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“Alright…Zoro, you will be my date to this thing” Luffy said like it was the easiest conclusion. It was late, and the Strawhats were on the deck of the Sunny discussing who would pair up with who for a big Ball that would take place in a couple of days in the Kingdom they were currently in.They had docked for a supply run, when the young captain ended up making a friend who begged him to help get his friends back who had been taken from an evil man by the name of Vin Prissel. This guy would host the most elaborate parties in order to attract beautiful and elegant dancers that he would then turn into slaves for himself. The only caveat was that he only liked pairs, which meant he didn’t give you the time of day unless you could prove your worth with a partner/date by your side. Luffy accepted with the promise of meat as a reward and the chance to kick some ass.“I am not going to be your date to the ball just because this prissy guy is going to be there. I am NOT embarrassing myself like that, why can’t you just take Ussop?” Zoro (already flustered) responded.Sanji had to chime in from where he was leaning against the railing, “Actually, Prissel is hosting this event, and they say he only lets humans who have dates attend.”“Ok so maybe not Brook or Chopper” (upset cries erupted) “but Nami and Robin are right there”The ladies were sitting on the grass. Nami sighed, “Well unfortunately Sanji promised me his allowance for a whole month if I were his date, and Franky had dibs on Robin” Robin chuckled softly as she glanced softly at the cyborg standing next to the skeleton on the swing while the reindeer pushed him.Zoro was increasingly more flustered and starting to get irritated, “Alright, we’re back to Ussop, why not him?”“He’s not as pretty” Luffy answered, and Ussop dramatically fell in the distance, “oh yeah, well I wouldn’t have said yes if you asked me either!”Luffy ignored him and continued, “If I’m going to kick Perry’s ass I have to make sure he notices us, so it has to be you…” He had a gleam to his face before uttering, “Captain’s Orders!”Luffy knew that Zoro was as loyal as they come, and would have trouble going against a direct order from his captain. Zoro conceded with a begrudging “fine” while seemingly holding onto the fact that the young pirate had called him pretty. He wasn’t sure why that stuck in his head, but decided it was nothing to fuss over. At least his captain seemed happy enough, given the doofus had a shit eating grin from ear to ear.“Yo Ho Ho! Splendid, your dance lessons start tomorrow!” Brook had gotten up from the swing and pointed his cane back and forth between the two, “Franky you will help me yes?”“HELL YEAH! With my rad skills, I’ll make you guys stars!” Franky said posing, “Robin you’re going to go to this thing with a stud!” He lifted her from where she was sitting and twirled her around. Ussop was heard yelling, “get a room!”Zoro paid no attention to the display in front of him as he was dumbfounded, “wait, dance lessons?! Why in the hell?”It was Chopper who answered, “Jeez Zoro pay attention, Vin Prissel will only see those who not only look beautiful, but those who dance beautifully too. We want him to choose two of you so we can see where he has those people captured.”Nami further explained, “This is why we’re going in the first place! We can’t just go in there and fight him, we’ll never know where he’s keeping those people hidden otherwise”“I say my lovely swan and I have the best chance of capturing this guy’s attention.” Sanji crooned which made Nami look ready to jump off the ship.“Honestly, let the curly eyebrows do all the dancing, he loves embarrassing himself anyways” Zoro said. The swordsman and the cook started to spew insults back and forth, everyone else got caught up with the ongoing rivalry.Luffy was the only one who stood still, not engaging in the ruckus caused by his crew, until he spoke up with determination, “Brook!” Everyone paused, Zoro’s fist nearly touching Sanji’s chin “You and Franky better teach us everything you can about dancing because ZORO AND I are getting Perry’s attention!”Everyone (except Zoro) chipped in, “PRISSEL”Both Brook and Franky happily agreed, and just like that, the whole crew dispersed into the night leaving Zoro and Luffy alone on the deck. The swordsman didn’t know what to think, he was beyond flustered. He couldn’t comprehend why his captain would be so gung ho about choosing him of all people on their crew. Normally this kind of thing didn’t seem to be anywhere near Luffy’s interests. Sure the guy lived for any excuse to kick someone’s ass, preferably someone who deserved it, but this? Going to these lengths for this? Dancing? Dates? Oh god, they were going to have to wear formal clothes weren’t they? It was making Zoro’s heart beat a bit faster for some reason, probably the stress of the embarrassment to come. In all his self consciousness, he hadn’t noticed that Luffy had walked right up to him. When Zoro noticed, his face was mere inches away.“Ok Luf, I’m gonna ugh, go to the crow’s nest to keep watch.” He stammered. He started to take a step back when his wrist got caught by a rubbery hand. Zoro didn’t know why, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at his captain’s face, there was heat in his cheeks (must have been from all the booze earlier)Then the faintest words were heard coming from the young pirate. Words so absurd they made the pulse in his veins quicken even more. The swordsman was sure he must have heard wrong.“You really are going to be the prettiest date” and before he knew it, the young pirate was gone, yelling at Sanji to make him a late night snack.
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Brook and Franky wasted no time in getting them to the dance floor (or in this case the grassy deck of the Sunny) the next day. Zoro and Luffy barely had time to eat breakfast, although Luffy did manage to scarf down what felt like thirty pounds of bacon and eggs before getting dragged outside.To be honest, Zoro looked like a sleep deprived mess. His mind had been reeling all night with thoughts of what he thought he heard his captain say. Him pretty? There had been a piece of broken glass in the crow’s nest which he used to get a good look at himself. He traced the scars on his body, and the bags under his eyes, even his calloused hands. How could Luffy think he was pretty? And why did it seem to affect him so much? If anything, the young pirate was the pretty one with his eyes that shone so bright, and that smile that made him happy to obey. Shit… he didn’t mean to think that. When he did eventually fall asleep, it was only for a few hours, and his dreams were filled with the cursed word that had been used to describe him.“Oi Mosshead, you’re taller! You need to lead!” Sanji shouted. The rest of the crew were perched off to the side with chairs and blankets. Apparently they didn’t want to miss the show of the swordsman embarrassing himself, or maybe they were here to look at Luffy. Zoro could understand the powerful magnetism their captain held, that’s why he was his first mate in the first place.But right now things were awkward, “I just feel like I shouldn’t lead you know, him being the captain and all.” Zoro stood with his hand on his forehead. He had put his swords down which made him feel more vulnerable than he currently felt.Luffy had just taken his sandals off. He was practicing the three steps Brook had just explained to them. He was very concentrated but answered anyway, “I don’t mind if Zoro leads, if you guys think that’s best.” Then his tongue popped slightly out while muttering, “one two three, one two three” He tripped on his footing, and Zoro was always ready to catch him.“Perfect! A little more finesse and we can call that a proper dip!” Brook happily exclaimed. Zoro felt his cheeks heat up and he dropped Luffy.The crew whooped and hollered, begging Zoro and Luffy to continue.This just made Zoro’s cheeks heat up even more, “Oh come on, at least pretend like you should all be doing other things!”“I think they’re just having fun, besides you’re the one being weird about it.” Luffy said nonchalantly, he had gotten up again and was walking towards Zoro at a slow pace, eventually reaching him. The proximity made the swordsman remember the closeness of Luffy’s face to his last night. Why did he keep thinking about it?Franky had been observing for a minute, and finally spoke up, “Alright, listen up you two, old bones here showed you the basic moves, but I’m gonna show you how it’s really done… Robin, I need a partner.” He extended his hand and waited for his offer to be taken up.Robin took his hand and in an instance the two were flushed together. Franky had one hand on her hip, while the other was gently holding hers. Her hand that was not grabbing his was doing the best she could to reach his bionic shoulder. Brook took out his violin and commenced a lovely melody, fit for a Ball.Everyone watched in awe as the two seemed to let the music guide them all over the deck. Franky led like a true gentleman, twirling her here and there. They looked lost in their own world. That is until Franky tried dipping Robin which resulted in him knocking into one of Nami’s trees and both tumbling into the ground. At least they laughed it off, “Ok so maybe I ain’t the most elegant, but that’s why we’re trying with you guys.”Zoro and Luffy were still stood close to each other, but Zoro had backed away a bit. Brook noticed and tsked, “No, this won’t do! You have to be CLOSER!” with that, he placed a boney hand on their backs and pushed, “Ah that’s more like it.” He seemed proud of the fact that his little antic had caused their noses to boop, and for some reason Luffy wasn’t moving away. Not that Zoro was moving either, but he was just in shock and embarrassed as all hell. Yeah, that’s why his face was as red as a tomato.The rest of the rowdy Strawhat crew resumed the whooping and hollering, making Zoro feel like he was about to combust right on the spot. His captain (who still hadn’t moved away, their noses still touching!) examined his swordman’s face for a bit before moving his arms up to his head. Zoro could do nothing but watch as Luffy took off his precious hat and placed it on Zoro’s head fairly hard so that his eyes were covered by straw. He could only see the bottom half of the young pirate’s face.“There, now Zoro can ignore everyone else and focus on me.” Zoro’s breath hitched, of course he could focus on his captain. Of course he could do this for him even if it was humiliating. They were going to beat the bad guy because of this, and as the first mate, he had the responsibility of doing his best.With everyone’s eyes glued on the two, their noise level settled, they watched as Zoro slowly placed a hand on Luffy’s waist. The younger man’s arm resting comfortably on his shoulder, and finally their other hands intertwined to the side of them. Dun Dun whose heartbeat was that, Zoro swore it couldn’t be his.Brook began playing the same melody from earlier, “Show us what you got”Dun Dun, that irritating heartbeat was in his ears now, as they both took a step to the left. Dun Dun, they were a little clunky at first, Zoro still didn’t feel completely comfortable leading, and Luffy’s hat was starting to cover more of his vision but as if he could read his mind his captain stretched the hand that was on his shoulder to push the hat higher up on his head. DUN DUN they were starting to get the hang of it, almost achieving the same swiftness Franky and Robin had, DUN DUN.“Do a twirl!” Nami shouted mischievously, and instead of Zoro doing it, his captain spun him around so fast he got very dizzy, before pulling him in snug like before, causing Luffy to laugh.“STOP STOP, Luffy I repeat Zoro has to lead!” Franky had to interrupt. He was taking the title “dance instructor” very seriously. However, while he was watching the two with an instructor’s eye, the rest of the crew sighed in exasperation because Zoro and Luffy had stopped.Zoro coughed and abruptly separated himself from the other, “I think this is enough practice for today. Everyone shows over!” Without looking back, he quickly stomped to the kitchen in search of where the cook kept the booze. He needed peace and quiet, he needed his heart to calm down, he needed to be far away from Luffy and his stupid smile and… fuck, he was still wearing his hat.The swordsman found a bottle of sake, pushed a chair in front of the door so that no one could get in and kneeled on the floor. After chugging down the alcohol, he took the straw hat off and stared at it. What was going on with him? Why could he feel his heartbeat? Why did being so close to the young pirate actually feel…nice?He was going to have to get over these weird unknown feelings if he was gonna pull this date off.
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After regaining his composure, Zoro returned Luffy’s hat to him by throwing it at the poor boy. He could hear his captain trying to talk to him, but the swordsman did not allow it. Instead he needed to escape for a bit and announced he would go to the shops to buy some more booze (he drank all of it, and knew he wouldn’t hear the end of it from Sanji otherwise) It was the perfect excuse.Luffy tried running after him but Nami stopped him, and with a knowing smile said, “let him be right now, we’ll go to the shops later.”It took a while for Zoro to find the shops. Thankfully, his concentration on finding them occupied his mind for a while. However, some hours after he completed the task of purchasing more sake, things went down-hill. He was lost, left to wander around corners and stores that all looked like each other. “Damn, swear I already took this turn earlier.”As he was trying to find his way out of what seemed like a maze, his mind annoyingly brought back thoughts of his captain, dancing, the ball, and most irritatingly the word “pretty”. Zoro was Luffy’s first mate and swordsman. Those positions did not necessarily scream pretty. He was supposed to be fearsome and rugged, and he knew he was those things but, what was bothering him the most about it all was that…he didn’t mind being called pretty.OK correction, he didn’t mind being called that by Luffy. He tried imagining the others in their crew calling him pretty and it made him want to punch or use his swords. He couldn’t even fathom the thought of the cook using that word to describe him. He would throw him overboard if that ever happened. It’s not like he would hate it coming from the girls or Chopper either, but it would still feel uncomfortable, wrong even.Not with Luffy though… for some reason being told he would be the prettiest date only seemed to get the reaction of embarrassment? No, that wasn’t the right word for it, nervous? Flustered? He really couldn’t pinpoint it. Maybe it was because the word came from his captain’s mouth, and Zoro really was loyal to the young pirate. He had realized a long time ago that he would do just about anything for him. As long as his captain ordered it, he would obey.He took a left turn and was suddenly in front of a clothing store. He froze at the sight of the mannequin on the display window. It was wearing a simple black suit, black bowtie, and a deep red pocket square in the front. Zoro remembered they were going to have to wear formal clothes for the ball. Although, it wasn’t himself that he imagined in the ensemble but Luffy. He chuckled when he thought of the contrast between the younger boy’s unruly hair and his love of sandals paired up with a pristine suit and dress shoes.Zoro didn’t know it, but from the end of the street Ussop could see his features soften fondly.“ZORO! THERE YOU ARE!’ he yelled, running towards him.The swordsman was pulled from his thoughts, and greeted his fellow crew member, “Hey, why are you here?”“The ladies sent me to find you, they want to look for clothes for the Ball.” Ussop replied, “Although it seems like you might have beat em to it” he said while taking a look at the same window display Zoro had just been looking at.“Don’t get any ideas, I wouldn’t wear that one.” Zoro said in a huff.Ussop paused, then gave him a sly smile, “OK, but Luffy would look handsome in it right?”“Right…I mean what, yea I guess he would.” Zoro’s cheeks were heating up again. Yes, the juxtaposition between the fancy attire and his captain’s carefree style was a funny thought, but he supposed the young pirate would look nice in it, handsome even, and no it was not weird for him to think that. He meant it strictly in a respectful, first mate to captain sort of way.Ussop laughed, “Come on, Nami, Robin, and Luffy should be just around the corner by now.Zoro’s heart sped up a little at the sound of the name, “Wait, they brought Luffy?”“Duh, didn’t I just tell you they wanted to get clothes for the Ball, this includes him!” Ussop said.“Oh… what about Franky and Sanji? And why are you here then, you don’t have anyone to go with?”His long-nosed crewmate looked offended and made a dramatic scene out of it, “HOW DARE YOU, I’ll have you know I was known as the most stylish man in all of East Blue! I came to help in picking out the best outfits!.... But Franky and Sanji didn’t want my help, and the girls did so.”Despite the amusement this little charade provided Zoro, the voice of his captain immediately resounded through the street they were on as he came into view with Nami and Robin by his side. His heart felt weirder at the sight of him, but somehow he was also happy to see him again.“ZORO HELP!” Luffy ran at full speed as soon as he saw his first mate and jumped on him, causing Zoro to stumble backwards while catching him. Luffy wrapped his arms and legs tightly around his head and torso, “THEY WANT ME TO WEAR CLOSED TOED SHOES AND BRUSH DOWN MY HAIR!”Robin’s chuckle sounded close, but Zoro couldn’t tell because his senses were filled with his captain. Had he always liked the way he smelled?Then Robin spoke, “We were just giving him suggestions about what to wear to Prissel’s Ball.”Nami chimed in, “He’s being a little baby over it. You both have to look your best.”“Well Zoro thinks that Luffy would look handsome in this one!” Ussop, who was still there, said while he pointed to the display window.The girls crooned, while Luffy squeezed Zoro tighter. He couldn’t see it, but Luffy’s eyes grew wide and shined brightly, “Really?! He said that!?”The crooning continued as Ussop nodded triumphantly. Zoro felt like he could just about die from embarrassment. Yea, he had said that but Ussop tricked him into it. It wasn’t something to get this giddy about.Finally the young pirate hopped down, giving the swordsman a chance to regain his breath. Zoro wanted to clear things up, say that it wasn’t a big deal that he would look handsome in the suit, but Luffy did not give him a chance.“Alright, I WANT THAT ONE, COME ON!” He said and started to march for the entrance to the store.Nami jokingly called out, “Since he picked one out for you, Luffy you gotta find one that makes Zoro look handsome too!” Ussop and Robin snickered.Luffy froze, one hand on the door, as he twisted his body to look directly at Zoro, “No, I’m gonna find one that makes him look super pretty like he should!”Zoro swore his captain winked at him, but honestly he was too caught up with that damn word again and a question of why his pulse quickened. Too stunned to move, Ussop promptly pushed him inside the shop with the ladies following suit. They all seemed to be having a blast seeing Zoro like this, meanwhile he felt like he was going to explode if he didn’t figure out what all of these feelings were soon.
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They returned to the Sunny later in the evening. Ussop had actually helped Nami and Robin pick out elegant ball-gowns and Luffy did in fact buy the suit that Zoro could not stop imagining him in. As for what Zoro was going to wear… his captain only allowed the others to see what he chose. Everytime he tried to sneak a peek, he was blocked, by a pair of hands that Robin conjured up, Nami and Ussop standing in front of him, or Luffy protecting the box where his suit was himself. The swordsman decided to give up and just wait until he had to put the damn thing on.Dinner with the whole crew was spent teasing Zoro for his behavior earlier in the day.“Well Mosshead, think you can man up and not run off like a little girl when you practice tomorrow?” Sanji said while serving the ladies dessert.“I do say, that was rather embarrassing.” Brook added.“Yeah, not very cool at all Zoro!” Chopper had to say.Zoro tried to defend himself, “What would a skeleton and a reindeer who can’t even attend this Ball even know.”Brook and Chopper made offended noises, “I know a great deal more than you!”“Luffy and you have a lot of work to do before you can say anything about anyone else.” Nami said, “Isn’t that right Robin?”“Don’t drag me into this, I actually found it endearing how flustered he got this morning.” Robin chuckled. She was sitting at the far edge of the table away from everybody.Zoro wanted to retort and say he wasn’t flustered in the morning, but he knew that was a damn lie. So instead he directed a question to Nami, “Why don’t you guys have to practice dancing Huh? You guys are going to be there just like us.”The cook chimed in for that one, “We did today when you went out by yourself.”“Why didn’t you guys do that with us in the morning, instead of being a nosy audience?!” The swordsman was shouting now.“Because it’s fun to watch you messing up!”“Why you stupid little..” The two were at it again, throwing insults left and right. Thankfully their spat did not turn into physical violence because Sanji didn’t want to accidentally get food on Nami and Robin.There was silence in the air until Franky spoke with food in his mouth, “Look, we only have tomorrow to whip you guys into the perfect dance partners whether you like it or not. Luffy wants you two to be the best of us all.”Everyone turned to look at their captain, who had been busy taking advantage of the rest of the food on their plates. He didn’t bother to look up when he spoke, “Frankys saying the truth. It needs to be us Zoro.”Zoro felt his cheeks start to heat up, “Why though?”Luffy gave a simple, “because it just has to, I’m your captain and that is an order.”Zoro groaned, he wanted to please his captain. Although he was also painfully aware of the limited amount of time they had to get their dancing right, he wasn’t looking forward to it. All of the new things he was feeling were making him nervous because he didn’t know what they meant, and he didn’t want to be under the teasing eye of everyone in their crew again.He spent the night staring at a dark ceiling from his hammock unable to properly rest.The birds hadn’t started singing, and the sun’s rays had not fully reached the sky yet when Zoro was startled by a hand over his mouth. He was just about to grab his swords when he saw who the hand belonged to, Luffy. The young pirate had a wide grin on his face and put a finger to his own mouth to signal that he needed to be quiet. When he took his hand away from Zoro’s mouth he motioned for him to follow him out, which the swordsman did not hesitate to do.Once out of the sleeping quarters, Zoro thought Luffy would explain what they were doing in what he could only assume was so early in the morning, but an explanation never came. Instead Luffy led him to the kitchen where he picked up a sack of meats and cheeses, then he led him outside. Luffy jumped off of the Sunny, and at this point Zoro was unsure if he was dreaming or if he should follow him until he finally heard his captain try to whisper-yell for him to “Hurry up!”Zoro sighed and promptly took a leap off the ship as well, but instead of landing on the ground he landed in his captain’s arms. Luffy had caught him and looked pleased about it, but he still didn’t say anything as he put him down. He just started walking ahead and looked back to make sure the other one was following. Which Zoro was, even if he was starting to hear his heart beat in his ears again. He told himself it was the lack of sleep making him more aware of it.They had been walking for a while and were far from the Sunny, sunlight was beaming over the horizon. The captain and his first-mate were side by side in silence and it was starting to freak Zoro out. Luffy wasn’t exactly known for his ability to keep quiet, and he still didn’t know what they were doing or where they were going. So he cleared his throat and decided to ask, “Where are we going Luffy?”His captain finally spoke, “you’ll see soon.”“But aren’t we supposed to be practicing today, you said so yourself that you wanted us to be the best?”“We will be! And that’s why we have to go somewhere else to practice!” His smile was infectious, and Zoro didn’t know what to say. His body felt all warm and nice at the thought of his captain deciding to go somewhere else to practice for his sake, away from the loud mouths back on the ship. He couldn’t be sure that was the reason, but the young pirate was always known for doing whatever he could for the people he cared about. They continued to walk. After a while, Luffy spoke again, “Hey Zoro?”The swordsman answered, “yes Luffy?”“Thank you” His eyes were sincere when he looked at him, but the words still took Zoro aback a bit.“For what?”“For putting up with this whole thing…I know you haven’t really liked it, but you’ve been doing your best for our crew’s mission anyways.”“I’ve been doing my best for you.” Luffy’s eyes widened then quickly closed as he grinned from ear to ear. Zoro didn’t know what came over him to say that, but it was true nonetheless. The only reason he was going along with being his date was because he would do anything for him, “...dancing with you isn’t terrible either.” he mumbled. Luffy looked like he was about to say something when Zoro’s eye caught the sight of a nice patch of grass surrounded by tall green trees. They seemed to be nowhere near other people.Luffy took his arm and pulled him to the middle of it, “This is it! This is where we will perfect our dancing! Let’s see, I brought this to help. “ He took out a tone dial from the food sack he had been carrying, “It has a recording of that tune Brook was playing yesterday, come on!”He placed the dial on the ground and pressed the button. Suddenly the sweet sounds from Brook’s violin filled the air. Luffy didn’t hesitate to snatch Zoro’s hand and place it on his waist and held onto his other one, making sure to flush their chests together. Zoro had a hard time making his legs move, it was like his senses were heightened. The areas where his hand made contact with his captain felt like they were on fire. His eyes were wide, and he swallowed hard.“This won’t do Zoro! You have to relax. Oh, I know!” He stretched an arm to grab his hat and place it on the other’s head. He placed it gently this time, and made sure not to cover his eyes like he had the previous day, “There… you know, you look really pretty with my hat on.” This did nothing to help Zoro’s increasing heart-rate, but he did notice that having his captain’s hat on, something that meant so much to the boy soothed him a bit.They began to move all around the field, steps becoming more coordinated than they had been when everyone was there to judge. After a couple minutes, Zoro twirled Luffy around which made the young pirate laugh. The laugh was infectious and soon the swordsman joined in. The sound of joy mixed perfectly with the sounds of music coming from the tone dial. Luffy let himself be spun around again and again. The swordsman could not take his eyes off of him. Here he was dancing with his captain, his captain who was powerful, kind, caring…radiant.After another twirl, Zoro cleared his throat once more and decided to ask what had been plaguing his mind for days now, “Do you really think I’m pretty Luffy?”They kept dancing, but Luffy looked directly into his eyes, “Yeah, I thought that was obvious by the amount of times I’ve said it.”“But look at me, I have scars all over my face and body. I’m tough, how can I be pretty?”“I don’t know, you just are. When I see you, yeah you’re everything you said, but when you’re alone or protecting our crew… your face gets all soft and I just think, pretty.” Their dancing had gone from counted steps all over the field, to soft sways glued in one spot. After a couple seconds, Luffy’s face looked concerned, “is that ok?”Zoro took a moment to process the question. He already concluded yesterday that he didn’t mind being called that by his captain, but it had made him feel things he hadn’t before. He wasn’t sure what it was, but his mind told him that it was ok. That his captain’s words, no matter what they were, made him happy, so he responded, “yes Luf… yes it is.”Luffy cheered loudly and all of a sudden decided to try and dip his swordsman. They hadn’t planned this, and the movement made both of them fall to the ground. Zoro found himself staring up into big brown eyes, that smile so wide, felt the young pirate’s body pressed against him, It was too much.His face immediately flushed red. He involuntarily raised a hand to brush a stray piece of black hair from the other’s face but stopped himself when he realized what he was about to do. However, his brain din't have enough time to stop him from flipping them over so he was on top of his captain on the soft grass. He didn’t know why he did that, his mind wouldn’t think properly. It took a lot of concentration for his next words to sound calm and collected, “...We should keep practicing, that dip sucked captain.”Luffy broke into laughter but agreed. They both got up and resumed their dancing. They danced for the rest of the day, resting only to eat the food that Luffy had packed, although he complained that he hadn’t brought enough (there was plenty). They laughed and joked with each other. And after multiple complaints from Luffy, Zoro took full control finally when dancing, leading the young pirate with him. His heart was beating like crazy, and his palms might have been sweaty, but he was always great at keeping his face professional (although still very red), even if he did not know what in the world was going on with him. All he knew was that there was no other place he would rather be in that moment.-Back at the ship, the crew were wondering where those two could have gone. Everyone except Robin, who was enjoying a cup of tea standing by the railing. Franky walked up next to her, “You have that thinking face on. What’s on your mind?”Robin looked softly at the cyborg next to her and placed her hand on top of his, “nothing, just watching the sunset.” She was the only one among them that had been up early enough that morning keeping watch to notice the captain and his first-mate sneaking off. She had smiled to herself as it reminded her of soft memories with the man next to her.
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Zoro and Luffy arrived just before dinner time, which was quite punctual for their captain. The crew kept asking them where they had been the whole day, and Nami was especially nosy claiming that “We were all worried sick!”“No we weren’t” said Sanji, “Why would I care where the mosshead took our cap?”“Actually, I took him somewhere!” responded Luffy.Franky asked, “Oh, we were gonna show you more moves today, I even practiced with this lovely lady to show yall!” He said while pointing to Robin, who was quietly smiling and enjoying the conversation around her.“I’m sorry Franky, I don’t get what the big deal is, we just practiced on our own” Luffy said.“Yo ho ho, our lovebirds went on a romantic getaway all by themselves!” Brook chimed in, always one for romantics.Their young captain just smiled widely at the statement, he didn’t even try to deny the allegations. However, what Brook had just said had left their swordsman frozen mid-bite from his plate. ‘lovebirds?’ ‘romantic getaway?’ ‘love?’ ‘Love?’ ‘LOVE?’ What was that bag of bones thinking?! There was absolutely no way that he would be in that sort of relationship with his captain! That wouldn’t be right, would it? Zoro was his first mate, there must be some kind of rule about the first mate and the captain getting romantically involved right? Well, they were pirates, so technically they had no rules…wait, was Zoro considering this? He didn’t even know what he felt towards the boy? Hadn’t put a name to it. But… the idea seemed to make his stomach and heart feel funny, and his face burned bright red, which the others started to notice, specifically their navigator.“Oh Brook, where do you think they went on their 'romantic' getaway?” The foul woman said with a wicked grin on her face.Brook answered, “Oh I suppose they could have gone anywhere. The island here is very pretty, swoon worthy!”“I took him to a patch of grass in the middle of the woods, it was really pretty!” Exclaimed Luffy all bright-eyed.“Zoro! Are you feeling ok?! Do you need a checkup?!” Chopper quickly rushed to Zoro’s side with a thermometer after noticing how red and sweaty he was.He coughed, clearing his throat before stuttering through an answer while swiping away at the thermometer, “Ye-yeah, I’m uh ok, I” then he took a calming breath so that his next words wouldn’t sound so jumbled, “You guys know dancing has been embarrassing for me and Luffy wanted to help me out, to get away from all of you, that’s all.”Chopper backed away, lowering his thermometer, “I didn’t know you didn’t want to be around us Zoro.” Poor thing’s eyes were starting to water. Robin conjured up arms to gently pick their fuzzy doctor up and bring him over to her, where she embraced him, then she turned her attention to the rest of the crew.“Honestly I don’t blame him, teasing would put anyone off.” Upon saying that, everybody lowered their heads with shame, “Now, shall we change subjects?” But there was a beat of silence. Franky ended up cutting the tension by bringing up a new idea he was working on for the Sunny. The rest of the evening was filled with chatter of other things. Usopp wanted to build himself a better slingshot, Brook had to run away from a child who insisted he was a Halloween decoration, and Sanji did anything to swoon over the ladies (he could never get close enough to Robin with Franky there)-Soon everyone dispersed, Luffy went up to the crows nest because it was his turn to take watch for the night. He had snuck up on Zoro by the deck’s swing to give him a quick hug before going up. He was getting touchier, and that did nothing to help what Zoro was feeling. The problem was, he didn’t exactly know what he was feeling. He sighed and sat down on the swing. He didn’t even notice when Robin walked up beside him.“Fuck you scared me woman!” He jumped.“Sorry, that was a bit funny.” She snickered.“Rude… “ She just stared at him for a bit and it made him feel awkward, “are you here for something? Out with it.”“You know…” She took a moment to carefully plan her next words, “it’s ok if you like him.”Zoro froze, “like who?”“Him” She looked up towards the crows nest.“...Of course I like him, he’s our captain.”“You know which kind of ‘like’ I mean”“Oh”“Yeah. your feelings are your own and I won’t pry to get you to admit them out loud but… it is ok to feel that way towards a person.” She spoke so nonchalantly about this, how could she be so calm?Zoro could feel his face heating up. In that moment he came to his realization. He stopped avoiding what he had been starting to suspect about his feelings towards Luffy. But, there were so many doubts, so many questions, “He’s our captain.”“Who better to shower our captain with romantic affection than his first mate?” Robin continued after letting that sentence sink into their swordsman, “I’ll let you in on a little secret… When our shipwright and I started out, I found myself in a similar position as yourself. I didn’t want to admit that what I was feeling was more than simple friendship. I was afraid that liking…loving someone else would end up in my own loneliness again.”Zoro knew of her relationship with Franky, hell the entire crew knew. Here he was getting the full scoop, and he somehow seemed to relate to everything she was saying. Robin kept going.“But I took a chance, just like I did with you guys and just like this crew, his affection for me has proven true time and time again. I’m not saying you have to do anything brash all of a sudden but just being truthful to yourself can be a start.” With that she left him and disappeared.Zoro was in a state of shock to be quite honest. Maybe he did like Luffy, and that scared him. He did not have the courage to whisper the revelation out loud but thinking it to himself did give him some sense of relief from all the confusing feelings he had went through the past couple of days. He liked Luffy… and right now he wanted to be next to him.So he climbed up to the crows nest.He said hi to the young captain when he opened the hatch. He was met with an ethereal sight, bright brown eyes and a wide grin illuminated by the moonlight, casting an outline of light behind him. He seemed happy to see him, “Did you come up here to keep me company?”“...yes”“Then get up here already!” He said, then walked over to pull Zoro up, “what do you want to do? We could talk, or play a game! Ah we could go get some snacks!”Zoro chuckled fondly, “you are supposed to be on watch duty you know, we can’t just goof around.”Luffy stuck out his tongue, “Bleh, that’s so boring though. And here I was happy that my pretty swordsman was here to hang out with me.”Although he had accepted it, the adjective still made him blush, he attempted covering his face with his hand, “Tell you what, I’ll go get some snacks and then we can talk while keeping watch ok?”Luffy’s face brightened up and he nodded vigorously. Zoro left and returned a bit later with a plate full of meats and cheeses, along with some booze he had snuck from the kitchen (he was getting real skillful at taking things from the cook’s kitchen without getting noticed).When the young captain saw the plate, he ran over and immediately started digging in. Then he paused for a second and looked at Zoro with his cheeks stuffed full of food, and remembered that the snacks were supposed to be for the both of them. So he picked up a piece of meat and held it up to Zoro’s mouth, “Open” he ordered, Zoro had to obey. When his lips parted, he swore Luffy had never been gentler in his life as he placed the food inside his mouth, Luffy was going to be the death of him.They ate the rest of the snacks in the same fashion, with Luffy stuffing his face while softly feeding his swordsman. Afterwards they went over by the window and chatted for hours while Zoro chugged alcohol. They talked about their crew, the island they were on, food of course (Luffy yapped the most on that topic) They talked about the ball, and no matter how many times Zoro asked, Luffy would not tell him a single detail about what he picked out for him to wear. That resulted in Zoro trying to tickle the younger boy and unfortunately for Zoro’s demise, Luffy’s giggles were the cutest thing ever to be heard, which just made him keep going until he had his captain pinned to the counter with his tickles.Once the giggles and tickling was over, they both stared at each other for what seemed forever. Zoro’s hands lowered to both sides of his captain, keeping him right there.“You’re pretty.” Luffy told Zoro, and raised a finger to boop his nose.“Thanks Cap.” Was all he could say, and then he separated from him, he started to head towards the hatch with a yawn, it was late and sleep was finally catching up to him when he felt a hand wrap around his arm.Luffy had stretched it while turning his head the other way to look out the window, “you said you were keeping me company.”Zoro just nodded and went to pull out the blanket he kept stashed up there for naps. He sat down and bundled himself up, feeling Luffy’s eyes on him, “Keep watch out there captain.”Luffy smiled softly, and turned to face the other way.