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Morning light sifted through the front of the shops windows, casting through bright green leaves to create an otherworldly hue to the small storefront. Usopp flipped the sign on the front window to read ‘open’, unlocking the door and leaving it propped to let in the warm summer air. He picked up a few of the heavier plants, struggling to carry them to the front of the store to exhibit. He adjusted them until they were just so and placed price tags for each in front of their pots, staring down at them with his hands on his hips.
He sighed and wiped his forehead, removing the perspiration that always followed dragging the larger plants around and took a moment to gaze at the front of his shop. It was about time to redo the painting on the front window. Officially transition from spring to summer. He’d have to think about what he’d change it to, he always loved making it some sort of poor pun. It had to be summer themed, and plant themed, but not something he had used in previous years.
Since summer had officially kicked off, maybe he would do a sale on pots for those looking to repot the plants that had outgrown their homes over the winter. ‘Pot it like it’s hot’ would do great with the middle aged mothers looking for a summer activity to do with their teenagers. Usopp nodded, looking at the window to plan how he needed to frame the sale sign, and then turned to go back into his shop.
“Morning Usopp!” he heard, recognizing the cheery voice instantly. He turned, waving to Sanji across the street who was outside smoking a cigarette.
“Morning,” he waved back, grinning at his most loyal customer, “hope business is good for you on this beautiful day!”
“You too!” Sanji yelled back, saluting him before taking a drag from his cigarette. The tattoo shop had opened out of the blue about a year ago, replacing the hardware store that had been in staunch competition with Usopp for the past five years seemingly overnight. Usopp had immediately brought them a Sansevieria as a ‘thank you for kicking out my competition and replacing it with something not at all threatening to my business’ welcome gift.
He had brought them that plant particularly since it was so resilient to neglect, unsure if the gift would end up anywhere other than the trash and knowing he could go rescue it if needed. Unexpectedly, Sanji had taken a liking to the thing and ended up stopping in regularly for more plants. The two had developed a great professional relationship, and had even talked about taking their lunches around the same time the past few weeks since they got along so well.
Sanji always seemed to love green plants, regularly turning Usopp down when he recommended one of their more popular flowering plants like a Guzmania or an Anthurium. The blonde had bought almost every type of Philodendron Usopp carried, and had even begun to dive into his cactus collection, snorting when he had seen a basic Golden Barrel Cactus and buying it immediately.
Usopp had always been a little intimidated by the energetic, tattoo covered man, but it filled him with great pride to watch the shop window across the street slowly fill with his plants. There were a few people that worked at the shop, but from what he could tell and what he understood from his conversations with Sanji, it was only Sanji and one other who worked regularly and actually owned it. Sanji always complained about his co-owner, saying that he never did anything to help and always neglected his plants whenever Sanji took a weekend off.
He had yet to meet the other, but often saw him walking in and out of the shop. Usopp had never greeted the man like he did with Sanji, as the other man was terrifying in comparison to the blonde. He was more tattooed, covered head to toe in what seemed to be one giant piece, his arms full of blacked sections with small swirling white that gave the impression of wind above raging water. He had far more piercings than the blonde too, and his face was always set in an unwelcoming scowl. Usopp had a theory that his unapproachability was to combat the slight ridiculousness of such an imposing man having a shock of bright green hair, but he would never be the one to ask.
Usopp moved back in to his shop, walking over to begin rearranging the pots to be on display. He put the more fun looking ones at the front, marking them down ten percent and then stacking all different sizes of terracotta pots behind to make the more artistic pots pop, marking the terracotta down twenty in hopes of getting people to buy the ones that would likely be better for their plants.
He disappeared into the backroom, grabbing a watering can and filling it to the brim. It was a Monday, which was the day of the week that he spent watering every plant that needed weekly watering. Cacti and succulents only got watered once a month, always on the first, while the less drought resistant plants needed regular watering, which meant they received water every Monday. Some plants; the ones he set outside, the annual plants he carried, and his personal favorite carnivorous plant collection, needed watering daily. That was always a bit of a hassle, but they were some of his favorites so it was worth it.
He kept a giant Pitcher Plant and a few Venus Fly Traps and other carnivorous plants behind the sales counter. They were his prize possessions and the only plants he had bothered to name out of the bunch. He called the Pitcher Plant Clyde, and his two Venus Fly Traps were named Mary and Chomper, while a slightly irritable Drosera Capensis had earned the ironic name Sunny.
Usopp saved them to water last, moving to go outside and water the plants there, greeting a few early morning customers as they wandered in from the street. He emptied the rest of the watering can half way through the plants there, using the spigot on the side of the brick building to refill the watering pot.
He paused when he returned to water the rest of the plants, turning to glance at the shop across the street to gauge how busy they were. The main room of the shop appeared empty, until he saw Sanji stalk through, a towel on his shoulder and looking particularly irritable as he raised his hands in the air, saying something Usopp couldn’t read. A hand grabbed the blonde’s shoulder, the person it belonged to out of sight behind the window.
Sanji immediately shook it off, looking as if smoke was coming out of his ears as he turned around suddenly and jumped into the air, kicking in the direction of the bodiless hand. Usopp’s eyes widened in surprise, not having expected such a violent action from the normally happy go lucky blonde. The person he had kicked suddenly came into view as he lunged at Sanji, head butting him in a way that made Usopp cringe before he socked the blonde in the stomach.
The other owner, then. Usopp watched the altercation, unsure if he should do something about the fight or let the two handle it themselves. Before he had a chance to decide, Sanji kicked the other man in the head, making him fall into the window from the strength. The blonde stormed out after that, throwing the towel onto the other’s head, shouting something at the man he had left stunned against the glass of the window before disappearing out of view of the window.
He watched as the other owner sat staring after the blonde for a brief moment before he leaned forward on the window, setting his face into the palms of his hand. Usopp couldn’t tell if the man was screaming in frustration or crying, but once he had recovered he stood, throwing the towel on his head to the ground and kicking the nearest chair, clearly still mad despite Sanji’s absence.
Usopp watched the man tantrum around the shop for a bit longer than was likely polite, until the green haired man turned and made eye contact with him, his scowl darkening.
“Uh, we’re ready to check out when you have a second!”
The two young women he had greeted when he had gone to the front to water the plants poked their heads out of the store front, nearly making Usopp scream as his skin tried to leap off of his body. He looked away from the man in the shop window, putting the watering can down on the ground next to the plants he had completely neglected to water and wiped his hands off on his overalls,
“Yes, of course! So sorry for the wait, I’ll come in right away!”
_________
Usopp had nearly forgotten about the fight he had witnessed across the street. The rest of the day had been busy with customers looking for the perfect annuals to put the finishing touches on their summer gardens. It wasn’t until two days later that Usopp even thought about the inhabitants of the tattoo shop across the street.
It was mid-day, close to when Usopp closed the store for his lunch, when Sanji suddenly burst through the front door of his store, looking around wildly.
“Usopp!” he cried, bounding over to him when he caught his eye, “I need your help! Can you take your lunch and come with me?”
Usopp’s eyebrows raised in surprise, eighteen different scenarios running through his head, all worse than the one before as he gauged the blonde’s panic.
“Uhh… Sure thing, Sanji, what’s wrong?” he asked, sudden images of the two owners fighting popping into his head as he reached for the key he kept under the cash register. There was no one else in the store, luckily, so he put the ‘back in an hour’ sign on the front door and locked it behind himself as he followed the frantic blonde outside.
“It’s a plant emergency. There was an altercation with… another plant, and I need your help, I don’t know what to do,” Sanji said, frantically moving across the street to his own store. Usopp paused on the threshold of the tattoo shop, surprisingly nervous at the sudden realization that he had never actually been into Sanji’s store before.
He followed the blonde inside after a moment’s hesitation, walking into the main room and gazing around at the chaos of the walls surrounding him. They were covered head to toe in art, some more simple than others, the only organization being the names written under each design and the frames most of the drawings sat in. Some of them were clearly jokes, meant to be more for a laugh than for an actual design.
The huge room itself was beautiful, despite the disaster of the walls. The walls, ceiling, and counters were painted a grayish black which contrasted the cream colored accent wall and plants sitting on the counters nicely. There was a large chandelier hanging in the center, the only source of light besides the large window at the front of the room and the small lamps set up over the four tattoo stations in the room.
Usopp walked over to a plastic baby doll that had been sacrilegiously tattooed, picking it up by its head and studying the tattoos, laughing at the funny tattooed eyebrows the doll had.
“Is this supposed to be you?” he asked, holding the doll out to Sanji who frowned at the thing. He nodded, walking over and putting his right arm next to the dolls for comparison,
“Yeah, it has all of my tattoos. I fucking hate that thing, try and hide it all the time but that bastard always finds it and puts it right where everyone can see it no matter where they are in the store,” Sanji grumbled, grabbing the doll and unceremoniously chucking it at one of the stations. Usopp stared after it, eyes locking on pile of dirt and shattered terracotta that lay on the floor next to the station he had thrown it at.
“Ah,” Usopp said when he saw the poor cactus that had rolled a few feet from the debris, roots desperately clinging to the dry dirt it had taken with it. Sanji sighed heavily, pushing his bangs back in frustration. Had his eyebrows always been that swirled?
“Yeah, this is the problem. I would have just left you alone and repotted it myself, but um… it’s my favorite. I really don’t want it to die,” he said sheepishly, his hand moving to hold the back of his head while his other arm sat on his hip. Usopp shook his head, smiling at the blonde in hopes of appearing comforting,
“Nah, it’s probably a good thing you came to get me. It looks like it needed a new pot, and you’ll need new soil anyways. I’ll have to go grab some from the shop quick, it’ll only take a few minutes. This looks like a little more than an ‘altercation with another plant’, though,” he laughed, glancing down at the crime scene in front of him. Sanji hummed his agreement, shaking his head,
“I’d really appreciate it, man, I’ll pay for the materials and make you lunch,” he said, ignoring Usopp’s unspoken question.
“Oh, no. Free of charge for my favorite customer! It’s never fun to have an accident like this happen, especially when it’s one of your favorites. I remember when I left Clyde with a friend of mine and they let his peat moss dry out, I thought he was a goner. It was devastating,” he said, smiling and moving to the front door of the shop, “I’ll be right back!”
He returned about ten minutes later with the necessary materials, and Sanji told him he had wrapped a chair at the station next to where the plant had fallen, saying that he could use that area to repot the cactus while Sanji cleaned up the mess. Usopp followed his direction, putting on a pair of canvas gloves before he picked up the cactus from where it had rolled. He walked over to the chair, setting the cactus down next to the pot and taking the gloves off to open the bag that held his personal invention of soil mix for cacti, pouring a good amount of soil into the pot as he glanced around him.
“Is this your station?” he asked curiously, eyes skirting over the gorgeous framed Japanese style landscape paintings and what he hoped were costume swords mounted on the wall behind the station with a plaque beneath them that said ‘free tattoo removal’. There was a small wooden table with drawers next to a spinning stool that held a picture of Sanji, the other owner, a guy in a straw hat and a red head girl that Usopp saw going into the store frequently. There was also a small post-it note attached to the frame with neat hand writing on it that read ‘don’t punch the customer’ with a small drawing of a cartoonish angry face on a fluffy ball that felt oddly familiar to Usopp.
“Oh, no, that’s the Mo- sorry, my… business partner’s…” Sanji said, voice trailing off as he stared down at the pile of broken terracotta at his feet. Usopp opened his mouth in unvoiced understanding, turning back to the cactus and frowning at the large prickly thing.
“Hey, when you’re done with that wanna come over here and give me a hand? Cacti can be a bit hard to work with and I want to make sure I repot it so that it won’t grow crooked,” he said, making a pit in the dirt where he could set the cactus. Sanji hummed in agreement, using the broom and dust pan he had pulled from a closet to finish sweeping up the mess on the ground.
When he finished he walked over to Usopp, putting on the pair of gloves he was offered and gently taking hold of the cactus to hold upright while Usopp filled in the space around it with soil.
“So… Where is your partner?” Usopp asked, trying to make small talk as he finished gently patting the soil around the edge of the cactus. Sanji scoffed next to him, letting go of the cactus and taking the gloves off,
“Off pouting somewhere. I doubt he’ll be back for the remainder of the day. So much for the walk in Wednesday money that pays our utilities,” he muttered the last bit to himself, shaking his head in irritation. Usopp glanced at the cactus, thinking back to the fight he had watched through their shop window only a few days ago.
“Did he do this, Sanji? He seems… violent, I guess. Are, uh… you know, if you ever need anything, my doors always open,” Usopp said awkwardly, putting his hand to his neck. Sanji stared at him silently before he burst into uncontained laughter, holding his stomach and eventually having to take a seat on one of the tattoo chairs to recover from the heaviness of his laughter.
“Wow, violent, heh, thanks Usopp, I really needed that,” he said, running a knuckle under his eye while Usopp stared in slight shock at the guy. He… had Usopp gotten it wrong? That fight had seemed so violent! Sanji had looked so upset. Usopp thought back on the event, realizing with sudden clarity that the other man hadn’t been the one to start the physical fight, nor had he been the one left behind to fall apart.
“Oh, sorry, I guess I didn’t think about what I saw,” Usopp said, putting his pointer finger to his mouth as he revisited the altercation in his head. Sanji glanced up at him, eyes flashing,
“Ah, he mentioned that someone had watched us fight the other day. Sorry you had to see that, and thanks for not calling the cops. I can’t promise it won’t happen again, he just drives me up a fucking wall,” Sanji said, throwing his hands in the air and falling backwards onto the backrest of the chair.
“Well, if he makes you that angry and you hate him as much as you say, why would you choose to own a business with such a loser?” Usopp frowned, trying to make sense of the new information about the pairs dynamic.
“He’s not a loser,” Sanji said thinly, his eyes flashing in a way that made Usopp gulp in fear, “he’s one of the funniest people I know, and he’s kind, and an absolute moron, and one of the most talented tattoo artists I’ve ever met in my life,”
Usopp remained silent, eyes wide as Sanji continued to wax poetic about the black work style his coworker specialized in, pointing to his own tattoos, his eyes turning fond as he explained certain parts of the pieces that were specific to the other’s style. Apparently a piece on his inner shoulder had been responsible for bringing fame to his business partner’s work. Usopp could understand why, it was a striking portrait of a woman, but her face looked as if it had been caught in a glitch; split into segments that gave the woman two noses and two mouths, and an extra eye while fragmenting other features to look offset from the rest of the face.
The blonde seemed to lose track of himself when he talked about the other man, an endless supply of compliments thinly veiled underneath expertly crafted insults. Usopp glanced around while Sanji kept going, taking in all of the plants the blonde had purchased from him in the past year. All the same shade of green, and elegantly draped around the store. There were pictures of the two owners everywhere at all different ages, and the plants seemed to be specifically populous around what Usopp assumed was Sanji’s actual station. He was led to the only conclusion that seemed reasonable by the time the blonde was near finished ranting,
“Ah, so you’re in love with him,” he interrupted, smiling at his neighbor knowingly. Sanji stopped talking, mouth fallen open in disbelief. He glanced around the shop quickly before looking back to Usopp like a deer in headlights,
“Fuck, is it that obvious?” he whispered, looking around as if his crush could materialize from thin air. Usopp laughed, shaking his head and lifting his finger sagely,
“Well no, probably not to him. It just so happens that I, Usopp, am the leading expert in love and match making, which means I can see your crush from a while away! I can also help you with your man troubles,” Sanji looked at him skeptically, standing up from the chair and crossing his hands over his chest,
“What the hell would you know about asking a dude out,” Sanji huffed, glancing down at the ring on Usopp’s finger. Usopp grinned, waggling his ring finger in front of the blonde,
“Just because I am happily married to the woman of my dreams doesn’t mean I’ve lost my touch. I mean you’ve met Kaya, I have to know something to have gotten someone so outside of my league,” he laughed, glad to see a quirk touch Sanji’s own mouth,
“Plus I’ve helped many a friend with relationship problems in the past,” Usopp could almost feel his nose growing at the size of the lie he was building to, “I used to be a copywriter at a huge newspaper, and helped to get these two guys who swore they hated each other together after they got in a huge physical fight in front of half of our office, just by forcing them on a ‘company retreat’ with just the two of them,”
Sanji blinked at him in interest, putting a hand up to pause his speech,
“Fine. You can tell me all about that and then give me advice, but let me make us some food in the meantime. It is actually my lunch break right now, and I owe you one,” he said, turning around and beckoning for Usopp to follow him over his shoulder.
Never one to turn down an invitation for free food, Usopp followed happily behind him into the back of the shop, through a narrow, dark hallway and up a staircase into a large apartment above the shop. Usopp looked around curiously, taking in the sudden presence of a domestic home where he hadn’t expected one.
“You live up here?” Usopp asked, slightly surprised to learn that the blonde slept where he worked. Sanji nodded, gesturing to the living room vaguely,
“Yep, me and the Moss both do. Easier than worrying about renting the place out and figuring out how to split the income,” Sanji explained, “feel free to make yourself at home. I’ll make something fast so you don’t have to sit out here alone for too long,”
Usopp’s brow furrowed as he processed what Sanji had just told him. So Sanji and his business partner… lived together. And shared income. And Sanji used pet names. And they lived above the business that the two owned and operated together.
Either the guy Sanji was in love with was a piece of shit mooch, or these two were the most stupid people on the face of this planet. This would require much more investigation. Usopp would need to get a good look into the other half of this odd couple, and maybe speak to a few of their friends so that he could formulate a proper plan.
“I can come stand in the kitchen with you while you cook, if it doesn’t bother you too much,” Usopp offered, taking the smile from Sanji as permission to join him.
They spent the next thirty minutes in the kitchen, Usopp entertaining Sanji with his absolutely untrue stories of match making while he waited for the blonde to finish preparing their lunch. They ate in the living room, rather than at the dining room table as Sanji had said he wanted to sit somewhere more comfortable.
Sanji had made a complex sandwich of some sort that had tasted delicious enough to be gourmet. Usopp was a bit disbelieving that the man next to him owned a tattoo shop instead of a Michelin star restaurant. The topic had turned to Sanji’s roommate pretty quickly once they sat down to eat, Sanji complaining that communication had been rough between the two ever since their fight a few days ago.
“So you guys are having an argument? Do you mind if I ask what it’s about?” Usopp pressed, taking another bite of the delicious sandwich as he waited for Sanji to respond. The blonde hesitated, eyes darting to the side as he picked at a loose thread on the armchair he was curled up in.
“It’s stupid. I’m not nearly as experienced of an artist as Zoro is, my specialty is piercings. But I’ve been dabbling for the past seven or so years, and he’s taught me enough that I can do the more boring pieces that come through for him so that he can focus on his laundry list of commissions,” Sanji explained, shifting in discomfort as he spoke.
“Zoro went snooping in my sketchbook behind my back and found a piece I’ve been doodling for the past month or so, and he told me he wants me to tattoo it on his back,” Sanji said, his voice sounding thin as he put his head between his knees in exasperation. Usopp blinked, trying to understand what about that was so bad.
“Um, that sounds like a pretty big compliment coming from such a famous artist,” Usopp pointed out, setting his empty plate on the coffee table and leaning forward to pat Sanji awkwardly. Sanji peaked up at him from between his knees, a look of annoyance in his eye,
“You don’t get it. He’s been telling me for the past ten years that he was going to save his back for something special. I can’t be the one to tattoo his back, it was just a stupid sketch. I told him no, to find a better artist, and he got pissed at me for no fucking reason,” Sanji said, falling back into the arm chair and grabbing his hair in anxiety. Usopp stared at him, disbelieving of what he was hearing.
So Sanji was an idiot, then. There was no way that wasn’t a declaration, it was painfully obvious. Zoro had been saving his back until Sanji was practiced enough to fill it. It was so obvious. Usopp leaned forward, putting a hand on Sanji’s knee,
“Sanji-,”
The door to the stairwell banged open, making both Usopp and Sanji jump where they sat, staring at the hulking figure of the man who had just burst into the room. Usopp recognized him immediately, bright green hair giving him away almost instantly.
“Who t’fuck is this,” Zoro seethed, turning awkwardly on his heel to glare at Usopp, eyes briefly flicking from the empty plates to Usopp’s hand; which he quickly removed, and then back to the two men in front of him. Sanji rolled his eyes, scoffing and throwing a hand in the air,
“Oh here we go. Are you drunk?” he yelled, standing from his chair and stomping up to Zoro, “It’s not even past noon yet!”
“Who th’ fuck is that!” Zoro yelled, pointing at Usopp, “I leave fer a damn hour and you bring a… what, a hook up into our house?”
Sanji stared at him, disbelief evident on his face. He glanced to Usopp, who waved his hands in front of him and shook his head, refusing to take responsibility for whatever the hell this was.
“How… the fuck… do you not know your own god damn neighbor?” Sanji said, stabbing Zoro in the chest to exaggerate his words, “we’ve been here for over a year!”
Zoro turned his gaze to Usopp, his stare threatening death at the same time as it worked to recognize him. Usopp put a hand to the back of his head, waving at the other absently,
“Hi, uh… Zoro, right? I don’t think we’ve had the chance to meet yet, but I’m Usopp. I own the plant nursery across the street, I was just helping Sanji with a plant problem and he was kind enough to offer me lunch. We definitely weren’t um… h-hooking up, I’m happily married,” Usopp said, pointing to the ring on his finger.
Zoro’s eyes widened at his words, his eyes flying to the ring on Usopp’s finger and then to Sanji, a look of guilt creeping across his flushed face,
“Plant problem, huh?” Zoro grunted sheepishly, looking at Sanji apologetically. Sanji’s face softened, and he raised his hand to run it through Zoro’s bright green affectionately,
“Not a big deal, Mossy, it’s all fixed,” he sighed, making Zoro preen as he pat his head, “you owe me two shitty customers, though,”
“Sure, Curly,” Zoro nodded sheepishly, his rough exterior melting under the blonde’s attention. Usopp watched them, disbelieving that either of them could possibly be as dense as Sanji claimed. How could neither of them see what Usopp was? They lived together, for crying out loud. Zoro had nearly ripped his head off when he thought he had been making a move on the blonde. They called each other by pet names.
“Well, I should get back to my shop,” Usopp mumbled awkwardly, barely being noticed by the two as they stared into each other’s eyes like nothing else in the world existed. Usopp stood, ready to see himself out. The motion pulled Sanji from his trance, and the blonde slipped back into the role of gracious host.
“Ah, I’ll see you out, Usopp,” he grinned, shoving Zoro out of the way and opening the door for him. Usopp smiled, nodding to the disgruntled man next to him and walking down the stairs two at a time. Sanji followed quietly behind him, followed a beat later by much heavier steps.
Usopp walked all the way to the front door before turning back, bowing slightly to the two standing behind him,
“Thanks for lunch, Sanji, it was delicious. Let me know any time a plant needs a new pot I’ll gladly trade any repotting materials and time for another free meal,” he laughed, opening the door, “it was nice to meet you, Zoro,”
With that he rushed out the door, not wanting to remain in the same room as the intimidating counterpart to his friend any longer than he needed to.
________
It had been a week since his odd encounter at the shop across the street, and Usopp couldn’t help but watch through the window between lulls in store traffic. The more he observed the more tired he became on behalf of the two oblivious morons that owned the shop. He had been changing the art in the window again, ending the pot sale and writing ‘don’t forget to wet your plants’ with a drawing of an animated Venus Fly Trap getting watered.
He had nearly ruined the entire thing when he had watched Sanji climb onto Zoro’s back, using the pretense that he was trying to choke the larger man. Zoro looked ridiculously pleased with the situation, but they had just ended up fighting, Zoro failing to see through the pathetic excuse the blonde was giving just to touch him.
When Usopp had finished painting his window sign, he had glanced up again to see Zoro speaking with a younger customer while Sanji watched him from his station, his head in his hand and a soft smile on his face. On top of that, when Usopp had been pulling in his plants for the evening the previous night, he had watched Zoro literally brush his hand through the blonde’s hair, staring lovingly and longingly at him before shoving him towards the stairs. It was ridiculous, Usopp had no idea how they were both still living in such deep denial.
“They really have no idea,” Usopp whispered to Mary, feeding it a live fly with a tweezers, “it’s unbelievable. I mean, I watched Zoro stare at Sanji while he tattooed someone for ten minutes. And Sanji caught him looking! He just smiled at him like it was a normal thing!”
Mary closed its mouth around the fly with a snap, blissfully ignorant to the troubles of the larger world as it slowly digested its prey. Usopp lifted a fly for Chomper to eat, taking the tweezer back when the plant had gotten a good grasp on the bug,
“I mean seriously. Not that Zoro is any better, I mean Sanji is so touchy with him. They fight like every other day, and when they’re not fighting, Sanji is leaning over his shoulder watching him draw or tattoo, I mean literally hanging off the guy. Zoro lets it happen of course, I’ve never seen someone look so pleased with themselves, but man, he acts like it’s just something bros do,” Usopp continued, ranting to the small plants as he fed another head on Chomper.
He picked up the spray bottle that he kept under the front counter, shaking it as he gestured in emphasis of his words,
“Even I wasn’t as dense as those two are when it came to Kaya, and I was dense. I feel like I could tell one that the other is head over heels for him and they’d think I was taking the piss,” Usopp sighed, spraying water into Clyde’s pitchers, “I have no idea what would help them figure it out at this point besides a literal plane hitting their shop with a sign saying ‘you idiots are in love’. I feel like I have to do something,”
He sprayed a small amount of water onto Sunny, just enough to keep the dew on its leaves without pissing off the ornery plant. Kaya had told him to leave the two alone. She said that if they’re meant to be, they need to figure it out on their own. Usopp didn’t necessarily agree, and he hated seeing his friend chain-smoke near a pack a day from stress. It also wasn’t good for the plants he had sold to the blonde, living among a constant atmosphere of aggression and tension. Yeah, Usopp needed to do something for the sake of the plants, it’s what any good plant lover would do.
“Hello!” Usopp looked up in time to watch a group of six walk into the store, bringing with them two small children that looked ready to rip the leaves off of every plant in the store. Usopp gulped, putting on a cheery face and greeting his customers, hoping that killing them with customer service would save his poor plants from the toddlers’ lethal hands.
Usopp sighed, locking the door of the store behind him as he finished closing the store. The toddlers had only been the beginning, followed by a surprisingly large rush that had kept him on his toes the rest of the day. He couldn’t wait to get home and collapse on the couch to watch reruns of the Great British Baking Show with Kaya.
“Usopp!” a cheery voice cried from across the street. Usopp cringed the tiniest bit, too tired to want to socialize. His manners won in the end as he turned to the blonde smoking a cigarette on the step of the tattoo parlor,
“Hey, Sanji, how are ya?” he asked, heart not really in the words. Sanji laughed, blowing a cloud of smoke out and then standing from the step to walk closer to him,
“No need to look so scared, man, I won’t keep you long. Just wanted to see if you could free up your lunch break tomorrow? I have a plant that’s giving me some trouble and would love your help in diagnosing the issue,” Sanji said once he was close enough not to shout, stubbing the cigarette out on the curb of the sidewalk. Usopp eyed him warily, skeptical ever since the last plant incident,
“Is this a plant you bought from me issue or a, ahem, house plant… issue,” Usopp asked, not really wanting to get yelled at by the blonde’s coworker again. Sanji smirked, shaking his head in understanding,
“Nah, I really am just having an issue with one of the plants. He’ll be there, but I promise the Moss doesn’t bite,” Sanji grinned, his natural charisma winning Usopp over easily.
“Fine,” Usopp agreed, holding up his pointer finger, “on one condition. Instead of a lunch, show me the art that you think isn’t good enough to be tattooed,”
Sanji’s face fell, his eyes flashing briefly as he frowned at the request,
“Alright,” he sighed, nodding much to Usopp’s surprise, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt for you to know what I’m talking about when I say it’s a ridiculous request.”
“Great!” Usopp said, “tomorrow’s my day off, I’ve got a high schooler working for me that takes care of the shop on the weekends. His name’s Chopper if you ever need something when I’m not there. Cool if I stop by a little earlier? Eleven-ish?”
Sanji nodded, smiling and giving him an awkward fist bump before sprinting back to his shop,
“See you tomorrow!”
‘Tomorrow’ came far too soon for Usopp’s liking. It felt like only minutes had passed before he found himself walking in the front door of the tattoo shop. He started to say hi, only to stop in his tracks at what he found.
Sanji was on the ground, looking as if he had just been pushed there, while Zoro was braced on top of him, leaning over the blonde with both of his hands bracketing Sanji’s head. They were both breathing heavily and staring at each other with flustered anger, completely lost to the world around them.
Usopp briefly considered sneaking out, taking a step back only for the floorboard beneath his heel to squeak just as Zoro was leaning forward. Sanji’s eyes snapped to the noise, his face growing red as he met Usopp’s gaze. Usopp cleared his throat, awkwardly waving at Sanji where he lay on the floor and trying to ignore the waves of deadly energy radiating off of his coworker.
Sanji pushed Zoro off of himself, standing quickly and brushing off his clothes while Zoro remained slumped unhappily on the floor,
“Hi, Usopp! Sorry, we were just having a… disagreement,” Sanji said, shooting Zoro a look that could kill a lesser man. Zoro simply sneered back at him, doing very little to hide the flush of his face from what Usopp assumed was the near kiss he had just had the misfortune of interrupting.
Sanji brought Usopp over to the plant he was worried about, leaving Zoro to grumble on the floor as he explained that the plant’s health had been on an abrupt decline the past three days even though Sanji hadn’t changed anything about its care. Usopp frowned, lifting one of the yellow leaves on the Philodendron Brasil and watching as it detached from the stem of the plant from the light touch. He glanced into the pot, frowning when he saw that the plant was still in its nursery pot,
“I know I told you it’s good to let them adjust to a new environment in their nursery pot but I meant for like a few weeks. It probably just wants to be repotted, are there any others that are still in their original pot?” Usopp asked, turning to Sanji with a brow raised. Sanji smiled at him sheepishly, eyes darting around the twenty odd plants that he had in the store. Usopp laughed, shaking his head fondly,
“No big deal, man. As long as I’m not getting in the way of your business I can just repot them all for you today, and just get it out of the way? I’ll just need to get some stuff from across the street,” he said, glancing from Sanji to Zoro to see if it would be fine for him to hang for the afternoon. Zoro eyed him from the corner of his eyes, a grumpy frown nearly making Usopp roll his eyes at how obvious the terrifying man was. Sanji faltered, shaking his head with a pinch to his brow,
“I couldn’t possibly make you do that, that’s way too much work. It’s your day off,” he pointed out. Usopp grinned, waving him off,
“No, it’s not a big deal. I don’t own a plant shop ‘cause it’s the secret to being a billionaire, Sanji, I enjoy working with plants more than pretty much anything else. Plus, Kaya got shifted at the hospital today, so the only other thing I ever spend my day on is occupied. Just let me do this for you,” he said, shooting the blonde a thumbs up and opening the door with a promise to return.
He was quick about gathering what he needed, taking a small wagon from the storage shed behind his store and loading it with tons of different pots and soil. When he returned Zoro was tattooing someone while Sanji was nowhere to be found, leaving Usopp in a pretty awkward situation as he waited to be directed.
Zoro glanced up when he felt Usopp’s gaze, frowning at him slightly before pausing his tattoo machine,
“Go ahead, long nose, Curly says you’ve got free reign. Just keep the dirt near the front counter and away from the stations,” he growled, low voice not leaving room for argument as he nodded to the front desk. Usopp nodded, brows furrowed as he grabbed the plant that Sanji had been worried about initially.
Usopp set about his work, moving methodically as he filled the pot with new soil and then shook the Philodendron out of its old pot. He used a tarp he had brought as a place to knock off the old soil from the roots, frowning at how bound they had become from never having moved pots.
Zoro wandered over at some point after Usopp had finished two plants, grabbing a piece of paper and a bottle from behind the counter and handing it to his client along with verbal care instructions. The client thanked him profusely, waxing poetic about how much she respected his work and how grateful she was for the piece she had just received. Zoro responded with nothing more than a grunt, much to Usopp’s abject horror. The woman left quickly after paying, leaving Usopp alone with the neighbor he barely knew.
“Y’know it would probably help to be a little more appreciative of customers like that, that was a pretty nice compliment,” Usopp said, keeping his eyes to his work as he spoke.
He immediately regretted opening his mouth, feeling his skin crawl just from pulling the attention of the terrifying man to himself. He was a little less afraid of the man after observing how soft he was when it came to Sanji from his vantage point across the street, but being alone with the man was still slightly terrifying.
“You sound like the Cook,” Zoro grumbled, surprising Usopp with his lack of aggression to the criticism. Usopp glanced up to find him leaned against the counter with his arms across his chest, watching Usopp work.
“Yeah, well. It’s customer service 101, anybody would tell you the same. Speaking of Sanji, where’d he go?” Usopp asked, looking around in hopes of seeing the blonde walking through a door to rescue him from the sudden one on one conversation he found himself in.
“He’s making you food since you’re helping us out,” Zoro said, glancing to the ceiling with a shake of his head and a fond smile. Usopp couldn’t help but snort at how obvious the man’s affection was, watching as the smile on Zoro’s face dropped into a warning frown directed back at him.
“Sorry, sorry! I just, I told him not to feed me. I wanted to see his art instead,” Usopp squeaked, raising his hands in defense. Zoro raised a brow, leaning forward with the same frown plastered to his face,
“Why,” he said, voice level while his eyes pierced through Usopp like spears, daring him to say the wrong thing. Usopp felt like his spirit was leaving his body through his head, his instinct to freeze pausing his hands in their work as he stared back at Zoro, racing to find the safest words.
“Well, um, I saw you guys fight a couple weeks ago, and when I asked about it he had… had mentioned that there was a piece you liked that he didn’t that had been causing some stress in your guys’… lives, and I was just curious what kind of drawing it was to cause that big of a fight,” Usopp explained, eyes falling to stare at the Crassula Ovata he had been potting.
The end of his speech was greeted by silence. He kept his eyes glued to the plant below him, preferring to be blissfully surprised if he were about to get the daylights knocked out of him. Finally, after what felt like five minutes, Zoro sighed heavily above him. Feeling like any danger had passed, Usopp glanced up, finding Zoro turned away from him leaning against the front counter with his head in his hands.
“Zoro… sorry if I’m overstepping,” Usopp started, only to be interrupted by Zoro turning around and waving him off.
“It’s cool, dude. It’s just a damn stupid argument. You’ll see what I mean when you see the stencil, it’s stunning. I just thought the bastard would be more excited to get to do a piece on me, considering,” he muttered, more to himself than to Usopp. It was the most words the other had ever said to him, filling Usopp with an uncharacteristic bravery to push deeper.
“Considering?” Usopp prodded, interest piqued by the offhand words. Zoro frowned at him before looking over to his station where the cactus that Usopp had repotted sat as its own centerpiece.
“Every tattoo Curly has is my original work,” Zoro sighed after a moment of contemplation, waving around the shop, “the only reason we have this is because he let me use his skin as a portfolio once he deemed my art good enough. It meant the world to me, and I let him practice piercing me for a while, but it wasn’t quite the same. Then he showed interest in developing his own style a few years back and I thought…”
Zoro gestured to himself, losing his words as his eyes gained a helpless confusion that made Usopp smile weakly in empathy. These two were absolutely helpless. They had literally handed over their bodies to the other and still they couldn’t come to terms with the fact that their feelings were met halfway by the other. He thought Sanji had been pathetic in his infatuation with his coworker, but Zoro easily put him to shame. It was one of the clearest, most romantic gestures Usopp had heard in his life.
Usopp thought back to his conversation with Sanji, trying to think through the differences in their respective explanations. He frowned, his fingers pressed to his chin in thought as he pieced together how Sanji had told him Zoro had been saving his back for something ‘special’, and how the most important thing to Zoro seemed to be carrying Sanji’s art just like Sanji carried his.
“Have you told him that?” Usopp asked with a frown, leaning back on his hands as he looked up at Zoro. The green haired man’s eyes widened imperceptibly, his face slackening in surprise. His eyes cast to the side as he tried to think,
“Don’t hurt yourself,” Usopp teased, shaking his head. He was starting to get the idea that Zoro wasn’t necessarily scary or stupid as much as he just stayed in his own head more often than not.
Zoro pulled back his arm as if he was about to punch him, making Usopp scramble backwards until he was a safe distance from the man, cowering behind his arms as he waited for the inevitable hit. He took it back, Zoro was terrifying.
The punch never came, instead Usopp’s movement was followed by a peal of laughter from the maniac,
“I like you, Usopp,” Zoro snorted, slapping a hand against the wood of the front counter as he laughed. Usopp sat back up, putting his hands on his knees and sighing in relief that he had been left unharmed.
“Sure, man. Just, y’know, seriously consider just talking to him? It could make a huge difference, communication will do wonders for a relationship,” Usopp pointed out, not done giving his priceless and free professional advice to the slightly less oblivious of the half.
“Who said anything about a relationship?” Zoro tried to bite, his voice sounding pathetically weak compared to what he had likely been trying for. Usopp gave him an unimpressed look, raising an eyebrow at him that made it clear he was unwilling to listen to excuses.
“Yeah, alright,” Zoro sighed, slouching down to join Usopp where he sat on the floor. Usopp smirked, about to tell him to pick his chin up and that everything would be fine when the back door slammed open and Sanji bounced into the room carrying three steaming bowls of food. He skipped over to them, handing one to Usopp and then another to Zoro before sitting on the ground next to his coworker and crossing his legs.
“It’s just a simple ramen but it should hit the spot considering how gloomy it is outside,” Sanji smiled. Usopp watched in amusement as Zoro stared at the blonde’s mouth, completely transfixed by the sunny smile that the other wore. Usopp took a bite of his ramen, humming happily as unearthly flavor enveloped his taste buds. Man, Sanji was a good cook. Maybe he was being serious about the sketch he had made being shit, there was no way someone could be so good at one thing and still excel at another.
“Sanji, this is delicious!” he said happily, quickly shoveling bite after bite into his mouth. Sanji chuckled around his own bite of food, beaming at the praise and nodding his head.
“So what were you guys talking about just now? Looked pretty lively in here,” Sanji joked, pulling one of his knees to his chest as he took another bite of food, looking between the two of them curiously. Zoro quickly averted his eyes, glancing to Usopp with a look of warning before mumbling ‘nothing’ and staring resolutely across the room. Sanji turned to Usopp, questioning gaze suddenly holding a little more of a threat,
“Umm, I was just saying how excited I was to see your art,” Usopp explained, leaving the rest of their conversation up to interpretation. Sanji’s face fell, clearly not having expected his answer.
“Oh,” was Sanji’s response, his voice falling flat as he slumped back against the counter, “yeah, I guess I owe you that much. Here,”
He reached behind himself without looking, pulling open a drawer that unapologetically slammed into Zoro’s shoulder as it was opened. Before Usopp could understand what was happening there was a sketchbook being unceremoniously smacked down onto the floor in front of him. He stared at it for a moment before putting his half eaten lunch to the side, picking up the book and flipping it open to a random page.
Usopp’s eyes widened, his mouth opening slightly in shock as he stared down at the page. These were just sketches, but they were beautiful, and they had clearly taken time and thought. There was a Japanese style dragon running up the right side of the page, it’s tail looping around on itself and running across the bottom of the page. The head of the dragon had looped around as well and bit down on its own neck, a surprisingly viscous scene for such a beautifully drawn creature.
Usopp glanced at the drawing of the samurai next to it, which was only half done, the face appearing as if it had been erased on more than one occasion. His eyes flicked back to the dragon, and then to Zoro, eyeing the waves of tattoos down his arms.
“Is this the one you want? It’s beautiful,” Usopp said, leaning the sketchbook down to show which one he was talking about. Zoro barked a laugh while Sanji turned red, shaking his head and putting his face into his hands.
“Hell no. That ain’t shit, give it here,” he said, taking the book from Usopp and flipping the pages. A huge grin graced his face when he found the right page, and he handed it back to Usopp with all the smugness of a house cat presenting a mouse.
Usopp took the sketchbook back, gazing down at the drawing there and understanding instantly what Zoro meant. The dragon had been beautiful, but it paled in comparison to what he was seeing. The page was completely filled, firm and sure lines running across the page in beautiful strokes.
The main focus of the piece was three koi, all in different states of jumping from raging water surrounding them. The water was created using swirling lines, all coming to sharp points facing away from the fish as if they were fighting against the water as they swam. The koi were beautifully designed, one just emerging from the water while another was fully exposed, tail flipping in the air. The last was just dipping its head into the water the angles of the fish creating an elegant s curve that was pleasant to the eye.
The fish were beautifully detailed as well, their scales were intricate and uniform, somehow looking as if they were shining despite the drawing only being in black pen.
It was breathtaking. Usopp was one to needlessly compliment people, typically taking away genuineness when an actual compliment surfaced, but this drawing left him speechless, words not doing justice to explain how well the piece was executed. He was almost offended for the drawing that Sanji would see it as anything other than the masterpiece it was. He stared quietly at it for some time, finally looking up when Zoro cleared his throat awkwardly.
“You did this?” he asked Sanji, staring in wonder as the blonde frowned, nodding his head in confirmation. Usopp didn’t say anything, flipping through the rest of the sketchbook quickly and finding nothing but competency on the pages. He turned back to the page with the design on it, looking at Zoro,
“Do you have a portfolio of his tattoo work?” he asked curiously, ignoring the weak shout of protest from the mortified blonde. Zoro nodded with a grin, getting up and moving to the other side of the counter. He brought back a binder that had pictures in protective sleeves, each labeled with one of their names or the names ‘Luffy’ and ‘Nami’.
Usopp flipped through a few of Sanji’s pieces, not paying too close attention to the rest as he studied the steadiness of the blonde’s lines and the detail of some of the more complex pieces. He had a good hand, and good technique. It was rare to find a work where there was even the faintest flicker of hesitation in his lines.
“Sanji…” he said forlornly, the blonde glancing at him from where he was balled up against the counter, “you’re an absolute idiot,”
Sanji opened his mouth, sitting up straight with a fire in his eyes and ready to defend himself only for Zoro to cut him off,
“That’s what I’ve been saying. Here look,” Zoro said, suddenly reaching for the back of his shirt and pulling it off in one quick swoop. Usopp squeaked in surprise, putting his hands up to protect himself despite there being literally no threat. There was a thin whine from Sanji, which made Usopp glance quickly at the blonde before looking back at Zoro.
Sanji looked as if he had just been stabbed in the gut, his hands over his incredibly red face as he looked between his fingers at Zoro’s naked torso. Usopp could swear that the blonde’s nose was bleeding, but he couldn’t see well enough to be certain.
He glanced back at Zoro, eyes widening at what Zoro’s shirt had been hiding. Unbeknownst to Usopp, the sleeves the man had were only a small part of a huge piece that connected his arms and his chest. Now that he had context it was clear that there was both wind and waves on his arms, connected to the piece that took up the entirety of his chest. The artist had cleverly incorporated his skin as part of the piece, the lines that normally would have been tattooed on being created by the skin that had been left unmarked.
There were waves across his stomach, the typical rolling, tumultuous waves often found in Japanese art. They were bordered by storm clouds that went below his waist band, mirrored by similar turbulent thunder heads that lay across his chest and his shoulder blades, running down his arms until they were met by the same roaring water around his forearms.
The most captivating part of the piece was the large circle of uninked skin in the center of his chest, bisected by a terrifying looking scar that blended in to the black ink on the rest of his torso, but shone proudly in the empty circle. It was clearly meant to be a sun, the circle only disrupted by the rolling waves it was emerging from, and rays of light created by thin lines of his skin shooting in straight lines outwards until they were swallowed by the thunder heads above.
Usopp gasped, overwhelmed by the intensity of the piece and having to stop himself from cringing thinking about the amount of time that Zoro must have spent under a needle to finish the piece. Zoro barely paused once he had taken his shirt off, instead whipping around once he saw that he had Usopp’s attention and pointing to where the piece abruptly cut off mid-way across his sides, the lines unfinished.
“See, look, it would connect perfectly with the water here. It’s like it was by design, it’s the perfect piece for my back but this moron won’t fuckin’ listen to me,” Zoro said, voice simultaneously excited and pissed as he talked. Usopp glanced at where the man’s tattoo ended, glancing down at the page still open in front of him with a quirk of his brow.
Made for him, huh? Usopp picked up the notebook, holding it up to sit against the lines of Zoro’s tattoo, eyebrow raising even higher as he saw how nicely the drawing blended with the rest of Zoro’s tattoos. Almost too nicely. Usopp’s eyes flicked over to Sanji, who was conveniently very busy with his food all of the sudden, refusing to meet Usopp’s gaze.
“Well what if you had someone else do it? You could use this design but have whoever did your first piece tattoo it? I mean this art has to be used,” Usopp asked, looking between the two.
“No,” Zoro said vehemently, shaking his head at the same time Sanji said ‘maybe’. The blonde turned his head and glared at Zoro, all earlier embarrassment lost as he started to grow annoyed at Zoro’s stubbornness.
“Well what if Sanji never agrees. Are you going to get something else done?” Usopp asked curiously, trying not to pay attention to the growing tension in the room and soldiering on. God, he deserved a medal for this. Zoro shook his head again, this time leaving the words unspoken as he stared at a fixed point between the three of them, a childish pout on his face.
So it had to be Sanji. Christ, these two were hopeless. Usopp didn’t get paid enough for this. In fact, he wasn’t getting paid at all. He should get paid for this. He glanced down at the drawing one more time, and then at the book that held the proof of Sanji’s competency with a needle.
“Sanji,” Usopp said, waiting until the blonde finally shifted to meet his eyes, “you should do it.”
Sanji gawked at him, betrayal reddening his face as he set his bowl to the side, standing and snatching the sketchbook from Usopp’s hands.
“No one was even supposed to fuckin’ see this!” he yelled, throwing the notebook like a Frisbee until it smashed against the wall. He picked up his bowl, angrily gathering the other two and started stalking towards the door to their apartment without another word while the other two sat in frozen shock at the outburst. Zoro’s face collapsed into dismayed panic, and he quickly pushed himself from the counter and ran after the blonde, catching the back of his shirt before he could disappear through the doorway.
“Curly,” Zoro started, taking a step back in shock when Sanji whirled on him with a look of burning violence that made Usopp want to flee the shop as quickly as possible.
“Don’t ‘Curly’ me, you piece of shit. You went behind my back and found it before I was even ready to show it to you, and I’ve already said no fifty fucking times. How many more is it going to take!” he screamed, using his foot to push Zoro away from him. Zoro seemed to come back to himself from the physical contact, his own face warping into hurt indignation as he took a brave step back into the blonde’s face,
“I just don’t get why! You haven’t once told me why!” he yelled back, hitting the bowls out of Sanji’s hands until they clattered to the ground, one shattering between their feet. Sanji stared at the ground between them, his fists clenching as he looked at Zoro with something unrecognizable in his eyes. Then, as soon as it had appeared the fight left Sanji, his shoulders slouching and his face falling into bone deep exhaustion.
“It’s your back, Zoro,” he sighed, his head bowed, “the number of times I’ve listened to you talk about how the back is the perfect, open canvas, and nothing but the best would do… and now you’re asking me to fill it in. You’re one of the best tattoo artists in the country, and I’m… me.”
Usopp watched Zoro’s face fall as he listened to the blonde’s words. The tattoo artist pulled Sanji by his shirt until he was against his chest, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and squeezing gently.
“I was saving it for you,” Zoro whispered. Sanji’s shoulders shook where he was crushed against Zoro’s chest, a gentle sob making it across the room to where Usopp still sat and signaling that it was time for him to leave. He got up quietly, taking his shoes off and holding them so that he could keep his steps silent as he snuck out of the shop, leaving all of his supplies behind. He would get them another day.
_________
Two days later Usopp was back at work, opening the front door and turning the sign to open. He glanced to the window of the shop across the street, excited to see how their relationship had developed following his intervention. The window was still dark, odd for how punctual Sanji usually was, but Usopp chocked it up to the two finally having hashed it out and needing a good day or two to… sleep in.
He had found the wheelbarrow full of his supplies behind his shop, likely having been returned to Chopper at some point while he was at home. After he had turned all of the lights on and counted the register he started dragging the large plants back to their rightful place at the front of the store, not pausing until they were all positioned correctly.
He put a hand to his hip, using the other to wipe the sweat from the heavy lifting off of his forehead as he looked around the quiet street to gauge what kind of day he was in for, observing the cloudy sky that looked heavy with rain and the subsequent ghost town of a street. Looked like it would be dead. Maybe he’d take advantage of the time to work on cutting some propagations from his plants, or rework some visual merchandising around the store.
Blonde hair caught his eye as he was turning back into the store. He was about to yell a greeting to Sanji, a hand already cupped against his mouth only to immediately stop when he actually got a good look at the blonde.
Sanji looked miserable. His eyes were puffy and red around the edges and his normally kept appearance was to the wind. He was wearing a baggy gray t-shirt, one that looked like it belonged to someone with double his shoulders, and his hair was poking every which way. He had a cigarette between his fingers that looked like it was burning away, completely forgotten as Sanji stared at a spot on the sidewalk in front of him, unblinking.
Usopp put his hand back down, turning back into his shop, closing the door behind him and resolutely minding his own business. Looks like his interference had had the opposite effect. Could he have read it wrong? Maybe Zoro wasn’t actually interested in Sanji, but was really just interested in getting a cool back piece to go with his chest? No, no one looked at someone else like that just because they were friends. Right?
Maybe he should have just listened to Kaya. She was always right, after all. He glanced out of the front window sadly, feeling somewhat responsible for whatever new argument the two had devolved into.
Usopp tried to ignore the dark window of the empty shop for the rest of the day, taking his lunch and then reopening the store like he was on autopilot. He was worried about the plants that Sanji had over there, they would surely suffer in such a sad environment.
The bell that sat above his door rang as someone walked in, surprising Usopp and making him glance up from the horticulture book he had been reading to pass the slow day. It had started to rain heavily right before he had closed for lunch, and any traffic there had been had quickly disappeared from the streets, leaving Usopp alone for the past two hours.
He peered around the large Bird of Paradise that blocked the doorway from his counter, noting that he needed to remember to move the plant for better store coverage. The customer pulled the hood of their raincoat down as they glanced around the store and Usopp felt his heart climb into his throat at record speed as he recognized the bright green hair.
He dropped behind the counter without a second thought, cowering there and trying to think of the closest and safest escape route,
“Usopp!” Zoro yelled, gravelly voice making Usopp imagine twenty different ways the man could dismember him for meddling in his personal life. He looked around wildly, eyes falling on the door to the backroom. He would have to crawl fast, as he would be visible for about two feet from an opening between plants, but he could make it.
He only made it to the end of the counter before his route was interrupted by heavy black combat boots blocking his path. He followed them up until he met Zoro’s eyes, the large man staring down at him with a grumpy look on his face and his arms crossed against his chest.
Usopp whimpered, watching his life flash before his eyes as he stumbled to his feet,
“Oh! Zoro, um, hi! What could you possibly be doing here?” he asked, backing away from the other man slowly. Zoro frowned, eyes casting to the side to look out of the front window,
“I need your help,” he said, stopping Usopp in his tracks. A surprising turn of events. Zoro wasn’t there to murder him after all, but was in fact seeking his assistance again?
“I uh… kinda fucked up,” Zoro explained, “said something pretty awful right after you left ‘cause I was hurt. Curly kinda… kicked me out, and I just, I’m gonna try to apologize. Figured he’s always buying shit here so maybe I could…”
Zoro trailed off, looking at Usopp helplessly and running his hand through the back of his hair. Usopp studied him, eyes squinting as he looked at his neighbors tired complexion. He had large dark bags under his eyes and looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. There was a slight pinch to his brow that didn’t seem to go away, and his shoulders were hunched in defeat.
“Geez, you two are unbelievable,” Usopp said with a shake of his head, turning away from Zoro and looking around his shop. He glanced at the ‘make your own bouquet’ station he had, and immediately walked over to it, picking out flowers with practiced ease. In the past year Usopp had discovered that Sanji was surprisingly familiar with the meaning behind many flowers, which the tattoo artist had brushed away as second hand tattoo knowledge. It would come in handy now, even if the blonde’s coworker had no idea what the bouquet meant.
Honeysuckle, for ardent affection; Red Carnation, for longing and to serve as the eye catcher; a few sprigs of Eucalyptus for protection and devotion, and also as a filler; Lily of the Valley, atonement and rebirth as the main body of the bouquet.
Usopp wrapped the bouquet in twine and spun around to face Zoro, extending it to him with a flourish,
“I, the great Usopp, renowned florist and expert in all things to do with the heart have the perfect solution for your troubles,” he said, handing the bouquet over to his flustered neighbor. Zoro stared at it, lifting one of the Lily’s with his pointer finger and then letting it drop again.
“You think he’ll forgive me if I give him this?” he asked, looking at Usopp helplessly. Usopp laughed, shaking his head at the oblivious moron. He really was helpless, honestly.
“I think it’ll help. But you have to tell him you love him, you fool,” Zoro’s eyes doubled in size, near the same reaction Sanji had had when Usopp had confronted him weeks ago. Zoro looked around, only making Usopp laugh more at how ridiculous the two of them were. To be fair, hiding a crush for over a decade would give anyone odd habits like that.
“I don’t think I can,” Zoro finally said, eyes losing their surprise and falling back into something far less happy. Usopp shook his head, sighing and patting Zoro on the shoulder as he walked back to the front counter,
“I don’t think you can’t,” he responded simply. Zoro stared at him, eyes flashing with countless thoughts that he kept to himself, “don’t worry about paying for that, just get over there and apologize already. Think of it as my personal blessing,”
Zoro managed to quirk a smile at that, glancing down at the bundle of flowers in his hand again and then back up at Usopp. He nodded once and then turned on his heel and walked briskly out of the front door.
Usopp watched fondly as Zoro crossed the street, doing absolutely nothing to protect himself or the flowers in his hand from the pelting rain. As he approached the front door he paused, likely taking a moment to prepare himself.
Usopp prepared to turn away, knowing that whatever happened now really wasn’t any of his business, but paused when the light of the shop suddenly turned on. Sanji appeared from the back, immediately bustling around the small shop, organizing and cleaning.
Well, if the two of them just happened to figure it out in front of their store window and Usopp just happened to see…
Usopp left the back of his shop, scurrying to the front and grabbing a watering can, slowly pretending to water the plants in his front window as he watched Zoro finally gather the courage to open the front door.
Usopp ducked down enough to not be obviously in the window, avoiding Zoro’s gaze as he glanced back at the plant store before pushing through the door. Sanji didn’t look up until Zoro was already in the main room, standing stock still and dripping water onto the floor.
Zoro made some type of noise to pull the blonde’s attention. Usopp laughed as Sanji nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise from finding himself suddenly not alone. The blonde immediately started verbally berating his coworker, the venom clear in the snarl on his face as he yelled words that Usopp wouldn’t even begin to try to interpret.
Zoro took the verbal beating like a champion, standing quietly until Sanji had worn himself out, face still warped in a snarl but no longer speaking. Without a word Zoro held up the bundle of dripping flowers to the blonde, making Usopp smile as he watched Sanji completely deflate at the sudden presence of the colorful bouquet.
“C’mon,” Usopp whispered to himself, holding his breath as he waited for Zoro to say something. The two sat unmoving for a long time, Sanji’s eyes jumping between the flowers and Zoro’s face while Zoro looked constipated from panic.
Sanji said something, his face warping back to anger as he threw his hands up in the air and then waved the flowers away. Zoro remained silent much to Sanji’s annoyance, and Usopp’s disappointment, still holding the bouquet out in front of him stoically.
Sanji grew tired of his lack of words, turning around and beginning to leave much to Usopp’s horror. Zoro watched him for a second before his shoulders and his head sagged. He shook his head, mumbling something that made Sanji freeze mid-step. The blonde slowly turned around, staring at Zoro with wide eyes. His mouth seemed to open and close a few times before he finally spoke again, face slack.
Zoro looked up at him, speaking softly. The two stared at each other for a few beats of tense silence until Sanji suddenly sprinted forward, leaping at Zoro. Usopp cringed, closing one eye as he expected to watch Zoro get slammed through the front window of the store, only to be thoroughly surprised when Zoro caught the blonde with a wild grin. Sanji wrapped his legs around Zoro’s waist, said something, and then dove down to kiss Zoro square on the mouth.
Usopp’s jaw went slack in disbelief, and then he cheered, jumping from where he had been hiding and pumping a fist into the air. He ran a victory lap around his store, high-fiving plants as he ran and whooping. He did it! He had done that! They were finally together; his plan had actually worked!
Usopp paused at the front counter, glancing out at the window again with a broad grin, watching the two across the street stare into each other’s eyes, unmoving as they basked in one another.
“Look at that, guys. That’s all ‘cause of me,” Usopp said, pointing to himself with his thumb and glancing at the four plants he kept on the shelf behind his counter, “I told you guys they were head over heels for each other, just needed a push from the great love-meister captain Usopp!”
He turned back to the window, the grin on his face dropping when he was greeted with the image of Zoro holding Sanji against the front window of their shop, hurriedly tearing his shirt off and then diving back in for a kiss.
Usopp frowned, putting a hand over Mary and Chomper to protect their eyes,
“Ah, maybe I should’ve thought twice about what this would mean for us, don’t look kids,” he sighed, shaking his head and walking to the front of the store. He turned his sign from open to closed, taking the loss for the night and not wishing to see how far the two across the street were willing to take their first kiss in the middle of their store front.
The next morning the shop across the street was suspiciously quiet and dark again. Usopp rolled his eyes, going about the opening for his own store procedures. He came up with a genius, evil idea midway through his open, rushing through the rest and then grabbing the window paints and the scraper and rushing to the front window of his store.
Closing time came quickly, Usopp had gotten slammed by bulk corporate orders that he had spent the entire day organizing between customers. It wasn’t until he went to turn the open sign around that he got a chance to glance across the street. He laughed at the middle finger that had been drawn in white on a large black piece of paper and poorly taped into the window across the street. He shook his head, turning the lights in his store off and setting the alarm, walking out of the store and locking the door behind himself.
He glanced one more time at the sign across the street, and then at his own sign, laughing at his own joke before he turned around to go home.
In bold tattoo style red font, he had written ‘Plant fact 101: Some plants are best taken care of away from windows and bright light’ followed beneath by smaller font in swooping brown, ‘I’m root-ing for you!’
Usopp would have to order a few Marimo from his plant distributor as a congratulation to the happy couple.