Zoro didn't think it was possible to feel out of his depth just washing dishes and yet here he was.
The evening service had begun half-an-hour ago and already the Baratie was packed with Sanji out taking orders at record pace with the paper slips piling up on the board.
Zeff was shouting out questions to the other chefs as they prepared each of the dishes ready to go out and god the kitchen was loud. He tried to drown some of the noise out but it wasn't working. It was also really hot.
"Hey kid!"
The owner walked over.
He ceased washing the plate and turned to him.
Zeff looked him up and down.
"Ehh you look smart enough." He turned to the doorway where the blonde had just made an appearance once again. "Eggplant!"
"Yeah?"
"This one's joining you on service; make sure he knows what he's doing."
"What?!" Zoro's eye widened.
Sanji burst out laughing.
"Come on then, mosshead, let's see if you can read and write."
"Fuck you, curly brows."
Carne walked over to Zeff.
"Is that really a good idea?"
"I thought it might make Sanji speed the hell up, otherwise we'll just have a backlog all night."
"That's not what I meant."
Zeff sighed.
"Just keep an eye on him, if he tries anything he's out."
"Right."
"So, you got it?"
Zoro felt more confused than he was before Sanji started talking; he never realised that being a waiter had so much shit that you needed to know.
"If anyone wants wine then just tell me and I'll serve them 'cause I doubt you know anything about it, right?"
He shook his head.
"Okay then you should be good to go. Don't stress yourself out, you should get it really quickly once you start and you can just ask me or Patty if you need help with anything."
"Right."
"Service!" Called the voice of Zeff from the hatch window.
Sanji walked over and picked up the ticket.
"Table 4; you wanna' do this one?"
"Uhh sure."
There were three plates and a side dish.
"Okay so just come back for this and balance the plates like I showed you."
Zoro carefully took the first plate and positioned it by the crook of his elbow before slowly picking up the other two with his hands.
"There you go, see?!" The blonde smiled encouragingly. "Okay so table four." He seemed to wrack his brain for a few seconds. "The guy with the brown hair wanted the steak, the lady is the scallops, and the kid is the salmon. You know which is which right?"
"Of course I do!"
Of course I don't…
Taking every step one at a time until he found the rhythm he reached table four.
'Serve any women first.'
Zoro rose an eyebrow.
'It wasn't something I invented mosshead, that's just what you do!'
"Thank you for waiting."
Zoro carefully placed down the scallops in front of the woman.
"For you Madame."
Then the steak.
"The steak."
Before finally the salmon.
"And we can't forget you either, can we?" He gave a smile.
The little kid beamed with a giggle.
"Thank you!"
"Not a problem; I hope you enjoy your meal."
Zoro gave a quick bow before leaving them to eat.
Returning to the service hatch Sanji was gleaming.
"That was amazing! I couldn't hear anything you said but you looked like you were a natural!"
He tried not to blush.
"Thanks, but I probably messed up it somehow."
"Nah, they look happy, you did good."
"Service."
Sanji grabbed the ticket.
"I'll do this one; you go ask Reiju if she's sat anyone new? If she has then go ask if they're ready to order drinks and take their order."
"Right."
"You know, for someone who said they hated the place you sure seem at home here." Zoro teased as he walked over to the podium by the doors where Reiju was counting menus.
"Look at you Mr. Waiter." She smirked.
"They didn't have anything spare."
Reiju chuckled.
"You're probably the most underdressed person that's ever set foot in the Baratie and you're working here, I'm very surprised that Zeff put you front of house."
"Same here." He agreed. "So, have you sat anyone new?"
"Yeah, table 12, could you do their drinks order?"
"Sure."
Zoro took a breath as he allowed the classical music playing softly through the restaurant to calm him. He was nearly at the table when a painfully familiar voice clicked into his consciousness.
"Ewww something stinks, is that the food?"
He quickly walked over.
"Perona?"
The pink-haired monster turned to him.
"Zoro!"
It was then that he noticed the rest of the table.
Kid, Drake, and Bonney.
"What are you doing?" He asked warningly.
Perona scoffed.
"Eating food?"
"Yeah but why here?"
Kid head tilted in challenge.
"Is there a reason we're not allowed to eat here?"
He tried to stay cool.
"No."
"Yeah, I thought so."
Something seemed to catch Kid's eye, or someone.
"Wait, is that the deaf kid?!"
Perona turned to look too.
"Awwwww it is!"
"Wait… do you work here, with him?" The ringleader began to laugh. "Wow you really commit don't you, crybaby?"
In truth he was closer to a panic attack then punching one of them, seeing their faces again after so long dredging up far too many memories he'd rather forget.
"No I heard that the school made him pay for all the deaf kid's hearing aids so he's probably been working his debt off ever since." Perona added.
"Don't call him that!..."
"What, are you getting all defensive of him?" Kid mocked.
"You aren't welcome here if you're going to say shit about Sanji." Zoro warned.
"Oh come on, all the shit that happened in elementary school wasn't that big of a deal."
Zoro's eye widened as he growled.
"Get out…" He kept his tone low to not disturb the other customers.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"I said get out."
Kid scoffed before throwing down his menu and purposely scraping his chair against the floor as he stood up.
"Fine, we didn't want to eat here anyway, the food looks disgusting."
Zoro followed behind to escort them out as they headed for the door, when they were outside he took a breath.
"Stay the hell away from Sanji, he doesn't need you messing him around anymore!"
"Oh but he needs you does he, or did he just forget everything you did back then?"
Perona clicked up her umbrella.
"I hope you throws you away like you deserve."
And with that, they were off.
Zoro scrubbed a hand down his face.
He took a minute or so to cool off outside before heading back. With a shaking hand he pushed open the door, Zeff was by the podium next to Reiju when he entered.
"What the hell was that?" The owner hissed quietly.
"I-."
"Bad reviews ruin restaurants so you damn better hope they don't submit one. Now get in the back and clean the dishes, you're fired from service."
I wasn't hired to begin with…
Zeff stormed off.
He wanted to say something so bad but he held him tongue.
Reiju walked over and placed a hand on his back.
"You okay, Zoro?"
He sighed.
"I'm fine."
It honestly could have been a lot worse if they'd managed to pull Sanji over; he had to at least be thankful that the blonde escaped having to deal with those idiots.
"Why did you kick them out, did they say something to you?"
He shook his head.
"It's fine, honestly, I dealt with them and hopefully they won't come back."
"You should have got Patty; he would have sorted them out for you."
Zoro smirked in the hope of changing the subject.
"Stop being a mother-hen, you've got customers to seat."
He pointed towards the doors where a family were walking in.
She shook her head.
"Go wash dishes you menace!"
He grinned cheekily before heading off to the kitchen, he hadn't made it far before the blonde grabbed him by the wrist and led to the side of the dining hall.
"What happened, why is Zeff annoyed?"
"Oh there was just a rowdy table and I told them they had to leave, it was nothing, honestly."
Sanji furrowed an eyebrow.
"If they were being dicks then why did Zeff shout at you, they should be kicked out if they're acting like that?"
"I probably pissed them off somehow, it's my fault, don't worry about it."
But the blonde wasn't sold.
"No, don't take blame for stuff you didn't do."
"Sanji it's fine, honestly, I don't mind just washing dishes. Anyway, have you checked your phone recently to see if there's any updates on Vivi?"
"I'll check on my break; I'll go ask Zeff if you can take yours at the same time."
Zoro scoffed.
"Good luck with that after what just happened; I don't think he likes me very much right now."
"Oh he can get off his high horse and stop being a dick about it; I wish people would stop interfering." Sanji cast a hand through his hair. "Fuck I need a cigarette…"
He shook his head.
"Addict."
"Mosshead."
"Zoro, get in here!"
The blonde pat him on the back.
"Good luck, chore boy."
"Yeah, thanks…"