shíjiān zài yī diǎn yī diǎn màn man de liú zǒu
时间在一点一点 慢慢地流走

Time slowly slips away, bit by bit

Promise (约定) –EXO

Zoro stumbled into his apartment, flicking on the lights and heading straight for the shower. He hated his apartment. It was a tiny discarded block hardly worth its price. It was simply a little joint room to sleep, occasionally eat and shower in. It really only held onto the little possessions he decided to put in- namely his small wardrobe and a few other miscellaneous things. Even his swords were stashed away safely in a separate hired storage room, a while away from the apartment. Anything was better than this crumby place. He longed to move out to the higher ups where he could enjoy peaceful views and have plenty of space for his own training but it was a pipe dream. As long as he worked his job, there was a pretty low chance of him changing. Once he felt adequately cleaned of all dust, he turned off the shower and pulled on his clothes, making way for the fridge. Zoro settled on a few sandwiches. He knew he had no talent with food making, but at least he wouldn't go hungry. He slugged down a few beers and crashed onto his lumpy bed.

Tomorrow would just be another shitty day.

Zoro's mobile buzzed. The screen showed Luffy's smiling face.

'Hello?' he groaned.

'Zoro!' Luffy's voice piped through cheerfully. 'I'm back! The food was great!'

'Oh. Well that means you're back to annoying me right?' Zoro hummed, despite his initial bad mood. Luffy had been travelling around the world doing his dream job- tasting food. 'Tasting' food. He brought down nearly every restaurant to its knees. The ones that survived were instantly famous and well commended.

'Of course! Let's meet at the Baratie! I haven't been there in ages!'

'Ugh Luffy, you know I don't like that place…'

'Please Zoro it's been really long!' Silence expanded as Zoro scowled. He sighed.

'Fine.' He could hear Luffy laughing.

'Good! I'll meet you there!' Zoro felt a pang of sympathy for any working staff.

'It's you!' a voice cried. An extremely tall skinny man with an enormous afro approached Luffy, who was practically breathing the food in.

'Brook!' Luffy shouted, sputtering several chunks of meat at awed onlookers. They hugged tightly.

'Oh shit! It's you!' another voice shouted. Brook chuckled.

'Sanji I think you'd better run because the kitchen isn't,' Brook remarked, guffawing in his unique way. Sanji ran, flipping of the man on the way.

'Alright shits!' he called, rolling up his sleeves. 'It's freaking quadruple time!'

'What the heck? Why are you back so early Sanji? Your shift isn't on yet!' a voice cried over the sounds of the kitchen.

'It doesn't matter. What does matter is that the Rubbery Black Hole is back!' That was the nickname for Luffy. He gained world-wide attention from his appetite and speed of eating. Accompanying that statement was a chorus of groans 'Get to it!' Sanji yelled.

'Hey Zoro!' Luffy called, waving an arm as he continued to shovel his mouth. The green haired man nodded in greeting. Nothing really changed about Luffy in the two years he's been gone.

'How did you get that scar?' Zoro noticed the angry X mark that blared on Luffy's chest. The rubberman waved dismissively.

'Fight.' was all he said. Zoro mentally shrugged. If Luffy didn't want to tell then it wasn't his place to force him to. He glanced around the restaurant. This place hasn't really changed much either. Maybe a few more odd decorations and new paint jobs but it was still the same.

'When was the last time you came here Zoro?'

'Hm,' Zoro screwed up his mouth. 'Maybe half a year?' Officially he hasn't participated in fights for around two to three years but occasionally he stuck around for a short time to accompany a few friends who managed to persuade him into staying. Even then, he never felt comfortable in this place. He always went home with a strange mix of goosebumps and cold sweats after being here.

'That's too long!' Luffy shook his head.

'I suppose so,' Zoro huffed, amused at Luffy's behaviour. He really hasn't changed at all.

'Sit!' Luffy hauled a seat over. Zoro paused. There was no way out of this anyway so he might as well enjoy himself.

'Bring some booze over,' he said, waving to a waitress.

Zoro went to work with a pleasant warmth in his body. He was slightly wary of drinking too much, but he could hold up a sharp focus easily at this level.

'Yo.' He nodded at Kaku, a peculiar man with a long rectangular nose, similar to Usopp. Where was Usopp anyway? He was off exploring art forms all over the world, being intuitively talented for aesthetics. Damn, he missed the tall stories the man used to tell. Kaku was a good guy but Zoro couldn't understand the admiration he held towards Lucci, the idiot boss's right hand man.

'Sup.' Kaku slung a bag of tools over his shoulder. Zoro didn't know much about his work but he heard that the long nosed man was great at repairs and building in general but especially in ships. Unfortunately, his job was much more respectable and skill orientated than Zoro's.

And so began the shift.

It wasn't that bad this time around. Zoro was just sent to operate the machines. It was pretty dull, just the repetitive motions of replacing punched metal sheets with new ones from the jaws of the machine. This was one of the more preferable jobs out of the shitty range the boss issued. He glanced at the time. It was 1:35am. Time ticked by so slowly in the factory.

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