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Zoro knew that sometimes, he came across as uncaring about anything aside from his dream, aside from sake, but that wasn’t the only thing he did think about.
He thought about what would be best for his Captain, for his crew and he thought about the best way he could achieve being able to protect them.
Zoro knew that it was hard for people to think about him doing that for others, due to his blunt nature and habit of getting embarrassed when called out in front of others, but that didn’t matter to him.
What mattered was that his crew knew about his true intentions. And that included his boyfriend when they would go places.
He knew when they landed at an island that was having a festival that Usopp wanted to go with him, but he didn’t let the younger pirate think if he would go or not, not outright telling him if he would actually participate or not, but that left the option open for if he had time after he scoped the place out and made sure it was safe, even if they all knew they could handle anything that came their way.
Zoro wouldn’t lapse on his duties as Vice Captain just in case something did happen, he wanted it to be because they were good at hiding and not the fact that something actually slipped from his sights.
But when he finished his scouting early, the green haired swordsman thought it would be a good time to go look for Usopp and spend the rest of the evening with him, enjoying the festival like his lover wanted.
⸻
Zoro grinned as Usopp looped an arm around his own, dragging him forward and further into the lights and happy atmosphere of the festival, looking at all the stalls around them. “I’m so glad you decided to actually come and join us today, Zoro.”
“Of course, I told you earlier, I might’ve had something to do during the beginning, but I would try to make it if possible.” He snorted, leaning towards one of the stalls and looking at the sake they had on display. “Oi, how much for a barrel of that sake? Looks good.”
As the vendor turned to get one of the barrels, Zoro’s eye caught sight of Usopp looking over at one of the prize stalls. “Want to try that one next?”
“I’d feel like a cheater, haha.” The long nosed sniper chuckled, rubbing the back of his head bashfully. “It’s a shooting game.”
“You know those things are rigged anyway, right?” gruffed Zoro, using the grip he had on Usopp’s hand to drag him over to the stall, his barrel of paid for booze over his other shoulder. “Hey! He wants to play this!”
The stall owner grinned and Zoro sneered at the sleazy look of it, as if the man knew they were going to fail before someone started. “Sure!” He reached for the toy rifle that was by his side, but paused when Usopp shook his head.
“Do you mind if I use this?” The curly haired sniper held up a familiar looking slingshot, aged and well loved from use in one hand and a couple of pebbles from the floor in his other.
“Hehe, sure.” The man chuckled, leaning back and gesturing to the collection of targets. “Break any one of them down and you get a prize.”
“Let’s up the stakes, old man.” Zoro leaned closer, his own grin coming to his face. “If he knocks down all the targets, he gets all the prizes he wants. If he misses even one, you get my booze.”
The man blinked, grinning widely right afterwards. “Sure, what the hell? It’s a festival after all!”
Zoro leaned back and watched as Usopp took the same stance that he’d seen him use in battle, goggles settled over his eyes securely. The younger pirate stuck his tongue out, pulling back his first shot and then…
Woosh, crack! The first target fell and Zoro knew for a fact that the man was just as confused, seeing as he moved closer to check it.
Usopp waited until the vendor settled back with wide eyes, before loading up again.
Woosh, crack! Two.
Woosh, crack! Three.
Woosh, crack! Four.
Zoro’s grin stayed in place as one after another, the target’s fell, before soon enough all twelve had fallen and there were none in place.
“How the hell did you do that?!” The vendor screamed, as the crowd that had gathered cheered. “You only had some pebbles and a slingshot! You shouldn’t have been able to-!”
“Break them down, since your foot was heavy on the pedal that would keep them up, right?” A young man called out from the crowd as others nodded in agreement.
The vendor paled, before looking back at Zoro and Usopp, who shrugged, having nothing to say to his defense. “Ahem, I mean…what would you like?”
“Oh, nothing for myself.” Usopp chuckled as some of the kids gathered around him with wide eyes. “Let them choose first. After all, I saw them upset over losing this game earlier.”
The man spluttered again, but when Zoro’s glare turned to steel, he sighed and conceded, head dropping forward in defeat as he allowed the kids to run forward and begin picking prizes one by one, until they had everything they wanted.
Soon enough, all the children had picked something and moved on to leave Usopp the chance to pick his own prizes. Zoro wholeheartedly believed that Usopp was going to go for something flashy, only for him to pick a large decorative looking mug and turn around to proudly present it to his boyfriend, who blinked, before smirking and pressing a soft kiss to his forehead as they began to walk away.
“Thanks, Usopp,” Zoro placed another kiss to the top of Usopp’s head. “I didn’t even know you still had that old slingshot.”
“Never could part with the one gift my father sent me, even if I…hate him.” whispered the sniper, a melancholic look on his face as they continued to walk. “But, it’s always been reliable and if I used the Kabuto, it definitely would’ve been cheating, which wasn’t any better than him.”
“Yeah, watching you humiliate him with a slingshot and some pebbles was pretty awesome.” snorted Zoro, arm wrapped fondly and tightly around Usopp’s waist. “Now, we have more sightseeing to do before the end of the night.”
“Not a waste of time coming here, instead of staying back and sleeping on the ship?”
“Definitely.” Zoro stole a kiss on the lips as they swept by another large group of people. “Besides, any time I spend with you is well spent.”
Usopp spluttered, but said nothing as they continued to enjoy the night together.