"Gao!" Someone grabbed his nose and pulled.
"Ow, what the hell- Luffy, what are-?" Zoro jerked awake and swiped at the offensive hand flailing in front of his face. The rest of the crew was gathered on deck, hauling groceries back on board.
But Luffy.
Was wearing a green… He wasn't sure what it was but it looked soft, velvet ridged running down his back into a tail, flimsy claws stretching down to his arms, with padding wrapping around his entire body like a…
"I'm a dinosaur!" Luffy stomped a foot and threw his head back. "Gao!"
"You're howling like a wolf. Not roaring like a dinosaur." Ussop interrupted, sweeping his cape along behind him. He adjusted his crown and struck the wooden boards with his staff. It made a dull plastic clang and the tip cracked a little. "Hear, hear-"
Chopper clattered up to the idiotic pair, looking mystified. His brown fur coat had been painted over with black and white stripes, and bright strings of lights were tangled in his antlers.
"Zoro needs a costume too!" Luffy announced to no one and rummaged suspiciously in the vicinity of his pants.
He pulled out a round ball and rammed it on his face. He winced, yanking his head back and seized Luffy's arm. "Wha-"
A squeak and Luffy planted his hands on his hips in satisfaction. "It's a rubber nose!" Ussop squealed. "It honks too!" The long-nosed sniper ambled forward and reached out, but wisely changed the action into a meek wave when Zoro narrowed his eyes, and tucked his arms behind his back, out of harm's way.
The first mate huffed and settled back against the mast. No one was in danger and no booze seemed to be in sight so…
"Wake up, Zoro!"
He sighed and cracked an eye open again.
"It's Halloween!"
"It's… what…?"
"Halloween." Robin strode up to them and Zoro eased his eyes carefully away from the slit running up her dress to her hip. Her pointy hat bobbed seductively as she looked down at him and smiled. "It's an annual festival held every year on this island."
Zoro grunted, disinterested.
"And!" The chorus nearly deafened him and Zoro himself with a lapful of Luffy, accompanied by Ussop and Chopper on either side, squeezing him between them.
"Hey-!"
"Shh!" Luffy clapped a hand over his mouth. "Be quiet, Zoro! It's story time!" The giant monstrous head swung towards him as his captain beamed at him. Zoro rolled his eyes and licked the palm pressed over his mouth. Luffy squirmed but didn't remove his hand, eyes intent on Robin's towering figure.
Zoro tuned out Robin's explanation of whatever-it-was and watched the back of Luffy's head sway from side to side – something he always did when listening to Robin's stories. Both Ussop and Chopper did something similar too, this child-like wide-eyed gaze of wonder and awe, but there was something in Luffy's that was different.
Maybe he really believes it, Zoro mused, and discarded the thought. It wasn't like him to think about such things anyway. Why did it matter? It didn't. Luffy was here. That was all.
"-ro! Hey!"
"What?" He snapped irritably, raking a hand through his bristly hair.
"Don't you think that was a cool story?" Zoro leaned back as his captain leaned forward, eyes widening. "We should do this every day!"
"Oh yes, we should!"
Zoro snarled at the high-pitched annoying whine coming from the suited chef who nearly giving himself whip lash trying to ogle both Robin and Nami at once. How fitting, a witch and a cat burglar.
Luffy giggled. "What else can we dress up as?" No resounding response; Ussop and Chopper had been distracted by one of Brooke's ridiculous antics.
"What do you think, Zoro?"
He grunted, shrugging. "Whatever you want."
"What do you want, Zoro?"
"Nothing." He grimaced as at the nasal pitch of his voice and twisted the rubber nose free.
"Aw! You didn't like it!" Luffy stuck out his lower lip, turning on the full power of his pout. "I got it just for you, Zoro!"
The swordsman avoided eye contact. "It itches."
"Are you sick, Zoro?" Luffy pivoted in his lap and swung around to face him, hooking his knees over his shoulders.
"No." Zoro averted his eyes at Luffy's proximity and tried to ignore the way the captain was sitting. "And stop staying my name."
"Zoro!" Luffy chirped and looped his arms around Zoro's neck, nuzzled against his collarbone with a yawn.
"Sleepy?" Zoro shifted to accommodate the extra weight, one hand resting on the small of his captain's back to support him.
"No." The smaller boy protested even as his head drooped. "You're not allowed to sleep, okay, Zoro?"
"Aye, aye, Captain."
"I'm… a…" Luffy yawned again, arching forward and sagging against Zoro's chest. "Imma dinosaur."
"Sure."
"Gao."
"Hn."
Quiet snores emitted from inside the dinosaur suit, straw hat hanging appropriately from its neck. Sanji was clattering about in the kitchen, probably entertaining Nami and Robin, their silhouettes shifting in the kitchen window. Crashes came from the back of the ship – Zoro attributed it to the rest of the idiots. And here, he tightened his grip. His captain.
All accounted for. Together. Safe.
He didn't need any other reason to celebrate.