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It was late when Nami entered the kitchen. She’d been working on a map and one moment the sun had been setting and the next it was pitch black. It was easy to get carried away now that she could choose when she wanted to make something and pick what she made. At some point she was sure Sanji had come in to wish her goodnight and gently remind her that it was getting late but the was hours ago. Now, everyone was either asleep or on watch.
Well, maybe not everyone.
As she entered the kitchen, intent on returning the empty tea cup to the sink before going to bed, there was Zoro. He sat opposite the door, the table in front of him filled with bottles and various sized glasses. He’d clearly been there a while.
He nodded as she entered and she raised an eyebrow, eyes glossing over the mess in a silent question. “Does Sanji know about this?”
He ignored her question, instead selecting two shot glasses. “Another round?”
Both glasses were filled before she could answer but, then again, she never had turned down a drink before.
“What, you want us to know each other’s star signs and favourite colour?” She snarked, sitting on the bench.
He eyed her critically. “Orange.”
She blinked at him. “What?”
“Your favourite colour. It’s orange.”
“That’s an easy guess.”
“You’re welcome then,” he said, nudging the shot glass towards her.
She rolled her eyes, downing the shot and relishing the burn at the back of her throat.
They hadn’t had the chance to play since Baratie. It’d all gone so wrong so quickly afterwards; his fight with Mihawk, Arlong, her leaving. And when they did get a moment where someone wasn’t trying to hunt them down, the others were around, namely Sanji. So it normally resulted in an argument or Sanji monopolising her attention. When they did manage to get snippets of time when it was just the two of them, they snarked back and forth and surprisingly, she found herself enjoying her limited talks with him. He seemed too as well.
Which was why she wasn’t against this. With more people joining the crew, they didn’t get to spend much time together anymore and she’d deny it if asked, but a small part of her missed it. Although stressful, their little rag tag trio with her and Zoro being the realistic pinch of reality to Luffy’s free spirit had been fun.
Especially if she could test his drinking limits. She’d seen him drink his fair share but she’d never seen him drunk. It could make good blackmail material if she did manage to get him drunk.
“Your favourite colour is green.”
“Original,” he deadpanned.
“So it’s not?”
He didn’t think about it long before responding, “It’s okay, I don’t know if it’s my favourite.”
“Do you even have a favourite?” He didn’t seem like the sort when she gave it some thought.
“Not really.”
“Well your hair’s green, so drink.”
“How’s that relevant?”
“Roronoa Zoro,” she started in mock surprise, hand held to her chest, “are you refusing a drink for the first time since I’ve met you?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then you’re welcome,” she parroted his words from earlier, nudging the shot glass towards him and he smirked, shooting the drink back.
They went back and forth after that, firing off statements and bantering in between. They’d been taking it in turns to get up to procure more alcohol and Sanji would be angry in the morning when he saw the depleted stash. Although he’d forgive her instantly at least, so she wasn’t worried, it’d be every man for themselves.
Neither of them showed any sign of slowing and she was starting to get the impression he didn’t have a limit. Which was fine with her to be honest, she was having a lot of fun and didn’t want to stop anytime soon, despite the late hour.
It was nice to be so carefree and a breath of fresh air to see Zoro so relaxed. He spent a lot of time looking serious but he was smiling, laughing and didn’t look to have a care in the world. It was a shame she didn’t see it more often.
It was her turn next and she didn’t know if it was the alcohol or because she was getting too comfortable but she dared to state, “The white sword, it has a sentimental value to you.”
Which could be considered cheating, it was obvious to everyone - no one protected something so dearly for no reason at all.
But the moment the words were out, the mood fell flat and they descended into silence – she’d messed up. He was hardly a talker at the best of times, but this was stilted and the previously jovial atmosphere turned heavy. She wished she could take the words back. He was going to leave; it was obvious. Before he’d been relaxed, posture comfortable and now he was tense and wouldn’t look at her. Selfishly, she tried to ignore the hurt that maybe he still didn’t trust her but this wasn’t about her.
Except he surprised her a moment later as he downed the shot quickly, head thrown back and glass thumping on the table, cutting through the atmosphere.
“Kuina. It was her sword. She was my only friend.” It was short and to the point, facts only, but he’d answered nevertheless.
And that was enough information for her, she could piece the rest together from there. It was hardly a mystery; it had been her sword and now Zoro carried it. Even though she didn’t have much to go on, his insistence on fighting Mihawk was starting to make sense. She couldn’t be absolutely sure, but she suspected his sword had something to do with it. She had the creeping suspicion that she’d put her foot in her mouth previously when she’d told him he’d lose. If someone had told her collecting the money was impossible and tried to stop her, she wouldn’t have been so reasonable.
As if sensing her change in mood he teasingly asked, “Would madam care for another shot? Or is madam getting tired? Would madam like to return to her quarters?” His voice dripped with playful sarcasm.
“Careful Zoro, you almost sound jealous,” voice light as she grinned at him.
She’d meant it as a joke, something to wind him up and tease him about but when he snorted derisively it caught her attention.
The way he did it…
“Oh my god, you’re jealous of Sanji!”
“I don’t get jealous,” he replied too quickly, almost like he was expecting it.
A bold-faced lie.
“Okay, so you’re annoyed?” She rephrased, putting quotation marks around ‘annoyed’ with her hands and ignored his glower.
“You don’t like Sanji,” she guessed again, trying to keep the question out of her tone.
“He’s annoying.” He shrugged, like that explained it and she didn’t know if it was because he was agreeing with her or that he didn’t feel that strongly.
“Because he’s so confident?”
Unwilling to explain any further, he shrugged, “Close enough,” and then downed the shot.
Although she didn’t get a straight answer, she was content enough for now until his glass clinked back on the table and her eyebrows furrowed.
Half of it was still left.
Looking from the half-filled glass to him, the question slipped out of her mouth, “Why?”
“The game is for you to guess. You’re meant to be the all-seeing eye, remember?”
The problem was that in that moment she couldn’t read him. He had a certain wariness to him that she couldn’t pin but he was trying to hide it beneath nonchalance. She narrowed her eyes, unwilling to be bested and thought about the crew since Sanji joined.
“Because he’s so friendly with Luffy?”
Zoro and Luffy were close, it was obvious to everyone and Sanji had very quickly found his feet. Also, with his cooking skills, Luffy had started becoming Sanji’s shadow.
The shot remained half full.
“Come on Nami, I thought you were smarter than this.”
All she could think of was the way Sanji managed to get under his skin, but he’d already conceded that Sanji was annoying. She tried to wrack her brain for anything else that had changed and the only other thing that came to mind was that with Sanji now aboard, he spent a lot of time with her. He was a natural flirt and with her being the only woman on deck, it made a lot of sense. Outside of that though, they did get along. Sanji was easy to talk to and sometimes it was nice to work on her maps in the kitchen, when they didn’t require too much concentration, the background noise was relaxing. And with that in mind, Zoro’s initial reaction to her calling him jealous might be starting to make sense.
“Me?” It came out as a whisper, partly because if she was wrong, she wasn’t sure how she would recover.
He didn’t reply but downing the rest of the shot was answer enough.
“I- What?” She couldn’t think of anything else to say, her mind had gone blank.
“I’m not doing all the work,” he retorted, half confident and the other half cautious. He was still unsure of himself.
Her stubbornness flared up, wanting to dig her feet in at his challenge but she had to give him credit that he was trying to meet her halfway - even if it was a poor attempt in her books.
Which was why she threw out a lifeline, “You don’t have anything to worry about.”
It felt like they were both walking a tightrope, both of them balancing and afraid to fall off. But someone had to take the leap, they could only go in circles for so long.
“Yeah?”
She had no idea when they’d got so close, but from sitting on either end of the bench, they were now side by side. Each time one of them had got up, they sat just that little bit closer and a first it made sense so they could easily pour and share drinks, but now with his arm stretched out on the bench behind her, it didn’t seem like convenience. It was too intimate and this was getting a bit too close to the bone, yet she couldn’t pull away.
If she were being honest with herself, she didn’t really want to.
But she wasn’t one to fold first.
“I’m not doing all the work Zoro. You’re meant to be the expert on friendships after all.”
“I’ve had one friend!”
“One more than me, remember?”
“You know, we could, maybe…” He trailed off, jaw clenching as if frustrated with himself. But it was enough for her to figure out the rest.
“Wow, big day,” she drawled, “Three friends and a maybe.”
Even with so little, her stomach was in knots. Although she was trying to lighten to the mood, she knew what was being offered and from Zoro of all people. She’d seen him watching her previously, she wasn’t oblivious, but before she’d thought it was because he didn’t trust her (which he had been right to), now she realised it wasn’t solely that.
She would never have bet on this happening when they met but now, after everything, it made sense. They seemed to get one another, enjoyed spending time together and there was no point denying it, even to herself, that she found him attractive.
He was watching her carefully, not biting to her sarcastic remark and she realised he was waiting her out, unwilling to put himself out there any further than he already had.
He was outside of his comfort zone.
“Okay, maybe,” she agreed, breaking the silence between them.
She had no idea what things would look like between them now but they’d already covered so much new ground in such a short amount of time, so-
“Drink,” they said in unison, laughing lightly before downing the shot.
When their glasses hit the table, the tension still lingered between them and it felt like her stomach jumped into her throat when he looked down to her lips. She’d be a fool not to know what that meant and she found herself reciprocating the look. His lips looked surprisingly soft for someone who regularly carried a sword in his mouth.
She wasn’t sure who leant in first, she suspected it was a mixture of both because all too soon, they were a breath width apart, eyes half lidded and when their lips met, their eyes closed on instinct.
It was a cautious kiss, both of them hesitant like they were waiting for the other to react badly but when neither did, they sank into it. His arm was still around the back of the bench but his free hand settled low on her waist and she was surprised by how much she liked it. One of her hands came up to cup under his jaw, to lead the kiss and it was the right move when he titled his head and the kiss deepened.
All too soon they were pulling apart, sharing a breathy laugh when they looked at each other as the reality on what they’d just done settled in.
She would never have put money on her evening ending like this.
“That was weird,” she said, because it felt too silent and what did people say after kissing?
He didn’t pull away but his eyebrows drew. “Good weird or bad weird?”
She hadn’t considered that but her gut told her it wasn’t bad.
“Something I could get used to weird,” she confessed, feeling exposed despite the fact they’d just kissed.
His small smile afterwards soothed that feeling though, he looked relieved and she realised they were in the same boat. This was new territory for them both.
“Your turn,” he said, clearing his throat and pouring two shots with his free hand.
Trying to find some normality and maybe get a rise out of him, she stated-
“You’ve never had a maybe.”
She couldn’t hide her grin as he bristled, it was the most animated she’d seen him and she couldn’t wait to do it again.
“Neither have you,” he retorted.
Although she’d tried to lighten the mood, she couldn’t stop her eyes dropping towards the white katana as curiosity took over. “Even-” she trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence.
“It wasn’t like that.”
Oddly, she felt flattered.
There was a beat of silence and then they nodded at one another, “Drink,” they both said again in unison.
They still had a lot to talk about but that wasn’t pressing as they continued their game, downing shots and bantering, except now, she was tucked under his arm on purpose as they drank with the occasional lingering kiss managing to find its way in.
Definitely something she could get used to.