Chapter Text
It’s a Saturday night, technically Sunday morning when Luffy meets Zoro at a college party.
Zoro’s walking into a kitchen to get more alcohol when some goofy, excited guy with a straw hat slams into him as he leaves the kitchen.
“OOPS! Sorry!” straw hat shouts over the noise of the party.
If that was all that happened he would’ve moved on, possibly never to see the straw hatted guy again but straw hat had a drink in his hand and the drink didn’t spill on Zoro but the guy next to them. And now, Zoro has some random jackass shouting in his face, thinking Zoro’s the one who spilled the drink on said jackass. He seems pretty pissed and also drunk, but because Zoro’s Zoro, he’s also drunk. Zoro kind of doesn’t mind being blamed though, and Straw Hat seems too scrawny to hold up in a fight. Zoro could fight this guy with his hands behind his back while asleep, so being drunk isn’t really a problem.
“Hey! Stop yelling at this guy, it was my fault!” Straw Hat interrupts. Straw Hat looks annoyed, and now Zoro’s annoyed because now Straw Hat might actually get hurt if he tries to fight this guy instead of running and letting Zoro handle it.
The jackass turns to Straw Hat, seeming even more pissed, and he just stares grumpily at Straw Hat for a moment. Then, when his anger seems to burst he swings at Straw Hat, who surprisingly blocks the punch by catching his wrist and then pushes the jackass back like it’s nothing.
That pisses the jackass guy off more of course, so he calls his friends over. Straw Hat, again to Zoro’s surprise, punches a different guy with ease. Straw Hat has the biggest smile on his face, like he’s having the time of his life. The jackass guy’s friends mistake Zoro for being Straw Hat’s friend, so Zoro gets to get in a few punches in before they escape the party and the fight.
Straw Hat laughs as they run into the fresh air and down the street. After about a block or two of running they slow to a walk, Straw Hat skips, punches his fists into the air and whoops and yells, “That was fun!” He sends an extremely bright smile Zoro’s way, “You were so cool! What your name?!”
Now, Zoro’s not one to say he believes in love at first sight - and he doesn’t - but he can’t say his heart doesn’t skip a beat. Because now that they’re in a little bit better light he can see that Straw Hat here, is really pretty cute. And not only that but the shining smile and excited attitude seems to add some kind of other layer that seems to throw Zoro off.
“I’m Zoro.” is said without missing a beat however, if not a little breathlessly.
Luffy chuckles, “I’m Monkey D. Luffy, nice to meet you!” Luffy shakes Zoro’s hand with confidence and affirmation. Then, because Luffy’s full of surprises, Luffy says “I’m starving, lets go get pancakes.”
And this is how not 5 minutes later Zoro finds himself in a 24 hour diner, at 4am, sitting across from straw hat who’s just punched a whole bunch of guys out and is now ordering a giant stack of pancakes and an orange juice as they sit down. Zoro just asks for a water and thanks the waitress as she leaves.
After the waitress leaves Luffy looks to Zoro with a calmer smile on his face, “I would say I’m sorry you got sucked into that fight but you seemed pretty happy to fight them too! So I’m not gonna say it.”
Zoro smirks at Luffy’s straight forwardness, “You weren’t that bad either.” Luffy laughs at Zoro’s complement.
“That bad?!” A pout develops on Luffy’s face, “I punched more guys than you!”
Zoro huffs, “Yeah, your right.” It puts a smile back on Luffy’s face.
“How’d you get to be so strong Zoro? Not a lot of people are good at fighting like that.”
“Well, I’ve practiced Kendo since I was little, and I--”
Luffy’s gasp interrupts him. “Do you have any swords?!” Luffy asks with a wondrous look in his eye.
Zoro smiles, he likes being asked about this, “Yep, I have three. I practice a three swords style.”
“THREE SWORDS?! ZORO!!! ZORO THAT’S SO COOL!” Luffy yells loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear if it were crowded. Zoro’s not bothered by Luffy’s loudness. Luffy’s excitement boosts Zoro’s ego too. Luffy laughs, “I’ve gotta see that!”
“Maybe I’ll show you sometime,” Zoro say’s puffed up with confidence. It’s not that he wants to impress Luffy, but he kinda does. He wants to show Luffy he’s as strong as he is.
As they continue talking Zoro learns that Luffy’s 19, he isn’t in this town for college but because his older brothers go to college. Which somewhat clues Zoro in on how Luffy’s able to handle himself in a fight, but when Zoro asks Luffy just laughs and changes the topic.
Luffy learns that Zoro is 21, and that he does go to college but mostly through his Kendo scholarship. Zoro tells him how he really doesn’t like college all that much but wants to get a degree to help him find work.
When Luffy’s pancakes finally come Zoro sees him practically inhale a humongous amount of food, Zoro knows even he can’t consume at anything close to that pace. He learns that Luffy really, really likes food, and that he has some chef friend that cooks for him sometimes. Luffy says he wouldn’t mind becoming a food critic, but “Sanji” says he doesn’t have “the taste for it” because he just like whatever he’s given most of the time. Zoro jokes about wanting to be an alcohol critique and Luffy laughs with him, and tells him alcohol is one of the only things he’s not a fan of.
Zoro notices he actually doesn’t mind that Luffy’s loud and energetic personality. Most people who have that bother Zoro.
Luffy gets a call that interrupts their small talk. The person on the other side of the call sounds really whiny. When Luffy hangs up he states, “That was my brother, I have to go but tonight was fun Zoro! Give me your phone!”
“Why?”
“I want us to be friends Zoro, I need to give you my phone number!”
“Oh,” Zoro unlocks his phone, opens his contacts, and hands it to Luffy. Who types in his number with his name (which included a meat emoji), takes a selfie for the contact picture, and then texts himself to get Zoro’s number.
Zoro scoffs at the meat emoji when his phone is handed back to him. Luffy pays for the food as they leave. Once out the door, as usual, Zoro has no idea where he is. He walks with Luffy like he knows Luffy’s going the direction of his dorm for a moment before asking “…where are we?”
“Huh?” Luffy looks over at Zoro, suddenly very confused, “Zoro, we’re like 3 blocks from the campus, what do you mean where are we?”
Zoro kinda hates everyone treating him like an idiot because he has exactly zero sense of direction. And he really doesn’t want Luffy to think he’s so much of an idiot that he doesn’t care to talk to him again. Zoro rubs his neck awkwardly, and looks to find the words.
“Oh! Zoro, I’m sorry!” Luffy grabs Zoro’s hand and pulls Zoro along as he says “I’m gonna get you back to your dorm okay?! It’s okay to have no idea where we are alright?! You’re still super cool!”
Zoro’s blushing almost noticeably at Luffy’s sudden hand hold and his words, they make him feel a little less bad about his sense of direction but, “I thought you had to go?” Now he feels kinda guilty for causing Luffy to possibly be late to wherever he needs to be.
“It’ll be okay Zoro, I’m late all the time!!” Luffy’s words cause Zoro to smile for a second and Luffy’s grip tightens around his hand.
Zoro for some reason doesn’t want him to let go. He’s never really cared for romance, and it’s not like Luffy’s special or anything, he’s let people hold his hand before. Except Luffy might be a little special cause Zoro really likes the feel of their hands together and Luffy’s pretty neat. But also when Luffy lets go that might be the last he sees of Luffy for a while and he’s not looking forward to that.
But they do have to get there eventually, which is sooner than later because Luffy was right about them being really close to the campus.
He thanks Luffy as he lets his hand go.
“You’re welcome.” Luffy smiles at Zoro for a moment, and it almost gets awkward before, “Oh! Yeah I have to go! I see you soon Zoro!”
“Goodnight!”
“Goodnight Zoro!”
--
When Luffy gets home he slams the door pretty hard as he leans on it, breathing hard due to his run back after dropping Zoro off. It wasn’t about worrying about being late but to try to get some of his excited energy out. His own thoughts are getting to him too.
A voice groans from the couch before he calls out “Luffy is that you!” definitely louder than necessary.
“Ace!” Luffy quickly gets to the end of the couch that Ace’s feet are at. “Where were you?! I couldn’t find you after five minutes into that party!”
“It doesn’t matter! Did you have fun? Are you okay?” Ace asks. Luffy’s just noticed that Ace is drunk if the slur in his sentences were anything to go by.
“Yeah! Are you alright? What happened?”
Ace puckers his lips as he thinks “I met this guy, and he beat me-”
“HE BEAT YOU?!”
Suddenly one of the bedroom doors slams open and out comes Sabo, not looking entirely sober himself (but not from alcohol or marijuana or something “fun” as Ace calls it, it’s more due to lack of sleep and too many energy drinks) “SOMEONE BEAT YOU?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY BEAT YOU?! ACE?! ACE YOU BETTER TELL US RIGHT NOW IF WE NEED TO BEAT THE SH--”
Ace pushes himself up to yell, “SHUT THE FUCK UP SABO THAT’S NOT WHAT HAPPENED!” still slurring his words as he talks, somehow it makes the sentence come out really whiny. He lies back down, a little defeated but mostly he’s too dizzy right now. “We were playing a drinking game, that what I’m talking about calm down!”
“Okay cool.” Sabo walks straight back into his room and closes the door behind him.
“Oh... so he won Ace? Is he cool or is he an enemy?”
Ace suddenly blushes pretty hard at this line of questioning, he leans into the couch cushions to hide his face but Luffy sees Ace’s embarrassed smile before it’s completely hidden.
Luffy laughs his usual “shishishi.”
“So he’s cool Ace?” Ace nods, face still buried in their couch cushions. Luffy comes over to the side of the couch to squat down and rub Ace’s shoulder in order to comfort him a little. This gets Ace’s head out the cushions and to look at Luffy. Ace looks extremely goofy with his face still really red.
“So what happened Loof?” Ace asks. Luffy sat down, getting himself into a more comfortable position to have a conversation.
“How do you know something happened?”
“Because I’m your big brother, and you certainly took your time coming home.” Ace paused then continued, “Plus I’m your big brother, and I know… something always happens.”
Luffy huffed, “I got in a fight.”
“YOU WHAT?!”
A bedroom door slams open again, “YOU WHAT?!”
“Calm down,” Luffy whined, “You guys get in fights all the time!”
“Something bad could have happened!” Ace whines as he lies back down, visibly much more grumpy than before, while Sabo came over and sat on the armrest of the couch Ace’s legs were hanging off of. Ace turns his face to Sabo.
“Go on.” Sabo said.
“Sabo aren’t you supposed to be doing homework.” Ace said, interrupting Luffy’s chance to continue the story.
“Aren’t you?”
“...okay that’s fair.” And then Ace tries to kick Sabo off the end of the couch, but his kick is weak and Sabo just grabs his foot before it hits him. Trying to kick Sabo while drunk was a huge mistake because Sabo just twists him off the couch and onto the floor. Still super dizzy and a bit weak, Ace can’t stop his face from smacking into the floor. Luffy dodged his falling body and is cackling and rolling on the floor by the time Ace rolls off his stomach and onto his back. Ace uses his best ‘I’m dying” voice “Luffy, Luffy, come here.”
Luffy still laughing, there’s tears in his eyes from laughing so hard, “NO WAY!”
“Please,” Ace whines, “I’m not gonna do anything just come here.”
“Luffy don’t do it.” Sabo says, laughing himself to tears too.
“Alright, whatever Ace.” Stands up and takes the few steps to stand near Aces head, knowing exactly what Ace is up too but not caring otherwise.
“Give me a hand?”
Luffy laughs, extending his hand for Ace to grab. Of course, Ace tries to pull Luffy onto the floor but Luffy braced himself for the pull and is pulling Ace up at the same time. Luffy’s winning and Ace is dangling a bit of the floor, he could probably be swung a bit if Luffy tried. Ace quickly lets go and grabs Luffy’s leg, successfully getting Luffy to drop to the ground right on his butt. Ace laughs triumphantly as he jumps on Luffy and wrestles him into a noogie but Ace is getting really dizzy, which makes it easy for Luffy to roll back and slam Ace into the wall. Luffy crawls away but Ace recovers quickly and grabs Luffy leg again.
“SABO HELP!!” Luffy cries, he’s laughing too though. Sabo replies by laughing and not making any motion to move from his spot. Wrestling ensues for a bit longer, and despite being closer to winning it ends when Ace gets too dizzy to keep moving and Luffy raps his limbs around Ace, locking Ace’s arms and legs in place. “I WON!!!” Luffy laughs.
“You only won because I let you!” Ace honestly feels like he’s gonna throw up. He wants to get water or go to the bathroom but he settles for not moving because getting up will only make it worse.
Luffy throws back a very childish “NUH-UH.” and lets Ace go. As he sits up a little and sees Ace’s ‘I’m gonna throw up’ face, he jumps up immediately and goes to their tiny kitchen and brings back a glass of water and a pot and sets them down near Ace. They may have been wrestling a moment ago but Ace has taken care of Luffy so much, he wouldn’t even think about not helping him.
(When Ace sees what Luffy came back with his lip wobbles, and he holds back tears. It might be a simple gesture of what Ace knows is love but he’s really tired and drunk, so his emotions aren’t completely within his control.
Luffy helps Ace sit up to drink some of the water, getting him back onto the couch. Ace gets Luffy to sit next to him so he can lean his head on his little brother’s shoulder. Ace knows he’s being a fucking sap but if he wants to cuddle his little brother, he can and he will. Plus, he knows Luffy doesn’t care and won’t make fun of him for it.)
Sabo chuckles at the complete change in mood as he gets up to go get Ace an aspirin. When he comes back and gives the medicine to Ace (who looks really close to crying) he says, “Keep going, What happened Luffy?”
“Huh? Oh well... when I fought this one guy, this other guy got caught up in it too.” Luffy says, “He went with me when I got food! He was really nice.”
“Wow this actually doesn’t sound that bad yet, Ace.”
Ace responds with a groan, they know somethings coming.
“He had green hair and really grumpy looking… OH! He said he had three swords! And that they’d show me them! Zoro was really cool guys!”
Both Ace and Sabo groan, “Luffy, why do you attract such weird people?” Ace asks.
“Dear god, I know we can’t stop you, so please, please be careful.” Sabo whines, knowing he’s never gonna be listened to by their little brother. “At the very least, please give us his full name before he shows you his swords so we know who to call the police on when you don’t come home!”
Luffy laughs, he gets they’re concerned but there is nothing to worry about “It’ll be fine, I can feel it.”
“Luffy that’s not reassuring, we can’t always trust your gut instinct.” Ace says.
“Why not?! My guts are never wrong!”
Sabo sighs “But still Luffy, you never know what a person can do. If you don’t hear anything else we say, at least hear me say BE CAREFUL.”
“Of course! I am always careful.”
Sabo gets up and goes back to his room mourning for the future fate of Luffy. Ace gets up deciding it’s time to go to sleep. There is no way they can argue with their little brother no matter what.
Understanding the conversation is done, Luffy goes to his room as well. He’s a bit tired and could use some sleep.
While Luffy’s falling asleep he thinks of how strange it was to connect with Zoro so much, and that he really wants to play with Zoro’s earrings? He hopes he can see Zoro again soon.