A—A

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-PD

For Shits and Giggles

Zoro looked at his brother, sighing before he began to speak. "...Ace was just trying to help me make someone jealous..." He figured it couldn't hurt to tell Smoker what was going on. Zoro smiled when Smoker snorted with what he could only assume was amusement. Or maybe it was disbelief. "I know, stupid right?"

"That kinda shit only happens in bad movies." Smoker wiped furiously at his eyes before letting out a huge sigh. "I know that that couldn't have been your crack-brained idea."

"That obvious?" Smoker gave him a look. "...Yeah, it was Ace's idea. We were...supposed to help each other make...other people jealous."

"You're a moron."

"It wasn't my idea."

"You went along with it." The brothers stared at each other a moment before heaving simultaneous sighs. "So, who was Ace trying to piss off?"

"I wouldn't say 'try.' He was pretty damn successful." Smoker looked at him, confused. Now it was Zoro's turn to give his brother an incredulous look. "You wanna be a detective so bad, you figure it out." He stood up and went over to the door. "Come on. We gotta get that soda out of the rug before Dad throws a fit."

Smoker looked over to where Zoro had pointed. There was a nasty brown splotch and crumbles of crushed popcorn everywhere. He'd forgotten that he'd brought those up here after his little temper tantrum. They must've gotten crushed during his fight with Zoro. Whoops.

"Yeah, sure." He mumbled, following behind Zoro. He thought back to earlier, seeing Ace pressed up against his brother in the alley, seeing Zoro walk through their door with an unconscious Ace on his back, watching the unconscious form like a creep from the next room while Zoro and his mother fussed over their guest. Then, Ace being so close to him, arm around him as he patted his chest and whispered in his ear, and the shocks his overactive hormones sent straight to his groin. He cursed his pale skin when he felt his face heat up.

"Hou," Smoker looked up at Zoro's smirking face, "looks like someone finally figured it out."

Smoker stared at his brother a moment longer than necessary, trying not to betray his inner emotions as he thought of a comeback. "At least I'm not trying to get topped a breast-obsessed sissy with curly eyebrows."

Smoker's jibe had the desired outcome: Zoro's face lit up and he spluttered with indignation. "I'm not getting topped by Sanji!"

"Don't yell unless you want them to find out you're gay. And a bottom no less."

"For the last time, I'm not. And besides, Mom might not care...maybe..." Zoro did lower his voice though. He was afraid of what his father would think if he found out both his sons were gay.

"I'm hooooome~ Smoker, Zoro! I need you to beat someone up for me!"

"What's she doing, coming home so late." Smoker frowned as he folded his arms. "Bet she was out with that Moria bastard and his gang of creeps."

Zoro was more forgiving, or tolerant rather, of their younger sister and her antics than Smoker was. He went to the top of the stairs so he could look down at the foyer. "Where've you been?"

"None of your business!" Perona pouted, "But I need you to beat someone up for me~"

Zoro sighed and was about to respond when Mihawk decided to make his appearance. "You're late." His tone was level, but it sent shivers down the three teenager's spines. Even though the twins weren't the ones in trouble, it was still scary as hell. Their father was not one to be disobeyed.

"I...I was just..." Perona looked around awkwardly, suddenly very meek while under the hard gaze of her father.

"This is the third time this week, Perona. You're grounded. No phone."

"Whaaat? That's not fair! I have plans!"

"Now you don't. And now you don't have Internet either." Perona had to bite her lips to keep from arguing back. "Up to your room. Go."

Perona gave one more hateful glare before tearing up the stairs, pushing past her brothers and marching straight to her room, slamming the gaudily decorated door.

Zoro and Smoker silently communicated with pointed looks and harsh gesticulations, neither one of them wanting to have to play big brother. Perona was often impossible to talk to, and even more impossible to console.

"Zoro, come down here. Your mother and I want to speak with you." Mihawk called from the bottom of the stairs.

Zoro threw up a victorious "peace" before running downstairs, leaving Smoker with their undoubtedly crying younger sister. The gray-haired boy let out an exasperated sigh. He'd just dealt with his own drama, he didn't need his sister's too. He went up to Perona's door and knocked gently, being careful not to hit any of the decorations.

"Go away! I wanna be left alone!" Her reaction was predictable, but it wasn't honest.

"Perona, open up." Smoker called quietly, but firmly.

"No! I wanna talk to Zoro!" She whined before flopping back down onto her bed, face first, wailing into one of her plush pillows.

Smoker gesticulated angrily, gripping his hair and trying not to scream with frustration. What was with this favoritism towards his brother? Before his sisters had left for college, they had been the favorites. He didn't get it, and it pissed him off. "You know what, forget it, I've got my own drama to deal with. I don't need yours too." Smoker turned away and headed back towards his room. He halted when he heard Perona's door squeak open.

"You-You have drama?" She sniffed, wiping her eyes and smearing her eye makeup. "You never have drama. I wanna hear about it."

Smoker grimaced a bit, not sure how to feel about his sister's morbid fascination with others' misfortune. However, something made him walk back over to Perona's room, going through her door and closing it, feeling like he'd condemned himself.

"You're gay?" Perona's mouth dropped open in disbelief. Apparently, nothing else from Smoker's story had seeped in. "I mean...I figured about Zoro when he came home with those piercings—"

"Piercings don't make you gay."

"—but I never thought you would be!" Perona crossed her arms and sat back down on her bed, red lip jutting out in a pout. "Just my luck, I got gay, twin brothers. How cliché."

"Not like I wanted to be...gay. Besides, I don't like putting a label on it. I'll like who I like. If I like a girl, I like a girl. This time, I just happen to like a guy."

"Apparently, you like assholes." She rested her chin on her knees. "But I always thought Ace was a good guy."

"He is a good guy. He's just a moron." Smoker was lying back on Perona's black with pink polka dots, silken comforter, his pale skin and white hair contrasting with her bedding spectacularly.

"So you like morons."

"No! I just, well, ye—no! I...arrrgh..." Smoker ran his hands over his face. "Let's just talk about your drama, alright?"

"No, this is much more interesting." Perona pressed, scooching closer to Smoker's side. "Come on, what else!"

"There really isn't anything left to say."

"Oh, come oooon~" Perona whined, "You gotta gimme the detaaails~" She poked Smoker in the cheek a couple times.

"Knock it off." He flinched away, but he couldn't really move anymore than that without rolling over or getting up all together.

"Come on, just like, like tell me about how you met." She continued her prodding, trying to get the words she wanted to hear out of her brother.

"I met him the same way you did, through Zoro."

"Then tell me what you find attractive about him." She was beginning to get annoyed with her brothers' seeming lack of interest in girly talk. She thought gay guys liked gossip. Just her luck, her brothers were the boring type.

"Then tell me what you find so attractive about that freak you hang out with."

Perona's face scrunched up with indignation. "I-I do NOT find Moria attractive! I just...appreciate his lifestyle." She crossed her arms and looked up and away, huffing a bit.

"...Right."

The door burst open and Zoro came in, slamming it behind him.

"Hey! Careful! You'll knock everything—" Perona stopped scolding once she noticed the look on Zoro's face. "Zoro, are you okay? What's with your face?"

Smoker sat up and looked over at his brother. "What's the matter with you?" As Zoro made his way over, Perona and Smoker made room for their brother. He flopped down on his stomach between his siblings, not moving and definitely not saying anything.

"What's gotten into him?" Perona frowned, wanting to understand what was going on. First Smoker and now Zoro? She'd always perceived her brothers as being the stoic type; she wasn't used to this much disturbance.

Zoro took a long sniff, the kind one took when they were recovering from a good cry. This sent off the warning bells between Smoker and Perona.

"Oi, Zoro..."

"Zoro, what's wrong!" Zoro felt his sister drape herself over him, trying to hug him while he was lying down. "What happened!"

"Did it have something to do with what Dad called you down for?"

Zoro was still for a moment before nodding as best he could while his face was buried in the bedspread. Smoker felt it was his duty as the big brother to try and help comfort his twin. He gently, and somewhat awkwardly—Smoker wasn't typically one for affectionate gestures—began to stroke Zoro's hair, looking away with embarrassment.

"We can talk when you're ready to. You don't have to say anything now."

"What? Yes he does!"

"Perona, shut up."

"Jerk! You shut up, stuuuupid!" She stuck out her tongue. "Since when do you care about feelings?"

"Zoro's my bother, of course I care. I'm human too, in case you forgot."

"Thank you for reminding me, it completely slipped my mind. You're always so grumpy and unemotional I forget there's a heart in there! However small and frozen it may be."

"Deep words. You get that from a cheesy, low-budget, daytime movie? Or did you manage to rub those few brain cells together and create that all on your own?"

"Why you!"

There was a soft chuckle that rumbled beneath them. "God, you two never shut up." Zoro rolled over to reveal his reddened face and eyes. His eyes were a bit on the puffy side and the corners were damp. "I'm fine, it's nothing. Really."

Smoker brought a hand to Zoro's face and wiped away a forming tear. "That's not what these say."

"Are you really crying, Zoro?"

"No, he's faking it for shits and giggles."

"Shut up, bastard!"

"Don't use that kinda language, Perona." Zoro responded automatically. He wiped his eyes and smiled up at them weakly. "Well," he looked up at Smoker, "they know."

"...Oh."

"Know what?" Perona asked, still not getting it.

"That I'm gay."

"...Oh."

The three of them were silent for a minute, not quite sure what to do about the heavy, awkward atmosphere. "Er...did you tell them about me?" Perhaps it hadn't been the most sensitive thing Smoker could've managed, but he was curious regardless.

"No. You can take that shit storm on yourself, jackass." Zoro grumbled, frown setting in.

"I didn't mean it like that. Just...maybe if you told them about me...it'd..."

"No, it'd make it worse." Zoro let out a long sigh.

"So, what happened? When you told them?" Perona picked up where Smoker had left off and brought up a hand to start fiddling with Zoro's hair. She noticed that it'd gotten longer recently.

"Apparently the neighbors have been talking. They don't seem to appreciate having a faggot bringing his "friends" around and corrupting their kids. Mom doesn't want us hanging around Ace either. She blames him for the rumors. Her exact words were "how dare they accuse you of being gay. I raised you kids better than that.""

Smoker felt his heart sting at that. They didn't want them around Ace? The one who had taken the place in his heart reserved for his first serious infatuation with another person? It was unthinkable! Not that he'd say anything like that aloud.

"...And?" Perona pressed.

"...Then I told her it was true. I'm gay. Mom was close to fainting and had to sit down for a while. Dad..." He took a shaky sigh. "Dad said that...he was going to leave for a while, and when he came back, we'd talk. Mom eventually recovered from her spell before she started crying. I tried to talk to her, but she kicked me out of the kitchen. Said it pained her to be in the same room as me." Zoro felt fresh tears welling up again, and Smoker used the sleeve of his hoodie to try and wipe them as they fell, but there were too many of them, and his cuff was getting soaked.

"Waaahhh~" Perona cried along with her brother. "I'm sorry Zo~chan," she always used that old nickname when she was upset, "I'll still love you, though!" She clung to Zoro and wept, sniveling and sobbing more than Zoro was.

Smoker grit his teeth and furrowed his brow. "I'm going to go talk to them." He stood up off the bed and went to the door.

"Wait, no!" Zoro sat up and reached a hand out. "Don't...let me talk to them."

"Let me play big brother for a bit."

"You're not my big brother, you're my twin."

"Those 12 minutes say I'm older." Smoker smirked a bit, "I'm going and you can't stop me." Smoker turned and left, closing the door behind him. They could hear him tromp down about the first 5 steps, but after that they couldn't hear anything else.

Perona was still holding Zoro close as their last few tears stopped flowing. "You can let go now." He mumbled.

"A-Ah, yeah..." Perona responded awkwardly. When she was crying for selfish or childish reasons, she had no problem clinging to someone, usually Zoro, but when it came to deeper emotion, she was awkward about it, as their entire family seemed to be. She cleared her throat and tried to get over the awkwardness she felt by asking an even more awkward question. "So, are you a top or a bottom?"

"You!"

o()o()o

Smoker hesitantly walked into the kitchen where his mom was still sitting. She had made herself a cup of tea and was slowly dipping the tea bag, clearly lost in thought.

"Mom?"

Hancock jumped a little at the intrusion. She looked up and saw that her son was standing in the doorway. "You startled me."

Smoker stepped in and stood at the opposite side of the table. He didn't want to beat around the bush, so he got straight to the point. "Zoro's really upset."

"Oh, god, please don't talk to me about your brother right now."

"Why not?"

"Because!" She glared up at her other son.

"Because why? You don't want to come to terms with your son being gay?"

"That's enough, Smoker."

"He's still your son. He was crying up there!"

"Smoker, stop!"

"He's the good one! He's always done everything for you guys! How can you dismiss him like that at the drop of—"

"I said, that's enough!" Hancock stood from the table, eyes hard, but with tears in the corners. Her lip was trying not to tremble as she spoke. "That's enough."

Smoker frowned and went to his mom, putting a hand on her shoulder as she sat back down. "I know you don't want to hear this, but..." Smoker took a deep breath. "Zoro can't be the only one to—"

"Please, just...just don't." Hancock buried her face in her hands, crying quietly. "What did I do wrong...why did it turn out like this..."

"Mom, it's not your fault..." Smoker frowned, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Is it really so bad that we're gay?"

Hancock let out another sob, turning her body away from her son. She never saw the dejected look on his face as she muttered into her tear coated hands. "Please, just leave..."

A) Leave the house

B) Go back upstairs (Next Chapter)