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Zoro is in the middle of musing about how strong his captain must have grown in the past few years, two drinks deep in Shakky's bar when Rayleigh cuts him off with a laugh. The Dark King tilts his head back as the sound flows from his lips with fond amusement, making Zoro frown. He hadn't said anything even remotely comical, but when Rayleigh fixes his gaze on him again, his eyes are shining.
"You're the first mate, aren't you?" Rayleigh asks with a weight behind his words that makes Zoro think the question goes beyond that of just status in the crew.
Shakky lets out a huff and takes another drag of her cigarette from behind the bar, something knowing in her expression. Zoro frowns as his gaze flits between the two of them suspiciously. He lifts his drink to his lips and take a swig before answering.
"We don't have a first mate, but I guess I'm the closest to being called that," he replies honestly even as he keeps his tone guarded.
"So, you're the one with the curse, huh?" Shakky asks without missing a beat, but it sounds more like a statement than a question.
Zoro's gaze snaps to Shakky, eye narrowing in a frown at the foreboding in those words. He's not scared of a curse, especially not with a Kitetsu on his hip, but this is the first time he's hearing about it.
"Curse?" he questions suspiciously and Shakky nods while Rayleigh just grins at him.
"You talk about your captain the way Ray used to talk about his," Shakky comments, giving him a look like this is her first time truly seeing him.
The way he talks about his captain? Zoro doesn't know what the two of them hear in his voice when it comes to Luffy or how it could relate to a curse. He tries not to worry too much, but the possibilities for curses in this world are endless. Something that would threaten the safety on the crew? Something that could spell an early end of Luffy's days, like so many great names before him?
"You say that like half the seas didn't talk about him with wonder," Rayleigh replies.
"Not in the same way you did," Shakky shoots back, gaze shifting to her husband accusatorially.
Shakky takes another drag from her cigarette before crossing her arms over her chest while Rayleigh ducks his head and chuckles. This time the sound is softer and a bit wistful compared to the bright peals of laughter from before.
"I must admit you're right on that account," Rayleigh acquiesces with a smile in his voice as he lifts his own drink to his lips.
"I don't know what the hell you two are talking about," Zoro admits, a frown still planted firmly on his features.
Rayleigh turns his gaze to him, giving him a curious look as he appraises him.
"The straw hat's curse," Rayleigh explains cryptically. "Surely you know about it."
Zoro's frown just deepens as confusion pinches his features. He's never heard tell of any sort of curse associated with Luffy's signature hat. Then again, they do happen to leave a trail of destruction and discourse in their wake wherever they sail. His lack of understanding must be clear as day on his face because surprise crosses Shakky's and she leans across the bar towards him.
"Monkey didn't tell you?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure even the kid knows about it," Rayleigh comments before Zoro can respond. "I wouldn't put it past Shanks to forget to explain that when he handed it on."
Luffy tends to leave out a lot of details when he speaks and from what Zoro has heard about the red-haired emperor, there's more than a few things he's failed to tell Luffy. Zoro wouldn't put it past either of them to forget something as potentially important as this.
"Mind filling me in?" Zoro asks, eye shifting between the two of them.
"It's your curse as well," Shakky says to Rayleigh, and with a flourish of her hand adds, "why don't you tell him, Ray."
Rayleigh lets out another huff of laughter but doesn't reply at first. He lifts his glass to his lips and throws back the rest of his drink in one gulp. There's a small clink as it comes to rest back on the counter of the bar and then a beat of silence falls over the room.
After a moment, the Dark King speaks. "The first mate of any man who wears that hat is cursed to fall in love with him."
Zoro takes a moment to process that information; gaze fixed on Rayleigh who is staring into his empty glass with a forlorn expression on his face. He waits to see if the former first mate of the king of the pirates has anything else to say about this so-called curse, but nothing new comes.
"That's it?" Zoro asks, a bit incredulous as he drums his fingers on the counter.
Rayleigh's gaze snaps over to him in surprise, and Shakky just laughs into her fist as she turns away. Betrayal, death, sickness, loss… There are so many things that could stand in the way of them reaching Laugh Tale and everyone—Luffy in particular—achieving their dreams. Something as straightforward as love doesn't feel like a threat. Especially not when it's a love he's been aware of for years now.
"What do you mean 'that's it'? That's the curse," Rayleigh explains, seemingly caught off-guard for the perhaps the first time since Zoro met the guy.
"I thought it was going to be something dangerous or some sort of problem," Zoro explains with a shrug before crossing his arms across his chest and tilting his head slightly. "Not just being in love with my captain."
"So, you are in love with Monkey, then?" Shakky questions with a knowing smile.
"Sure," is all Zoro says in reply as another shrug rolls off his shoulders.
It's the first time he's ever admitted it aloud, but he's sure that it must be obvious. His devotion to the man he follows is plain as day and it colors his every action. Even when he fell to his knees before Mihawk and begged for his training, it was Luffy stuck in his sights. He still strives to become the best and honor his promise to Kuina, but in the end can he truly call himself the world's greatest if he's not at the right hand of the king of the pirates?
"You don't seem too concerned about the curse," Rayleigh comments, reaching for a new glass of booze that Shakky pours him.
Falling in love with his captain is something that happened gradually and almost without him realizing. By the time his emotions crept up on him, it was too late and he was caught in Luffy's grasp. One moment he was swearing he would cut the man down if he ever stood between him and his dream, and the next he was kneeling before Kuma, begging to die in his captain's place. It's been two years since then and nothing has changed. Given the chance he would give his head in place of Luffy's again and again.
Maybe the curse should make him second guess things. Maybe it should shine a new light on his feelings and make him re-examine them. Maybe it should make them feel less genuine. But it doesn't. The burning in his chest feels just as vibrant and unwavering as it always has. Perhaps he's cursed to be stuck in Luffy's gravity forever, but the idea of orbiting a man as bright and shining as the sun doesn't seem like much of a curse.
He thinks back to the first time he met the future king of the pirates, half dead as he starved in some marine yard in the East Blue. He remembers a bright smile, an unwavering confidence, and a hat that shone almost golden like a crown around the head of a boy with eyes so innocent yet so piercing. He remembers a heart worn on a sleeve that made his own beat a bit faster in his chest. If he really is the victim of some curse borne onto all first mates of the straw hat, it shouldn't have found its grip on him until after he had accepted the position, right? Hadn't this tug through his chest towards this pirate born of light and freedom existed before the dark strings of fate managed to wind their way around him?
A hum reverberates in Zoro's chest as he takes a sip of his drink and muses over Rayleigh's words. Concerned? Why would be concerned? Because the mysterious power of some hat has cursed him to love someone he would have loved regardless? Curse or no curse, he was bound to end up here. He can no longer imagine a version of him that doesn't love Luffy with everything that he is.
"Curses have never really scared me," he replies, a smile curving onto his lips. "Besides, this one doesn't sound so bad."