something pm and I was getting ready to go to bed, as tomorrow I planned to go to my last lectures for this year. Even though part of me still wanted to be home alone, I knew that I had to go out and continue with my life. The worst didn’t happen, so I had to be grateful and continue. I was brushing my teeth when my phone vibrated. The smile on my face couldn’t be stopped as I saw from who the message was from. I cleaned my teeth and face fast and grabbed my phone as I unlocked it when I jumped on my bed.

‘Wanna grab coffee after your classes tomorrow?’ I bit on my bottom lip as I started to write a response to his message. I wrote ‘it’s a date ;)’ but just before I sent it, I realised that Ace didn’t mean it at all to be a date, so I quickly deleted the message.

“‘Our spot?’ Yes, this one sounded better.” I said to myself as I pressed sent and waited for his response.

‘Yea, you can call it that I guess.’ before I could respond he sent me another message. ‘What time you be finishing?’

We texted back and forth for good forty something minutes before we said goodnight. Putting my phone away to charge, I exhaled deeply. I couldn’t wait to see him tomorrow. I covered my face with the palms of my hands as I felt blood rushing all over my cheeks. This man was making it very hard to be just his friend.

“Fucking Ace.” I said to myself giggling.

The lectures finished just on time, and I packed my stuffs as fast as possible. Classmates and professors were exchanging wishes and so on for Christmas, but I didn’t pay them much attention.

“Why are you in such big hurry?” Nami looked at me curiously. I gave her an awkward smile as I tired to come up with excuse because I couldn’t tell her that I was meeting with Ace in less than thirty minutes.

“I... you know... kinda wanna go home as fast as possible, because... you know...” Making an excuse with what happened was the worst thing I could have come up with, but right now I couldn’t think of anything else. Nami sadly frowned. She was still feeling guilty for what happened. I quickly went to her and pulled her in a hug.

“Please, stop. It wasn’t your fault at all. If anyone is to blame, it’s me for being so reckless.” I tried my best to reassure her, because it was my fault for accepting the drink instead of telling the guy to leave me alone.

“No don’t blame yourself. The only person to blame is that asshole who did this to you. Thanks God that the security acted on time.” I looked at Nami confused. What did she mean by this? It wasn’t the security that stopped the guy, it was Ace. “Are you really sure that you are, okay?” Nami pulled away and observed my face carefully.

“Yes, I am okay I promise... just...” I paused for a moment. “Nami it wasn’t the security who stopped him, it was Ace.” I chuckled, still looking at her with confusion.  

“What? But Luffy and Zoro told me different story. Are you sure?” Confusion crossed her face as well.

“Pretty, sure. Maybe they just didn’t want to worry you more you know.” I shrugged. This was the only logical explanation behind it.

“Yes, you are right, but still strange.” She shook her head and looked at me with care and worry. “But if there is something or someone you need, please let me know.” She said as I squeezed her shoulders and nodded reassuring her that if I needed something I would let her know. “I know you are not coming to the party tonight, but we will see each other during the break, right?”

“Of course we will. My dad is leaving on the twenty-eight so after it I’m all free.” I gave her a big smile. We bit each other goodbye, and I quickly left the lectures room.

I was walking fast towards the exit. My heart was beating faster knowing that I was meeting Ace in just a few minutes. Just when I was pushing the door to exit our programs building, I heard my name being called. I turned around and I was met with no one else but Dave.

“Hey Dave.” I smiled at him. He took me by surprise when he wrapped his arms around me in a strong hug. I was not only surprised but confused as well. I slowly raised my hands and patted his back. “Are you okay?”

“No, I’m the one who should ask you this. Nami told me what happened to you, and I wanted to reach you out and see you, but she told me you wanted to be left alone, so I didn’t dare to bother you.” He blurted out super fast I almost didn’t catch what he said. I mentally cursed Nami, I asked her specifically to not tell a single soul and of course of all people she told Dave. “Also please don’t get mad at her. She only told me because I was worried about you, and you weren’t here and you also didn’t respond to any of my messages and I thought at first that you are mad at me or something.” He finally pulled away from me and I was able to breath. His eyes and whole face were full of worry and concern. 

“I-I... oh Dave...” I felt so bad. He had texted me so many times during this week and I kept ignoring his messages and it wasn’t even on purpose. “Look Dave, I’m fine. I promise you I’m all good as long as I don’t think or speak about it. So, please don’t worry about me.” I patted him on the shoulder and gave him another smile as I was hoping that this would calm him for now. “And I’m so sorry for ignoring your messages I just wanted to be left alone... I-I hope you understand.”

“Please, if you need something let me know.” He pulled me once again for a hug and this time I wrapped my arms around him too.

“I’m sorry again for not responding.” I said as we pulled apart. “I didn’t do it purposely hope you know this. But I must go now, we will catch some other time.”

“Do you want me to walk with you? I have time.” He opened the door for me and the cold air hit my face when we stepped outside.

“No, it’s okay, thank you again.” I said with a smile. Dave was a very nice guy, and I really appreciated his efforts and wants to be of help for me. “We should catch up sometime.”

“Actually... I wanted to ask you something.” His smile grew and the corners of his eyes crinkled. “I know how much you love ‘Interstellar’ and there is this special screening at the cinema next to my place the end of the month and... you know...” He awkwardly chuckled. “I was wondering if you would like to go with me and... yeah watch the movie.” His brows raised, expecting my answer.

“Sure, yeah this would be fantastic.” I nodded eagerly. “When is it?”

“It’s on twenty-ninth.”

“Perfect, then text me more details and we will go.” I waved him goodbye and left before he had the chance to say something more.

The coffee shop was fifteen minutes away, so I fasten my pace as much as I could while trying to keep my balance due to the frozen patches on the sideways. The smile on my face was growing bigger with every passing second. I just couldn’t wait to finally see him. The bubble of excitement was growing in my stomach. A part of me was also nervous as last time we properly saw each other was when I stayed over at his place. I didn’t count the club or the hospital. I was crossing the street when I saw his tall figure. He was in front of the coffee shop, smoking a cigarette. His orange beany that I loved was placed on top of his messy raven black hair. He was dressed pretty casually, a dark grey jacket which seemed pretty light for the temperatures outside and some dark blue jeans. Ace had his phone in his other hand, so it seemed like he didn’t notice me. I mischievously smiled when I carefully sneaked behind him, trying my best go unnoticed. He took one last drag from his cigarette and threw it in the bin beside him. I took this as my opportunity. Now it was the best time to surprise attack him but as I ran, I didn’t notice that there was an icy patch, and I slipped. I fall on my butt and a loud squawked escaped my lips. Ace quickly turned around and when he saw me on the ground, he bust out laughing.

“It’s not funny.” I pouted and tried to stand but it was too slippery under me.

“Yea, it’s hilarious. Did you hurt yourself?” He continued to laugh as he reached his hand offering me his help. I grabbed it with a groan and he pulled me up like I weighted nothing. I was starting to wonder how strong Ace was actually. I patted my butt as some snow got on my coat. I looked up and I was met with his charming smile. “Hey, doll.” He pinched my cheek. A shy smile formed on my face as I bit on my bottom lip.

“Hey, Ace.” I quietly said. He laughed once again and nodded towards the cafe, as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led us in. My breath got caught up in my lungs, not only because I was so close to him, but because I didn’t expect such closure from him. Once again Ace was full of surprises when it came to his behaviour. Sometimes he was cold and distant, not in the mood at all, and sometimes like now he was, well he was in a good mood. Once inside we went straight to the coffee counter. I haven’t been here for almost a month. The whole place was decorated with Christmas lights and decorations, making it even cozier. It was busy but not so much so there were plenty of seats. Still with his hand around my shoulders Ace leaned closer to me.

“What would you like, doll?” His voice was low and deep as his breath hit the skin around my ear. I tilted my head to have a better look at him without realising how close our faces were. Shivers ran down my spine. In the past few days, the idea of having someone so close to me was terrifying, even today when Dave hugged me it felt somehow alarming. But having Ace so close, didn’t feel this way, it felt nice and safe. Yes, it did make me nervous, but not for the same reasons if it was somebody else. “Cat got your tongue?” He clicked with his tongue as his smirk started growing. I pulled my head slightly away from him and playfully rolled my eyes.

“I will get a tea.” I returned the smirk. He lightly nodded and pulled away from me, removing his hand from my shoulders as it was our turn to order.

“What flavour you want?” He handed me their special seasonal tea menu. I took a quick look at it and pointed at the one I wanted. “Have you eaten? Do you want something to eat?”

“No, I haven’t, but I’m not hungry.” I said with a half smile. My appetite was very low these days, and I have skipped a lot of meals.

“Sorry, could you please give us a second.” Ace politely said to the barista girl, and she nodded. “When did you last eat?” He turned to me and looked at me seriously.

“Geez, Ace don’t act like me dad now. I ate when I ate, please let’s just order the drinks.” I protested. Ace huffed and turned again to the barista.

“Yea, so the tea, one black coffee and could you please add one BLT sandwich. Thanks.” Before I could say anything, he had already paid. The girl behind the counter said that she would come with the order, which was odd due to the fact that they didn’t serve on the tables here, but I guessed it had to do with Ace’s charming smile. We went to sit at the back of the cafe on one of the small tables there. Walking behind him, I was frowning. Did he ever listen to me? Before we sat down, we both took off our jackets. While I had a thick sweater under my coat, Ace was with a short sleeve t-shirt.

“Aren’t you freezing?” I asked him, my brows frowned as I was a little pissed at him.

“No, I feel pretty hot actually.” He said and sat down. “Till this day Dadan tells me that my blood is probably made of fire, because I always feel hot.” I couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped my lips as I sat opposite of him. Still, I crossed my arms in front of my chest and gave him an annoyed look. “What?” Ace snorted.

“What?” I spat raising my brows. “Could you please stop manhandling me? I told you I wasn’t hungry. And what if I don’t like it?”

“Oh doll, I promise you if you think this is manhandling, I will manhandle you for real and then you will be begging me for more.” The corners of his mouth turned up into a small smirk as he saw the way I froze from his response. I opened and closed my mouth, but nothing came out. Thankfully the barista came with our order. Ace thanked her without moving his gaze from me. He breathed out and gave me a pleading look. “Eat, please. You told me yourself you are barley eating these days.” I have forgotten that I’ve shared this with him, but still, he should have listened to me. “I didn’t manhandle you, okay? I just want to make sure you are taking care of yourself.” He reached and placed his hand on top of mine. His aunt wasn’t wrong when she told him that he was made of fire. His hand was so much warmer on top of mine. He took it and ran his thumb across my knuckles. “I’ve promised you to not push you to talk about it, but please at least take care of yourself.” I inhaled and exhaled deeply before I nodded and pulled my hand away from his.

“Can you at least help me with it, as it’s quite big.” I said as I grabbed the sandwich, which did look very tasty, and was cut in two halves and handed him one half of it. He pushed my hand back and chuckled.

“How about you eat as much as you can first and then if you can’t finish it, I will help you?” I decided to not argue with him and just nodded taking a bite of the sandwich. It was as tasty as it looked. Ace laughed at me as he saw my eyes widen from the taste of it. “You see, doll? I know what you like.” He propped his chin on his hand giving me a cheeky half smile.

“So what else are you up to this week except rehearsing with the guys?” I asked taking another bite of the food.

“Why you wanna take me out or something?” He said sarcastically, before he held his coffee mug to his lips, taking a sip of it. I knew he was messing with me, but still his response got me blushing.

“Hell no.” I rolled my eyes. “Just curious about your schedule.” I said lifting my shoulder in a half shrug. Ace leaned on the back of the chair and crossed his ankles as he took another sip of his coffee.

“Hm, I have something in mind, but I’m not entirely sure if I will do it, yet. Anyway, wanna come over this Sunday, you have a movie to show me.”

“Why on Sunday?” I raised my eyebrow teasingly. “Why not Friday or Saturday?”

“I’m busy.” His mouth twitched. He was up to something.

“Busy with what?” I squinted my eyes playfully leaning closer to the table.

“It’s a secret.” He leaned in closer, too.

“You have secrets from me now?” I mockingly pouted. He mocked my pout, and I couldn’t withhold the giggle that escaped my lips. I finished with one half of sandwich and pushed the plate with the rest towards him. “I’m full. Thank you for the meal.” I grabbed the still warm tea mug and placed it to my lips, blowing it before I took a sip. The tea was spicy and sweet – a mixture of cinnamon, gingerbread cookie and orange. “Mmm, you have to try this.” I stretched my hands across the small table and nodded my head to Ace to try it. He took the teacup from me and took a sip of the tea. Placing the mug back in front of me, his face scrunched at the taste of it. “You didn’t like it?” My head tilted a bit in surprised as I thought he would most certainly like it. He shook his head.

“I like that it’s spicy, but it’s too sweet.” His mouth twisted as he shrugged. “I’m not really into sweet treats, doll.” Ace gave me a wink.

“Oh, so you are not into me, I see...” I raised the tea with both of my hands covering almost my entire face but my eyes as I wiggled my eyebrows playfully. The confidence that took over me came out of nowhere, which cause my whole face to flush, even Ace raised his brows in surprise. My gaze wasn’t leaving his as he let out a boyish laugher at my comment.

“Nah, doll. Too sweet for my taste.” He said placing his elbows on top of the table and leaning closer to me. I took a sip of the tea and placed the mug back on the table, leaning forward mimicking his position. Our faces were close but not close enough for it to seemed too intimate. We were just looking at each other with teasing looks in our eyes. I tilted my head bit before giving him a sweet smile.

“Don’t worry Ace, it’s mutual.” I winked at him. A short exhale of breath escaped his lips reminiscent of laugh.

“Good.” He said nodding with a smirk as he pulled away without breaking eye contact.

“Why don’t you come over and we watch it at my place instead?” This wasn’t the first time I have invited him over. While I stayed at home for this week and a half, I invited him at least three times and he always brushed me off.

“Okay.”

“Okay? Really?” I didn’t expect this response. I thought he would cut me off again.

“Yea, sure. But I will come late probably, keep this in mind.” He fixed his beany a bit, but his messy curls were still poking from all directions. I would lie if I said that I didn’t want to bury my fingers in his dark locks. His hair was so soft in a way I was yearning to get the chance to play with it again. My fingers still remembering the feeling of when he had let me run them through it while we were high. I was very aware of my physical attraction towards him, there were some feelings that were present, but I had to supress them for the sake of our so called ‘friendship’. Ace pulled me out of my trance state as he called my name. “High up in the clouts?” He chuckled.

“Yes. Quite high.” I breathed out.

“So how are things now with Robin?” Ace asked Law without looking at him. He was too focused on the paper in front of him. It was Friday night, almost past eleven pm. Deuce and Sabo had already gone home after a long day of rehearsing and writing, it was only him and Law left in the studio. Law was taking a little break as his mind was going to explode. They had locked themself in the studio since the morning. Taking a sip of his water Law observed Ace. His postured was hunched and he looked extremely tired. Since they have announced that they will be realising an album Ace was the one who had pushed them to work even harder now.

“Things are going pretty well. We are even celebrating Christmas together.” Law responded. Ace whistled when he heard his friend response.

“You are seriously cuffed m-” Ace got interrupted as his phone lighted up indicating he had received a message. His mouth twitched upwards as he saw who had texted him, which didn’t go unnoticed by Law.

“Mhm, I’m definitely the cuffed one.” A make shifted laughter escaped Law’s nose. “How’s (Y/N)?”

“Better now.” Ace replied as he was typing something on his phone. “Here look at these lyrics! You think they will match the verse you wrote?” Without moving his eyes from his phone Ace handed Law the piece of paper he was focused on before his phone distracted him. Law grabbed the paper and observed the lyrics.

Touch me, yeah I want you to touch me there Make me feel like I am breathing Feel like I am human

Law hummed once he read the lyrics. They were going to do good as a chorus. His eyes moved back to his dear friend. He had never seen Ace like this, and the worst part was that Ace was denying it. Ace was still keening on the idea that he was only sexually attracted to (Y/N), and what he was feeling was just nothing more than sexual desire. Yet, if Ace could get a glimpse of himself when he was texting her or just when he was around her, he would probably not recognise himself. Law wasn’t stupid he was very aware of who was Ace texting right now. He also knew what had happened and saw for himself how tensed Ace was the first few days after the accident. And now on top of it these lyrics, which were clearly written for (Y/N). Ace finally put his phone away and looked at Law. Even thought he was obviously exhausted his mood has increased drastically.

“What do you think?” Ace asked, his foot tapping nervously on the floor.

“I think they will do very good as catchy chorus.” Law handed him back the paper. “Also, I already have an idea for the second verse.” He grabbed a new piece of paper and started writing down.

“Don’t you think they are a little cringe?” Ace scrunched his face as he repeated the lyrics in his mind.

“You do sound like a horny virgin.” Saying this Law received a flying paper ball towards his head, but he ducked, and it missed him. Both shared a laugher as Law reached with his hand towards Ace and handed him the piece of paper where he wrote down the second verse.

Dancing through the night A vodka and a Sprite A glimpse of her silhouette A night that they'd never forget

“Do you have any melody in mind for this?” Ace asked, grabbing his guitar and propping it on his right knee. Law grabbed his as well and started to play around with some chords. Ace hummed and tapped with his fingers on his guitar before he followed Law.

“Do you wanna record it and mess around with it more tomorrow?” Law looked up at Ace. Both were quite exhausted, but they could handle one more hour of work.

“Yea, we can do this just so we can work more on it this weekend.” Ace got up and grabbed one of the microphones in the studio adjusting it closer to him as he sat back down. It didn’t take them more than an hour to record an acoustic version of the song. It wasn’t the best but it was far away from the final result of the song.

“Are you going to Robin’s place?” Ace asked as he took a puff of his cigarette. Law and he decided to take a quick smoke before they say goodbye.

“Nah, she is already asleep, plus we start early tomorrow.” He replied before a smirked formed on his face. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Ace raised his brow.

“Come on, bro. What’s going on with (Y/N)?” Law whined, he knew Ace was fully aware what he was asking him.

 “Well...” Ace took another drag of his cigarette. This was a good question – what was going between him and (Y/N). The lust for her was still there, but the more he was getting to know her the more it was growing. But it wasn’t only the sexual desire growing. There were guilt, shame and confusion on the back of his mind. Guilt because he didn’t want to destroy whatever they had going on but also, he couldn’t put aside the thoughts he had for her. Ot top of it he wasn’t blind or stupid. He could clearly see how she would blush or the way her breath would hitch the moment he complimented her or when he made more bold comment, or how she was always nervous around him. Ace also found it super adorable how sleek she thought she was being every time she would shyly check him out. There was also shame – the shame for his thoughts, his actions at times and mostly of Ace being Ace. The shame of who he was and knowing that he might bring this shame upon her was eating him alive from the inside. But more than everything Ace was confused. Confused because the more he was trying to distance himself from her the more he was yearning for her presence. The way he was craving their small meaningless talks along with the deeper ones. The desire to wrap his arms around her and kiss her slowly but passionate until they both run out of breath, but not in a hungry lustful way just a burning sensual kiss. At this point it was taking all his willpower every time their faces were inches apart to pull her closer and say, ‘fuck this’ and get lost in the feeling. And this weird obsession of being able to protect her from any harm. But no – he couldn’t do this to her, not to (Y/N). Yet, he had never felt this way, this desire towards any girl. The only logical explanation was the fact that he had told himself that he couldn’t have her. Yes, this was it. The answer to all his guilt, shame and confusion was because for a first time ever he couldn’t have a girl he wanted. It was all because he put a limit to himself. Law snapped his finger in front of Ace’s face, and he snapped back to reality. “Shit sorry man... um yeah (Y/N)... nothing, just friends.”

“Again the ‘friends’ bullshit?” Law snorted and rolled his eyes at Ace. He threw his cigarette on the ground and tapped Ace on the shoulder two times. “At least be honest with yourself if you want to keep lying to others.” Law didn’t wait for his response and just left. His words stuck something deep within Ace.

“Fuck off, Law.” Ace screamed after his friend to which Law responded with raising his hand up in the air and showing Ace the middle finger. Rolling his eyes Ace threw away his cigarette and grabbed his helmet. He got on his motorcycle and headed home. On the way there he couldn’t stop thinking about what Law had said to him. Ace was honest with himself, after all he wasn’t a kid. He was a grown up and he knew where his feelings stood, and they were nowhere near (Y/N). All he felt towards her was pure lust only because he had limited himself. If he had had his way with her already, she would have been long time forgotten. But now he was stuck in a friendship with her. Not like he didn’t enjoy it, quite the opposite. He really liked spending time with her, it was the fact that he was acting like a horny teenager when it came to her, but he was sure that it was going to go away soon. Maybe the whole protective and caring behaviour towards her was because he was Luffy’s age. Yes, this was it – lust because he couldn’t sleep with her and the overly protective obsession was from the fact that she was the same age as his little brother was.

Sunday came faster than expected. Ace and the rest of the guys were stuck in the studio the entire day. They even called Usopp to help them with producing and final touches for the song. After two long days the song was done. Everyone high-fived and cheered once they finished the record.

“Song number one is done.” Deuce cheered loudly standing behind Ace and grabbing his shoulders shaking him.

“Easy there, Deuce.” Ace laughed at his friend enthusiasm. “Just because we recorded a song it doesn’t mean it will end up on the album.”

“What? This song is getting on the album. The chorus are extremely catchy, so this song is on.” Deuce nudged his sides and Ace whined.

“It can make it to the album, but it won’t be a single, that is for sure.” Law called after Deuce.

“Oh, my big bro killed it with the vocals again.” Sabo jumped on Ace’s back almost knocking them both on the ground. Ace was quick to grunt him. They all sat down – some on the spinning chairs others on the couch, exhaustion written all over their faces.

“How’s uni going Usopp?” Ace was the first one to break the silence as he had propped himself on the couch with one hand on the back of it.

“Good, but I’m so happy we finally got some break.” Usopp answer and turned to face Ace as he was saving some files until now. “How is lif-” He got interrupted as his phone vibrated. “Hell, yeah.” Usopp raised his hands in the air as he screamed like his favourite football team scored a goal in the last second. Everyone gave him a questioning look.

“Care to share the news?” Sabo snorted.

“You guys remember Dave?” Everyone nodded except Ace, he didn’t like where this was going just by the guy’s name being mentioned. “So, my boy is head over heels (Y/N), and I told him to make a move finally and apparently he asked her this Wednesday and she agreed to go out with him and now he texted me that he set his mind on confessing to her.” Sabo and Deuce cheered among with Usopp, while Law glanced at Ace and his face was unreadable like a stone. Meanwhile Ace mind was running wild. (Y/N) didn’t say anything about a ‘date’ with anyone last Wednesday when they saw each other. Was she even into this dude? Speaking of (Y/N) he was supposed to go to her place tonight and watch her short movie, which he had totally forgot about and just now it crossed his mind. Ace got up fast and pulled his phone looking at the time. It was still nine pm, so he had some time to catch up with her.

“What is the hurry?” Sab looked at his brother suspiciously.

“I remembered I have some shit at home I must take care of.” Ace said putting on his leather jacket on.

“You won’t be joining us for a beer?” Deuce frowned his brows as he pushed his thick black glass frames.

“Not tonight guys. Usopp thanks for the help, man.” Ace half waved at them and left the studio as fast as possible. Before he got on his motorbike, he texted her a quick message that he was on his way to her place.  

Ace felt his whole body tensing up, on top of it every red light was catching him. His mind went back to what Usopp said. (Y/N) didn’t mention anything like this at all not even when they were texting. But maybe it was a good. If she gets herself a boyfriend, then there would be even better reason for Ace to stay away from her. After twenty minutes which felt like eternity he parked in front of her building. He pulled up his phone to text her to give him the door code, but his eyes widen at the message he had received from her a little after he had texted that he was on his way.

‘The door code is 7744... also my dad is here, and he said ‘I’m not leaving until I meet him’... hope you don’t mind >.<’ Ace cursed under his breath. Why did her father want to meet him? If he had seen the message earlier, he would have at least more time to prepare for it. He took a deep breath and for a moment hesitated if he should smoke a quick cigarette before heading upstairs but instead cursed once more and made his way to (Y/N)’s apartment.

“Dad please, leave.” I was begging him even before Ace texted me that he was on his way. “I can tell him that you are grateful for what he did that night.”

“Baby girl, no.” My father brushed me off again. “As a father and as a man I must thanked the man who saved my daughter.” Like the diva my father was he brushed his long ponytail on the side.

“You are such a diva.” I whined and checked my phone to see if Ace had responded but I had nothing. He hasn’t even seen the message. I just hope that he would show up. We stayed in silence until I heard the doorbell ring. Before I could react, my dad was already at the door. “No, dad wait.” I called after him, but it was too late. The giggle that escaped my lips couldn’t be stopped especially when I saw Ace’s reaction once the door opened. He got taken aback and blush spread across his cheeks as my father greeted him.

“Come on in young man.” Dad moved to the side and waved his hand to Ace to get in. Ace slightly nodded and got inside.

“Hey.” I softly said as I reached with my hand to take his jacket. He mouthed a quick hello back as he was taking his boots off. Once he straitened his posture my dad patted him on the back and led him inside. I bit on my lip, holding on the chuckled that wanted to escape my lips at the sight of them. Ace was so much taller than my father so the sight on my dad short form pushing him around was just hilarious to look at. They sat on the couch and my dad grabbed Ace’s right hand and shook it firmly.

“Where are my manners? Buggy, nice to meet you Ace, I’ve heard quite a lot about you.” My father patted Ace’s shoulder as he let go of his hand. I sat on the ground and scrunched my faced from embarrassment as I heard what my father said.

“N-nice to meet you as well, sir.” Ace chuckled and glanced at me. The confusion in his eyes was so easy to read. I just shrugged as I couldn’t do anything to help him right now.

“I want to personally thank you for saving my daughter.” Dad’s voice got serious and stern. “Shanks and I own you a big time, because I don’t want to think what would have happened to my precious baby girl if you haven’t interfered on time.”

“Sir plea-” My dad was quick to correct Ace to call him by his name. “Buggy, okay.” Ace chuckled. “You own me nothing, I did what I had to do.”

“Ah, so modest.” Dad dramatically gripped his t-shirt in a fist where his heart was, and I rolled my eyes.

“Now this is his usual behaviour.” I said to Ace, and he laughed.

“She always has a comment to make towards my behaviour.” Dad nudged Ace with his elbow.

“Actually, me and my brothers are big fans of your comedy.” Ace turned to my dad with a charming smile.

“Oh dear, my heart is going to explode. But I’m a fan of your band, too.”

“No way, you are kidding me.” Ace’s brows raised in surprised, and his eyes lit with happiness. He looked at me in a way to confirm if my father was messing up with him or not.

“He is a fan, Ace.” I nodded with a smile.

“Damn... honestly if my brothers know that I’ve met you they would be so jealous.” Ace laughed in disbelief.

“Not to flex but I am a singer myself.” My dad stuck his nose in the air. Before I could say something, my dad started to sing and all I wanted in this moment was for the ground to open and swallow me whole. He might have been a very good comedian, but the same couldn’t be said for his singing.

“Dad, dad.” I called interrupting him. “I think Ace got it that you are vocally gifted, no need for more.”

“If you need a back singer, you could always call me.” He winked at Ace and who started to laugh. One thing about Ace that I adored was the fact that when he was truly feeling a certain way his whole body was showing it. Like right now, his boyish laugher filled up the room while his shoulders and stomach muscles were flexing. His smile was reaching his eyes, and I took a mental picture of this moment in my mind.

“I would definitely make this phone call Buggy.” Ace said once his laugher calmed.

“Talking about singing, have you heard my daughter singing?” Dad turned to me; his eyes filled with mischievous.

“Never.” Ace turned his attention to me as well.

“And you won’t.” I was quick to say.

“Ace, buddy – imagine this.” Dad wrapped his arm around Ace broad shoulders and started to paint a picture with his other hand. “Imagine a deaf person who gets their hearing back and then they hear my daughter sing. Tears start to fall from their eyes, but not from the beauty of her voice but because they are wishing to turn back time and never hear a sound again.” Ace looked at me and his face scrunched as he shook his head.

“Poor deaf person.” He said as he winked at me.

“Hey, I sing bad but not this bad.” I was quick to defend myself.

“You know when she was around four years old, she found an ukulele.” I covered my face with the palms of my hands as I could easily die from embarrassment knowing which story my father was about to tell him. “She then proceeded lock me in her bedroom and until she was done with the three hour performance which mind you ended with the words ‘daddy I think I’m going to shit myself’ I had to endure- ” I was quick to interrupt him as Ace heard enough. Ace on the other hand, had his head back as he was laughing hard while holding on his stomach.

“Dad... I think it’s time for you to leave.”  

“Oh, come on. You were adorable. Should I tell him your beans story from when you were nineteen.” My dad wanted to die tonight.

“Okay, that was enough.” I got up on my feet and went to grab my father to leave. Him and Ace tried to protest but dad got the hint.

“Well, Ace it was a pleasure to meet you and again thank you.” He grabbed his hand again and shook it before he got up. My mouth set in a hard line as I shoot my eyes to the door making my dad leave faster. “Okay, okay I’m leaving, relax.” Dad quickly put his jacket and boots. Ace got up and got closer to me and my dad.

“It was nice to meet you as well Buggy, hopefully we get to meet some time again.” Ace said to my dad who was at the door. I was wrapped in a crushing hug by him, and he wasn’t letting me go.

“Oh, we are meeting again this is for sure.” Dad realised me from his grip and grabbed the door handle to open the door. Just before he closed it, he stopped and looked at me and Ace. “And don’t forget condoms, I’m too young to become a grandpa.” Before I could curse my father, he the shut the door closed and his loud laugher could be heard in the hallway of the building.

“I-I’m so, so s-sorry.” I turned back to Ace who had the same was holding his laughter. “He was kidding, and he is too much sometimes, like he is such a diva.” I raised my hands in the air as I passed by Ace to go and sit on the couch. He shook his head, and laugher left his lips.

“I think his advice was pretty good.” Ace smirked as he sat next to me, propping one hand on the back of the sofa. I leaned on his shoulder and tilted my head to have a better look at him.

“Ha-ha, you two should do a stand up together.” I said with a mocking tone.  

“Oh, someone is sassy tonight.” Ace lowered his head a bit which led to his face coming closer to mine.

“You just met the diva who raised me, is a little sass too much now?” I raised my brow and fluttered my eyelashes.

“You are never too much, doll.” He cupped my cheek with his free hand and caressed it. Even though my pulse has increased because of how intimate it felt to be this close to him, but at the same time it felt so right and natural. I couldn’t help but wonder if he felt the same way. My eyes drafted to his lips, his full and alluring lips. They curved in a little smile and moved. I moved my eyes back to his eyes and questionably hummed as I didn’t hear what he said. He smirked and whispered him my ear.

“As I recall we have a movie to watch.”

“Yes, right.” I breathed out and quickly got up from the couch. Clearing my throat, I looked around and saw my laptop laying on my bed. I sat on my bed and opened it. “Okay, found it. Come.” I patted my bed without realising how me inviting him to come and sit on my bed might come off as. I looked at him and tilted my head to the bed. “Ace, come.” He finally got up and crossed the room in just six steps and stood in front of my bed. I moved and positioned myself next to the wall as I leaned my body on the headboard. Ace did the same as me, but he kept some distance, and then it hit me.

“U-um if you feel m-more comfortable on the couch we can move there.”

“Nah, it’s okay.” He said and pointed with his chin towards the laptop to play the movie.

“Oh my, I forgot to ask you if you want something to drink?” I slapped my face and put the laptop on the side as I got up quickly.

“Water is fine.” He called after me. I filled up two glasses with water and while walking toward the bed I drank half of mine. Standing next to the bed I handed Ace his glass and he thanked me while taking a sip of it. We put the glasses on top of the nightstand next to the bed. I went to the edge of the bed and crawed on it, leaning on the headboard again. “Can I finally see the movie?” His eyelids slightly drooped as the corners of his mouth turned up. I hummed and grabbed the laptop pressing play. The movie was five minutes long, so it didn’t take much time to watched it. The moment it ended I turned my head to Ace all on pins and needles for his opinion on the movie. He slightly leaned closer to me and looked in my eyes. “That was cute. Not gonna lie, I was rooting for the guy to get the girl.”

“Really?” I smiled biting my lower lip. He nodded. “But did you like it?”

“Yea, as I said it was a cute movie.” He crossed his arms across his chest making his biceps flex a bit.

“But...? I can sense the ‘but’.” I poked his bicep with my finger. He chuckled and took a deep breath.

“Okay you got me. It was a cute short movie okay, but you could do way better than this.” He tilted his head a bit, taking a better look at my face. “But this doesn’t mean that the movie was bad, it means I know you can go way beyond this and kill it.” His voice was low but also soft. I put the laptop on the side and lowered my head.

“Ace... can... can I hug you?” I quietly asked not daring to look at him as my face was flaming hot. He opened his arms and pulled me in a hug. I buried my head in his muscular chest and took a deep breath inhaling the scent of his perfume. “Thank you.” I whispered and tightened my arms around him. He softly hummed in response. I looked up and I saw how he was fighting the fatigue which was mixture of his long day and narcolepsy. “Are you tired? You can stay here, and I can sleep on the couch.”

“No... yes actually I’m tired but I haven’t taken my pills in like four days as I ran out of them and it’s really hard to fight the sleep right now.” His right hand ran circles on my back while with his left he was rubbing his eyes with the back of it. As much as I didn’t want to, I pulled away from his arms but still stayed closer to his body.

“Did you finish the song?” My voice was soft as I tired to keep it low, he was obviously going to fall asleep any second now.

“Mhh, wanna heard it?” He shook his head as he tried to wake himself up. I nodded eagerly as he pulled his phone from this back pocket.

“What is it called?”

“A little death.” Ace handed me his phone and I pressed play. Focused on the song, I still saw how his head flopped on the side as sleep took over him and I couldn’t help but cooed to myself. To be honest I wasn’t sure if he was asleep or he had an episode but I let him be as I listened to the song.

Touch me, yeah I want you to touch me there Make me feel like I am breathing Feel like I am human

I wondered who wrote the song. Knowing Ace I doubt it was him, he had told me he wasn’t into writing ‘romantic’ songs, so it was either Sabo or Law. The song finished and I heard Ace sleepy and raspy voice.

“Did you lik- fuck.” His eyes rolled back as sleep took over him again. I giggled, he was adorable and now I knew for sure that it wasn’t just fatigue from the long hours in the studio in the past few days, but he was in fact having little episodes. Ace jerked awake in a few seconds. “Yeah, so you liked it?” He tried to stand but I extended my had and stopped him.

“I can’t wait for you guys to realise it officially.” My lips curved into a smile. “Also sleep, you can’t drive like this.”

“No, I’ll go home just... just...” And another episode. I sighed no matter how stubborn he was his narcolepsy was taking over his body. His whole body jerked as he woke up again. “Just give me a minute or so okay.”

“Ace let me woman handle you.” I said teasingly with a light tone, and he rolled his eyes at me with a snort. “Now get up and get under the covers.”

“I can sleep on the couch.” He protested as he sat up on my bed, but I didn’t let him get up as I extended my hand and placed it on his chest.

“Ace, just get under the covers.” I said, shooting a pointed glance towards the bed.

“I’m with outside clothes.” He got up and crossed his arms, giving me a smart look.

“I need to wash my sheets anyway. Or just take your clothes off I won’t look.” I huffed, he was so stubborn.

“Yea, bet.” He raised his brow and took a step closer to me. With a smug smirk on his face, he took off his t-shirt tossing it on the bed. I was face to face with his hard muscular chest. My mouth ran dry as I draw in sharp breath and moved my eyes away from his body. The sudden urge to clench my thighs as I felt heat rushing to my core was painful. But I couldn’t move as I didn’t want to give myself away. “Hm, yeah... woman handling me.” He teased licking his lower lip. I cleared my dry throat and slowly looked at his face giving all my willpower not to trace my gaze down on his body.

“Stop flashing your titts around.” I hissed but my voice trembled. “You can’t be serious that you are leaving and driving at this state.”

“The episodes will go away soon, no need to worry.” He shrugged as he reached and ruffled the top of my head. I pushed his hand away and sighed annoyed. “Let’s just sit and talk until they go away.” Ace leaned closer to me which made me froze on my spot as the heat in my body haven’t left yet. But he did lean closer only to grab his t-shirt and put it back on. “Weren’t you the one insisting to get in bed? Go on.” He sat down on the bed and patted the side next to the wall for me to get on the bed and sit. I hopped on the bed quickly trying to ignore the wet patched that could feel formed on my underwear and leaned on the headboard. Pulling my legs closer to my body I couldn’t help but clenched my thighs. My eyes shut closed at the feeling it was too much, it was like a torture. My whole body was on fire and all he did was taking his shirt off. This wasn’t the first time I have seen him without one but this time it affected me differently. The lyrics of his new song stuck to my mind. ‘Touch me... just touch me...’ I was screaming inside my mind. As he could read my mind Ace placed his hand on my knee which made my body jerk away slightly as my eyes shot open. He had leaned on the headboard as well but this time he was closer to me. “You alright, doll?” His voice became deeper and raspier. I half nodded with a hummed. “You sure? You seem a little... breathless.” His mouth twitched and his dark brown eyes has gotten even darker. The hand that was placed on my knee slowly traced its way to the middle of my thigh, giving it a slight squeeze. If it wasn’t for the leggings I was wearing, probably my skin was going to be on fire. He knew. The look in his half-lidded eyes couldn’t fool me. I might be lightheaded right now because of my increased pulse and the ache between my thighs but Ace knew what he was doing. He was aware of the state he got me in, and he was enjoying it. “Say something, baby.” Baby? This was new, but the way he said it made it sound so sultry. I opened my mouth to say something, but he squeezed on my thigh once again which draw out a desperate whispered out of me. “What was that?” Tilted his head slightly acting as he didn’t hear what escaped my lips just seconds ago. I swallowed hard and licked my lips trying to think of something to say. Something to distract me from the fire within me.

“Why... why ‘A little death’?” I blurted out. My question was unexpected and while Ace pulled away from me a bit, his hand stayed on my thigh.

“It’s a translation from a French phrase.” His eyes shifted from mine as he turned his head slightly away. Now observing his side profile, it was even harder to read him.

“What is the phrase? What does it mean?” My voice came out as a whispered. A puff of air escaped his nose in a makeshift laugh.

“‘La petite mort’. It means post-orgasm sensation as likened to death.” His index finger was running small circles on my thigh, in a way I was experiencing my own little death.

“I didn’t know you speak French.”

“I don’t. But I know a thing or two.” He side glanced me with a smirk. With one last squeeze on my thigh, he suddenly got up from the bed straitened his back. “Okay, I’m going now.”

“No, stay.” I got on my knees on the bed and held on his hand. “I will sleep on the couch as I said, and you can ta-”

“(Y/N), no.” His tone was gentle but the look on his face was stern. Not only this but this time he turned to me with my name, something he barely ever did. “I’m going home and you are sleeping in your own bed.” I felt like a child who is being scolded by their parents. Lowering my head I let go of his hand and stood up from the bed. We walked to the entrance and didn’t say anything until Ace was at the door ready to leave as he put his boots and jacket on.

“Can you at least text me when you get home?” Leaning on the wall I didn’t dare to look at him. In a way I was exhausted of his sudden mood changes.

“Sure.” He replied as he opened the door. “Take care, doll.” Was the last thing he said to be before closing the door behind him.

Christmas came and went. Early in the morning today Shanks and I sent off my dad to the airport. The three weeks he had been here went by so fast, but it was so nice to be able to spend time with him again. We also got to meet Natasha over the holidays. She was so fun and nice. Having barely six years age difference between us we quickly found things we both like and we talked about going out together someday. Even after all the fun I had, Ace didn’t leave my mind for even a second. Since he was at my place last Sunday the only thing, we have texted each other was ‘Merry Christmas’ and it was me who reached out first. The burning sensation from Sunday night was still so fresh in my mind. Why did he tease me like that? Why didn’t he do anything when he was fully aware of the fact that I desired him, probably more than he did me. Was it because of our so called ‘friendship’? It’s not even a proper one so I doubt anything was going to change if we had lost ourselves in the moment. Or I was entirely wrong, and a lot was going to change if we had done something that night. Deep down I knew myself, he had already swept me off my feet, the fact that just seeing him shirtless got me all heated was enough to prove me that if something more was to happen in the past Sunday, maybe there was going to be a lot of regret after. Maybe Ace was right to stopped it before we both regrated it. Still nothing was changing the fact that I was into him, and this whole ‘friendship’ bullshit was killing me. At least if I knew if it was mutual ‘crush’ it would have been easier. If I knew that he only wanted to sleep with me maybe then I was going to take a step back and rethink if it was worthed, but no. I was out in the dark trying my best to read him and break his walls while every time I managed to break a single brick another thick wall was appearing.

It was around four pm when my phone rang. I put my book aside and grabbed the phone from the nightstand.

“Ace?” I said answering.

“Do you have any plans for tonight?” He blurted out.

“Mm, no. I’m just chilling at home. Why?”

“Cool, I will pick up at eight.” He said and didn’t give me any time to ask anything or protest before he hang up. I moved the phone from my ear and just blankly stared at it. Of course, he had ignored me for days only to storm back like a hurricane. The worst part was that I somehow enjoyed this. As mush as he was confusing, irritating and so suffocating to be around sometimes, he was also my favourite company. Whit Ace, I could be myself and not feel judged or unsafe. He might have been an asshole many times, but he was also caring, protective, fun and quite gentle when he wanted to be. Ace was a bit of everything, and he always found a way to make me melt for him even when I was all mad and irritated with him. Shaking my head trying to come on my sense as I realised, I sounded as if I was in love with him or something. I had four hours until he picks me up, so I continued reading until almost six. Then I got up from bed and got ready. I had no idea where or what we were going to do so I put a safe outfit. Just a pair of jeans and a white off shoulder blouse. It didn’t take me much to do my makeup or hair, so I was done getting ready quite fast. Until I received a message from him that he was downstairs I was scrolling on my socials. Putting my boots and coat on I grabbed a small handbag before I left. Going down the stairs I realise that I had to suffer another ride on his motorbike, which as much as I would have enjoy holding him while he drove us to whatever we were going, the weather was adding to my fear. Taking a step outside instead of seeing Ace leaned on his bike as always, he was leaning on a car. Not like I had a big knowledge about cars, but it was a sport car for sure. He smiled at me when he saw me and opened the door for me once I stood in front of him. I thanked him and got inside the car. Once he got inside and started the engine I took a better look at him. He wore some dark jeans with some grey sweater on and his red beams necklace around his neck. For a first time ever his hair was kind of styled but still messy. This man didn’t know how to take proper care of his curls.

“I didn’t know you have a car.” I finally broke the silence as we stopped on a red light.

“I don’t. It’s Sabo’s.” He glanced at me and winked.

“Oh, this explains the colour then.” I said looking out of the window.

“What do you mean?” Ace chuckled, his eyes back on the road as the traffic light changed to green.

“I can’t imagine you driving a white car. It just doesn’t say... you, it doesn’t say Ace... you get what I mean?” A chuckle escaped my lips.

“And what colour you think will suit me, doll?” He side-eyed me for a second.

“Something black, and big maybe like a jeep or a truck.” I had no idea what I was talking about all I wanted was to avoid traveling in uncomfortable silence, since what had happened on Sunday.

“I like sport cars like this one. I even thought about getting the same one.” Ace said as he lifted his shoulder in a half shrug.

“Where are you taking me by the way?” I shifted a bit on the passenger seat readjusting the seatbelt.

“A friend of mine and their band are performing in a small bar tonight. I saw it earlier today on Instagram and I thought to myself why not, then I called you and you said yes.”

“I never said yes.” My head tilted in his direction, and I saw the way he tried to hold his smile but failed.

“Nah, you did.” Ace said confidently like he didn’t know better than me that he literally gave me no choice. I opened my mouth to say something, but he turned to look at me and we both shared a laugher.

“You are bad at pretending, you know?” I teased him.

“When I want to be.” He replied.

Maybe after thirty minutes we arrived at a part of the city where I haven’t been in so far. It was quite far away from where I lived but it was quite nice. All the streets, even the smallest alleyways were decorated if not with Christmas lights, then with some kind of fairy lights. Ace parked the car on a rather busy street. Before I got the chance to open the door, he had already opened it for. He even gave me his hand as I got out of the car.

“You know you can be quite the gentleman when you want to.” I nudged him on the side as we started to walk. An exhale of breath in a makeshift laughter escaped his lips.

“You said it, doll. When I want to.” He pulled out a packet of cigarettes from his jacket and took out a cigarette lighting it.

“Isn’t smoking bad for your voice?” I didn’t get a verbal answer just a shake of his head. “Really?” I raised my brow as I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

“It is, but I not planning to quit them anytime soon.” He took another puff of his cigarette.

“You have a lot of bad habits.” I murmured with a smile.

“That’s my charm.” He came closer to me and wrapped his hand around my shoulder. Chills ran all over my body. He wasn’t even touching my skin, yet my body was ready to respond to him. What was going on with me? “We are here.” Ace threw his cigarette away and led me inside a... candy shop. “Trust me.” He let out chuckled as he held on to my hand and looked at me over his shoulder. We reached the end of the candy shop and there was a big door covered with different candy wrappers. Ace pulled the door open and there were stairs leading to a hidden bar. Music and chatter could be heard. “Come on, I’m here. You are safe.” He saw my hesitation and was quick to reassure me that I was going to be alright.

“Promise me you won’t leave me even for a second.” I gripped on his arm as anxiety started to build in me.

“I promise, doll.” His voice was gentle and sincere. I nodded with my head slightly without easing my grip around his hand, but he didn’t protest. The place wasn’t big and not very full. But it was only nine pm so maybe later there would be more people. For an underground bar the interior was very nice. The walls weren’t covered with any paint and were completely naked and it was all bricks. There were led lights on the ground colouring the walls with a golden glow making the place somehow cozy. Ace led me to the bar. Behind the bar counter the wall was divided with two arches which were covered with two big mirrors and all the alcohol they offered displayed on the shelves. “What do you want to drink?” Ace turned to me and moved a stand of my hair away from my face with his free hand.

“Just a coke zero, with a lot of ice, please.” I told him as my eyes were carefully observing the place. It wasn’t a shady place but so was the ‘Ska Stage’ yet my night there ended up in a hospital.

“Doll, I need to use both of my hands.” Ace said and I immediately let go of his hand. I apologised to him, but he brushed me off. He handed me the cola with a glass filled up with ice, while he held a bottle of non-alcoholic beer in his hand. Ace stood behind my back and pointed to a tall table where we could sit. We placed our drinks on the table and took off our jackets placing them on one of the chairs. Ace pulled his chair closer to mine and I was thankful of him and how mindful he was so far. I have relaxed for a bit but still I was a little nervous for later.

“What time is your friend performing?” I asked him while filling the glass with cola.

“Ten thirty if I remember correctly.” Ace took a sip of his beer.

“Have you been here before?” I took another look at the place. We sat between two column brick walls making the space around us a little private.

“Yes, I have. Me and the guys wanted to perform here at the beginning when we started but let’s say someone slept with the wrong person’s daughter.” He lowered his head as he tried to suppress his laugher.

“Oh my, Ace you are such a whore.” I said as my whole face cringed.

“Woah, woah, easy there. Who said it was me?” His brows raised in disbelief of my comment. “Believe it or not, but Deuce is not as innocent as he might look.” My mouth almost fell to the floor when he said this.

“No way it was Deuce.”

“I’m telling the truth.” He raised his hands in defence.

“I will ask Deuce about this.” I pointed my finger at Ace giving him a last chance to be honest.

“Damn, always the worst assumption about me, doll huh?” Ace shook his head, but the smile wasn’t leaving his face. “Okay, ask him, but I promise you, you will be apologising to me after.” He flicked me on the forehead. I pouted as he did so, and he just smirked.

“Do they play the same genre as you?” I was curious as I had never heard of the band performing tonight, but I supposed they were quite new.

“Nah, they are a pop band. I am a close friend with the vocalist, they are very good.”

“Better than you?” I teased him as I nudged his elbow with mine. Ace smirked as hummed left his lips.

“You could say this.”

“No, I don’t believe this.” I scrunched my nose and shook my head.

“Yea, stoke my ego, I love this.” Ace sarcastically said leaning closer to me. I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. My eyes caught something behind him, and I squinted to see better. Ace noticed and turned around to see what I was looking at.

“Are those there card games?” I asked and Ace hummed in response. “Do you wanna play?” I placed my hands on the table excitedly.

“Go grab whichever one you want.” He didn’t need to tell me twice as I jumped from the chair and went to look at the games. The one that caught my attention the most was called ‘answer or dare’ so I grabbed it and went back to Ace. I placed it on the table and with a little jumped I sat back on my chair. “What did you choose?” He took the game in his hand and observed it.

“So, you take a card from the black deck and there are four questions, and you choose which one to ask me and if I don’t want to answer I must do one of the dares from the red deck of cards.” I explained quickly as he started to pull the decks from the box. “Do you want to be first?”

“No, you can start.” He winked at me and took a sip of his beer. I nodded and reached to take a card from the black deck. The questions were either dirty or super boring, but I decided to start with something simple.

“Okay, this one: which is your celebrity crush?” I read the card and looked at him.

“I don’t have one.” His brows knitted as thought for a second but shook his head. “No, I really don’t have one.” Ace grabbed a card and smiled. He looked at me with a stone faced as he held the card hidden with his index and middle finger. “What’s the colour of your nipples?” He asked me with a overly sultry tone and I burst out laughing as I knew that there was no such question, but he was referring to a meme I had sent him a few weeks ago. He started laughing with me as I slapped him on the shoulder.

“You are awful.” I said in between laughter.

“Okay, okay. Sorry, doll. I will try to be serious.” He looked at the card between his fingers and read the question he set his mind on. “Did you have any nicknames growing up?” I was a little surprised that he set his mind on something boring and didn’t go straight to the spicy questions.

“Yes, I did, and it was given to me by Shanks and till this day he calls me by it.”

“And the nickname is...” Ace waved his hand to me to spit it out.

“Foxy...” I murmured as I looked away when I felt my cheeks heating.

“Wait, isn’t this also you Instagram name.” He poked me with his finger on the sides and I jumped on my spot with a yelp.

“Yes, this is where my name comes from.”

“Cute. Your turn.” Ace put his card aside and I took another. My eyes lit up as the card had the perfect question for him, something that always slipped my mind and I have wanted to ask him for a long time now.

“Tell the story behind the most embarrassing tattoo you have.” I giggled while reading the card. Ace groaned as he propped this head on the back of his hand. “I’ve actually been curious about this one for a long time now.” I said as he took a deep breath in before throwing his head up and biting on his lip.

“My one and only tattoo happened because I lost a bet against Sabo, and I don’t even remember what the bet was about anymore as it has been ten years now.” I propped my chin on my crossed fingers as I was all ears listening to his story. “Anyway, the loser was supposed to get a homemade tattoo whi-” I interrupted him immediately.

“What do you mean by homemade tattoo, is this even a thing?” My eyes widen, I was hundred percent sure there was no such thing as ‘homemade’ tattoo, this wasn’t some cake recipe.

“There is no such thing as a ‘homemade’ tattoo, but we called it that. Guess who the tattoo artist was?” He looked seriously at me waiting for my answer.

“S-Sabo?”

“I wish. It was Luffy.” He squeezed his eyes shut as I burst out laughing again.

“No, no, Ace, no.” I shook my head as I couldn’t stop laughing. Ace was just nodding his head as he bit on his lips.

“He was twelve, and apparently for twelve years he didn’t learn how to spell my name, which by the way I forgot to mention, I didn’t choose the tattoo, Sabo did.” Every time I thought this story couldn’t get worse Ace proved me wrong. “The misspelling isn’t the worst part, it got infected, and it was not only itchy but also painful. But yeah, after the infection went away, I went to a professional tattoo artist, and they covered Luffy’s messy handwriting so it can look better.” He lifted his shoulders once he was done with the story, and I cooed. I felt a little bad for him, it was a funny story, but he did suffer.

“Why didn’t you remove it?”

“It added more character to me.” He playfully raised his eyebrows and smirked. “My turn.” He said as he took a card from the deck. We continued with the game laughing and messing around. It was his turn again and he laughed mischievously as he read the card. “Oh doll, I think your first dare is coming.” He licked his lower lip as he looked at me. “What do you fantasize about when you... you know... show your body some love?” My face went blank when he read the question with a smug smile placed on his face.

“There is no way this is written on the card.” I snatched the card from his fingers because I was sure he was messing with me, but no. The questing was the real and way more uncensored than the way he asked me. I gave him the card back. “I’m not answering this.”

“I know.” He said and reached for a red card. His brows frowned as he read the dares on the card. “Okay, you choose between these two: sing your favourite song chorus or let me text whoever I choose from your contact list something.” I whined when I heard the dares, but there was no way I was singing in front of Ace, so I told him to take my phone from the pocket of my coat and text whoever he wants whatever as I also told him my password. His brows frowned for a second as he grabbed my phone but then he quickly typed something and put my phone back.

“Should I be worried what you texted?” I wasn’t worried at all to who he might have texted as much as what he might have texted.

“Nah, don’t worry, the person will know it’s from me.” He winked at me. We continued with the game before we got interrupted by someone tapping on Ace’s shoulder. Ace looked over his shoulder and his eyes lit up. “Izo! What’s up, bro?” He got up and bumped shoulders with the guy.

“Hey, Ace. Haven’t seen you in a while.” The tall dark-haired guy said. He turned to me and greeted me as well and I smiled at him.

“Oh, this is (Y/N).” Ace was quick to introduce me. Izo reached with his hand to shake mine as he introduced himself. “What’s brings you here?”

“My boyfriend is friend with one of the band members and we came to listen to them tonight.” He pointed with his thumb behind him where his boyfriend was. “Oh, Ace.” Izo excitedly exclaimed. “He was at your show in the ‘Ska Stage’ and he said you guys were phenomenal. Sadly, I had an emergency from work, and I couldn’t come, but he showed me some videos he took that night and you guys killed it.”

“Yea, even I was satisfied with this performance, so thank you man.” Ace boyishly laughed as he ran his hand through his hair. Someone called for Izo and he turned to see that his friends were calling for him.

“If you guys want to join us, please do.” His eyes shifted between Ace and me. Ace looked at me over his shoulder before he turned back to Izo.

“Some other time man.” Ace told him and Izo quickly got what was going on.

“No worries, guys. Still, you can join us at any time.” He waved us a quick goodbye before he went back to his boyfriend and friends. Ace sat back and smiled.

“You wanna continue with the game?” He asked me but I shook my head. I took a better look around us and noticed how the place was almost full. Until now I didn’t even realise it as I was too focused on the game and Ace. “I will go and get us some more drinks, do you want the same?”

“Yes, and a lot of ice. But... um..” My eyes shifted around, and Ace got the hint immediately.

“You will be able to see me the whole time and I will be looking towards your direction as well.” He reassured me as he placed his hand on my bare shoulder.

“No, this is okay, don’t worry... it’s just...” I felt really awkward as I didn’t know how to say it without sounding like a baby. “I need to go to the restroom.” I mumbled under my breath. Until I noticed how many people have come, I was alright but now my anxiety and Izo mentioning the ‘Ska Stage’ triggered something in me.

“Okay, let’s go first there and I will wait for you outside or do you want me to speak with some girl to come with you inside as well?” Not only his voice but even his eyes were soft and full of concern.

“Just you waiting outside is enough.” I replied. Ace nodded and wrapped his arm around my shoulder as I hopped off the chair and we walked to the toilets. He let go of me once we reached the women’s restroom and I got inside. Thankfully there was no queue, so I got inside fast. After I washed my hands, I checked myself in the mirror, everything was on its place even my hair. Ace was waiting for me outside the lady’s restroom as he promised. “Thank you.” I whispered once I stood in front of him. He gave me half a smile and we walked back to the table. Then he went to get us another round of non-alcoholic drinks, which I appreciated because it was nice to be outside and have fun time without alcohol. And so far, tonight I was enjoying myself, and by the looks of it so did Ace. While I was waiting for him to come back, I checked my phone. I had two messages – one from Luffy and one from Dave. The one from Luffy was just ‘Ace xDD’ so I guessed, Ace texted him when he had my phone, and the one from Dave was ‘What time should I pick you up tomorrow?’

“Tomorrow?” I said out loud to myself. It took me a moment to remember that we were going to see a movie. Quickly I responded to him that he can pick me up an hour or so before the screening.

“Hmm, texting the boyfriend?” I jumped on my seat as I didn’t notice that Ace was back. He put the drinks on the table, and I thanked him before I asked what he meant by this.

“What boyfriend?” I snored.

“David or whatever his name was.” Ace smirked before taking a sip of his beer, but the small eyeroll didn’t escape my sight.

“Dave.” I corrected him, as a little sound like laugher puff escaped my nose. “And he is my friend.”

“I’ve heard something else.” He side-eyed me. The smirk was still on his face but the smugness which usually came with it wasn’t present.

“Find a better source then.” I grumbled as I turned my head away from him and crossed my arms in front of my chest.

“Easy there, doll. Did I step on your tail or something?” His voice was teasing and mocking at the same time. Placing his hand on top of my crossed ones I only glanced at him.

“What have you heard and from who?” The irritation in my voice was more than clear.

“Usopp mentioned you are going on a date with him, so I thought something is going on between you two.” Ace removed his hand from mine and took another sip of his beer. “By the way you react something is obviously going on.” He murmured under his nose. My eyes widen from what I just heard.

“Wait, what? What date? How did Usopp knew about this?” The realisation slapped me like a wet mop in the face. “No, no, no. Fuck, no.”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know it was a date.” Ace said seriously and I just shook my head. He bit the insides of his cheeks as he tried to contain his laugher.

“It’s tomorrow and no I had no idea, he just said wanna go see the screening of ‘Interstellar’ and I said yes, because it’s one of my favourite movie.” Slapping myself wasn’t enough and Ace laughing wasn’t helping. “Ace it’s not funny. He is a very good guy, and I don’t want to lead him on.” I whined.

“Doll, how did you not get the hint?” He gave me a sincere look as he placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Damn, even I feel bad for the guy now.”

“If I knew it was a date I would have never said yes.” I leaned my head on his hand and pouted. “I will text him to cancel.” Unlocking my phone determined to cancel the ‘date’, Ace snatched it from me. “Hey, give it back.” I protested instead he just put it in the back pocket of his pants. “Ace what are you doing? It’s not funny, give it back.”

“Don’t cancel. Go on the date.” Hearing this felt like someone was driving a nail into my heart with a hammer. The small smile placed on Ace’s face wasn’t helping. I did in fact not get hints, because tonight got my hopes up for a moment, but he couldn’t make it more clear than now – we were never going to be anything more than friends. “You never know you might have quite lot of fun. Give the guy a chance.” He winked at me and another nail was hammered into my foolish heard. Swallowing hard I placed a big fake smile on my face.

“He is my friend, Ace, I don’t want to hurt him by leading him on.” I moved my gaze away as I didn’t want to look into his eyes. “After all, playing with someone’s feeling is one of the worst things you can do to a person.” There was a lot of hidden meaning behind my words which I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to catch on it or not.

“Doll –“ He couldn’t finish his sentence as everyone started applauding. We looked at each other and Ace smiled. “I think they are starting. Come.” He held his hand for me to take and I did as I hopped of the chair. Making our way to the small stage Ace stood next to me with his hand around my shoulder, a very friendly gesture. There were quite lot of people around us and it was calming to have Ace keeping me close to him as it made me feel secure. I tried to shake away the pang of pain in my heart and enjoy the night. On the small podium were three people – three boys and a girl.

“Which one is your friend?” I slightly tilted my head towards Ace. He looked down at me and then at the stage pointing with his chin at the girl.

“Yamato – they are great.” I moved my eyes to the stage looking at them. They were tall and very fit. A big grin was placed on their face as they were greeting everyone. They were dressed in a super baggy light blue jeans and a Nirvana sleeveless top with their white hair with blue highlight up in a ponytail. The guys behind them were matching their outfit but in different shades of colour. The guy on the drums raised his hands in the air and counted with his drumsticks three times before they started playing. The melody filled up the space and everyone cheered.  

I'm trying to tell you I'm trying to know you I'm dying to show you Fighting to get you

Their voice was a lot softer than Ace’s but still they were as good as Ace clamed they were.

Soon as you got me You go and drop me It's cool when you burn me I love how you hurt me

Listening carefully to the lyrics I found it ironic. I was strongly relating to the feelings Yamato was singing about.

It's not what you said It's the way you say it It's not what you did It's the way you do it

I couldn’t help but look at Ace. He was enjoying himself, singing along, even tapping with his right foot to the rhythm of the music. Sick and tired of needing your affection I chose to be lonely than live without your attention

The more I was listening to the lyrics the more my heartbeat was increasing.

I scratch your sweet name Right into my skin You left me bleeding But I couldn't give in

The skin on my shoulders was burning with every squeeze, every little movement of his fingers and every time he would run his hand a little up and down along my arm. I wasn’t sure who to curse - myself for choosing an open shoulders blouse or Ace for having this effect on my body.

I swallowed the poison to get infected Give back my heart that your body rejected

I have lost count how many times Ace has started something only to rejected me, and I haven’t realised it or at least I didn’t want to admit to myself as I continued to believe that maybe... just maybe... something might happen between us. But he made it clear – friends. Nothing more, nothing less. After all he did tell me to go on a date with another guy just minutes ago.

I'm standing in the pain That's smothering me It's more becoming my own blood Why can't you see?

While he was lost in the song, I was lost in him. I couldn’t take my eyes away from him. I wasn’t the best in faking what I was feeling. Why he couldn’t realise that this ‘friendship’ was not working. This friendship was doomed from the start.

That I'm starving for your love And I need attention Or I'm going to die

Nothing could have prepared me for what crossed my mind. ‘Why couldn’t have I fallen for Dave, instead I fell for you Ace?’ It was like someone splashed me with a bucket with ice cold water. Chills run all over my body when the thought crossed my mind. I had fallen for Ace. I took a step back from Ace, and he turned to look at me. He pulled me closer to him and leaned closer to me, almost pulling my entire body close to his.

“Is everything alright, baby?” He whispered in my ear but from standing so close to me and the music I couldn’t hear him. His breath tickling my skin making it having goosebumps all over. Breath caught in my lungs I tried collecting myself as fast as possible I placed both of my hands on his chest and locked my eyes with his.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

“Are you okay?” He pulled me even closer and now my entire body was pressed to his as his hand fell from my shoulder to the middle of waist. I nodded my head and awkwardly chuckled.

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” He raised his eyebrow doubtfully. Raising on my tiptoes I whispered to him. “Your friend is great.” Pulling back from him still bodies locked he smiled at me.

“I told you.” Ace said removing his hand from my waist and taking a step back. “Wait to hear the rest of their songs.” And he was right. The band was great. The realisation, the feelings they were here, and they weren’t going to fade away anytime soon, so instead of worrying about it now, I decided to just savour the moment with Ace. Everyone was dancing and singing, even me and Ace. Finishing the song everyone applauded, and Yamato spoke on the microphone.

“A special shout out to one of my most dear friends – Ace, who I spot in the crowd. The next song is a special one, as he helped me writing it. So, for you Ace and the pretty girl next to you.” They happily exclaimed on the mic and winked at us with a big smile on their face. Ace’s boyish laughter left his lips as Yamato dedicated the song to us. I bounced on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me so he could hear me better as the song started.

“Did you help writing the whole song?” My eyes filled up with excitement as I was always looking forward for the songs he had written as I knew that when he writes he means and feels it.

“Nah, only the chorus. They are giving me too much credit.” He replied as he turned me around and stood behind me with his hands on my waist. Even though we were dancing until now we didn’t cross any lines, but with his hands on my waist all the thoughts I put aside, run back to my mind and my whole body went numb.

I'm gonna get hurt I'm gonna get hurt

The song was quite heartbreaking if you ignore the quick pop-electro tempo, and you were listening to the lyrics.

Keep playin' my heartstrings faster and faster You can be just what I want, my true disaster

Ace was singing along the chorus with them while his hands didn’t leave my waist for even a second. I leaned my body on his while we were swaying to the rhythm, placing my hands on top of his as he wrapped them around me. ‘Just savour the moment’ was a constant thought in my mind tonight. Sometimes in life what we want and what we get were not always the same thing. I couldn’t blame Ace for the way I felt towards him as he had warned me from the beginning – just friends. Lost in thought I didn’t realise the song had finished and so did the performance until I heard loud applauses around me. Ace pulled away and nodded me to follow him. He led me towards where his friend was as he held me by the hand. His big, yet soft hand felt so good wrapped around my fingers.

“Yamato.” He called out loud. They turned around and their eyes lit up at the sight of Ace.

“Ace.” They screamed and run towards him wrapping their arms around him. Ace returned the hug with one hand only as he wasn’t letting go of mine. “I haven’t seen you in almost two months man, where the hell have you been?” Yamato pulled away and grabbed Ace by the shoulders shaking him. Ace laughed in response as he let go of my hand and then placed it again around my shoulders.

“I’ve been busy with the band, you know how it is.” He chuckled raising his shoulders in a half shrug. “This is (Y/N), by the way.” He introduced me and Yamato’s eyes quickly shifted to me as a big smile spread across their face.

“Nice to finally put a face to the name. I’m Yamato.” They reached for a handshake. Up this close they were slightly taller than Ace and they didn’t even wear heels. I took their hand with a smile and shook it. Also, did they just said, ‘put a face to the name’? Has Ace mentioned me? No, no way he had. They probably meant to say, ‘a name to the face’.

“Nice to meet you, Yamato. Your band is great. And I’m in love the first song you sang, I’m adding it to my playlist.” I returned the big smile.

“Thank you, Ace hates it.” They crossed their arms in front of their chest and stuck their nose in the air, winking at me.

“Don’t listen to them, I love the song.” He said as he rolled his eyes. “You killed it tonight.” Ace fist bumped them on the shoulder and Yamato returned it but instead on the shoulder they hit him on the stomach. I felt and saw how Ace’s muscles tense as Yamato wasn’t being light with their punches.

“We used to go kickboxing together, he is fine don’t worry.” Yamato turned to me as they noticed my reaction to their strange encounter. Their bandmates called out for them and Yamato groan. “Are you leaving immediately? We can grab a drink or two.” Their smile widened and eyes filled with a sparkle. Yamato was full of energy like they had just woken up. Ace looked at me asking me with his eyes if I wanted to stay longer or not.

“It’s up to you.” I gave him a small smile.

“We aren’t in a hurry.” He said as he winked at me.

Walking back to the car, Ace and I were laughing loudly. I almost tripped which caused him to get a hold of me and balance me back, which lead to more giggles. We had stayed until the bar closed, talking and laughing with Yamato and their bandmates. Them and Ace had been friends for almost five years now and both had found themselves in quite questionable situations.

“Shh, quiet we might wake people up.” I said in between giggles trying to catch my breath from all the laughter. Ace glanced at me and mischievous grin appeared on his face.

“Help, someone, help sh-” He screamed on top of his lungs, but I was quick to cover his mouth with my hands.

“Ace.” I hissed with laugher and looked up to see if we had woken up someone. It was almost three am and even though we haven’t drunk any alcohol it felt like we were drunk. The whole laughing uncontrollably situation started as we went out of the bar and some guy fell in the candy shop knocking two shelves of candies with him. Thinking about it now didn’t seem so funny but five minutes ago seemed like the funniest thing on earth. Ace murmured something in my hand bringing my attention back to him. “What?” Instead of an answer I received a little bite but sharp bite on my palm. “Ouch, are you a vampire or something?” I pulled my hand back and a little bite mark was left on the inside of it.

“I barely bit you.” He took my hand and observed the mark. “You will live, doll.” Winking at me he pulled out the keys for the car from his jacket and opened the car. Ace opened the door for me and I thanked him as I got inside the car. Closing the door and going to the driver’s side once he sat down and shut the door, we looked at each other and laughter burst out again. Ace took a deep breath and started the car. He turned to me and stared at my eyes for a moment.

“What is there something on my face?” I joked as I noticed the way he observed me. Eyes half lidded with a little half smirk on his eyes.

“Nah, your face is flawless as always, doll.” My heart skipped a beat, from all the laughter his voice sounded a little raspier, but adding to the sound of his voice what he said to me add to the blush on my face. Rasing my eyebrow at him questionably he looked at the road and then back to me. “Are you in hurry to go home, after all tomorrow you are going to be busy.” His tone was cocky and mocking but his eyes weren’t. There was something in them that I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but it wasn’t mockery or teasing. Rolling my eyes knowing what he implied by me being ‘busy’ tomorrow I shook my head. “Would you let me take you somewhere with quite nice view at this hour?” And the smugness in his voice and eyes was back.

“Why aren’t you already driving us there is the question.” I teased him. Ace snorted a laugher and started the car. He offered me his phone to play whatever music I wanted but I choose to go through the radio channels instead. Twenty minutes into the drive, I was still changing the radio every thirty seconds. Ace glanced at me for a second before returning his eyes to the road.

“Doesn’t anything suit your music taste?” He asked with a chuckled.

“No, I just don’t know what I want to listen to.” I whined changing yet again the stations. Ace sighed and just shook his head. “What?” Glancing at him he just smiled and slightly shrugged.

“It’s not like I didn’t offer you my phone to play something...” He murmured under his breath. I lightly slapped his shoulder with the back of my hand, receiving a huffed laughter from him. Looking out of the window for a moment, I noticed that we were in the outside skirt of the city.

“Where are we going?” I turned to Ace who was focused on the road, which had a lot of curves and trees surrounding it.

“You will see.” He replied. I took a good look of his face – he had a little playful smile on it, which meant that he had something in mind. Pressing the screen again to change to another radio channel I heard familiar melody. I smiled as I recognised the song and leaned on my seat.

She said, "Hello, mister, pleased to meet ya" I wanna hold her, I wanna kiss her

I heard Ace chuckled as he also recognised the song. He increased the volume and started tapping on the steering wheel with his fingers.

She'd drive me crazy, she'd drive me crazy

We both stared humming the song.

Gonna take her for a ride on a big jet plane

I glanced at Ace. His eyes were on the road, but his mind was somewhere else. I couldn’t help but smile as he started to sing quietly as he was lost in his own thoughts.

Be my lover, my lady river Can I take ya, take ya higher?

His voice was so different when he sang – the usual raspiness couldn’t be heard at all, instead it was so smooth and alluring. Closing my eyes and relaxing on the seat, all enchanted by his voice. I was quietly murmuring to myself the lyrics. My favourite part of the song was about to come by my breath hitched. My eyes shoot open when I felt Ace’s hand on my thigh close to my knee. He squeezed it gently as he sang along with the song.

Gonna hold ya, gonna kiss ya in my arms Gonna take ya away from harm

His eyes didn’t move even for a second from the road, but the way his muscles trembled and the way the expression on his face hardened didn’t escaped my sight. ‘What’s going on in your mind Ace?’ It felt like the most natural thing in the world to just reached out and run my fingers on the nape of his neck. I felt him tensed and relax at the same time. He side glanced me and gave me a half smile, which didn’t reach the corner of his eyes. There was no trace of his charming or smugness in it, there was only bitterness in it. Taking his hand away from my thigh he placed it on top of mine and gently squeezed it as he removed it from his nape and placed it on my knee. The pang I felt in my chest was agonizing. With two hands back on the wheel the car felt in silence even with the music on the background. And he switched again... Lowering my head I stared at my fingers as I nervously played with them in my lap. I wanted to slap myself. Why did I do this? Why couldn’t I stop myself instead of ruining everything. ‘Good job (Y/N), good job.’ Cursing myself wasn’t enough. At this point I should have learned that him displaying any physical intimacy with me meant nothing, as Nami had said – Ace was a big flirt. Maybe he didn’t even realise it or if he did, he meant it in a different way, whatever this way might have been.

My thoughts were interrupted as I felt the car stopped moving. Ace cleared his throat making me glanced at him from under my lashes. He had taken his seatbelt off and turned his body slightly towards me with one arm resting on the steering wheel. Pointing to me with his eyes to the windshield. I followed his gaze and gasped. We were on a very high hill on the side of the road. From here half of the Grand Line city could be seen. Not only the city lights, but the sky was so clear tonight making the moon and the starts shined bright. While we were surrounded by the tall trees from the forest. I was in an awe. It was beautiful.

“How did you find this place?” My voice came out as a whispered.

“By chance.” Ace replied, voice deep but not loud. “I know you don’t smoke but wanna come outside with me for one quick cig?” Tearing my eyes away from the view I half nodded. We went out of the car and propped on the front of it, keeping a distance between each other. It has gotten colder than it was before but the fact that we were this high was adding to the coldness. Wrapping my arms around myself and tightening the coat around me, I didn’t do it only to protect myself from the cold air but the cutting silence, too. Ace lighted up his cigarette and took a long puff from it.

“Shit, I forgot to give you this back.” He said as he pulled my phone from his back pocket. I took it from him and saw that I had a message from Dave but choose to ignore it and answer it later. The silence was killing me so taking a deep breath and chuckled awkwardly. Ace blowed the cigarette smoke away and glanced at me with a raised eyebrow.

“You know what this reminds me of?” I asked gesturing with my hands to the view in front of us. He shook his head and waited for my response. “Have you seen ‘La La Land’?” I didn’t dare to look at him so I kept my eyes on the view but still could see a little bit of him with my peripheral vision. Ace hummed.

“Yea, and?” He took another drag.

“Well, you know the hill where they were going all the time, this place here gives me the same vibes.” I chattered. Taking a better look at the view in front of us Ace let out a chuckle.

“You know, I can actually see it. You are right.” He took one last puff of the cigarette and threw it on the ground and stomped it. Silence took over once again. The city lights were flickering, and we were surrounded by tall trees and small bushes. I wasn’t sure how long we stayed in silence until something moved in the bush in front of us. Scream left my lip as I instinctively jumped to Ace for protection. He was quick to straiten his position and caught me in his arms as I squeezed my eyes shut burying my face is his chest. Soft boyish laughter escaped his lips.

“Don’t laugh what if it’s a snake.” I squealed jumping on one foot to the other.

“Calm down and turn around, doll.” He chuckled and turned my body around. Hearing a quiet ‘meow’ I opened my eyes and cooed. It was a little stray orange kitten. Slowly but steady it made its way to us, or I should say its way to Ace. The moment it reached Ace, it started rubbing itself on his leg. Ace giggled and squatted down immediately to pet the kitty. “Hey, there. Aren’t you beautiful?” It was like the kitty knew what Ace was telling it and stared meowing. “Yes, yes you are pretty.” I crouched next to him to take a better look at the kitty but also pet it.

“It’s a she.” I said as the kitty had its tail up in the air. “She is quite found of you.” I chuckled as the kitty was purring from his touch.

“What can I say I have this effect on the kittens.” Ace turned to me with a wink. I rolled my eyes at his lame line.

“Cringe” I said yet couldn’t deny him this, he was right.

“You are probably hungry, aren’t you princess? What are you doing here all alone?” The kitty turned on its belly and Ace started tickling her. This was so cute my heart couldn’t take it. “I’m sorry I don’t have any food with me. No, no she doesn’t have as well.” A giggle escaped my lips as it was just so adorable watching him speaking to the kitty with his softest voice like it could understand him. I stood and pulled my phone and took a quick video of their interaction. “Hey, no paparazzi.” Ace turned to the camera with a big grin on his face as he continued playing with the kitten. “No, princess I can’t take you home.” He said to the kitten as it was back on its paws. It meowed at him pleadingly. “I know, I know. But I can come tomorrow and bring you some food, you will be here, right?” The kitty meowed once more, and Ace petted it one last time before it went away. He got back on his feet and wiped his hands on his jeans.

“This was adorable.” I cooed as I leaned closer to him. He looked at me and smirked.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said that cats love me. Literally if there is a cat around it always comes to me and ignores everyone else.” The big smile on his face was like of a kid who just win the biggest toy from the scammer carnival games. “I’m like a magnate for them.” He nudged me with his elbow, and I clicked with my tongue nudging him back. I wasn’t sure how or when somewhere between Ace starting to tickle me and me trying to fight him, I got pinned on top of the front of the car. Hovering over me Ace smirked.

“You know you can’t beat me on playing fight, right?” He let go of my arms and I slowly rose propping on the car while Ace stood in front of me.

“This doesn’t mean that I can’t try.” I teased as I tried to sneak attack him by poking his belly, but he was fast to catch my wrist before I could do it.

“Nice try, doll.” He leaned closer to me. I smirked back and stood up lifting my head to have a better look at him. I was so lost in our little banter that I didn’t realise straight away how close we were to each other. Thanks to the reflection of the lights coming from the city below us I was able to observe his face as much as the light allowed me. I was so used to his freckles that sometimes I forgot how adorable they made him look. The way they were covering mostly the top of his cheeks and a little bit of his nose. And those dark brown eyes, which were staring back at me, I could get lost in them for hours. As much as I tried to fight the building desire in me my eyes trailed down to his lips – his full, perfectly shaped lips. Licking my lips I swallowed hard. This close I could feel his hot breath that was causing goosebumps all over my body. With all my willpower I tore apart my eyes from his lips back to his eyes. But his eyes weren’t on me, they were on my lips. My breath got caught in my lungs as his eyes shoot back to mine. ‘Kiss me.’ I was screaming inside my head. ‘Kiss me. Touch me.’ I was burning, I wanted to scream at him on the top of my lungs. ‘Take me right here and right now.’ He wasn’t stupid, I knew Ace could feel it too, the desire, the burning, the increased pulse – the pleading in my eyes.

“Don’t look at me like this.” He said, his face was hard like a stone and unreadable. His tone was cold and pleading at the same time. Even his eyes – there was something I have never seen in them before, but I couldn’t read what it was.

“Look at you how?” I couldn’t find my voice as my mind was running wild.

“Don’t play dumb, doll. It doesn’t suit you.” His head turned to the side as he looked at the sky.

“I’m not playing dumb, Ace. Look at you how exactly?” I could feel the pulse and the blood rushing through all over my body. Instead of responding he took a step back and went to open the passenger door of the car.

“Let’s call it a night, plus it’s cold.” He held the door open and didn’t even bother to look at me, while his tone was stern and cold. I licked my lips and nodded slowly. Of course, the same old repeating cycle. I slowly walked to the opened door of the car and stood in front of him.

“How did I look at you, Ace?” I didn’t want to fight with him, so I kept my voice smooth and calm. Turning his head away from me again, I grabbed his jaw gently and made him face me. He snatched his face from my hand immediately. “Answer me.” I knew how I looked at him, I knew what I wanted, and I still did, but I wanted him to say it and to give me an answer to why it was a problem. After all... this friendship was doomed from the beginning and after tonight maybe there wasn’t going to be anything left from it.

“(Y/N) get in the car, before you make me do something I would regret later..." He exhaled deeply. "Please...” I got in the car, and he closed the door.

The drive to my place was long... too long. The entire time we didn’t said anything to each other. If I knew that this night would have ended like this, I would have never gone out. The whole car ride I was fighting with the tears in my eyes. I couldn’t sort a single thought of mine and I didn’t want to deal with it right now. All I wanted was to get home.

My street came to the view, and I unbuttoned the seatbelt before he even stopped the car in front of my place. The moment he stopped the car I jumped out of it without saying a word to Ace, and ran as fast as I could to my building entrance slamming the door shut after me the same way he slammed my heart to the ground tonight.

END NOTE: Damn… what a roller coaster, right? I hope you got enjoyed it and had fun with their little conversations and moments as much as I did while writing it. This chapter was supposed to be even longer but I decided to leave the bitter feeling for the next one hihihi ♡

As always feel free to comment, like, reblog as your opinion matters for me ♡ Big shout out to my biggest and loud supporters @3rtxaa @orange-milky @lilink @worstgenerationloser @yourfavarii @chimjii (I’m so sorry if I’m forgetting to tag someone please I appreciate and see every one of you and I send you all the love and hugs in the world 🥹🫶) THANK YOU GUYS FOR READING AND SUPPORTING THIS STORY. I’m not sure it it was going to get far without you.

writing, format & dividers © eand47 fanart @a_phu14 on IG ©eand47, do not copy or plagiarise my work.

[sanjisboyfie]

๑ keep safe : don't you know? "lover" outweighs "boyfriend" (13)

one piece x male reader

you push it hard, i pull away,

i'm feelin' hotter than fire 

i guess that no one ever really made me that much higher 

te deseo, cariño,

boy, it's you i desire 

your love, your love, your love 

『 prev 』

“how could you lose luffy? idiot, you were the one holding him! [name], answer me?!”

“it just happened, i don’t know!!!” [name] said, getting tired of nami’s scolding.

“you were holding his ear weren’t you?!”

“i was!!”

“and then?! where is he?!”

“hell if i know!”

“are you giving me attitude, seriously?! right now?!”

nami and [name]’s screaming was heard throughout the entire ship and the others tried their best to not meddle with their argument. the two were going to keep going back and forth no matter what.

vivi was getting exasperated with the yelling and eventually sanji stepped in. literally. he kicked [name] in the face and made sure to make him land far away from nami.

“quit yelling your head off, especially at nami!!! who taught you manners?! why are you raising your voice at such a beautiful woman?!” sanji cried out, anger and fury in his eyes as he berated [name].

the navigator walked away from the argument, rubbing her forehead to try and ease down her headache. she commanded the rest of the crew to get the ship moving, not wanting to risk sitting at the harbor for possible navies to find.

sanji and [name] were now fighting in a corner of the ship that no one dared step near. vivi was still observing them with a deadpan look on her face. she wondered how long it would take for this to feel normal. the others on the crew, even chopper, was not caring towards the chef and [name], who were actively trying to rip each other’s heads off.

as the merry was gliding across the ocean, a good distance away from the shore, there was a sudden shout as someone had spotted luffy.

[name] bruised and hair ruffled looked over the railing, “is it really him? is ace with him? do you see ace?!”

sanji kicked down on [name]’s head, making the man face plant into the wooden deck of the ship, “huh, it really is him. there’s not any other idiot who could look like that.”

“i’m baaaaack!!!”

luffy’s yells change in volume indicated that he was approaching them at a fast rate. but since [name]’s head was previously suffocated in the wooden planks, he didn’t get enough time to properly tell where luffy was. or more importantly, where he was landing.

and just as he lifted his head up, he went tumbling backwards at the weight of luffy crashing into him, sanji, and chopper.

“sorry about that, sanji, chopper, [name],” luffy said lightheartedly, not caring that [name] was still face down on the deck.

“i should have accepted ace’s offer and left, my deadbeat captain is too much,” [name] said, voice murmured as no one could understand what he said as he was speaking directly into the deck.

“do you know how much trouble you caused?” nami’s voice shouted, “try and act more like a reliable captain!”

[name] got up from his position on the floor, sitting upright with his arms crossed over his chest. with a pursed look on his face, he looked out to sea and squinted.

“oh, that’s right, ace!!” luffy exclaimed after apologizing to nami, half-ass apologizing. “well, whatever, he’ll be fine!! ace is strong anyway,”

“he’s strong?” chopper echoed.

“yeah, stronger than me. i could never beat him! tell them, [name]!”

[name] stayed silent. but then the rest of the crew began asking him all sorts of questions, which he answered easily.

“is it true? luffy never won against that guy?” nami asked, seemingly unable to believe it.

“oi, i always beat luffy, too,” [name] said nonchalantly, still ignoring his captain. “but yeah, ace is strong.”

“i guess the bigger brothers of a monster are going to be even bigger monsters,”

“ew, [name]’s not my brother,” luffy said, his face scrunching up in confusion, “who told you that?”

“what do you mean?! you said that you grew up together!!!” the crew shouted in unison, wondering what on earth luffy was even talking about.

“he’s not my brother, though,” luffy stubbornly argued, looking at his crew in bafflement, “i never said that,”

“don’t be an idiot, it’s insinuated!!!” they once again raged on luffy, who was standing there as innocent as possible.

“but, i’d win now if we fought!” luffy laughed, going back to the original discussion - thoroughly ignoring the shouts directed at him. the crew all face palmed, listening to his hearty laugh echo on the deck.

“i assume that’s another groundless claim,” zoro spoke in a bored tone.

“definitely groundless, luffy can’t even beat me,” [name] chuckled, earning a couple of snorts from people on board.

“what?! i could totally beat you and ace!!” luffy argued once more, trying to save face.

as if on cue, ace appeared from behind luffy and kicked him down from the ship’s railing.

“who…” as he landed, he smirked at the crew and looked down at luffy, “would win against who now?!”

[name]’s face immediately brightened up, making people on the crew almost shocked at the new expression. the last time they'd seen [name]’s grin that wide was on their first encounter, when he tackled luffy to the ground.

“oh, ace! this is the crew i was talking about!” luffy said, an equally large grin on his face.

“thank you for taking care of my younger brother and [name],” ace sheepishly bowed his head down to the crew, who returned it with the same level of respect uttering a, “eh? oh, no not at all,”

“he might be a bit much for you to handle, but…”

“no, not at all,” the crew once again echoed, plainly lying to ace’s face.

“and as for [name],” ace said, making the man shoot forward in joy and wrap his arms around him, “thanks for taking care of him as well,”

there was a different fondness in ace’s voice as he spoke about [name], one that the crew didn’t really pick up on. instead they replied in the same monotonous tone they’d been using for luffy, saying, “eh? oh, not at all,”

[name] laughed, hugging ace tight and bringing him to properly stand on deck, “come on, join us. sanji, could you put some tea on for ace?” [name] politely asked, as if a switch was flipped in his mind.

‘this guy’s putting on an act,’ the crew all thought with sweatdrops rolling down their heads.

“no, no, please, don’t do it on account for me,” ace said politely, bowing his head several times to not impose. his arm was still wrapped around [name]’s waist, but his other hand that was free lifted up and lit the end of sanji’s cigarette.

“i’m surprised he’s not as brash as [name] and luffy,”

“there’s no way that this sensitive person is related to luffy!”

“he’s a brother that cares for his younger brothers,”

“ah? i never said [name] was my brother,” ace said suddenly, brows furrowed, “[name]’s not my brother,”

[name] rolled his eyes, slapping ace on the head, “why do you always bring this up at the least convenient of times?”

“never a convenient time to tell the truth, you should always be telling the truth,” ace teased back, earning an annoyed grunt from [name].

“what do you mean you guys aren’t brot-”

“oh, you guys have company,” ace said, suddenly cutting off nami’s question. “i can take care of them,” he offered, earning nods from other people in the crew.

“no, i wanna beat someone up,” [name] said, a grin on his face. but he was physically held back by ace.

“you guys just relax, i’ll do it!” he shouted, jumping off of the side of the ship and onto his own transport.

“asshole,” [name] said under his breath, but he happily watched the fight go down with a grin of excitement on his face.

with ace’s destructive devil fruit and his battle awareness, the ships were ruined and discarded into the sea in seconds. all it took was one attack form ace and wood from the ships was floating in the water.

it was like they blinked and the job was finished.

ace was soon back on board the going merry and [name] was attached to his hip once more. the duo grinned back at each other. sanji broke out some of the booze they had, handing a cup of coffee to [name], and joined in the celebration of ace’s arrival.

questions were being thrown at ace from every direction, but no matter what they were talking about or who was talking to who, [name] stayed right on top of ace. almost literally.

he was hunched over ace’s back, grinning from ear to ear as ace answered all the strawhats’ questions and wonders.

“so whitebeard pirates, huh?” usopp said with a gleam in his eyes, “are they as strong as the marines say?”

“no, stronger,” ace grinned, “if there’s any pirate crew out there that’s like a family, it’s my old man’s.”

usopp and chopper had sparkles in their eyes as they listened to ace talk about his pirate crew. there was nothing but fondness in his voice. [name] played with the ends of ace’s hair as he continued on telling about whitebeard, humming a song to himself.

ace looked at him briefly once he started, but simply turned away with a smile on his face as he went back to explaining.

”so why are you around here, ace?” chopper asked.

“i’m hunting for a man, a pirate,” ace easily answered. “his name is blackbeard,”

“more beards…” [name] murmured under his breath, making ace flick him on the forehead.

“that’s the pirate that attacked drum kingdom.” vivi gasped, wondering what the connection was between the two.

“he used to be a member of the second division of the whitebeard pirates,” ace continued explaining, “but he committed the worst possible crime on a pirate ship, he killed a crewmember and jumped ship,”

[name] stiffened at the idea, eyes darkening. imagining if someone on the strawhat crew had done that, thinking back to the other pirate crews he’d ever encountered as well. it left a sweet taste in his mouth and it made him want to vomit.

“so, as the commander, i gotta find him and get rid of him.”

“so that’s why you’re chasing after him?” usopp mused.

“i came here because i caught word that blackbeard was seen in yuba,” [name] grit his teeth, imagining the ugly face that was causing ace to go out and into harm’s way. if they ever found blackbeard at alabasta, he’d make sure to do a number on him before ace finished him off.

unnecessarily taking ace away from the pirate crew he deemed a family, that selfish bastard. [name] had to hold himself back from voicing his anger, instead choosing to rest his cheek on ace’s shoulder and leaning into the inside of his neck.

“oh, that means your destination is the same as us!” nami cheered, looking relieved to know that luffy’s older, more responsible, respectful, and put together brother was going to be able to keep him in check for a little longer.

“it looks like we can travel together longer than we thought!” the navigator cheered, taking [name]’s cup of coffee and lifting it up as if it were a jug of booze, “cheers!”

“yeah! luffy’s big brother is more than welcome here!” usopp said, immediately joining in the cheers and drinking his share of liquor.

everyone joined in, slamming their cups into each others. they drank happily and [name] laughed as he saw everyone’s relieved faces.

ace kept [name] close, laughing into his h/c hair and basking in his presence. ace’s arm was resting on [name]’s shoulder and held tightly in place so they wouldn’t separate.

it was obvious to the other crewmembers that ace seemed to want to monopolize on [name]’s attention and skinship, seeing as he didn’t let go of him for even a second.

“oh, ace, when you’d get this tattoo?” [name] asked, tracing his finger tip over ace’s skin. the man almost shivered at the sensation, but just as quick as he was to shiver, he was as quick to bursting into flames - or certain parts of his exposed skin were.

right over the area of ace’s heart, in between the pectoral and his ribs, were the neatly written words, “together in chaos.” [name] recognized the words immediately, feeling flushed when he read them.

“are you serious?”

“obviously. permanently there, isn’t it? i’d say that’s pretty serious,” ace mused, rubbing the area, “oh? are you blushing? did i really flatter you that much? no, no, let me see your face, [name]!” ace teased, trying to pull [name]’s hands away from his face.

as chaos was bubbling above deck, there was a quiet conversation being had in the woman's quarters.

“i wonder when the last time they all saw each other was,” nami mused vivi as the princess sat in their quarters writing a letter to her father. “he’s real attached — ace,”

“well, the bond of brothers is a sensitive topic for both of them, i’m sure,” vivi entertained, wondering what it was like to feel like that. but a grin came onto her face as she realized she shared a similar experience with her relationship with nami. overtime, sailing with the pirates and going through different adventures together, vivi felt safe where she was.

she felt in place.

“but the thing is, ace and luffy both say [name]’s not their brother…i wonder why,” nami thought out loud.

“well, i’m not sure, but…thinking about it — has [name] told anyone his past? he could have real family members he holds close to his heart, maybe luffy and ace are being respectful to not include themselves in that,” vivi hummed, wondering where [name] was from and how he came to be such a strong individual.

another person vivi came to cherish on the crew, finding solace in him and his welcoming demeanor. in many ways, he was similiar to their captain. but she had seen him become serious, intimidating, and more aware than luffy has ever proven himself to be.

not to mention, that price on his head wasn’t put there for nothing. and the sword he carries around definitly makes her uneasy. its natural aura, she assumed.

but no matter how many times she’d hear [name] yell or see him scowl, she can’t help but think of how grateful she is to him. she’s indebted to him like she is to the rest of the crew.

her cheeks flush ever so slightly as she thinks of the major sacrifices [name] had made in order for nami to get better. how gently he was taking care of her, speaking to her in soft tones. it showed a side of vulnerability, which to vivi, was undeniably…nope! vivi wasn't going to get caught up in those thoughts, she had a whole country to be concerned over instead! she almost smacked her head to scold herself, but dialled back on the action since nami might've thought she was going insane. it was as if her mind wanted to run its own course without her permission. she had no time for thinking about [name] like that, whatever that was.

“you really think so?” nami voiced, looking at the ceiling in thought.

“really think what!? i wasn’t thinking anything, nami!” vivi shouted, shaking her head rapidly, almost knocking over the books that were on top of the desk she was working on, “i didn’t think anything!!!”

nami sweatdropped, seeing that she caught vivi in her daydreams and put her hands up in surrender, “i wasn’t talking about whatever you’re referring to, vivi. i’m talking about what you said earlier.”

vivi stilled at the realization and waved her hand, “oh, obviously!!!…sorry,”

“it’s alright,” nami chuckled, finding vivi’s flustered state entertaining, “i was saying, though, i don’t think that’s the case…there’s probably something they’re not saying, for [name]’s sake.”

nami hummed in thought, wondering if it was something very serious between the three men. and assuming that was the truth, she stepped back and decided to no longer think about it. or wonder about it, either. she wasn’t going to ask luffy or ace, seeing as she didn’t want to pry too heavily into [name]’s past.

ace or luffy, or maybe even [name], could bring it up on their own.

but one thing did bother her quite a bit.

the fact that she, and no one else on the crew really (besides luffy), knew anything about [name]. he was an enigma to them. despite being on this life threatening journey together and him saving her life, nami blanked when she tried thinking of things she knew about [name] besides the surface level.

she walked over to vivi, ruffling her hair and telling her to not burden herself too much with the letter she was writing, and then walked up the stairs to go back to the deck.

as she was walking through the ship, she saw through the kitchen window that [name], ace, usopp, and luffy were keeping sanji company. she saw the way [name] had a tight grip on ace’s bicep, the victim of his steely grip smiling in a carefree manner as he had a hand resting on [name]’s leg.

she truly did wonder who [name] really was. but she walked off, choosing to not observe the scene so heavily anymore.

after a scolding in the kitchen, thanks to sanji’s shouts and usopp and luffy’s childish antics, the ship decided to take a short break.

vivi seemed to have finished writing her letter and needed karue to deliver it to her father for her. [name] accompanied her to say goodbye to her dear friend and vivi confided into his side as she had to watch karue leave. it seemed to pain her a lot, so he gently rubbed up and down her back to comfort her.

”he’s a strong chicken, he’ll be fine,” he said reassuringly, not seeing the flash of annoyance cross her face.

she smacked his cheek with her hand, not too roughly, and shouted over the crew’s laughter, “he’s a duck, not a chicken!!”

“what did i say? i thought i said that!”

“[name], vivi, let’s go sailing already, hurry up!”

this cause the man to perk up, angrily yelling at luffy, “don’t leave us here, you baffoon!”

he held vivi by her waist and easily jumped on board, gently landing them back on deck. she thanked him quietly, watching as he nodded his head and then ran into ace’s side.

”let’s go get changed, ace,”

“mhm,” the ravenette easily answered.

“wait for me! [name], ace!!” luffy childishly shouted, jumping onto [name]’s back and getting carried the rest of the way to the boy’s room.

“you seriously never change, luffy, always running after me and ace,” [name] teased, pulling on luffy’s stretchy cheek and then letting go to snap it back to place.

“if you guys just waited for me, i wouldn’t have to run,” luffy pouted, resting his chin on top of [name]’s head.

“whatever, just learn how to keep up,” ace chimed in, throwing an arm around [name]’s shoulder, much to luffy’s annoyance (at both his words and his actions).

“oi, ace! lay off [name], will you?! you know he’s apart of my crew!” luffy shouted, jumping off of [name]’s back and slamming the door shut.

”i can do whatever i want, luffy, like hell i’d listen to my little brother,” ace shot back, seemingly winding his fist up for a fight.

”you two will be the death of me,” [name] grunted, going through the chests of clothing to find the outfit he had stowed away for alabasta desert purposes. “luffy, here wear this over your clothes.”

the boy easily obeyed, putting on the robes and securing some cloths around his hat so it wouldn’t fly away. meanwhile, ace dressed into his own robes that he had brought, pulling them from his green knapsack.

[name] grinned in glee when he finally found his. the exposed tattoo on his back was covered up and he was soon wearing (suffocating) layers of clothes to protect against the heat.

“i can already tell this trip is gonna really kill me,” [name] whined, putting a headpiece over his head to protect against the sun.

“just stick close me when night falls, [name], or else you’ll get really cold,” ace advised, making [name] hum in agreement.

luffy puffed out in annoyance, “who says [name] has to go to you? what if he wants to be with me instead?”

“when has [name] ever wanted to be with you, nasty kid?” ace said once more, seemingly wanting to always be in fights with luffy over [name]. “me and [name] are closer, don’t you know?”

“liar, [name]’s mine, always has been!” luffy shouted in return, “he doesn’t wanna be all close and mushy with you when he’s got me! isn’t that right, [name]?!”

“are you forgetting i have a natural heat because of my devil fruit, idiot?! that’s what i meant in the first place,”

“then why do you talk about it so weirdly, speak more with your chest, ace!!”

“like hell i’d take advice like that from an idiot like you!” ace shouted in fury, if it had not been for [name] physically stepping in between the two, they definitely would’ve clashed heads.

“please, shut up!!! let’s just go, the crews probably all waiting!!!” [name] said, grabbing the two of them by their hair and dragging them out of the room, “when are you two ever going to put your childish bickering aside?”

“for you, my dear, never,” ace said in a mockingly dreamy tone, he even giggled at the end to sound like a person speaking about a childish, shy crush.

“don’t ever make a sound like that again, ace, i’m serious,” [name] threatened.

luffy, despite being painfully tugged along by his hair, grinned in glee seeing [name] somewhat take his side, “yeah, stupid, ugly, rude ace! listen to what [name] says!”

“who are you calling stupid?! seriously!” ace shouted once more.

a rough tug to both of their scalps had them shutting up in an instant, instead yelling for [name] to let go and give them mercy. but the h/c haired boy kept tugging them along.

“i said enough, stop acting like children. those silly bets you guys made when we were young are also coming back — both of you not calling me your brother? seriously, what’s your guys’ issue?”

“because you’re not our brother,” ace and luffy said in unison, finally agreeing on something.

as the three came out from under deck, the crew couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the conversation.

“why do you two keep saying that?!” [name] said in annoyance, pinching both their cheeks. his own face was red, hoping to god that they really didn’t remember the words they spoke all those years ago.

but from the mischievous grin on ace’s face and the carefree smile on luffy’s it seemed they were referencing exactly what he was dreading.

“you’re my lover! / cause you’re my boyfriend!” the two shouted at the same time, making [name] drop them onto the deck in disbelief.

the crew that was trying to stealthily listen to their conversation…half of them ended up gagging in shock.

nami let out a shriek of surprise, the water usopp was drinking was spit out of his mouth, the dumbbell zoro was carrying crashed onto the wooden planks, sanji spat out his cigarette and grunted in surprise, vivi looking onward with an expression of fear, and chopper was just looking around in confusion.

“what?!” the entire crew, including [name], shouted in unison.

“what?” luffy echoed, wondering what the big deal was.

“what do you mean what?!” nami screeched, wondering if her captain even knew the weight his words held.

”[name]’s my boyfriend!” luffy grinned, pointing a thumb in [name]’s direction. “are you guys shocked? but i said he wasn’t my brother! you guys, seriously, are slow to catch up,” luffy seemed exasperated with his crew’s seemingly disability to understand his words, “i said it plain and simple,”

and the usually cheerful and smiling [name] was nothing but a mess, face red and hair sticking up in all sorts of angles due to him running his hands through it several times (in stress). it was almost like steam was coming out of his head.

”oi, luffy, don’t you know? the ranking of lover outweighs that of silly boyfriend status,” ace chimed in, causing even more chaos to come from the rest of the crew. they sincerely thought they heard wrong, but ace’s repetition of his previous sentence proved that they - unfortunately - did hear right.

“like i care!” luffy stubbornly replied, crossing his hands over his chest.

“[name], please, drink water,” vivi said, rushing over to the burning up man’s aid, “you look pale, too,”

“those idiots. plain, mindless, don’t-think-before-they-speak idiots. surrounded by idiots since childhood up until now. will i ever catch a break, vivi? be honest, don’t spare my feelings. i can take the truth.”

vivi deadpanned at [name]’s seriously troubled look on his face. she helped him up, supporting him with her shoulder, “it’s alright, it will get better, [name],” she said mindlessly, unsure of how to comfort the very obviously stressed man.

“this is going to be the longest trip of my life, isn’t it?”

just as he asked that question, luffy and ace got into another minitature argument over their (supposed) love for [name], making everyone on board go still once again.

finally, vivi spoke up, “i’m sorry, [name]-san.”

“yeah, i am too,” he sighed.

[ miniature : BONUS ]

“luffy, define the word boyfriend.” nami had to get to the bottom of this. there's no way stupid, idiotic luffy even knew what that word meant.

“boyfriend means [name]!”

“no! the definition of boyfriend, c’mon, you can't just go around saying things you don't understand,” nami scolded him.

“what? but boyfriend means a boy important to me - thats [name]! he's my boyfriend!” luffy proudly announced, an invisible spear being thrown into [name]’s already deflated body. the captain carelessly throwing around the word only made [name] more stressed.

“okay, you can't just call [name] your boyfriend because the definition definitely doesn't mean that,” nami said, hoping her words were not just going over luffy’s head, “if you care about [name] that much, then he's just your friend. boyfriend is a different level,”

“but if [name]'s a boy and my friend, doesn't that just make him my boyfriend?”

“is usopp your boyfriend too, by that logic?”

usopp made a sound of surprise, shouting at nami in anger, “don't drag me into this mess!!” and luffy, in return, made a disgusted face.

“ew, i don't want usopp as a boyfriend, only [name],”

“hey!!! that's really rude!” usopp cried out, but his shouts fell on deaf ears.

“[name] can't be your boyfriend, luffy, you're not understanding at all,” nami said, rubbing her forehead in stress, “a boyfriend is someone you really, really, really like and care about - more than normal. how can i put it so you can understand…oh! it's like if [name] was hungry and you had the last piece of meat and you were also hungry, you wouldn't give him the last piece.”

“i would,” luffy said without hesitating.

“no, you wouldn't,” nami countered, growing increasingly more annoyed.

“i would!”

“no- you're hopeless…just don't go around saying things as serious as that so casually when you don't even know what it means, idiot,”

luffy shrugged, definitely not understanding nami’s words and running off to join usopp.

_

[ .ᐟ ] IT MIGHT SEEM EXCESSIVE, but i doubt there'd be another chance i'd get to say EXPLICITLY, that luffy and ace do not think of [name] as a brotherly figure. THAT WOULD JUST BE WEIRD !! LMFAO that's why i just put it in there as much as i could because literally ew if they did bc then they'd feel romantically attracted to their brother....yeah, definitely not <;3 

[ .ᐟ ] also luffy not completely understanding the definition of boyfriend, but knowing that to him [name] is boyfriend is so fucking funny i couldn't help myself IM SORRY 

[ .ᐟ ] shout out lana del rey by the way 

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taglist (lmk if u want to be tagged ! <3 :

@skullr0se , @strawberrii-tea, @triangulartriangles, @anotherlovefool

[ryiju-muunie]

[I] Know it's for the better

Usopp/transfem!Sanji Vinsmoke & Luffy D. Monkey/Zoro Roronoa Warnings: college/university AU, POV Usopp, Nami-Usopp friendship, mutual pining, friends to lovers, fluff and humor, tooth-rotting fluff, light angst, misunderstanding, cuddling, slow dancing, applying lipstick, cheesy romance, ambiguously early 2000s Word count: 18816 DESC: Ever since high school, Sanji and Usopp were the best of friends. Two social outcasts with nothing better to do than talk to each other. But now, he hadn’t thought about his old friend in almost three years, opting to live his life in the present rather than focus on the past. Who needed that jerk who ghosted him anyways? Not him! He was happier now! That was until he got a message on Facebook. //// Usopp mistakens his very intense feelings as misogyny.

Two uploads in one night whaaat

NOTES: I want to thank @pyr0frnzy for helping me with some plot ideas as the god of Sanuso and putting up with my constant DMing for how I could improve scenes! None of this would've been possible if you and I didn't bounce back and forth between different ideas! I've had this idea in my head for so long and it turned into something more meaningful than I could've ever expected. It's so much more heartfelt about love than it was originally going to be. More Rom than Com. And yes, Sanji might be OOC, you'll have to tell me. I'm not too good at writing him as a character, but I really wanted to give it a try in this kind of au. So let me know [politely I will cry] if I can improve! Thank you to Sailor Song by Gigi Perez for being the only thing I listened to, to write the latter half of this story. Especially since my mom texted me to change it because it's been days.

-

They were inseparable. Ever since high school, Sanji and Usopp were the best of friends. Maybe it was because they were opposites who attracted one another, or maybe it was because they were both a bit socially awkward. Two social outcasts with nothing better to do than talk to each other. To anyone else it could have seemed sad or pathetic but having each other was enough. Someone to lean on who understood you. So, when Sanji had decided to leave the country for college, it was devastating. He had told his friend of his plans to become a culinary chef and make a name for himself. He had said how he’d never leave, but instead improve his own community with his food. So, it was a surprise to the brunette when he found out that his best friend would leave, especially to a place with such … little technology.  

Of course, he had assumed it had to be him. Did he stink? Did he smell so bad his friend had to leave across the globe? Oh, maybe he did something so embarrassingly stupid he blacked out! And now the blonde was leaving him because of it! Of course, Usopp knew that it couldn’t be that [he never blacked out]. So, it had to be something else he did. Was he too touchy? Or too honest? He knew that all those late-night talks about their feelings would eventually bite him in the ass! 

Whatever the case was, he bit back his protests in favor of his best friend. When they said goodbye, that was that for three years. Three years had passed, and the brunette had grown. It was apparent from his constant habit to Facebook his whole life, or the fact he started working out as a nervous habit. The once scrawny guy who used to be too scared to even stand up for himself was now … well, still scared to stand up for himself- but he was more built now!  

Sanji wasn’t on his mind anymore. The first few months he tried to Facebook messenger his friend, but the messages would never go through. That, or he was being ghosted. Either way, he had to give up at some point, right, and move on! So maybe that’s why he started working out. Every time his mind would wander to his almost infatuation with his friend, he picked up a weight and crunched until he couldn’t think anymore. Was infatuation the right word? More like, constant-need-to-be-around-him-and-touch-him-and-breathe-in-his-scent-itous! And that was totally normal. Best friends always touched each other, like hand holding or cuddling if it got too cold at a sleepover. He couldn’t help but miss that, yet when he started to yearn- he went to do a few pull ups.  

Now Usopp was 22, almost 23, and taller than before. Maybe he grew muscles in his feet too! He’d have to Google that. He hadn’t thought about his old friend in almost three years, opting to live his life in the present rather than focus on the past. Who needed that jerk who ghosted him? Not him! He was happier now! College was about to start up again, his senior year. He had a future career planned in engineering and the student wasn’t about to let some old memories rupture his plans.  

That was until he got a message on Facebook as he was watching TV on his couch. He wasn’t too good with phones, preferring a laptop instead. But this I-Black-Moto-Whatever would work for now. The man pressed a few buttons on the keyboard and used that strange mouse thing to click into his Facebook app. He hadn’t used that app in, honestly, a few hours. Getting a message this late before school wasn’t uncommon, but it wasn’t typical. Clearly someone needed something from him, probably Zoro. Knowing him, the idiot got lost on his way back to the apartment.  

But instead, it was a blank profile he hadn’t seen active in three years, with one message queued: ‘Usopp, can we talk?’ 

His eyes widened at the sight, letting out a breath. What. Was. He. Supposed. To. Do!? Usopp hadn’t prepared for Sanji messaging him out of the blue! He wasn’t even prepared for his upcoming midterms and his semester hadn’t even started!! Instead of acting, however, he opted to set his phone down. As if it was on fire, he dropped it and covered a pillow over it, then pressed his hand to the center.  

Demon phone, being possessed by such negative energy…  

Then he heard it buzz again from under the cushion. That made the student jump and stare down at the cushion. Two messages in the span of about forty-five seconds was a record. Especially for Sanji. It had to have been important, or at the very least something. I mean, radio silence for three years then two messages back-to-back? If anything, he was kind of lucky. The blonde could have just not ever messaged him again, leaving him to wonder what if for eternity. But he did get a message. Two in fact. It would be rude at that point not to respond with something, or at least not read the other one.  

Slowly, the man pushed the pillow from his phone, letting it fall to the ground. Then he picked up the demon phone and turned it, looking at the screen. Another message had queued on the app, from the same person: ‘It’s Sanji. From High School.’ Before he could dare respond, however [or process what the hell was happening], his phone lit up. Someone was calling him. Was it him? Was it the person he swore he’d never see again if he could help it? Was it the person, though, that he deep down secretly hoped would run into him at the supermarket, so he could beg for him to be back in his life?  

Usopp wasn’t even prepared!! The man never knew what he was going to do if Sanji wanted to come back into his life. Frankly, he assumed this would never happen. He just thought they were done with. Forever. So, the fact this was happening, days before his senior year at college, was very very stressful.  

Without looking at the number or caller ID, to verify if it was the contact he never erased from his phone, he clicked the button and brought it to his ear, “...Sanji?” The brunette’s voice was timid, a soft whisper. Never did he think he was ever going to hear the other man's voice again. Or even think that they’d get to see each other. It was almost surreal, a kind of moment he wanted to photograph and save in his memories forever. It could be the beginning of something more, another chance at their friendship. Or it would tie up the loose ends of their old one, leaving them both satisfied with answers.  

“Who the hell is Sanji?”  

But no, it was Zoro.  

Usopp kind of deflated at the sound of the gruff voice on the other line, contrasting the soft voice he had grown to miss. Sanji’s voice was nice and fluttery, although he knew he could raise it to be rough if he needed too. His roommate was definitely gruff, or less emotional than he was used to. The other man was more in touch with his emotions [anxiety], whereas the moss-headed one didn’t feel nearly as many emotions [anxiety] as his roommate. 

He swallowed, “Uh TV character, whaddya want?” The man placed his phone between his shoulder and his head, adjusting his position on the couch to look at the screen ahead of him. It was some YouTube video he had found, nothing he was really interested in. YouTube was just a glorified ad filled Netflix with weird homemade videos. He’d rather watch anything else than the gardening video he ended up clicking on.  

“I got us Chinese food,” Zoro replied into the phone, shuffling a bit into the microphone before he continued, “And I ran into that chick you liked last year. She’s ugly.” From the way his voice muffled a bit, before becoming clear, his roommate could tell he was probably eating some of their dinner. Great.  

“She isn’t ugly!” Usopp retorted, looking away from the TV to find the remote to shut it off. Maybe some Criminal Minds would suffice… 

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud exhale, “You have the weirdest type in women.’

“She isn’t ugly,” he narrowed his eyes, taking a hold of the remote and clicking the television off YouTube. What a self-centered sword obsessed prick. Zoro was more focused on Luffy’s [their other roommate] muscles than actual women. He just didn’t have taste! To Usopp, all women were pretty! Even that one girl who tried to get some of his blood to sell on the dark web… To be fair he had a crush on her before he realized she was weird like that. 

“She so is,” he bit into another piece of food audibly, “I have Luffy, too.” Zoro passed the phone to the spikey haired maniac as the brunette sighed out an ‘of course you do’. 

“Heyyyy Sopp!” Luffy yelled into the phone, making his roommate pick his own device up and turn it on speaker phone, to hold it away from his ear, “We got Indian!”  

“I thought Zoro said Chinese?” He asked, a bit unsure. When it came to Zoro, though, he was used to hearing the wrong thing. Maybe he was dyslexic or had one too many boxing incidents, but he had no sense of … anything. Direction, spelling, breathing, direction, walking, anything!! He was unsure as to how the moss was able to survive that long without him in order to watch over him.  

“No, I said Indian,” Roronoa spoke into the phone, before it was pulled back to Luffy who giggled, “We got Indian.”  

As Usopp went to reply he heard another faint voice in the background, who he instantly recognized. He let out a gasp and brought the phone to his face, nose pressing against the small screen, “Put Nami on.” Nami wasn’t exactly their roommate, but she was welcome to live with them if she so chose to. She was one of his closest friends, someone who remembered their high school days with Sanji. She’d understand his anxieties and most of all she’d talk some sense into him. Knowing her, she’d tell him to respond politely instead of hiding away forever. Even though he really wanted to hide forever.  

“Usopp?” Her voice cut clearly through the microphone of his cellphone.  

“Go off speaker, I have important business to discuss,” he wasn’t wrong per se, but he didn’t want to outright say it knowing that Luffy and Zoro could hear. They’d probably laugh at him for freaking out so much! It wasn’t his fault this was basically the end of the world for him!  

The man’s friend let out a sigh and he heard a bit of shuffling before she responded, “What’s wrong now?” Of course, she knew something was wrong! It was Nami! Nami knew everything! He knew he could always count on her for advice and more so to calm his nerves. 

“Well,” Usopp hesitated a bit, his voice pitching another octave before he continued, “Sanji Facebooked me.” 

“Sanji Facebooked you?!” She repeated before the student shushed her loudly.  

“No-no! Don’t say it out loud!” He hit the phone against his head. Then he spoke in a more quiet, shaky voice, “I don’t know what to do.” 

It was silent for a moment, but he could tell she was giving him her signature look, “You’re pathetic.”  

“Hey!” He interjected as she then asked, “What did his Facebook say?” 

Oh … what did it say? Usopp had been so caught up in all the drama of it he kind of forgot what the message said. He pressed his lips together and made a small popping sound, “Um… It’s Sanji from high school…?” That was right, right? Probably.  

“And you answered right?” Nami prodded. By this point he knew his roommates were probably listening, or worse had her put him back on speaker. Cat was out of the bag, and the cat had Facebook, apparently.  

“...Was I supposed to...?” He squeaked. What did it matter if he saw the message and didn’t answer yet? It wasn’t like Sanji could see the fact he had read it without answering.  

“Did you click into the message?” Her voice was beginning to sound annoyed, as if she already knew the answer to what she just asked.  

“Yeahh,” he looked away as his phone jolted in his hand from a loud, “YOU IDIOT!” From Nami. Usopp jumped and his cellphone fumbled a bit in his hand before it landed on the floor before him, shaking as she yelled, “Facebook has read receipts now!” Read receipts? He narrowed his eyes at the phone and peered over the couch as it rumbled around.  

Then it went silent as the phone had been clearly taken from her and Zoro’s voice played through the speaker, “Your Sanji can see you saw his message without responding.” Oh! Oh. He knew? He knew Usopp read the message and seemingly ignored it? Oh god! Oh no! He didn’t mean to ignore his old best friend, more so, he was trying to figure out what to do. I mean, if he had it his way, he would ignore it. Not in a mean way, more in a cowardly way. But knowing Nami, she’d never let him live if he didn’t at least respond. Maybe she was in it more for the drama or she was trying to get him to be a better person than she clearly was.  

The brunette climbed down from the couch onto the floor, kneeling over the phone as he let out a breath, “How far are you guys?” Maybe he could wait for them to get back so he could respond with all their help, instead of being left to navigate it on his own.  

“Thirty minutes!” Luffy shouted from the far side of the phone, “We went to the Indian place across town!” Okay, so he could wait thirty minutes.  

Sanji would just have to be patient; he was patient right? But knowing Sanji he was probably concerned. He knew his old friend well enough to know that if he had read a message without responding it meant something was up, even if he didn’t intend it. That blonde always worried for him, even if he didn’t need it. That’s why they were such good friends. Usopp had someone he could lean on who had just enough emotional un-regulation to understand him and his own anxieties.  

He knew Luffy and Zoro were good friends, and they meant well, but none of them were in tune with their emotions. Nami too, she was nice but she wasn’t the emotional type. He needed someone he could cry to, and someone who would know him well enough to know exactly what to do. In some way, the man wanted to come crawling back to his old friend and pretend no time had passed. Pretend everything was okay so he could be held with comfort and fed those rice balls, those delicious rice balls. 

Usopp went to speak but his ginger friend read his mind, “You’re not waiting. Respond to him then call us back.” And the phone clicked, turning the screen off from the phone call to show his Facebook messages. Sanji’s chat was open, and ten minutes had already passed. He seemed to still be online, his profile picture just being a faceless photo of some scenery. His old friend's profile was the same, and it had been for three years. There was one post he made when he started high school of some flowers, with the caption, ‘Just planted these. Hoping they’ll grow by the time HS ends’. That was his only post. Nothing with his face now or his new place.  

He wondered, did Sanji look the same? Did the blonde grow his hair out or keep it short? Did he change his part and finally brush those strands away to show both of his eyes? Or maybe he finally shaved that annoying stubble on his chin that Usopp would always make fun of. Or he grew it out into a long beard. The man squinted his eyes at the thought, shaking his head. His friend wouldn’t do that, he wasn’t the type to like facial hair like that. And a blonde beard? That would just look strange.  

Usopp sighed and picked up his phone, drumming his thumbs against the keyboard. I mean, he could say hi to start. That wouldn’t be rude, right? It set the stage for a nice conversation! It was polite and cordial, and it said nothing about his desperation to hear his friend's voice again. So, he sent the message, ‘hi’. As he went to put his phone down, it buzzed. Oh. His eyes widened slowly at the realization Sanji had been waiting for him to respond for … ten minutes. Well, it wasn’t like he hadn’t done that before.  

Sanji’s message read, ‘Hi, Usopp. It’s Sanji. Can we talk?’ Weren’t they talking now? Or did he mean over the phone? If his friend wanted to call him all he had to do was that, just call. And if he was honest, the brunette was betting on this. He really wanted to hear that man’s voice again. How soft it was, and how calming it could be.  

So, he responded, ‘yeah let’s talk’. To which he instantly got the reply, ‘What’s your number, I got a new phone.’ Is that why they lost contact, because Sanji lost his number? I mean, that would make sense. But why for three years did he neglect to message Usopp and ask for it? Why was it now that he decided to message and break the ice? Unless something happened. Oh god, was he dying? Was his old best friend dying!? He was probably bald and sick, in the fetal position in a hospital bed!  

Usopp sent his number and set the phone down on the floor beside him. It was quiet. No calls or buzzing for a few minutes, to the point where the man had suspected Vinsmoke only wanted his number to block it. I mean, was this it? Was he never going to hear from him again? Was this a taste of something that was going to be taken even quicker than before? So, it surprised him, causing him to jump just a tad, when his ringer went off. There on the screen was an unfamiliar phone number with an even more unfamiliar area code. He did say he was going far… 

The brunette drummed his fingers against the side of his phone before clicking the answer button, turning it on speaker. God, was it always this nerve wracking to talk to him? Well, before all of this they lived practically next door to each other, in a town Usopp never left. Okay technically, he did leave- now he’s in the city over.  

“Usopp?” A light voice filled his ears from the other side of the phone. It was different from what he had remembered of Sanji’s prepubescent voice. It was airy and dainty, something that reminded him of spring, oddly enough. His voice was gorgeous, so pretty he barely even recognized it until he made a sort of strangled noise, causing his friend to laugh. There it was. The same laugh he was so used to it felt so homely to hear. A breathless laugh, the kind where you knew he’d be covering his open mouth with a lazy fist.

“Sanji,” he responded in a whisper, staring wide eyed at the screen. If only he could Skype on such a small device. That would be neat, right? “You’re real…” Usopp didn’t mean to say aloud, but he couldn’t help it. Some part of him really wished this would’ve happened sooner. Some part of him was dreaming about this day for three years. And that part of him had taken over, taking control of his mouth too.  

There was no response for a few seconds, before he heard the other say, “Of course I’m real… I can’t believe you responded to me.” He sounded shocked, as if he was in as much disbelief as the other man was. But they were both tiptoeing around the subject at hand. Why did Sanji leave him in the dark for three whole years? No messages or calls back? Why did he have to go so far away and seemingly never return until now?  

“Why did you go, Sanji?” Saying his name was foreign, but Usopp never wanted to stop. He missed how it felt on his tongue as it rolled off. He missed hearing his own name from his friend's lips, hearing how elegant it sounded compared to anyone else. That’s what he was, the blonde was elegant. In everything he did, he did it with poise and grace. God, in a way he kind of envied that. All that training in manners and etiquette from his dad really paid off, making the brunette look like a slob in comparison to the other. But he didn’t envy his friend's home life.  

What Sanji went through made sense as to why he’d want to leave. Why he’d want to abandon everything and start over in another country. Yet… he always wondered why he wasn’t asked to come with him. Why didn’t his friend think, maybe my best friend should accompany me? Wasn’t it obvious? Usopp would have followed him to the ends of the Earth if it meant they could’ve been together- platonically that is… With wives. And sex! Yeah… 

It was becoming too quiet on the other end; the student half expected the blonde had hung up on him before he heard a small sniff. Small enough for him to know that he was going to get a loaded answer for his very loaded question.  

“I’m… not the same person,” he heard a shaky voice murmur into the phone, “I was scared you wouldn’t like it…” Wouldn’t like him? Was Sanji kidding? He loved who he was, every bit of it. How could he dislike or even hate him? Even if it had been so long, he couldn’t deny the fact he could never hate his best friend. No matter how hard he tried, Usopp physically couldn’t.  

“I’m happy,” he let out a cry, “I’m finally happy,” there he heard a hiccup, “I miss my home. I’ve been away from home for so long…”  

“Home?” Usopp asked, drawing a blank as to what home his friend missed. Last he checked, he wanted to get out of that house as quickly as possible. How could he miss it? 

“Home is with the people I love,” Sanji inhaled shakily, “I want to go home. I want to,” he hiccupped and sniffed, clearly sobbing more than he had intended to, “I want to go home, Usopp. I’m me and … I want to go home…” It was heartbreaking to hear his friend fall apart, all while he could do nothing but listen. Nodding his head as if the blonde could see it and rubbing the side of the phone as if it was his back. The man didn’t entirely understand all the words his friend sobbed about being himself, but he didn’t care. If he was happy, why was he needing to understand? All he wanted was his best friend back and now he got it, he wasn’t going to lose it.  

“Come home,” he answered, determination rising in his voice, “Please.”  

-

The plan was simple: Sanji and Usopp were going to have a good old-fashioned sleepover. I mean, what's to stop two best friends from sleeping in the same bed after two years? Nothing! If it was too awkward, he’d take the couch and let his guest veg out on his twin XL. Yeah, okay, it was going to be crammed, but nothing that they couldn’t handle!  

Usopp had been counting down the days until his best friend's flight came back, as he had transferred to his college to finish up his last year, Facebooking him any chance he could get. It was truly an addiction. Talking to his friend and being able to hear his voice whenever he so chose to. All the student had to do was pick up the phone and press a few buttons to hear that laugh, that sweet laugh he could trigger with just a few stupid jokes. Now it was the day of, or well, the morning of. Of course, he couldn’t sleep. It was due to a mixture of nerves and pure excitement at the thought of seeing his best friend. Although, his anxiety was beginning to outweigh those bundling feelings of joy, ever since he got the text, ‘When we meet. I need to tell you something important.’  

Okay, so this could have meant about two things: Sanji was dying, or Sanji had a girlfriend. It was more realistic to think his best friend was dying, since he never had luck with women. So that had to be it. I mean, what other major change could he have gone through in three years that fundamentally changed him as a person? At least, that’s what he kept alluding to, that something would be completely and utterly different. It didn’t feel different when they’d sit on the phone and talk into the depths of the night, or text as if no time had passed.  

That’s what scared him.  

What if the change was something more physical that Sanji was insecure about? What if, instead of dying, he had no arms? Or… no legs! That’s ridiculous, he thought, being an aspiring cook detailed a lot of hand work, so he made sure to keep his hands out of danger. So, if he didn’t not have arms or legs … maybe he shaved his head, or did something more permanent. A few tattoos wouldn’t scare him away, or even a lot of tattoos. The thought of his friend with tattoos wasn’t bad actually. As Usopp turned onto his side, trying to sleep, he couldn’t keep that image out of his head. The man who swore he’d quit cigarettes, shirtless with different inking's littering his body- And he sat up. Maybe he should do a pull up.  

It was weird to think of Sanji shirtless! I mean, who did that? Not him. Okay well, occasionally him. It was normal to figure out how time had treated the blonde and how different he would be now. It was normal to imagine how his skin would feel underneath his own hand, tracing small circles against his arm. How soft he was… would he stay that soft? Or has he spent so much time in the sun his skin has turned tougher, like leather. Maybe he did have a few tattoos, something small. Something meaningful in a place he could show off and hide just as easily. Red, it had to be red. If Vinsmoke got anything it needed to be small and with hints of red to contrast his pale skin.  

Usopp had done about twenty pull ups at his door before his roommate had walked out of his room- huh? Zoro had come out of Luffy’s room with a different outfit than what his roommate had seen him go to sleep in. Oddly, they had been becoming so close over the last month and a half. It was strange how they’d exchange glances or longing stares. Was longing even the right word for the types of looks they’d give each other? It was more intimate than that, if that was even a thing that could be considered intimate. Romantic, if he thought too much about it.  

Zoro hadn’t noticed him yet, his back turned to his roommate who was hanging off the pull-up bar in his doorway. He was walking around as if he could trigger a landmine at any moment, making sure each step was quieter than the last to his room. Now that was strange. The guy had never cared about being loud until it was sneaking from Luffy’s room to his own. He never cared until Usopp noticed the strangest looking mark on hi… oh. Slowly, he looked away and began to pull himself back up on the bar. It wasn’t his business anyway, no matter how much the little voice in his head told him to pry. It wasn’t like he wanted to be in on the loop if his roommates were dating each other. Not like he wanted to be the first to know, or anything.  

Was he wrong for feeling bitter? They never owed him anything, but he had assumed all of them were close. He always let Luffy use his fancy coffee maker and Zoro his DVD collection. And Usopp was the one who even suggested the three of them room together, over using the dormitories. They had been in the same English class, in need of roommates. It was a shot in the dark but it paid off. At least, he had assumed. Now, was it even worth it to ask what was up? Would a, “hey I know you guys are boinging but I wanted to know first so I could’ve made you a celebratory sodomy cake” be too weird? 

The student’s thoughts were interrupted by the fifth pull-up when Zoro opened his door, jumping at the sight of him, “How… long have you been there?” His eyes were wide, staring like he had seen a ghost. Usopp blinked a few times and pulled himself higher on the bar, before slowly letting go and jumping onto the floor. He could be honest and tell the truth; say he saw the mark and the fact they were being sneaky. There wasn’t any point in lying when they were both standing and staring at each other. His roommate's face was riddled with sleep, deep in his dark features as they exchanged looks. It would have been more awkward to say nothing, right?  

He went to speak, putting his hand on his own neck, which caused Roronoa to pull at the collar of his shirt. Over the mark. Just that movement alone had spoken more words than he had intended to, speaking volumes. It said, ‘I know you guys have been sneaking around and, yeah, I saw your neck thing’. It also said, ‘I wish you guys would’ve told me instead of hiding.’ Maybe the moss saw it on the others face, from how he frowned with anxiety, or how he darted his eyes to avoid the inevitable words to come.  

“So… You know, don’t you?” Zoro looked away before continuing, “I thought you’d be, I dunno, upset.” Upset? How could he be upset if his friends were happy? Usopp was more upset over the fact he wasn’t told, but it was neither here nor there. He had things to do that day and someone more important was coming, in all honesty. So, not that it didn’t matter. But he wasn’t going to ruin his day with a soured mood. Instead, he was going to take it in stride. Which was harder for him, but for Sanji he would.  

Usopp pressed his lips together and let his shoulders shrug loosely, “Zoro, you know I’d never be upset with you for something like that. I’m just glad you’re happy.” And he meant it. Even if he wasn’t told before, he knew now. That’s all that mattered, he supposed.  

The two heard a bit of shuffling behind the green-haired one as Nami appeared, looking as if she had just woken up from the sounds of their voices. She rubbed the side of her head with a gentle palm, her ginger hair pulled back into a messy bun, “Why the hell are you guys being so loud for 10 AM?” It was 10? How long had he been doing pull-ups? He must’ve miscounted… He swore he had done just 20… 

“Usopp knows me and Luffy are…” He trailed off, which elicited an offended gasp from his roommate. 

“Oh, you told Nami but not me?” Usopp frowned and pointed a finger at him, “I live with you! All she does is leech off our takeout orders!” He wasn’t wrong, she only did come over when Zoro and Luffy were in the city for food. Or when he needed emotional support 

“So mature Mr-I’m-having-my-old-situationship-sleep-in-my-bed-after-three-years!” She retorted, “He told me because I keep my mouth shut.”  

His eyes widened, “I shut my mouth!” He does not.  

Zoro narrowed his eyes, forming a tight smile, “Remember the pineapple?” 

“Yeah, pineapple!” Nami shouted to which Luffy’s door opened and he groggily peaked out, mumbling, “Hmhmgm pine…apple?” His boyfriend beckoned the sleepy student over with one arm and let out a breath as the other slumped into his side, clearly also just waking up.  

“Don’t bring the pineapple into this,” Usopp spoke, pressing his teeth together and restraining his jaw from making them grind together. 

“You did talk for the pineapple,” Luffy mumbled, pressing his face into Zoro’s pectoral, causing his other roommate to roll his eyes.  

“I had to tell the aut- you know what I’m not arguing with you guys,” he placed his hands on either of his hips, letting his foot tap against the wood as he debated what to say. Well, today was the day. His roommates knew vaguely who Sanji was, whereas Nami had had classes with him for several years. They knew he was blonde and liked to cook and, well, that was about it. There weren’t enough words in the human language, across all languages, to describe how truly amazing he was. How utterly fantastic he was to be around, how his company was unlike anyone else's he’s ever been in. So, he instead wanted them to get to know him themselves, rather than have some expectation of him built up.  

- 

“He said he’s at terminal B, with his luggage,” Usopp said as the group headed down the airport, looking for his old friend. Luffy and Zoro had been told to look out for a relatively tall, lanky man, with blonde hair covering his left eye. Simple enough, he supposed.  

Except for the sea of people he was searching through, he couldn’t find him. Where was the man he had been waiting for, for three years to see? He was searching through the crowds, hoping to stop and make eye contact with the person he had been, well, yearning for. Yearning was a very… Well, it wasn’t the word he was looking for but it was the closest one he had! Yearning without the homosexual undertones that he didn’t have because he wasn’t gay.  

“I think we passed term B,” Luffy chimed in, walking on his roommates left.  

The man turned his head, letting his curly hair fall behind him [that he had styled back into a ponytail for this occasion], as he gaped, “What do you mean we passed it!? Sanji’s probably waiting for us!” With that he stopped and turned on his heel, pulling his small cell phone from his jacket pocket to see if there were any new messages. Of course, it had been two minutes since he sent his message so there wasn’t a new notification.  

“I think he’ll be fine waiting,” Zoro gruffed, opting to stay behind the two eager ones with Nami, who enjoyed taking her time as well. It wasn’t a big deal to them if they got to Sanji right as his plane landed, but it was a big deal to the other two. Although Luffy was more so there for the ride. 

Usopp craned his neck to send a glare his roommate's way, “We are not making him wait any longer!”  

“I think an extra few minutes wouldn’t hurt,” Nami attempted to interject but she was slowly stopped by the vicious look that her friend hurled her way. He was so serious, more serious than she had ever seen him in his life.  

“It’s just rude to make people wait when they land from flights. He’s probably jetlagged! It’s really the principle of it,” and he continued on.  

He didn’t want to keep his friend waiting after so long. I mean, a flight that long surely had to have him worn out. Usopp knew all the blonde wanted to do was curl up and sleep, preferably with him. I mean, in the same bed. They always used to nap together in their high school years. It wouldn’t be too weird if they shared a bed again, so napping together shouldn’t be weird either. He just wanted to lie there, feeling his friend's body warmth beside him. Skin brushing against skin as the brunette let his hands trail to Sanji’s hair, lightly running his fingers through it. Combing through the strands.  

As he spoke, he didn’t notice a woman approaching him from behind. She was taller, looming over him with heels adorning her feet. Long blonde hair that was pulled back at the bangs to show two pairs of shining blue eyes. Nami was the first to spot her and when she did her eyes widened just a bit with understanding, before she smiled. Zoro and Luffy didn’t realize, ignoring her to focus on Usopp’s intelligible ranting about proper airline etiquette.  

“Um, excuse me?” The woman asked, lightly tapping Usopp’s shoulder. It brought him out of his words and made him turn his head. They looked at each other and there was an air of familiarity there. Something was different, but something was earnestly familiar. She looked like home, like someone he had waited for all his life finally back to him.  

“Can I help you?” Usopp ended up asking, although he had more questions than that. Who was she? She looked like someone he had known, but that face was long forgotten. This face was the face he had pictured when thinking about his friend, the original image lost to the depths of his mind. It couldn’t be … but it wouldn’t… could it?  He just stared, trying to piece together a growing puzzle before him. All the while her eyes were growing glassy.  

“Do I know you?” He asked, staring at her with narrowed eyes and a hollow expression. She felt so far away from him. Almost as if she was across the terminal and he had to run to see her, to feel her.  

“I’d hope so,” and there was the laugh. The laugh he knew so well.  

Had it just been three years? And was this the change? Only this?  

Why would this make him hate … her?  

It made so much sense now. All those longing glances to women, or their dresses, or the constant twirling of strands of hair between her fingers. The magazines he found underneath her bed, the lipstick she swore was her mothers. The lipstick he always wondered about. How it would look on her, contrasting her skin. She wasn’t the same person, no, she was herself now. Sanji was herself and Usopp couldn’t help but feel incredibly at ease seeing her, with grown out hair and mascara on her long lashes.  

“Usopp?” Sanji murmured, placing her palm against her forehead in disbelief. He nodded slowly, then again, and again until he forced himself into her arms. She wrapped her arms around him as he did for her, bracing her to his chest. She smelt like oranges and other sweet fruits, something homely. It wasn’t the smell he was used to, the one he remembered, but it was something he never wanted to end. His hands entangled in her hair, the strands he had been fantasizing about for days. He missed it, he missed the soft way it felt against his fingers.  

And he missed her. Her. Not anyone else. Not Sanji before, but Sanji now. Whoever he knew before was gone and he was so utterly glad. “You’re real…” He breathed out, pressing his face into her neck, “You’re so real…” The blonde let out a gasp and he could tell she was crying. Was he crying too? Maybe just a bit. Usopp didn’t think about the others watching them, and he didn’t care to remember them. All he wanted to focus on was her. How she felt in his arms and how he never wanted to let go. I mean, friends felt like this right? A protective urge to make sure she would never leave no matter what. She would never leave him. 

-

His roommates insisted on leaving the two of them in the airport cafe to catch up, wanting to look at the souvenirs instead. Although, Usopp wasn’t sure how interesting souvenirs from their home town would be. I mean, how many plush bears could they buy with their state abbreviation on them before it got boring? Either way, he wasn’t focused on that.  

He couldn’t help but stare at her. The way she stood as she ordered coffee for the both of them. She knew exactly what he wanted without having to ask, effortlessly laughing as the barista made small talk with her. Sanji’s lips shone in the pale light, a pretty pink painting them in a way he had never seen before. It was glossy and a bit sparkly too if he looked up closely. Pink was a pretty color, but he wanted to know what that lipstick from their childhood would have looked like. That dark red with hints of berry undertones against her pale skin tone.  

She insisted on waiting for the coffees while he found them a place to sit. Usopp didn’t mind, finding a nice seat by the window that looked out onto the rest of the airport. He sat down and found himself looking out the window for about a minute or so, before his attention drew back to her. Her hair had gotten so long, and it was pushed out of her face now. He remembered when they were younger and the blonde had insisted her hair should cover a bit of her face. He was so glad she had a clip pushing her hair back to show her eyes. Were they always that blue? Was there a chance her eyes had gotten bluer over the years? And that smile, it never changed. Maybe it was brighter now, more authentic. Prettier. Yeah, prettier. It suited her.  

As he watched her, he couldn’t help but notice the barista giving her a certain look. I mean, he knew she was attractive but that was a bit much. The way he almost outwardly flirted with her in an airport of all places made him frown. Okay we get it, he wanted to scoff, looking away to the window with a hand propping his head up. But then Usopp froze. Why was he feeling so … would jealous be the right word? No, protective? No, no. It felt almost like disgust, a visceral reaction to anyone hitting on her. Anyone getting near her… Anyone touching her- Oh god. This was new. He had never experienced this before. In fact, everything she did was making him feel so strange.  

He tried to swallow them as Sanji sat down across from him, two cups of coffee in her hands. She set one down in front of him and the other beside her, smiling nervously, “It was your old order in high school. I don’t know if you still like that stuff…” There was a weird feeling building in Usopp’s throat as she looked away. Everything she did was making him feel just that, weird. The way she pressed her glossed lips together, or how her eyelashes brushed against her cheek. Sure, she was pretty and he could acknowledge that, but she was starting to make him feel itchy in his skin.  

After he didn’t respond for a minute they made eye contact, and he remembered he had to speak, “Oh, uh, I like it. I haven’t had,” he turned the cup over to look at the order sprawled on the side, but his breath caught in his throat. Usopp didn’t realize she remembered every aspect of his order, down to the milk and pumps of syrup. He had assumed she knew the general order of a matcha latte, but he didn’t know she remembered it… all.  

“You remembered,” the brunette whispered instead, not bothering to finish off his sentence.  

Sanji’s eyes met his and she looked away in apparent embarrassment, a pink blush rising on her cheeks and forming down the bridge of her soft nose, “How could I not remember!” She laughed stiffly, “You used to order it all the time after school!”  

“It’s been three years. I didn’t even remember,” Usopp let himself smile, but he was soon overtaken by that weird uncomfortable feeling again. It settled in his stomach and made his smile falter for a moment. The feeling was different than anything he had felt toward his best friend before, causing him to come to a conclusion: He must be misogynistic.  

. 

.. 

… 

I’m misogynistic!? 

The wheels began to turn in his head, clicking as the gears grinded. It made so much sense. He had no issues with Sanji before but now he had issues. The only thing that was different was her gender, so he must have started hating women sometime after she left him. I mean, he always felt weird around Nami and the women he had crushes on, so it made sense that he secretly hated women without knowing he hated women. All the true misogynists were so misogynistic they didn’t even know it, being so deep into their anti-woman rhetoric, you see.  

It made sense. Every movement she made was making his skin burst aflame, as if he’d stop breathing if she kept looking at him like that. So now that he knew he hated women, what was he going to do!? I mean, she was going to be sleeping in his bed for a week! Well, until her dorm was ready for her to move into. It could be a week, or it could be well over a month. Not like he was complaining- oh but he was complaining! He was going to have to share a bed with a woman, the thing he just realized he hated! 

“Usopp?” Sanji’s voice broke through his thoughts, making him blink to remember where he was again. It was silly, he tried to calm himself. Maybe he wasn’t misogynistic but instead nervous to see her after so long! “Did you hear me?” She tilted her head, resting her chin on an open palm. The movement made his stomach do a flip, and he was back to the misogynistic drawing board.  

“Uh, repeat it for me again?” Usopp trailed off, smiling awkwardly.  

She nodded and continued a bit sheepishly, “I’ve been thinking about you for three years. So, I haven’t really forgotten…” The blonde’s finger traced small circles around her cup, not daring to drink it yet. Her eyes were on him, before she spoke again, “I really wanted to contact you, but I felt too scared that you’d-” But she was cut off by a signature awkward laugh from Usopp.   

“Haha! You! Scared? Me? Hah! I’m… bathroom now!” And he got up, darting from the coffee shop around the corner.  

God! How stupid was he! Of course, he’d have a misogynistic revelation right as he reunited with his best friend, totally ruining the moment. I mean, he could swallow it and hope that this wasn’t misogyny but instead pent-up anxiety coming out in the form of women hating, well, hatred. He should swallow it. The worst-case scenario was he could sleep on the couch and hope it would pass as the week went on. Yeah. It would pass. It would pass and he would be able to enjoy his best friend's company without all of these feelings floating around inside his head. Feelings if she got too close to that barista again, if she looked at him through her long eyelashes, or if she smiled. The smile he loved, the smile he still adored, was being tainted with his own women hating feelings now, wasn’t it?  

They got back to his apartment soon after that. Usopp tried his hardest to ignore his very weird outburst and make her comfortable, regaling her with a story about a play he had the honor of being a tree for back in his first year of college. He was able to swallow his hatred for a bit, focusing on anything else but her. Sitting on the couch, he opted to put Luffy in between them. He didn’t need Nami near him either. Two women was something he wasn’t ready to battle yet.  

Sanji got along with his roommates great, better than he could have ever expected. She offered to cook, although she didn’t have to. She practically insisted, begging them to let her try out a new recipe with whatever she could find in their cabinets [which would not be a lot]. As she cooked, she glided with ease across their small kitchen, going back and forth from boiling the rice to cutting the vegetables on a plate [since they didn’t own cutting boards]. The woman looked ethereal, making Usopp look away instantly when she caught him staring. Why was he staring so long? Was it the hatred of women seeping back out making him ultra focused on her movements so he could promptly feel disgusted afterwards? That had to be it!  

“Usopp,” she called, breaking him from his thoughts again. He turned on his heel and watched her smile form, “Could you tie my hair back?” She nodded down to her hands which were busy with raw chicken, doing whatever it was she had to do with that stuff. Usopp wasn’t big on cooking, so truthfully, he had no idea.  

Touch her. Touch her hair. Well, he had done it earlier when he was overcome with joy from seeing her. So, he could do this! He could do this! The student smiled tightly and followed her command, falling into a step to stand behind her. His hands ran through her strands as he had imagined doing so for days. Soft. It was so soft. When they initially met, he didn’t get the chance to truly soak in how soft her hair was. Usopp took a spare hair tie from his wrist and gathered her blonde strands by the base of her head, bringing it up into a soft bun. Something that he figured would suit her. Yeah. It was pretty.  

It was so pretty, as Sanji looked over her shoulder to thank him, a few hairs falling out of place from behind her ear. Without thinking, the man reached out and tucked them back behind her ear, taking his time dragging his fingers down her earlobe. As he realized what he had done, especially seeing her facial expression, he pulled away. Her lips had parted, as if she was about to speak, and her crystal blue eyes were widened. Why would he do that? Why would he go ahead and do that without thinking!? Stupid, stupid, stupid Usopp! He pressed his lips together and took a step back, wanting to apologize but he … couldn’t. He would have never done that to a man, so why did he do that to her? Did his women hating ideologies also mean he had to push their hair behind their ears and caress their earlobes, too!? 

“Usopp,” Sanji began but she was cut off with a nervous noise escaping his lips, followed by a, “HOLD ON!” The man turned away and made a b-line to his room, slamming the door shut behind him. His back pressed against the door, forcing it shut away from the world. No one else saw that, right? No one else should have. It was weird, God, he was so weird, wasn’t he? Of course, he was. No rational person would be misogynistic and no rational person would take it out on the one person he had been so excited to see for weeks. He was being such a bad friend, wasn’t he? Being so weird and thinking these things, and feeling these kinds of ways.  

Usopp turned the lock on his door and stumbled away to his desk. If he couldn’t come up with answers on his own, as to why he was feeling this way, maybe the internet could help him. It was a long shot, as he was never very good at the internet, but he could try. There was anything and everything on those forums he had heard so much about, there had to be something on misogyny, right?  

So, as he logged into Bing, waiting for his computer to load, he thought about what to search. He could go to Wikihow, and figure out how to tell if you’re truly misogynistic or just weird. Or… worst case scenario, both. Maybe he could go to this website he had heard about called Buzzfeed. Take a few quizzes and hope for the best, he supposed.  

The first quiz he found was titled, “Are you misogynistic?” It was straightforward and to the point, which was what he needed. The first few questions weren’t too weird, like do you have women friends and should women have the right to vote, all things he said yes to. Then it got a bit strange.  

“Do you think men are the superior gender…?” He read aloud, squinting a bit at the screen. Wasn’t that what misogyny was about? And if he was feeling uncomfortable around women, he was bound to think that too, right? So, he decided to click yes, moving onto the next question.  

The rest of the questions had that same kind of air to them, all about how men were superior and women being less than. Each question he chose the yes answer to, as he thought that’s what he felt. Clearly, though, as the audience we know better than that. When the answer screen came up, Usopp felt his world shatter. It said he had a probability of 85% being misogynistic, with the other 15% being inconclusive as to if he was or not. So, he was then. That was all the evidence needed. I mean, the internet was always right, right? Especially Buzzfeed, or whatever website he was on at the moment.  

He went to click out of the tab, but the man heard a knock on his door. He grabbed his laptop and slammed the top closed as the door opened, his best friend’s head peering through the door to look at him. Alone, sitting in the dark, panting a bit, was what she saw of him. Well, it was better than if she had seen the tab opened on his screen, right?  

“Are you okay? Dinners done, I brought you a plate if you didn’t want to eat with everyone,” Sanji spoke softly, as she always did. She was quiet as she entered, closing the door behind herself with her hip and lightly turning on a light. How was she always so kind to him, even if he was such a complete weirdo to her? Even in high school she offered him a kind ear and a plate full of food, even when he didn’t deserve it. He never deserved it. He never deserved her kindness, especially with this new revelation about his personal beliefs.  

“I’m okay,” Usopp smiled at her, reaching out for the plate as she handed it to him. Chicken fried rice, and it looked amazing. He hadn’t realized he was hungry until he smelt it, setting it on top of his closed laptop. His bed was in the center of the room, he noted as she sat down on the edge, just on the floor. The student had never thought to splurge on the fancy stuff like a box spring or a headboard. Sleeping practically on the floor was good enough for him, he supposed.  

“Zoro was telling me about a girl you liked last year. He said she was ugly,” she said suddenly, an air of teasing to her voice as she looked over at him, “I didn’t know you had piss poor taste in women.”  

He turned his head to his best friend, scrunching his face in disapproval, “He always brings her up. She was very pretty.” 

“Was?” She raised an eyebrow.  

“Is,” a frown pulled on his lips, “She’s pretty. Just into blood sacrificing stuff.” He shrugged, waving a hand in the air before continuing, “I think all my exes are pretty.” Exes. Usopp couldn’t believe he could even say he had exes. In high school he had always dreamed of being able to say he dated women, and now he could. It was kind of hollow, showing him, he couldn’t hold down a relationship even if he tried. Three ex-girlfriends, all a copy pasta of each other. Was that misogyny, too? Dating women who looked the same? 

“How many exes have you had?” Sanji asked curiously, “I’ve only had maybe … five,” she said, as though it wasn’t a large number. As if it could be larger. That was Sanji for him, always thinking there could be more when it came to romance. More women, more men, or stuff like that.  

“Oh wow, I’ve just had three. I think we went to high school with almost all of them,” and he listed their names, ticking them off with his fingers. Sanji’s eyes hardened as she watched him, her brow slightly furrowing as he continued on, detailing when they dated and when they broke up. “They all wanted me after I, you know, got more fit.” He motioned to his person a bit stiffly, trying to laugh under her intense gaze. Had he said something wrong? Was it weird to talk about exes with your old friend? 

“They’re all blonde,” Sanji murmured after a moment, her lips barely ghosting one another as she spoke. They looked so full in the dull light of his room, glittering from the angle he was at. For a split second, Usopp wondered how they would feel underneath his fingers. Just trailing his thumb across her bottom lip before letting go and pushing away. How would the skin on her face feel under his palm, as he cupped her face. How would she react if he nuzzled his nose against her cheek and inhaled her citrus like scent?  

He hadn’t thought about the fact they were all blonde. I mean, they did kind of look the same. Usopp nodded, “I guess they are. Are your ex's blonde, too?” He raised his eyebrows, still not quite understanding why her gaze was so intense.  

“No,” she breathed out, “Brunette. I like brunettes better.” Usopp’s stomach turned into a knot, panging deep in his body as she spoke. Why did that make him feel so incredibly nauseous? Was just hearing about her type triggering his misogyny!?  

He blinked a few times and pressed his lips together to attempt to form a line, but it was breaking into an awkward smile, “You know I’m tired. I think I’m gonna sleep,” the student stood and motioned to the bed, “You don’t have to go to sleep now if you don’t want.” He just needed and out of these feelings building in his chest, and if it meant sleeping a bit early, he’d do it. I mean, he could always see his roommates tomorrow. And knowing Nami, she’d be staying for as long as she wanted if it involved free food.  

Sanji stood as well, nodding her head slowly, “I’ll get ready.” That was all she said before she exited the room and left the man alone with his thoughts. Well great, he was going to have to sleep in the same bed with the gender he just found out he hated. He had hoped she was going to stay up with his roommates so he would be asleep by the time she went to sleep. But he couldn’t get everything he had ever wanted, right? Instead of complaining, he pulled his shirt off and slid on some pajama pants, plopping down onto the side of the bed he always slept on the most, the right. He laid on his side and covered himself with a few blankets, trying to will himself to sleep before she got back.  

There was a fifteen-minute period where he was alone, where Usopp tried so desperately to sleep. When the door opened again, and he was still awake, he mentally groaned and turned on his back to see her. Sanji was wearing a tank top that framed her body and her new assets well- although he wasn’t staring! He wasn’t a pervert! No, he was a misogynist.  

Quickly, he glanced away and turned on his other side to face where she would be laying. She sat down onto the bed and shuffled onto the mattress, covering her side in a blanket and staring at him. Her face was bare from makeup, showing bits of freckles poking across her cheeks. Her eyelashes looked the same, and her lips did too. They were still pink, maybe stained from whatever product she had worn before. But soft, they looked so utterly soft. He really just wanted to reach out and touch her face, for a moment.  

“Hi,” Usopp whispered, blinking slowly at her.  

“Hey,” she replied, brushing one of her hands past her ear to push some hair from her face, “I missed this.”  

“Staring at each other?” He raised an eyebrow, to which she nodded.  

“Yeah. I like watching you sleep,” a smile pulled at Sanji’s lips as she looked away, “Did you watch me sleep?”  

Usopp looked away as well, trying his hardest to ignore his thoughts and those overwhelming feelings brewing in his throat, “I mean…”  

“Be honest,” she put a hand on his, that had been resting on the pillow before him. It was soft, sending electric waves through his body as she intertwined their fingers, “You’re going to make me sound creepy if you don’t answer, Usopp.” She was always soft, he thought, remembering their old sleepovers. She was soft and warm, and plush, and God, she always smelt good. He had to admit, he wouldn’t just watch her sleep. He’d bask in her everything until she woke and he’d pretend to be asleep.  

He hesitated, before nodding, “Yeah, I have.” Then it was quiet for a few beats before he spoke up again, “If I fall asleep first are you gonna watch me?” Her hand was so warm, almost lulling him into sleep. If only she was just beside him, pressed against his chest so he could bury his face in her hair… Usopp blinked a few more times, quicker than before as he tried to snap himself out of that thought process. God, that was creepy! Clearly, being misogynistic also meant he was bound to be creepy too.  

Sanji smiled, biting down on her bottom lip, “Maybe. Only if I really want to.”  

“If you want to?”  

“I want to lay next to you,” she spoke quietly, squeezing her hand that held his, “Like we did when we were younger.”  

For just one moment, he wanted to pretend nothing had changed. For one night, he wanted to act like they were back in high school, holding each other and talking about nothing until the sun rose. For one night, he wanted to press a kiss to her shoulder while she slept, knowing she was still coherent enough to remember it the next day. And for one night, he wanted to be the one to fall asleep last. He knew Sanji felt the same way. He knew all she wanted was to go back and pretend nothing had changed, that three years wasn’t three years but a day. That she never left but instead stayed, lived with him. Moved in with him at college. Cooked him food every day. Was his- his friend that is. 

But he had to realize that she chose to live her life away from him, instead of what could’ve been. She chose to leave and every day he had to come to terms with the fact that it never would happen. She would never live with him, cook for him, or stay by his side. Because instead of a day passing, as he so desperately wished, three years left.  

He was completely different now. 

“Okay,” Usopp finally said, letting go of her hand forcefully and patting the space between them, “C’mere,” he mumbled, letting a new wave of exhaustion take over his face. He closed his eyes and felt two slender arms wrap around his back and her face press against his chest. This wasn’t the position he had expected her to take, but he didn’t mind. He pulled her in and curled around her form, chin resting atop her head.  

For one night, they were going to pretend like no time had passed. Even if it was so apparent that it had.  

-

Usopp hated waking up that week. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but his own, being thrust out of his peaceful dreams into a misogynistic sweat. Every day, he awoke to see Sanji nestled beside him, snoring lightly. Her hair was splayed across her forehead and her hand was always interlocked with his. Fingers twitching from deep sleep. It was cute for a moment, before that panging anxiety filled him. And he was back to realizing that this wasn’t as he wanted. He was holding her but at what cost? Secretly, deep down, he hated her and her gender. Everything she stood for; his subconscious hated it.  

That’s what he told himself, at least. 

A week had passed and her dorm still wasn’t prepared for her to live. It didn’t matter to her, meaning she got to spend more time with her old best friend. That was all she seemingly wanted, and it pained him to feel these feelings. Every time he saw her, his heart caught in his throat and made the words he wished he could say barely come out. Every time they made eye contact, he forgot where he was and uttered nonsense to cover it up. And every time she touched him, held his hand, brushed her arm against his, he felt like he was burning from the inside out.  

That morning especially, he was on fire. His arm was on the pillow beside him, hooked around the blonde as she clung to it. As if it was just natural to touch him like that. Usopp had been awake for a bit before she stirred, just watching her. He watched as her breathing steadied and her eyes slowly fluttered open. It was anxiety inducing to hear her groan and turn to face him. Her eyes widened just a bit seeing him stare back at her quizzically. 

“Did I wake you?” She murmured, bringing her soft fingers to push blonde strands away from her face. Sanji looked like a dream, painted by the finest oil paints for Usopp to drink in. For a moment he forgot his misogynistic feelings, his anxiety, all of it. He was stuck watching her chapped lips and her tired, sunken eyes with awe. She was beautiful, in every sense of the word. No- she was more than beautiful. She was ethereal.  

“No, I’ve been up,” Usopp breathed out, bringing his right arm to wrap around her waist, resting his hand against her back. It was unconscious, pulling her in and relaxing at her laugh. For a moment he forgot why he was so anxious to be around her. He forgot his anxieties and instead focused on her warmth, radiating off of her body onto his. 

“I had a dream about you,” her voice was quiet, whispering against his skin. 

“Hm? What was it about?” Usopp asked, looking down at his friend.  

“I cooked you eggs and then you exploded. Oh, because it was so good, you know,” Sanji laughed as he looked away to her shoulder, letting his thumb rub small circles into her back. It was quiet as they fell into a nice silence, that she broke after a few seconds,  “Usopp?” The brunette looked down at his friend, “Do you want to do something today?” At that, he glanced away. He never said no to her, at least he tried not to. And hanging out with her was always fun … in a group setting. The truth of the matter was he had been avoiding one on one interactions, even cutting their late-night talks short by feigning sleep.   

“Yeah, I think Luffy’s probably available- oh and Nami. I think Zoro’s working…” Usopp shifted onto his back, as he thought aloud, adjusting his arms to keep his left around her, while the other stretched out to the ceiling, “We could go to the mall. They have a Macys with, you know,” he glanced at her, “Clothes.” 

Sanij sat up, pressing her palm to her brow bone as she stretched her body away from her friend. She always opted to wear loose fitted tank tops when she slept, which Usopp always tried not to stare at. Being a new misogynist, he realized that creepiness was a part of it too. He tried to push away as much as possible. Yet, every time he saw her exposed skin, he couldn’t help but feel sick. A sickness that called to him, begging him to touch her skin. Just feel it beneath his fingers and wonder why it was so warm. 

“What if,” she looked back at him with her voice tight from her ongoing stretch, “We went alone?” Her hand slipped into her blonde hair, fingers entangling by the root. Slowly, she combed down to her long ends, repeating the motion methodically as she waited for an answer. Usopp never wanted to deny her anything her heart desired, truly, but this was going to kill him. If he was alone with her for more than a few minutes, he was fine. But a few hours? The entire day? Oh, he was going to have to plan his funeral now! 

The man looked away, pressing his lips together, “Yeah,” a croak escaped his lips as he sat himself up, “Yeah, let’s do it.” He gave her a tight smile, something he hoped she wouldn’t read into. Something he hoped she wouldn’t try to ask about later.  

Sanji gave him a small look, but it melted away into a smile, “I can make us breakfast.”  

The brunette shook his head, “Nooo, you’ve been making breakfast everydayyyy.” Not that he didn’t love her cooking, but he didn’t want her to overwork herself, cooking every meal for him. Instead, he pulled his phone out and handed it to her, on a Food Delivery app, “Get Chinese.”  

Sanji took his phone and tilted her head, “What about Indian?” She asked, scrolling through the app and pressing the tile for Chinese restaurants in their area anyway. 

“I had that, like, two weeks ago,” Usopp peered over to the phone to watch as she inputted her order, “And I’ve been craving Chinese for, like, two weeks.”  

The blonde looked at him, narrowing her eyes, “What happened two weeks ago?” Well, two weeks ago she contacted him. And two weeks ago, Zoro had promised Chinese food, only to bring home Indian food. Which was delicious, but not at all what he had been craving.  

“Zoro lied to me,” a laugh came from his lips before he could help it, “I think he had an accident at birth that made him, you know, directionally challenged,” Usopp spoke, waving his hand with a slightly limp wrist to convey his point.  

“Oh, he was a preemie?” Sanji handed him his phone, which he saw also had his order on it too. She had remembered it.  

The thought pulled at his heart and caused a wave of nausea, as he replied, “No he was born.” 

She stared at him for a moment, silently figuring out what it meant. Until it clicked and she laughed, leaning back on the bed and putting a hand over the top of her collarbone, “Oh! He was the accident!” 

Sanji’s laugh was incredible. He couldn’t help but stare as she smiled, letting out tumbling breaths of laughter. Strands of blonde hair fell into her face as she leaned forward and brushed her index finger at the corner of her eye, stopping the incoming tears from her joy. It wasn’t even that funny of a joke, let alone Usopp’s funniest joke. But she found it funny. In some way, she found it funny and it did something to him. It pulled his stomach down and then up, stretching it thin in his body as he watched her.  

Oh, he was going to be sick.  

Usopp stood up and made his way to the door as she steadied her breathing, giggling and repeating the joke occasionally to herself.  

“I’m gonna get ready,” he called out, forcing his own body to move as he went into the bathroom and locked himself inside. His brown eyes stared back from across the sink as he hunched over the porcelain. This wasn’t normal. This couldn’t be normal misogyny. Misogyny was a hatred for women, not the gender making you sick! I mean, unless he had unlocked some kind of rare form of true misogyny. Unless he was the ultimate misogynist who felt so much hatred it manifested into sickness.  

His hands gripped the edge of the sink as his breathing came to him in shallow bursts. Never before had he felt like utter garbage, especially because of her. Because she was doing nothing more than laughing, God he was a prick. He had to call someone, tell someone. Ask for help. Pray for help and hope they could save him from this level of pure evil. 

Shakily, the man pulled his phone from his pocket. Who could he call? Nami was probably asleep somewhere in the apartment, Luffy was at the gym at this time, and Zoro was at work. Calling Nami was the obvious answer, but she didn’t answer the phone. He didn’t want to tempt fate and call her multiple times in fear of sparking her rage. Luffy was the next answer, but he wasn’t very good at keeping secrets or truly understanding human emotions. He was a good friend, but not good with feelings. 

So, Zoro was his last resort. He called, and called, until the moss answered exacerbated, “Long-nose you better be dying,” he gritted out through apparent clenched teeth, on the other line. Okay, so that might have been a mistake, the brunette thought as he awkwardly stared back at himself. He couldn’t recognize the disheveled man before him, who looked like he had seen a ghost. 

“Zoro-” Usopp tried quietly, but he was interrupted with a rant.  

“What is so important you had to call me ten times!?” Okay so this was definitely a mistake.  

“Zoro let me-” Cut off again.  

“You’re so lucky I was outside taking out the trash-” Zoro spat as he was cut off by a loud, “I’M MISOGYNISTIC!” 

It went silent on that end; however, he could hear shuffling come from outside. It sent a sinking pang of fear through Usopp’s stomach as he came to the realization Sanji must have heard him. 

The image of her crumbling because of his words- no, his beliefs- it was making him sick. If she cried because of his words, fell apart and sobbed, he would hate himself. He would hate every fiber of his own being if he was the reason she spoke low of herself, or even thought lowly of herself. He never wanted her to hurt, let alone from his stupid actions.  

“Usopp did you say something?” He heard her voice suddenly through the door, knocking gently on the white wood. A wave of relief flooded his features as he realized, no, she didn’t hear him. She probably heard a commotion and went to check on him, because of course she would. Because she was kind. 

The male released a breath and closed his eyes, deflating back against the sink, “No, Sanji,” he called back, placing the phone to his ear to hear more silence, “Zoro…?”  

There wasn’t a response for a bit, until he heard a small groan, “I’ll have Luffy take Sanji out when I get home. So, me, you, and Nami can understand what the hell you mean by misogynistic.” And the line clicked on the other end, leaving him to stare back at himself.  

-

The two drove in silence to the mall, with some soft music playing from the radio. It was a song Usopp didn’t quite catch the name of but Sanji enjoyed it, humming along quietly as she gazed out the window at the large city buildings. Living in the town over from his childhood home, he knew the area like the back of his hand. The roads were slightly congested, but as they delved away from the heart of the metropolis into the outskirts of town, it got smoother.  

“You know, there is something I want to buy,” Usopp began, signaling to change lanes to the right turn lane, craning his neck over to check it was empty. The car ride was comfortable, especially since he knew he would be able to finally get this weight off of his chest. Get this dark secret off and tell someone without consequence. Well, not that many consequences anyway. 

“What are you gonna buy?” Sanji glanced over at him. She had brought her makeup, setting up a small station on the floor beside the full length mirror her best friend had. She could do it in a few minutes, as if it was perfect. And it was perfect. The wing of her eyeliner brown and subtle, with a few coats of mascara, a bit of concealer, and blotted pink lipstick. All of which Usopp had no idea were things until she explained it to him as she went, earlier. 

He looked at her and smiled, “Surprise.” When they were teenagers, he found a bottle of lipstick in Sanji’s room. She swore it was her mothers, as he investigated the tube. It was a dark shade of red forever burned into his cranium, down to the brand and shade name. He had thought about it every night for weeks after he found it, wondering what it would’ve looked like on her mouth. How it would accentuate the fullness of her bottom lip and her pronounced cupid's bow.  

“Oh, come on, give me a hint,” she frowned, lightly pushing his shoulder.  

Usopp laughed, as they pulled into the mall parking lot, not budging, “Nope. I’ll buy it and you can see it afterward,” a promise fell from his lips as he found a parking spot. It was somewhat by the entrance, showing off the old architecture of a mall that was stuck in the decade prior. But it was comforting, it reminded him of his childhood. This was the mall he always went to growing up, especially with her.  

They got out of the car and walked to the entrance, which he made sure to hold the door open for her. She simply shook her head with a smile, trying not to let it take over her face. It hadn’t changed in about ten years since he started coming there when he was about thirteen, everything stuck in a haze of the nineties. It was nice, especially since he saw Sanji’s face begin to light up as she was filled with a sense of familiarity. She slowed her steps and took it in, gazing with wide eyes at the place before her.  

“Do you remember when we went to the Blockbuster and you tried to rent the R-rated movie?” Usopp asked after the silence was stifling, nudging her shoulder with his own, “Kate Winslet had you in a choke hold.” This was easy. If he didn’t think about it, if he forced himself to swallow his anxiety, it was easy. She was … comfortable. She was home. 

“It was pg-13,” she breathed out, slowly turning her face to look at him, “Where’s the Macy’s?” Sanji’s cheeks were a light pink, different from earlier. She hadn’t applied blush in her makeup routine, unless the cold was starting to nip at her skin.  

Usopp led her to Macy's, breaking off from her as she went to look at clothes. He promised he’d return after he found the bathroom, which was a total lie. Instead, he found himself in the makeup section. It was memorized deep in his skull the name, which shocked the woman at the counter when he said, “I need to find MAC Cosmetics Lipstick in Spice It Up.” She hesitated for a moment and then nodded, pointing him to a row of lipsticks all without the tubes so he could pick the color.  

Instantly, it caught his eye. The color hadn’t changed much over the years, although he remembered it looking a bit more vibrant than the slightly dull maroon he came face to face with. The tube was black, as they all were. But it was hers. It was the deep red he had remembered yearning to see contrast against her pale skin, like drops of blood against white snow. He remembered rolling the tube in his hand and imagining how she would apply it, how she would press her lips together and how it would … look. Usopp picked up the box where the lipstick laid in, paying for it almost instantly. The money didn’t matter, the only thing he could focus on was the fact he was going to see her wear it.  

Usopp found Sanji looking at green blouses a few sections over, running her hands over the fabric and feeling it between her fingers. She studied the material with a keen eye, trying to find the best match for her. It would look amazing, he knew it. He approached her, clearing his throat to gather her attention. The blonde looked over at him and he raised the bag that said “Mac Cosmetics” awkwardly, with a small smile.  

Her eyes widened at the sight, “Usopp… What did you get?”  

“A surprise,” his grin widened as he reached into the small bag, pulling out the tube he had unboxed a few minutes prior, “An old surprise.” He waved it a bit then handed it over to her, where their hands overlapped. Sanji held onto his hand for a few silent moments, staring at her hand over his. Her eyes were glassy, fogged over with a hint of nostalgia creeping into her features. She knew. Of course, she knew exactly what it was even from the tube alone.  

“You remembered?” She looked up at him, pulling her hand away and popping the cap off the lipstick. She twisted the container and out came the color. He was right, it was perfect for her. Her hand entangled into her hair, pressing against her scalp, “I didn’t think you’d even remember the color. I didn’t even…” It was a look of disbelief as she lightly tapped the top of her head a few times with her palm, trailing off from her thought.  

“Of course. C’mon, can I put it on you?” Usopp extended his hand, before he truly understood what he had just said. How could he even think that was a good idea? He wasn’t worthy to hold her face, cradle it in his hands, and gently press the stick to her mouth. He wasn’t worthy to be the one who applied it, even though he really wanted to. It wasn’t normal to want it this bad, it had to be the misogyny talking or something like that.  

He hesitated to speak again, but she nodded and handed it back to him, “Do it. But don’t get it all over me, long-nose,” a small fond smile pulled at her lips.  

“Oh, don’t tell me Zoro taught you that,” he frowned and twisted the tube back down a bit, so not as much product was extended. She laughed as a response and he stepped forward, breaking the distance and forcing himself into her personal space.  

Slowly, his left hand cupped her jaw, with his thumb coming to rest on the underside of her chin, tilting her face upwards. Sanji’s eyes darted from the ceiling to the brunettes, watching with stiff eyes as he brought the lipstick to her bottom lip. He had never applied a woman's makeup to their face before, but he knew you had to be gentle about it.  

Methodically, he pressed the tube of red onto her bottom lip, dragging the tip down from the center of her lip to the bottom, before curving it around the edge of her lip and dragging it to the corner of her mouth. He had seen this done in a movie once, many years ago. And Nami had applied lipstick around him loads of times. The student just needed to go into his mind and unlock those memories. 

The top part of her lips was an easy task, following the natural curvature of her upper cupid's bow and connecting it back to the corner. Delicately and carefully, he patted the product into the center of her mouth, continuing until it was darkened enough. He didn’t want it to be too much; It needed to be just right. As he applied it, Sanji’s eyes stared into his face. She stared with a new look of fondness he hadn’t even seen before, and when he asked her to press her lips together, she looked away quicker than she typically would. 

It was silent, as he watched her shyly pull out a compact mirror to admire the color, he knew she had wished she could’ve worn years prior. She looked ethereal if that was even the correct word to capture her otherworldly level of beauty. It brought out the deep crevices of her face and painted in her ways he never once thought about. She was an oil painting that he had slaved years and time away to create, until she was perfect. And she was perfect. She had always been just… perfect. 

“You did good,” Sanji closed her compact, bringing his thoughts back to reality, “For a beginner.” A smirk tugged at her painted lips and he felt a wave of nausea through his body. He tried to push it away, as she continued, “I never let myself wear it back then. I bought it and stared at it for hours but,” she exhaled, “I’ve never been brave enough to wear it.”  

“You look really good,” Usopp replied, before a heat rushed into his skin, burning it with a deep red, “I mean- Not that you typically don’t- You do- You always look good- I mean you know what I mean… right?” His voice trailed off with anxiety, as his eyes squeezed shut. 

His eyes didn’t stay shut for long, as a subtle hand on his upper arm made them flutter open. She was watching him with a wide-eyed expression, that same pink blush caressing her cheeks. In that light, she was prettier than she had ever been. She was glowing. She was an angel from Earth who had come to take him away. In that moment, he forgot everything he was supposed to worry about. His anxiety, that stupid misogyny, all of it. He forgot it and lived in her presence. He forgot it and lived like she was the only thing worth living for. In that split second of time, Usopp even forgot who he was as he stared back at her with a slightly agape mouth.  

“I know…” Sanji smiled at him, pulling his forearm with her as she began to walk toward the escalator. Like a limp rag-doll, Usopp let her drag him with ease. She had always been stronger than him, even if he had a different body all these years later. Maybe it was because he let her throw him around, because he didn’t have the heart to use his actual strength, let alone fight back. He watched her as she stepped onto the first step and began to drift upwards, waiting for him to follow.  

He always would. 

- 

They arrived upstairs, to the home goods section. It was dystopian to walk around in a department store with a girl he didn’t think he’d ever see again, and he wouldn’t have had it any other way. It was silent as she led him, looking at the different furniture with a soft glance. He tried to focus on the chairs or the different couches, but his gaze went back to her. Every time, his eyes found their way back to her face, her hair, her red lips, all of it. As they stood by one couch, looking at it as she prattled on about how it would look good in Usopp’s living room, she slowly trailed off. Sanji’s expression shifted, as if she was holding back a smile. She pressed her lips together, biting down on her bottom lip tentatively. Her thoughts were clear on her face that she was debating something, mulling it over visibly.  

“Sanji…?” Usopp breathed out, looking at her and waiting for a response back to signal she was okay. The blonde looked at him, taking both of his deep hands with hers. She enveloped them with her warmth and pulled him in, both metaphorically and physically. There was no space between them as they watched each other.  

“Do you hear the song?” She asked, in a quiet tone. It was a song playing over the speakers that was barely audible to him at first. But then he heard it and slowly it captured his ears in a rhythmic tune. He had never heard it before, but clearly, she had, as she hummed along. “I love this song,” Sanji continued, beginning to sway slowly, “Will you…?” She looked between them, raising their entangled hands up to his eyeline.  

She wanted him to dance with her in the middle of a Macy’s. The thought made Usopp want to push away and laugh nervously, declaring he couldn’t embarrass himself like that. But the thought made him want to take her close and hum along too, even if he knew none of the lyrics. The thought made him want to hold her and sway, even if it was just to appease her for two minutes. Two minutes he was going to cherish for as long as humanly possible until it was all over and he was back to being riddled with anxiety. Anxiety that was so far away now, he could barely taste it.  

Usopp pulled her in, taking her left hand in his right and holding it out, while his left arm rested on the small of her back. Her head of blonde hair rested against his collarbone, letting his nose brush against the top of her hair. It smelt better than he realized, something fruity. She was a bundle of summer wrapped into a person's body. Like a ray of sunshine, embodied as a person.  

Sanji’s voice was soft against his ears, singing gently along to the song that was barely audible to him. All he could hear was his own heartbeat and that faint singing. The lyrics were barely visible on her tongue, but he cherished it. Her voice was above a whisper, as if she was soothing herself rather than trying to be known. Almost like she didn’t realize she was singing along.  

Then she squeezed his hand, trying to remind herself she was here with him. Like … she was reminding herself he was truly real. Like she wasn’t sure if this moment would fade and she would wake up alone in a room halfway around the world. Like this moment could disappear at any time and they’d both be left to mourn the shattered pieces. 

He realized he couldn’t let her go. As much as he knew they needed to break apart when the song was done, he physically couldn’t let go. His body wouldn’t let him. He’d keep her caged in his arms for as long as he could until she broke from it. Then he realized she wasn’t going to break away any time soon.  

Not at all. 

-

“Okay, so, let me get this straight: You’re a misogynist now?” Zoro’s voice rang into Usopp’s ears and brought him back to reality, where he was sitting on the floor with his back to the couch as his friends sat across from him. Luffy had been kind enough to make up a cooking excuse to get Sanji out of the house so they’d have at least an hour alone with the famed misogynist as he explained his entire thought process. 

Nami’s eyebrow quirked up as she leaned behind on one palm, “Is that why you’ve been acting weird? Did you discover 4chan or something?” She asked, turning her head to watch her friend. 

Just a few hours prior he had forgotten all about it. All the misogyny, all the nerves building up inside his body making him shake. But now it was all out in the open for his friends to dissect and pick through, making the man feel completely naked under their stare. He was baring himself to them with his struggle, a struggle he didn’t even know he had until Sanji appeared back into his life. This could be the answer to help him, to get rid of it once and for all. 

“Well, no,” he inhaled stiffly, “It’s about Sanji. She makes me feel so nauseous and gross, and it’s never been this bad before. So I went onto Buzzfeed-” Usopp began but he was cut off by a snort from Zoro. 

“Buzzfeed? You trust that shit?” He chuckled to himself. 

“Hey,” Nami swatted her pale hand at her friend, lightly hitting the bridge of his nose as he frowned, “Let him continue. Even if it started from Buzzfeed.” Her words were sarcastic and pointed, garnering another laugh from the moss beside her. 

Usopp looked away. They didn’t seem to understand this ran deep. This was affecting him so much and it was all fueled by hate. A hatred he had and harbored, that could easily hurt the one person he cared so much about. He never wanted to be the reason she cried. He never wanted to be the reason she left again. His ginger friend’s face hardened when she saw his anxious expression. Then it hit her. It wasn't just a stupid joke he was going to say, with some stupider punchline at the end. It wasn’t something that was funny. No, it couldn’t be funny. Hurting Sanji would hurt him so much more than anyone would ever be able to understand. It was serious to him so it had to be serious to her too. 

“Go on,” she spoke softly, nudging his knee with her foot so they could make eye contact. Her eyes said more words than she ever could, trying to be comforting in some way. 

“Every time I see her, I feel so sick. And when she touches me my skin gets all hot and itchy… Buzzfeed said I was misogynistic when I put in all my symptoms,” he said low, shame rising in his throat, “A-And I feel terrible. She cares about me and here I am being all hateful.” 

Zoro watched him, blinking slowly. He was silent as he processed this information, trying to fully grasp what Usopp meant. Then he spoke up, “Do you hate women?” Eliciting a smack from the woman beside him. The brunette looked up from his lap and he continued, “Do you really hate women?”

“Can you try and be sensitive?” Nami retorted back to him. 

“I am! It’s good to ask questions when your friend is self diagnosing as a misogynist,” he spoke through gritted teeth, narrowing his eyes at the girl. 

“No,” Usopp’s voice made the both of them look at him, “I don’t really hate anyone. But if I’m not misogynistic how can that explain m-” Before he could explain further, Zoro waved a hand in the air. 

“You have a crush- OW YOU CUNT-” Zoro began but was instantly cut off by a smack from Nami, which sent him falling backward onto the wooden floor.

“You can’t just tell him he has a crush! You have to ease him into it!” She reprimanded, pointing a finger at the moss, “He can’t handle all that in one go!” 

“He’s an adult,” he groaned, propping himself up on his elbows to stare at her, “I think he can handle knowing he’s in love.” 

She pushed his forehead back, “In love and crush are two different things, idiot!” The man fell back, onto the wood, letting out a breath of defeat. He was stronger than everyone in the apartment, although Luffy rivaled him in that area. It was clear from that interaction alone, he was letting her have her way with him. Zoro never really minded letting people hit him, he had no reason to fight back if it was his friends. And half the time it was. 

All the while as they bickered and pushed, Usopp was seated across from them. His eyes began to unfocus and blur the world before him, turning it into street lights on a night sky. Streaky and blurry against his irises, as he sat and took it in. He wasn’t in love, he was the furthest thing from being in love. No, love was different. He had been in love before when he was younger, with one of his first girlfriends. It was intimate, quick, and it was fun; nothing like the torture he was enduring. 

Sanji’s mere presence made him sick, made him unable to think of nothing but her, made him sweaty and prickled with heat on his cheeks, and made him a terrible person. Around her he felt comforted when he was far away from that mindset, but when it came back he could focus on nothing more than his breathing to ground himself. I mean, it was like this when they were in high school, but to such a lesser extent. He was always on edge around the blonde, breathing heavily and clammy. But that was normal. All friends were like that. All friends wanted to be near each other every day. All friends cuddled into the depths of the night, until it was practically suffocating for them to even think about letting go. 

Friends touched each other, against bare skin for practice. Friends would spend nights upon nights talking until sunrise, because there was so much more to say. Friends kissed the skin on their friends neck every night, as a way to say good night. And friends shared intimate moments since they were young and stupid, and, of course, it wouldn’t mean anything in the moment- or the day after. Of course, they’d never speak about it again. 

Of course, they were best friends.

Then it began to click, all the pieces falling into place. He never heard Zoro talk about Nami like that, how they’d steal glances and wish it would last forever. Or how when their hands touched it felt electric. They never spoke about how hard it was to sleep when the person you loved the most was pressed against your chest and breathing softly into the pillow beside you, so quietly you could barely hear her. But you knew she was there, and that was the most comforting aspect. 

Usopp looked down into his lap, frowning deeply. How could he have not seen he was… in love? 

“Guys?” He croaked, causing them to perk up mid-fight to look at his astonished face, “Am I stupid…?”

Nami hesitated as Zoro blurted out, “Yes.” Causing her to tackle him again and punch his frame, which he let her do as the floor was too comfortable for him to fight back.

“God, I’m so stupid!!” Usopp groaned, turning and burying his face into a pillow where he screamed just a little bit. How could he not have seen it wasn’t misogyny but years of neglected and intense feelings coming up to the surface to bite him in the ass? Maybe he shouldn’t have invested in a mechanical engineering degree if he couldn’t even deduce a simple crush.

“Why are you stupid?” A voice rang in his ears, causing the student to raise his head from the pillow. He saw Sanji, standing above him with a curious expression. She came back a lot sooner than he thought, with Luffy dog piling his boyfriend and their mutual friend with ease. Her outfit had changed from this morning, into something more casual. He sat up and pushed the pillow away, so she could sit next to him on the floor. However, she opted to sit on the couch so her legs were beside him. 

With this newfound information bouncing in Usopp’s brain, it was hard to pry his eyes off her frame. She was gorgeous, even if it was in a baggy T-shirt and jeans. Her body was hidden, and he wanted so desperately to put his hand on her back, bringing her into his clutches. He wanted to run his fingers against her skin just to see what would make her pull him closer. He wanted to see how her hair smelt today, how her skin smelt, how her mouth would feel against his. 

It was perverse and it was wrong, to have these thoughts run rampant in his mind. But they weren’t misogyny, they were built off of pure unbridled love. They were built off of innocence and purity. They were built off of his affections for her. The fact he loved her, so deeply and truly. He always had, ever since they were teenagers. He never stopped loving her, chasing her through other women to fill the void she left when she, well, left. 

Sanji watched as he stared at her, eyes wide with curiosity, “Usopp?” Her voice broke into his thoughts, being the thing that caused him to turn away for a moment. He wasn’t being very inconspicuous with his staring, in fact he was being too obvious. How could Usopp not be obvious anymore, when it felt so good to indulge and watch her exist as a god amongst men? 

“Yeah?” The man looked back at her and he saw something in her hand. It was red and white, and the moment he saw it the thoughts of his affection were replaced with confusion. He hadn’t seen her smoke the almost two weeks she was staying. In his mind, he assumed she had quit between the three years they were apart. 

“Come outside with me? I could use the company,” she motioned to the box, shaking it a bit, “Zoro’s been coming outside with me usually before bed, but he looks a little busy,” her blue eyes trailed ahead of her, where he was letting Nami and Luffy punch his body while he laid there, half asleep. It felt like home to be there, watching them fight and sitting beside someone he cared about, without having to feel bad for those feelings. 

“Is that why you get up early? To smoke?” Usopp asked her as they exited the apartment building into the middle of the street, where the crisp night air hit his cheeks and made them prickle with a red blush. She put on a jacket that was his, asking if she could borrow it because all of her’s were dirty. It was brown leather and too big to fit her anymore, loosely hanging from her frame as she lit the cigarette hanging from her bottom lip. 

“I’m surprised you didn’t know,” Sanji looked at him, waving the lighter before placing it back in her pant pocket. She pulled the cigarette from her lips and exhaled the smoke in the opposite direction from her friend, clearing her throat before she continued, “I always think you’re asleep by the time I go to bed, so Zoro comes with me out here. But then I get to your room and you’re still awake.” 

“So that’s where you got long-nose from?” He mused, placing his hands in his own jacket pocket as he slowly walked forward. 

“He did call you that once, yeah,” she smiled and pressed the cigarette to her mouth, inhaling and closing her eyes. It explained the homely scent that lingered on her skin, even if it was covered in citrus. There was something savory to it he couldn’t quite place, but it was the cigarettes. He knew she had started smoking young, it was almost like her thing back in high school. He could even picture her smoking behind the school as he sat on the ground, watching her with keen eyes. 

“You don’t mind the smell do you?” Sanji asked, turning her head to him. 

They made eye contact and he brushed some coils of his own hair from his forehead before he responded, “No. Reminds me of home.” 

“I didn’t know your parents smoked when you were younger,” she flicked a bit of the ash onto the pavement. With the subtle glow of the cigarette then the dim street lamps, she looked like a dream. Something only a painter could capture. Something that if he tried to get a photo of, it would never be the same. It would never have the same effect as living it would. 

Usopp shook his head, causing her brows to furrow, “You smoked when we were younger.” Sanji silently stared back at him as the small stick stuck from her bottom lip. She let it drizzle smoke from the head as she watched him in the darkness that began to surround them as the sky turned dull blue.

“I remind you … of home?” She asked quietly, a pink blush forming at the bridge of her nose and coming to the apples of her cheeks. 

“Sanji,” he breathed out, “I think you are my home.” Before Usopp could catch himself the words came slipping out, telling more of the truth than he wanted to tell. 

Her lips pursed and she pulled the cigarette from her mouth again, to cradle it between two fingers, “You’ve been acting so weird all this week. I thought I did something. You’re always so red and … sweaty,” a small but awkward smile pulled at her lips, “And you look scared, all the time. Like you’re saying the wrong thing.” 

The moment felt right. The moment was right. She was standing in dull light and he was beside her, just a mere foot and a half apart. The night was fading into darkness, the cigarette was almost up, her hair was pushed back in a messy ponytail, and, god, her lips looked beautiful in the faded shade of red he had applied hours prior. There was nothing more that he could do than stare, even though he knew he needed to respond. 

But how could he respond to her? He was being weird, and sweaty, and scared. He was all of it. No matter what he said, it would sound like a stupid lie to cover up an even more stupid lie. Because in truth, it was. It would be a cover up for something he never wanted to tell her. 

“I’m misogynistic.” 

Usopp pressed his lips together as he realized what the hell he just said. Sanji stared at him blankly, the cigarette falling from her fingers as she slowly blinked in thought.

“No- Well I was- well I thought I was! I thought I hated women, because y-you know you’re a,” he awkwardly motioned to her body then his eyes widened, “Not because that makes you a woman- you are a woman- a very pretty woman! And that makes me scared and sweaty- because I thought I hated women!” Usopp inhaled sharply before he continued, “But I don’t hate women- I don’t hate you! I thought I did- an-and I felt so bad, because then that would mean I hate you- but I don’t! I love you- I love you. Oh. My. God. I love you. I love you like- like- It hurts. It hurts so much that I love you and I’m … saying this… out… loud…” 

Sanji stared back at him as he rattled on, eyes becoming glasslike until they started spilling silent tears down her cheeks. He hadn’t even noticed, until his sentence trailed off and she saw her face glisten in the street light. He had done it. He was the one to make her cry with the beliefs he tried to keep from her. Usopp had made the woman he loved more than he could physically bear because of his idiotic words and timing, and because he couldn’t hold a secret for more than five minutes before pouring his heart out. 

He tried to fix it, “Sanji…” But his voice died in his throat when she let out a small sob, covering her mouth. 

“You… idiot,” she looked at him, brushing her fingers by her waterline to try and stop the tears that wouldn’t stop falling. All the while, a wide smile adorned her face. The smile was what made her friend tilt his head and narrow his eyes in surprise. Surely, he had upset her, I mean, she was crying! How could she be smiling at his misogynistic confession? 

“You idiot!” Sanji smacked him on the head, causing him to stumble back a bit before she grabbed the collar of his shirt and forced her eyes to bore into his own, glossy with her tears. Her expression was crumbling with something that looked akin to joy as she held him close, trying to speak but all that would come out were garbled sobs. And at that moment, all he could think about was how beautiful she looked, all messed up. Her eyeliner was slightly smudged at the corners of her eyes, although her mascara wasn’t budging. Her bottom lip was quivering as she tried to hold back a smile she never wanted to hold back. 

“Are you… upset…?” Usopp raised his hands, slowly placing them on her shoulder blades, slowly prying her away from his shirt. She shook her head quickly, to which he responded, “You’re happy?” At that she nodded vigorously, “Why?” He asked, clearly not understanding. 

“Be-e-cause,” Sanji squeaked, hiccuping before her words spilt out, “You love m-me, too.”

“Oh,” he had forgotten that in his confession of past misogyny, he also confessed his feelings a few minutes after realizing them. “Wait, too? You love me, too?” A kind of burning sensation was growing in his chest until it finally exploded, rising in his skin and melding deep into his face. He was on fire, and it was perfect. If she caused him to burn, he’d thank her and ask her to burn him again. Because he loved her, fuck, he loved her so much he couldn’t stand it. 

Sanji nodded, taking her knuckles to her eyes to wipe away the excess of makeup pooling at the bottom of her eyelid. Even with that messed up makeup and tear stained face, she looked like a painting. She looked messy and human, so beautifully human. 

Usopp placed his shaky hand over hers and brought it to his lips, pressing his mouth onto her fingers. Then her finger tips, then down the base of her fingers to her palm, down to her wrist. She hiccuped as he brought her in close and pressed his lips to her neck, pressing a delicate kiss to her skin as she held him closer. 

“I don’t think you understand,” he breathed out, pressing kisses on her face until their noses were mere millimeters apart, “I love you.” Usopp’s voice was barely above a murmur, something that he spoke only for her ears to hear. 

“I- I know, long-nose,” Sanji sniffed, ���I’m home… I’m home now…” She spoke as if she was sure this wasn’t a dream, but she needed to be certain. She needed to know she’d never wake up, and this would never end. 

Slowly, he brought his lips to her’s, just to feel it for a moment. It was perfect, it was absolutely right. His lips were carved from the finest clay and made to be molded against her’s, no one else's. He was made to be her’s. Usopp was born to worship her and be there for her. No one else but Sanji. 

His home. 

[fishontumble]

Kinktober 2023 | Day 1 Macro/Micro ZoSan

Warnings: Smut, macro/micro, dom Zoro, sub Sanji, whiny Sanji, pet name (my little prince), SEX ‼️, 18+ mdni, not proofread teehee

Summary: Sanji wakes up one inch tall and Zoro takes good care of him.

Quite literally an inch tall, Sanji found himself in a predicament. He couldn’t have eaten anything weird that would have turned him this small, so it must have been something else. However, he couldn’t shake the thought that he had accidentally put a weird ingredient in last night’s dinner. He frantically ran to the door that led out of the library, where he had fallen asleep the night before reading a book.

“How do I…” Sanji stared at the door knob that seemed miles away. He figured he could just kick it off and apologize later, but the knob began turning on it’s own.

“Cook! Breakfast!” The door swung open and Sanji barely managed to avoid getting smacked and crushed like a bug. Zoro stood there, scanning the library and even though he was the last person Sanji wanted to see in this predicament, he had no other choice.

His eye twitched out of annoyance as he yelled, “Zoro! Down here!”

The mosshead looked downwards and blinked twice. Instead of gasping in shock, Zoro had the audacity to choke out a bellowing laugh.

“Ugh! Just get me to the kitchen!” Sanji kicked Zoro’s boots and still laughing, Zoro grabbed Sanji and placed him on his shoulder. Even though he was embarrassed, Sanji was glad to see that it really wasn’t something from last night’s dinner, since Zoro seemed completely unaffected.

To make a long story short, everyone was still normal sized and Nami and Usopp made breakfast for everyone. Chopper offered to take a look at him, but Sanji felt completely fine. It was just a pain moving around the ship that was now a hundred times larger than what he was used to.

Brook humorously suggested, “Since it was Zoro-san who found Sanji-san, shouldn’t he be the one to take care of him until he goes back to normal?”

Zoro rolled his eye, “Why are you making it sound like I picked up a stray animal?” In the end, the crew decided that it would probably be easiest for them to stay together anyways, and that’s why both men were in the crow’s nest, Sanji watching Zoro train.

Sanji was pacing back and forth on the wooden planks, and although he was so tiny that he hardly made any noise, Zoro was getting agitated by Sanji’s restlessness. It was probably because Sanji wasn’t in the kitchen and unable to do much to ease his concerns.

Zoro put his weights on the ground and picked up Sanji.

Sanji punched Zoro’s hand and yelled, “Put me down! You stink!”

“Well, I am sweaty.”

“That’s not the point!”

Zoro sat down on the couch, but kept his fingers wrapped around Sanji’s body. Sanji finally gave up struggling and just put his head down. He grumbled, “This sucks. I’m stuck like this for who knows how long and now I’m in your stupid stinky hand. So, what do you want? To torment me?”

“Just want to take your edge off. No point in stressing about something that you can’t help.” Zoro held Sanji close to his face and placed a kiss on Sanji’s forehead. Sanji’s body tensed up, and then relaxed. When Zoro pulled his lips back and smirked at Sanji’s flustered demeanor.

Sanji finally relented. “Not fair. Let me kiss you too.”

“Yes sir,” Zoro chuckled, holding Sanji close to his face again. Sanji left a couple of fleeting kiss on Zoro’s lower lip.

“Tickles,” Zoro commented. He placed Sanji down onto his thigh and Sanji held onto Zoro’s thumb to kepe him from taking his hand away.

Zoro whispered “Relax, I’m not going anywhere.” He pressed his thumb gently against Sanji’s crotch, earning a groan from him. He began a slow pace, rubbing up and down Sanji’s pants until Sanji was grinding too, trying to get more friction.

“Look at that, you’re getting off on my stinky hand.”

Through deep breaths, Sanji said, “Shut up.”

“Watch your mouth.” Zoro pressed down harder at this and Sanji arched his backed into Zoro’s palm. Now he was whimpering, quickly losing his composure.

He began humping Zoro’s leg more desperately now, trying to reach his edge and although he wasn’t saying it, the stench of Zoro’s sweat was getting him much closer than he’d like to admit.

Zoro realized what Sanji was trying to do and quickly released Sanji from his grasp. Sanji’s knees were already weak so he fell when Zoro let go. Instead of being bothered by that though, he whined, “Why…? I was almost there!”

Zoro held his hand behind Sanji’s back so Sanji could lean backwards.

“You’re wearing the only set of clothes available in your mini size right now. Shouldn’t ruin them.”

Sanji rolled his eyes. Zoro had a point, but he was always on point about the most random things during these moments of intimacy. Frustrated, Sanji stood up and undid his suit. His precum was bearing through his underwear and Zoro didn’t miss it. Getting embarrassed all over again, Sanji slowed down but Zoro didn’t let that slide. He pulled Sanji’s underwear down for him, and it was almost cute seeing Sanji’s hard cock spring out.

Sanji yelped at the sudden movement but Zoro started grinding his thumb against Sanji’s cock before Sanji could react. Feeling Zoro’s bare skin against his own worked him right back up again. He bit his lip but the whimpers kept coming out involuntarily anyway.

“So adorable. My little prince.”

Sanji flushed at the pet name, and started grinding harder against Zoro. He began panting and his muscles were tensing up.

Feeling the slight twitches, Zoro asked, “Close?”

“Mm..” Sanji groaned, more focused on his dick than his answer.

“Use your words, or else I’ll stop.” He forcefully slowed down his pacing.

Sanji’s eyes shot up to Zoro’s and he begged, “Don’t! I’m close! I’m really close. Please don’t stop. I need this. So close!” His eyebrows were furrowed and tears were forming. His sweaty bangs stuck to his forehead and his hands that held onto Zoro’s thumb trembled at the thought of Zoro’s stopping.

Zoro nodded in approval and sped up, more than before. Sanji always did get so submissive for him with just a little push.

White ropes shot from Sanji’s reddened tip, getting onto Zoro’s hand. He let out a loud groan, throwing his head back, resting it on Zoro’s index finger. He kept grinding to ride it out, and Zoro let him.

After a few seconds, he slowed to a stop and was panting. Giving him a minute to rest, Zoro laid him down on his thigh. Through hazy eyes Sanji watched Zoro lick the cum off his thumb.

Now with both hands free, Zoro began unzipping his own pants and let his own cock free from his underwear.

“You’ll help me too, right? My little prince?”

[kaziwi]

Beach Day!!

Character(s): Zoro, Nami

WC: 832

Note: agagaga plz request stuff im running low on ideas

Zoro

The party pooper of beach days…

He likes to think of the beach as a new terrain to train in rather than hangout with you

You insist he should relax, but he’s very very against it

Somehow always convinces you to train with him, so you end up working even more than you did before your vacation

It was the perfect day to spend at the beach. The sun was high in the sky and there was the perfect breeze so you wouldn’t be too hot. The smell of salt water and meat that Sanji was grilling filled your nose. It was honestly the perfect day, except your boyfriend was busy lifting instead of laying next to you. You’ve asked him MULTIPLE times to stop training and just hangout with you, but he always said no. You knew that asking him again was pointless, but you decided to go up and ask him anyways.

“(Y/N)-swannnnn~” Sanji yelled from his grilling station, “Stop worrying about that stupid moss head and come over here with me!!!”

“Yeah (Y/N), Zoro is just gonna be weird and train the whole time, come lay with me and Robin,” Nami said, patting the seat next to her. You were enticed by her offer but declined as you continued to make your way to your boyfriend.

After walking a little bit further from the rest of the crew, you found Zoro swinging his giant weights around. He seemed to notice your presence, but kept swinging his weight back and forth above his head.

“Heyyyy Zoroooo,” you sang out, “Whatcha doinggggg”

“If you ask me to come back with you the answer is already no,” Zoro said not loosing his concentration.

“Come on Zoro, why can’t you just train later, I wanna spend time with you.” Zoro put down his weight and turned to you, “I did bring some smaller weights if you wanna join me.”

“Are you serious???? Why can’t we just relax at the beach??”

“Look how about this, do a few reps with me and then we can go to the beach.”

“You promise???”

“I promise.”

A few hours later you both walked back just in time for dinner. You were covered in sweat and exhausted, but glad that you now get to spend time with your boyfriend at the beach <3

Nami

Beach days are usually the one day she gets to truly relax

No navigating, not having to worry about marines, spending the day with you: it’s a dream come true

The one thing she hates though is getting her hair wet (she’s just like a cat :3 )

“Nami-SANNNNN, (Y/N)-SWANNNN I have your drinks!!” Sanji yelled twirling towards you. A tray of two drinks was placed in between your and Nami’s beach chairs. You each took a drink and sipped it in delight. Sanji always knew the perfect drink to make on a hot summer day.

"I could get used to this," Nami said while raising her arms up to stretch.

"Yeah, shame the log post resets tomorrow," you replied while sipping down the delicious, fruity drink.

"Ugh. Don't remind me. I don't want this to ever end." You chuckled at her response and grabbed her hand. She was right, this really was a peaceful, relaxing day. You closed you eyes and laid you head back on your chair, hoping to sleep a little.

Just then it felt like the sun was covered up, maybe some clouds were covering the sky, or Sanji was putting an umbrella over you and your girlfriend. You slowly opened your eyes to see what was blocking the sun, and were met face to face with a bucket of water being poured on you.

"Come on Usopp we gotta run!" You hear Luffy's voice as you wipe the water from your eyes. You turn to look at Nami who is also soaking wet. She looks absolutely devastated, her orange hair was soaked and clung to her body. Both of you were in utter shock that neither of you had a word. In all honesty Nami looked really attractive like this, you just couldn't look away.

Nami noticed you staring and quickly turned away, "Don't look at me," she stuttered, "I never look good with my hair wet.."

She never looked good??? Nami literally looked like a goddess right now how could she thinks she doesn't look good. You leaned over and cupped her cheeks, forcing her to turn to look at you.

"Well I think you look beautiful," you said as you gave her a quick peck on the lips. Her cheeks reddened to a degree you've never seen before and she quickly pulled away, "Thank you..." she said shyly.

"If I remember correctly, Franky said he made some new water-guns, how about we get some revenge," you said, a giant smirk growing across your face.

"I like the sound of that," Nami grinned and grabbed your hand and started running towards Franky, ready to get her revenge.

[em-is-doing-something]

>:D gotta be real i spend a LOT of time yelling back and forth with people about ideas so i am SO glad i made you so excited!!!

I did send that ask and then immediately go read benefits again (along with like a half dozen other cora fics bc im predictable) and. oooooh man oh man oh man oh man. i think the law-cora-sengoku dynamic is absolutely hysterical and i've been thinking about sengoku's reaction to cora taking trafalgar as his family name. i also think that the law-sengoku dynamic specifically is fascinating. something about two people who should be diametrically opposed, theoretically, who actually just don't give a shit and love the same man.

um i can relate to going insane about marineford. i read the manga and marineford was the first arc i read. yeah it was an insane decision but i stand by it i've got this mental image of kuina just absolutely beating on sanji with nami and zoro in the background and nami's like "are you....gonna do something about that" and zoro, bc he is simply not good at being like softly concerned, in the flattest, most deadpan voice goes "i don't know what the fuck to do" like. zoro and his two Rivals. zoro's brain is 100% the "he has two hands" meme. meanwhile sanji is flat on the deck and kuina is contemplating homicide. zoro just wants his two rivals. unfortunately kuina and sanji are unstoppable force and immovable object

actually this is really funny the law-cora-sengoku dynamic and the kuina-zoro-sanji dynamic are opposites--i am trying so hard to stay on topic

anyway. i am very very curious to see how you'll handle the sanji-kuina stuff >:3 i think there are so many ways you can tackle that depending on your goal (and depending on the way you interpret sanji's "i won't fight a woman" thing which is a whole 'nother thing i am SO good at staying on topic)

i could probably double the length of this reblog talking about cannibalism as an act of service and specifically how it plays into sanji and zeff's relationship. i am SO HAPPY that i rewired your brain because the potential is LIMITLESS. there are a couple lawsan fics i love that are about cannibalism as an act of service/love

wait hold on sidebar here bc i was going back to find your tags on that post and i scrolled past the ask abt the lawlu fae au and im ripping and tearing at the bars of my cage holy shit--i love it and i am thinking thinking thinking about the reverse scenario. i am thinking thinking thinking the brain goes brrr

okay back to cannibalism. I Just Think It's Neat. there's something about like, the physicality of sanji and zoro's relationship, the way they depend on each other's bodies, that gets even tastier when you change the rules. cause they're all about making each other better, really, and then you take that and twist it to when one gets better the other gets worse. and of course they're both going to try to take the fall there. "i could make him better" this "i could make him worse" that what about "i could make him better and worse at the same time we are a tragedy waiting to happen"

oh my god this got so long. i was trying so hard to not make this an absolute monster of a rb. you just have such TASTY ideas. the time travel one got me too bc im a sucker for concepts where the main guy is like. haunting the narrative. except it's luffy so it's the opposite of haunting. like blessing the narrative or something. and cora and ace resurrection shenanigans bc 1. resurrection hell yeah 2. is that cora and ace (separate) resurrection shenanigans or cora-and-ace resurrection shenanigans bc the first makes more sense but the second compels me

i think i would go insane for literally any of the fics u mentioned in the tags of that post??? SEQUEL TO THE BENEFITS OF DRINKING WITH STRANGERS???????? (i read that fic twice in a row the first time) i would love to see the interplay between sanji's ideals/hangups and shimotsuki "i take no bullshit" kuina. sanji offering himself up in the most literal sense to feed someone else. listen the cannabalism as an act of service. help im losing my mind. also i can only imagine the degree of "????????" going through ace's mind every step of the way through a lesson in changing the world. dude im going to be thinking about this Forever. that's not even half of what you've got going through my brain

OH DUDE THIS IS SO NICE OF YOU DHEJDKEKJD I WILL BE USING THIS AS MOTIVATION

benefits is def one of my favourite things i’ve ever written (i LOVE cora SO MUCH) so i really want to write that one! i’m at the very end of the dressrosa arc in the anime by now so im just looking forward to the sengoku scene, because i want to like get the vibes before i write his and rosi’s reunion yknow

the sanji and kuina thing oh my god i have that fic half written, but then i went insane about marineford and temporarily lost the drive, but i still maintain that the concept of it would be SO FUN to explore. kuina and sanji just fundamentally Can’t Get Along with how sanji is in canon, and zoro is in the middle of that particular clash…

CANNIBALISM AS AN ACT OF SERVICE OH MY GOD……. you know. vampire stuff is so normalised in our storytelling that i do not instinctively consider it cannibalism. but holy shit you’re right it fucking is and oh my god hold on there’s something about zeff here- AHEM point is cannibalism as an act of service is always a beloved trope i need to think about this more.

and yes it’s SO funny to imagine how confused ace is throughout a lesson in changing the world, i am Really excited to write that one. there’s a lot of stuff from his pov that the marines wouldn’t know about, like the whole luffy and the prisoners on a warship thing, but especially the thought process he’s going through in the time leading up to his execution and up on the platform is SOOO interesting to think about, so im excited :D

ANYWAY OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH AND IF YOU THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE PLEASE LET ME KNOW because i always want to yell about my ideas or other people’s ideas!!!!

[1-800-zoro]

indisposed

cw: drunk f!reader, smooches

summary: reader can't hold her liquor, and it always seems to get her in trouble...

a/n: my first zoro story! i hope you all enjoy! ♡

The salty air of the see whipped YN’s hair back and forth. Nights like this were usually spent in the cabins, but tonight was different. Everyone agreed a night of drinking would lift their spirits.

Most nights, Y/N avoided alcohol if she could. Not that she minded it, but she knew herself better than anyone. Too much, and she’d be rendered useless.

At first, she didn’t drink. She was more than happy to just spectate on the sidelines. She could still have fun watching everyone else while sticking with her juice.

“Oh, Y/N, please try this drink I made. Just a sip will do,” Sanji practically begged the woman. He would give anything to please her, show her that he could make a drink perfect for her.

“Please, I couldn’t. Someone has to stay sober to keep watch,” Y/N waved off the notion. She was gentle as she patted his knee.

"Please, one sip is all I ask," Sanji held the bright blue drink in front of her face. He watched her face contort as she began to deny him again.

"Awe, come on, Y/N. One drink won't hurt!" Nami called out to her friend. She held up her own bright blue drink; this was drink number... oh, she'd lost count a long time ago anyways.

Y/N sighed softly. Before she knew it, the whole crew was cheering for her to drink, save a person or two. She accepted the drink and took a swig. It was sweet like expected, but there was something underlying that she just couldn't resist.

One drink became two, and two became four. Soon enough, Y/N could barely sit up straight. She could feel her cares loosen just like her muscles. Her laugh became louder, and her stories grew more wild.

"Is Zoro still in the nest?" Robin asked as she milked her own drink. She had the self control Y/N longed for.

"I'll check," the woman shot up, stumbling a bit in her place. She had to hold on to Franky's shoulder as she drifted from the group. Getting up the ladder was nothing short of a miracle. She practically had to crawl to hoist the last of herself into the nest. With a huff, she collapsed on the floor.

"Oi, you good?" A gruff voice broke the smooth silence of the room. Zoro looked up from the bottle of sake he was putting away.

Y/N grinned at the sight of him, her cheeks burning red. Was it from the alcohol, or the swordsman before her? She surely didn't know.

"Oh, there you are! Just the guy I was looking for," Y/N giggled under her breath. This was a stark contrast to the calm and collected composure she held. Even she hadn't seen this side of herself in so long.

"Are you drunk?" Zoro put the bottle down, and moved closer to her. He scanned over her face for any discrepancies. He noticed her gaze on him lasted longer than usual.

"Maybe," Y/N sat up and moved closer. Their faces were a brush of the nose away. Her eyes kept flicking down to his lips.

"Who knew the famous Y/N knew how to get drunk?" Zoro teased as he helped Y/N on to the mat on the floor. He knew he'd have to carry her down when it came time. How she even got up here, he had no idea...

"I get drunk! Just not around you," Y/N gently patted his arm.

"What do you mean, not around me?" Zoro asked, growing a bit defensive. It was like a switch had flipped in him.

Y/N immediately panicked, shaking her head. "No, no, not like that! I didn't mean, I, uh. Fuck, no, I just meant," she tripped over her words. It was like she was running in a circle with no end in sight.

"What did you mean, Y/N? Spit it out," Zoro looked her dead in the eyes. He watched her as she shrunk into herself a bit.

"When I get drunk, I get a little... kissy. Especially around people I like," Y/N confessed, more to her lap than the moss haired man before her.

"Kissy? How the hell does drinking make you kiss people?" Zoro slightly tilted his head.

"I don't know! Whenever I get around people like you, I just wanna smash our lips together. Stupid drink," Y/N grumbled the last part, huffing as she collapsed on the mat.

Zoro almost got a chuckle out of it, but his brain was too busy trying to process what she said. If he was understanding what she was saying...

"So you wanna kiss?" Zoro asked.

Y/N sat up with a pout, nodding. "So bad."

Silence hung between the two like moonlight. It filled the room, in every nook and cranny. The feeling was too much for one inebriated Y/N. Slowly, she tried to stand up.

A strong hand grabbed for her arm, and gently tugged her down. All at once, she landed in Zoro's lap. Before she could process what was happening, a set of chapped lips were on her's. The taste of sake mixed with the aftermath of Sanji's fancy drink.

"Zoro," Y/N whimpered softly between kisses. She felt hyperaware of the hands locking her into place. Zoro deepened the kiss, moving one hand to hold the back of her head. Now she really couldn't move, even though she had no desire to.

They eventually settled into a rhythmic pattern. Neither were eager to pull away, especially with how entrancing the feeling was. Y/N had longed for this moment since she first joined the crew, and likewise on Zoro's part. It had been a moment years in the making.

Y/N was the first to pull back, her lips swollen and her eyes heavy. She leaned back into Zoro's hand as she looked at his lips. "I, I want more," she admitted.

Zoro shifted his hand to cup her ass. In one swift motion, he lifted her with ease as he stood. He pressed kisses to her neck, leaving a trail in his wake. A silent agreement that he'd give her anything she liked.

"Take me to bed, please," Y/N begged, her head rolling back. A fire lit deep inside her, deep in the pit of her belly.

"I can't wait that long," Zoro spoke between kisses. He couldn't spend a minute longer without her, and he didn't. Y/N was his, and he made sure she knew that.

[mimi-ya]

birthday surprise

2,700 words | f!reader | nsfw

summary: you had the best present, he was going to love it, or so you thought

masterlist

“What about a sword?”

“But he already has three swords, Luffy!”

Luffy frowns and crosses his arms, “You think he won’t want another?”

“I don’t know.” Chopper falls onto the floor, and then picks his head up excitedly, “What about a new bed! To sleep in!”

Usopp taps his thumb to his chin, “But he barely sleeps in the bed he does have.”

Luffy lets out a frustrated groan, “This is too hard!”

“Marimo probably just wants some sake anyway.” Sanji blows out smoke, “Why bother with anything else?”

“Because it’s his birthday!” Chopper cries, “He deserves a present!”

Sanji flicks the butt of his cigarette off the edge of the ship, “Whatever, just let me know what cake flavor to make.” And saunters back to the kitchen.

You smile watching your namaka fret over how to celebrate Zoro’s upcoming birthday. While you know Zoro will probably grumble and say it’s all unnecessary, but that’s not going to stop them.

That’s just how the Strawhats are.

“(Y/N)!” Luffy whines, “What are you giving Zoro?”

You smile, resting your hand on your chin, “Well it’s a surprise, captain. I can’t have you telling him.”

“That’s not fair!” Chopper cries, “Help us!”

“I won’t tell him!” Luffy argues, his poker face already giving.

“Sorry guys.” You lean back in your chair, picking up the drink Sanji provided, “It’s a gift just from me.”

“Gross.” Nami mutters beside you, flipping through a magazine.

A scoff leaves your lips, and you kick her feet under the table. It was pretty obvious to most of the crew that you and Zoro had something going on. Some thought it was cute (Robin, Franky, Brook), some didn’t care (Luffy, Ussop), some thought you were nap buddies (Chopper), and some were downright disgusted (Nami, Sanji).

It had even taken you by surprise.

You had always had a fondness for Zoro, his unwavering loyalty and inability to sense direction just a couple of the traits you loved most. Not to mention his physique that you were a little ashamed to say your mind had drifted to late at night long before you were together.

So when Zoro had out of nowhere started retreating away from you, barely making eye contact and seeming like he never wanted to be alone with you, it hurt. It really fucking hurt.

But you weren’t about to sail the second half of the Grand Line with a crewmate who was acting like you had broken one of his favorite swords.

Corning him in the crow’s nest was easy enough, getting him to admit what the hell is problem was, was another thing.

After quite a bit of back and forth, Zoro had stomped over and taken you in his arms before planting the sloppiest most uncoordinated kiss you had ever experienced.

“What the fuck was that?” Taken by total surprise that it was the first thing to come out of your mouth.

But Zoro must have misinterpreted your question because his face flushed a deep red and he immediately released you muttering, “My first kiss.”

You wondered how wide your eyes must have looked in that moment. After reassuring Zoro that the kiss was fine, that you were more so confused what he meant by it, did he finally clarify his feelings for you.

And well, it was a good thing Zoro had the last watch shift that night.

The following weeks were sweet, getting to explore and learn one another in hidden corners or when the ship was empty. And there was always a little thrill you’d feel when his head was thrown back in pleasure how you alone were the only person to have seen him like this, to pull at his strings until he’s begging for release.

“We should be porting at the next island by the end of the week.” Nami interrupted your thoughts, “You can reck havoc on whatever unfortunate town is there to find him a present.”

A smile crosses your face when Luffy flings himself to the head of the ship, wondering aloud if he could see the island yet. And for the rest of the week he, Chopper, and Usopp trail after Zoro, trying their best (and failing) to go unnoticed.

“They just want to get you a nice gift.” You tell him after he’d chased off Luffy from interrupting his work out.

“Well, I don’t need anything.” Zoro swings the weight down, “What I’d really like is a day of silence.”

“On this ship?” You laugh, pushing yourself off the bench to stand behind him, “I think we’ll find the One Piece before that happens.” You wrap your arms around his waist and lay your head against his shoulders.

Zoro grunts, dropping the weights to the floor, “I’m sweaty.” He mumbles, glad you can’t see the flush on his cheeks.

“I need to bathe anyway.” You answer.

“And what about you? Do I get something from you?” He asks glancing over his shoulder.

You meet his stare with a smirk, “I thought you just said you didn’t need anything?”

“Yeah well, I…” Zoro trails off.

“It’s a surprise.” You supply with a wink, “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

.

When Zoro’s birthday does roll around, you’re pleased to say you have everything in place for you gift later that evening.

The day is spent in celebration and even with how annoyed Zoro seemed to be in the days leading up to now, you think the exasperated smile hasn’t left his face.

He appreciated the onigiri Sanji made with the sea king meat Usopp had caught, made Chopper blush when he thanked him for the book on swords, snapped the skull eyepatch Luffy had found for him right on his captain’s forehead leaving behind a red welt.

All in all, Zoro had a good day with his nakama. But he was more interested in what you had in store. He didn’t want to seem too obvious about his curiosity, but it didn’t go unnoticed that every time you returned to the deck his gaze would flick to your hands, only mildly disappointed there was nothing in them.

And just when he was thinking that maybe there wasn’t a surprise, you pulled on his hand until he followed. While most of your other crewmates had returned to their bunks or dropped on the ship deck, you led Zoro back up to the crow’s nest where it all started.

“Happy birthday.” You say, motioning to the set up behind you. A few blankets and pillows laid out behind next to a nice bottle of sake you had picked up in town.

Zoro looked around the room, “What this for?”

You laugh to yourself, sliding a hand up his chest and under his haramaki, “I know you’re not into romance, but I wanted to do something special tonight.”

“Oh?” Zoro smirked, cocking his head to the side.

“Mhmm.” Your fingers twists into the fabric, “I’ve been thinking about what you said that one night.” Your other hand grabs one of his wrists, planting his hand firmly on your hip, “Don’t you think it would make a great birthday present?”

Zoro stares at you, his brain stalling, “What are you talking about?”

You smile, rolling your eyes a bit. He was half asleep when he muttered out that question of his that clued you into his little fantasies, “You know.” You coo, moving his hand further, resting just on the curve of your ass, “In your bunk, when you asked about,” Your fingers squeeze his, following suit to firmly grip the flesh, “fucking my ass.”

Zoro reels back, shock crossing his face, “I, no- that wasn’t…”

“It’s okay.” You pull on his haramaki so his lips are a breaths away from yours, “I’m excited about it.” And then you press your lips to his, letting your tongue roll against his.

And you can feel the rumble in his chest under your fingers, but then he pulls back with a frown. You can sense the tenseness in his body, reminding you of the initial awkwardness he had when you were first intimate. But you thought he had overcome that?

“Zoro, we don’t have to if you don’t want to.” You pull back a bit to give him space.

“That’s not what I- agh!” Zoro ends with a groan of frustration. He never was good with words, much better at showing how he felt instead. But how can he show you that you’ve got this all wrong?

“(Y/N).” He mutters, “It’s not that I want to fuck yourass, I want you to fuck my ass.”

You blink once, twice. Letting his words sink in a second to make sure you heard him correctly, “You want me to what?”

Zoro flushes, turning his head to look at the wall, completely embarrassed.

And you immediately fill with guilt, “Hey, hey, hey.” You take his face softly between your fingers, waiting until he begrudgingly meets your stare, “I didn’t mean it like it was wrong or anything.” And a little tension leaves Zoro’s body, “I just don’t exactly have the right partsfor that.”

“There are ways.” He supplies, and you try harder to suppress your surprise, because how often has been thinking about this that he already has all the answers? “Or at least, that’s what Franky says.”

This time you can’t fight back your shock, “You and Franky talk about that kind of stuff.”

Zoro gives you an impressed look, “It’s Franky, (Y/N). He doesn’t exactly hold back.” And he clears his throat, “Plus you have your, uhm, fingers.”

You hum to yourself, thinking more about his suggestions. You suppose it fees just as nice when he’s stretching you out with a few fingers, as it does when he’s got his cock inside you.

“Okay.” You nod, with a smile, “It’s your birthday after all.”

“Wait, tonight?”

“If you want that is.” You correct yourself, “I do have some oil.” You nod at the small jar next to the blankets, “But there’s no rush.”

Zoro pauses, starring at the little set up again before back to you, “Would you stop if I told you to?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“And you’ll go slow, right?”

“Unless you say otherwise.”

“And could I stay standing?”

You shrug, “I don’t see why not.” You hold his stare, reading the hesitation on his face, “I know you like your control.” Your fingers rub circles into his shoulder, “And it’s usually you calling the shots, but this doesn’t have to change that.” You begin stepping backward, taking him with you, “Just tell me what to do.”

And then you pull him in for another kiss, this one more reciprocated than the early one. His hands dig into your hips, pulling you flush against his body. His hardness is already pressing into your side, firm with desire.

His fingers pull at your shirt, trying to get his hands on your warm skin. And you help him along pulling off the fabric until you’re bare from the waist up. Your own fingers trying to the do the same to him, which is a lot easier as his haramaki pools at his feet with the right pull of a few ties.

Pulling back from the kiss, you fall to your knees with a smile on your face. And what a sight you are.

Zoro swallows, trying really hard to contain himself. But what can he do when you’re before him looking like a vision with your chest bare, nipples pebbling under the cool air. And he swears he chokes on his own spit when you lean forward, letting your lips press a delicate kiss to the head.

A shiver runs down your spine at the salty taste and you open your mouth further, sucking the head in and hollowing out your cheeks.

“Fuck.” Zoro hisses, watching as you start a rhythmic pace with just your mouth. But that’s not all you have planned for your marimo lover.

He doesn’t notice as your hand deftly picks up the jar, unscrewing the lid. Your fingers pull out a generous dollop, rubbing it in your palm to warm it.Your other hand carefully reaches around, softly resting just under the curve of his ass.

You can hear him suck in a breath, finally noticing where your playful fingers are tracing pattens. But you pay him no mind, continuing your pace on his cock while your fingers inch closer to his back side. Oiled fingers giving no hesitation to slather the outside his entrance.

Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Zoro’s chest heaving with every swipe of your digits. Circling the puckered hole until you press against the resistance, and a choked gasp escapes his throat while his cock throb in your mouth.

Pushing deeper, the gasps turn to a deep groan by the time your knuckle deep.

Zoro can barely think straight, having to grip your cheeks just for something to ground himself to. Because the slow and tortuous pace of your single finger, pulling out just to push back in even further has in him seeing stars.

“More.” He groans, bucking his hips into your mouth and filling your throat with a gag. But he keeps it up, because the rocking of his hips creates even more friction with your hand that has him craving more.

You let out a hum, the vibrations making his eyes roll into the back of his head. And when your second finger joins the first, stretching him out fully while you simultaneously take his cock to the brim, nose buried into his coarse hairs, Zoro swears he dies in that moment.

Almost folding in half, Zoro can barely take the pleasure coursing through his veins. And you give no reprieve as your hand follows his body, not letting it slip as your fingers press into the spongy muscle. All while hollowing your cheeks to tighten the suction around his cock.

Zoro’s got no where to hide. He can’t pull away or he’ll push further onto your fingers but can’t move forward or he’ll just bury his cock into your throat. His only choice is to accept the situation he’s gotten himself into, letting that familiar coil in his belly snap under your ministrations.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He pants, “(Y/N), I’m gonna cum if you don’t-” But it’s the last thing he’s able to get out until his words turn into a jumble of unintelligible groaning when you wiggle a third finger into his ass.

Squeezing your eyes, you prepare for his release. And you’re not disappointed when his salty taste floods your senses, swallowing as much of it as you can before you have to pull back a bit, the rest spurting on your tongue that ends up drooling down your chin.

Zoro can barely see straight, his vision hazy as he focuses on you. His cum is covering your lips with tear stains spilling down your cheeks. But your face flits into a smirk when your hand takes over where your mouth was, pumping the last few drops out of his cock.

Still keeping up the slow rocking of your fingers, you delicately lick the head of his cock, cleaning up the mess you made.

“Please.” Zoro pants, a hand running down his face, “I- I can’t.”

Deciding to take it easy on him, you pull your fingers, which also pulls a deep groan from Zoro’s chest. And with a last kiss to his cock, you rise to your feet.

“Good?” You ask, a hand running comfortingly along his chest.

“I, I think I need to-” But Zoro stumbles slightly before he can finish his thought, and you immediately help steady him, surprised to see just how affected he was.

Guiding him to the pile of blankets, you help him lay down. A hand is thrown over his face while he continues to breath heavily.

You can’t help but smile and feel proud of just how wrecked he is. It’s usually a reversed scenario after the two of you are done fucking. Letting your fingers run throw his hair, you stare down at his hardened body that’s glistened with sweat.

“Give me ten minutes.” Zoro mutters, voice strained with exertion.

A laugh escapes you, “Take your time.” Pressing a kiss to his forehead, snuggling into his chest, “It’s your birthday.”

[portgasairlines]

Seasonal Romance

Tw: Foul Language

Chapter One: Roller Skating and Crushes :

https://portgasairlines.tumblr.com/post/680982288710975488/seasonal-romance

Chapter Two: Baking and Smoothies

Luffy was currently waiting for Zoro with Sanji at the park. He started to wonder if he got lost.

"Sanji, you don't think Zoro got lost, do you?"

Sanji sighed, running his fingers through his blonde hair.

"This is moss head we're talking about. Of course he did."

Luffy laughed. He was currently wearing a red sweatshirt with khaki pants, accompanied with his usual straw hat. Swaying himself back and forth on a swing, he let the cold breeze hit his face.

Sanji glanced at him before sitting in the swing next to him.

"I can't wait for spring to arrive. I'll be able to get Nami-san and Robin-chan beautiful bouquets of flowers."

"Good for you Sanji! I think I'm waiting for the summer so that we can go to the beach again. That's three months away though."

"Let's hope we don't run into Kid this year."

Luffy smiled.

"There's nothing wrong with Jaggy."

"Are you kidding me? He was always on your ass during high school, even last year at the beach he still bothered you."

"But he only started that halfway through our first year of high school. Before that it was fine. If anything it's my fault he's like this now."

Sanji looked at him with a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?"

Luffy looked at Sanji.

"I didn't tell you? When I was a first year I- is that Zoro? Oi, Zoro!"

Luffy waved one of his hands in the air while he kept yelling. Eventually Zoro was finally with the group. He was wearing a grey hoodie with a jean jacket over it. He wore black pants to accompany it.

"Jeez Zoro, did you get lost again?"

Luffy laughed and punched Zoro's arm jokingly. He didn't notice the small blush on his face.

"Of course not, I ran into someone."

"Who?"

Zoro had an annoyed expression on his face. Luffy was a little confused at the reaction.

"I ran into Kid, little shit kept asking about you."

Sanji rubbed his chin.

"Speaking of Kid, what were you saying earlier Luffy?"

"Hm? Oh right! During our first year Jaggy was a second year right? So basically- oh I didn't see you there."

Zoro and Sanji were both confused, until they heard someone clear their throat. Behind Zoro stood Kid, which ruined both of their moods.

"Straw hat, it's been a while."

"Has it? I hadn't even realized."

Kid smirked and was about to say something, which made Luffy sigh and cut him off before he could even start.

"Jaggy I'm not doing this again with you. Why won't you drop it?"

"Well maybe, if you said yes, we wouldn't be like this."

Luffy groaned. He stood up.

"I'm sorry, but it's not like I'm going to change my mind. Anyways did you need something?"

"Yeah, come to the amusement park with me."

"There's an amusement park open?! Zoro, Sanji, we have to go with everyone later!"

He looked at them to see Sanji looking nervously at Zoro. Luffy turned to Zoro to see him glaring intensely at Kid. He backed away a little, not understanding what was going on. He whispered to Sanji.

"Why is Zoro mad?"

Sanji sighed.

"Don't worry about it. Just turn Kid down and let's leave."

"Don't you go to work in a few minutes?"

"Then leave with moss head."

"Where to?"

Sanji shrugged.

"How should I know? You could bake something at your place."

"I can't even cook, what makes you think I can bake?"

"Sure you can. I've taught you some basics before. Even then, you could find a tutorial online."

Luffy nodded. Plus he's always wanted to learn how to cook or bake. He did live on his own now.

"Okay, sure."

Luffy straightened and walked over to where Kid and Zoro were.

"Sorry Jaggy, I already have plans."

"You always say the same shit, that you’re busy."

Zoro put his arm around Luffy. He didn't mind, as long as Kid left. Kid stared at the two before dragging Luffy away.

"Jaggy I said I already have plans!"

Zoro grabbed his other wrist before he was pulled completely out of his grasps. Luffy had seen situations like this, when Nami forced him to watch shows or movies with her. It never turned out good, so he did the only logical thing.

"Ow! You're both hurting me! Sanji help!"

It was true that it did hurt, but he could have pulled away easily. Sanji sighed. He quickly pulled Luffy away from the two and checked his wrists. He frowned.

"Okay you two, you didn't have to grip him that tightly. He's definitely going to have bruises later."

Zoro stared intently at Luffy.

"Sorry."

Luffy just gave him a small smile. He knew Zoro didn't mean to do it, so he didn't mind.

Kid just kicked the wood chips on the ground before leaving. Zoro glared at him once more before looking back at Luffy.

"Sorry again."

"It's fine. If anything I appreciate you for stopping Jaggy."

Sanji rubbed the back of his neck.

"Wasn't that fun, anyways I have to go to work now. Have fun you two."

He left before they could say anything to them. Luffy was a little confused. He looked over at Zoro, who still looked bothered by what happened. He grabbed his wrist.

"Hey Sanji said we should go bake something! It sounds fun, let's go."

Zoro stared at Luffy before letting himself be pulled like usual. He didn't seem as upset anymore, which made Luffy feel better.

They made a small stop at the grocery store, getting supplies and a box of cake mix just in case. They decided to go to Luffy's house, considering he had a bigger place. He was an author after all.

Yes, Monkey D. Luffy wrote books for a living. No one thought he'd have this as a career in the future, it just turned out that way. He mostly wrote adventure books, fantasy books, and action books. Some of his books were currently popular amongst people now, so he's making more money than before.

Luffy put everything on the table and sat down, his arms tired.

"Wasn't that a workout. How are you holding up Zoro?"

Zoro put down the bags, not even breaking a sweat. Luffy really needed to workout more.

"I'm fine for now. I think we'll both struggle with baking though."

Luffy stood up and grabbed the flour.

"You never know, we may have found our new hobby."

They certainly did not. They were only five minutes in and they were both already covered in flour. At some point, they decided to just throw everything in a bowl at once instead of following the instructions, to see what kind of reaction would occur.

"Wait, are we going to eat this?"

Luffy closed the oven after sticking the cake pans in.

"Well we'll try them, because then it would just be a waste."

Zoro nodded. Luffy sat on the table and quickly snatched up the cake mix box.

"Oi Luffy, let's follow this one properly at least. Then we can actually eat something."

"Fine."

Luffy stared intently at Zoro. Then he jumped off the table and cupped his face with one hand. He could feel Zoro start to heat up.

"Luffy?"

"Don't move. Understand?"

He slowly nodded. Luffy smirked, quickly thrusting his free hand into the bag of flour and throwing some at Zoro's face.

Zoro stood there, a little shocked before he laughed. He quickly shoved his hand into the bag of flour, giving Luffy his cue to start running.

They chased each other until the Zoro caught up and threw a handful of the flour at his face. Luffy sneezed and laughed. He used the bit of flour left on his fingers and rubbed them on Zoro's cheek.

"We're even now."

Zoro smiled.

"I guess so...say, how long is that cake supposed to stay in the oven for anyways?"

Luffy shrugged.

"What temperature did you put the oven at?"

"I thought you did that."

"That explains why there was no heat."

Zoro sighed, but smiled at Luffy laughing at the situation. Luffy wiped his eyes and saw Zoro smiling at him. Somehow, it brought his mood up even more.

"I know how to make smoothies if you want that instead."

Zoro raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yup! Sabo used to make them with me."

He put his hands on his hips, proud. The fact that he was covered in flour made it even better.

Zoro sat down.

"Then show me how good they are."

Luffy took it as a challenge. He threw different ingredients into a blender and placed two cups on the table. After blending the drink up he poured it into the cups and placed straws into them.

"In the words of Sanji...actually I don't remember any quotes. Enjoy!"

Zoro took a sip and was a little surprised.

"This is your recipe or your brothers?"

"We made it together, well Sabo and I did. Ace prefers milkshakes, which I always found odd. He prefers spicy food over anything else."

Luffy sat down. He looked around his house and sighed.

"So do you still want to bake or do you want to call it a day? I need to clean soon."

Zoro checked the time. He did have work the next day. He stood up.

"Then let's bake another day. I'll help you clean."

"Really?! You don't have to though."

"It's fine, I helped caused the mess anyways."

Luffy jumped out of his chair and tackled Zoro into a hug, wrapping his arms around his neck. They both fell back into one of the chairs. He could feel Zoro's neck slowly warm up.

[chenziee]

Thank you @kerowyn-fr​ for the cute prompt :D I hope you like it :)

[READ ON AO3 OR UNDER THE CUT]

----------

When Garp handed him the newspaper with a stupid grin on his face, former fleet admiral Sengoku already knew he wouldn't like what was written inside. Taking a deep breath, he slowly unfolded the papers and immediately, the huge, bold headline punched him in the face, making him nearly choke on his tea.

Somehow, he wasn’t even surprised that Morgans found out about Kaido’s defeat faster than the navy but goddamn it, this bunch of kids really did it. Sengoku honestly didn’t think he’s see the day of Kaido’s fall, much less for it to happen thanks to some stupidly young pirates—the words ‘Straw Hat - Heart - Kid Alliance’ seemed almost mocking at this point. Damn brats doing the government’s job for them again.

Although, he did have to admit he would love to see Sakazuki’s face when he found out about this.

Looking at the attached photo of the apparent post-victory celebration, Sengoku’s eyes zeroed in on Trafalgar Law’s blurred figure and despite himself, he smiled. The kid might be a pirate, a member of the worst generation no less, but Sengoku still couldn’t help but feel proud of him, proud of the child Rocinante died to save. When he had talked to him on Dressrosa, he was worried the pirate was going to burn out, or completely lose his way after getting his revenge, but his lively—if annoyed—expression while he ate his rice ball and shoved at an equally annoyed Eustass Kid’s face with his foot… It gave Sengoku the feeling that instead, he had found himself somewhere along the way.

With the ruins of Onigashima behind him, he really looked like he was about to own the seas  and Sengoku hoped Roci was watching and was happy about the man his adopted son had grown into, about the great things he had managed to accomplish.

Just then, Garp moved to stand right behind Sengoku, reaching over his shoulder to poke at the photo. “Can you believe these three? They can’t even celebrate beating two of the emperors at once without fighting. I bet you Luffy started this,” he said, before bursting out in loud laughter.

Sengoku had to laugh as well. It really was ridiculous; they were like three little peacocks showing off their tails to see whose is the prettiest.

Wait, three?

He frowned, looking at the photo again. Now that he thought about it, Law really wasn’t the type to shove at someone with his bare foot, judging from how reserved he always acted during warlord meetings—all two of them that he actually bothered to show up for anyway. But he could only see Law and Eustass so where was the little Monkey?

Now that he looked closer, he could see that the foot in Eustass face was twisted at an unnatural angle that could only mean the ankle was either fractured several times over, or it was made of rubber. Following the limb with his eyes, he finally noticed another body splayed on the ground in between Eustass and Law, and soon he also found the arms that held up a plate stacked full of rice balls. It looked like the little Monkey was trying to keep the plate as far away from Eustass as he could and Sengoku was sure those rice balls were the whole reason of this scuffle. Then, he finally reached his head resting against Law’s thigh, clear threat in his eyes as he bared his teeth, looking like he was ready to bite Eustass’ metal arm off.

Sengoku shook his head in disbelief. It was no wonder he didn’t notice him at first; for one, his black hair was blending almost perfectly with Law’s dark coat, and two, who would look for the little Monkey in someone else’s lap? Certainly not Sengoku, and certainly not in Law’s lap.

Suddenly, the reality of what he was seeing downed on him.

Someone had a few questions to answer.

—————

As the Polar Tang pulled up to the Thousand Sunny one sunny afternoon, Law was surprised to see another small ship already there, swaying gently in the waves next to the Straw Hats’ ship. He didn’t recognise the vessel so at first he assumed maybe Straw Hat’s brother came to visit but then he noticed the navy flag and froze.

Listening carefully, he couldn’t hear any fighting; it was completely quiet, almost eerily so. But Law couldn’t see any damage anywhere, and the navy ship seemed too small to be a threat in the first place. The more he thought about it, the stranger it all seemed. He gripped Kikoku tighter, gesturing to his crew to wait at the Tang for now before he called forth a room and teleported himself onto the Sunny.

His anxiety wasn’t eased when he opened his eyes to see absolutely no one on the ship. Looking around the deserted deck, he tried to at least find some signs to tell him what in the world had happened but there was nothing except something that looked like a half-eaten newspaper page.

He was almost starting to panic when he noticed some movement in the direction of the kitchen and when he looked, he found all the missing Straw Hats in a huddle by the door, the movement he saw apparently being Tony climbing over everyone else to get as close to the door as he could.

Law sighed, rubbing at his forehead. He swore he would murder all these people one day—if they didn’t manage to stress him out enough to kill him first.

“What the hell is going on here?” he asked when he made it up the stairs to stand behind the Straw Hats, making everyone turn around to stare at him.

“Torao, hi!” Tony whisper-shouted from where he was hanging onto Nami’s shoulder, the only one who bothered with a greeting.

A long and heavy silence filled only with the crews judgmental, accusing stares followed. Honestly, this crew was so damn lucky their doctor was so cute or he would have beheaded all of them and stuck them to the mast.

“Well?” he prompted, raising an impatient eyebrow.

Several glances were exchanged until finally, Roronoa looked at him. “We were hoping you would explain why Luffy is getting a lecture.”

Law only gave him a blank look, trying to let his silence speak for itself but before the intended effect could arrive, Usopp interrupted, “Yeah, you could have warned us. Why didn’t you tell us who your grandfather was?”

What?

“For real. I almost had a heart attack when he got on board,” Nami added with a glare at Law as if it was somehow his fault.

“Right? Between Sanji, Luffy, and Torao, I can’t tell whose family is crazier.” Usopp shook his head before continuing in a disappointed tone, “And the fact neither of them bothered to tell us is ridiculous.”

Black Leg clicked his tongue then, lightly kicking Usopp in his shin. “Don’t lump me in with them, my only family is in East Blue.”

What?

“What the fuck are you people on about? My whole family is long dead,” Law snapped, his fingers flexing threateningly as his grip on Kikoku tightened again.

A beat of silence passed. Then Robot slowly raised his hand and pointed at the kitchen with his thumb. “Explain why this guy came here demanding he talks to his ‘grandson’s super boyfriend’, then.”

“And why he then grabbed Luffy and dragged him inside to talk about you. They’ve been in there for about half an hour now. I only hope Luffy isn’t getting squeezed to death,” Nico Robin added oh-so-helpfully.

Law’s head was spinning. First a nonexistent grandfather, now he was suddenly Straw Hat’s boyfriend? Ridiculous. He might have liked being around him, maybe his heart even fluttered when Straw Hat smiled at him in that blinding way of his, and perhaps he's been letting Straw Hat touch him more than strictly necessary, possibly even holding his hand once or twice but they weren't dating. Hell, Law hadn't even confessed yet.

He shook his head to make himself focus on the matter at hand. This 'grandfather' was a more pressing matter than his unaddressed feelings. "I'm going in," he sighed, then paused, looking around the eavesdropping huddle of people. "And get the hell out of here or I'll toss you in the sea."

"Sure you will," Nami muttered with a roll of her eyes, a smirk on her lips.

Law shot her and all the other grinning idiots a glare, which finally made them all shuffle away. Law was sure they’d be back the second he closed the door behind himself, though. With a sigh, Law gripped the handle and pushed the door open.

As soon as he entered the kitchen, two people and a goat turned to look at him and Law did a double take. Straw Hat was one thing. A random, actual, live animal on board was weird, but he’d seen much weirder on this ship. The old man who was sitting opposite of Straw Hat, however, that was a completely different issue.

“What the fuck?” Law muttered, unable to say anything more coherent.

“Hello, Law,” fleet admiral Sengoku said with a nod.

“Torao!” Straw Hat greeted as well, grinning and waving at him before he pulled out the chair next to him. “Come sit, your gramps has really good rice cakes!”

Law slowly turned to stare at Straw Hat instead and, a short moment later, moved forward as if on autopilot, too stunned to do anything but comply. Only when sat down and Sengoku tilted his rice cake packet towards him did Law manage to break out of his trance. “You're not my grandfather," he blurted out, eyeing the rice cakes suspiciously.

Sengoku hummed. "Technically not but you are still Rocinante's boy so I feel responsible for you."

Law blinked; it was true Cora-san was like a father to him and Sengoku did say Cora-san was like a son to him but that seemed a little shaky a connection to warrant the old man going around claiming he was his grandfather.

"We've been chatting about you," Straw Hat said, stretching his hand out to grab a handful of the rice cakes Sengoku was still holding out, then offering a few to Law.

At that, Law finally conceded and accepted the snack. He had to admit they were pretty tasty. "What about me have you talked about?" he asked, doubtful, yet almost afraid of the answer.

Straw Hat pursed his lips and frowned, quite obviously trying to remember the actual contents of the conversation. "Just how cool your powers are and that I shouldn't break your heart or something. It's not like I'm going to do that though, why would anyone do that?"

"Break my—" Law sputtered, his eyes going wide as he stared at the pirate who seemed like he didn't understand the implications of such a statement.

"I was just making sure your boyfriend was aware of the worth certain people place on you and your devil fruit and the danger that puts you in. Also that I will feed his precious hat to Baarbara if he makes Roci cry,” Sengoku explained, pulling out a rice cake of his own.

Ignoring the use of Cora-san’s name over his own, Law took a slow, deep breath before responding curtly, “I can take care of myself—”

“That’s what I said,” Straw Hat next to him announced proudly.

Law paid him no mind, simply continuing— “and he’s not my boyfriend.” He frowned, then added one last question, “Also who the hell is Barbara?”

“Baarbara is my goat,” Sengoku said fondly as he glanced at his pet, who was by his side happily chewing on something that looked suspiciously like one of Nami’s maps—Law really hoped he was wrong about that one. “But are you sure about that?” the former fleet admiral asked with a raised eyebrow, his eyes dropping down’t Law’s body to pointedly stare somewhere just above the tabletop.

Only when he followed his gaze did Law realize the position he was in. Somewhere along the way, Straw Hat had turned to the side in his chair, putting his legs over Law’s lap and, for some reason, Law had apparently put his own hand on his knee without even noticing. It was… yeah, it felt pretty damn intimate and Law felt heat raising to his face.

Slowly, he looked up at Sengoku, who looked like he was trying very hard not to burst out laughing. Then, his gaze slid to the side to glance at Straw Hat.

The other pirate was grinning back at him, looking entirely too amused by Law’s mortification, and Law scowled. “You’re not my boyfriend,” he said quietly, sounding uncertain even to his own eyes.

“I kind of am,” Straw Hat said, his grin widening even more. “Torao, you can be so stupid sometimes.” As soon as he was finished speaking, he started laughing in that cute, contagious, absolutely maddening way of his and Law…

Law has never felt so dumb and mortified in his life.

Yet, he still couldn’t find it in himself to push Straw Hat away when he leaned forward to give Law a messy, loud kiss on the cheek. Somehow, this had turned out to be simultaneously the absolute worst and best day of Law’s life.

He was still not showing his face around the Sunny again for a while though.

[itsthemoofacewriting]

Zoro doesn’t flirt

I wrote my first ZoNami story just over a year ago and I wanted to post something around that time again (okay, so I’m actually late. This was originally planned for the 25th) to celebrate the milestone!

Sanji being jealous is a guilty pleasure of mine but I also like him being a total bro and matchmaker. Like yeah, he’ll nudge Zoro in the right direction, but he’ll also make fun of him whilst he does it. Takes his shots where he can get ‘em.

Summary: Roronoa Zoro, the fearsome pirate hunter, bounty of 320,000,000, does not flirt.

Except he totally does, and it takes a guy talk with Sanji of all people for him to admit it. Kinda. Rating: T

This can also be found on AO3 and FFN. 

Enjoy.

“It’s adorable, you know,” Sanji trailed off, interrupting the silence in the kitchen. He didn’t turn to look at Zoro, who he knew was at the table behind him, he just carried on drying the dish in his hands. But he knew it would be enough to engage the other man.

There was a brief silence and Sanji wondered for a moment if he was wrong, but then Zoro was grunting at him.

“What was that?” Sanji threw over his shoulder, still not turning. He’d heard Zoro just fine, knew that grunt was for him to elaborate, but he knew it’d get under his skin. He can almost see the scowl that would inevitably be on his face without having to turn around.

“What’s adorable?” Zoro bit out and his tone’s suggesting he knows that whatever Sanji’s about to say is going to piss him off.

Sanji turned then, deciding that he wanted to see Zoro’s face for what he was about to say. His previous thought was right, there’s apprehension but also irritation rolling off of Zoro from the kitchen table where he’s sat.

“Your attempts at flirting with Nami-san.” Sanji’s lips curling into an infuriating smirk.

Zoro’s face went blank and Sanji’s almost disappointed at the lack of expression, felt like he’d been cheated out of his prize for a second before Zoro’s lips are curling downwards to match the deep scowl forming on his face

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zoro said it with such conviction that to the untrained they would believe him, but Sanji did know him.

He could see right through it.

“Oh so your little scene at the table this morning during breakfast wasn’t flirting?”

Zoro looked incredulous. “It was an argument! What kind of idiot are you?”

“Normal people don’t enjoy ‘arguments’-” Sanji made air quotes then and Zoro’s grinding his teeth at being mocked- “or seek them out with the person that is apparently ‘the devil itself’,” Sanji finished.

“I do not enjoy them!” Apparently all Zoro has in his arsenal is denials and it’s all the confirmation Sanji needed. Sanji just wondered how long he’d be able to keep this up before it ended it an all-out brawl.

You can only corner a wild animal for so long…

“Only because you lose all the time, but you love the attention. Everyone can see it.”

Teeth clenched? Check. Knuckles white and gripping his sake? Check. Tense? Check. Silent? Check.

He’d achieved that sooner than expected.

Time to deliver the final blow.

Sanji dramatically sighed and turned to the side, to face away from Zoro. He looked at him from the corner of his eyes as he said:

“Roronoa Zoro, esteemed pirate hunter, whose name brings fear to those that hear it,” he has to resist gagging as he said it, no doubt adding to Zoro’s already inflated ego. It’s all worth it though with his next words, “can’t flirt like a grown man. It’s kind of pathetic really.”

The response is immediate, Zoro’s chair falling back with a clang on the hardwood floor as he shot to his feet, his hands reaching to rest on the hilt of his swords.

“You wanna go, is that it?”

“Running from the conversation like a coward? Poor Nami-san, having to deal with a brute like you,” Sanji goaded, even though he was already pushing away from the counter to take a step towards Zoro. “A brute with no flirting skills or ways to woo a woman.”

“I don’t flirt!”

Before anything could escalate further, the kitchen door’s swinging open and the very person they’re talking about entered. Zoro’s throwing him a foul look which screamed ‘keep your trap shut’. Sanji ignored it as his eyes zeroed in on Nami.

“Nami-san!” Sanji greeted cheerfully as she walked towards him, paying no mind to Zoro at the table or the fight about to break out. From the table, Zoro’s watching her like a hawk.

“Sanji-kun,” Nami greeting back, but left it at that as she stood in front of the fridge, fingers gracefully sliding around the combination lock with practiced ease to reach in and retrieve a drink.

“Nami, grab me one too,” Zoro called over to her just as she was about to close the fridge. Sanji frowned at his lack of manners but Nami beat him to it.

“What’s the magic word?” She teased; the fridge door still cracked open. Only Sanji, Nami and Robin knew the combination and between Sanji and Nami, Zoro had a higher chance of getting a drink relatively easily with her… and he could flirt with her, of course.  

He snorted before firing back, “I’ll remember that when you start barking orders.”

And just like that, it was like Sanji wasn’t even in the room anymore. They were both swept up in their bickering (flirting) that he was now openly watching the scene before him and neither took notice. He wasn’t even subtle about it; he’d put his pan down, his arms crossed and leaned back on the counter to watch the show.

It was an interesting watch.

You could tell a lot more with these two with what was said physically than verbally. And right now it’s screaming in the quiet kitchen. The way Nami’s leaning over Zoro where he’s sat, berating him as he moved the beer just out of her reach, despite her being nice enough to bring it over.

“How old are you?” Nami complained as her fingertips brushed the bottle, then Zoro’s moving it out of reach again.

“Sounds like loser talk right there,” he laughed and it sounded cold and cruel, at least to Sanji’s ears anyway, but his expression held a softness that is normally reserved for her (and Chopper, but that’s a given at this point).

To anyone else that wasn’t on this ship, it’d look like they were genuinely arguing. Both frowning now that Nami’s reclaimed her drink and voices gradually growing louder in their verbal ping pong match, but behind that, you could see Zoro’s eye lighting up as he leaned in as they went back and forth. He was enjoying this and Sanji was instantly reminded of that little boy that wouldn’t leave the girl alone, despite saying he didn’t like her. Except that girl enjoyed it too and gave as good as she got.

And then Zoro brought Sanji’s metaphor to life and actually tugged on Nami’s braid. He wasn’t even keeping up with their conversation anymore, it moved so quickly sometimes, so he’s not sure why Zoro did it. But it brought a blush to Nami’s face that has Zoro smirking in triumph before they’re launching into a new argument, one he does take interest in because she’s giving him shit about his hair and he wanted some of that material for later.

It seemed after all of that, Nami had come out the victor on their verbal spar but Zoro wasn’t one to go down easily. He got up and crowded into her space, something that wasn’t hard as they’d already been leaning into each other, and the atmosphere thickened as the space between their faces started to disappear and even Sanji held his breath- even though he wasn’t directly involved. It looked like he was going to kiss her, the way he was staring her down, his gaze flicking around her face, and despite inwardly thinking about how lame that would be (where’s the candlelight dinner?), he would still begrudgingly admire it because he honestly had no idea where Zoro suddenly got the balls from after all his pussyfooting.

That thought quickly came shattering down, along with the atmosphere, when he instead swiped the drink from her hands and took a long swig, his own drink abandoned next to him on the table. Sanji wanted to groan because honestly, what an idiot, but he stayed silent just so he could see how this played out.

It played out pretty much how Sanji expected.

Nami looked stunned and then in the next moment outraged, probably not at him drinking her drink (he’d seen them share many times before- something he might bring up, actually, when this had finished), but at being one upped. Sanji had seen her face just moments ago, she’d expected something far different from that, and no doubt the embarrassment was washing over her now.

She spluttered a few times, mouth trying to form words until she gave up. When no words appeared, she huffed instead, flicked her braid over her shoulder and turned on her heel to storm out of the kitchen.

Zoro grinned viciously as he watched her leave, his gaze straying much further south than it probably should.

It’s silent in the kitchen after the door closed, Zoro’s gone back to drinking his own drink and ignoring Sanji like their previous conversation hadn’t happened.

As if Zoro’s getting off the hook that easily.

“So… you don’t flirt, huh?”

Zoro doesn’t grace him with a response, at this point what can he say? Can hardly keep denying it after that show, so he settled for glaring at him fiercely instead. Something that didn’t affect Sanji in the slightest. He’d survived his biological brothers growing up, this is nothing.

“It’s…. giving as good as I get.” Zoro finally settled for, but even he doesn’t look convinced at that one.  

Sanji gave him a bland look. “So flirting?”

Zoro’s face is pinched painfully and it’s because he’s boxed into a corner. There’s no way to escape the inevitable and with a tight jaw he’s admitting, “Fine. I’m ‘flirting’.” He added the air quotations sarcastically, half giving in but still being stubborn and Sanji begrudgingly accepted that. Anymore pushing and it really will end in a fight.

“So, now that we’ve established you are flirting- don’t give me that look shithead, you are, and you know it-” Sanji pointed his finger as him but Zoro didn’t give anything other than a sour expression so he continued- “what’re you going to do about it?”

There’s a long pause and it’s because Zoro’s currently warring between continuing the stubborn streak and giving in.

For once, he picked the right direction, because they both knew Sanji would keep going until he gave anyway.

“I can’t believe I’m talking to you about this,” Zoro muttered and sighed, running his hand through his hair trying to stall. “I have a plan; I’m doing things at my own pace.”

“Any chance this plan happens before we find One Piece?”

“I don’t want to rush anything.”

“Strange, you’re not normally such a coward. If anything, you rush in like a moron.”

“You can stand there and pretend all you like but you’re no different, pervert.”

Sanji rolled his eyes in response. But then, a thought came to mind, something that Zoro had said just before was bothering him and it sounded far too vague. “Hang on, just to be thorough, what exactly is your plan?”

Zoro shrugged as he responded, “Wait for the right moment.”

What an idiot. Truly. Nami must have done something in her past life to be stuck with him. He’d pray for her.

“That’s not a plan!”

“I don’t plan anything normally and it turns out alright,” Zoro said simply.

“You can’t just fight and stumble your way through this, you idiot!”

Zoro turned to him then, placing his empty drink to the side. “Alright then self-proclaimed ladies’ man, what plan do you have? Huh?”

Sanji opened his mouth to respond but Zoro interrupted-

“I swear, if you say candlelight dinner.”

Sanji’s shoulders sagged and Zoro’s laughing nastily.

“Oh, not so easy is it? And you call yourself a lady’s man, really is all hot wind in the end, huh?”

As much as Sanji knew how to get under Zoro’s skin, it unfortunately worked the other way around and Zoro’s comment has Sanji biting down his temper, his leg begging him to stop holding back. So instead, he chose to ignore that, be the bigger man. And maybe soothed himself with the thought of hiding one of Zoro’s weights later.

Sanji pushed away from the counter to distract himself, walking through the kitchen to open the fridge. He could hear Zoro playing with his drink behind his back, even though it’s empty and then Sanji’s grabbing another drink before walking over to the table. He placed it down in front of Zoro but doesn’t let go as he reached for it.

Zoro raised an eyebrow at the gesture.

“I don’t know what you’re really worried about and don’t deny that you’re not, but Nami’s interested.” Then he’s releasing the drink for Zoro to take.

Zoro’s gave him a sharp look. “She say something?”

Sanji took a step back to lean on the counter in the dining room. “She doesn’t have to. When you have people skills, you can see these sorts of things. Maybe add it to your to do list, along with playing with your swords.”

Zoro snorted then and for the first time since he entered the kitchen, it’s not in anger, or annoyance but in amusement and Sanji’s chuckling as well. Maybe not at his own words but at this situation. He never would have put money on his evening ending up like this.

They’re back in silence again but that’s fine, because Sanji’s pretty sure he’s got his point across. Zoro had half-heartedly admitted he was flirting and that he was going to do something about it. Good enough.

But then Zoro surprised him by speaking, offering up information that wasn’t asked for.

“I don’t want to ruin what we have.”

Sanji’s almost speechless and his face is flabbergasted by Zoro’s quiet words. Something that he quickly got under control because if Zoro saw it, he would get cagey instantly and that would be the end. He’d never be able to touch on this again.

For a second, he hesitated, unsure what to say. He didn’t think Zoro was capable of doubting himself. He was normally such a smug bastard. This didn’t sit right with Sanji and its then that he found the words.

“I didn’t realise Perona was around, maybe it was those two years you spent with her. You sound like you already lost. How depressing.” It’s tough love but he’s sure that’s what’s needed. Then again, he wasn’t sure it was possible for him to give Zoro anything else.

Zoro said nothing and that doesn’t seem like a good thing either. He dug deep for the next one, “You can’t move forward if you don’t move at all.”

“You get that from a fortune cookie?”

Snark is better than silence, even if it does piss him off. “Seemed to work, what does that say about you?”

They’re glaring at each other now and they’re just about to tip over the edge when a weird look crossed Zoro’s face.

“Wait, why are you sticking your nose in anyway? You’re nosey at the best of times but this is a step too far for you.”

Oh shit. Time’s up. Play it cool.

“Like you said, I’m being nosey.”

Zoro’s eyes narrowed. “Bullshit-” and cruel smirk crossed Zoro’s face as he leaned back- “you’re pushing too hard and don’t think I don’t see your twitching leg. You’re holding yourself back.”

“I care about Nami-san and, unfortunately, you’re a part of that now.” Good save, Sanji, go with that. He mentally clapped himself on the back.

“Kinda sounds like you care about me too.”

“Don’t push your luck.” Sanji pointed a finger at him threateningly but it did nothing other than add to the infuriating expression on Zoro’s face. It’s superiority and it grinds Sanji.

“What other explanation would you like to give it? Why not just talk to Nami if it’s for her.”

God damn it. What a prick. He refused to say anything and that’s all Zoro really needed to hear as he chuckled and finished the last of his second drink.

“It’s painful to watch you two dance around each other,” is all Sanji supplied. It basically confirmed what Zoro said but he’s not saying anything other than that. He refused.

“That bad?” Zoro grimaced.

Sanji smirked. “There’s currently a betting pool.”

Zoro groaned loudly, head tipped back. “Fucking course there is. Meddling idiots, the lot of you.”

“She won’t say no. Well, as long as you ask like an adult and not pull on her hair like a child.” Sanji shook his head. “You literally did it earlier too, where did you pick this up from?”

“Got her attention, didn’t it?” Zoro looked far more satisfied than he deserved to look.

“I don’t want to badmouth Nami-san, but she normally has such exquisite taste, so I really wonder what happened here.” Sanji’s hand wafting in Zoro’s direction.

“Seriously though, stop hanging around. I know you’re worried about your friendship but give Nami some more credit-” Sanji paused, mulling over whether to say anything further, was this going too far? Ah, screw it, he got this far- “She won’t say no.”

Zoro gave him an assessing look, like he was trying to see if the other man was messing with him before he nodded, “Got it.” He stood from his seat then, apparently done with the conversation once and for all.  

Sanji stopped him before he could turn to leave, “Let’s agree to never do this again.”

“Agreed.”

And just because Sanji’s an absolute shit that cannot resist, “Unless, of course, you need advice about sex because you look hopeless in that department.”

“You piece of shit!”

And his time was truly up then, something that Sanji welcomed because he was actually starting to feel friendlytowards the moss head.

“What do we have here? Bro bonding and I wasn’t invited?!”

Both Zoro and Sanji whipped their heads towards the new voice, stopping dead in their tracks and gaped. Because there stood Franky in the doorway of the kitchen, one hand on his hip and the other lifting his glasses, like he couldn’t believe the sight in front of him.

How either of them missed him they weren’t sure, nor did they know just how long he’d been standing there… or what he’d heard.

“We are not bonding!”

“What’s wrong with you.”

--------------------------

Sorry to ZoSan shippers, no hate whatsoever, but in my eyes, they have such brotherly sibling energy. I’d wanted to write this for a while.  

As always, forgive any errors.

Happy new year everyone!

[vannahfanfics]

Baby Fever

Category: General Fluff

Fandom: One Piece

Characters: Monkey D. Luffy, Nami, Red-Haired Shanks, Makino

Requested By: @deliathedork (Tumblr)

Nami stared critically up at the Jolly Roger flapping in the breeze far above her head. It was an impressively daunting illustration, a laughing skull with bright red paint streaking over the left eye overlaying two red-hilted blades. Rightly so, it would strike fear into the hearts of countless many, being the Jolly Roger of one of the four Emperors of the Grand Line. Any normal pirate would turn tail and flee as quickly as they could; if they were a bit on the reckless side, maybe, they would probably try to engage in a parlay or at least ascertain why such an impressive vessel manned by an even more impressive crew was pulling up on their stern. That’s what Nami would have down if she were captain.

However, she was not captain. Luffy was captain. And Luffy was currently vaulting himself over the side of the ship screaming like a man possessed.

“Shaaaaaaaanks! What’s uuuuuuuuup?!” The tangerine-haired navigator watched with a wearied expression as her captain, stretchy limbs and straw hat and all, all but invaded the deck of the neighboring ship to disappearing behind the balustrade. She knew that Red-Haired Shanks was an acquaintance of his and very likely meant no harm, but considering they were openly challenging Emperors left and right these days, Shanks might have just gotten a little tipsy and decided to come test Luffy’s mettle. Based on the chorus of excited cheers and laughter that were drifting down from the deck of the comparably taller ship, Nami doubted this was the case. However, she and Robin shared the only brain cells of the ship, and she maintained them by being cautious.

“Luffy! How many times do I have to tell you not to rush into things? Oh, good grief, why am I bothering? He isn’t listening,” she grumbled while crossing her arms. Franky and Usopp installed the gangplank so they could cross the thin stream of waves separating the two vessels, and considering how easily the rest of them strolled on over like they had known the Red-Haired Pirates all their lives, she supposed her concern was unwarranted. Still, one of these days, those imbeciles were going to give her a heart attack.

Nami crossed the gangplank to see that Luffy was hugging the one-armed, red-haired man tightly, with his stretchy arms wound several times around him as he nuzzled his cheek into his upper forearm.

“Shanks! Dude! I have so much to tell you! I’ve kicked soooooo many asses, you wouldn’t believe it! Hey, hey, lemma introduce my crew to you, yeah? Have you seen our bounties? Aren’t they awesome?” he was gabbing incessantly as Shanks looked on with a mix between a fatherly smile and an overwhelmed laugh. Nami pushed through the crowd of pirates to stomp right over to her captain and start tugging on the back of his red vest.

“Luffy! What are you, ten? Behave with some dignity, why don’t you?” she scolded hotly as she stretched the fabric up and down. Luffy immediately began to pout and stuck out his tongue at her. “Excuse me?” He winced at her thunderous stare, then his body drooped like a scolded puppy’s. Muttering under his breath, he unwound his arms from around Shanks and obediently released him so that Nami could deposit him a respectable distance away. “That’s more like it.”

“Wow, Luffy, your girlfriend sure is a firecracker,” the man laughed good-naturedly. Nami’s cheeks flushed pink and she held up her hands in a gesture of rebuttal.

“What? No! I’m just his navigator!”

“That’s right! How dare you disrespect Nami-swan like that! Come here! I’ll kick your ass even if you are an Emperor!” Sanji shouted and approached Shanks with a cigarette clenched in his teeth, rolling up his sleeves even though he was going to very obviously kick him. All it took was Nami batting her eyelashes and crooning a calming remark for Sanji to melt on the spot and cease his affront. Shanks eyed the puddle of Sanji wiggling on the deck of his ship.

“What a frightening young woman you are.”

“Yeah, Nami’s scary, isn’t she?” Luffy said as he propped his chin on her shoulder. She huffed and tilted his straw hat such that it was not bumping into her head, but allowed him to stoop over to perch on her shoulder. She was quite used to his complete lack of personal space. “Anyway, Shanks, what’re you doing in this neck of the woods? Don’t you got important Emperor stuff to do?”

“It just so happened that we crossed paths. I spotted your Jolly Roger. Really, I was just going to sail on by, but Makino insisted~” he trilled with a bellowing laugh. Nami gasped as Luffy’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head and he clamped his hands down on her shoulders, head wildly swiveling around just above hers.

“Makino?! What’s she doing here? Hey, Makino, hellooooooo?!”

“Stop shouting! You’re gonna make me go deaf!” she screamed at him with a harmless but emphatic bonk to the side of his head. Though it didn’t even leave a mark, he gave her the poutiest look her could while rubbing his temple where she had whapped him.

“Why do you get to shout and I don’t?”

“Heehee,” came a girlish giggle from the crowd. “You haven’t changed at all, Luffy.” Nami and Luffy both turned as a beautiful young woman holding a swaddled infant pushed through to stand beside the much broader and taller red-haired man. Again, Luffy’s eyes bugged out of his head as he beheld the small child. Rather than going to inspect himself, as he was apparently very comfortable with now propping his chin on the top of Nami’s head, he shoved her forward to her feet were forced to clumsily carry her over to the woman and her baby.

“Whoa! Makino, when did you have a baby? Who’s baby is it, anyway? Oh my God, are you a pirate now? Did you steal it?” he accused with a horrified gasp. Makino laughed at his ridiculous notion, while Nami scowled in embarrassment at her captain’s simply insurmountable stupidity.

“Luffy, you moron. I’m the father!” Shanks huffed, shaking his head with closed eyes as he rested his one hand on his hip. Nami was counting down the seconds to when Luffy’s eyes popped out of his head for good; he made some noise reminiscent of a spit-take as he stared incredulously at Shanks.

“When the hell did that happen?” he cried as he looked between the pirate and the young mother ridiculously fast. If his spine had not been made of rubber, his neck would have snapped from the force of him swiveling. His chin was creating enough static friction against her scalp to start a fire, so she clapped her hands onto his cheeks to fix his head into place, gaze on the wee infant peering up at him curiously. “I’m so confused,” he said in a nasally whine, but curiously reached up to poke the baby in the cheek. “It’s squishy.”

“Don’t antagonize it,” Nami tutted as the infant squeaked in clear irritation.

“Would you like to hold him, Luffy?”

“Ooooooh!” he squealed and reached over Nami’s shoulders with grabby hands. “Gimme! Gimme!”

“Absolutely not. You have no idea how to properly hold a baby,” Nami refused and took the baby from Makino as she held it out. Luffy’s shoulders slumped up to his ears as he frowned grumpily at her when she turned around, cradling the baby carefully. “Oh, don’t pout, you’ll get to hold him in a second,” she huffed. The rest of the Straw Hats were very curious about Makino’s little charge and crowded around, ogling in wonder.

“He certainly is a cute little baby,” Robin smiled serenely and stuck out her index finger, her eyes brightening as he grasped it with his wee little hand. Chopper was jumping up and down begging to see, so Zoro lifted him up by his scruff to deposit him on his broad shoulder. The baby bubbled and cooed at the reindeer, making him blush and laugh.

“Aw, you’re not cute at all, you little bastard~ <3” he squealed with very obvious delight as he wriggled gleefully on Zoro’s shoulder. The swordsman in question had his arms crossed as he gazed critically down at the baby.

“So, what can it do?”

“Moss-head, you absolute moron! It’s a baby!”

“Yeah, so? You can teach babies tricks, right?”

“Dear God, I hope you never procreate.” Sanji scowled as he put his cigarette out with the bottom of his dress shoe so as not to make the baby ill with the toxic fumes. They began quipping back and forth, and next thing Nami knew they were a few yards away scrapping with each other while the Red-Haired Pirates were yelling bets. Imbeciles, Nami thought with a roll of her eyes as she gently rocked the baby up and down. After a while, the rest of the Straw Hats became more invested in the daily fight of their cook and swordsman- except the captain. Apparently he was more invested in Nami’s promise of being able to hold the infant, and was standing rigidly beside her practically vibrating with anticipation.

“Nami, Nami, can I please hold it now?” he begged with a wheedling whine. Nami clicked her tongue, not sure it was responsible to make Luffy in any way responsible for a baby, but she didn’t want to deny him the experience. She stepped close to him as she prepared to put the baby in his arms.

“Okay, hold him very gently and support his head, okay? Babies don’t have strong necks and their skulls aren’t fully formed yet, so their heads are very, very vulnerable,” she instructed. Luffy nodded vigorously as he scooped the baby out of her arms, surprisingly very natural at adjusting to cradling the little guy. Nami couldn’t help but smile warmly as he grinned brightly down at the baby, who was waving his arms with delighted little squeals.

“Hey, there, little guy! Wow, you’re so happy! My name’s Luffy and I’m gonna be King of the Pirates, so remember that, okay?” he told him, smiling so hard that his eyes scrunched up into little crescent-moon shapes. He began bouncing the baby like Nami had been earlier, then looked at Makino quizzically.

“So, what’re you doing with Shanks, anyway? Why are you in Fuschia Village? The Grand Line is a dangerous place for a baby.”

“Yeah,” Shanks sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, obviously displeased with the situation. “I snuck over to be there for the little guy’s birth, but somehow it got out to the Marines. I couldn’t risk them going after Makino to get to me. Right now, the safest place for them is with me.”

“Oh,” Luffy grimaced. “See, Nami, this is why we have to kick the World Government’s ass.”

“Yes, yes, ass-kicking will come in due time,” she sighed wearily. Makino giggled. She had a tick of covering her mouth with a hand when she laughed, Nami noticed, that was very endearing. She could see why Shanks would fancy a woman like her. As they stood beside each other, lovingly watching Luffy hold and chatter at the baby, it was very obvious that they were a doting and natural couple. Good for them, she thought with a smile.

“Hey, Nami,” Luffy said, shuffling close to her while still bouncing the baby up and down against his chest, “I want a baby.”

The screech that spilled from her mouth was unholy. She back-pedaled away from the confused young man, falling against Shank’s broad form. He reflexively caught her by the shoulders; she knew it was reflexes because he currently had his head tipped back in the most raucous bout of laughter she had ever heard, so hard that his broad body shook violently against Nami’s comparably smaller frame. Makino was blushing with a hand over her mouth and was looking between the startled navigator and the innocent-looking Luffy.

“Luffy!” Nami huffed breathlessly.

“What? I want one.”

“Stop saying that!”

“But I want one!”

“You have no idea what you’re saying!”

“Uh, yeah, I do. Me. Baby. Want. Can I have one?” Nami groaned loudly and ran a hand over her face. Truly, his idiocy and obliviousness knew no bounds.

“Luffy, you are aware of what it takes to get a baby, right?”

“Uh, yeah, Makino gave me the talk.”

“Then why the hell are you asking me?!”

“Because! There are other ways to get a baby! Somebody must be getting rid of one.”

“Oh my- Luffy, oh my God.” She was standing up by her own accord now, because Shanks had doubled over wheezing from laughing so hysterically. His face was nearly as red as his hair and Nami was pretty certain they would have to get Chopper on the scene, because he was probably going to pass out from lack of oxygen soon. Nami struggled to keep her head from exploding from how high her blood pressure was jacked at the moment. “Luffy… You just said that the Grand Line is a dangerous place for babies, right? Therefore, we shouldn’t put a baby at risk. You’ve declared war on the World Government and are competing with many other pirates for the title of Pirate King, yes?”

“Oh… Well, when you put it that way…” He frowned deeply, cocking his head to the side. She thought maybe she had gotten through to him, until that stupid grin returned to his face. “So after I kick the World Government’s ass and I become Pirate King, then can we get a baby?”

“No!” she screeched and head-chopped him. “Babies are immense responsibility! They require around-the-clock attention! Also, people just don’t give away babies! Even if we did manage to find and adopt an orphan baby, we’d still have to care for it, and none of you morons have enough brain cells to manage caring for a fake plant, let alone a baby! And stop with this ‘we’ stuff! Why do you keep asking me?!”

“Because,” he muttered through clenched teeth, cross-eyed as he stared at her hand that was still softly bonking him in the top of the head, “You’re smart and responsible. You could teach me how to take care of a baby.”

“I give up,” she sobbed as she sank down to her hands and knees, completely overwhelmed by his complete lack of tact. She didn’t know if her heart could take anymore. Did he really not know what it truly meant to ask her for a baby? Somehow through her breakdown, he had managed to not mess up holding Makino’s baby; he had kept him safe and secure through her head-chops, and the baby wasn’t even upset by all her yelling, quite content with the way Luffy was bouncing him up and down. Not that it mattered. He could hold one, maybe, but when it came time to feed one, he would be trying to give him meat.

“Hey, little guy, you hungry? Sanji makes great meat.”

“I give up,” she sobbed again as she all but melted against the wooden deck. Shanks had recovered from his laughing fit and was sitting up beside her, still red-faced as he struggled to contain short bursts of giggles.

“Ahahaha, oh, man, that was funny as shit,” he snickered as he clapped Nami repeatedly on the shoulder. “You sure have your work cut out for you with this moron.”

“I told you! I’m not his girlfriend!” she shrieked, and Emperor or no, he was still on the receiving end on one of her vicious whaps. He looked at her like a wounded puppy as he rubbed the welt where she had struck his chin with an uppercut.

“I didn’t say that! Luffy! She’s scary!”

“Yeah, I told you, shoulda listened,” Luffy shrugged and whirled on his heel to carry the baby over to where Sanji and Zoro were still fighting. “Hey, check it out, little guy! This is what a fight looks like! You’re gonna grow up to be a real ass-kicker just like us, right?” he was laughing as he made sure the baby could see the cook and swordsman whacking at each other like there was no tomorrow.

“You’re an idiot,” she sighed as she sat up and brushed her strands of tangerine hair- which probably had streaks of gray by now- from her face. Still, she had to smile. She had to admit, Lufdy did look happy holding the little guy.

He had a long way to go, but someday, Nami didn’t doubt that he would make a great father.

“Are you sure you aren’t Luffy’s girlfriend?” Makino asked as she crouched down beside her. “That was an awful lov-“

“No! No! Nope! Not happening! No, thank you!” Nami yelled with emphatic shakes of her head, literally screaming denials as it was her face that took on the crimson hue of Shanks’ famous red hair. Before the two could interrogate her anymore about feelings she was certainly not ready to discuss or even acknowledge, she scrambled over to Luffy to make sure he was actually taking care of the baby.

Great father he could be in the future, but right now, he was still dumb as a sack of rocks when it came to babies.

~Bonus~

Shanks sighed contentedly as he watched the flustered girl scurry away from his and Makino’s continuous prodding. With another short laugh, he tossed the long strands of his red hair from his face and motioned for Makino to sit down on the deck beside him; his legs were still jelly from laughing so hard he had nearly pissed himself, so there was no standing for him anytime soon. His beloved eased herself down onto her knees beside him, and his good arm immediately wound itself around her thin waist to hold her close. She rested her hand on his shoulder, smiling warmly as she watched young Nami berating Luffy for asking the baby if he wanted to hold one of Zoro’s swords.

“He’s come a long way, hasn’t he?” she sighed. Shanks nodded in agreement, then snorted in laughter.

“Still a long way to go, though. ‘Specially when it comes to women. I thought Nami was gonna kill him.” Makino giggled. He always loved her giggles. They resounded like clear bells in the morning, vibrating in his soul and lighting it alive. Watching Luffy handle his son out of the corners of his eyes, he pressed a kiss into her temple. “I love you, Makino.”

“I love you too, honey.” He smiled against her green hair, inhaling her sweet scent of summer grass and honeysuckle accented by the pungent sourness of the ale she served in the bar in Fuschia Village. He began to rub small circles into the small of her back.

“So, wanna make a bet on when they get married?”

“I heard that!”

“Oh, hell, Jesus-“ he sputtered and did not manage to duck in time as Nami wrenched off her flip-flop and chucked it with deadly precision, striking him right in the middle of his forehead. As he fell roughly down onto his back, Makino was making those delighted giggles next to him, and he had to smile despite the stinging pain in his forehead.

Glad you found yourself a nice girl, Luffy… Although, she scares me.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @searchfortheonepiece

[luccislegs]

alsjlskzjs, I loved the Law/maleso/Luffy, you wrote it amazingly! Can I ask for a continuation, maybe with a little interatcing with the crew and their ghosts, but as a little time passes, Male reader finds himself accidentally using the ghosts powers or skills? like, they are at dinner one night, and sneezes fire. Or after getting startled, they silnce the whole ship for like 3 hours? or like, hes talking to Robin and can read the Ponglyps for a few mineuts (Robons mom) and they freak out?

sorry this took me so long! i really had to take and do this in chunks bc my brain would fry trying to figure out all the little details for everyone. i don’t think sanji has anyone important to him in his past, so he isn’t here. also the first four are the longest bc they play an actual part in some things, and also theirs have the most obvious powers and drawbacks. i hope i did this enough justice to warrant the wait lol

Over the course of the few months you were on the sunny, more ghosts began to show up, like they were drawn to you. Some spirits, like ace and rosinante, sought you out before you ever met whoever was keeping them tethered. Others, like Olvia and Tom, seemed to sense when you met their loved ones, and then sought you out.

Or that was what you guessed anyway, since they didn’t seem to have an answer for it either.

Regardless, there were now half a dozen ghosts following you around, and new symptoms had shown up on top of that.

Safe to say, you were losing your mind.

luffy:

You were just cuddled up with Luffy on the couch in the aquarium, his head in your lap as you chatted back and forth about the next island.

The urge hit you out of the blue, and you turned your head to the side to avoid sneezing all over Luffy.

That went right out the window as a huge column of flames shot out of your nose when you sneezed, lighting the curtains beside you on fire.

You immediately jumped up, knocking Luffy onto the floor as you panicked, smothering the flames with the other half of the curtains. 

Luffy, helpful dolt that he is, laid on the floor upside down staring at you in awe before jumping to his feet and picking you up in a hug

“That is so cool, ___. I didn’t know you could do that! You looked just like a dragon!”

To be fair, you didn’t know you could do that either. Over Luffy’s shoulder, you sent ace a murderous glare, to which he happily responded with a shoulder shrug, a smirk, and laughter.

You never actually got a chance to figure out what the hell had happened because, mid-hug, you fell asleep right in Luffy’s arms.

law:

A few days after the incident with Luffy, something else happened. You were beginning to think you needed to screen the ghosts before you agreed to help them from now on.

You were hanging out quietly in the boy’s room with Law, who was busy reading over a medical text from chopper, and Rosi, who was lounging on the other end of the couch smoking a transparent cigarette (which, by the way, was pretty funny when he managed to light himself on fire, freaked out, then realized he couldn’t actually burn) when Franky came bursting into the room with Usopp hot on his heels.

You weren’t even sure how it happened, it was like reflex. Rosi jumped and floated up to the ceiling, you jumped off the couch and hit the floor, and then all of a sudden everything was dead quiet.

You could clearly see Franky and Usopp yelling about…something, but you couldn’t hear anything.

Law, on the other hand, was looking at you with curiosity, like he knew exactly what was going on.

“Er, Law…?” you asked, and you heard yourself perfectly fine, but he didn’t react.

Rosi floated down behind you, and you nearly jumped out of your skin when he spoke. “I think you may have just silenced the ship. Seems you can use my calm calm powers, ___.”

You sighed. “Yeah I was afraid of that. how do I fix it?”

But Rosi only shrugged before floating over to law. “Come over here and see if he can hear you.”

You didn’t understand how moving closer would help, but did as told. 

Or tried to. You tripped over the floor mat and tumbled, smacking your head off the floor and blacking out before you could get there.

robin:

Your next stop was to see Robin, and you found her in the library, looking over a charcoal shading of some strange symbols. She looked up as you entered and smiled.

“Well hello, ___. What can I do for you?” she asked. She always had a knack for telling when someone was actively looking for her and when you just happened upon her.

“Well…I have a problem. and I think you might be the most able to help,” you said, sitting beside her.

You glanced over the sketches in her hands absentmindedly, and a word popped into your head.

“Those are Poneglyphs, right?” you asked, pointing to them.

Robin froze, then nodded slowly. “How did you know that?” she asked, staring at you with a guarded expression. She had never mentioned them to you before, or in your presence, and she was pretty sure that no one else would have a reason to.

“Uh, that’s sort of why I’m here,” you answered, pointing over your shoulder to the– to her, empty– space where Nico Olvia floated. “I think I may be spouting some of the spirits powers out. It just started. I almost burned the library down a few days ago, then just earlier I muted everyone like Cora used to do.”

Robin looked stricken at the mention of her mother for a moment, as she always did, before it turned thoughtful. “I’ve never heard of that being possible. Although Blackbeard stole devil fruit powers, he can use them freely. You can only use them momentarily, right?”

You nodded, looking back down at the papers. Some of the words you could understand, but most of them just looked like gibberish. Slowly, more came into focus, as if your brain was automatically learning another language. 

Before you could really start to piece the words together though, everything seemed to explode into agony. You couldn’t breathe, as if your lungs wouldn’t expand. The edges of your vision turned black, and you collapsed.

Robin’s voice sounded very far away, and there was Chopper’s alongside hers. As you came to, you could start to make out what they were saying.

“…he just blacked out? What was he doing before then?” Chopper was asking.

“We were just talking about the new powers he developed, and he was looking at the pictures of Poneglyphs, and then he was on the floor gasping.”

“Look, he’s waking up.” That was Law’s voice, and he sounded very concerned.

You opened your eyes just a crack, testing whether that was a good idea. Your head felt like it was splitting open, and Law helped you to sit up slowly. 

“What happened?” he asked, and you shrugged.

“I don’t know. I was talking with Robin and then suddenly everything hurt, like I’d been beaten, and I couldn’t breathe anymore,” you said, looking around at everyone. It was just you, Robin, Chopper, and Law in the room, and they all looked like you felt.

Robin’s gasp broke the silence, like a lightbulb had turned on. “It sounds like you were experiencing what my mother did before she…I wonder if you aren’t taking their powers but also some of their personality too,” she said, looking at you curiously. “What happened after you used Ace’s and Cora-san’s?”

Law broke in before you could answer. “He fell asleep in luffy’s arms after lighting the libary on fire, and tripped and knocked himself out after silencing our room. Which is exactly what they used to do.”

You nodded in agreement, but Robin still looked perturbed. “It seems like you experience more than just their quirks, but their deaths too. That can’t be good. I’ll do some research and see if there’s anything about your powers, but you need to be careful too.”

zoro:

This new development was slightly detrimental to your health. You couldn’t figure out a rhyme or reason to how your new powers worked, or when they would, but you were keen to find out. 

The safest way, you figured, was to try practicing with a sword and seeing if you couldn’t channel some of Kuina’s swordsmanship at will.

It didn’t work. At all.

You couldn’t seem to find any trigger for making it work, swinging the sword as you normally would have. Zoro seemed disappointed as well, having hoped to have a decent match against someone besides Law for once. It didn’t matter that you explained to him you could only use it for a few seconds.

Only when Franky, who was working on something on the mast, accidentally lost his grip on a drawing knife he was using and sent it flying towards you did those “instincts” kick in. Your vision went a little blurry, as if you were seeing things through water, and you lifted the sword and swung with more grace than you ever had, knocking it aside before it could reach you.

Zoro clapped in impressed surprise. “I guess you need to be in danger to use it,” he said, watching you stumble and fall to your knees. “Are you alright?”

“No, I uh,” you struggled to think through the screaming pain that was lancing through your back. It wasn’t nearly as excruciating as Olvia’s death, but your head was still swimming from it. “Can I ask how Kuina died?”

Zoro paused, looking like he swallowed a lemon. “She fell down the stairs.” He sounded bitter, so you nodded and moved on.

“I think I’m experiencing some of the things the others did in their lives, deaths included. Earlier, I could read Poneglyphs, but right after I went through Olvia’s death. This is…a little scary,” you admit, just as Luffy and Law came onto the deck. 

Franky had gone to fetch them when you collapsed, and they pulled you gently to your feet. 

“Are you alright, _____?” Luffy asked, just as Law asked, “what the hell is going on?”

Explaining it all over again, you sighed tiredly. “I just want to go lay down now, if you don’t mind.”

nami:

Nothing happened for a few days after that. At every turn, though, you were expecting an outburst followed by some type of mayhem. Practicing with Zoro a little more revealed that only when something dangerous you weren’t expecting happened did you channel Kuina’s excellent swordsmanship. Needless to say, Zoro was disappointed.

Nami’s first experience happened when you were helping her trim her tangerine trees. It was one of the only pleasant experiences you had, because for some reason– maybe you were just relaxed enough that it was flowing– Bell-mere’s knowledge of tangerines was flowing freely. 

For nearly an hour, you and Nami chatted about the best ways to take care of the trees. You could see Bell-mere floating aimlessly through the trees, and knew she was listening but never once did she input anything to the conversation. 

The only negative side-effect you experienced was an overwhelming craving for cigarettes.

Franky:

Franky’s was another pleasant experience, since you were able to channel Tom’s knowledge of shipbuilding. It didn’t last as long as Bell-mere’s, but it came much more frequently than Rosi’s or Ace’s. 

You were beginning to suspect that the physical aspects took a different type of catalyst compared to the knowledge. Unfortunately, you were unable to physically put any of Tom’s knowledge into effect, but Franky enjoyed talking with you while he was working.

chopper:

Chopper’s was another unpleasant one.

Channeling Hiriluk’s medical knowledge was a struggle at best, because even though you knew what was going on, you didn’t really understand, and it gave you a headache. 

Combine that with the fact that you spent almost 30 minutes doubled over from unbearable stomach cramps– which you found out was most likely what Hiriluk experienced before he died from eating a deadly mushroom– and his knowledge really wasn’t worth the experience.

Chopper couldn’t even really enjoy chatting with you about it because you were just so miserable, but the catalyst for Hiriluk’s knowledge was pretty much just entering the medical bay, so you suffered quite a bit from that one.

[eirist]

A Taste of Winter: Snowflake

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei. Neige is a borrowed French word, so I can’t lay claim to it.

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible. One shot.

Rating: T

Note: Written for my secret santa: @ravenandcat for the ZoNa Holiday 2019 event in Tumblr. I hope you enjoy it as I did. Merry Christmas!!!

Summary: The warm feeling spreading from your face down to your toes… Along with that tingling sensation you can’t even begin to describe…

Everything in the winter island of Neige was blanketed in soft, fluffy white.

But despite the almost ethereal-like quality the sea of white was exhibiting, the whole place was buzzing with activities from the excited townsfolk as they rushed back and forth in preparation for the celebration that was about to take place tonight.

Perched silently and contentedly on the railing of the Thousand Sunny, two figures watched the whole scene with quiet interest.

“What are you two up to?”

Nami and Chopper simultaneously turned to look at the owner of the voice. Zoro was coming down the stairs with his brows furrowed together in question as he studied them. He most likely came from the galley, given the three steaming mugs in his hand.

The reindeer perked up at the sight of his favorite swordsman. “What is that Zoro?” He gushed curiously, jumping up to stand on the railing as the green-haired man approached them.

“Ero-cook told me to give this to you.” He motioned to the drinks he was holding.

Nami raised an eyebrow at that as she leaned back at the railing. “And you just like… conceded to his request without any fight?” She asked, exchanging surprised glances with Chopper.

Zoro shrugged. “Robin declared a ceasefire. Said something about different balls hanging on the Sunny’s Christmas tree.” A frowned appeared on his face as Nami laughed and Chopper innocently blinked at him.

“Balls?”

Zoro grinned and patted the reindeer’s head. “Never mind it, Chopper.”

That was when realization dawned into the cute doctor. “Oh, he giggled as Nami laughed harder, recalling the events in Water 7. “Robin can be really scary when she wants to.”

“Yeah…”

“Hey,” Nami retorted with a chortle. “In Robin’s defense, if not threatened you and Sanji-kun would not stop fighting.

“Tch,” Zoro clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “Point taken,” he muttered handing her one of the mugs.

The navigator pursed her lips at him. “We did agree to spend today as peacefully as possible right?”

Zoro shrugged in a non-committal manner.

“Zoro!”

“Yes, alright?!” The swordsman looked like he was pouting. “No fights. No bickering. No grating the cook’s nerves…”

“Very good!” Nami said with a nod as Zoro handed Chopper the other drink.

“That includes us woman,” Zoro suddenly muttered. “That means no shouting orders or just plain shouting at me today.” He smirked when she scowled at him.

“Ooooh!” Chopper suddenly exclaimed as he stared at the mug in his hand. His sensitive nose caught whiff of the minty sweetness from inside. “This smells delicious!” He brought the mug closer to take a whiff.

“You are right Chopper!” Nami inhaled deeply and immediately warmth spread across her cheeks. “Sanji-kun’s awesome as always.”

A faint snort came from Zoro’s direction and she decided to ignore it as she and Chopper continued to bask in the smell of the cook’s latest concoction.

“Look!” Chopper pointed out. “It’s even got crushed candy cane on it!”

“You’re right!” Nami smiled as she swiped a small amount of whipped cream with her finger, bringing it on her lips. “So good!” She enthused, studying the drink. “What a perfect holiday drink… and it’s pink!”

“Yeah!” Chopper agreed, delightfully taking a sip from his drink to taste it. Nami followed suit.

“I knew the stupid cook had it in him,” Zoro mumbled from the side.

Nami glared at him from over her mug.

“Wow! It tastes really good!” Chopper announced, immediately loving the pink drink.

“True!” Nami said licking her lips after she tasted it.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Zoro cringe. Probably from imagining how sweet the beverage is. It was no secret that the katana wielder was not a fan of anything sugary.

She stared at him as she took another drink from her cup, savoring the warmth it was spreading all over her. Beside her, the reindeer was enjoying his drink as well.

Nami noticed that the ex-pirate hunter was holding a mug of his own.

“What’ve you got there Zoro?” She asked, wondering if he was drinking the same sweet pink concoction as they were.

“Coffee,” the tall lad answered curtly.

“Spiked?” Nami grinned, knowing the his preferences.

She got a chuckle from guessing correctly.

“Yeah…” Zoro half-smiled. “Though if you ask me, I could go without the coffee itself.”

Nami rolled her eyes at him before swiveling to observe the milky white town again. Chopper did the same while still engrossed with his saccharine drink.

Zoro moved to set his mug down the railing just beside the navigator. Nami did not missed the way he purposely stood behind her, close enough for his arm to brush against hers. His winter jacket made a rustling sound as it rubbed against hers.

She tilted her head a little to look at him as he smirked at her before slyly planting a kiss on her cheek.

Her brown eyes immediately shifted towards Chopper, who was luckily, still too engrossed with his own drink.

The mapmaker looked at him in a chastising manner.

Zoro just grinned impishly at her. With the reindeer doctor just near them, there’s no way Nami can reprimand him for stealing a kiss… or two.

He bent down again to kiss her, letting his lips linger against her flushed cheek longer while keeping an eye on Chopper.

Nami pouted as she elbowed him on the ribs. He bit back a chuckle and caught her elbow when she repeated the action again.

“What are you two doing anyway?” He asked as he released her, moving to grab his mug to take a drink. “What’s in that town that’s got you both occupied?”

“We are waiting for the festivities to start,” Nami answered with a sigh, a bit relieve that Chopper wasn’t able to see her swordsman’s antics. After all they did agree to keep things under wraps for now. But as of late, Zoro seems to be tempting fate by randomly stealing kisses behind their nakama whenever he wants.  

She reached out to tug at his earrings as a sort of retaliation and smiled sweetly when he scowled at her.

“And we are also waiting for the snow to fall,” Chopper added in an eager tone. “Nami said it could happen before night time. Luckily, it will fall just in time for the festivities!”

Zoro raised an eyebrow at her. He pondered for a moment before grunting out, “I see.”

“Anyway you should join us Zoro!” Chopper invited. “It’ll be fun! We can catch snowflakes with our tongue!”

“Uh, that is something Usopp and Luffy would want to do.” Zoro drawled, unamused.

“Oh, you are right.”

Nami narrowed her eyes at his unenthusiastic response. “Such a spoilsport Zoro. Even snow doesn’t get you excited.”

Zoro snorted. “Are you saying, you’re gonna join Chopper and catch snowflakes with your tongue?”

She pulled at his cheek. “Maybe not my tongue idiot!”

“Ouch… then what?”

Nami released him with huffed. “Maybe I just want to feel one on the tip of my nose.”

“Huh?”

“Oooh!” Chopper’s eyes twinkled at that. “That is nice Nami!”

The orange-haired girl winked at him. “I know right?”

“Wait I‘m a bit confused,” Zoro held up a hand to stop them. “What’s a snowflake on your nose gonna do to you?”

Nami and Chopper looked at each other, astounded. They both know Zoro is kind of on the serious side of life but surely… he must’ve been a kid once?

“You don’t know Zoro?” Nami looked astonished.

“No.”

“He doesn’t know,” Chopper whispered.

“Poor Zoro…” Nami murmured with a hand on her cheek, feigning a sad expression on her face.

Zoro looked uncomfortable under their sympathetic gazes. He glared at the two. “Oi!”

Nami suddenly grabbed his arm. “We should let him experience it Chopper.”

“Uh-huh, I definitely agree!” The Mugiwara doctor nodded in agreement. “We cannot let him go on with his life without knowing how significant it is!”

Zoro growled. “What’s the big deal with it anyway?!”

“It’s no big deal Zoro,” Nami smiled at him, patting his arm. “It’s just that it feels nice.”

“Feels nice?”

“It does,” Chopper concurred with a smile of his own. “I like the way it spreads this warm feeling all over your face down to your toes…”

“Along with that tingling sensation you can’t even begin to describe…” Nami continued, laughing at Zoro’s blank expression. “Don’t worry. You’ll feel it when you experience it.” She smiled teasingly as he glowered at her. “If you experience it.”

“I really don’t see—”

“Nami!” Chopper suddenly gasped. “It’s snowing!”

They all looked up as a flurry of white flakes that looked as soft as cotton started falling down from the skies.

A hush fell between the three of them. Likewise, all the activities in the town halted as everyone outside paused in their activities momentarily to gaze at the falling white wonders.

Chopper jumped down from the railing and ran towards the middle of the deck, laughing gleefully as more and more snow fell from the sky.

He looked up and squealed when a snowflake landed on his blue-colored nose.

Nami’s brown eyes met Zoro’s grey one.

“I still don’t—” Zoro started to mumble when a white flake landed on the tip of his nose.

The navigator watched him amusedly as he frowned until the snowflake melted away.

“So?”

“It’s… cold.”

Nami bit her lower lip. Then threw back her head and laughed.

“Oi, stop laughing crazy witch,” Zoro groused a bit sulkily. “It is cold!”

It was so typically Zoro. Just plain facts. There was no hint of any soppiness or sentimentality at all.

She continued laughing, even as she reached out to squeeze his hand. “Just like I expected.”

“What do you mean?”

She just answered him with grin and watched as Chopper ran towards the galley to inform the others that it was now snowing.

“Nami…” Zoro grumbled, getting impatient when she didn’t explain herself.

“Forget it for now Zoro,” she lightly tapped the tip of his nose. Then she stood on tiptoes and kissed the place where the snowflake landed earlier.

And that’s when he felt it.

The warm feeling spreading from your face down to your toes…

Along with that tingling sensation you can’t even begin to describe…

The snowflake on the tip of his nose.

Nami drew back with a smile. “Merry Christmas, Zoro.”

He stared at her for a moment, before returning her smile with one of his own.

He actually didn’t need to wait for the snow to fall. He already had his own snowflake with him all along.

“Merry Christmas Nami.”

[laws-yellow-submarine]

It's no worries, but still can i request a scenario for Luffy? The plot Is up to you, i just wanna see him jealous hehehe thank you very much, hope this time is not out of his character, once again thank you

Hi dear! Hopefully this works for “jealousy”. I had a lot of trouble picturing Luffy being jealous, especially over a person (I feel like he’s more of a “I wanted to play with that toy but that kid already has it” kind of jealous tbh). I also wanna give a shoutout to Asexual Aces on Facebook for helping me out with portraying crushes from an Aromantic viewpoint (or squishes, as they usually end up being), they were a huge help. Anyway, I’m really happy with what I wrote, so I really hope you enjoy it too!

Luffy was an affectionate captain. He enjoyed spending his days surrounded by his crew, his friends, and finding ways to show how much he appreciated them any chance he got. Lately, this had been especially true of the Straw Hats newest crew member. There was only one problem.

Everytime Luffy wanted to hang out, she was busy!

…

“Oi, Name-chan! Let’s go fishing!” Luffy called, line already cast and Usopp cheering him on to catch a really big one. She gave him an apologetic look, smiling despite what she would say next.

“Ahh sorry Luffy, I promised I’d help Sanji in the kitchen. Maybe next time?” Said cook followed after her into the kitchen, floating along behind her with hearts in his eyes. Normally, Luffy would laugh at how dumb Sanji looked, but this time he just pouted, even when Usopp cheered at the large prize he fished up. She hadn’t even noticed.

...

“Shishishi Name-chan! This island has beetle fights! Come on, let’s go watch!” Luffy yelled, tugging her arm lightly. She frowned slightly, putting on a brave face as he and Chopper both sent her their best puppy-dog stare.

“I’m sorry, Luffy. I said I’d do some shopping with Nami and Robin. You know, have a girl’s day? Maybe they’ll have them later!” Luffy watched her walk off with the other two women, scratching his head. There had to be some way to spend time with her.

…

“Hey, Name-chan!” Luffy called, mouth full. “You want some of this meat? Sanji just cooked it! It’s sooooo good!” Zoro raised an eyebrow at his captain from his napping spot in the corner, but otherwise made no comment.

“Thanks, but I actually ate something not that long ago. You go ahead and eat it all, I know how much you love meat, Captain!” She giggled, walking off to join Nami in her nectarine grove.  Luffy watched her go, rubbing his chin as he tried to think of a way to get her to spend time with him, only paying attention to his surroundings long enough to snap at a hand as it tried to sneak off with his food.

Did she not like him? She didn’t seem to have a problem hanging out with the rest of the crew. What could he be doing wrong? He even shared his meat! When they’d first met something about her just stood out to him, and he thought she was one of the coolest people he’d ever met. He’d thought she felt the same about him, but now he wasn’t so sure.

Luffy continued this line of thinking all the way to the next destination, and his spirits rose when he saw a carnival taking place in town. He quickly ran over to her, grabbing her by the arm before anyone else could speak, and pulled her off the ship into the crowd.

“Ahh! But Luffy! I was gonna-!”

“Well now we’re hanging out! Come on, it’ll be fun!” She let him pull her around the island, knowing there was no point in arguing with him. When Luffy really wants something, he’ll find some way to get it. 

They spend the day playing carnival games (“Look at that big bear, Name-chan!” “Luffy, you can’t just take it, you need to win it first!”), sampling food (“This fried stuff is good, but Sanji’s food is way better!” “Mmhmm, I have to agree, Captain!”), and riding rides (“Man that haunted house wasn’t even scary!” “Luffy, you really should apologize for punching the actors…”).

Their last stop of the day was a giant ferris wheel, and as Luffy sidled into the car next to her (squished against each other due to said giant bear), he felt a warm, fuzzy feeling in his gut. He often felt this way when he spent time with his friends, but this was stronger than usual somehow, and while he didn’t know why that would be he wasn’t going to complain. He’d finally gotten to spend a day with her, no other plans in place to interrupt his fun; and it HAD been fun, at least for him. From the smile on her face, he thought maybe it was fun for her too, and his own smile grew to match it. He rocked the seat back and forth, causing her to laugh.

As they left the carnival to head back to the Sunny, it was at a more leisurely pace than when they’d first set out. The carnival had died down some, though the low roar of the crowd still followed behind them, and fireflies dotted their path home.

“While I don’t appreciate being dragged off against my will, this was a lot of fun,” She spoke up, sending him a brilliant smile. “Thanks, Luffy!” His only reply was to smile back, wide and proud, and to wrap his arms around her a few times over in a tight hug. She let out an “oof!” as he lifted her off the ground, but otherwise didn’t complain.

“Let’s hang out more just us, ok?” He asked, not letting go.

“Ok, Captain,” She managed to squeeze out. “Sounds like a plan!” In a flash he let her go and she could breathe again, free to chase after him, their laughter carried on the wind.