Zoro sighed happily as he sat down in the coral themed chair. He and Sanji were sat next to each other at a table meant to seat around eight, Luffy sitting across from them. They were the first ones to arrive at the Mermaid Café and Zoro was more than a little surprised that Luffy hadn't already asked for something to eat. The table was painted to look like a sandy beach with sea-stars and beautiful shells littering it, which Zoro had to say was either a fantastic or a horrible design. For one, it's like you're eating food off the ground. But on the other hand, you couldn't really tell when the table was dirty. The chairs were either made to look like coral, shells, or fish scales. Nothing too complicated that would just end up looking tacky. The walls were painted different variations of blue and were covered in portholes, fake seaweed, fish, and bubbles. There was a giant, saw-nosed shark breaking through the ceiling, but the model was a little off. Instead of looking like a chainsaw, the nose looked more like a handsaw that pointed at the end. He'd heard one of the waitress's calling it Arlong, maybe it was a running joke.

Oh yeah, that was another thing. All the staff were girls dressed like mermaids. They were all wearing long, thin skirts with different fish scale patterns for each girl. It looked like a light cotton that actually tied around their hips, showing off one of their legs almost up to their hips. They wore bikini tops to cover their chests and not a thing else besides some shell necklaces and pearl earrings. Their bikini tops looked like shells and Zoro guessed that they were wearing a plain bra underneath just in case anybody got any funny idea of pulling at their strings. They seemed to enjoy it though, Zoro guessed they wouldn't be working there if they didn't like it. Many of them had long and flowing hair that they allowed to just fall where it may. Lots of the girls also had shell strings and kelp ribbons braided into their hair to make them look a little bit more nautical. It was a lot of effort, that's for sure. Like a maid café, only, mermaids. Actually, exactly like that.

They weren't afraid to flirt either. Zoro had learned that really quickly. Actually, he figured that out when he walked in the door and the hostess immediately starting trying every line in the book to pick him up. She was confident in herself that much was clear. Apparently, she'd also made it a point to make herself their personal waitress, though she should really be focusing on her hosting duties rather than checking him out. And yes, Zoro knew when he was being checked out, especially when somebody was doing it about three times a minute. Zoro had actually been really surprised that their waitress, Olivia was her name, hadn't flirted with Sanji instead, he was the good looking one of the group anyway.

"So, can I get you boys anything to drink while you're waiting for your friends?" Olivia asked, her voice almost uncomfortably sweet and Zoro really wished he could have gotten any of the other girls to service their table. Maybe the one with the pink hair and long, golden skirt that looked more like chainmail than fish scales. What was the name she had given to the guys sitting at the table next to them? Rebecca? Yeah, that sounded right. She didn't look like the flirty type, which would be really nice right now considering Olivia was practically shoving her chest in Zoro's face as she took down the drink orders. Zoro would have done anything to be able to just push her away but Sanji would probably have a fit if Zoro laid so much as a finger on her.

Zoro glanced over and Sanji and frowned to himself. Either the cook didn't see what she was doing, didn't care what she was doing, or he was testing Zoro. There was always the rare option that Sanji just trusted Zoro not to do anything stupid and he was already comfortable enough in their relationship not to worry about somebody snatching him away. But that idea was so far out there that Zoro couldn't even see it with a telescope. Zoro sighed and leaned forward on his elbows, the T-shirt he'd thrown on over his still damp skin sticking slightly. That was another thing that threw Zoro off slightly. Why was Olivia flirting with him when Luffy and Sanji were sitting there with only their swim trunks and sandals on, showing off most of their bodies. At least Zoro had the decency to put some clothes on, even if it was uncomfortable and made him feel like he had a bikini top on instead of a regular shirt.

The three ordered their drinks and waters for everybody else. Olivia nodded and wrote the orders down on her note pad before running off, swaying her hips slightly in an obvious attempt at drawing attention to her ass. It looked good in the skirt she was wearing, and Zoro could definitely see some heads turning in her direction. But his eyes didn't linger for more than a second before he rolled his eyes and his attention was back to Sanji, who was stretching his arms over his head in order to get himself more comfortable in his seat, a drop of water from the last slide they went on cascading down his chest until t reached his trunk-line and- damn it all if Sanji didn't look a hundred times sexier without even trying than Olivia did the entire ten minutes she spent puffing out her chest and shifting skirt down every once in a while to show off her hips.

"So, what did you two wanna tell me?" Luffy giggled from across the table and Zoro felt his cheeks colour slightly. He'd nearly forgotten that this whole meet up was to tell everybody about Sanji and Zoro's new relationship.

"Dumbass, you have to wait for everybody else to get here." Sanji growled sarcastically and Luffy frowned, obviously upset about having to wait not only to order his food, but to hear whatever news he thought was about to come.

"Why can't you just tell me now?! I'm the captain and the captain gets to make the orders! I order you to tell me!"

"Luffy, you can order me around all you want but you are not my captain and I am not telling you until everybody else gets here." Sanji leaned forward on the table and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. Zoro rolled his eyes because he was really not in the mood for another "You are not an actual pirate captain" fight. He had heard that one more than enough times already.

"Is it about that job offer? Neh? Zoro? Are you going to come to work with me?!" Luffy Beamed and leaned over the table. Zoro felt his face heat slightly and groaned as he leaned his chin in his palm.

"No… it's not about the job Luffy-" Zoro began.

"ZORO! You have to decide NOW! It's only a summer job and I don't wanna do it alone!" Luffy whined.

"YOU SHOULDN'T BE DOING IT AT ALL, YOU ARE NOT NEARLY MATURE ENOUGH!" Zoro shouted back and Luffy cackled playfully. Sanji had turned to give Zoro a very inquisitive look and Zoro was now doing his best to avoid eye contact. He was really hoping he could get away with not telling Sanji about this job but now it just looked like that wasn't gonna happen. Zoro sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll go to work with you-"

"HOORRAAAAYYYY!" Luffy interrupted again and Zoro scratched at the back of his neck, no doubt reawakening an itchy mosquito bite he'd gotten earlier. He liked summer, liked it quite a lot. Except for the fucking bugs. That's what came with living in a more forested area though. It was a beautiful area to live in, but there was so many bugs in the summer, it drove him crazy.

"Marimo?" Zoro cringed as he heard Sanji's questioning tone and turned to look into a deep, ocean blue eye. "What kind of job is it?" The corner of Sanji's mouth tilted upwards ever so slightly in a smirk and Zoro hummed nervously, tearing his gaze away only to have it yanked back immediately by Sanji clearing his throat.

"It's… it's uh- kind of like… teaching- I guess."

"Teaching? During summer?" Sanji raised his curly eyebrow and Zoro growled in irritation.

"Babysitting, okay?! It's working at a daycare." Sanji was suddenly grinning so wide that Zoro was sure his entire face had split in two. His bare shoulders shook as he chuckled and he shut his mouth tightly as he tried to hold back any louder laughter. "SHUT UP! I wasn't gonna do it since I'm stuck working at your damn store until your hands heal but if you're gonna laugh at me then maybe I'll just fucking do it!"

"OH yeah Marimo! Go babysit a bunch of toddlers, that'll teach me!" Sanji's laughter burst out of him like a damn and Zoro was torn between being so pissed he wanted to clock him to being incredibly happy to be able to hear that gorgeous fucking laugh of his, even if it's currently mocking him. Zoro settled for lightly smacking him on the back of his head, but even that didn't stop the laughter from pouring from that stupid- beautiful fucking mouth of his.

"Zoro! We're going to have so much fun together! We'll take the kids to the park and we'll go on train rides together and-"

"We're just taking care of them dumbass, I'm sure we aren't allowed to take them out of the building! And even if we were, there's no way they would let you!" Zoro yelled and Luffy just laughed again.

"Well it sounds like you all are having fun!" Zoro turned around to see Nami, Usopp, and Chopper standing behind them. Nami's delicate fingers wrapped around the back of Zoro's seat and Zoro frowned at her.

"THESE two are having the time of their lives." Nami giggled and Sanji pulled out the seat next to him using his arm so she could sit down.

"Well thanks for pulling out my seat oh white night!" Usopp laughed sarcastically as he pulled out Choppers for him and the two of them sat down next to each other around the table. Usopp looked around and raised an eyebrow at Zoro. "Few too many seats, don't you think?"

"OH! I asked Kidd and Bonnie and Torao to join us too!" Luffy giggled. Nami looked a bit taken aback by that, although it wasn't really a surprise for Luffy to ask extra people to come along whenever he had the chance, especially if it's Law.

"I thought you had something important you wanted to tell us? Won't that be a little weird with a bigger group? We don't usually hang out with them." Just then, Olivia showed up at their table with two trays of drinks and set them down, obviously giving Zoro the eyes again and Zoro had to look away because even if it was annoying, she had no idea. He would have told her to stop trying earlier but Luffy was sitting across from them and he didn't wanna ruin the 'surprise'. Just as Olivia was setting the drinks, Bonney showed up, Law and the rest of his group following behind her.

"Luffy-ya. If you can't say my last name just call me by my first name." Law's slightly condescending tone sounded and Zoro chuckled. It was always funny hearing Law get pissed at how badly Luffy messed up Law's name. "Sanji, your hands are doing good?"

"Yeah, Zoro helped me to keep them out of the water." Sanji smiled and Law nodded in acknowledgement, sitting down in the seat next to Luffy while Kidd and Bonney took the remaining seats. Luffy turned to Zoro and gave him slightly apologetic look. Seems like the kid realized that he slightly overstepped but Zoro couldn't say he minded too much. After all, who were Law and Kidd to judge? Zoro smiled back, causing Luffy to grin in return.

"Yo, thanks for inviting us to lunch! The food places in the park were so shitty I could barely keep it down." Bonney laughed as she rung her hair out over the floor. Zoro saw Olivia cringe, knowing she was probably gonna be the one that would have to mop that up. Her frown immediately flew away when she saw Zoro looking at him and she twirled her hair on her finger as she handed out the drinks.

"Well then, I'll give you folks a minute with the menus and I'll be back soon to get all your orders." Olivia gave Zoro one last look before flipping her hair over her shoulder and walking away. There was a lot of joking and laughter as the group decided on what they would get for lunch. They decided on getting a series of large platters and ordering some side plates so they could all share. They got a platter of sushi, lettuce rolls, a different variety of hot wings, a few bowls of bread, and the biggest order of nachos they had on the menu, with all the fixings. Everybody agreed to throw in fifteen bucks to pay for lunch and when Olivia came around, Sanji rattles off the entire order. As soon Sanji finishes ordering the different kinds of wing sauces, the rest of the group orders their drinks since they'd only gotten waters to start.

Zoro completely forgot about how awkward he had felt having to tell seven different people about his relationship with a guy he was supposed to hate. Watching Law and Kidd interact with each other was calming in a way, despite how hostile they were towards each other. Well, Kidd was hostile. Law just seemed like he was fed up constantly, even though that wasn't true, you could see with the way he smiled to himself every once in a while.

The food came and Luffy was the first to dig in. Zoro knew that whole act at the beginning of the meal had been just that. There was no way Luffy could go so long without having some sort of food shoved in his mouth. Everybody loaded their plates up with something from each tray, Luffy grabbing multiples from each plate.

"So, Sanji," Usopp spoke through a mouth full of chicken wing. "What is it you wanted to tell us?" Zoro was in the middle of sticking a California roll in his mouth when Usopp asked and he paused. Next to him, Sanji blinked before setting down his lettuce wrap and taking a drink of water. Everybody at the table was suddenly looking at them and Zoro pretty much felt like the entire restaurant had their eyes on the two of them, even though the group was really only looking at Sanji.

Zoro nearly jumped when he felt a soft, bandaged hand wrap around his own on top of his leg. Zoro looked over at Sanji, who was smiling at him gently and Zoro smiled back. Zoro squeezed Sanji's hand and looked back to the group, who'd all placed their food down, except Luffy and Bonney, who were still stuffing their faces. Sanji cleared his throat and turned to their friends.

"So… shit, this is harder than I thought it was gonna be…" Sanji started to speak and everybody suddenly looked a little nervous. Zoro's face was beginning to heat up again and his grip on Sanji's hand tightened. "I didn't know there would be so many people here when I told you guys this but I guess I can't be too upset since I am blessed with the presence of this lovely young woman." Sanji gestured towards Bonney, who grinned through a mouthful of pizza- WHERE ON EARTH DID SHE GET THAT?!

"Sanji and I are dating!" Zoro announced before his nerves could get the best of him. He knew if Sanji had dragged it out for even a minute, he would throw up. He wasn't nervous at all that the group would judge them for their relationship, just the taunting. Zoro had his eyes squeezed shut tight, so he was surprised when he suddenly heard Law of all people speak first.

"Finally." The doctor in training sighed as he put his head in his hand. Zoro's eyes popped open and, for some reason, he suddenly felt aggravated at the comment.

"What do you mean by that?!" Zoro growled through gritted teeth and red cheeks.

"I mean there's been sexual tension between the two of you since you met and anybody that couldn't see it is damn blind." Kidd suddenly smacked Law in the back of the head hard enough for him to come close to slamming into his plate of food. "What was that for you Brute?!"

"Dumbass! And you call me the insensitive one!" Kidd growled back. "You remember how hard this was on us when we came out?" Law rolled his eyes as Kidd bitched at him.

"I'm not making fun of them Eustass-ya, I'm merely pointing out the obvious." Kidd smacked him again and Law yelped at that one, gripping Kidd by the front of his shirt and staring at him like a damn demon. There was a thump and Bonney was suddenly standing behind them, a chicken bone sticking out of her mouth as she wiped off her fists on the towel wrapped around her hips.

"Both of you are being rude bastards and are gonna get us kicked out of the damn restaurant!" With that she sat back down and rolled herself up another lettuce wrap. Zoro turned to look at Sanji, whose face had turned as red as a beat. Sanji was chewing on his bottom lip and Zoro was worried for a moment that he was about to get pissed, but then Luffy spoke up.

"If you guys are dating now, does that mean you're going to stop fighting?!" Luffy's voice sounded disappointed. Usopp scoffed.

"They couldn't stop fighting if you offered them a million dollars." Nami was the one to hit Usopp for that one, she held out her hand after and motioned for the long nosed boy to hand her something as she cleared her throat. Usopp groaned and pulled his wallet out, slapping a stack of cash in her hand, meanwhile, Chopper bounced happily in his seat.

"I'm so happy for you guys! Have you two kissed yet?!" Zoro saw Sanji's face flush another shade darker, Zoro was about to answer when Sanji spoke.

"Y-y-yes Chopper…" Usopp whined loudly as he pulled out another bill from his wallet and handed it to Nami, who was now grinning like the cheshire cat. "What?! No I told you so?" Sanji questioned with gritted teeth and he looked around at the smiling faces.

"I think they're all too happy for us to rub it in our faces right now." Zoro said through a grin as he took a sip of his drink. Sanji used his free hand to cover his eyes in embarrassment and lean onto the table. Zoro chuckled and leaned over, planting a kiss on the cook's cheek. Sanji's ears tinted red and Zoro heard Nami and Bonney give a wolf whistle. Zoro grinned and leaned back in his seat.

The rest of the meal went amazing. The food and drinks were fantastic and everybody laughed as they told stories about their ventures in the water park. Nobody even brought up the confession. It was a little odd since he had really expected everybody to make a huge deal about it.

At the end of the meal, Olivia came around and everybody stuck their bills in a huge pile. Zoro handed her the stack and apologized for the large amount of fives they were using to pay for the meal. She winked at him and told him that she didn't mind a bit, even though he could hear her silently cursing on her way back to register. She came back with the change, which was about seven dollars or so. Zoro told her to keep it. He knew he probably should have tipped her more but it's not like he was made of money, so seven would have to suffice.

Everybody was getting up and leaving when Olivia leaned over the table and wrote her number on the bill, handing it to Zoro and smiling sweetly. Zoro smiled back and handed her the piece of paper.

"Thanks, but I don't need the bill." Olivia frowned and flipped it over, making the digits scrawled on the back more obvious. "And-uh… I'm taken." Olivia's jaw nearly dropped to the floor when Zoro wrapped his arm around Sanji's waist and dragged him into a soft kiss. The large group of friends whooped and hollered at them as they walked out the door.

"You could have told me from the beginning!" Olivia laughed and stuck her hands on her hips. Zoro pulled away from Sanji and smiled sheepishly, looking over at his group of friends.

"Didn't want to ruin the announcement…" He muttered, scratching the back of his neck and irritating his bug bite all over again. Olivia nodded and patted Sanji on the back, leaning in and whispering something in his ear. Sanji flushed and nodded vigorously, grabbing Zoro by the hand and dragging him outside. Zoro tried to protest as Sanji dragged him behind the restaurant and shoved Zoro against the brick wall.

"Wha-!" Sanji was suddenly covering Zoro's mouth with his own and Zoro's eyes fluttered shut as he kissed back. Zoro wrapped his arms around Sanji's bare back and held him as close as possible, opening his mouth just slightly to deepen the kiss. Sanji slipped his tongue between Zoro's lips immediately and licked at his teeth before thrusting his tongue in deep. Zoro felt his whole body shiver and a small groan tore from the back of his throat as he let Sanji explore his mouth for what felt like hours but was probably only a minute, then Sanji pulled away.

"Wha-what… was that?" Zoro asked as he wiped some spit from the corner of his mouth. Sanji stared at him, panting from kiss swollen lips and blinking at him with wild, gorgeously blue eyes.

"Olivia just reminded me how damn lucky I am to be with somebody as hot as you." Zoro's entire body suddenly felt like it was on fire. It felt awkward hearing that from other people but for some reason, when Sanji said it, his entire body just buzzed with energy and a sort of… want.

"Ah… come on, let's catch up with the others." Zoro laughed through a smile that wasn't the least bit forced. Sanji grinned back and they walked back to the park, thick fingers entwined with delicately bandaged appendages.