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After Sanji went back to the surface, the house always seemed a little dimmer, a little bleaker, and the tasks duller. Nevertheless, Zoro sat at his desk, a mountain of scrolls next to him while the shades waited patiently in line for his judgment. It was a day like any other. Ace joked with Sabo a few feet away, and he couldn’t bring himself to scold either of them. At least when he was joking with his brother, Ace wasn’t asleep. Sabo had just brought in the shade of an old man who’d died peacefully in his sleep, and Ace was dutifully checking the shades’ records on his scroll while joking. There was nothing to complain about.
Or so he thought.
The first sign of trouble was the padding of soft feet on his polished marble floors. The second was the clacking of heels. Zoro didn’t even have to look up to know what was coming, and pinched his nose to keep his temper in check. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ace and Sabo retreating behind a folding screen to keep out of the coming storm.
The Newfoundland came around the corner first, inspecting every corner and dutifully taxing the waiting shades. He disappeared behind the folding screen to sniff Ace and Sabo just as Perona rounded corner. She looked like she always did. A black hat on her pink hair, some frilly skirt Zoro did not understand the appeal of, heels so high the only other person who would dare wearing them was Nami, and a bag full of herbs at her hip.
Perona didn’t stop in front of the desk. No. She came right around and peered over Zoro’s shoulder like she belonged here. Sometimes, he hated all these liminal gods and goddesses - Perona, Usopp, Nami - who came to the underworld unbidden and unannounced, only to distract him from his work. At least she hadn’t come while Sanji was still here. Perona snapped her fingers. “Hecuba!”
The huge dog pelted out behind the folding screen, bowling it over and exposing Ace and Sabo, and then crashed into the desk, scattering scrolls everywhere.
With Perona, he never knew what he would get. Depending on her mood, she brought a different animal familiar with her. Zoro had lost count, but the most frequent ones were Hecuba, the huge bear-like dog, and Gale, some kind of weasel that rivaled Nami in stealing prowess. If Hecuba came along, Perona was usually not in her best mood, needing comfort and something to cuddle.
Zoro did not have time for this. “What do you want?” He gestured towards some of the house shades who started gathering the scrolls from the floor.
Perona sat on his desk and crossed her legs. “I saw Sanji in Erebus,” she commented, casual.
Zoro took one of the scrolls and pretend he was reading it while in truth he was going over the first line repeatedly. He did not need to talk about Sanji. He did not want to talk about Sanji. It would be months until Sanji came back. It was bad enough.
“Figured you’d be in a bad mood,” Perona continued as if he’d said anything. Seeing how she wandered in and out of the underworld whenever she wanted, Perona knew everything there was to know about Sanji’s situation. Sometimes, she came by while Sanji was there and the two of them would drink tea, or stand together over a cauldron as if Sanji was a witch, too. Contrary to Zoro, Perona could see Sanji when he was on the surface, too, and wasn’t that just wrong?
“I heard he gifted you a dog,” Perona said as if that would elicit a response from Zoro.
Zoro put down the scroll and finally looked at Perona. Hecuba was sitting at her side while Perona absentmindedly scratched the dog’s head and surveyed the house as if she hadn’t seen it before. He sighed. “What do you want?”
“You have a dog, I have a dog,” Perona chimed. “Let’s get our dogs to the Fields so they can play.”
Zoro looked down at Hecuba. She was a big dog, more bear than dog. Cerberus on the other hand was a huge dog. With three heads. He would eat Hecuba for breakfast if they weren’t careful. Perona probably hadn’t seen Cerberus yet. Zoro could imagine her conversation with Sanji on his way out, his husband gushing about Cerberus as if he were a lapdog. A smirk settled onto Zoro’s face as he looked back up at Perona. It would make his miserable, Sanji-less day to see her face when she realised what kind of dog Cerberus really was.
“I’ll get Cerberus and meet you at the Fields.”