Zoro felt good. He couldn't really explain why, but he just felt really good. Maybe it was the fact he was laying down on a floor covered in pillows and blankets at a 'homework sleepover party' with his, as they would say in Japan, nakama. Maybe it was the fact that he would be getting pizza for dinner. Or maybe! Just maybe, it was the fact that the curly-browed moron standing in the kitchen was now staring slack-jawed at Luffy as his own brains dribbled out of his ears.
Sanji looked completely baffled on what to say, just standing there gawking at this idiot that was now picking his nose with his pinky finger and rubbing the boogers off on his shirt. Zoro heard the buzzer to Sanji's door go off and looked around. Somebody would have to answer that but Sanji seemed a bit busy.
"Good on ya Luffy, try not to get fired on day one." Usopp said around a mouthful of ketchup chips. "If nobody's gonna get that, I will." Usopp reached inside his overnight bag, pulling out his wallet and walking towards the front door.
When he came back, pizzas in hand, everything was still almost the same as when he'd left. Except Chopper had jumped up from his spot on the floor and was now tugging on Luffy's shirt as he asked question after question.
"Oh my god Luffy! You got a job?! Where? And how did Nami help you get it?" Luffy laughed as he ruffled Choppers hair.
"I don't have the job yet, but Nami got me an interview." He stopped and sniffed the air and after a moment, he was running full speed towards Usopp, long arms reaching out for the hot, steamy pizza. Usopp yelped and attempted to hold the boxes out of Luffy's reach but failed and the boy ripped open the first box he could get his hands on, stuffing his face.
"You're such a god damn animal! At least make sure it's your pizza!" Usopp yelled as he put the rest of the pizza down on the kitchen counter. He opened up the other two boxes, sighing in relief when he realized Luffy had indeed grabbed his own pizza. Usopp dished himself up a slice and jumped onto the couch, reaching for his pathetic bag of chips again. Sanji snapped his jaw shut and shook his head. Zoro saw him pinch his own arm at least a dozen times and laughed to himself.
"Having a nightmare Love-cook?" Zoro smirked as he grabbed three slices of pizza and heaped them on his own plate. Chopper followed behind and Zoro put two slices of the pepperoni on his plate. He was sure that the pepperoni was Chopper's since that was what Chopper always got.
"Well it would make more sense than this being real! Everything that's happening right now is just off! First, you take me shopping this morning without even complaining like an actually decent person, then it rains and I get next to no customers at the stand, and then this-" Sanji pointed to Luffy, who was still wolfing down his entire pizza, "gets a job!"
"Sanji, you went on a date with Zoro?!" Chopper asked innocently. Luffy burst out laughing around what was already his fourth fucking slice along with Usopp while Zoro's entire face heated up. His breath caught in his throat and he was about to correct the child when Sanji did so for him.
"I did NOT go on a date with that stupid fucking MARIMO!" Sanji's face looked as red as Zoro's felt and he stormed off into his bedroom. Zoro looked around the room and cleared his throat when he noticed everybody's eyes were on him, as if they were waiting for him to say something.
"It was raining out so I drove him to the Superstore! That was fucking it, okay?! He needed some help unloading it so I stuck around for a bit!" Zoro defended, crossing his arms over his chest and turning to stare at the TV. Luffy was still laughing like a moron.
"You say that, but you're turning pretty red Zoro." Usopp said smugly as he leaned down from his spot on the couch. "There something you wanna tell us?" Oh for fucks sake! First Kuina, now these assholes?!
"Shut it Long nose." Zoro grit through his teeth.
"Oi, no need to be so defensive, there's no judgement here! You know I'm completely fine with it. Ace has got a boyfriend, Law's got a boyfriend-"
"Law has a boyfriend?!" Chopper asked as he lay back down on the floor next to Zoro.
"Yeah, haven't you seen how often Kidd goes in to see him in the medical room? More often than Luffy does that's for sure, and that's saying something. He never seems injured either. That is, until after he leaves. His face is red and his clothes are always just a little bit off. I'm sure Law does it on purpose too. If he really wanted to, he's smart enough he could hide all evidence that they were fucking around, but he doesn't." Zoro grimaced as he imagined the well composed doctor-in-training dragging the hulking red head into his office, closing the door and locking it behind him. Jesus he's examined me on the same bed he's fucking his boyfriend on! Bet he gets some sort of sick thrill out of it.
"Anyway, what I'm trying to say Zoro is that it's okay if you've got a crush on our chef." Usopp shrugged, smiling before he shrieked and dropped his plate out of the way on the couch. Zoro came charging at him, ready to rip that stupid fucking nose right off his face. Usopp attempted to jump outta the way but Zoro was too quick and wrapped his arm around his neck, dragging him down to the floor. Usopp struggled in the strong grip but Zoro didn't give him any leeway.
"If you ever suggest I want anything to do with that stupid, swirly-browed, shitty ass cook again, I will beat you until you can't tell the difference between your face and your ass!" Usopp nodded his head wildly but Zoro's grip only loosened after tightening dramatically for a few seconds. Usopp took in gasping breaths when Zoro released him and patted him forcefully on the back. Usopp rubbed at his now sore throat, glaring angrily at Zoro and walking over to sit next to Chopper in front of them TV.
"So, Luffy, what kinda games we gonna play?" Zoro asked as he leaned back against the couch, he was still on the floor from where he'd tackled Usopp but that blankets that were spread out made it comfortable. He reached for his plate that he'd set on the coffee table that he'd pushed out of the way and stuffed a piece of crust into his mouth.
"I dunno, whatever they play at sleep overs! They play truth or dare, right?" Luffy pulled out a can of mountain dew from the fridge, cracking it open and sitting on top of Usopp's back.
"If by 'they' you mean teenage girls, than yes." Zoro grumbled.
"Oi! Truth or dare, is it 'Be an Asshole to Usopp' day?! Get off!" Luffy laughed and rolled off, making sure not to spill his drink as he did so. Luffy fixed his eyes on the TV and hummed happily.
"Truth or dare Usopp, can I have a piece of your pizza?" Luffy asked, his arms already snaking around to Usopp's plate.
"Truth or dare, fuck off!" Usopp snapped as he swatted Luffy's hand.
Sanji walked out of his bedroom, looking a lot less flustered and angry. He had on a pair of pajama pants, tied at his hips. They were decorated with pictures of fish and bubbles and he had a loose t-shit on with a phrase written in a language Zoro didn't understand, looked like French though, he'd seen it often enough on food packages.
Zoro shook away his gaze from the cook and went to his backpack, grabbing his own pair of pajamas as he shoved past the blond to change in his room. Sanji was a pain in the ass but he had the right idea. Getting into his soft pajamas was a welcomed change to his chaffy jeans.
"Oi! I didn't say you could go in there!"
"Relax moron, I've been in there at least ten times before, nothing in there I haven't already seen." Zoro saw Sanji's jaw clench and gave him a questioning look. What does he not want me to see..?
"When have you been in my room?" Sanji asked tensely, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.
"All the times you passed out drunk and I drove you home, dumbass. Now go get some food before Luffy eats it all." Zoro said flatly, closing the door behind him. He heard the chef begin to protest for a second on the other side of the door, but he gave up and Zoro heard his footsteps getting further away.
Zoro sighed and looked around the room. He began to take off his clothes as he tried to figure out what it was Sanji didn't want him to see.
There wasn't really much in there. There was the bed, the closet, the dresser… there was a laundry basket too. The only other thing that was in the room was the picture frame and… the bear? The creepy ass bear that sat on Sanji's dresser. It had been there the first night Zoro dropped it off, and it was still there now. Zoro was sure that it hadn't even been touched.
Zoro slipped on his pajama pants and reached out to pick up the bear. He was right, it was covered in a layer of dust. Zoro wondered why Sanji would keep something like this in his bedroom, staring at him every night, almost like it was watching over him. Zoro brushed off the dust as best he could, but some of it had become imbedded in the fur. It would probably need to be washed to be completely cleaned. It wasn't that the doll itself was creepy. Well it was. It's was hard to put into words. Zoro just got a feeling off of it. Like something was wrong with it. Like when you see somebody on the news that died. They always post a really nice picture of them. Dolled up for prom or for their wedding, sometimes pictures of them just having fun with their friends. But looking at the picture always just makes you feel… uneasy.
Zoro was just about to set the bear down when he heard the door to the bedroom open.
"Marimo, hurry your fucking ass up, Luffy is getting-" Sanji stopped mid-sentence. He'd slowly been opening the door as he was speaking and shoved it open the rest of the way when he saw what Zoro was holding. "Put. That. DOWN." Sanji said as clearly and firmly as possible hissing through his teeth. Zoro slowly set it down, but he couldn't help feeling the need to ask about it.
"Oi… Love-cook. Truth or dare… what's wrong with it?" Zoro asked, his voice a quiet whisper, so that the others wouldn't hear. Sanji walked over to where Zoro was standing and Zoro moved out of the way slightly so that Sanji could take his place in front of the bear.
"Not how you play the game dumbass…" Sanji pet its head lovingly, dragging his fingers behind its ears and letting his hand rest on its shoulders. Zoro was about to turn and leave when Sanji spoke again. "What… what makes you think something is wrong with it?"
Zoro shrugged. "I just get this feeling from it. It doesn't look creepy or anything… just feels off." Sanji chuckled a little and smiled. There was not a single bit of happiness behind it though.
"I suppose it would… my mom gave it to me. She… died when I was a kid." Zoro nodded slowly, not looking at Sanji directly for a while. When he did turn back to the blond, he was met with deep blue eyes staring into his own.
Sanji looked up at Zoro, reaching his hand out slowly and Zoro held his breath. Sanji looked up at Zoro for any sign that Zoro was gonna make him stop, but when he saw none, he continued. Sanji rested the tips of his fingers at the point where Zoro's scar met his shoulder.
"Truth or dare… how did you get this..?" Zoro cleared his throat and touched at the point where the scar slid across his abdomen, trailing his fingers down and letting his hand rest on his hip.
"Well running away to another country isn't exactly the safest thing for a kid to be doing… ran into a few crazies wielding weapons. When I did get cut up too badly, it's not like I could go to a hospital, they'd turn me over to the cops and send me back. That's why the scar looks so nasty, had to have some quack doctor from an outta the way town stitch me up." Sanji slowly dragged his fingers down the scar until they stopped just above his navel. "It works out great for me though since the guys at school wouldn't dare mess with somebody as gruesome looking as me." Zoro laughed, attempting to lighten the mood.
"But you got away… how did it feel to get away?" Zoro had to think about that for a minute. He didn't really remember what it was like to get away, hadn't thought about it in a long time.
"I uh… don't really remember… Anyway, come on asshole! Luffy's probably gotten back into your pantry by now." As if on cue, Zoro heard a cupboard door slam shut a little too loudly and the sadness that had filled Sanji's eyes was now replaced with the boiling, uncontrollable rage that was the Love-cook. Zoro smiled as the colour returned to Sanji's face. Zoro didn't like seeing him depressed like that. Not one fucking bit. Not like he cared for the chef one fucking bit either. Not at all.
"Luffy!" Sanji said loud enough for the entire apartment to hear. "I'm going to count to five. If I get to five and you have anything in your hands that you didn't buy at the corner store two hours ago, I will pureé you!" Zoro heard a short squeak from outside and the frantic sounds of doors being shut.
Zoro followed a loudly counting Sanji out of the room to see that everybody had changed into their PJ's. Chopper was chowing down on the bag of gummy worms they'd picked up for him at the corner store, Usopp was sitting on the couch, orange crush in one hand and screwdriver in the other as it picked at the TV, and Luffy had both his hands covering his mouth, cheeks puffed out and crumbs at his feet. Sanji pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and groaned.
"Luffy… did you eat all of the cookies that I bought specifically for Chopper?"
"WHAT?! So those were for me!" Chopper screeched and glared angrily at Luffy, who chuckled and swallowed, no doubt erasing the last shred of evidence that the cookies ever even existed.
"Usopp, what did I tell you about asking before fucking with my TV?"
"It was spazzing out again and I needed to fix it, it was driving me crazy! We'd all finished getting into our pajamas while you two were doing whatever the fuck you were doing in your room so I got bored." Zoro grunted in a half ass attempt to add to the conversation and walked over to plop himself back down on the couch. Zoro re-adjusted the glasses on his face and reached for his drink that was still on the coffee table where he'd left it. He'd been planning on getting glasses that fit better for a while now, but glasses were expensive and he didn't want to ask Koshiro to pay for yet another thing that he didn't have to have. He would just have to try scrounging up whatever money he could.
"If you break that thing, you're buying a new one." Sanji shook his head, looking decidedly tired of chewing out the rest of the group and went to grab his pizza from the table. Zoro stretched his arms over his head as he yawned. God how late is it? M' fucking tired.
"Aww, is it past the little Grass-head's bead time? Would you like me to sing you a lullaby after I finish my pizza?" Sanji cooed sarcastically, Zoro scowled as Luffy and Usopp burst out laughing.
"Shut up asshole. What time is it anyway?" Zoro grumbled through another yawn as he laid back against the soft, grey, welcoming cushions of the couch.
"Seriously dude, it's like, nine. What the fuck is with you and your sleeping habits? You're like Ace." Usopp asked as he searched through the bags of food crowding the corner of the couch. "OI! You bastard! You did buy me a regular size pack of chips after all! How long were you planning on keeping this from me?!"
"A. Ace has narcolepsy, I just like to take naps. Totally different thing. B. Until tomorrow morning when I ate them in front of you." Usopp scowled, ripping open his bag of ketchup chips and digging in.
"Zoro's right. Ace's narcolepsy is treatable and he does take medication for it. There's no treatment for being a lazy ass though." Chopper giggled and Zoro glared at the younger member of their group. His glare however wavered after less than a few moments when Chopper gave the green-haired boy one of those award winning smiles. Zoro smiled back and was rewarded with another fit of giggles from the kid.
"Thank god Ace has Marco to make him take his medication every day or he'd have gotten into some serious trouble by now. Shishishi."
"Thank god Ace has Sabo to drive him around! He's fallen asleep at the wheel more than twice since I've met him. Once is too many!" Sanji growled as he pulled out the tie in his hair. "So how are we gonna do this? Who's sleeping where?" Sanji asked as he padded over to the group.
"I'm gonna sleep right here!" Luffy announced and rolled around in his spot for emphasis. Usopp shrugged and sat down next to Luffy, digging around under the pillows until he found the remote for the DVD player. Chopper walked up to Sanji and rocked back and forth on his feet shyly before speaking.
"I was hoping I could sleep on the couch, if that's alright with you guys? I mean, gah- that sounds really selfish, its fine." Sanji shook his head and smiled at Chopper, teeth so white that they resembled misshapen pearls gleaming slightly in the light of the room. That guy has no right to have teeth so white with the amount he smokes.
"Its fine Chopper, you can have the couch. I like sleeping on the floor anyway, the fact that there's actually pillows and blankets just makes it all the better." Zoro pushed himself off the couch, his fingers digging into the cushions as he lowered himself. Zoro grabbed Chopper's pillows and blankets and threw them haphazardly on the couch, Chopper could fix up his own bed anyway. Zoro sunk under the covers next to Usopp, dragging the blankets over himself and snuggling into his pillow.
"Well then I guess I'm stuck sleeping next to you Marimo. You better not snore or I'm gonna fucking kick your ass." Sanji muttered as he walked over to his lamp and flicked off the switch, flooding the room with darkness, the light from the TV being the only thing adding any sort of light to the room.
"Zoro snores loud enough to wake the dead!" Luffy laughed from his spot next to Usopp and Zoro threw off his covers so he could lean over and whack Luffy on the head. Luffy yelped and pulled the covers over his head as some weak form of protection and peaked out every once in a while to check if Zoro was still there. Zoro fell back into his spot and snagged the remote out of Usopp's hand, flipping on the movie and turning up the volume.
Four men in Ninja Turtles costumes you could probably buy in thrift stores nowadays immediately showed up on screen. Old eighties music played and from their stereo as Mikey pulled at a string of cheese on his slice of pizza, bringing it to the rubbery mouth of the costume and Zoro just couldn't stand to look at pizza any longer. Zoro closed his eyes and he faintly heard the sounds of the rest of the group talking and laughing around him as he fell asleep.
