Polyamory: pol·y·am·o·ry /ˌpälēˈamərē/ noun - the philosophy or state of being in love or romantically involved with more than one person at the same time.
A/N: IT HASN'T BEEN A MONTH! A little late than I had planned but NOT A MONTH! Cheer with me! X''D You're all gonna hate me for the ending. Mwahahahaha! We had both of our guest voices in this one-Silva as Law, and Jenna as Ace-and Ember was my trusty Beta as usual!
Enjoy, minna! 3
15 October - Part 2
Law emerged from the coffee shop at the end of his shift with drinks for the whole group. Koala had been very gracious and given him a bag with a flat bottom to keep them from tipping and keep them warm in the night air as he made for the bar. Bundling in closer to his scarf, he shot a text off to each of them to confirm they were all together, or at least on their way.
Ace had calmed down a lot during the hours that had passed. With the help of Sanji before, and then after, with his lovers, Ace was feeling… better. Thick leather wrapped around his neck left over from his romp with Luffy, and one of his very first, most comforting, crystals afforded him a modicum of security that conventional medicine had never been able to supply. He still felt paranoid, had checked the Cintiq twice just to make sure it actually was intact, and when they'd received word that Law wanted to chat—with Sanji—he relaxed further. He'd be able to see Law and just...
Just double check. That was it. Just to see that... he wasn't a disappointment and that things really were alright.
So now he was waiting with Sabo and Luffy, and craving caffeine but not really daring to get any. To stave it off he was playing with a chunk of amethyst as big as his hand, enjoying the sound of the quartz on his wrist ringing every time it met the bigger stone.
The sound of a rubber ball bouncing against the ceiling made Sabo's ear twitch every time Luffy did it. The captain was sprawled out on the edge of the stage, one knee tucked up, and the other leg hanging off the side swinging absently. It was best not to ask how he was able to reach the ceiling with the ball, but it made "bong bong bong" sounds as it bounced from light to vent to light and back to his hand. The blond sighed heavily, turning his attention back to his chord notes and trying to play the melody in his head. He hadn't made it out to Hack's today because of Ace's panic attack. So he was almost as twitchy about sitting still as Luffy was.
Intimidating. That was the word Sanji kept hearing over and over in his head whenever he looked out at the trio. The hours of mindless drink fills and snack requests had been able to lull him into a daze of affected ignorance, but now? Now it was time to face the music. He just hoped not literally. He took a deep breath, picked up the tray of takoyaki with its various dipping sauces, and marched with false confidence over to the table where Ace and Sabo were sitting.
"Either move your shit, or I'm kicking it off." He growled without much heat.
Sabo grinned, gathering his papers. "See, now I know it's serious. Law had him cook."
"WOO! SANJI FOOD!" Luffy literally fell off of the stage with a plop onto his feet, the ball bouncing away to be caught later.
The cook's foot came up to the middle of his chest, the stone pendant bouncing against the toe of his shoe, with a hard scowl, "Wait for Law, damnit!"
"Waiting is unnecessary," came the amused voice from the door as the aforementioned man brought in the bag of drinks and chuckled. "However, defending a portion put aside for me would be appreciated while I unpack these."
He put the drink bag on the table and unzipped it to reveal the five cups, each wafting up a tantalizing aroma.
Ace perked up in his seat, eyes instantly alighting on Law. He sat up a little straighter, tucking the amethyst into his lap, and gave the surgeon a shaky smile, wanting to appear at least a little confident and in control of his emotions.
Sanji also smiled, but something held him back from taking his customary hello kiss.
Luffy ducked around the cook's foot to snag a handful of the hot, deep-fried, octopus anyway, while Sabo laughed. It just wouldn't be a date with all of them if Luffy wasn't trying to steal food, and Ace wasn't anxious about things. Sanji was a surprise, but from what he knew of the older blond, it probably shouldn't have shocked him as much as it did. He remembered having this conversation with Law in the beginning, and the doctor had been a bundle of nerves too. A surreptitious glance around told the songwriter the others were just as nervous in their own ways. He hoped that things went well.
"Gladly." The cook took a seat across from the others, his jacket and tie discarded in the kitchen and his sleeves rolled up.
Law passed out each drink; the chocolate mocha for him, the caramel for Sanji (soy and almond milk, he could already smell it), strong black coffee for Sabo, sweet tea for Luffy, and heavily sweetened espresso for Ace. Then he took a seat next to Sanji and reached over to take his hand and give it a gently reassuring squeeze.
Ace took his happily with a murmured 'thank you' and instantly began sipping at it, perking up just a little more. Again, caffeine was… probably very bad for him at the moment, but he was finding he didn't care. And there was nothing in Law's stance that spoke of disappointment in any way, so that was an added bonus.
Sanji glanced at the doctor, squeezed his hand back, then sipped his mocha with a glance around the table.
Luffy nearly took half his cup in his first drink and grinned licking the sugar from his lips before popping another takoyaki straight into his mouth without sauce. He seemed to be acutely aware that the cook was distracted. As such he took a few liberties with the food. Nothing was better than Sanji's food! Not even Crocky's!
The last of their party blew a kiss to the doctor with a wink. He slid a napkin of takoyaki wrapped up in it over to him, the corner of which had a little smiling musical note and a heart. It wasn't that he was trying to flaunt his own claim on the sexy darker man, but—okay, fine, he was! He didn't want things to change; he hated change! So what better way to bring the equally sexy cook into the fold than by being obvious?!
As far as Sabo was concerned, there wasn't one.
Law took it and started eating almost without looking at it, merely trusting in his boyfriends as he leaned slightly into Sanji's shoulder. "We should probably begin with the absolute basics of this conversation. First thing, Sanji, there is nothing wrong with our relationship. You didn't do anything wrong, there's no problem. And secondly, what do you know about polyamory?"
Ace settled back in his chair, the nervousness coming back and he kept his eyes trained on Sanji. The hand not holding his coffee cup thumbed over a facet of the heavy crystal in his lap for stability.
"Uhm..." Sanji looked from man to man. "I... know something about it. My brother... um..."
"I don't want to kiss you, Sanji, just have you cook for me." Luffy grinned, a certain light in his eye. Then he winked, his hand snaking around Ace to do something out of sight to the artist. "Trust me, you're better off not kissing me."
Sabo laughed as Ace jumped, but it sounded tense. He was clutching his cup tightly, eyes trained on Sanji with some intensity that just spoke of thoughts inside the musician's head being something he didn't want to share.
It made the older blond unconsciously sit further back. At first he scooted closer to Law, but meeting Sabo's eyes unsettled something in his stomach so he moved back, clearing his throat. "My brother is married to three men. At the same time. Not legally, of course, but the twins are... and his... um... wh-what does that have to do with this though?"
Law's other hand grasped Sanji's. "Well, being as you have an idea of the basics... Sabo, Ace, Luffy and I are in a polyamorous relationship. The, erm, primary pairings are Ace and Luffy, and me and Sabo, though that's not to say Ace and I don't have fun on occasion and we're all very much in it together, affection and love freeform between us all. It's just the physical relations that are a bit complicated."
Ace leaned forward, placing his half-empty cup onto the table and reached for some of the food. He still kept his gaze on Sanji, watching and waiting anxiously for the blond to relax. He apparently wasn't against polyamory, but... how did he feel about this? If he thought it would help, and he didn't need it as much as he did, he'd have offered to let Sanji hold the big purple gem.
Luffy seemed to sense something in the way the older brunet was sitting, so he moved from his chair to Ace's, scooting in behind him on the wooden seat with his arms wrapped around his brother loosely and his chin on the exposed freckled shoulder to nose and kiss at the collar.
"So... It's... but where does that leave me?"
Sanji hated to focus on himself, but that really was the main question going through his head. Where did he fit in? Was there space for him? He and Law had a lot of fun on their dates, miscommunication notwithstanding, but... sharing the darker man with three other partners? Or at least... wait... He was confused, eyes shifting from person to person trying to piece it together without talking, which was a fault, he got that he did, but he just... Gah! His head hurt.
"Hey, Sanji, dude. Breathe. It's okay if you don't know yet. We can play it by ear, right?" Sabo looked at the others.
Law squeezed his hand again. "Ideally, you would be involved with me and any of the others you were interested in, and you would be an equal partner as all of us are. Not that you aren't our equal now… I mean equally invested in all of us, or at least connected to us, though if that never happened I believe we could work it out. Not everyone in every polyamorous relationship has equal involvement and attachment with all the others involved."
Ace gave a short nod and tried to smile encouragingly. "It's alright if you can't decide, and it's alright if you don't want to. None of us will hold it against you or anything."
"I..."
The cook couldn't stop his thoughts racing. Questions he couldn't ask burned on his tongue refusing to be spoken aloud, and his eyes jumped from one hopeful face to the next. What if...? But they didn't... And he was... What about...? And then there was... Ngh! He didn't know! He didn't know! Too much, too fast, too soon, too... too... too...
A hand gripped his chin and he was forced to look up. Luffy had that same quiet expression on his face from when he'd managed Ace, and the fingers gripping his non-bruised cheek were gentle, if firm. They didn't hurt, at which some part of Sanji's mind marveled.
"Talk, Sanji." The captain said simply, and everything clicked.
"I want to. I don't know about everything yet, but I want to. I like you guys. I like Law, and Ace kisses really well," Oops, he hadn't said that out loud before, oh well, too late now. "Sabo's voice is amazing, almost as good as Law's, and... you... but..." He trailed off as flashes of another person, in a similar position over him broke through his thoughts, "Just please not all at once?"
"Of course! Of course, Sanji," Law looked around at his boyfriends and back to Sanji. "We want to be with you, overwhelming you all at once wouldn't be… wouldn't be right, wouldn't be fair. That would demanding much too much of you unless you tell us that's ok to try out. Right, Luffy, Ace, Sabo? We wouldn't do that to Sanji, would we? We can just… work with it all one on one for now?"
Ace gave a happy nod, his smile coming a little more easily and the tension draining from his body. "Mmhmm. We'll go as slow as you like, Sanji-kun."
"Definitely." Sabo added with an easy smile, leaning his elbows on the table. "No fun in rushing into things, yeah? Exploring is half the adventure."
"Yeah. Yeah." Sanji sounded a little vague, and he shivered at the sheer brilliance of Luffy's smile.
"Good."
The captain bounced back to Ace's chair, wrapping his arms around the older brunet's shoulders again. He murmured something in the other's ear that Sanji couldn't hear, and the cook didn't think he could process it, even if he'd been able to. He looked back over at Law, somehow embarrassed by the way Luffy had been able to order his confession out of his confusion. He tried to speak a few times, but now that he wasn't under Luffy's control, his tongue seemed to be stuck to the roof of his mouth.
Law shook his head, merely scooting closer. "Take your time. You don't have to make any serious decisions tonight."
"Do we have a calendar or something?" Sanji blurted all of a sudden, reddening further. "You know, so we don't... run... um..." It was then that it occurred to him that Sabo had been there for both of their dates, and his attention snapped to the other blond, wary. "You weren't stalking us, were you?"
Sabo blinked and raised his hands placatingly. "No, no of course not! I just… play at the cafe when I'm not playing here. Honest."
He grinned and looked to Ace, who was nodding silently to what Luffy said and looking at Sanji with curiosity. Sabo shrugged to himself, wondering about what exactly their smaller lover had said, but reasoned he would be told later.
Sanji couldn't say he was completely relieved but that was more on his own tied up insecurities than anything Sabo said or did. He fingered the necklace Law had given him for a moment, grateful that they weren't pushing him for anything, and sipped his mocha, which made him grateful for another thing. The soy and almond.
Looking to the doctor he asked, "So, the Cintiq was like my necklace?"
"Partially. It was something Ace needed. The fact that I had the means to buy it for him is what makes it like your necklace. I was raised by several very generous people, and taught that to demonstrate your love for someone is to supply what they need when they need it. Or at least shower them with pretty gifts that set off the color of their eyes every time I look at them." Law gave a small blush along with his smile, and squeezed Sanji's hand again.
"Mm. He's very good at it… giving gifts." Sabo said with a grin.
Law's cheeks colored more, and he tried to wave the other off. It really was nothing to him. Just the natural progression of things as far as taking care of his lovers went. He actually already had an idea for the next thing he was going to give their newest partner; he just needed to do a bit of research before he could. As he'd said to Ace, they deserved the best. So, the doctor needed to know what exactly that was when it came to Sanji's profession.
At the mention of the Cintiq, Ace squirmed a little and had to resist the urge to go see if it actually was perfectly fine—for the fourth time that night. He looked at Law and pressed his lips together, and then picked up his espresso to drain it and leaned into Luffy. Everything was perfectly fine, damn it...
Luffy bit his ear in reprimand, tracing a hand around the thick black collar on his neck; the other pressed the amethyst into Ace's hand again. The collar had been a gift from Law too, to Luffy, for use on any which one of them he needed to at any given time.
He whispered, "It's fine. Tell him."
A shudder rippled down Ace's spine and he swallowed thickly, gripping the stone hard. He gave a shaky nod of his head in response to Luffy's order, then spoke.
"A-ah, Law... Um..." He thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to word it. Without conscious thought, he blurted out, "I'm sorry!"
Having been engaged in conversation with the two blonds, one playing footsie with him under the table and the other leaning on his shoulder, Law looked up from his mocha, eyebrows high. "Hmm? For what, Acey?"
A flush came to the artist's face, lighting up his freckles, and he chewed his lip. "Um... t-the dream. I... broke the Cintiq a-and you were..." He struggled to find the right word. "...Disappointed. In me. Because I screwed up..."
"Didn't we have that conversation when I gave it to you?" Law's smile was soft and he lifted his arm from around Sanji's shoulders to reach across the table for Ace's hand. "If it breaks we'll just replace it. Depending on the time of the week, it might have to wait a few days, but if something like that actually happened all you need to do is tell me. I'll take care of it."
Luffy nudged Ace as if to say 'see, told you it was fine'. Sanji sipped his mocha again and Sabo winked at him reassuringly.
"Y... Yeah." Ace let out a tense breath and smiled shakily.
Even though he was still fearful because three damn thousand dollars and Ace had money and Law definitely wasn't wanting for any but damn it that wasn't the point! He squeezed Law's hand in return and nodded, and pouted at Luffy.
"So..." Sanji sat up and leaned on the table, "Where do we go from here? Nobody did answer my calendar question. Are there specific days that somebody's with somebody else or...?"
Sabo shrugged, "It's fairly random for me. I..." he blushed over his coffee, nursing the last couple of swallows, "I might have molested your date the first night you were out because I hadn't put it together and he was just too fuckin' sexy. It's a problem I have. I get handsy."
"That is not a problem, and you know it, Sabo!" Law was quick to jump to his defense. "I admit I should have said something right away, but it is really an issue? Sanji?"
"Uhh. I don't... think so?"
Luffy looked between the cook and the doctor then grabbed the entire rest of the takoyaki on the plate and shoved them all in his mouth at once.
"SHITTY BRAT!" Sanji growled, but the captain only laughed and waggled his eyebrows at Ace suggestively.
Ace choked on his drink and ended up snorting some of it up his nose, and proceeded to collapse onto the table laughing… and struggling to get his airways clear.
"I think we've reached the end of Mugi's patience, Sanji-love. So, maybe it's best if we just all make sure you have our contact info outside of the Sunny, and if something comes up when we already have plans, you'll have someone to talk to about it. Though, if I'm honest, usually what happens is me having to work a double in the ER because someone," and the way Law put emphasis on the word it implied that somebody was Luffy, "has gotten himself into trouble."
Luffy himself simply grinned, his hands below the table, clearly wandering on Ace to distract the freckled man. Sabo laughed into his coffee, shaking his head in agreement with Law. Ace shivered and bit down on his lip to stifle a noise, and then coughed to clear his throat.
He sent Luffy a side-ways glance and shivered again, then started, "W-well when I don't have a project or class I'm always here. I can give you my number if you want."
"I'm actually on Skype more than anything else. If that's alright with everyone else?"
Sanji glanced around, pulling his phone out. He looked down at it with a frown, then pressed a few buttons before pulling up the app.
"I use Twitter mostly, but Skype's good for me." Sabo also reached into his pocket for his own device. "Luffy doesn't have anything though. He's kinda hard on phones in general, so we just handle it for him."
The captain rubbed the back of his head, not looking contrite at all, as he said, "Sorry. They just get in the way. It's always falling out of my pocket and getting lost."
"Maybe if you didn't hang upside down on everything you can think of to climb it wouldn't be a problem, Lu." The younger blond chided fondly.
"You already have my cell number, but my Skype is DrHeartStealer, Sanji-love." Law intoned with another of those small blushes, his eyes dancing over to Sabo. "I didn't choose it."
"No worse than mine." Sanji laughed. "My brother's husband hacked my account once and changed it to BabyLoveCook. I haven't been able to figure out how he did that so I can change it back."
Ace pulled out his own phone with a soft snort. "I'm fine with whatever program really. Pretty sure I have Skype on my phone... I know it's on my laptop though, and since I generally have that with me wherever I go..." He shrugged and began flicking through his phone's programs. "I'm pretty sure my Skype name's Firestarter though."
"Alright." Sanji snickered, sending off the requests.
[Where are you?]
The cook frowned again, harder. He tilted his phone away from where Law was leaning on his shoulder, though the doctor was busy with his own. In fact, all but Luffy seemed busy with their phones when he glanced up. Probably in the middle of adding his contact info. And as for the captain he was in the middle of drinking Sanji's barbeque sauce, which ordinarily he'd have been smacked for, but seeing as how Sanji wanted a distraction at the moment, he let it slide so he could text back.
[Out with friends. Nothing's happening.]
[You've been ignoring me all day, Baby.]
[And don't tell me work again, because we both know that's BS.]
[You always had time for me before. Do I need to remind you how much you love me?]
[No no, I'm sorry. No, it's fine. I'm just out with friends. I didn't hear my phone.]
[Come home.]
[Now!]
Sanji looked up and noticed they were all staring at him. He swallowed hard and tried to smile, but it came out shaky. "M-my brother. Needs me to get home. Sorry. I didn't tell him I was staying late."
It was almost too easy to lay it on Alex, and something twisted in his gut while he lied. It made him sick. He leaned over and captured Law's mouth for a kiss after a moment of hesitation. Then he stood, gathering the empty containers and coffee cups. His pocket buzzed several times while he did it, and every time it did, he seemed to flinch. Sabo and Law exchanged a look, and they both turned to Ace as the cook made his way back to the kitchen. The door closed and Luffy frowned.
Sanji held it together until the others left, each one giving a good night on their way up the stairs. Briefly Sanji wondered if he hadn't mentioned needing to go home if they would have invited him up to join them for the night, but making his way briskly down the street his phone interrupted his thoughts and shattered his precious control. He barely made it into an alley behind a dumpster before his body purged him of both the deep fried octopus and the sweet latte. He shuddered heavily from the violent spasms and though he knew it would only make it worse, he didn't answer the call until he was back on his feet and nearly to his home.
By then he'd missed four, and knew without a doubt That Person would be even angrier with him.
At the beginning of the rant he was expecting, his mind drifted to the basement of the building. Would the Marimo be down there to hear him? Or would he already be asleep? Not once did he question why the mossball appeared in his thoughts, or why he gained enough comfort from it to actually talk back.
On nights like this, he needed all the support he could get…
495… 496… 497…
"Please, just let me explain! I swear it's not—"
The front door slammed shut, echoing down the steps to the basement thanks to the way the hallway had no carpeting to muffle any sounds. It meant that things like this were crystal clear for a certain bouncer currently living in the tiny room just off the landromat.
Zoro shook his head, trying to ignore it.
514… 515… 516…
"It's not like that! You'd know if you were here! They're just friends, I don't care what Pearl told you."
That sounded like the love cook? And why his voice in particular caught Zoro's ear he didn't want to think on too hard, but something was off about it. It sounded… strange. More than just the distortion of his words around the tiled entryway.
Whatever! Not his problem. They may not have come to blows today, but that didn't mean they were the sort of friends that could just unload their problems to each other. Zoro wasn't like Luffy, able to pick up friends wherever he went.
530… 531… 532…
He could hear Sanji making his way upstairs now, still talking—arguing really—with the person on the phone, and he shook his head again to clear it. What would Kuina say if she knew he was getting distracted by a handsome face and a sexy ass! Yes, he could admit those things to himself. He didn't know that he'd ever let the cook know, God only knew the blond bastard's ego was bad enough as it was, but in the privacy of his own—borrowed—room, Zoro could freely admit that he wondered what the cook was like in bed. Was he wanton and wild, or was he as stuck up and prissy there as he was in his kitchen?
Lowering himself into another push-up, Zoro let his mind wander on that. His lips curled into a smile, and heat pooled in his groin. Battling an erection while his heart rate was already elevated? Fuck, the cook was helping him train without even knowing it!
577… 578… 579…
A shudder ran through him all of a sudden, breaking him out of his trance once again, and he frowned at the floor beneath him, still counting unconsciously as he pushed towards six hundred. Something felt off. Like something had happened that he had only picked up on in his peripherals. Damnit!
595… 596… 597…
He felt himself slowing down, not because he had to, but because that feeling of 'not good' was growing, crawling up his spine like a thousand slimy tentacles pulling at his mind. It made him grit his teeth and growl loudly through the last three push-ups, then he was on his feet. He didn't go back down at the end of number 600, he just jumped up on his toes.
Wado was in his hand before he even knew what he was doing!
A sprint up to the first floor brought him face to face with Brook, the middle-aged fencer's own estoc in his hand, at the ready, and his dark eyes more clear than they had been for months. A nod between them was all it took for the green-haired swordsman to start climbing the stairs.
Though not typically named as katana were, Brook's longsword bore the name Soul Solid for the chill drawing it brought. When in a sadistic mood, the hippie musician often told the tale that it was haunted by the souls of every man it had ever slain; it brought the frigid wind of the Underworld along with it in its perpetual thirst for evil. Brook refused to reveal just how many souls it supposedly carried, leaving that up to the imagination—much to Chopper and Usopp's horror. Zoro didn't know if he truly believed that, but on nights like this one, every fiber of his being prayed that it was true.
They swept the first and second floors in silence. Only their barely audible breathing gave any indication that they were alive at all. The third was more oppressive than the last, but still clean, though a low rumble began to grow within the stockier man's chest. At the stairs to the fourth, Brook reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. Both shared the same thought, their Nakama lived on this floor. If whatever it was had gotten that far… was Sanji in danger?
Zoro squashed the growl, climbing the steps one by one on reticent feet, Wado raised with a deadly song on her blade. The White Lady was attuned to her Master's senses, and she too felt something very wrong about the whole situation.
Tension reigned until something clinked under the bouncer's foot.
He looked down.
Glass?
Curved, and polished on one side. Like a drinking glass. Like one of the tumblers Sanji used at the Sunny! His eyes met Brook's, then they both turned towards the cook's door, holding their breath for fear of what they saw.
It was shut tight, but there were obvious scratches on the lock, and something that looked suspiciously like a knife hole was bored into the center of the number. All over the floor in front of it was more of the broken glass, several tumblers' worth. Zoro spied the curved rims and etched sides to at least three, possibly four.
Just as Brook was about to knock on the door, it opened, revealing the cook himself.
"You look like shit." Flew out of Zoro's mouth before he could think. It was true, but he winced because he hadn't meant to say it aloud.
For once Sanji had his hair pulled back, up in a small topknot at the crown of his skull that couldn't keep all of the wisps and clumps contained, but it revealed the slowly healing black eye Zoro had given him to its full beauty. Though the puffiness of his lids was off. If he had to pinpoint it, the bouncer would have said it looked like he'd been crying. His lip was raw, his nose red around the nostrils, and he was dressed in what could only be called grubbies. They were grungy, worn to being almost threadbare, hung unflatteringly on the slender blond's frame, and permanently stained in multiple places with substances about which Zoro didn't want to think too hard.
"Yeah, well, fuck you and the shit-train you rode in on, Marimo. Get the fuck out of my way, and maybe I'll forget you even exist for the rest of the night."
Sanji pushed between the two swordsmen, a dustpan and brush in his hand, and bent down to start sweeping up the broken glass. His movements were sharp, jittery, and anxious; like he expected them to attack him when his back was turned. Given that they both still had bladed weapons drawn, it wasn't all that outrageous of an assumption, but Zoro got the feeling they weren't why the other was so jumpy. A quick glance at his compatriot informed him that Brook felt the same way.
As one, they sheathed their weapons. Wado slid home on Zoro's belt, and Soul Solid disappeared back into the wooden casing to become Brook's cane once more.
"Is there anything we can do to help, Sanji-san?" The hippie asked quietly.
"No." Sanji bit off the word, though not quite as sharply as his comment to Zoro. "Just go back to whatever you were doing before I lost my temper."
"You sayin' you did this, cook?" Zoro intoned, surveying the door and hallway again. The window next to the fire escape was open at the other end of the hall. It caught his attention as somehow being out of place, "By yourself?"
"Yes. Now go away."
Brook followed his gaze while Sanji cleaned up the glass, and nodded, making his way down the hall slowly to inspect the window and fire escape for clues. Zoro, on the other hand, didn't move.
"How many tumblers did he break?" He asked conversationally.
"I know what you're doing. Stop it. I broke four of them. I dropped the box I was carrying when I got to my door because I was getting my fucking keys out of my shitty ass pocket."
"You gouge your door like that tryin' to open it too?"
Sanji glared at him, standing back up. "Yes."
"Hmm."
"Hm? What the shit is hm, idiot Marimo?!"
"Hm is I didn't think you were this abusive towards your knives." The mossball lifted a finger to trace the mark in the middle of the door.
"Don't touch my shit, moss for brains! And I don't! That's always been there!"
"Has it?"
"Yes, and I've lived here a helluva lot longer than you, now move! And go away! I see enough of your fucking shitty ass face at work! I said it the day you moved in, I'll say it every day if I have to, I don't wanna have to run into you outside of work. Now scram, asswipe, before I lose my temper again!" The blond shoved his way inside his apartment, and slammed the door in Zoro's face so fast that it caught the end of his nose with the sharp point of the number in the middle.
Which was now loose.
It hadn't been the day Zoro moved in, and both he and Brook knew it as they exchanged another glance before moving off downstairs again.
The feeling of wrongness about the place was gone now. As expected the fire escape had shown no signs of anyone messing with it, or even anyone using it. The bottom most ladder was even still tucked up safe and secure. So even though that had to have been how the whole thing had happened, there was no proof.
However, as he dropped into the seiza position next to his bed, Zoro was absolutely convinced that what had broken his trance earlier had been the intruder Sanji claimed didn't exist. The marimo hadn't grown up with Smoker as a mentor for nothing, and it would have been an insult to Sensei Mihawk's name if he let those details just slide.
Someone had broken into their home, either startled Sanji into dropping the tumblers, or had deliberately smashed them, stabbed a knife—approximately the size of a chef's knife, judging by the hole—into Sanji's door, and attempted to break the lock. What order that all happened in was beyond Zoro's ability to decipher, but it was clear that either they had delivered their message or the sounds of Zoro and Brook coming up the stairs had scared them off. Meaning they'd fled out the window and down the fire escape before the two swordsmen had reached the fourth floor. If he had to guess, Zoro would have said that they'd delivered their message. Sanji was too shaken to have simply fought off the intruder and that had been the end of it. Vaguely, the marimo wondered if there had been a note on the door, pinned there by the knife, but there had been no paper fibers that he could see in the gouge.
A voice that sounded suspiciously like Smoker's popped up in his head that it didn't have to have been paper to be a note. Perhaps the knife itself had been a message. Something specific about it. Zoro couldn't know without seeing the knife in question, and even if he did, he doubted he knew enough about Sanji to make a guess at what the message would have been anyway.
The green-haired man shook his head. He was getting all wound up in circles, and there was nothing he could do if the cook didn't let him examine all of the evidence! He couldn't even report it to Smoker because what could the cop do that he hadn't already done? Get a search warrant for Sanji's place? No. Any evidence of the break-in would be cleaned up before the detective showed up, Zoro was sure of that. It just wasn't worth the time and effort he knew Smoker would put into it if he did call.
The question was why? What was the blond hiding? And why wouldn't he accept help from his friends?