It was a busy day in Hollywood; it felt like every single set was being used that day from the sheer amount of people.
Zoro weaved in and out of props and cameras, dodging a film crew as he searched for the exit to this set. He could have sworn he'd already been to this set, but that'd mean he'd gone in a circle, and that couldn't be right because that would mean Zoro was lost. He flung open the back metal door into the California sunshine, walking into the already bustling court.
Palm trees were sprouted here and there outside the large film-set buildings. Two men carried a large Paris-scene backdrop while another man slowly drove a truck with a caged snarling tiger in the back through the crowd. A group of men in burlesque drag giggled and chatted as they passed Zoro. Hollywood was so weird, Zoro still wasn't sure how he had ended up here, but all in all Zoro couldn't say he disliked the place.
Zoro peered down at his watch as he ran and cursed himself. Yeah, he was so late. Zoro didn't have time to look up from his wrist when a body slammed into his and luke-warm liquid was splashed all over his front side.
"Oi watch where you're going commoner!" The man shrieked as he pushed Zoro aside.
Zoro stepped back with his arms out, lips drawn into a snarl as he looked down at his now coffee stained shirt. Coffee had even found its way up Zoro's nose and was burning like crazy, making his eyes water. Pinching his nose painfully, Zoro didn't have a chance to get a good look at the blond that had so rudely ran into him, who was already hustling away and jumping into a nearby parked golf cart.
"Fuck you too buddy." Zoro called after the perpetrator.
Sighing, Zoro ran a hand through his hair, then dragging it down to wipe dripping coffee off his face. He didn't have time for this shit; he needed to get his ass to set B3. He was supposed to meet his new client, a new stunt double, with Usopp.
After another minute of running, and by some miracle, Zoro managed to find the set: outside in the sun, a large 'abandoned' ware house. The building was huge and looked like complete shit thanks to movie magic, the top most part was just rusting scaffolding that looked like it was barely managing to hold up the decaying concrete roof.
Not far off, Usopp was sitting in his director's chair as usual, looking up at the roof as he talked into his ever present head set. Zoro jogged over to him.
"Hey man, sorry I'm late." Usopp waved him off, finally taking his eyes off the roof to look at Zoro. He barked out a small laugh, failing to cover up his giggling with his hand when he saw Zoro's coffee-covered state.
"Nice shirt." Usopp snickered. Zoro shot him a glare that made Usopp's mouth audibly snap shut.
"Can it. I miss anything?" Zoro growled.
"Eh, not really. We're just experimenting with some possible camera angles for the building jump scene. Speaking of which…" Usopp began talking into his headset again, babbling some incoherent director-language to his camera men, and then looking around him to get a thumbs up from his camera crew.
"Tell Mr. Black we're ready when he is." Usopp said into the speaker. Putting his hand on the microphone Usopp looked up to Zoro and said with a grin, "You're about to see your client in action." There were three loud and obnoxious beeps signaling the camera man from in the building.
A few seconds later, a man came sprinting off the side of the building, jumping high off the ledge like he was jumping into a pool. Zoro could only hold his breath. Golden hair flying wildly could barely obstruct the view of a wide and winning grin. Zoro had never known that falling off a building could look so graceful.
The fall only lasted four seconds, the man landing neatly on his mark, now hidden in a pillow of the blue high-fall airbag. Beside Zoro, Usopp reached down for his megaphone.
"Nice fall Mr. Black, we got the shots we need! Everyone take 10." Zoro watched as Mr. Black emerged from the airbag. He was still grinning from ear to ear, fixing tousled hair into an obnoxious style that covered his right eye, like some weird fashion trend. The man was tall and looked well built for someone so skinny; he led with his hips that gave him an odd but cocky posture.
There was something familiar about the blond that Zoro didn't realize until the man reached where he and Usopp were standing.
"Hey you're the stupid bastard who spilled coffee all over me!" Zoro yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the stunt man. The grin on the man's face completely disappeared, his once wide blue eyes faded into a disinterested haze as his hand lazily dug into his black pocket.
"What the fuck are you talking about, shit head?" He said in a dead pan voice, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it between his lips. His calm demeanor pissed Zoro off even more. He could feel Usopp tugging slightly at his shirt but ignored it.
"Ummm Zoro…" Zoro stepped into the blond's personal space.
"What the fuck am I talking about?! Outside that set, you ran into me you son of a bitch, you could at least fucking apologize!"
"Hey, Zoro, listen." Usopp tried but the stunt man stepped closer to Zoro, completely blocking the whimpering director. The blonde took a drag from his cigarette and blew the smoke into Zoro's face, causing him cough slightly but Zoro refused to look away.
"Wasn't. Me." The guy was starting to look seriously pissed, which pleased Zoro in some weird way. Zoro stood a little taller to try to look down on Mr. Black. He noticed the stunt double's eye was twitching like he had a vein ready to pop and then realized that the guy had a swirl at the end of his thin eyebrow.
"Curly cue." Zoro sneered with a smirk. The other man's visible eye widened and he stood up slightly to try to match Zoro's height.
"What'd you just call me, moss head?"
"Who you calling moss head, dart brow!" They were so close now that their teeth could almost touch, Zoro could faintly hear the man grinding his cigarette and taste the smoke in his mouth.
"Shitty plants-for-brains!"
"Swirly bastard!"
"YOUNG MASTER! IT'S ME, HANDSOME!" Suddenly, Zoro watched all the fight drain out of Mr. Black's face. He gave Zoro a regretful look and slowly turned his head to watch as a golf cart came rolling up. Zoro felt his draw drop: the man driving the cart was definitely the guy who spilled coffee on him, and he looked ridiculously similar to Mr. Black.
The blond from the cart pulled Mr. Black close, who leaned away as much as possible. The new comer had one of those faces that was so ugly it was beautiful, which is what set him apart from Mr. Black, who had a much more natural and subtle appearance that was easier on the eyes. Not that Zoro thought the stunt double was handsome or anything.
Usopp came up from behind Zoro, loudly clearing his throat to pull Zoro's attention away from the bizarre interaction between the two blonds.
"What I was trying to mention earlier was that Mr. Black has been at the set all morning. You must have run into Duval here, they have such a likeness: Mr. Black is his stunt double after all." Zoro felt the blush traveling up his cheeks from embarrassment, mouth twitching slightly as he tried to pull his face into neutral.
"Well…. Shit…"He mumbled to himself. The Duval guy was practically shaking Mr. Black by the shoulders, causing the poor guys head to bounce like a bobble head.
"Oh young master I saw the jump from back there it was so incredible you're so amazing I would have never been able to do that I'm too handsome thank goodness I have you you're so cool!" Zoro wondered if Duval realized how much air he was wasting. Just then, a young lady nervously approached the golf cart, clutching to a notepad like her life depended on it.
"E-excuse me, Duval? You're needed in costume, if you could just follow me, p-please."
"Please, call me Handsome!" He turned back to Mr. Black. "Don't worry young master we'll be together again soon! Tah tah for now!" Then Duval jumped into the cart and slowly followed the behind girl, his over the top voice carrying above the background noise around him. Once Mr. Black regained his bearings he pivoted back to Zoro, an expectant and smug look on his face. Zoro shuffled in place awkwardly.
"I, uh, guess I owe you an apology, huh?" After a moment of reveling in Zoro's embarrassment, Mr. Black shrugged and placed a cigarette in between his lips.
"Eh, wouldn't be the first time I guess." Zoro looked slightly behind the man to see the golf cart off in the distance, his view becoming more obstructed as more crew and cast members walked by.
"Is that guy… Always like that?" He wondered aloud.
"Oh yeah. He's not too bad once you've known him for a while, he's a simple but good guy." Mr. Black responded with a slight shake of his head. Beside Zoro, Usopp jumped slightly as a message buzzed on his phone, frowning when he opened it.
"Ugh, I gotta go: Ace is having issues with setting up the lake house stage fire and says we might not be able to film it the way I wanted. See you two later!" With that, Usopp trotted off. In front of Zoro, Mr. Black casually flicked his lighter open to start his cigarette.
"So… I take it you're Mr. Roronoa? Famous swords play trainer?"
"That's me." Zoro felt uncomfortable under the man's stare, who made no attempt to hide that he was looking Zoro up and down with those dangerous blue eyes. After a moment, he held out an expecting hand.
"Gimme your phone."
"Huh?"
"You know, a phone? Small, rectangular object that lets you call people from far away?" The amount of sarcasm in his voice was almost impossible.
"I know what a phone is!"Snapped Zoro, digging into his pockets to retrieve his phone and unlock it, handing it to the blond with a huff. The blond typed in a few numbers then tossed it back.
"That's my number. Call me when you have available times for some sessions." Then he added with a smirk, "And be ready to have your ass kicked." Zoro snorted.
"You can try, curly."
"It's Sanji. And what do I call you? Sensei? Master?" Sanji let the last word roll of his tongue so that it took Zoro a second to process.
"You can call me Zoro. Just, Zoro." The Blond smirked and turned to walk away. He lifted his head to call over his shoulder.
"I'm needed in set A5 in ten minutes so I have to go. I'll see you around, Zoro."
Zoro didn't like the way his stomach tightened when Sanji said his name. He didn't like the way he couldn't bring himself to look away from the departing blond. The stunt double went from annoying prick to strangely alluring in a matter of minutes and it was messing with Zoro's head.
Zoro slowly began walking towards the direction he believed his studio to be in. He hadn't even begun lessons with the man and Zoro could already tell that this stunt double was going to be nothing but trouble for him.
A/N
Hello! This is my first fic ever so comments are super appreciated, I'd love to hear what people think! Constructive criticism is more than welcome.