Okay guys, here's the next five chapters for Nakama Voice, sorry for the long delay.
Chapter 21
When they landed port, they were met with excited fans as they walked off of Thousand Sunny. They enjoyed the attention they were getting, but some cast a wary eye on the lead guitarist when reporters went up to him with a thousand questions per second. But luckily Luffy seemed to be glued to the guitarist's side, answering questions as the taller of the two looked tired, as if woken up from a nap, which is more or less true in his case.
Once they were safely out of the reporters hounding attempts and satisfied most of their fans for the day, they headed down to a dance club. They were going to celebrate their first release of their music that they worked hard together for the past month and Ace just found out that they're in the top twenty charts in only slot fifteen while their rivals have the thirteenth spot.
"We still have a long way to go, but we're just about caught up with them in a short amount of time!" Ace told them. "Let's celebrate to get rid of our past stresses and just enjoy!"
And so there they were, at one of the closest dance clubs they can get into on short notice and just enjoying the loud beats. Well, most of the group members were.
1-2-3-4
Zoro took to being a wall flower, with a bottle of beer in hand, and just watched everyone enjoy themselves as well as keeping an eye out for them. Most didn't try to talk to him as the lights and how he brought himself made him look more like a bouncer than a lead guitarist. But of course that changed quickly when Luffy jumped on him, making him almost drop his bottle and glared lazily at the teen, who just smiled and said something about joining him with the others. Of course being deaf and being able to read lips, he understood what the other asked and looked at the dance floor.
He noted that it was mostly packed and he could feel the beat vibrate on the walls, letting him know that even if he did hear what the song is, he would end up with ringing in his ears. He looked at the eager puppy eyes of his friend and lead singer and nodded, watching the other making what most people can describe as a yip of happiness of his invite being accepted.
Luffy got off the other and dragged his friend and lead guitarist to the already packed dance floor. Once he got them in, he started to dance in random movements that allowed him to move his hips in the tight space around him, kept his arms up to further minimize the space around him. That was of course fine and dandy to him until someone accidentally knocked him from behind and made him to collide with the other in a pelvic thrusting manner. If not for the changing colored lights, he would of resembled a street light as he looked up at the other to apologize, only to see the other smile understandingly and moved to the beat with the limited space he has, as if the accident never happened.
The lead singer continued his odd dance as well, but this time he watched the other dance as the next music came up.
He couldn't keep his eyes off of the other as he could faintly see the muscles of the other's chest tense and relax depending on the movements under the thin black, button down shirt. He also noted that the other's face was calm and relaxed as the changing color lights only made the other mysterious, especially when the green lights were on him, where it emphasized his green hair more than usual as well as his eyes.
Then the music stopped and Zoro looked to see the other was staring at him. He placed a hand on the other's head and leaned in close to let the other better hear him. "Everything okay?"
Luffy nodded as he still felt his face burning, which the other placed his hand on and looked surprised.
"Are you sure? You're very warm."
He smiled and laughed. "That's because I've been dancing!" He said, making the other grin.
"You're right, my bad." He said as he and the teen searched for the others and made their way out back to the ship.
1-2-3-4
From there Franky and Ace took a look around of the ship to make sure there are no stowaways and left the port to have a well deserved rest.
All but Luffy was sleeping soundly that night. He kept looking at the couch on the other end of the room to see the man, dead to the world. It didn't help him that there was a porthole window where the man was, where the moon's gentle light shined on him like a spotlight.
'Damn you moon…' He thought as he can clearly see the peaceful expression that the man usually wore when asleep. He could also see the man's chest rising from each intake of breath. But since it was a warm night, the man didn't have a blanket, so that gave the teen a full view of the toned man in a thin undershirt and jeans that the other was wearing earlier.
He suddenly felt the urge to get closer, to see how the other looked up close. He carefully got out of his top bunk, so not to wake Usopp or any of the other guys in the men's quarters, and tip-toed his way to the one slumbering on the couch. Once there, he saw that the other looked just as amazing like in the dance when the lights played all around his form and being. He saw the other twitch, making him stop breathing and stayed still for a moment, only to see that the other continued to sleep. He carefully breathed out as he continued to watch the other, who cracked open one eye, startling him.
"Luffy?" Zoro said quietly, if a tad be sleepy. "Why are you still up?"
Luffy went in closer to the moonlight so the other could see his face, thus allowing him to see his mouth move. "I couldn't sleep."
"And you thought staring at me can help?"
Luffy had to be impressed by Zoro's tone of voice, knowing that the other couldn't hear and expected that deaf people would often shout out or something like that. "You looked comfortable here, and I wanted to know if it's because the moonlight is on you or the couch is just that good to sleep on."
Zoro blinked, being a little awake now as he straightened to s sitting position and patted the empty spot for the other to sit on, which he did. "Turn the other way." He said, earning a confused look. "I'm not going to do nasty things to you."
"I know, but why?"
Zoro sighed as he placed both his hands on the other's shoulders and started to rub those said shoulders.
Luffy understood then and turned so the other had more access to his back. He stayed silent as he felt the rough hands rub his back, hitting pressure points that helped loosen him, which made him a little tired, relaxed, and he figured that it wouldn't harm to close his eyes.
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"Oi, Luffy! Time to get up!"
He woke up to see Usopp shaking him. "Na?"
"You must've been worn out, you're usually the second one up to be first to get breakfast." The long nose teen said with a smile. "So, you well rested?"
"Yeah…" He said as he got up to see that he was in his own bed. 'Zoro must've tucked me in.' He thought as he got out of bed and followed him up to the kitchen, where everyone was chatting lively and looked to see him.
"About time Luffy!" Sanji said. "Your food was about to go cold!"
"It'll still taste good." He said as he sat between Zoro and Ace.
"You're usually the first one up though…" Chopper said. "Are you getting sick?"
"Oh no! I just couldn't get to sleep right away." He said as he took a bite of his eggs, cooled just like Sanji warned.
"You look a little different." Robin pointed out as she placed her book on her lap.
"Eh? I do?"
"Yes, you seem more relaxed than yesterday."
"Huh? I'm usually relaxed though."
"Not like this though." Ace said, also noticing the change. "You're holding your head up higher than before."
"Really?" He asked as he looked at his brother while finishing his breakfast.
Zoro took this time to stretch and got up from his seat. "Thanks for the meal." He said as he grabbed his plate and headed to the kitchen to rinse his plate.
Luffy looked after Zoro and smiled. 'Zoro is really a great guy.' He thought as he did the same as the man, only to give the man a rewarding hug, which was returned with a chuckle.
"Good morning to you too." He said as he ruffled the ebony mess, making the teen giggle.