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Their first kiss was a mess, putting it nicely.
In their defense, neither had any experience, so they were doomed from the start.
Everyone had finished dinner and were just sitting around chatting, Robin listening in on Franky and Usopp gush about their newest inventions, while Sanji was tending to Nami’s every wish as she spoke to Brook and Jimbei about the things they’d missed before they joined the crew, Chopper adding little details here and there when she’d miss something or make a mistake.
That, in turn, left the disaster gays to their own devices.
Luffy tapped Zoro on the shoulder to draw his attention, eyes wide and face-splitting grin in place. “I want to kiss Zoro!” He has the decency to say it quietly enough that no one else hears, but the poor swordsman’s face lit up in a dark shade of red as he turned his head to look at his lover.
Zoro was finally about to get what he’d dreamed about for so long, yet his nervousness left him hesitating. “C’mon!” Luffy laughed, motioning him close, and his brain went completely on autopilot.
They both leaned in way too fast, faces smashing together roughly. Luffy bit a chunk out of his lip while Zoro took a bite out of his cheek, and both recoiled with blood beginning to drip from their noses. It didn’t take long for them to bust out laughing, holding their faces, and drawing attention to themselves.
Chopper was on them in an instant, fussing over and scolding them like misbehaved dogs. “What were you even trying to do?” The small reindeer asked, exasperated.
“We tried to kiss!” Luffy proclaimed proudly, causing Zoro’s face to flare into an impressive red shade as he tried to stutter out something. Chopper was speechless for a moment before he turned to Nami. “This isn’t supposed to happen whenever people kiss, is it?”
She snickered before responding with a shake of her head, enjoying the rarity that is an embarrassed Zoro.
It would be fair to say that their first date went worse than their first kiss.
Maybe it would have helped if they didn’t have bounties on their heads, or if they didn’t have the manners of two overgrown pigs. Either way, it was a disaster.
They hadn’t even been in the semi-fancy restaurant for ten minutes when a group of bounty hunters thought they’d be easy pickings. Luffy had continued to stuff his face as he slammed one man’s head into the wall hard enough for it to send cracks through the stone, while Zoro shoveled as much into his mouth as he could before unsheathing his swords and going to work.
The poor owner of the place had politely told them to leave after they finished with their meals and taking care of the pests. They gave him what money they had before running off, scrapes and scratches and bruises littering their bodies.
Luffy was the one who started laughing first, taking in their appearances -- damn it, they’d tried to look nice, and now Sanji and Nami are going to have their heads -- with joyful eyes. “We’re so dead,” He breathed, a wide grin splitting his face. “we’re so dead, but at least it was fun!”
Smiling, Zoro roughly ruffled his boyfriend’s hair. “Anything with you is fun, you knucklehead!” The swordsman proudly proclaimed, causing Luffy to blush lightly and latch onto his side in a rubbery bear hug with all four of his limbs.
That was how the two arrived back at the Sunny -- one holding onto the other like a koala, both in roughed up clothes and covered in small injuries, but also with the biggest smiles upon their faces.
Nami was immediately on them, yelling about how much their clothes that came from a thrift store cost and adding unreasonable amounts to their debts that would ultimately be forgotten in a week or two while Sanji reprimanded them for tearing up the restaurant instead of stepping outside like they never do, demanding that they go back and apologize to the poor man as if they would even be allowed around the place.
Their first steps together as a married couple were the absolute best, and no one would be able to change their minds.
They were older now, more mature, but their love was still as young and as bright as it was when they were still teenagers. They still loved like no one was watching.
They still loved as a team that would never be able to be separated, no matter how hard the world would try.
They still can’t kiss well, though.