Ugh, this chapter
Twelve months later
No one, in Zoro's opinion, needed a house as big as this.
All a person needed for a house was a floor, four walls, and a roof. Vivi's maze of a home apparently had three floors, four wings, and who knows how many goddamn, endless hallways. An hour had passed since Zoro first walked through the front door with the intention of meeting with Vivi and the others, and the green haired man wasn't quite sure if he was getting anywhere closer to the meeting place.
Zoro shut another door closed after peeking inside only to find it full of cleaning supplies. The man sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he continued down the hallway to check the next door.
As much as Zoro was getting frustrated over the palace's ever changing layout, he wasn't quite sure he even wanted to find the right room.
Vivi had called him the night before to ask to meet, for a favor that she wanted to ask of him. While Zoro didn't have any negative feelings toward the younger girl, she had casually mentioned over the phone that Nami would be present as well. And Nami was a completely different subject altogether.
Zoro could only shudder at the thought of what Nami might make him do, or worse, how much money she could squeeze out of him while doing it. Fucking witch.
Opening the next door, Zoro peered his head inside to check if anyone was inside. To his disappointment the room was empty and bare. Only a neatly made bed against one wall and wooden dresser opposite it; a guest room, Zoro could only assume.
Zoro slammed the door shut with a growl. Maybe he should just tell Vivi the next time he saw her that he couldn't make it to their meeting, got caught up with work or something. Anything besides cluelessly walking around in this labyrinth of a home.
Turning around to try and make his way back to the palace's entrance, Zoro was surprised to see another figure standing at the end of the hall. For a majority of his time spent looking for the meeting place, the number of people Zoro actually ran into was few and far in between. What was even more surprising was the fact that the guy had approached him so quietly. Zoro couldn't recall hearing the tell-tale signs of footsteps against the marble floor and he mentally scolded himself for being so oblivious.
The stranger looked almost the same height as him, but was much smaller in comparison. Where Zoro was all broad shoulders and defined muscle, the other man was slim, but in no way gangly or awkward. He held himself perfectly poised, dressed in a stylish – and no doubt expensive – suit, his shined dress shoes tapping impatiently against the floor. His one visible, blue eye was glaring at Zoro, his mouth set in a firm line.
"Do you have a visitor's pass?" the stranger asked suddenly.
The question caught Zoro off guard, "Uh, what?"
The other man rolled his eyes.
"A visitor's pass." he repeated. "A pass for visitors. Needed for visitor's to pass. Usually given to visitors. Ring a bell?"
Zoro scowled. The other man sure knew how to run his mouth in the most annoying way possible. The green-haired man's anger seemed to only humor the stranger though as a small smirk tugged at the blond's lips.
"I don't have one." Zoro admitted, crossing his arms. Thinking back, no one at the front gate had told him that he needed a pass in order to enter. In fact, from the few people that Zoro had seen inside the palace, not one had even given him a second glance, let alone stop and ask if he had a visitor's pass on him. So what was this blond's deal?
The other man started walking toward Zoro, his hands stuffed in his pockets.
"Security hasn't been informed by the royal family of any guests coming in today." The stranger said. He paused for a moment to eye Zoro up and down, taking in the man's full appearance, before starting again. "And you're not in the system's databanks as an employee either."
Zoro's brows furrowed in anger and confusion but he tensed when the other man suddenly came into his personal space, their faces too close for comfort.
"So that makes you an intruder." The blond finished, his sharp smirk urging Zoro to make some kind of move.
The stranger clearly wanted a fight. While Zoro was sure he was capable of easily taking the other man down in a brawl, and the thought of doing so certainly had its appeal, the possibility of getting thrown out for starting a commotion was not something Zoro wanted to deal with. Perhaps he could somehow get the blond thrown out as well.
"Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"
Robin's soft voice cut through the tension built between the two men. In a sudden blur of movement, the blond's expression went from challenging to stupidly excited as he spun on his heel to face the woman. His body flailed and wiggled in excitement as he spoke with new found fervor.
"Oh, Robin-chan, how lovely it is to see you! You look absolutely radiant today! Can I get you something to eat? Drink?"
"I'm fine, thank you, Sanji." Robin smiled politely before turning her attention over Sanji's shoulder to Zoro who was watching the blond's antics with confusion and disgust. Sanji followed her line of sight.
"Oh doubt worry about him, Robin-chan!" Sanji reassured. "I was just about to kick this intruder's ass back to the alley way his moss-head grew out from."
Defensively, Zoro's hand shot up to his hair. "Oi!"
Chuckling quietly, Robin stepped around Sanji to stand beside Zoro.
"It's quite alright, Sanji." Robin told him. "Zoro is a friend of Vivi's. He was meant to meet us in the library but I suppose he just lost his way."
Grumbling under his breath, Zoro glared at the floor beneath them.
Sanji's smile dropped at Robin's news. He was hesitant to leave a lady as beautiful and lovely as Robin alone with some muscle-headed punk who apparently couldn't find his way out of a paper bag.
But Robin's smile didn't waver. "I do believe you also have an appointment with Franky today, Sanji. You shouldn't keep him waiting."
In a split second, the blond's dopey expression was back. "Robin-chan is so sweet for reminding me!" he cooed.
He stalled for a moment, making sure that Robin really would be fine being alone with Zoro, before he made his way down the hall, around the corner and out of sight of the other two.
Zoro watched the man go, his scowl back in place. "Who the fuck was he?"
"That was Sanji." Robin replied. "Vivi's father hired him as one of the chefs in the kitchen."
"He's a cook?" he asked incredulity. The blond sure had a fowl and cocky attitude for someone who did nothing but cook food for a living.
"Well, that was what he was hired to do." Robn explained, watching Zoro carefully. "He was originally programmed for security purposes. He still works with the security team, he's just not in charge anymore."
Although the mere thought of that lanky blond once being the head of the security force for the palace definitely threw Zoro for a loop, one part of Robin's explanation stuck out the most.
"Programmed?" Zoro parroted. "Then he's some kind of...robot?"
Robin hummed in agreement. "I've been reminded multiple times by Franky that the appropriate term is 'android' but yes, you are correct."
Zoro mind thought back to his short encounter with the other man, looking over ever word and step that Sanji had made that could have given away his status of being machine rather than human. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary though. His blond hair had looked ridiculously soft, as if it much of his time to take care of it, his pale skin looked as real as Zoro's own, his eyes had been bright and lively, his eyebrows had been curled. It was nothing like any robot Zoro had ever seen.
And then suddenly Zoro's head was spinning. Every robot the green-haired man had come into contact with before spoke only with affirmation or agreement, with politeness and formality. This blond though, he had threatened, he had insulted, he had praised and showed genuine concern for Robin. Whatever Sanji was, he was definitely more advanced than anything he had ever seen.
Zoro returned his attention to the woman beside him. "And...did Franky build him?"
Zoro had only met Franky a handful of times, and only really because he happened to be Robin's fiance. But from those small gatherings Zoro remembered the bigger man mentioning that he worked with machines. Sometimes he did advanced projects for wealthy clients, and other times he worked in a greasy garage fixing cars. From what Zoro could tell though, Franky was quite famous in his field and it wouldn't surprise him if Sanji was his creations.
But Robin shook her head.
"Sanji's original creator, I believe, is on leave at the moment." Robin informed him. "Franky has simply taken quite an interest in Sanji and likes to work with him a bit. Not surprising considering Sanji is one of a kind."
"No kidding," Zoro snorted. "Who builds a servant with a shitty attitude?"
Something sparked in Robin's eyes.
"It's actually a little more complicated than that." The man gave her an unimpressed look but stayed silent for her to continue. "Where do you think the name 'Sanji' came from, Zoro?"
Zoro shrugged and crossed his arms.
"His creator?" he guessed, humoring the older woman.
"Not quite. Sanji's original name was a set of numbers given to him by his creator." Robin explained, undeterred by Zoro's bored look. "Sanji was the name he chose for himself."
Zoro frowned. The blond had chosen his own name? But before he could say anything Robin continued.
"He also personally asked Vivi if he could work in the kitchens as a chef. He prefers to learn things through experience rather than through programming. He enjoys the presence of woman over men. He has quite the habit of using explicit language."
As Robin's list went on, Zoro became more and more confused. Machines didn't have consciousness, they didn't have emotions, they didn't have interests, they didn't have preferences. They had programming. At least, that's what Zoro originally thought. But obviously the blond android was something else entirely, something that his creator, or anyone for that matter, couldn't have possibly foreseen. Sanji wasn't just a robot, he was practically human.
Both were quiet in the hallway as Zoro tried to process all the new information Robin had given him. And despite how much the annoying blond's development did tug at Zoro's mind, the green-haired man eventually just shrugged.
"Ah, well, he's still an irritating dumbass."
Robin giggled before motioning for Zoro to follow her to the library, their conversation apparently over.
Ah, whatever, Zoro thought. It wasn't like he was going to run into the robot again.