A/N: Okay, it's another one for that fabulous opfanforall on Livejournal! This prompt asked for Franky/Usopp h/c, which is pretty rare, so I had trouble coming up with the plot. But I was listening to El Tango De Roxanne from 'Moulin Rouge' and volia! I was actually surprised with the result; I didn't expect to be so fond of this little story. Special thanks to magique for helping me out (again).
WARNINGS: Faint slash, mentions of prostitution.
000
There's glass in his feet, Usopp notices.
He frowns. He probably shouldn't be walking on the beach after Aqua Laguna. It's rather late, and the moon doesn't give off enough light for him to avoid the glass and debris hidden in the sand. His common sense begs him to go inside, to sit by a fire, to be warm and safe. He doesn't listen though. Common sense should know that he doesn't have anywhere to go with warm, safe fires. All he has is a full stomach and an hour to kill. The glass doesn't bother him like it should. In these last few days, pain had become a familiar, almost comforting, sensation.
He walks on.
It's not just the wounds from Enis Lobby, or the beatings he took from the Franky family. Those hurt (a lot), but the old lady always lets him keep his bandages on. Almost always. She warned him to remove them if one of his customers wanted them off: "Customer's always right. Or at least their money is." she told him, with a gruff, smoker's laugh.
Usopp has to smile at that memory-she made it sound like he worked at some fancy restaurant. Maybe the Baratie? He smiles a little wider, at the irony. His lips are twitching. It doesn't feel right.
His smile's broken, Usopp notices.
He wonders when that happened. The breaking. He figures it had to have been within the past week. He used to smile a bunch back when things were okay, but so much has happened-he's had a broken nose, fractured ribs, an assortment of bruises, and recently a slight soreness every time he sat down-but nothing affected him quite like Luffy had. Luffy and his words, (the fists came later and they didn't even hurt as much) those came crashing through Usopp's world like a bolder through a glass house. Nothing of value was left.
He had felt so worthless without his crew. So numb. He still felt that way, but now it was ten times worse because at least he had Merry back then. And he had been so determined not to abandon his only nakama. Screw Aqua Laguna. He would have gladly gone down with that ship. That had seemed brave at the time, but in reality it was all terribly stupid.
"Yo! Longnose bro!" Usopp stops at the sound of that unique, familiar voice. The same irritating voice that had echoed out of the darkness to "kidnap" him on the night of Aqua Laguna. The voice of the person who had (accidentally) saved his life. Stupid. Brave.
Franky's voice.
"Up here!" Franky calls.
Usopp looks up to see a…ship? An unfinished ship. Man, he must have really been out of it, missing something so huge right next to him. On top of the half-built mast is Franky, who's somehow managing to smile with a mouthful of nails. Usopp smiles back. This one doesn't feel right either.
A true carpenter, Franky spots the broken smile from a distance. He drops from the mast and makes his way to the ladder at the ship's side, spitting out nails the whole way down. Eyebrows creased with worry-how can I fix this one?
"You can't." Usopp wants to tell him, but he knows it won't do any good. He knows from experience that stupid, brave people don't listen to reason. Besides, Franky's already right in front of him.
"Little bro! How've you been?" The older man slings his arm across Usopp's shoulders, and tries to look carefree. He's failing, though. The worry lines are still there.
"M'okay," Usopp responds, while fighting the urge to shrug off the cyborg's arm. Contact is weird. The old lady always told him to make them pay first. But Franky's not a customer, he reminds himself. Franky is…Franky.
He's confused, Usopp notices.
Usopp's confused, not Franky. No, Franky's always so sure-
Franky's saying something. "…my guys have been keeping an eye on you and -" Wait, what?
"What are you saying?" the sniper asks, turning to stare at the sea. He knows were this is going. He doesn't want to have this conversation, doesn't want the pity that's sure to come with it.
"Look," out of the corner of his eye he sees Franky's slightly uncomfortable, yet determined expression. "My little sisters used to be into this sorta thing. It's not something you should get caught up in."
"So you've been spying on me?"
Franky shrugs. "You could say that." For someone who just admitted to having his men "keeping an eye on" (aka, stalking) another person, he doesn't look the least bit embarrassed. Maybe embarrassment is a cybernetic impossibility? Usopp ponders that for a moment, giving his companion time to rush on.
"All those bastards that use you-what do you expect to get from them?" Franky is exaggerating. Not all of his customers were bad. A few nights ago one came in, with telltale blond hair and a tired smile. He had been gentle, and he'd whispered nice things, things about lovely black hair, and lovely lips and lovely everything. But the man left in the morning. Because everyone was bound to leave eventually.
Usopp accepts-no, he expects that now.
So he'll wait for Franky to go away.
Franky's still talking. "You're moving in the wrong direction, kid. Taking three steps back from your dreams."
"Just what do you know about my dreams?" Usopp asks, locking eyes with the older man. So much for waiting it out.
"I know what you told me. Said you wanted to go out there." Franky looks away briefly, and gestures at the vast ocean before them. "You wanted to go on lots of adventures, right? With that ship of yours."
What Usopp wants to do is leave. Leave and go somewhere where Franky's voice doesn't reach him-does such a place exist? A place where he can forget about dreams and his former nakama, because those days are over-aren't they?
Usopp looks at the moon. His hour's almost up. "I need to go."
Franky's arm is still around his shoulders, holding him in place. "Wait a minute-"
"Let go," Usopp yells angrily, wrestling Franky's grip. "Just let me go, damnit! Why is it you won't leave me alone, won't mind your own fucking business-"
"Because!" Franky grabs the struggling boy by the shoulders and pulls him so close that their noses touch-cold metal that feels cool against his overheated skin reminds him that someone's there, but why isn't Franky going away-?
"Because I know you still want those things!" Usopp wants to cover his ears, he doesn't deserve to have those things, not after everything he's said and done-
"I know you still dream. And that's okay, Usopp."
It's silent. Silent except for the ocean's waves crashing against the shore, and maybe it's a little too awkward, even for Franky, because he removes his shaking hands from Usopp's shoulders.
The sniper takes one step back. Then another.
Usopp turns around to leave, but a tired mumble reaches his ears and he stops, because curiosity will always get the best of him.
"You could stay here, you know. Just for the night." Franky voice is calm now, but not quite as confident as before. "Please?"
Maybe it's temporary insanity. Maybe it's some freaky shipwright mind control. Or maybe he's just really, really tired.
"Yeah, alright."
Somehow, twenty minutes later, Usopp finds himself on a fairly safe patch of sand underneath the stars, wrapped in nothing but a thin blanket and a pair of large arms. There's also an overpowering oder of sweat, oil, and sawdust.
"Really," Usopp wants to say, "If you're going to ask someone to send the night with you, at least take a bath." Course that wouldn't do any good, because Franky's already asleep.
The man snores like a freaking gorilla, Usopp notices.
Then he tries his smile again.
It's not bad.