Disclaimer: I'd be an idiot if I said I was responsible for owning One Piece and it's characters. Eiichiro Oda owns 'em, not me.
"Urgh! Stupid…"
His words trailed off as he continued to wrestle with the fancy piece of black cloth dangling from his neck. Somehow the captain had gotten it into his head that visiting an island full of rich people would be fun, and that they should go there after resupplying. He honestly had no clue where Luffy had gotten the idea, but the rest of the crew had gone along with it.
Now he was stuck wearing this ridiculous suit and trying to wear this ridiculous tie!
After restocking on the previous island, everyone had gone their separate ways to go find "disguises". He thought it was useless to put on a suit and a tie mainly because of how uncomfortable it was. The others thought the same because of how roguish he looked. But under threat of debt from their resident navigator, he had been forced into buying something decent.
And on top of it all, he'd run into that aho ero-cook while walking around town. He claimed that the swordsman had no fashion sense in suits, and helped him pick one out with ease. Despite Sanji's laughter and his own retorts, he couldn't deny the fact that the cook was indeed good at things like this. The guy did wear a suit almost every day after all.
But darn it if he ever told dartboard-brow that he didn't know how to put on a tie!
He looked away from the mirror and observed the scene before him. Everyone was making last minute adjustments to their clothing, checking for tears or wrinkles so they could look decent. The swordsman smirked as he thought about how they'd probably be the least normal-looking people on the island, even with all this formal stuff on. Usopp was standing in front of another mirror, practicing pick-up lines. Franky was commenting on how "supah" his suit was, and made a pose. Somehow, they'd managed to convince him that wearing pants was a good idea just this once. Sanji had been done dressing up a long time ago, and was inspecting all the guys with a critical eye to make sure they looked nice. Brook was commenting on how he always tied his bow tie on so tight that he couldn't breathe, ah, but he was a skeleton anyway yohohohoho! Nami was admiring her red dress and earrings, only to yell at Luffy for not being ready yet. The captain was sitting on a chair and laughing, his collar sticking up and his shirt not even tucked in. And he kept laughing, even when Sanji pulled him by the ear and told him to hurry up. Chopper was sitting with his feet dangling off the edge of a wardrobe, watching Robin pull on some gloves to match her lavender dress.
"Ne, Robin?"
"Yes Chopper?"
"What's the name of the island again?"
"It's called 'Diamond Roll Island'."
"How creative," Zoro muttered, turning back towards the mirror but still able to see the doctor and the archeologist conversing.
"Why is it called that?" the inquisitive reindeer asked. He and Brook were the only ones who couldn't go, as they didn't look nearly human enough. Naturally, they had both been extremely curious for the past few days.
"It's because there was once a huge diamond mine located there, along with a few others on the smaller adjacent islands."
"Are there any diamonds left?" Nami asked happily. Zoro could just see her eyes turning into belli.
"Not anymore," Robin said, humoring Chopper by tying a small bow tie around his neck. He grinned happily. "The diamond mines have been exhausted for some time, but this place became a tourist attraction for the rich because it's picturesque. Many tycoons gather here for vacations, shopping and a good time at the casinos."
Nami's expression dimmed a bit upon hearing there weren't any diamonds left, but the fact that there were casinos made her happy. She declared that they were leaving in five minutes, Sanji declaring she looked beautiful after the fact.
Zoro's mood took a nosedive as he felt more ready to rip the tie apart with each passing second. Just five minutes before going ashore, and even Luffy had managed to pass Sanji's inspection! He'd been struggling with this tie for at least an hour, and still no luck! Overcoming his pride for fear of Nami's wrath, he spoke up.
"A little help here?" he growled loudly. The crew was far too noisy to hear him. He scowled deeply, but then out of the corner of his eye he saw Robin coming towards him. Her purple dress swishing gracefully behind her, she approached him calmly. He turned towards her with a look of questioning and, without saying a word, she buttoned up the last buttons of his suit, adjusted the collar, and tied his tie comfortably around his neck.
"Er...thank you Robin," he said, not quite sure how to process what had just happened.
"You're welcome," she said with a smile, and then went back to Chopper.
...Suddenly, wearing suits didn't seem half bad.
Ha! I'd like to see Zoro try wearing a suit, or at least try wearing a tie. It would be amusing. (EDIT: I watched One Piece Movie - Strong World for the first time ever a few days after posting this. I saw everyone wearing a suit. It. Was. AWESOME.)
Yeah, I have a small thing for Zoro and Robin. Eiichiro Oda doesn't do romance a whole lot (if at all) in the One Piece series, so I'm doubting anything between them will ever happen. But I can be silly and write these things anyway. *laughs* By the way, this has nothing to do with the current time line. This is just something I conjured up.
This will probably be edited later, but I hope you enjoyed reading it! Your comments/critiques/flames are welcome!
