-Tangled Web-
A role-play/joint-fic by Digitaldreamer and Constable Remington
Chapter six: Knock Before Entering
Well, I'm glad the wangst from last chapter didn't kill everyone. ;; And I'm also extremely glad there are people who are liking this fic, thank you so much for your comments!
Gah! I am so bummed out right now. TT Constable's on vacation for the next week. This makes me extremely sad, as not only does that mean the RP that I have been completely addicted to for the past three weeks is on pause, but it also means TW is beta-less. I prefer to update at least once every two days since at the moment the file with our RP is like…one hundred and eleven pages long to date. Meaning that since I have plenty of content for new chapters I can post every other day and not keep people waiting.
I have Wish beta-ing for this chapter, but she doesn't have spell check sooooo….
Wish: (coughs) Yes I do (coughs)Since Constable is away I'll slow things down a bit so I don't run out of chapters too fast, but I don't want to keep people waiting too long since it's getting so many reviews on So if anyone's willing to beta TW for the next week, please tell me!
Um…right, chapter time!
Fucking hell.
Zoro's hand pulled quickly away from Luffy's head, but that was about all he could do to change the way the current situation looked.
"It's not-- we're not-- I'm not--" But he couldn't seem to finish any of the sentences he was starting. "Goddamnit, Nami, you're supposed to fucking knock!"
Nami cracked up, eventually ending up leaning against the doorframe so she wouldn't completely collapse. After a minute or so she recomposed herself, but she was grinning from ear to ear. Apparently she took Zoro's inability to explain as more proof to add to her "Zoro 3 Luffy?" file. "Why am I supposed to knock? So I don't walk in on your little love-fest? I just came in to yell at you for sleeping in, but this was way better than I expected. Soooo, how long have you two been together?"
Luffy pulled away from Zoro, looking confused. Why was Nami laughing? Did this have something to do with what Sanji had said yesterday and the 'love' thing, which was not fruit?
"We're not 'together'!" he yelled, suddenly getting up from the bed and going towards her. His face was burning hot. "Get out of my room!"
"Oh come on, Zoro, now you're just in denial," Nami said with a mischievous grin, noting Zoro's beet red face.
"I'm not denying anything!" Zoro cried, but when Sanji appeared in the doorway to see what all the racket was about, he knew he had lost all hope in coming out alive in this.
"What's going on?" Sanji asked curiously, trying to glance around the room.
Nami cackled. "Oh Sanji-kun, you're not going to believe what I just walked in on," she said, gesturing at Zoro and Luffy. "Those two were hugging. In bed."
"They were what?" Usopp cried as he rushed over to the doorway, toothbrush in hand. He looked from Zoro's beet red face to the confused Luffy still on the bed, and he grinned. "Aha! The Great Captain Usopp-sama predicted this would happen! I knew Zoro wasn't straight," he declared.
Now Luffy looked even more confused. He hugged Zoro. Was that a bad thing?
"We weren't doing anything--" Zoro began again, but Sanji interrupted.
"Good going, kid, you took my advice, right?"
"Luffy!" Zoro cried, turning helplessly to him. "Please! Tell them the truth!"
Everyone looked at Luffy in unison. "Yeah Luffy….tell us the truth…" Nami said, mischievous grin still in place.
Luffy blinked, scratching his head. "The truth? Zoro said he'd stay home from school today and that made me happy so I hugged him," he said with a shrug, still confused as to what this was all about. "What's the big deal? Is this about the love thing that's not a fruit?"
Usopp and Nami blinked. "…Oh…" Nami said, trailing off.
"We thought you guys were…you know," Ussop explained, gesturing between Zoro and Luffy.
Luffy cocked his head to the side. "I know what?"
"Well we thought you guys were together," Usopp said.
"But we are together," Luffy said. Both Nami and Usopp stared with wide eyes.
"HA! HE ADMITTED IT!" Nami cried, punching her fist into the air. "This is SO going into the files!"
Ussop laughed. "HA! I was right!"
Luffy blinked. "Why are you laughing, Ussop? I'm together with you too."
Usopp's face fell. "WHA? NO-NO-NO! I do not swing that way!" he cried, waving his hands in front of his face.
The boy on the bed blinked again, looking horribly confused. "'Swing that way'? Whaaaaaa?"
Nami laughed. "So it was a three-some then? Usopp, why didn't you tell me you were a part of this?"
"I'm NOT!" Usopp cried.
Wildly amused, Sanji only continued to watch on. Anything embarrassing to Zoro was a treat to him.
Meanwhile, the swordsman was getting increasingly irritated.
"NOTHING IS GOING ON!" he finally shouted, bringing a strange sort of silence to the room. "Now everybody, get out of my room." He grabbed Nami and Usopp both by the wrists, pushing them out, to which Sanji loudly began to object.
"Stop manhandling my Nami-san!"
But Zoro just ignored him, finally managing to get his doorway clear and quickly shut the door, locking it before anyone could get back in.
Usopp blinked as Zoro's door slammed shut in his face.
"So Ussop, should I make the ZoLu file the ZoUsoLu file?" Nami said cheerfully.
"Shut up. You know I don't swing that way, I have a girlfriend," Usopp growled.
"Oh, so you're cheating on her to get some manly love?" Nami said as she began walking down the hall.
"DAMNIT, SHUT UP NAMI!" Usopp cried as he ran after her down the hall. She promptly grabbed him by the nose, eliciting a yelp of pain from him.
"So this is going in the ZoLu file then?" Usopp asked shakily.
Nami grinned. "Definitely."
Meanwhile, Luffy stared blankly at the closed door where everyone had been swarming moments before. He sat in silence for a few moments, then opened his mouth. "Whaaaaaa?"
Massaging his temples with his thumb and forefinger, Zoro let out a loud, long sigh.
Well, at least Luffy had succeeded in doing one thing, and that was telling everyone that Zoro would be staying. Now the swordsman could just stay up in the safe haven of his room until everyone had left without risking another swarm of irritating questions.
"...I don't think even I really understand what just happened, Luffy," the man finally sighed, slumping back against the warm, soft comforts of the bed.
Luffy glanced down at the swordsman, still looking confused. "But we are together, right Zoro? We were all in the room 'together', so that's what they meant by 'together', right? So I'm together with you, and I was with Usopp, Nami, and Sanji just now. What's so funny about that?" He asked, forehead crinkling as he attempted to get his brain to work on this latest mystery.
"No, Luffy," Zoro sighed, shaking his head. He was beginning to get the tiniest bit annoyed by Luffy's ignorance. "What they meant was 'together' in a relationship. You know, a boyfriend or girlfriend kind of relationship." He paused to allow this to set in. "They think I'm your boyfriend."
"Whaaa?" Luffy cried, eyes widening in surprise, mouth forming into an 'O'. "Ohhhh, this about that 'love' thing, isn't it? So that's why it was funny, 'cause you don't love anyone, like the fruit. So they think we 'love' each other, which is being 'together', which is being boyfriend and girlfriend, but it can also be boyfriend and boyfriend. Being boyfriend and boyfriend isn't a bad thing, but some people don't like it, so it's especially funny if you're my boyfriend." Luffy scratched his head, pausing for a moment as he thought this over. Then he wrinkled his nose. "Love is weird!"
Well. That was the most simplistic -- and yet shockingly true -- explanation Zoro had ever heard. He sputtered for a moment, trying to process how Luffy's brain must work and match all these facts up together.
"Y- yeah..." he finally answered. "Yeah, something like that."
Luffy laughed, flopping back onto the bed. "I can see why people wouldn't wanna fall in love, it sounds pretty complicated. But I'm sure there are good things about it that I don't get yet." He grinned. "Love may be weird, but it's interesting."
Frowning at this, Zoro scooted around in the bed until he was completely laying in it, pulling the covers up around him and Luffy.
"Yeah. Maybe. I don't see anything so great about it."
Luffy snuggled into the pillow, grinning at Zoro. "But you've never actually been in love, right? So how would you know?"
"And neither have you--" Zoro laughed a bit, grabbing Luffy's head and grinding his other fist against Luffy's head in a strong noogie. "--so you don't know, either."
Luffy laughed even as he attempted to bat Zoro's fist away. "Ack! C'mon Zoro, stoppit!" he yelped, though he was chuckling as he did so.
Laughing a little too, Zoro pulled away, smiling softly towards his friend. The kid caused a lot of trouble, that was for sure -- but for some reason, Zoro felt loose and comfortable around him.
Luffy smiled back, curling up under the covers. He definitely loved this house, as well as all the people here, but he definitely liked Zoro most of all. He had mostly just had contact with Zoro after all, but even if he had seen everyone else more he decided he still liked Zoro best. He wasn't exactly sure why, but he just felt happiest when he was around the man who had saved him. He didn't need to worry about anything when Zoro was around, he was his friend and friends were always there for each other, right?
He yawned, snuggling into the pillow again. After the excitement from everything had worn off, Luffy was beginning to feel tired again. "You're a good friend, Zoro. I don't really get what love is, but I'm glad I have you here to help figure it out." The boy murmured as he began to drift to sleep once more.
Blinking in the gentleness of this statement, Zoro was about to offer to go down and get Luffy some breakfast when he heard the boy's quiet snores.
Still, his own stomach was grumbling, and he rose from the bed, hoping that no one was still home to taunt him as he made his way out the door and down to the kitchen to see what he could scrap up.
Robin glanced up from her book as Zoro stepped into the kitchen. "Ah, good morning Swordsman-san. I see you finally decided to grace the world with your presence." she said after taking a sip of her coffee.
"'Cause he's finally done having hot man sex with the kid in his room!" Nami called from up the stairs.
Robin rose an eyebrow at this, staring at Zoro.
"Actually," Zoro began, with complete composure and control, "I just came down here to look for Nami so I could--" His voice changed to that of anger, tilting his head towards the staircase and shouting. "--RIP HER INTO PIECES AND FEED HER TO A PACK OF WILD DOGS!" He continued to glare upwards for a moment, taking a bit to regain his calm state, before turning to Robin. "...I just came down for some breakfast," he muttered. "I'm staying here today to take care of Luffy."
Robin nodded, taking another sip of her coffee and ignoring the yelp of fear that came from upstairs. "I see. That's fine, you haven't missed any school days in awhile anyway," she said with a shrug. "You want me to bring your homework from your other classes since I'm staying late anyway?"
"Yeah... that'd be great. Thanks." He grabbed up an apple resting in a bowl on the table, taking a bite. "Though I am sorry I'll have to miss your wonderful class."
"Ah yes, that is a shame isn't it?" Robin said as she returned her attention to her book, reaching over and pulling out a worksheet from her bag. She held it out to Zoro. "Here, you can have today's work to make up for missing my wonderful class. We're reading chapter twenty-one, section's one and two, and taking notes over the reading, as well as this worksheet. You think you can manage to do that?"
Taking the sheet in his free hand, Zoro frowned down at it. "Yeah, I can manage," he spoke, though his tone was annoyed. So much goddamn work... After a moment of thought, he grabbed up the other apple and turned to retreat up the stairs. "See you."
"Have a good day, Swordsman-san." Robin drawled, eyes still not leaving her book as she sipped her coffee again.
Quickly rushing up the staircase, Zoro was quick to make sure he wouldn't be met with interference as he went to his door and quickly shut and locked it behind him. Luffy was still sleeping, peaceful as an angel. Zoro couldn't help but hope that he was getting better, since Luffy had even had the strength to hug him without whimpering in pain. He set the extra apple down on the bedside table. Luffy could have it when he woke up again.
Still... Zoro wasn't sure he wanted Luffy to feel better... if he did, that meant he would go home...
Scoffing at this thought, he shook his head. Of course he wanted Luffy to feel better. Thinking otherwise was just insane.
Luffy's face suddenly twisted in his sleep and he let out a moan. "N-no…stop…please stop…K-Kuro….stop….hurts…" he whimpered, fists clenching at the blankets as he began to toss and turn.
Zoro froze for a moment, then quickly sat on the side of the bed, grabbing Luffy's shoulders and shaking him gently. "Luffy-- Luffy, wake up--" He didn't like the way Luffy's face looked, or the things he was saying. "Luffy, wake up—"
"No…n-no I…stop! AHHHHHHH!" Luffy's eyes suddenly shot open and he bolted upright screaming. Unfortunately, as Zoro had been shaking him awake, Luffy ended up pressing his lips against Zoro's as he came up. It happened so fast he couldn't have stopped it if he wanted to.
Luffy froze, eyes wide. He felt as if fire works were going off in his brain, and his heart was thundering in his chest. Strangely enough…he liked it, the feeling of excitement that rushed through his entire being as if he had just grabbed on to a livewire.
Zoro had been expecting Luffy's head to crash into his own, was ready for the slamming headache...
But not this.
He only let it linger for a moment of confusion and fright before he pulled back, gasping for breath, his face burning hot. He didn't know what to say, only able to stare open-mouthed at the boy.
Luffy stared back, eyes still wide. A blush spread across his own cheeks; one could practically hear the cogs in his brain struggling to work and figure out exactly what had just happened.
Thank GOD the damn door was locked. That would have been JUST my luck.
Still, Zoro couldn't do anything but softly stare back, before he finally cleared his throat and looked away.
"…Sorry about that," Luffy said with a soft laugh, focusing on the elusive loose string once again and fiddling with it, trying to hide his beet red face. He was going to unravel the comforter in time at this rate.
"...it's... it's not like you meant to--" Had he? Zoro was trying to process his thoughts... one part was screaming about how Nami was right, and damn her for being so all the time, and another was trying to still convince itself that it was disgusted by what just happened, and another was telling Zoro to go ahead, lean right in and do it again. And still, yet another was begging him just to stay right where he was...
It was giving him a fucking headache.
"Yeah…right," Luffy said with another laugh, scratching his head. He hadn't meant to do it, right? It had been on accident…but there was a part of his brain that was insisting this was a good accident and he should do it again. The other part of his brain was yelling at him to stop thinking that because 'boyfriends having boyfriends is especially funny' as he had stated earlier. He wasn't supposed to like kissing Zoro. Then why did it feel so right in his heart?
This was confusing. Luffy didn't like confusing things, they made his head hurt. Therefore, whenever Luffy encountered a confusing thing, he dubbed it 'mystery' and left it at that. This feeling was very confusing, so Luffy decided to dub it the "mystery feeling" until he could understand what it was.
"I... ah... well, uhm, are you... hungry? I brought you an apple..." Zoro gestured to the shiny golden apple that rested upon the bedside table. "Anything else you want, just... just ask. That's what I stayed here for."
Luffy grabbed the apple so fast one could practically hear the air being displaced. "Yosh! Food!" He cried, 'mystery feeling' forgotten in favor of something he understood. The boy took a big bite of the apple, swallowed, and grinned. "Thank you, Zoro!"
"Yeah...sure..." Zoro, however, couldn't exactly forget something like that so quickly. In fact, he thought with a sigh, he probably wouldn't be able to forget the way Luffy's lips felt against his in...
...a really long time.
Which was good, he decided. Meant he wouldn't need any reminders.
Suddenly, as he was surveying the boy, his mind fell upon something else. "Hey... how are you feeling? Think you can get a bath or something?"
Luffy frowned for a moment, considering this question. He had made it to the bathroom last night, and he was definitely feeling better than he had then. The boy grinned and nodded, taking another bite of the apple. "Yeah, probably. I'm feeling a lot better today, thanks to you."
"Good..." Zoro glanced around the room. "Maybe I can find some old clothes you can... try to fit into." And then he thought of Nami's reaction if she were to see Luffy in Zoro's clothes.
It was like no matter what he did... he lost.
Still, he ignored this for now.
"The soap and water's gonna sting your wounds... but it'll be good for you." He rose from the bed, and, looking at Luffy for a moment, went to open the door and grab the boy up in his arms, ignoring the sudden warmth that shot up his back as he had come into contact with the boy, carrying him out of the room and down the hall towards the bathroom.
Luffy blinked as he found himself scooped up in Zoro's arms once again. He was about to open his mouth to protest, then decided against it. Three encounters with light-headedness and passing out once yesterday had taught him that walking before he was ready wasn't a good idea, and he didn't really feel like drowning when he finally managed to drag himself to the tub. Therefore he decided to just resign himself to this fate. It's not all that bad anyway, he thought as he finished the last of his apple.
"'Kay, that's fine. I can't remember when I last had a bath anyway," the boy said with a laugh.
Zoro had pretty much decided that he liked Luffy's weight in his arms; it made him feel like he was useful for something. And besides, he didn't want Luffy to hurt himself trying to walk again.
Reaching the bathroom, Zoro stopped oddly in the doorway and sett Luffy down, unsure what to do.
Luffy's bare feet touched the linoleum floor and his legs shook a bit from trying to keep himself standing, but he managed to stay on his feet and steady himself after a moment. He gazed around the bathroom for a moment. "So this is the guys' bathroom, right? I'm not gonna get yelled at again for using it?" He asked, looking up at Zoro.
Zoro laughed some. "Yeah, it's the guys'. No one's gonna yell at you."
Luffy laughed, relief evident on his face. "That's good," he said, padding into the room and stopping at the tub, blinking at it. He looked back at Zoro. "Zoro, how do I work this thing? What knobby thing does what?"
Moving into the room, Zoro stared down at the tub and then began twisting the knobs until warm water poured from the faucet, causing steam to rise from the water. "There... that should be a good temperature."
Luffy beamed. "Great!" Then he blinked at Zoro for a moment, as if waiting for something.
Zoro only blinked back. "Oh. Sorry." He began to back out of the room, beginning to shut the door. "I'll... wait out here, I guess. Call me if you need anything."
"Okie dokie!" Luffy said with a grin. "Don't worry; I can take care of myself. It's not like I'm gonna drown myself in a bathtub or anything, that'd be really stupid," he said with a laugh before the door closed.
To be continued…
Right, review time!
poxmaker True, I could have gone in that direction too ne? Heh. Everyone loves Nami jumping to conclusions.
Mai Hayami: o.O They're going off character? How so? They seem fine to me and pretty much everyone else I've asked about it. So…um…what's OOC, tell me so I can fix it. O.o;;
As for the missing words, I uploaded the un-beta-ed chapter on accident. Um…yeah, whoops. It should be fixed now…
KuroKame Here, you get candy for being awesome. (gives you candy) XD I'm sorry we got people staring at you, but I'm glad you found Nami amusing.
Xeora Oh, but there is candy! (gives you candy)
J: XD Yes, we all wish we were born as a guy named Luffy. Yes.
night-chan Squee! I'm so happy that you think this fic is adorable! Sha ha ha, The Luffy and Ace situation is mysterious? Sha ha ha…you ain't seen nothing yet!
KairiQueen Squee! Long review! Eh heh…yeah, we had a lot of grammar mistakes last time because I accidentally put up the un-beta-ed version of the chapter. Whoops…it's fixed now though. Actually, I got the fruit thing from RPGWorld and I just couldn't resist using the line. And it's Kuro. You know, the guy who attacked Ussop's village and wanted to murder Kaya?
Griever5: Ack! Thank you for pointing the missing word out. . We messed up…
TreeStar Well, what'dya know? (sighs) Sorry, but Ussop is the spelling that I'm used to. Now I'm going to have to go through all one hundred and eleven pages of this RP and fix it…ah well. At least I didn't screw up Nami this time…
FEnM X3 Yes, Zoro likes Luffy. He's so just in denial. Yes…Luffy's past…(starts cackling insanely)
Katiiey: o.o Eep, your teacher showed up? I hope you didn't get in trouble!
GrayStripe Well, I'm glad you like this as much as your cats then. X3 Everyone feels bad for Zoro, but at the same time everyone enjoys the Zoro-torture.
You know, they say that a healthy dose of reviews daily is a good part of a lonely fanfic authors diet…go on, click the purple button and donate some nice reviews to the RP-starved Digitaldreamer…
Wish: (chucks random One Piece plushies at Digitaldreamer for her diet) --;;