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they are sitting cramped in their small dinghy, luffy is humming a mindless tune underneath his breath as he leans over the side to let his fingers skim the vast blue, and zoro watches him.
zoro thinks he could watch him forever, eyes half-lidded and pretending to nap as the sun beats on overhead. but he’s self aware enough to know that saying something like that would be coming on too strong too soon, so he bides his time and contents himself with just looking for now.
he’s distantly aware that the scope of his feelings should not make sense, they’ve only truly known each other for a couple weeks, after all. but with the easy way luffy climbs all over zoro when he’s feeling particularly restless, or smiles at zoro big enough to pronounce the dimple in his cheek, laughs at zoro’s dry wit as if he’s the funniest guy this side of the grand line, it feels like their time together could’ve been years. he thinks luffy might just have that effect on people.
(and he couldn’t have known it then, how right he was. the way luffy is so easily able to pull people in, grab on with sure hands and rubber fingers and never let go, never want them to leave. not that they’d want to anyway, not willingly and not without begging to come back.
(he seems to have this air about him. for as bumbling of an idiot he is and can be, he’s simultaneously the most comforting force any of them will ever know. zoro will see it in the way the crew looks to luffy with stars in their eyes, with relief in their hearts, knowing that he is there and he is theirs. and of course they are all his in the same way, each in their own way. but zoro thinks luffy has the most of him, has had all of him since the moment he declared zoro would join his crew.)
it’s pretty funny actually, looking back on it.
how he had cursed at luffy upon their first meeting, scowled and grunted out for the other boy to leave him alone, let him complete his trial in peace. how he had flat out refused to join luffy’s non-existent pirate crew, believing the guy to have a few too many screws loose in the head to be asking zoro to become a pirate, despite his—unapproved, and frankly annoying—title claiming him a hunter of the very same thing.
but luffy hadn’t taken his refusal for an answer, had smiled knowingly at zoro in a way that said the swordsman would be eating his own words soon enough, as if he knew that one way or another, they’d be sailing away together in search of adventure no matter what.
maybe zoro should be pissed that, evidently, luffy was right. maybe he should be grumbling about wounded pride and broken promises—but he finds himself content, even happy with the direction his life has now taken, simply because a boy wearing a straw hat and yielding a seemingly impossible dream decided to stick his nose into it.
no, he laughs to himself, i never stood a chance.
throughout zoro’s internal musing, luffy had, at some point, switched from simply humming the song to actually singing it out loud. terribly off-key, might he add, but jovial nonetheless. he’s not singing particularly loud though, so zoro’s soft chuckles ring clear across the space between them.
the sound catches luffy’s attention, the other boy turning his head to look back at where zoro is stretched out as far as his long body is allowed in the small boat. he’s squinting against the sun now, his dark hair framed in gold and slightly tousled by the light breeze—infamous strawhat having been removed and carefully placed to the side for safekeeping. he’s smiling that boyish smile of his, a curious one that tilts his mouth a bit lopsidedly at the corner, and zoro’s sure that if they were on solid ground right now he’d be tripping all over himself in the face of it.
here, out on the open sea, he can’t do much more than stare as his laughter chokes up and dies right in his throat.
“what’s zoro laughing at?”
“uh, it’s-“ he stops before he can finish that sentence with ‘nothing,’ because if there’s one thing he’s learned about his captain in the few weeks they've known each other, it’s that once his curiosity is peaked he will not rest or leave it alone until it’s been satiated. and knowing himself, zoro acknowledges that it would only be a matter of time before he bends to luffy’s will and tells him.
right now though, he thinks he’d rather inhale a lungful of ocean water than admit that he was thinking mushy, embarrassing, not-so-crewmate-like thoughts about his captain. he clears his throat and says the first thing that sounds believable enough,
“it’s the song you’re singing. the lyrics, i mean.”
and it’s not necessarily a lie, luffy was butchering the words to the sea shanty he’d been yodeling beyond recognition. zoro hadn’t planned to point it out, finding luffy’s spin on the song more endearing than anything, but he’d rather distract him than tell the truth.
luffy tilts his head to the side, like a curious puppy. he’s pouting now, and zoro has to glance away briefly towards the sea before them.
“what about it?”
“you’ve got the lyrics wrong, captain.”
luffy smiles absentmindedly at zoro’s use of the title—obviously pleased—and zoro smirks to himself. his tells are too easy, really.
now uninterested in whatever he’d been looking at below the surface of the water, luffy seems to make up his mind about something, smile growing, and shifts his posture accordingly. shuffling to face the swordsman fully now, rocking the small boat as he goes, luffy sits cross legged in front of zoro and clutches his bony ankles. he’s bouncing up and down in his excitement and zoro distantly fears for the wood and nails that are barely keeping them afloat.
“then teach me!”
zoro’s smirk drops.
“what?”
“you said i got the lyrics wrong, yeah? so teach me the correct ones!”
in the face of luffy’s earnest request, he thinks he may have just dug himself a deeper hole, and should’ve continued pretending he was sleeping. or something. because there is no way luffy is actually asking him to sing right now. and there's no way he's going to do it.
as if reading his mind, luffy’s grin turns mischievous.
“what? is zoro too embarrassed ‘cuz his singin’ voice is so bad?”
zoro feels his temple throb. its bait, he knows it is. unfortunately, luffy always seems to know exactly what to say to make zoro want to respond.
he huffs a breath and answers, “it’s not bad, i just don’t-“
“so then sing!” luffy interrupts. zoro clenches his jaw.
“i was saying. i just don’t want to sing.”
“huh? why not?” he’s pouting again now, and gods that look is brutal. bad for zoro’s health. zoro has always prided himself on his unwavering will, but he's come to discover that in the face of luffy’s jutted lower lip, his resistance crumbles and falls right through his fingers like sand.
“i just- i just don't feel like it, okay?” he mentally scolds himself for the stutter. luffy will no doubt latch onto that, having been able to read him like a book since day one.
just as he predicted, luffy gets this glint in his eye that only appears when he knows he’s closing in on victory. in a move of either boldness or stupidity, he leans forward and grabs onto zoro’s closest arm with both hands, tugging it incessantly as he whines.
“come ooooonnn, it’ll be fun! i promise!” luffy begins, and zoro must be suffering from heat-induced delusions, because the other boy’s eyes seem to get bigger and rounder the more he talks. “we’re pirates and pirates sing all the time! it's the rules!”
oh, he’s weak.
“luffy-“
“zoro!”
“Luffy!”
he tries to force as much finality into that one word as possible, but he can tell luffy knows he’s already won this particular debate. and his final exclaim seals the deal,
“PLEASE!”
zoro inhales sharply. he’s so very weak.
goddamnit, he thinks.
“fine.” is all that comes out.
luffy finally releases his arm in favor of pumping his fists above his head as he whoops and cheers, and zoro finds himself skating his fingers softly over the place where luffy’s had just left. maybe he’s crazy, but the spot still feels warm.
he’s probably crazy.
“all right, settle down,” he groans. determined to let his captain know that while he’ll do what he’s been asked, he won’t be happy about it. “and listen carefully, got it? i'm not gonna sing it again ‘cuz your ass was too busy daydreamin’ about barbecue platters or some shit.”
at the mention of meat, he can practically see luffy’s mind start to wander.
“OI!” he snaps his fingers in front of the boy’s face.
luffy starts, then smiles sheepishly, “sorry zoro!” he giggles, clearly unhurried and unbothered. he makes everything feel that way, easy and loose.
zoro thinks he's never met anyone who embodies the concept of freedom quite like his captain does. he doesn't think anyone else could. luffy is addicting in his sincerity, and zoro wants to drink it down like his favorite brand of booze.
“whatever,” he says. there’s no point in getting mad, he wouldn't be able to for long, anyway. luffy makes that nearly impossible.
“now listen,” he continues, “it goes like this,”
he takes a deep breath, enough to fill his lungs with the breeze and the sea and luffy’s attention-rapt grin,
and he sings.