A/N: Here I go again with another update! I hope I haven't left you hanging for too long, but I guess that the length of this chapter should make up for it.
Anyway, since I don't do it enough I wanted to thank publicly my wonderful girlfriend again, because she's the one who keeps me sane while writing this story, the one who helps me develop plot and ideas and the one who pushes me to keep going. Thank you so much, babe.
Then I'd like to thank you everyone of you who's left me any kind of feedback! You're all sweethearts and play a big role on keeping me motivated and inspired!
Now that I've gushed over y'all you're allowed to finally read this chapter, enjoy!
Chapter 8
Monday went by painfully slowly, Zoro's mind was constantly somewhere else, clouded with memories and worry. He didn't hear much from Sanji, they exchanged a few texts but that was it. Even their lunch break ritual was nonexistent because Sanji was too busy to get an hour off during Zoro's.
Zoro needed to see him, he needed to see for himself that things were actually okay between them, because Sanji was a very good actor and Zoro knew it.
Had Sanji really forgotten about what had happened? It wasn't exactly rare for Sanji to completely forget about his drunken shenanigans, but you never know.
Either way Zoro tried to immerse himself into work as much as he could to keep himself busy and focused on other things. He also decided to dedicate a few hours of Monday night to meditation, which was the best solution to any state of anxiety and paranoia – even if Luffy did try to break into his room a few times to try and get him to play Call Of Duty all together.
Tuesday was even worse: Zoro couldn't wait to see Sanji but at the same time he didn't want to meet him because he was too scared of the outcome.
At the gym he accidentally dropped a few barbells and other stuff, bumping into machines and benches like he was the clumsiest person on earth – thing that he definitely wasn't, and everyone kept on insisting that he should take a break because he looked sick.
Zoro spent lunch alone even that day, because apparently Sanji's shift had been changed for that week, since one of his colleagues was on sick leave. Zoro had arrived at that point in which he couldn't help but think that Sanji was blatantly lying about everything only to avoid Zoro as much as he could.
Well at least there would have been band practice at night, there was no escaping that. Zoro would have tried to talk to Sanji, make sure that things could be fixed and everything, then he would have finally felt at peace.
Zoro only needed to hang on a few more hours, and having to dedicate himself completely to teaching Kendo to kids was definitely going to help him not think about anything.
He had just worn his kendogi when he heard his cellphone vibrating from inside his bag. Zoro furrowed his eyebrows, then looked up at the clock placed above the lockers to see how much time he had left before the lesson – thirteen minutes should have been enough.
Zoro grabbed his cellphone and checked the message in the group conversation named Crows.
'guys im terribly sorry but tomorrow i have an important test and i'm still studying for it. i won't make it to practice :/ i'll do my best to come along on wednesday.'
The message was from Nami and apparently Zoro was the first one to read it. Well it wouldn't have been the same without the keyboards, but they could still make it work for once.
Zoro was just about to reply when a message from Sanji popped up all of a sudden.
'um actually i have a bit of a problem too... two more guys got sick, it must be a virus or some shit, so we're a bit short-staffed and i can't come tonight. but tomorrow night i'll be there for sure, even if i have to kill zeff, i'll make it.'
Zoro's heart sunk to his stomach, he wanted to believe Sanji even if he couldn't, he wanted to think that fate had been such a cruel bitch that it made everything worse for Zoro, but the more he read the message the more he got nauseous and he needed to throw the cellphone into the bag and leave the changing room.
Useless to say that Zoro held a particularly tough lesson, squeezing his students like lemons and leaving most of them to fall to the floor gasping for air once he decided to call it a night and finally leave them free to go home.
Zoro watched each one of his students leave to go back to the changing room, then took his time to slowly and minutely put back every single shinai and tool that had been used during the lesson, only to hold back from going there himself and having to deal with his cellphone.
"Do you plan on sleeping here?"
Zoro let his eyes drop shut and sucked in a breath, refusing to turn around and face Mihawk "So what?"
"Don't be a smartass and just get out of here, already."
Zoro picked up the last training sword from the floor "Leave me alone, if you wanna go home just go. I'll go back by myself." he grunted as he put the sword back in the basket, then walked to the other side of the room.
"Another argument with the blond?"
Zoro froze and stared ahead of him, he could see his father's severe expression reflecting into the mirror so he quickly looked away "It isn't always about him." he muttered as he moved over to the barbells and started arranging them by weight.
"It is always about him." Mihawk didn't sound exasperated as usual, he actually sounded somewhat sorry for his son. "You should think about yourself more."
Just when Zoro thought he couldn't feel worse Mihawk had to come along and turn up the heat. "I do! I think about myself all the time!" Zoro growled, still refusing to turn around.
There was a moment of silence, then Zoro heard Mihawk's steps walking away from him before he spoke again "Let's just go home, you need to get some rest."
Zoro glared down at the barbells, then turned his head to see his father disappearing into his office, probably to gather his things before leaving.
Mihawk was right, maybe he should have just slept all that anger and anxiety off, so he finally decided to change his clothes and thoroughly ignore his cellphone.
–
Zoro and Mihawk didn't speak during the ride back home even if the tension was palpable, and the background sound of Zoro's cellphone vibrating every now and then from where it lay buried into one of the pockets of the bag made everything worse.
As soon as Mihawk shut the car down Zoro was already outside, opening the front door and being greeted by Luffy's enormous pout of disappointment.
"I was so happy we had practice tonight." was the first thing that Luffy said, and Zoro couldn't help but grimace at his words
"Hi yourself." Zoro said as he dropped his bag below the coat rack and moved to the kitchen to get a beer.
"Hey," Ace greeted him with a small and unsure smile as soon as he saw him walk past the threshold.
"Hey." Zoro replied dry as he stopped in front of the fridge to grab a can of lager.
"Oh look, the sun just entered the room." Shanks commented sarcastically and earned a deadly glare from Zoro in return "Who pissed in your cereals?"
"Sanji, apparently." Mihawk announced as he walked up to Shanks and peeked at what was cooking on the stove.
"Mm, that's brand new information!" Shanks replied as he placed a kiss to Mihawk's temple, then turned to Ace "Was it Sanji who called practice off, then?"
Zoro furrowed his eyebrows and shut the fridge harder than necessary "You do realize I'm standing right here?"
Ace sighed and dropped his head before answering to Shanks "Well, he and Nami both. They're busy, so..." he shrugged a shoulder.
"What's the big deal?" Shanks scowled at both his sons "It's not the first time, you probably had to skip it yourselves!"
"Yeah, of course..." Ace waved a hand, then looked over at Zoro who was staring at him dead in the eye. "It's just... Between Zoro and Sanji."
"Oh for fuck's sake..." Zoro huffed as he shook his head and stepped over to the door.
"Why?" Shanks raised an eyebrow, gaze wandering from Ace to Zoro "Where are you going?"
"To sleep, don't you dare disturb me." Zoro deadpanned as he left the kitchen and found Luffy sitting at the bottom of the stairs. "Why are you sitting here?" Zoro frowned down at him.
Luffy suddenly beamed up at him "Wanna kick some ass on Call Of Duty?"
Zoro blinked at the request, he was expecting his little brother to keep sulking over band practice "But... Dinner's almost ready." not even Zoro was sure about the nonexistent argument he was trying to put up.
"I can eat later, I don't mind," Luffy waved his hand and stood up "let's go!" he cried out as he ran upstairs to Zoro's room.
Zoro shook his head, a small smirk curled his lips as he began to climb up the stairs himself.
"Zoro!"
Zoro sighed and stopped, looking at Ace from over his shoulder "I'm not hungry."
"I know," Ace nodded, making it clear that he wasn't going to try and convince Zoro to have dinner "I'm sure he isn't doing it on purpose, it's just terrible timing."
"I hope so." Zoro didn't smile, but he did appreciate Ace's concern.
"Maybe I'll bring you some food upstairs, later?" Ace tried again, tilting his head to the side like a hopeful puppy.
Zoro nodded "Sure, Luffy is definitely gonna be hungry."
"Alright!" Ace smiled and gave him a thumbs up before going back to the kitchen.
Zoro shook his head, still he was definitely thankful for how his brothers were trying to make him feel better.
He knew he was blessed to have the supportive family he had, no matter how obnoxious and embarrassing they could get, Zoro was lucky to have every one of them in his life.
Zoro had no memories of his life before being adopted by Mihawk, and he never even wanted to recall any of it, he was way too young to remember anyway. For all he knew he'd been with Mihawk for his entire life, and even if he did know that Mihawk was his adoptive parent he'd always thought of him as his real one. Family had never been about blood for Zoro and he didn't care about the couple years he'd spent without Mihawk, his life had officially stared once he had been adopted.
Maybe Mihawk wasn't the most tender and sweet of fathers, but he had always been great with Zoro and that was all that mattered. He had taught him swordsmanship and kendo, meditation and had been a supportive figure through his entire childhood and teenage years.
When Shanks came along Zoro had just finished first grade and his life was turned upside down. Someone had intruded his and Mihawk's peaceful life, bringing along two other kids who were loud, impish, sometimes foul mouthed and who consumed tons of Zoro's favorite food and tea.
Zoro had spent a good year of his life hating Luffy and Ace, and venting to Sanji who couldn't help but share Zoro's feelings towards the little boys. The sheer hatred was apparently mutual, especially from Ace who was extremely hot headed and always dragged his little brother to his level, even if all Luffy wanted to do was play with everyone like the sweet and friendly child he really was.
There were tons of physical fights, loads arguments, many pranks à la Problem Child and Home alone, giving Mihawk and Shanks the hardest of times, especially when Sanji was involved too and they had to call and meet Zeff way too often.
Towards the end of third grade things changed drastically with Sanji's mother's passing. Ace and Luffy knew what it was like to lose their mom and they were extremely sympathetic with Sanji, especially because for a long period he ended up spending more time at Zoro's than his own home, since Zeff was going through a terrible breakdown that made him unable to take care of his child properly.
Sanji could only smile and laugh (even if not that often) when he was in company of Zoro, and Ace and Luffy decided that fighting all the time was useless because that was their life now and they needed to do their best to be part of that family. All the energy that they'd all wasted on rage and trying to piss each other off was put to good use by playing like good kids and trying to cheer Sanji up all the time.
In a handful of months the four boys became inseparable, and Zoro quickly forgot how life was as an only child and was thankful for having his brothers, but also Shanks who made Mihawk a warmer and happier person, and was the best father he could have ever asked for.
Now, as Zoro threw a couple glances at his little brother who was completely enraptured by the game, he couldn't even think what it would have been like not to have him by his side. Maybe Ace and Luffy couldn't take away the pain completely, but they surely helped easing it, and in that moment the ache in Zoro's chest was just a feeble burn.
They played for hours, or maybe not, all Zoro knew is that he was exhausted and Luffy looked just as cooked as he was. They ended up falling asleep together on Zoro's bed, still dressed except for their shoes. Zoro vaguely remembered Ace stepping into the room and saying something before tucking them both in.
Zoro woke up in the dead of the night, one of his arms asleep because Luffy was all wrapped up around it. He snorted and shook his head, then carefully slid his arm out of Luffy's grip and shook it until it started to regain sensibility.
When he turned his head to check the time he saw a tray with food on it, Ace had definitely kept his promise but he had arrived too late. He avoided to turn on the light and risk waking up Luffy, so he had to feel and touch around the nightstand to find his cellphone.
He bit his lower lip as he considered if checking it was really worth it or if he should have just gone back to sleep, still his guts prevailed and made him light up and unlock the screen.
Two messages from Sanji.
"Fuck..." Zoro pressed his thumb and forefinger against his eyelids, then decided to read the texts.
'marimo i'm really sorry about tonight, i know you're angry 'cause you stopped answering on the group chat. tomorrow i can't come to lunch again but... would you and the others pick me up at night? i'll definitely come with you.'
'wow you really are pissed off... you didn't even answer to me... well please, let me know if you're gonna pick me up or not. night.'
Zoro didn't want to feel guilty, but he couldn't help the clash of conflicting emotions he went through. Maybe he was just being too paranoid, unable to accept that Sanji wasn't trying to avoid him and things were really screwed at work, but it could actually make perfect sense after what had happened. Still he decided that he had to at least reply to him, even if he was kind of pissed.
'i fell asleep before dinner and i just woke up, i wasn't ignoring you, i just had a long and tiring day. Sure we'll pick you up, I'll let you know the time. Night.'
Hitting send made Zoro feel slightly better, but he also forced himself to not wait for an answer and go back to sleep. The day after was going to be just as long and consuming as the one he had just gone through.
–
The day after Zoro was greeted by a text from Nami who announced that she was running a fever and was only going to school to do her exam, but she couldn't make it that night. For a moment Zoro thought that he was going to read some excuse from Sanji too, but he only wrote about how sorry he was for Nami and how she needed to get better soon.
The rest of the day went on smooth and definitely faster than the days before, Zoro was rested and extremely focused on work, he only stopped when he got a call from Kidd to set a time to meet later that night and then he had to forward the update to the others.
Kidd and Zoro had settled for something informal, a simple dinner and maybe some drinks at a pub around nine-ish, which meant that they needed to pick up Sanji at 8:30 or something. It all sounded perfect and Zoro was starting to regain more confidence and positivity.
Ace came back home slightly later than usual and with a weird look on his face, but Zoro didn't comment on it.
"We need to pick up Sanji, you remember that, right?" Zoro asked as he watched his brother enter the kitchen to get some water from the fridge.
"Relax, bro. I'll be ready in a minute!" Ace assured him as he began to drink directly from the bottle.
In that exact moment Luffy walked in, already dressed for the night, he took a good look at Ace and as he got himself a packet of beef jerky he arched an eyebrow and asked the real question "Did you get laid?"
Zoro widened his eyes and watched as Ace spit all the water he had in his mouth and part of it leaked out of his nose.
"W-what are y-you...?" Ace managed to quaver out before coughing.
Zoro snorted and shook his head.
"You irradiate some weird vibes," Luffy shrugged as he munched on his jerky "like when you get laid."
If possible, Ace coughed even harder and Zoro couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"I didn't! Okay? I was working!" Ace replied as soon as he was done spitting out one of his lungs.
"Alright, alright!" Luffy nodded as he calmly kept on chewing on his snack.
Everyone found it kind of weird or even creepy when Luffy spoke about sex, but even though he wasn't interested in the matter it didn't mean that he knew nothing about it. Probably his child-like features made everything worse, and he looked even more pure and naïve than he actually was.
"I'll go get changed..." Ace grumbled as he put the water back into the fridge.
"Yeah, that's better." Zoro smirked as he watched his brother march out of the kitchen.
Ace took less time than expected to get ready, so they were perfectly on time to pick up Sanji.
Zoro was nervous, but he tried to mask it as much as possible. He didn't allow his knee to bounce up and down, nor his fingers to drum over any surface of the car, he kept his fists burrowed into the pockets of his jacket and took out his agitation on his tongue piercing, rolling it across his lips or clicking it against his front teeth. When Ace stopped the car in front of Sanji's building though, Zoro couldn't really keep from tapping his foot impatiently.
"Did you text Sanji?" Ace asked all of a sudden.
Zoro stared at him dumbfounded "Huh?"
Ace huffed and turned in his seat to look at Zoro "To let him know we're here, maybe?"
Zoro squeezed his eyes shut as he mentally palmed his forehead, then reached for his cellphone and sent Sanji a message to ask him to come down.
A couple of minutes later Sanji appeared from the front door, sucking on the last drag of his cigarette before throwing away the burnt out filter and opening the backseat door with a smirk.
"Oh, here are my life savers!" Sanji began as he climbed beside Zoro "How are you, nerds?"
As Ace and Luffy normally greeted Sanji and proceeded to make some small conversation with him, Zoro kept quiet and studied Sanji's behavior and appearance for obvious reasons.
Sanji still hadn't looked directly at Zoro and was sitting very still on his side of the seat, he was smiling softly as he spoke to Ace and gently ruffled Luffy's hair just to bother him. He looked tired, so maybe work had really eaten him up and it hadn't all been a pile of poor excuses to avoid Zoro, still it was weird of Sanji not to pay much attention to Zoro and it was starting to get on his nerves.
Zoro ground his teeth and shifted awkwardly in his seat as he turned his head to stare outside, then pressed his knee into the back of Ace's seat "We're gonna be late if you don't go." he grumbled.
"Yeah, yeah, you're right." Ace agreed and started up the car.
"Marimo," Sanji finally called him out, but Zoro didn't turn to look at him yet "you didn't even say hi, you rude shit!"
Zoro turned to scowl at him, only to find him pouting and with his arms crossed on his chest "What are you, five?" Zoro asked as one of his eyebrows quirked up.
Sanji rolled his eyes "You've been an ass these days, you barely texted me."
Zoro shrugged a shoulder "I've been busy and so have you."
Sanji stared at him dead in the eyes, then moved to sling a leg over Zoro's lap "Are you jealous of my workplace, now?" he smirked "Don't worry, you suck more than it does." and with those words he leaned in to press a kiss to Zoro's cheek before resting back into his seat and crossed his other leg over the one that was already on Zoro's lap.
Zoro would have said something witty in return but the kiss had completely taken him by surprise and his tongue and throat felt paralyzed. He heard his brothers going "aww" and then laughing, he saw Sanji grinning smugly as he lit himself a cigarette, yet he couldn't react. Feeling his ears and cheekbones burn, Zoro turned back to glare at the glowing lights and the blurred faces of random pedestrians as Ace sped the car to get to the pub in time.
God he hated that blond little shit.
–
When they arrived outside of the pub there was no sign of anyone from Freakshow, so they decided to wait outside and Ace asked Sanji for a cigarette – more to kill some time than because he actually needed a smoke.
The place looked nice from the outside, they had never been there before actually, but it seemed quiet and not too packed so it was the perfect place to talk without having to yell over the music.
"And you were worried we would have been late." Ace snorted as he took a deep drag of tobacco.
Zoro huffed and spread his arms "How is this my fault, now? They decided the time and they're the late ones!"
Sanji raised his eyebrows "Maybe Eustass is like you and they're wandering lost somewhere around the city." he tightened the jacket around him "I'm freezing my balls off, they better hurry up!"
"Fuck you, I don't get lost!" Zoro growled, and the others all snorted at his words.
"You're not allowed to drive because of your shit sense of direction, bro. Don't deny the evidence!" Ace cut in with a small smirk.
"I'll put out that cigarette by pressing it into your eye, if you don't shut up." Zoro threatened between gritted teeth.
"You probably mean complete lack of sense of direction, Ace." Sanji chimed in with a nod.
Zoro turned around to grab a fistful of Sanji's shirt "You want permanent eyeshadow, Cook?"
Sanji blew smoke into Zoro's face "Go on, let's see if you can even graze me with your fists." he challenged him.
"Kinky! I'm into rough shit myself..." a deep voice spoke behind Sanji.
"Tra-guy! Long time no see!" Luffy bursted into an excited laugh, and Zoro and Sanji suddenly froze before looking behind them.
"Hey everyone, sorry we're late but we couldn't find a damn parking!" Law stated before smirking at Luffy.
"It's okay, we only just got here ourselves!" Luffy replied louder than usual, definitely driven by the thrill of having his favorite underground bass player so close to him.
"Long enough to start arguing." Kidd commented as he watched Zoro and Sanji with an amused crooked grin on his lips.
"They're always doing that, don't even pay attention to them!" Ace explained as waved his hand.
Zoro let go of Sanji's shirt and they both muttered out an "Hi" as they stood silently one next to the other.
"Uh, bro?" another voice came from the penumbra of that part of the street that wasn't drowned by the lights of the entrance of the pub "the car keys."
Kidd turned and grabbed a bunch of keys from the person that had just joined them "Yeah, right." he stuffed them into the pocket of his coat, then jabbed a thumb over his shoulder "Guess you know this guy already."
The man came out from behind Kidd and raised a hand in greeting "Hello guys!"
Sanji went stiff beside Zoro, and Zoro's eyes widened comically.
"Bartolomeo?!" Ace and Luffy cried out in surprise.
"What you probably don't know is that he's Eustass' brother." Law revealed as he tilted his head to the side, then added "Spoiler alert." in a softer voice.
Now everyone's eyes were risking to pop out of their skulls.
"You're... You're brothers?" Sanji asked as he waved a finger from Kidd to Bartolomeo.
"Yeah, we are..." Bartolomeo chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head.
"So is the lack of eyebrows genetic or...?" Sanji went on as he kept staring at the two brothers incredulous.
"Cook, what the fuck?" Zoro muttered as he shook his head.
Law snorted, failing to bite back a laugh as Kidd shot him a deadly glare.
"No we... We both wax them off." Bartolomeo answered with a shrug.
"This is weird... But they do look alike! Kind of..." Luffy jumped in as he squinted at Kidd and Bartolomeo, cocking his head from side to side as he studied their similarities.
"He's a shit brother though, because instead of liking my band he likes yours." Kidd remarked as he folded his arms over his chest and glowered at Bartolomeo.
"I do like your band!" Bartolomeo protested, then quickly glanced at Zoro and Sanji before staring down at his boots "I just like them more..."
Zoro could have sworn he'd seen Sanji roll his eyes, and couldn't really figure out why he would do that, he loved to hear people praise their band.
"That's a very good boy!" Ace exclaimed with a clap of his hands, and Bartolomeo turned a soft shade of pink.
"Oh, and Roronoa-ya," Law suddenly called out, making Zoro snap his head in his direction "we really enjoyed watching you fight for Blackleg-ya." he said with a shit eating grin plastered on his face.
"W-what?" Zoro asked almost out of breath.
"You were there?" Sanji asked, his voice louder and clearer than Zoro's.
"So you were the people in line with Bartolomeo?" Ace chimed in, pointing at Law.
"Jesus, Law!" Bartolomeo mumbled, somewhat embarrassed by Law's words.
"Why don't we just go inside?" Sanji spoke before anyone could add anything else "It's fucking freezing here."
Zoro turned to look at Sanji and his uneasy expression, and mentally thanked him for changing topic so quickly.
"Yeah, he's right." Kidd agreed and pushed past Law to get inside the pub.
Awkwardness: the best way to start a night out.
Zoro sucked in a deep breath, exchanged a glance with Sanji, then they both entered the pub after Law.
It turned out that Law had actually booked a table for all of them, so they didn't have to wait at all to get one, even though it looked kind of small to fit all of them.
When Sanji tried to ask for a bigger table he got an annoyed answer from one of the waiters telling him not too politely that it was the only table they had for seven people.
"Some people shouldn't be allowed to work in food service." Sanji grumbled as he moved to get a seat across from Zoro.
"Down, Cook..." Zoro chastised him as he sat down next to Ace. Before he could even realize it he turned to his left and saw Bartolomeo in the chair next to his. "Oh, hi."
Bartolomeo broke into a sheepish grin "You don't mind me sitting here, do you?"
Zoro shrugged a shoulder "Not at all, it's a free country." he gave him a crooked smirk and Bartolomeo bursted into giggles.
"Here are the menus guys, I'll be back in a few!" the waiter said. Luckily it wasn't the one who'd spoken to Sanji earlier.
"Ah, thank you." Zoro grabbed one of the menus, and as he did so he caught a glimpse of Sanji glaring a hole into Bartolomeo's skull. "Are you sick?" Zoro asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Huh?" Sanji raised an eyebrow himself as he looked at Zoro.
Zoro pursed his lips then waved a hand "Nevermind," then pointed at Luffy who was sitting between Sanji and Law "be careful or you won't be eating tonight."
Sanji turned to glower at Luffy "He only needs to try stealing food from my plate."
Law scowled at Zoro, then at Luffy "Why? He steals food?"
Luffy was too busy scanning through the menu while picking his nose with his pinky finger to pay them any attention.
"Yeah, he does that..." Ace sighed with a one-shouldered shrug.
Law shot one last glance at Luffy then started going through the menu himself, but the more he read, the more his expression darkened. "Don't they have something that isn't stuffed into a sandwich?"
Zoro raised his eyes from the menu and gave Law a quizzical look.
"Oh God here he goes..." Kidd huffed as if he had seen that scene over and over.
"Shut up! You know I hate bread!" Law growled lowly.
Sanji didn't even lift his eyes from the menu but Zoro saw his expression turn annoyed, nearly murderous.
"How can you not like bread?" Luffy frowned at Law.
"I don't." Law stated simply as he flipped through the pages "Oh, steaks. Good."
Zoro threw Ace a weirded out look and Ace shrugged in response. Probably it was a good thing that they'd found people who were almost odder than they were. Just as he was about to go back to study the menu, Zoro saw Bartolomeo staring at him out of the corner of his eye, but he decided to not mind him.
Once everyone had settled with what they wanted to eat and everything had been ordered, Kidd splayed a hand on the table as his eyes wandered among the Crows.
"Shall we talk about the real reason why we're here?" Kidd asked rhetorically.
"No, let's just get drunk and talk about our feelings." Law teased.
Kidd was about to throw the smartass a punch, but his brother caught his arm before he could do anything.
"No blood, we're at the table." Bartolomeo chanted, probably way too used to those two behaving like that.
"Yes, let's talk business." Sanji finally spoke up after what felt like ages. Zoro saw him lock gazes with Law for a couple of moments, then he went back to look at Kidd with an unreadable expression.
"We were thinking five, maybe six dates inside the country but out of town." Kidd began explaining, and all of a sudden everyone perked up to pay attention to him. "Five of them are sure, we've already spoke to booking agencies and promoters, the sixth will be held if the others go as well as they should."
"Ah, we'll be awesome!" Luffy exclaimed in pure excitement "We're both great bands, I'm sure we'll do the sixth date too!"
Zoro raised an eyebrow "We can bring our own techs, right?"
Kidd nodded at the question "Of course you can," he then clapped a hand on Bartolomeo's shoulder, making him jerk in his seat in surprise "Barto is one of our best techs, and he'll come along."
Zoro watched Bartolomeo smile awkwardly and throw a victory sign.
"Oh, he is?" Sanji asked, and when Zoro turned to look at him he saw him flare his nostrils.
"Of course. He's always coming with us." Kidd restated.
"Unless you're playing, then he's ditching us to come to your shows." Law chimed in in a monotone.
Zoro smirked "Can't handle a bit of competition?" he cocked his head in Bartolomeo's direction "If he likes us better just leave him be."
"He's got great taste!" Ace added with a smirk.
"In music or men?" Law asked, staring directly at Zoro in the eye, who frowned at him.
"Would you shut your fucking mouth?" Bartolomeo slapped a hand on the table and stood up.
"Or what?" Law challenged as he looked up at him, not moving from his seat.
"Hey, hey!" Kidd stood up himself to push Bartolomeo to sit back on his chair "Can't we just all behave like civilized people?" he chastised both of them, and only sat down when Bartolomeo and Law lost eye contact. "Jesus, fuck..."
Zoro exchanged quizzical looks with his brothers, but when he searched for Sanji's gaze he found it focused on the incisions carved on the wooden surface of the table. Sanji would have been the first person to jump on the bandwagon in other situations, making fun of people and spilling sex jokes here and there, but he was completely silent. Zoro would rather appreciate Sanji's endless teasing directed to him than that awful silence.
"Is everything alright here?" a waitress smiled down at them politely.
"Yeah, yeah, no worries." Law assured, not even looking up at her.
"Is food coming?" Luffy asked as he finally broke his own awkward silence "It would make everything better. Brains don't work at their finest on an empty stomach." he beamed up at the waitress.
"Yes it is! Here are you drinks, in the meantime," she began to set each glass on the table "sorry for the wait."
"Ah, it's alright! Running a kitchen isn't a game." Sanji finally spoke up, giving the young woman one of his best smiles "Don't mind the awful manners of these brutes, they're good people despite their rudeness."
Zoro glared at Sanji from over his mug of beer. That idiot should have just kept silent.
"Oh... I don't think they're rude!" the waitress giggled nervously as she rapidly scanned the men at the table "Little arguments can always happen," she shrugged a shoulder "but thank you for understanding." she smiled at Sanji, then quickly turned on her heels and left.
"I feel like that was the last time she'll serve us, tonight." Ace commented as he pointed at the girl pacing towards the kitchen, and everyone snorted.
"I think you scared her, Sanji!" Luffy exclaimed before laughing.
Sanji turned a bright shade of red "Fuck off! I didn't scare her, I was trying to be nice!"
"You've got a creepy way to be nice to people." Zoro nodded.
Sanji turned to look at him, anger flickering into his blue eyes "I should smash your face in with this mug, but I don't wanna 'cause any problem to that girl."
"Fine," Zoro nodded, appreciating Sanji's reactions after having been so terribly quiet "I'll kick your ass when we get out."
"You shitty moss-brain, I'm gonna kill you!" Sanji sneered as he banged the mug down onto the table.
"Guys! For fuck's sake, enough!" Ace groaned as he brought his hand down on the table "Stop bickering for five minutes! We're here to talk about work!"
"We're such a hot-headed bunch..." Law commented, an amuse smile quirking his lips as he looked at everyone "I gotta give it to you Barto, you had the best idea this time!"
Zoro furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Bartolomeo "What's he talking about? What idea?"
Bartolomeo perked in his seat, and a grin that could only be described as dripping with pride threatened to split his face in two "I'm the one who suggested you as an opening act!" he declared, victorious.
"More like pestered us..." Kidd muttered to himself.
Zoro's mouth hung slightly open as his brain processed those new information. So the real reason why they had obtained the deal was their talent after all, and the love and loyalty of one of their fans – not Sanji sleeping with Law. Once Zoro made the connection he turned to look at Sanji who was just staring at Bartolomeo with wide eyes, and when he locked gazes with Zoro he pursed his lips and swallowed thickly.
Before anyone could speak up again, two waiters showed up with everyone's food, so everyone's attention focused on their sandwiches and steaks, but Zoro was still throwing glances here and there at Sanji who looked as though someone had just slapped him.
Now Zoro couldn't really tell if Sanji was relieved or not by Bartolomeo's confession, but Zoro definitely was – even though it didn't erase the fact that Sanji had in fact slept with Law.
He prodded at Sanji's boot with his own from underneath the table, and when Sanji jerked slightly in his seat and looked over at him he mouthed "You alright?"
Sanji blinked and nodded, uttering a small "Yeah," then concentrated back on the ceasar salad in front of him.
Zoro sighed and began to eat his own sandwich himself.
At least the dinner went on smoothly, all the awkwardness was gone after the teasing at the beginning, everyone was just enjoying their food and chatting about their favorite bands and the upcoming tour. A few more drinks were ordered and the tipsiness was definitely starting to creep up on them.
"No you don't understand, the thing that makes me even more mad about this shitty brother I have," Kidd started as he waved his hand towards Bartolomeo, who groaned and threw his head back.
"Why can't you just talk about something or someone else?" Bartolomeo whined as he glowered at his brother.
"Because you're a fucking traitor," Kidd replied, emphasizing his point with a single nod, then went back to look straight at Ace as he spoke on "You see, he plays guitar, piano and the fucking drums... But he knows your songs more than ours!" he spread his arms, outrage painted all over his features, making Ace and Luffy burst out laughing really hard.
"Ah, I didn't know you could play the piano too," Zoro furrowed his eyebrows as he turned to look at Bartolomeo "I knew you could play guitar and drums, but you never mentioned the piano."
Bartolomeo's eyes widened and his face turned as red as Shanks' hair "W-well! I've been studying piano since when I was a child," he shrugged, clearly trying to make it seem like it wasn't exactly a big deal "but it isn't my favorite instrument to play."
Zoro caught a glimpse of Kidd elbowing Law and pretending to suck a dick, but ignored them – thank God Bartolomeo hadn't seen them. "Yeah, I'm terrible with the piano myself, luckily enough we have Nami in the band." he smirked, and when he turned to look at Sanji he saw him pulling faces and mouthing something to mock him.
Bartolomeo didn't even acknowledge Sanji and chuckled louder than he should have at Zoro's words.
"You know, we've been thinking about adding a rhythm guitar," Luffy began as he scratched his chin "why don't you become our rhythm guitarist? You know all our songs, too!" Luffy's grin was all teeth, but Sanji smacked him behind the head right away.
"Stop asking people to join our band so lightly, you fucking idiot!" Sanji barked as he tugged furiously on Luffy's cheek.
"Ow, Sanji! Let go of me!" Luffy cried as he tried to slap Sanji's hand away.
"I-I'd be so... So honored, oh God!" Bartolomeo started stuttering, his eyes quickly filling up with tears of joy.
"They didn't actually ask you, calm down..." Law grunted as he rolled his eyes.
"No we aren't actually looking for anyone," Zoro shook his head, then when he saw Bartolomeo sniffle he quickly added "not at the moment, at least."
"But you could like... Be our sideman, you know?" Ace cut in with a shrug "In case one of us is sick and can't play, you could definitely cover for them."
Bartolomeo nodded "Yeah, of course! I could do that!" a grin slowly spread on his lips.
"And then if we like you enough you can become our rhythm guitarist!" Luffy jumped in again.
"Shut up!" Sanji, Ace and Zoro shouted all of a sudden.
Bartolomeo laughed at the guys' reaction, then waved a hand as he looked at them "No it's okay, really! I understand that you don't need anyone else in the band," he nodded, "your line up is already perfect as it is!"
Law and Kidd groaned lowly, rolling their eyes and shaking their heads.
"Such an ass kisser." Kidd commented before taking a sip of his beer.
Bartolomeo's face suddenly twisted in anger and his cheeks flared up red as he turned furiously to his brother "I'm not! I'm just telling things as they are!" in the heat of the moment, as he tried to either grab or punch Kidd he accidentally knocked over his drink that obviously spilled down Zoro's pants and the lower part of his Metallica shirt.
"Fuck!" Zoro growled as he flinched in his seat and looked down at his clothes "Shit I'll stink like a brewery now!" he grumbled as he looked up on the table to see if there was a semi-clean tissue he could have used.
Sanji snorted, looking at him with a smug smirk as he raised his own glass of beer "At least you'll smell better than your usual caveman stench!"
Zoro glared at him "You fuckin'–"
"Oh shit! Zoro, I'm so sorry!" Bartolomeo finally cried out as he let go of Kidd and realized what he had done "I-I'm an idiot, I'm terribly sorry, f-fuck!" he stuttered as he grabbed Law's still practically clean tissue and pressed it on Zoro's lower stomach, where the beer had spilled and soaked his shirt, then abruptly stopped to stare up at Zoro.
Zoro stared back somewhat bewildered by how Bartolomeo had quickly tried to make up for his mistake and then had stopped to gawk at him like that. "Are you... Alright?" Zoro tried as he blinked, then the noise of Sanji pushing his chair back abruptly to stand up brought him back to reality and he turned to look at Sanji.
"What?" Sanji arched an eyebrow, looking more irritated than he should have "A man can't take a piss?" he asked as he spread his arms before walking off in the direction of the toilets.
"Whoa, touchy..." Law commented once he assumed that Sanji couldn't hear him, but Zoro did and he made sure to shoot him a deadly glare before returning his attentions to Bartolomeo who had taken his hands off of him.
"I'm sorry..." Bartolomeo repeated as he handed Zoro the tissue.
Zoro frowned and grabbed the half-wet piece of paper "Stop saying that, you didn't stab me. It's fine." he muttered as he padded the crotch of his jeans with the tissue, then subtly looked over at Ace who pursed his lips and glanced in the direction of the toilets.
"I know I didn't stab you, but I ruined your clothes..." Bartolomeo went on, sighing in distress.
"Chill out, it's fucking beer not acid." Kidd bursted as he rolled his eyes.
"Well I'm not an animal, like you think I am!" Bartolomeo growled back, and Zoro seriously considered punching both of them because he already had enough of their quarreling.
Luckily enough he wasn't alone in that, because Law cupped Kidd's chin and roughly tugged on it so that Kidd would break eye contact with his brother and look at him.
"If you don't knock it off, both of you, I'm going home tonight and you can have your dick sucked by your brother or something, because I'm tired of listening to your annoying voices." Law said in the calmest, yet most threatening tone he could manage and Kidd's expression turned slightly panicked all of a sudden.
"Gross," Bartolomeo groaned lowly as he shook his head.
Well at least Law's threat had been definitely useful.
"You guys are out of your minds!" Luffy couldn't help but laugh out "I like you!"
Bartolomeo's head turned in Luffy's direction so hard that Zoro heard his bones creak, he didn't actually say anything but he did stare at Luffy with this big smile and flushed cheekbones.
"I seriously can't wait to go on tour with you!" Luffy beamed as he looked from Law to Kidd, then to Bartolomeo "I heard that your guitarist could be a challenge to me in a eating contest!"
Leave it to Luffy to switch topics so brilliantly and take pressure and focus off embarrassing moments.
"Bonney?" Kidd's brow raised "Oh she could probably eat a grown man without even blinking," everyone stared at him in a mix of confusion and mild disgust. "That came out so fucking wrong..." he shook his head and covered his eyes with his hand as everyone laughed.
"What are you all laughing about?" Sanji asked as he sat down without anyone even noticing that he had got back.
"About people being able to eat a grown man without blinking." Ace answered with a small laugh.
"We laugh and shit, but there are people who could actually do that," Law cut in as he looked over at Sanji, a smug, knowing smirk tugging at the corners of his lips "right, Blackleg-ya?"
Sanji's annoyed expression switched to slight panic the moment Law finished his sentence and Kidd's eyes focused on him. "Do I look like an expert?" Sanji shrugged a shoulder, trying to keep his voice to his usual tone.
Law didn't say anything in return but he looked far too amused for Zoro's taste, especially now that Kidd was staring quizzically at Sanji's discomfort.
"Uh, guys. I hate to piss on your parade but," Zoro jabbed a thumb in Luffy's direction "the young man here has school in the morning and I'm pretty sure we all have work so," he shrugged a shoulder and began to stand up.
"Sure, yeah... I gotta be up in..." Kidd frowned down at his watch, then blinked "Fuck, I didn't think it was so late."
Zoro limited himself to nod, then glanced over at Sanji's relieved expression. He knew Sanji wasn't going to thank him, especially not after looking like he had been smelling a pile of shit all night long, but Zoro was sure that Sanji had appreciated the gesture.
–
It took them a while to figure out who had to pay what, then they finally poured out of the pub for a cigarette and a last chat before going their separate ways.
Zoro still didn't know how he felt about Law and Sanji being together on tour, though he did trust the fact that Sanji seemed to avoid him, especially when Kidd was around. Law definitely had a nerve to make jokes and innuendos when his boyfriend (or whatever he wanted to call his relationship with Kidd) was listening.
Kidd was a jealous person, or at least Zoro had figured as much that time they spoke backstage at the Metal Mayhem, and Sanji had said that they were in love but apparently couldn't help fighting and cheating.
Zoro didn't have any serious dating experience, but he didn't see the point in cheating or whatsoever, why even date someone if you aren't interested in being faithful? But that was just Zoro, and maybe he was too old fashioned or something. Probably there were things he didn't know about Eustass and Trafalgar, and Zoro didn't really care about them, what he did care about was working with them and on a professional level they seemed to be trustworthy.
After Bartolomeo and Luffy had a short but intense exchange about Skyrim, during which Sanji was looking at them with a hint of irritation, Ace and Zoro found themselves staring at how Kidd had cornered Law not too far from where they were all standing and after a short fight they seemed to be eating each other's faces out.
"Whoa... Whose tongue is that?" Ace asked his brother softly, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed.
Zoro huffed and rolled his eyes "Please..."
"I gotta be up early, you dumbasses!" Sanji snarled after crushing a cigarette under his boot.
Zoro turned to look at him, then walked over to pat Luffy on the shoulder "Come on, we gotta go."
Luffy sighed and pouted up at his brother "Already?"
Zoro raised his eyebrows "It's past two, I think it's better if we head home."
"It's okay, I'll see you in a few days after all!" Bartolomeo smirked at Luffy, then turned to look at Zoro. "Have a good night!"
Zoro nodded, then clapped a hand on Bartolomeo's shoulder "Goodnight, man."
Bartolomeo giggled nervously and quickly headed towards Law and Kidd, probably to pull them apart, but Zoro could have sworn that Bartolomeo's cheeks had turned a deep shade of red when he touched him, or maybe it had been the light playing a number on his eyes.
The two groups bid each other goodnight, then went their separate ways, it was then that Sanji finally seemed to relax just a bit. He was still kind of quiet as he smoke his cigarette on the way to the car but he walked beside Zoro.
"Those guys are so cool, and they're very good musicians too! I can't wait to play with them!" Luffy bursted, his excitement was still at its peek as he threw a fist in the air.
"Yeah they are!" Ace agreed, then added with a cock of the head "They're weird as fuck, but so are we."
"They're called Freakshow, what did you expect?" Sanji commented in a monotone as he blew some smoke out of the corner of his lips.
"We're called Murder Of Crows but I don't see any of us flying." Zoro retorted with a huff as they stopped by Ace's car.
Sanji glowered at him, then raised an eyebrow "But we sure are as black as Satan's asshole." Luffy and Ace bursted out laughing, while Zoro just rolled his eyes and shook his head.
Once they were all stuffed inside the car and Ace had turned up the volume of the radio they were ready to drive towards Sanji's house.
"You know who I'd like to join our band?" Luffy sighed as he looked out of the car window in a dramatic manner.
"Fuckin' hell..." Ace muttered before asking "Let's hear it. Who would that be?"
"Tra-guy... He's so awesome!" Luffy confessed as he let out another dreamy sigh.
"No fucking way!" Sanji growled from the backseat, and Zoro couldn't help but smirk at that answer.
"Fuck off, he's a bass player! What would you do, then?!" Ace barked in response.
"Ah..." Luffy perked up, pausing probably to compute for a few moments "I hadn't thought about that."
"You idiot!" Zoro sniggered.
Sanji leaned in to slap the top of Luffy's head "And stop asking people to join the band, are we clear?"
"Ow!" Luffy cried as he rubbed his head and glared back at Sanji "Okay, okay..."
Zoro shook his head "He's just saying it, he'll do it again."
"Then when he does, I'll bash his skull in," Sanji threatened in a low tone as he threw the burnt out cigarette out of the window before sitting back, carefully keeping to his side of the seat.
That was how Zoro knew something was still up with Sanji – and to think that Zoro was sure it was Law's presence that disturbed him. Zoro actually had something to ask him, but he would have wanted to wait for the right time to do so, even though Sanji's mood didn't seem to leave hope for a right time.
"Oi..." Zoro called out softly. It would have been better if he and Sanji were alone, but he trusted his brothers to stay out of it.
Sanji turned to look at him with the same blank expression as before "What?"
Zoro pursed his lips, thinking about the best way to ask what was going on in his mind and cursing at himself for not being that great with words. "So are you relieved about the... Offer thing?"
Sanji frowned "Huh? What offer thing?"
Zoro hung his head with a sigh "Kidd asking us to go on tour with them?"
Sanji blinked "Marimo, what the fuck are you even talking about?"
This time Zoro let out a frustrated groan "We didn't get it thanks to what you thought..." he started, glancing quickly at his brothers to make sure that they were minding their own business and talking about something else "Bartolomeo helped us more than, you know... Trafalgar."
Sanji's eyes darkened dangerously and his nostrils flared "Bartolomeo! Who the fuck is he? The savior of this shitty world?" he yelled out, taking everyone aback "Thank Christ for him, huh? How did we even survive without him all this time?"
Zoro gawked at Sanji during the entire outburst, unable to say anything in return.
"Bartolomeo..." Sanji muttered to himself with a head-shake, then pulled out a cigarette from the packet and lit it up.
"What is your problem?" Zoro asked, scrunching his face.
"I have none, shitty bastard!" Sanji snarled at him "We didn't need anyone's help, we made it on our own 'cause we're fucking good!"
Zoro blinked, then turned to look at Ace who was staring at him from the rear-view mirror. "Of course we are."
"Good!" Sanji replied almost instantly, then took a deep drag of tobacco.
Luffy turned in his seat and stared at Sanji with a blank expression "What the fuck was that?"
Sanji stiffened all of a sudden as if he'd regretted his fit, he didn't know where to look as his gaze wandered from place to place until it finally dropped on his lap "Sorry..." he muttered around his cigarette, glanced sheepish at Zoro then finished off his cigarette in silence.
If Zoro didn't know any better he would have teased him for his behavior, but he was still so relieved that Sanji didn't seem like he wanted to avoid him that he didn't want to ruin it.
Ace stopped the car in front of the Baratie just a couple of minutes after Sanji's scene, and apart from Pantera playing in the background and Luffy arguing with him about which song was better between Cowboys From Hell and Walk, the backseats were completely quiet.
"So uh... See you tomorrow?" Zoro finally asked before Sanji could even muster the courage to open the car door.
Sanji turned to look at him and nodded "Sure..." he hesitated, then pulled on the handle.
"Goodnight, Sanji!" Luffy smiled at him "Sleep all that anger off!" he sniggered.
"Shut up..." Sanji sighed "'Night, losers."
"'Night Sanji!" Ace saluted him.
"Cook..." Zoro called out when Sanji was outside.
Sanji bent over to take a better look inside the car and raised an eyebrow "What?"
"Follow Luffy's advice." Zoro suggested with a shit-eating grin.
"I was gonna get you extra food for your lunch tomorrow," Sanji began, his head cocking to the side as he spoke "too bad you cannot shut the fuck up!"
Zoro's eyebrows furrowed and his nostrils flared "Fine! I'll eat stuff from the vending machine again, you useless bastard!"
Sanji placed both hands on the car seat to get closer to Zoro's face "If any more of that shit gets into your body I'll kill you!" he sneered lowly.
"Wouldn't you like that?" Zoro challenged him with a raised eyebrow.
Sanji shrugged a shoulder "Probably..." then leaned in to peck at the tip of Zoro's nose "Night." he pulled back and shut the door before sauntering off to his house.
Ace drew both his lips in as he tried to hold back from either laughing or saying anything at all, but Luffy spoke for him.
"Did you cream your pants, Zoro?"
The slap behind the head that Luffy earned was so hard that he smacked his forehead against the dashboard.
"Stop hitting me!" Luffy cried out.
"Then shut up!"
–
By the time that the three brothers got home Luffy was asleep and Ace had to carry him to his bedroom and force him to at least put on his pajamas, thing that obviously ended up with Luffy kicking off his boots and sneaking under the covers in his clothes.
"Man, how is this kid 19?" Ace shook his head as he turned to Zoro who was standing right outside the room.
Zoro didn't actually respond and just shook his head with a snicker "You know what I'd need before bed?" he asked, instead.
Ace shrugged "A blowjob?"
Zoro groaned and threw his head back "Screw you, Ace!"
Ace didn't laugh and just shook his head "Jokes aside, I really need a fuck," then he clapped a hand on Zoro's shoulder "and you do too!"
Zoro's eyes widened underneath his furrowed eyebrows "Ace, what–?"
This time it was Ace's turn to stare at his brother dead in the eye "No, I'm not saying we do it together!" Ace sighed and shut the door behind him "Unless you want to."
"Are you on fucking drugs?" Zoro cried out louder than he'd intended, and Ace had to slap a hand over his mouth.
"SHHH!" Ace hushed him, laughing under his breath "Idiot, I was kidding!"
Zoro rolled his eyes and pulled Ace's hand away from his face "Sanji's stupid jokes are enough, thank you very much."
Ace gestured at Zoro "See? This is what I'm talking about! You're sexually frustrated!" then pointed at himself "And so am I!"
Zoro huffed "Don't fuck our fans anymore, Ace, they stop coming to our shows when you do." he chanted as if he had repeated that phrase at least a hundred times.
"Shut up, they still come to our shows!" Ace retorted before pushing Zoro inside his bedroom.
"Ace! I'm not gonna fuck you!" Zoro growled as he stumbled inside Ace's room.
"Oh Jesus Christ!" Ace clawed at his face "I don't want you to!"
"Then what do you want?" Zoro asked spreading his arms.
Ace hesitated, and for a moment he looked about ten years younger as he plopped down to sit on the edge of his bed "I'm falling really fucking hard for someone..." he finally confessed as he combed his long fingers through his jet black hair.
Zoro blinked "...What?"
"You heard me the first time!" Ace grunted as he glared up at his brother.
Zoro kept blinking, completely lost. He and Ace were so used to talk about anything that Zoro was surprised to hear something that Ace had probably kept from him for God knows how long. "What are you saying? For who?" Zoro uttered in a semi-tone higher than normal.
Ace rubbed at his forehead and scrunched his nose "A client?"
Zoro raised his eyebrows "Oh dude, that's such a bad porn cliché!" he couldn't help but snort "What is she like?"
Ace blushed really hard and threw a pillow at Zoro "It isn't a bad porn cliché!" Ace barked "And there's no she!"
Zoro's mouth opened and shut without making a sound, everything that Ace kept spilling out was hitting Zoro harder and harder, so much that he actually had to sit down on the floor. "You don't usually fall for guys... I mean," Zoro placed a hand over his lips, then went on "I mean, I remember you fooling around with that older guy... What was his name?"
Ace looked up at the ceiling, face as red as a pepper "Marco..." he grumbled.
"Marco, yeah!" Zoro snapped his fingers as he kept trying to dig back into his memory "But then... You mostly had female crushes..."
"All I can say is that I'm probably into older men..." Ace interrupted Zoro's train of thought.
Zoro furrowed his eyebrows "Is it Marco again?"
Ace scrunched his face and waved his hand "No, no! He moved away after his senior year, don't you remember?" Zoro blinked in reply "Oh, c'mon! I was fucking heartbroken!"
Zoro raised his eyebrows "No, you were definitely fucking Rebecca, when Marco left."
Ace growled "I hate you!"
Zoro laughed and patted Ace's knee "I'm sorry bro."
"You're just as horrible as Sanji!" Ace hissed as he folded his arms across his chest.
Zoro couldn't help the tiny smile creasing his lips "So I've been told..."
Ace rolled his eyes, then reached out to tug on a strand of gel slicked green hair "We're talking about my crush now!"
Zoro grimaced and swatted at Ace's hand "Okay, okay!" he cocked an eyebrow "So how much older are we talking about?"
Ace chewed down on his lower lip and squinted one eye "Uh... 14?"
"Shit!" Zoro couldn't avoid the shout that abandoned his throat.
"Shhhh!" Ace chastised him "It's not that much! He's only 36, not fucking 50!" he added in his defense.
Zoro snorted "So if he's a client– It means that you're not fixing his boiler properly," he smirked "Are you doing it on purpose, you little shit?"
Ace started giggling like an idiot, then tilted his head from side to side "Maybe..." he rolled his tongue between his lips "Today I went to his place – he was shirtless and," he threw his head back moaning.
Zoro shook his head almost incredulous "Oh shit. This is great!" he sniggered before adding "Shanks was right to say that we're all so fucking gay in this family."
Ace nodded with a snigger, then went on about his crush "Remember that time I was late for practice because of–" Ace smirked as he made air quotes "Work?"
Zoro widened his eyes "Get the fuck out!" Ace wiggled his eyebrows in response "So when you got here late this evening and Luffy said that thing– He was right, wasn't he?" he smirked "You really got laid!"
The grin dropped from Ace's lips and he looked down at his feet "Yeah, I wish!" he let out a frustrated huff of air "I'm dying here, I haven't even kissed him, yet!"
"Oh, brother..." Zoro sighed "Don't tell me that these problems actually run in the family."
Ace pulled a pained expression "He made me coffee and we spoke a bit–" then he bit his lower lip and shook his head "and he didn't even bother buttoning up the shirt he had put on while I was working!" he groaned as he buried his face into his hands.
Zoro frowned "Poor thing, I know the feeling all too well..." he patted his brother on the knee, then crossed his legs "So tell me more about him. What's his name?" in that moment Zoro's cellphone buzzed in his pocket, but he chose to ignore it.
Ace smiled, visibly happy to be able to gush over his crush "Smoker," he began, then arched an eyebrow "and oddly enough he's a chain smoker like Sanji, but he smokes cigars."
Zoro nodded "We choose the healthy ones."
Ace snorted before continuing "He's a cop," he nodded "a captain, actually."
Zoro's eyebrows shot upwards "Aim for the stars!"
Ace laughed "He's a bit grouchy, but once you get to know him he's actually a really nice man."
"Ah, you plan on dating Mihawk just like your father." Zoro nodded, ignoring the second text he had just received.
Ace glared at him "You're just like Mihawk, too."
"I am not!" Zoro grunted, then decided to pull his cellphone out of his pocket. It was Sanji, of course.
'oi marimo, sorry for snapping earlier, like really.'
'jeez no need to ignore me, are you that mad at me?'
Zoro rolled his eyes.
"Is it Sanji?" Ace asked.
"Yeah, but keep talking I can hear you." Zoro assured him as he typed his answer.
'jfc you're so dramatic, i'm speaking to ace. and yeah, you were an idiot for snapping like you did. i'll slap you next time you do that.'
"I know you're not exactly the best person to give me some advice but..." Ace shrugged.
Zoro looked up at him outraged "Hey, fuck you! Just because I can't be with Sanji it doesn't mean I'm fucking clueless!"
Ace smirked "Oh you are clueless... You can't even understand how much Bartolomeo would like to swallow your entire dick."
Zoro gaped up at his brother "Oh fuck off! He just likes our band a lot!" he shook his head. There was just no way that Bartolomeo liked him, he was crazy about Murder Of Crows in general, all of them and nothing more.
Ace cocked an eyebrow "Dude, even Sanji fucking noticed! Why do you think he acted like he was possessed by Satan?" Zoro just shrugged "He's jealous, dumbass!"
Zoro started laughing so hard that he fell backwards and had to hold his stomach as he lied on the floor.
"You need to get medical attention," Ace deadpanned before kicking Zoro's boot "Stop it already!"
Zoro slowly sat up, coughed and wiped away a stray tear "Sanji. Jealous. Right!" he shook his head "He doesn't give a shit about me!"
Ace licked his lips "You're so fucking clueless," he smirked "you're the most important person for him, he is jealous!"
Zoro's cellphone vibrated again, so he opened Sanji's message right away.
'i just wanted to sleep, i couldn't do it if you didn't reply and you take too long because your brain is made of moss.'
Zoro stared at the text for a few moments, reading and rereading it, then he looked up at Ace "You really think Bartolomeo likes me and Sanji noticed?"
"Zoro, even the waiters noticed." Ace insisted.
Zoro ran his fingers through his mohawk and kept them there, scratching and rubbing nervously at the skin as he looked down at his phone. Now that he thought about it, every small gesture or word that Bartolomeo had ever addressed to him made more sense, even when he had bolted by his side after the fight with the thugs. Even Sanji's behavior at the pub had a different and clearer meaning, if Ace was right, but Zoro just couldn't see Sanji being jealous of him in a romantic way, he would have probably feared being replaced and losing Zoro's attentions.
"C'mon, don't fret about it," Ace placed a hand on Zoro's arm and squeezed at it with a sympathetic smile.
Zoro looked up at him "How do I not fret about it? I mean, I'm not that used to have people like Bartolomeo, you know." he shrugged and tried to think about an answer to Sanji's text.
Ace huffed "Shut up, you've had people crushing on you!"
Zoro didn't lift his eyes from his cellphone screen, fingers idly hovering the keys "Not really, not like Bartolomeo at least." he answered in a monotone before starting to type.
'well you can go to sleep now, cook. i'm not mad at you, but try and keep from bursting like the primadonna that you are.'
Yeah, that should have done it. Zoro hit send and set the cellphone down on the floor right beside him.
"You don't have to marry him," Ace shrugged "just 'cause he got a crush on you he doesn't actually expect you to be with him or anything."
Zoro sighed and scrubbed a hand across his face "No, I know that. I just feel bad for him, that's all."
Ace smiled softly "Well don't, he's not stupid and he isn't a kid, he can get over it." then a crease formed between Ace's eyebrows as he drew them together in thought "Unless–" he cocked his head "Unless you decide that giving yourself a shot with a person who dies to be with you is a good idea."
Zoro's jaw dropped as he listened to his brother speak. How could he even think that? How sad would it be to date someone just because he wasn't lucky enough with the person he had real feelings for? "So I should date him out of pity and selfishness?" Zoro snorted "What is your damage, Ace? God!" he spat out with a disgusted expression.
"I'm not saying that, c'mon!" Ace waved his hand and shifted on the bed "I mean, maybe if you spend more time with him you could get to know each other and who knows?"
Zoro grabbed his cellphone and stuffed it down his pocket before slowly standing up "I'm not giving him false hope," he began "I'm not going to hurt him the way Sanji hurt me practically all my fucking life."
Ace frowned up at him "Zoro..."
Zoro shook his head and held up a hand "Ace, no." he walked up to the door, but right before leaving the room he stopped and looked at his brother from over his shoulder "You should invite Smoker to our next concert."
Ace perked up in his seat, his eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hairline "Really?"
"I need to see him," Zoro shrugged a shoulder "maybe tell him that if he makes you suffer I'll kill him."
Ace snorted with laughter "Are you really thinking about threatening a police captain?"
"No one has the right to mess with my brother, not even a cop." Zoro smirked, then left the room.
He walked slowly, his brain hazed with the information that had just been dropped on him like a nuclear bomb and now was poisoning him.
Bartolomeo was probably the sweetest guy he had met, and when he wasn't blushing, trembling and stuttering he was a very interesting person to speak to, but all of that couldn't simply erase a lifetime of friendship and everything that he had gone through with that shitty cook.
Zoro had always thought that he was hopeless and a huge idiot for sitting around and waiting for something that probably was never going to happen, but he wasn't lonely, he didn't need to be in a relationship, he had just happened to fall in love with his best friend, but if he hadn't Zoro wouldn't have been interested in being in a relationship.
His phone buzzed again and for a moment Zoro didn't even want to read the text, he just wanted to get into bed and sleep all this confusion off, still he had to reply to Sanji if he wanted everything to seem normal.
'i'm not a primadonna i'm a prince!'
Zoro snorted at the message, and after he had shut the door of his bedroom behind him he replied.
'yeah the prince of the kingdom of idiots. go to sleep cook.'
He threw the phone on the bed, then shuffled out of his clothes before finally getting under the covers and checking his phone for Sanji's reply.
'i'm really happy that we didn't get the offer cause i slept with law, we deserve it'
Zoro couldn't help the grin that spread on his lips as he typed his answer. There he was, the Sanji that Zoro adored with all his heart, the one who was allowed to pop out only with Zoro and only in certain situations.
'so am i. i'm proud of us all.'
He didn't even have the time to lower his phone, that Sanji had already responded.
'i'm bringing you a double portion of food tomorrow, i feel particularly good. sleep well marimo head.'
'you too, stupid cook.'
Zoro put the cellphone down on the nightstand, then stared up at the ceiling as he felt his body being actually filled with blissful peace. The little things had always fucked with Zoro's brain, but after all those are the things that make people fall in love with others.
To Be Continued...