#zoro.

You try not to grimace, knowing how he gets when Sanji or Usopp—Hell, even some of the other captains you’ve met along the way—are a little too affectionate with Luffy for Zoro’s comfort. You back a step away from Luffy, refocusing on Nami as she organises the last of the crew.

She announces budgets and shopping lists before handing out pouches of Beli. When she gets to your team, she sighs softly. She spares a glance at the others, lips thinning into a straight line. She looks, for all intents and purposes, like she’s fighting a losing war in her mind. Nami passes the bag to you. “Don’t… let them buy things, okay?” she whispers.

With what you hope is a reassuring smile, you swipe the pouch. “You can trust me.”

She looks anything but reassured. “I don’t.”

You wink. “That’s the spirit!”

She blinks, glances at the others shouldering on their bags, preparing to depart. “This was a mistake,” she laments to herself. “Maybe I should reshuffle the groups.”

“No!”

Luffy’s yell carries over the ship.

You have a second to react, turning to him to see what’s going on before something firm collides into your body, warmth wounding tightly around your middle.

A breath escapes you and you’re tilting backwards, the unexpected weight shifting your centre of gravity.

A hand on your back steadies you, another on your arm to pull you back upright. You can feel the heat even through the shirt you’re wearing.

“Oi.” Zoro’s gruff voice comes from beside you, and it takes his intonation for you to realise that Luffy had been the one to crash onto you.

Luffy has his legs coiled around your waist, arm’s curled snake-like over and under yours.

Zoro admonishes him, letting go of your arm now that you’re standing upright again. He swats the back of his hand on Luffy’s arm. “Careful.”

“Keep the group!” Luffy implores Nami. “I like it like this.”

You pretend that that doesn’t fill you with a cloud of warmth. That it doesn’t feel like the sun is shining directly on you. You back up a step in an attempt to get away from the rising feelings in this conversation, but you belatedly realise you can’t; Luffy is on you, Zoro has a bracing hand against your back. You’re quite literally trapped here.

Nami throws a look around the small group before landing on you, something in her face that you can’t quite place. She grins, light of mischief dancing behind her eyes. “Okay,” she relents, in that tone you know means that there wasn’t that much of a fight to begin with. “I’ll keep the group.”

Luffy giggles, something light that bubbles out onto your shoulder and his limbs tighten around your body. The hand on your back gets heavier.

Uh oh.

Zoro’s getting angry.

He’s gonna take it out on you.

“Okay,” you say, keeping your voice purposefully light and devoid of the awkwardness you feel in this situation. “You’re getting heavy, Luffy.” You don’t give him a choice, shifting your weight to steady yourself before grabbing his thighs to pull him from you.

“I said, be careful.” Zoro digs his hand a little harsher, pushing you upright.

Luffy wriggles out of your grasp, climbing you like some sort of snake.

The change in weight unbalances you and you careen towards the deck, back first.

There’s yells, coming from you, Zoro and Luffy and you hit something firm, the air crushing out of you as you land.

“You fucking gremlin,” Zoro breathes, voice strained. It’s only because his chest is reverberating against your upper back do you realise that you’ve fallen on him.

Oh.

Oh, shit.

You try to get off him, but Luffy is resting his weight atop you. 

He’s laughing, like it really doesn’t concern him at all that he’s still clinging onto you, half fallen into your lap while you’re on top of his boyfriend.

“Okay.”

You crane your neck to look up at Nami, who’d been the one to speak.

She blinks down on the three of you, looking very much like she’s trying to hide a smile. “You guys…” She chuckles. “Do your thing, I’m gonna.” Not even bothering to finish her sentence, she turns, walking away to the group that she’s organised for herself.

“Hey.” Zoro places a gentle hand on your side to grab your attention and you whip your head to face him at the touch. “You okay?”

Your heart stutters in your chest; his hand is resting on the side of your ribcage. His gaze, always magnetising and heavy, feels even more so with his face literal inches from yours. Your mouth is drying, your throat sticks to itself.

Has he always been this pretty? Handsome, yes, that is a relatively objective fact about him. But pretty? It’s his eye that draws you in; a cool shade of grey that has, at times, looked silver under different lighting. He blinks down at you, lips parting, probably to speak again.

But you’re staring at his mouth, heart roaring deafeningly in your head so you don’t really hear what he has to say, if anything. You don’t remember moving, but your face is getting closer to his. Close enough that you can feel his breath on your cheek, and—

Nope.

You pull away, heat rising up from your chest, flushing across your neck. What the fuck?

(So caught up in your own thoughts, you miss how Zoro’s hand falls away, fingers curling into a loose fist by his knee. You miss how he shoots a quick glance at Luffy, both their faces pinching in disappointment. And, most importantly, you miss that you weren’t the one moving at all—Zoro had leant into your space.)

Okay.

You’re crushing on your two best friends, who are in a relationship with each other. Big whoop, that’s not news to you. You’re usually much more inconspicuous than this—fucking relax.

Your heart drops into your stomach when you realise that Luffy is staring at the two of you, expression unreadable.

“We should get going,” you throw out into the air. “Before the shops close.”

Zoro hums, a short noise that you can’t quite read.

“You didn’t answer his question,” Luffy says. He leans forward, a little pout on his lips. 

You back away, jerking lightly when you bump into Zoro’s shoulder. You find some weird middle ground, holding yourself awkwardly so you’re equally distant from them both. “What?”

“We fell,” Luffy reiterates. “Zoro asked if you were okay.”

“Um.” You take stock of yourself; yes, you’ve been jarred around slightly, but, all things considered, you’re surprisingly unharmed.  If you forget about the tightness in your chest, and your heart hammering away, the only thing of note is that Luffy is a pressing weight on you, but that can be easily fixed. “I’m fine.”

“You’re lying,” Luffy says, blunt.

“What?”

He blinks at you, expectant.

“He means, you don’t seem fine,” Zoro pipes up from behind.

Shit.

Fuck that Captain’s Intuition.

“Uh.” You swallow a wave of panic. “I wasn’t hurt in the fall,” you try instead.

Luffy stares at you for a second longer before nodding, satisfied. He climbs off you, arms already stretching to grab onto the ship’s bannister and slingshot him onto the island, smile splitting his cheeks, a yell of adventure on his lips

“I…” You sigh, defeated. “We were supposed to stick as a group.”

“We’ll catch up,” Zoro muses. He’s already stood up and he reaches down, offering you a hand. “C’mon.”

You take it, gingerly, trying not to think too much about his hand in yours. It’s normal, you tell yourself. People help each other off the floor all the time. Don’t think too much about it. “Yeah,” you say, because talking always made it easier to keep your mind off of things. “but Nami probably put me with you two to keep you both on a leash.”

Zoro smirks as he pulls you up. “You think you can tame me?” he asks, voice dangerously low. His grip on your hand tightens and your heart squeezes with it.

You think you forget how to breathe, frozen in a stupor.

When you don’t react, Zoro releases your fingers, turning around so you don’t see the grin fighting its way on his face. “Let’s go,” he says as he begins walking.

You blink after him, once.

Twice.

The fluttering in your chest settles onto your sternum. Wait, hang on. “You don’t know where you’re going!” That thought sobers you up enough to bound over to him. “Maybe it’s better if I lead.”

Zoro furrows his brows as he shoots you a glance out of his periphery. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just…” You’re trying to find a way to phrase your words without offending him. “You—Where do you think the market is?” you try instead.

He shrugs, shoulders hunching up to his neck. “Doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“Meaning?”

“We find Luffy,” he says. “He always gets us where we need to be.”

Your steps falter, watching Zoro as he continues walking across the deck like what he said wasn’t out of the norm for him.

Roronoa Zoro—a sap?

Honestly?

Kinda cute.

No sooner does the thought enter your mind do you dismiss it quickly. Stop that, stop it.

It’s supposed to be an uneventful supply run.

In-and-out. Quick. Efficient.

That was the plan. Or, at least, Nami’s plan.  

You should have known that none of those words would be in Luffy’s or Zoro’s vocabulary.

And Nami should’ve known it wouldn’t be in yours either. Honestly, what was she thinking, putting you with them? There’s no way you would’ve babysat them. At times, it feels like you enabled them, more so than anything, but—

You know what, actually?

No, no.

You aren’t taking the blame today. And you’re not blaming Luffy or Zoro either. None of this was any of your faults.

Because who, in their right minds, would have predicted that this small island would have a Marine Festival?

“What the fuck’s a Marine Festival?” Nami hisses, through the Baby Den Den Mushi.

“Exactly!” You force your voice into a whisper, glancing to your right, outside the edge of the wall.

No one is looking.

“A shit ton of Marines are marching through town,” you inform her, “and we’re, kinda, maybe stuck in an alley.” The way the houses are laid out means the gap between the buildings progressively grows smaller the further in you go. And at the sole entrance of the alley, are all the Marines on the island, apparently. Slowly walking like some parade.

Music, cheers, and confetti, included.

Nami sighs, exasperation lacing the breath of air. You can see the exhaustion lining her brows on the transponder snail. “At least—Please tell me you’re still with Luffy and Zoro, though?”

“Yeah.” Unfortunately.

In your initial panic after seeing the Marines, you’d pulled Zoro into the closest hiding place. You then grabbed Luffy and yanked him in with you.

Zoro had shuffled into the space, until he could barely wedge himself further, shoulders too wide to go any deeper. Which is good, you tell yourself, because the only way out is the only way in, and you’re standing right there.

And you’ve kept Luffy directly in front of you, giving you the opportunity to stop him before he runs out into the town—or worse; go deeper into the alley because his bodily rubber properties would allow him to.

God forbid either of them be left unchecked with Marines.

In your, more hopeful, infancy of ten minutes ago, you’d waited for the Marines to scatter. But they kept marching, and marching, and, so, you called Nami to tell her the news.

“I just—Why can’t we chaos our way out of here?” you lament; the prospect of being stuck in the cramped passage for any longer than you already have doesn’t sit well with you.

Luffy perks up, eyes illuminating with a gleam that you can see, even with the dim lighting. Zoro leans in closer, arm flush with yours.

You pretend not to notice and focus all your attention on the Den Den Mushi in your palm.

“Because we need to wait for the Log Pose to calibrate.” 

Your lips press into a thin line, unimpressed. “How long’s that gonna take?”

“Hours—”

You roll your eyes, displeasure roving through your features.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me—”

Oh, shit.

She can see your expressions, too. 

“Wait—no, no-no,” you clamour to your own defence. “I wasn’t rolling my eyes at you, it was at the situation.”

The snail is silent, looking very indifferent.

“Nami,” you whine, “I promise.”

“Uh-huh,” she finally says, sceptical. 

“Nami—”

“Just lay low until the Log Pose resets, okay?”

“Okay,” you say, and then to make up for the eye-roll, you add, “Love you.”

Without missing a beat, Nami responds, “That’s fifty Beli for loving me.”

You splutter. “Hello?”

She hums. “If you can’t afford to pay, you can’t afford to love me.”

“Yeah, alright.” You chuckle, grinning at her antics. “You ain’t worth it, anyways.”

Nami yells—the beginning of her tirade spilling through the Baby Den Den Mushi.

You jump, hand over the snail’s mouth to muffle it before you hang up on her. “What the Hell,” you breathe, turning your attention to the entrance of the alleyway.

The Marines keep marching.

“Scale of one to ten,” you say, lightly, “how badly do you think she’ll beat my ass when we get back?”

Luffy makes a sound like he’s thinking. “Four.”

“Just four?” Surely it’d be higher than that—it’s Nami.

“She’ll try on a seven,” Luffy elaborates, “but you’re strong, so four.”

You blink at him, a blush beginning to creep up your neck that you hope they don’t see. “You think I’m strong?”

Luffy beams, cheeks stretching. “Yep!”

Oh. You look away, breath stuttering in your chest. Your fingers twitch as you try to find something to do so you’re not forced to stare at him. Belatedly, you realise you’re still holding the communication device. You try to open your bag, but your left arm bumps into Zoro where he’s still leaning against you.

He’d been so quiet, presence strangely comfortable and safe, that you’d forgotten to register he was there.

“Uh.” You turn to face him, but he seems unfazed by your accidental touch. “Sorry,” you mumble.

He dismisses your apology with a grunt.

When he doesn’t offer anything else, you clear your throat. “Can you possibly move back a bit? I need to get to my bag.”

“Can’t,” Zoro says. “‘S too narrow.”

“Ah. Well—”

“Here.” He takes the snail from your hand, hand brushing against your own fingers and you try not to let your breathing change too much. He attempts to undo the clasp on your bag with one hand, but he struggles. “Luffy,” he finally says after giving up.

Without hesitance, Luffy leans over and fiddles with it. His knuckles scrape against the fabric of your shirt as he works.

Your heart flutters into your throat until all you hear is your own heartbeat thudding away in your ears. You hold your breath, afraid that if you did try to breathe, your lungs would stutter and you’d give yourself away.

Luffy holds the flap against your waist and Zoro places the Den Den Mushi inside.

You stare at the bag, watching their hands move so you don’t have to look at their faces and fluster yourself even more.

Once inside, Luffy releases the flap so it falls back into place and Zoro buckles up the clasp again. Neither of them move back to their original position, crowding into your space even though they have no reason to be.

Or, maybe, they’re just trying to get closer to each other.

That would make more sense. 

You should move out of their way.

You slide over to the right, closer towards the exit but your shoe trips over something.

Luffy yelps.

You flail for balance.

Luffy steadies himself on the wall next to you, and you fall on his outstretched arm instead of the floor, and Zoro grabs you both by the elbow.

“The Hell are you two doing?” he barks, tugging lightly to pull you upright before letting go. He sinks his back on the roughened bricks.

“Sorry—I’m sorry!” Judging by Luffy’s earlier exclamation, you realised you kicked his foot.

“What were you up to?” Luffy asks, head tilting in puzzlement. He doesn’t remove his arm from beside you and if you were to sidestep to get further away from his limb, you’d only be crowding into Zoro’s space.

“I was trying to get out of your way,” you answer honestly, “let you two be closer, or something.”

Luffy’s lip downturns. “You don’t want to be closer?”

You blink. Then, “Bit weird, is all.” You’re trying not to read too much into his words; take him at face value, don’t assume his intentions.

“What’s weird about you being closer?” Luffy leans forward—trying to prove his point, or out of interest, you’re not sure.

Regardless, you inch away, back of hitting the wall. Your shoulders brush against Zoro’s. You spare a glance at him, but he only watches, face impassive. You let out a small breath, once again cursing the small enclosement you’re trapped in. “I don’t—This is—” Your voice is getting smaller and smaller.

“Relax,” Zoro says.

“I am relaxed,” you fire back.

He makes a sceptical noise. 

With how close he is to you, it wouldn’t take that much effort to elbow him in the ribs, so you take advantage of that and do so, earning a grunt. “Fuck off.”

As you settle back against the wall, you realise; you’re calmer. Less nervous than you had been before.

Son of a bitch.

You’re barely able to hide the smile that rises to your lips; somehow, Zoro grew to know you. But he’s right—if you’re going to be stuck here for the next hour or so, you shouldn’t be so tense about it. “You guys don’t have claustrophobia, do you?” you inquire, suddenly realising that this wouldn’t be an ideal situation if they did. 

“What’s claustrophobia?” Luffy’s nose scrunches in confusion.

Zoro shuffles, like he’s shrugging. “Afraid of Santa Claus.”

A laugh startles out of you at the answer and you cover your mouth to muffle yourself.

“Oh,” Luffy says, sincere. “No.”

You shake your head. “That’s not what it means,” you manage to say in between giggles.

“What do you mean?” Zoro presses, the same time Luffy asks, “What’s so funny?”

“Wait.” Newfound chuckles linger in your throat and you turn your head to face Zoro. “Is that—Do you really think that’s what that means?”

Zoro blinks at you, lips pressing into a thin line. “Well—I don’t anymore.”

“No-no,” you beg, grabbing his arm. “I’m not making fun of you.”

“Ya-huh.” Zoro is doubtful, and you don’t blame him because you’re still laughing. “Can definitely feel you’re not.”

“Zoro—” 

“What does it mean, then?” Luffy implores, leaning into your space. 

You smile at him, quick huff of breath escaping your nostrils. “Afraid of small spaces.”

“Ah.” Luffy nods. “So, Zoro was stupid.”

“Shut up!” Zoro hisses, leaning across you to smack Luffy’s arm.

You can’t help but laugh at their antics, chest tightening as your breath sticks in your chest because you’re not taking in enough air. You try to be quiet about it, not wanting to alert the Marines.

“You didn’t even know what it meant,” Zoro snaps. 

“But I didn’t get it wrong!” Luffy fires back. “Hey.” He batters your arm to get your attention. “Zoro’s stupid, right?” 

“Oi!” 

You try to stifle your laughs, but to no avail. You shake your head, making a cutthroat motion with your hand to let them know you can’t be a part of this conversation. 

It takes another couple minutes for you to collect yourself, especially when Zoro and Luffy start to silently wrestle with each other, doing more harm to themselves when they crash their own elbows and knees into the walls instead of each other. 

“I have another question,” Luffy pipes when you’re taking a final, big breath. 

“Uh-huh?” you croak, wiping the tears from your eyes. 

“Who’s Santa Claus?” 

As it turns out, the Log Pose needed three hours before it recalibrated to the next island. When Nami’s call comes through, you can’t rush out of the alley quick enough. The restlessness of being trapped for so long resulted in absolute chaos as soon as the three of you were spotted by the Marines.

It’s not like you guys were trying to be found.

But…

It’s not like you were trying to be subtle about your presence, either.

Needless to say, the number of injured Marines who were there before you arrived, compared to the number after was… drastically different.

You’re stretching out in the sun, enjoying the warm rays you’re able to catch, now that you aren’t in a dark alley filled with cold bricks. After telling Sanji you hadn’t had breakfast, and then later weren’t able to buy anything during lunch ‘for the sake of the crew,’ he’d whipped up something quick and somewhat light, so you’d still have room for dinner in a couple hours. You’d finish the last bite ages ago, but the sun feels too nice to leave, so your empty plate sits on the table. 

A shadow falls over you and you open your eyes, brows raising as Zoro rattles a plate onto the table. He pushes the first plate to the side before placing another next to it.

Luffy comes bounding over with empty bowls and spoons.

“You guys hungry too?” you yawn.

Zoro huffs in amusement. “When isn’t he?”

You chuckle. Then, after noticing how they’re more relatively cleaned up than usual, you pry, “Is this something special?”

“A date,” Zoro says, blunt.

“Ah.” You know a dismissal when you hear one. You stand, taking your plate to clear up more space for them. “Alright, I’ll get out of your way.”

In the distance, you hear a squeal before it’s muffled and a small crash. You turn to look at the level above, where you’re sure you heard the noise, but you don’t see anyone or anything there. You narrow your eyes, turning back to Zoro and Luffy. “Uh, have fun,” you say, departing for the kitchen.

(Zoro and Luffy watch you leave, eyes tracking as the door closes behind you. Luffy pouts, gaze forlornly drifting to the three bowls stacked on each other. Zoro groans, tilting his head back to the sky.

“How can someone be so stupid?” he muses.

Usopp tears Nami’s hand from his mouth and they jump out from their hiding spots, vaulting over the railing to join their Captain and first mate on the lower deck.

“What was that?” Nami hisses.

“Hey, keep it down,” Zoro grouses.

“What did you guys say?” Usopp accuses.

“Nothing!” Luffy protests. “Zoro said it was a date, and then—” He gestures towards the kitchen where you’ve disappeared into.

Nami stares at the both of them, their brows furrowing as they sit in their misery; Zoro on the beach chair you’d just vacated, and Luffy on the ground. Patient as a saint, she pulls in a deep breath. “Did you say it was a three person date?”

Zoro sits up, as Luffy turns to look at him.

A beat.

Then.

“No,” they both answer.

Usopp growls something that sounds more like squeal. “Are you—?”

“Keep it down!” Zoro hisses, pulling the sniper to the ground before his voice can escalate any louder.

Usopp lands with a grunt, effectively silenced. “Why are you both so stupid?” he bemoans.

“It was Zoro!” Luffy defends himself.

“Oi!” Zoro kicks at Luffy’s leg.

“Lord have mercy,” Nami sighs.)

Sanji looks up, wide eyes blinking owlishly when he sees you. “Uh…” He pauses in cutting the onion. “Why are you here?”

You throw a thumb over your shoulder, back out to the deck. “Zoro and Luffy are having a date.”

“Uh-huh?” he responds slowly.

“They set up at my table—I mean, I don’t know why ‘cos there’s like, two other tables out there, but, y’know.” You shrug, trying to be nonchalant, but you’re too annoyed; they didn’t have to kick you out so rudely.

It hurts a little, you have to admit to yourself. Especially after hanging out with them in the alley. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but it wasn’t the worst, either. You had fun together, or so you thought.

“Wait, so what’d they say?” Sanji asks. “Exactly?”

You furrow your brows, heading to the sink to wash your plate. “That it was a date.”

“And that was it?”

“Yeah.” You rinse the soap off and place it on the dish rack.

“And they didn’t ask you anything.”

“Uh.” You wipe your hands on a towel, heading back to the counter. “No. What would they ask?”

Sanji looks about this close to bursting out in laughter.

“What?” you implore, thrown off by his expression.

He shakes his head, bowing his head to resume the prep work for dinner. “Nothing,” he sings, mirth underlying his tone. “What a bunch of priceless idiots.”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” he repeats.

“Sanji—”

“You gonna stay to help?” He tries to redirect your attention, easily grabbing a knife from the wooden block set and placing it on the counter, handle to you.

You huff. “Not if you’re hiding stuff from me.”

“I’m not hiding—” At your pointed look, he shrugs. “Okay, maybe, yeah,” he relents. “But, trust me,” he says beseechingly, “this isn’t something you want to hear from me.”

“You know you're leaving me with more questions, right?”

He scrapes the minced onions into a mixing bowl. “I don’t think I should say anything.”

The door opens at the end of his sentence and you peek over your shoulder, fully swivelling around in your chair when you see that it’s Luffy and Zoro. They enter the kitchen, letting the door shut behind them.

It’s silent.

“What’s wrong?” you ask, trying to sound casual.

“We weren’t clear,” Luffy says.

“Uh.” You look between the two of them, trying to figure out what conversation just got dropped into your lap. “About what?”

“Not in here,” Sanji begrudges.

“Shut it, Cook,” Zoro snaps.

“You are running out of favours, mosshead.”

“You can shove your—”

“Zoro!” Luffy whacks his arm into Zoro’s stomach.

Zoro actually looks ashamed, clenching his teeth together.

Sanji sighs. “Fine.” He takes off his apron and drapes it over a chair as he passes by. “Don’t touch anything,” he warns.

Zoro and Luffy turn to watch him leave, waiting until the door swings shut before rounding back to you.

“I don’t understand what’s happening.” You decide to speak up first, laying out your level of awareness.

“The date was supposed to be with you,” Luffy says.

You blink. “What?”

“The date—outside; you’re supposed to be there too.”

“Why?”

“Because we want you there,” Zoro states.

“And you want to be there, too,” Luffy adds.

You purse your lips. “I don’t want to third wheel—plus!” you yell when they open their mouths to interrupt you. “Dates don’t really include friends.”

“Not as a friend.” Luffy steps forward, stands in front of the chair you’re sitting on.

“What?” you ask, voice weak.

Luffy holds onto the chair on both sides of you, caging you against the counter and him. “Not as a friend,” he repeats. “We want you there on the date—as a date.”

You forget how to breathe, chest flooding with a tightness that almost hurts with every heartbeat. It’s fast, your heart thud, thudding away in your ears.

They want to date you.

They want to date you, too.

You’re not alone in your feelings for them.

‘We want you there,’ Zoro had said. ‘And you want to be there, too,’ Luffy had claimed.

He knew.

He knew.

Luffy says something, mouth opening in silent syllables that you don’t hear above your own thoughts.

You should probably answer him, ask him to repeat. But you lean forward, clutching his vest in your fist to pull him in and meet you halfway in a kiss.

Luffy groans into your mouth, wrapping his arms around your waist as he kisses back, searing and desperate and filled with so much affection that your heart bubbles away under your tongue. He’s almost leaning you back onto the counter with how much he’s pushing himself onto you.

When you part, he pulls you back upright onto the seat, breathing heavily. He laughs, pecks your lips again.

You smile in return at his joy.

You kissed him. You kissed Luffy, and he kissed you back.

Luffy looks over to the door and you follow suit.

Zoro is still standing at the entrance, watching.

You swallow thickly, disappointment swirling in your gut because you don’t know what he’s feeling or thinking, but if it was something positive, he’d be more reactive, right? You pull your hands away from Luffy, clasping them in your lap. “You’re okay with this?” you ask him, voice quiet.

“I’m okay with it.” You can’t really pierce through his tone to know what he’s thinking.

“What about us?” you inquire. Zoro had become one of your best friends, and like Luffy, you’d developed a crush on him too. You’d hate for your new relationship with Luffy to erode your previous friendship with Zoro because he got jealous.

“What about us?”

If there was ever a time to define a relationship, it would be now, right? “Do we…” You clear your throat, shaking away the nerves.

Luffy slides a hand into yours, and, somehow, that gives you the courage you need.

“Do we get to kiss, too?” you question, hesitant.

Zoro tilts his head to the side. “Is that what you want?”

“Is that what you want?” you parrot back.

Zoro smirks. In seconds, he crosses the distance, hand cupping the side of your cheek.

Your heart flails wildly in your throat.

“Yes,” he whispers, and he brings your lips to his. He kisses you just as hungrily and passionately as Luffy did, thumb sliding across your jaw.

Your heart jumps into your throat and you gasp in a breath, only for him to dig deeper, tongue flicking against yours. You moan, a quiet noise that he swallows into his chest.

Warm lips attach to your neck and you almost choke, squeal of surprise sticking in your throat.

Zoro chuckles into your mouth, humming as he breaks away from you, kissing softly behind your jaw.

You’re panting softly, eyes rolling back as Luffy sucks on your skin. Your head feels cloudy, chest so full and light at the same time, heart beating so loudly you’re not sure how it hasn’t exploded out of your ribcage.

This is real.

This is happening.

“So, about that date,” you breathe, slotting your hand under Luffy’s jaw and lifting him off your neck.

“Fuck the date,” Zoro growls into your ear. He nips your earlobe.

You barely have time to react to that before someone slides their hand on your thigh, boldly going up higher and higher until their fingers rest just below your crotch. You groan, inhaling a quick breath.

Luffy grins at your reaction and you know it’s his hand. “Why don’t we get out of here?” he suggests. “And make you make more noises?”

Oh, shit. Eyes widening, you nod vigorously. “Yep, yeah.”

They pull away, Luffy sliding you off the chair before you all exit the kitchen together.

The cool air of the evening breeze washes over your hot skin. Usopp, Nami and Sanji are lounging around the now-deemed ‘date’ table and they look over when the door opens.

“Up there,” Zoro says, nodding his head to the crow’s nest.

Luffy pulls you along with him with such urgency that Usopp straightens his back.

“What’s going on?” he asks.

Luffy doesn’t respond, already climbing the ladder.

“Uh,” you start, stumbling after him.

“Don’t interrupt us,” Zoro suggests. “We wanna be left alone.”

“Oh,” Usopp says. Then, “No! I didn’t need to know that!”

“You asked, dummy.” Zoro waits for you to get higher on the ladder before he starts to ascend.

“Because I didn’t know!” Usopp wails.

Luffy has already reached the landing. Rather than wait for you to complete the climb, he stretches down and wraps an arm around you, pulling you off the ladder.

You yelp, flailing as he pulls you up. “Luffy!”

“Also,” Zoro continues, “you might not want to be near here; we’re probably gonna be loud.”