Sanji peered out at the dinner crowd, scanning the room for beautiful woman. As usual, the restaurant was packed with rich men and their dates, all enjoying the glamour of the floating restaurant, Baratie. They were universally dressed in fashionable clothes, the women in pleasantly revealing dresses and the men in clean suits.
Almost universally, Sanji amended. The couple in the corner looked distinctly… out of place. The green-haired man was wearing a singularly filthy white shirt, ratty haramaki, and black-green pants stained with mud and less pleasant substances. More prominent were the three katana at his hip. Sanji hoped he wasn't another troublemaking pirate. He certainly looked piratical.
His companion was slightly better off, in a deep purple shirt and black pants. His navy hair was slightly longer than Sanji's, and at his hip was a single katana in a white sheath.
"Sanji! Stop staring and bring Table Five their drinks!"
That was green-hair and purple-shirt's table. Sanji grabbed the drinks and waltzed over. "Sorry about the wait. We're understaffed at the moment."
Green-hair just grunted, but purple-shirt turned to smile at him. "It's no problem," he said, voice surprisingly high and soft. Sanji frowned slightly, examining his face. Large, black eyes; a small, delicate mouth; smooth, flawless skin. This beautiful creature was a woman! Sanji felt his heart swell in his chest.
"Ah! Mademoiselle! I beg your forgiveness! I did not recognize your beauty until just this minute!"
Kuina and Zoro stared at him. "Uh… could I just have my drink?"
"Of course, of course! Please, accept this unworthy glass of iced tea from my loving hand!"
"Uh… Sure…" Kuina said, delicately accepting the proffered beverage. "And, uh, that beer is for my friend here… yes… I'm sure you're terribly busy…"
After waving him off, Kuina sighed. "Weirdo."
Zoro laughed. "He thought you were a guy there for a while, did you notice?"
"Really?" Kuina chuckled. "I guess I just look like a skinny guy when I have my chest bound. What do you think?"
"I dunno. You lust look like Kuina to me."
"Hah! That's almost sweet. I'm surprised."
"It's true, though! I mean-"
"Quiet, you. I know what you meant. So what do you think of the restaurant?"
"It's a lot more… upscale than I'm used to. I feel out of place."
"I know what you mean. Everyone's a lot more dressed up than we are."
"It's not just that, though… I mean, we're here because you were sick of cooking and we had some extra cash from that huge pirate crew, right? But everyone else is here because they wanted to take their girlfriend or whatever someplace nice. We're doing something completely different from them, but they'll probably think we're just like them."
"I hardly think that's a major risk. In case you hadn't noticed, we're dressed like gutter scum. You are, at least. I said you should put on something nice."
"I told you, I don't have anything 'nicer' than this! Besides, there's nothing wrong with this outfit."
"Fine, fine. I won't pester you about it any more."
"Sure you won't," Zoro said, chuckling. "When will someone take our order? I know what I want now."
"The crazy waiter said they were understaffed. I just hope we won't wind up waiting for too long…"
"Eh, this is-" but Zoro was cut off by a huge crash.
"What was that?" they both demanded in unison, standing and half-drawing their katana. Other diners were looking around in alarm.
A few cooks had entered from the kitchen and started moving among the startled customers, assuring them that all was well. Warily, Zoro and Kuina sat down, but kept their hand on the hilts of their swords.
"Wonder what that was all about," Kuina whispered.
"Who knows," Zoro grumbled back.
His companion brushed a speck of plaster, shaken from the roof above, from her shirt. "Maybe the restaurant's being attacked. If it is, want to help out?"
Zoro shook his head. "Baratie's known for its fighting cooks, right? They'd probably get mad if we interfered. Better to stay out of it."
"Such prudence! Such thoughtfulness! Is Roronoa Zoro starting to mature, just a little bit?" Kuina teased.
Zoro flushed red, but whether he was embarrassed or angry was impossible to tell. "Are you ever going to take me seriously?" he demanded.
She smiled her most charming smile. "I don't know. Will you ever beat me?"
Zoro sighed and leaned back in his chair. "That's starting to look like a no. How embarrassing!"
Kuina's eyes flashed. "What embarrassing about being routinely defeated by an older, faster, more talented opponent? Hm?"
"No, no! I didn't mean that the way it came out!" Zoro exclaimed, trying to recover. "I just… Let's talk about something else."
Kuina stifled a chuckle. "Fine. Let's talk about how after this I'm taking you shopping in Loguetown."
Zoro felt his spirit falter. "Sh-shopping?" he whimpered, beginning to sweat.
"Sword shopping, you big baby. Those katana you wield are crap. If you keeping working them as hard as you do, they'll shatter within a month. If we don't have enough Beli for something nice, there are bound to be Grand Line hopeful pirates with heads we can cash in. It is Loguetown, after all."
"Have you considered the going to the Grand Line, actually? Any pirate captain who survives long on that sea has to be worthy of a neat bounty."
"Of course I have. But you overestimate my skills as a navigator, Zoro. The Grand Line has the most bizarre weather patterns in this world. I'm no master navigator. I can read a map and get a small boat to a harbor without killing everybody on board. That's about it."
"Tch. We could manage…"