dumbasses being cute

Tadashi was no stranger to being awake well past when he should’ve been in bed, and tonight wasn’t an exception. He found he got a decent amount of work done when the rest of the estate was asleep - he loved Ainosuke dearly, but just the man’s presence was enough to break his focus.

It was around 4 AM when he decided to take a break to quickly grab something to snack on from the kitchen. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard noise coming from that room. Cabinets being opened and closed, as well as restless footsteps. For protection, he grabbed a nearby vase in case the intruder got violent; even if he would’ve preferred a bat, this would have to do.

His footsteps were quiet, like he was floating, and he held his breath as he walked closer and closer to where he sensed the danger. How had this person (he hoped it was only one person) gotten past security? Why hadn’t any alarms gone off?

That was an issue for later.

For now, he was focused on protecting Ainosuke. With a quick motion, he flicked the light on and got ready to act in case--

“FUCK, PUPPY,” Ainosuke exclaimed after screaming, his soul nearly leaving his body. He continued with whispers. “What are you doing, scaring me like that? I could have died!”

Tadashi was still trying to process the sight before him: an Ainosuke who had clearly rolled out of bed, holding a jar of nutella and a spoon. Not an intruder. Right. He slowly put the vase down and ran a hand through his hair. “What are you doing?”

Ainosuke huffed. “Indulging in a snack.”

“You’re eating nutella straight from the jar.”

“You know I have a sweet tooth, Puppy.”

“Sir, it’s four in the morning.”

“The early bird catches the… chocolatey, hazelnut…y… worm!” Ainosuke said before popping another rather large spoonful into his mouth, as if making a point. “It’th--”

“Please don’t eat with your mouth full.” Tadashi grabbed a napkin and walked over to Ainosuke to clean the stray nutella that had found its way around the man’s lips.

Ainosuke rolled his eyes, but his smirk said his devious idea outweighed his annoyance. He set the jar down in favor of dipping Tadashi and leaning down into a passionate, sweet kiss. Was he making a mess of both of their mouths? Yes. Did either person care enough to stop it? Absolutely not. Ainosuke’s fingers threaded through Tadashi’s hair and gripped it firmly, eliciting a moan from the secretary. 

‘What, no complaints~?’ is what Ainosuke would’ve said, had he not been preoccupied with something more fun than teasing. And even though he hadn’t spoken out loud, he still got his answer in the form of a dazed Tadashi trying to process what had just happened. It made him giggle.

With a couple blinks and another moment to remember how to form words, Tadashi picked up Ainosuke and began his way to the stairs. “Let’s go.”

“Puppy!” Ainosuke said, still giggling. “At least allow me to finish my treat!”

“Luffy’s been treating ya well, yeah?”

Zoro heard a voice from behind where he was reclined on the chair, enjoying some booze they’d gotten from the island they were visiting. While there, they hadn’t expected to run into the Red Hair Pirates, but no one seemed to mind. Especially not Luffy. 

He tilted his head a bit to glance at Shanks, then relaxed again. “Yeah. He’s a damn good captain.” He chuckled. “Even if he gets into trouble a lot of the time.”

Shanks laughed. “The boy’s been like that since he was young. I don’t think he knows what not getting into trouble means.” He nodded towards the empty chair beside Zoro. “Mind if I pop a squat?”

Zoro shrugged. “Doesn’t bug me.”

Shanks grabbed a bottle for himself and sat down before taking a few gulps of his beer. “I’m glad Luffy’s surrounded by good people. It’s not everyday you find a crew that can handle whatever the hell that boy’s got going on all the time.” He shook his head, a fond smile on his face. “Has he ever told you the story we lovingly call The Ship Incident?”

Zoro raised an eyebrow. “The… ship what?”

“I guess not,” Shanks said with a chuckle. “The little brat was always trying to be like us grown pirates, but he didn’t like that we were trying to protect him when we said no, he couldn’t come with us. Or no, don’t get involved in fights. He was just a kid, y’know? He wasn’t ready for the world of Big, Bad Pirates.”

“No one’s allowed to tell Luffy no.” Zoro was smiling, amused. He knew all too well that if his captain was set on something, nothing would get in his way to stop him.

“Of course not. Wouldn’t want to get in the way of the Pirate King.” Shanks took another swig of his drink, though he was still entertained by the whole thing. “Anyway, one of the rules we had was that young kids weren’t allowed on the ship once it left the dock. As you could imagine, Luffy didn’t follow this rule. We would be not even ten feet from where we started and we’d find him hiding practically in plain sight.”

“Wasn’t he small as a kid?” Zoro asked, trying to imagine the scenario. “He could’ve hidden anywhere.”

Shanks nodded. “Luffy got too excited and ratted himself out accidentally. Except this one time, he must’a learned to keep his mouth shut because we hadn’t noticed he’d boarded the ship. Hid in one of the barrels.”

Zoro raised an eyebrow, then laughed. 

“And of course, that was the day we got in a tussle with another crew, right on the ship,” Shanks continued, shaking his head as he chuckled. “Well, the boy ended up screaming and crying his head off when he realized why we hadn’t allowed him to set sail with us. Even if he had to learn by trying to fight all those big guys.”

Zoro grinned. He could picture it clearly; Luffy was about the same to this day, so the story wasn’t surprising in the slightest. “That’s my captain.”

“Sure is,” Shanks said with another laugh. “It’s good that he’s got all that hutzpah. He makes a great pirate.” He took a sip of his drink before nodding towards Zoro. “And you’re a great right-hand man. All of you are quite impressive, so I have no doubt in the success of the Straw Hat Pirates.” He held his bottle out. “Just don’t let Luffy get caught in any rogue barrels.”

Zoro glanced down at the bottle, still smirking, then looked back up at Shanks. “Luffy does what he wants. …But if he gets into trouble, we can back him up.” He clinked his bottle against Shanks’.

-

Kojiro had known Kaoru long enough to spot the signs of an oncoming anxiety attack before it could get too bad. There were different ways to go about helping him, depending on the circumstances.

Tonight, they were in a crowd at Crazy Rock watching two skaters going against each other in a beef. When Kojiro looked over at Kaoru, he frowned. The other was zoned out - probably overstimulated by all the noise and people around them. He knew Kaoru had dealt with some stressful customers today, so their environment definitely wasn’t helping.

Kojiro gently brushed his pinky against Kaoru’s hand before lacing their fingers together. “Hey,” he whispered. “Doing okay?”