Chapter 19: Meeting Big Brother
*_+_*
"Eh?" The trio: Vivi, Sanji and Usopp said as they looked at Nami with shocked expressions.
"They're dating?" Vivi said first.
"I wouldn't say dating, but still doing what they do now, only with some kissing and hugging."
"So it's innocent benefit?" Usopp asked.
"Of course it is." Sanji said. "That guy has a heart condition, he can't do anything that would raise it up more than it could."
"Oh right… I forgot about that…" Usopp said. "Jeeze the guy acts like he doesn't have it most of the time."
"He had ten years worth of practice." Nami pointed out as she took a sip of her tea.
"I can't even imagine not doing anything for ten years." Sanji said. "That's not really living, that's just existing…"
"But I'm so happy for the both of them." Vivi said with a happy smile.
"Me too." Nami said. "Those two just fit somehow."
Sanji laid back and sighed. "One can't make a delicious cake without mixing in the ingredients that, alone, can't be enjoyed." He said.
"Huh?" The three said.
"In order to make a cake, one has to put in eggs, oil, flour, and those other things." He said. "You can't eat a raw egg, and you can't swallow oil. But put them together and you get a cake."
"I don't get what you're saying…" Nami said.
"He means that even though both of us lied and cheated on Luffy, he ended up with something better. The bad things are the ingredients, and Zoro is the final product, the cake."
"Wow… that's a great way to put it." Vivi said.
"But you also have to mix in milk and sugar right?" Nami said. "Aren't those good ingredients to use?"
"What ever Zoro did to help Luffy through are the good ingredients." Sanji said. "The kind that people like and continue to have versus the other that wouldn't do so well if not mixed to make it good."
"You should be a cooking Buddha or something." Nami said as everyone laughed.
"That'll be the day!" Sanji said as he sighed. "But I'm glad that guy is able to make Luffy happy. He deserves it."
"You're still guilty about that?" Nami said. "For crying out loud it's been months!"
"I am over it, I'm just reminiscing it a bit."
Nami knocked him over. "Whatever, just quit sounding depressed when you talk about those two! It completely ruins the happy moment!"
"H-Hai…"
"Try living with him when he's like that." Usopp said.
"Oi!"
Vivi couldn't help but giggle as she wondered what the two were doing at this point.
_/\/\/\_
Zoro and Luffy sneezed at the same time, causing Zoro to take a pill.
"Damn, someone it talking about us." Luffy said.
"Can't say I'm too happy to have that little venture." Zoro said as he swallowed some water.
"It can't be all that bad." Luffy said with a smile. "Maybe they're talking about us because they're happy to know that you and I are getting along just fine."
Zoro didn't have a counter argument for that and smiled. "What ever you say, Captain."
Luffy giggled as he held the other's hand. "Anything worth our attention to watch?"
"Dunno… We could go out to a movie…"
"Really?"
"Why not? I heard there's some good movies out and only one or two suck."
Luffy laughed as he thought of what kind of movie he wanted to see. "I know! Let's just go to the theatre and get in to the one close to starting."
"A random movie choice."
"Yep!"
Zoro smiled. "Okay, I'm game for that."
"Yosha!" Luffy cheered as they got ready to head out to the theatres.
_/\/\/\_
Once in the theatres, they mostly held hands as they stared at the screen, not really paying attention to the movie. Once in a while Zoro would bring their hands up and kissed the back of the other's hand, making the other smile and tightened the grip.
When the movie was over they were heading out when someone said something behind them.
"I saw that."
They looked back to see two men, one of twenty-eight years, the other of forty-three years. The younger man was fit with black hair in easy waves down to his chin while the older man had smoke gray hair but looked young for his age.
"Ace?!" Luffy said as he hugged the man.
"Hey little brother, how's it going?"
"It's going good!" He said as he looked at Zoro. "Zoro, this is my older brother, Ace and Smoker." The then looked at the two. "This is Zoro."
"Hello." Zoro said with an easy smile.
"Hey, I heard a bit about you. Thanks for helping my little brother out." Ace said.
Zoro scratched the back of his head.
"So… You two dating now?"
"We're friends with innocent benefits."
"How innocent?"
"Kissing and hugging." Luffy said.
"Oh, okay! That's acceptable to me." Ace said with a laugh.
"He intends to keep him a virgin for the rest of his life." Smoker said to Zoro.
"Smokey-kun…" Ace whined.
Zoro smiled. "He is the older brother, but it's Luffy that makes the choice."
"At least someone understands." Luffy said as he stuck his tongue out to his brother.
"Oi! The only time you can even think about losing your virginity is when you're happily married to the person that is 500 percent guaranteed to not walk out on you."
Smoker shook his head, not wanting to get involved with the brothers arguments. "Want a drink?" He asked Zoro.
"Sounds good, but I'll pass." Zoro said, making Ace come up to him and shook his hand.
"Now I know I can trust my brother with you."
"Eh?"
"Passing the offer to a drink is a sign for me to know that you won't walk out on my brother anytime soon."
Zoro looked at Luffy, signaling for any kind of assistance. "That… makes sense." He managed to say."
"Ace would you cut that out, you're going to scare Zoro off." Luffy said with a pout.
"Ah! Sorry, sorry!" He said with a laugh. "I'm almost to my thirties but I can't help but fell overprotective of my little brother."
"You need to get over that somehow." Smoker said. "It was bad enough when we heard what happened between you and that cook, what's his face."
"Smokey! He may still be scarred from that!"
"No, I'm okay. I'm completely over it a long time ago."
"See, you shouldn't worry so much about him."
"But…"
"Don't worry Ace!" Luffy said as he wrapped an arm around Zoro's. "I have Zoro to help me out with almost anything that troubles me."
Ace looked at the two and sighed. "Okay…" He looked at Zoro. "Zoro-san, I'm only going to say this once."
"You want to make sure I take care of Luffy and never make him cry or I'll pay for it with my grave. Right?"
Ace was dumbstruck. "What am I thinking right now?"
"You're questioning if I can read your mind. But I can't, you're just that easy to read."
"Oh shit! I can't do my dramatic speech with this guy!"
"Thank god." Smoker said.
"Smokey…"
Luffy giggled as Zoro smiled.