Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He was lost once again, his crew had stopped at an island for supplies, Usopp was meant to make sure he didn’t wander off, but a store caught his eye, he walked away for just a moment, and then when he looked around he wasn’t able to find Usopp, so he walked and walked hoping to see anyone from his crew but instead he saw him. 

Moving through the street at high speed, his long blonde hair waving behind him, he was running after a man, until… With a blink he disappeared and reappeared in the air, launching one of his legs in front of him and kicking the man into the ground. With a firm hold on his back he sat on top of him and put a knife to his neck, a kukri, still after 2 years he found them an interesting weapon. Zoro couldn't help but grin, he recognized the marine, it was easy to see that he had gotten stronger and it was a sight to see. 

His blond locks fell around his face as he leaned down to start talking “Give me back the girl’s money and I’ll make sure you don’t get in trouble with the Marines, how does that sound?” The man he was sitting on desperately nodded “Good” the marine said as he removed his knife from his throat, the man searched his pockets and held a wallet, 

“Here! Please! I don’t want any trouble” It sounded like it was just a teenager, not older than 18.

“Hm that’s what I thought” The blonde took the wallet and as the teen got up, the marine quickly held both of his wrists “Oh not so fast, I said I wouldn’t get you in trouble with the Marines, but.. I’m not just letting you go around as if nothing happened, you have to learn your lesson, especially if you are stealing from little kids. I’ll be taking you to the sheriff” The teen sighed and looked at his shoes.

“Fine..” They both walked away, the marine still holding both of the teen’s wrists together.

Zoro thought that would be it, so he turned around and began looking for his crew again, he walked for a while and there he was again, kneeling on the floor, giving a little girl the wallet he had taken from the teen.

“Here you g-” He was interrupted by the little girl’s arms around him, his body stiffened as she hugged him. “Thank you, Mr. marine! Thank you! Thank you!” The marine gave her an awkward pat on the back.

 “Helmeppo, Lieutenant Commander Helmeppo, and.. you’re welcome” Helmeppo! That was his name, all Zoro could think was Helpmepoo, he was surprised he even remembered him in the first place, but well after all, Koby left off a strong impression in Water 7, him too? But well that was just by association.

“Thank you so much Helmeppo!” She said as she pulled away from the hug “You were so cool! You ran after him like phewsh! And then all of the sudden you went into the air and kicked him like kapow!” Helmeppo replied with a nod while he fixed his visor as if that would hide the fact that his cheeks had reddened, Zoro grinned as he observed the scene play out, looks like the marine couldn’t take compliments.

“Hm well it took me a lot of training to be able to do that, and I still have much more to learn, but erm.. thank you..?” The girl smiled and told him her name “Ginny!”

“Hm well thank you, Ginny” He added now that he knew her name “And what is it that you wanted to buy at the market?”

“My dad gave me money for a caramel apple!”

“Alright, I will buy it for you, where is the stand?” The girl’s eyes sparkled with joy, she took the marine’s hand and took him to the stand, he took out his own wallet, asked for a caramel apple, and handed it to the girl.

“Well Ginny, now that I’ve dealt with this, I’m afraid I must leave” The girl seemed sad “Oh okay.. goodbye Helmeppo!” She waved as the marine began to walk away. Ok well now he was surprised, seeing this after what happened in Shells Town.. He was like a different person, he hadn’t left that impression back in Water 7, honestly he still seemed like an asshole to him.

The marine kept walking and all of the sudden Zoro noticed that he was going his way, oh he was not expecting that ok, yeah okay. Their shoulders bumped “Excuse me si-” Helmeppo recognized him, he practically jumped after doing so, he quickly grabbed his knives “RORONOA?!” The blonde exclaimed, “What are you doing here?!” He dropped the serious vibe he had had the entire time Zoro had watched him, it was almost comical “Yeah, that’s me, and I’m here with my crew, I just can’t find them” Zoro looked down at Helmeppo’s kukris “Are you planning on actually using those, or will you just point them at me?”

“You are a pirate, I’m a marine, I have to at least try to stop you” He pointed one of his knives at Zoro’s face “If you really wanted to do that you would have attacked me already, you don’t want to fight do you?” The green-haired man asked with a smirk, Helmeppo sighed in response.

“Alright.. alright… yeah yeah you got me. Ugh I’m meant to be out of duty..” He said it with such a tired tone “And, even if I don’t really like to admit it, I.. I think I could spend my time dealing with criminals that are actually doing shit, I don’t think that you are a threat to the people of this island” The pirate raised both eyebrows.

“Is that so?” In response the marine put both knives in his scabbard, Zoro grinned once again “Surprising”

“I’m a man full of surprises” He said it with an almost sarcastic tone that Zoro wasn’t able to figure out, but generally, he just sounded tired and annoyed “You seem like you need a drink, you said you’re out of duty right?” The marine raised an eyebrow and slid up his visor revealing his eyes.

“It’s 4 pm, you can’t expect me to just go out for a drink!” Zoro put an arm around his shoulders, Helmeppo’s whole body stiffened, like when the girl hugged him, the pirate didn’t notice but his cheeks went red as well.  Zoro let loose of the blonde a little and started walking, pushing Helmeppo and making him walk with him.

“I’ve never heard of a bar that’s only open at night, come on let’s get you a drink, you need it” Helmeppo sighed in defeat, he knew that he didn’t really have an option, and it wasn’t a good idea to get on Zoro’s bad side.

“Do I look that horrible..” Zoro nodded “You look like you’ve been stressed” Helmeppo sighed once again “Because I have been..” He replied quietly. Zoro let go of Helmeppo now that he was sure he was coming by choice.

“And now we’ll do something about it goldilocks” The nickname took him a little by surprise, Helmeppo thought that Zoro might have very likely forgotten his name “My name is Helmeppo” He made sure to tell him “I know” Zoro replied, now the blonde was taken by surprise, Zoro had done that on purpose huh? He smiled slightly to himself and kept quiet for a little until a question came up.

“So.. Zoro you said that you are lost. Do you even know where we are going?” Zoro nodded “Wherever there’s alcohol, I’m able to get there, I’m trying to find us a place with fancy stuff a rich boy like you would like” Helmeppo rolled his eyes “I’m not a quote-on-quote rich boy anymore, I have a job now as you can see, and one that doesn’t pay me enough for what I do, also I’m pretty sure that I am older than you” 

“How old are you?” The pirate asked “22” Tch he was right.. he didn’t like the fact that Helmeppo was both taller AND older than him “Well I’m 21 so not that much older” Helmeppo smiled playfully “Still older than you” Zoro grunted slightly.

“Alright, whatever you say goldilocks, I meant that you probably like stuff like wine or champagne” 

“Oh” He nodded “Yes that would be correct” Zoro eyed him “What?”

“Nothing” He replied, Helmeppo decided to ignore him. They kept walking in silence until they got to the bar “Look, told you I could get us to a bar” 

“Hm yesI can tell you weren’t lying” Zoro smirked and raised an eyebrow “Surprised?” He asked “Only a little” 

“Good enough for me” Helmeppo rolled his eyes “After you” Zoro held the door open for Helmeppo, now THAT did surprise him.

“Oh wow, who would have thought that you could have manners?” Zoro frowned and closed the door in the blonde’s face “?!!?!? ASSHOLE!” He had it coming, but it didn't stop him from complaining. 

“You damn Roronoa” He said as he entered the bar and noticed Zoro had already found them a table, he signaled, with a hand movement, for Helmeppo to sit with him.

As he sat down he looked around the place, it was basically empty, but it was pretty nice. He took off his coat and hat and put them behind his chair  “Do you have money on you?” Zoro answered with an eye roll and a nod. “Good, I just didn’t know if you intended for me to pay for you” Zoro rolled his eye once again.

“I invited you here, of course I’m not making you pay, I’m no Luffy” Helmeppo chuckled “Right... Sorry, I just don’t really know you, I guess I assume that you are a certain way, and well…”

“I’m a pirate?” Zoro finished Helmeppo’s sentence, he nodded. “Oh wow I thought you said I was one of the good ones” Helmeppo rolled his eyes.

“Don’t put words in my mouth! I never said that.. because uhm no pirate is- Ugh not even I believe that, yeah yeah you are one of the good ones, or whatever” Zoro smiled victoriously.

“Well if it makes you feel better, I used to think you were an annoying egocentric daddy’s boy” Helmeppo’s expression changed drastically, he was already ready to defend himself “Buuut” Zoro kept talking “You’ve changed, a lot, in a good way” He was also waaay more good looking and now that he got to see him up close, sitting face to face… The long hair really suited him, made him look a little more mature even, and It wasn’t just the pretty hair, he looked like a mess right now (would ask him about that later) but he still managed to look.. Elegant? He isn’t exactly conventionally attractive, most people don’t like the butt chin, but Zoro thought he was handsome. 

The pirate ended up getting lost in thought and heard nothing of what Helmeppo said to him “Zoro?” 

“Sorry, was thinking about something, didn’t get to hear ya”

“Nothing important! I was just yapping, but long story short I said thank you, and that you haven’t changed all that much” 

“I’ve changed… I got stronger..” Helmeppo raised both eyebrows “Oh hah yeah I can see that” Helmeppo looked at his arms, but his eyes moved and ended up landing on his opened chest, Zoro looked up at him while raising an eyebrow and Helmeppo cleared his throat “Isn’t it about time we order something?” Zoro put a fist over his mouth to cover his chuckle.

Zoro put his hand back on the table and nodded “I can get the drinks for us, what do you want” Helmeppo put a hand to his chin “Well.. I want wine, but I’d like to see what they have before ordering, so I guess I can go instead”

“Alright, I want sake”

“Any specific brand?” Helmeppo said as he got out of his chair, Zoro shrugged “Alcohol is alcohol, just tell the bartender to give you whichever he wants, but make sure he doesn’t just choose the most expensive one, OH- and two bottles, no glass or anything” Helmeppo looked at him judgingly, but decided to just not question it.

“Alright” Helmeppo left for about 2 minutes and came back to Zoro “They said they’ll bring them to us right away” Zoro nodded “Sweet. Now I’ve got a question for you” Helmeppo suddenly got nervous, oh god… His mind just decided to think of the worst possible things he could be wanting to ask him, but he decided to try to calm down “Uhm go ahead” 

“What’s got you so stressed?” Oh thank god it was just that… 

“Oh, well you see… I recently got here after a pretty harsh mission. Koby came back very injured and our ship suffered a lot of damage as well. I’ve had to do all of the captains work since Koby was unconscious until 3 days ago, and as his second in command, I am responsible for taking care of things. 

And I guess I’m also very much worried about Koby, I was visiting him at the hospital, but now that they got him out he has been staying in a hotel room until his ship is fixed, and I’ve been the one checking up on him, making sure he drinks his medicine and all that”.

“Seems like I caught you at a bad time” Helmeppo sighed and put a hand to his forehead as he leaned back and got into a more comfortable position, like just thinking about it made him feel tired.

“Yeah.. and I’ve also been having to deal with Koby’s more personal problems, he is a very emotional boy, a workaholic too. He has been stressing over feeling useless and I’ve been trying to help him with that, to me it’s just dumb, since well of course he isn’t useless just because he doesn’t work for a few days! But it isn’t dumb for him, so I still have to help him, you know?” Zoro nodded understandingly “How old is he again?”.

“18, technically of age now, but he is still just a teen, a teen who is trying really hard to act like an adult. Though honestly he sort of has to sometimes, he is a marine captain, he has a lot of responsibilities to deal with” Helmeppo looked sad talking about it, to him it was clear he had a very special bond with Koby “But he has you right?” The pirate asked him. 

“Yeah.. he does, and I’ll be with him until the day I die” Zoro smiled “Well you’ve always been loyal, I’m glad it’s to the right person now” Helmeppo lightly smiled back “Yeah, me too” They both shared this strong devotion to their captains, they silently recognized that shared trait.

After chatting a little more both of their drinks got to their table together, and they thanked the bartender “Cheers” The blonde said as he raised his glass, the moss ball followed with one sake bottle and repeated “Cheers” as they clinked their drinks together. Helmeppo began drinking his wine with class, he was a very fancy guy, with very good table manners, Zoro not so much… He chugged it, the drink dripping, drops running from his mouth to his chest, Helmeppo was doing his very best not to comment on it. Still, he managed to feel peaceful, this was nice actually.

“Seems like you’re already in a better mood Helmeppo” That might have been the first time Zoro had said his name, he was about to die, it wasn’t that much of a big deal, it really wasn’t but oh lord “Helmeppo?”.

“Oh sorry, erm yeah! I’m feeling much better already, this is just what I needed” He cringed a little after saying that, but it was the truth, he was in dire need of a break “Thank you Zoro, this was very thoughtful of you”.

“Yeah, sure thing. But to be honest, I mostly wanted a chance to talk to you” Helmeppo raised an eyebrow “I saw you, arresting that guy, buying the candy apple for the little girl” Helmeppo’s eyes widened and his cheeks turned red “Oh.. you saw that huh?” Zoro chuckled “Yeah I did, and it left me curious, last time I checked you yelled at kids and stumped on their food” Oh god he brought that up.. 

Helmeppo covered his face with both hands in embarrassment “I promise I’m not like that anymore” Zoro smiled “Yeah, I noticed, that’s why I wanted to talk to you, like I said, you’ve changed a lot, I just wanted to see more of it” Helmeppo took a deep sip from his glass and started twirling a strand of his hair, blushing once more.

“Oh well-” The blonde cleared his throat “I guess that’s good” Zoro nodded “It is, I have to admit it I was surprised” Helmeppo raised both eyebrows “You were?!” Zoro nodded and hummed in response “Uh- well!” His cheeks got even redder, he noticed he had already finished his wine and served himself some more as he talked “It was mostly Koby’s influence, also being away from Morgan for the first time helped a lot, I- uhm got to be my own person for once or whatever” He finished serving himself some more wine and took a sip.

“Guess Koby can kinda be like Luffy sometimes” The pirate exclaimed, as Helmeppo put down his drink he asked, “How so?” Zoro shrugged “Well he’s got that thing- he uh well he inspires people to be better you know? Not sure how to explain it” Helmeppo gave him a faint smile “Don’t worry, I got it”

Zoro finished his first bottle and began drinking the other like it was nothing “Not much of a lightweight huh?” Zoro smiled as his lips touched the bottle “You know it!” He said after putting down the bottle “Didn’t buy more cause I didn’t really have the money for it!” 

“I’m only on my second glass and I already feel like I’m starting to get drunk” Zoro laughed “I can drink barrels of beer with no trouble, this is nothing!” So he’s an alcoholic, alright “I wouldn’t exactly call myself a lightweight but I think this might be enough for today.. I should probably get going” Zoro raised an eyebrow “Already? We just got here” Helmeppo put a hand behind his back “Well I need to check up on Koby, sorry, uhm- You can keep what’s left of my wine” The blonde said as he stood up and started putting his hat and coat back on, he searched his pants for his wallet to go pay for his wine.

“Hey hey I said I wasn’t going to make you pay” He held Helmeppo’s wrist to stop him the marine’s eyes went wide open “Oh! I thought you meant you weren’t going to make me pay for your drink.. I’m fine really, I can do it” Helmeppo began walking to the counter but Zoro followed him and stopped him as he held him by the wrist.

“I mean it” Helmeppo turned around “Are you sure? You said you didn’t have enough money for more drinks” The blonde said “Well because I was planning on paying for yours idiot” Zoro nodded in response, Helmeppo sighed “Alright, thank you then”.

He let go of Helmeppo’s wrist and took out some berri from his pockets, oh his depth to Nami just kept increasing more and more, but this was worth it. After paying Zoro went back to their table to get the rest of his sake and Helmeppo’s wine, then they both left the place “Want me to walk you to your hotel? You look a little tipsy” Helmeppo laughed slightly as he shook his head.

“I should be the one walking you to your ship, didn’t you say that you were lost? I think you should worry about that” Oh.. yeah Zoro had completely forgotten about it “You’re.. you’re right, I’m totally not lost but yeah I should probably start looking for my crew..still, are ya sure?” Helmeppo smiled lightly and put a hand on Zoro’s shoulder.

“I’m sure” Having Helmeppo’s dark brown eyes staring at him like that.. woah ok. Zoro gulped.

“Uuuhm ok- I guess that’s it” Helmeppo smiled slightly “Indeed, thank you for this fine afternoon Roronoa, hopefully, we see each other again hm?” The green-haired swordman smiled back “We better! You promised you’d get stronger and beat me, remember?” All the way back in Water 7… Helmeppo sighed “I said that didn’t I? Well, I guess I’ll have to keep training if I want to keep my word” Zoro laughed and patted him twice on the back making him almost lose balance “See you around then blondie” 

Zoro turned around ready to leave but as he said that suddenly Helmeppo thought about something "Wait-" Zoro looked back at him with a raised eyebrow "Could you give me your number?" Zoro raised both eyebrows now "Uh- My number??" Gosh it sounded like he was asking for his number as like- To talk with him like they were friends or something, they barely know each other!! Helmeppo blushed in embarrassment and looked the other way "Uh- Well I was hoping that well- Since you said that your crew is here maybe I could take Koby to see Luffy? That is if you guys aren't leaving soon of course".

"Oh uh yeah no we're staying here for a few days, I can write it down for you, got a pen?" He did in fact have a pen, he quickly took it out of his jacket's pocket "Purple?" The pirate asked "It's my favorite color" Zoro chuckled slightly "Alright, give me your hand" Helmeppo took off his right hand's glove and put it in his pants pocket, after that he extended it. Zoro began to write on his palm, Helmeppo nervously observed the action, and after a little Zoro finished writing "Guess we'll be seeing each other sooner than we thought huh?".

"Yeah.." The blonde replied. Zoro waved once more "See ya then" he told the marine, he smiled in response “Goodbye Roronoa”. The pirate started walking away, the blonde waved to his back and began heading to his hotel, removing his other glove as he walked, would look weird if he only had one on. As he slid down his visor, he could hear a man’s high-pitched voice, he was yelling at Zoro, he called him an idiot and he could hear Zoro grunting in pain and slowly his voice fading away, Helmeppo chuckled to himself.

Chapter Text

Dragged by Usopp, Zoro was able to go back to the Thousand Sunny, as if Usopp hadn’t yelled at him enough now Nami was yelling at him too “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?!” She started shouting “WHERE EVEN WERE YOU?!” Sigh.. at least he got to finish both of his bottles before coming back.

“I found the idiot outside a bar” Nami pinched the bridge of her nose “OF COURSE HE WAS” She turned around to glare at Luffy who was just laughing at the situation. “And he was with someone!” Zoro’s eye went wide open, he thought Usopp hadn’t seen him!

“With someone?? Who could Zoro possibly be with?” Nami asked with a raised eyebrow, and Usopp’s expression changed, oh he was going to tease him about it.

“Someone with long blonde hair… I didn’t get to see anything else, just the hair flipping as the person turned around a corner!” Now Nami’s expression changed too, great. “Is that sooo?” 

“It’s Usopp!! He's just lying. That never happened.” Nami smiled mischievously “SO IT’S TRUE!” She shouts at Zoro. “WHA- NO! Come on Nami! Are you going to believe him?!?!”. 

“Shishishi Zoro! You’re blushing!” He was, wasn’t he? He put both hands around his cheeks “No I’m not.” Everyone around started laughing, ugh how embarrassing. “So? Who was it? Is it someone we know?!” Nami asked both Usopp and Zoro.

“Hmm well, I don’t think so!” Usopp replied, Zoro just started walking away trying to get out of all of this but Nami pulled him back by grabbing his shirt “Oh not so fast Zoro, we spent so long waiting for you, so now you’re going to sit here and answer our questions!!” Zoro grunted and sat down “Now Usopp, how can you be sure?” The sniper put a hand to his chin.

“Well how I said the person had long blonde hair, and I’m pretty sure it was straight, we don’t know anyone like that do we?” Zoro started sweating, they wouldn’t remember Helmeppo, right? He hadn’t thought about that guy in ages, he had seen him in the newspaper from time to time but that was it.

“Hmm how about Basil Hawkins?” Zoro had no idea when Robin got there, but she was part of the conversation all of the sudden. “No no it can’t be him, this person wasn’t as tall” Usopp commented “Wasn’t him” Zoro added.

“Uuuhm Cabbage!!” Luffy added and Nami corrected him “It's Cavendish” Usopp shook his head “No no it was straight! And once again too tall. I think it was someone we don’t know…” 

“Was it a girl?” Chopper asked all of the sudden. Where were they all coming from? “Does it matter?” Zoro asked, and now it looked like Sanji was also there because he laughed “Like any girl would ever want to talk to Mosshead” Zoro stood up to argue with Sanji but Nami scolded him again.

“No fighting right now! That goes for BOTH of you” She said looking at Sanji “Of course Nami my sweet, anything for you!” Zoro rolled his eye as he sat back down “Why is this so important anyways?!” Zoro asked the navigator, but Usopp was the one to reply.

“BECAUSE WE ARE CURIOUS! Now answer us once and for all! Who were you talking to?!” Zoro just wanted to get out of there… “No one!” But not a single member of the crew believed him.

“You’ve already admitted you were with someone idiot!” Usopp shouted.

“It doesn’t seem like he’ll talk so how about we just leave Zoro-san alone hm?” Bless Jinbe “Oh but Jinbe-san I really want to know who his maiden is!” Brook dramatically sighed, “MAIDEN?!?!” Zoro yelled but was left ignored. 

Jinbe chuckled and put a hand on Brook’s shoulder “Sorry Brook-san, but Zoro has the right to keep some things to himself” Brook sighed and Robin nodded “Right as always Jinbe” The Fishman put a hand behind his neck in embarrassment as he smiled “I agree, I think we should leave Zoro alone, we’ve bothered him enough’” Nami and Usopp still refused to let it go.

“BUT I LOOKED FOR HIM FOR AN HOUR!! Just for him to be with this person! I at least deserve to know!!” Usopp said and Nami nodded.

“Yes! And I spent all this time waiting for Usopp to return with their part of the shopping list! AND ARGH! I want to know! We deserve to know!” Usopp nodded too.

“How about… you give Zoro a punishment!” Luffy suggested, and Zoro loved his captain but he wanted to push him off the ship right now “Ooooh now I like the sound of that” Usopp said. Robin chuckled.

“I think you should choose it Usopp, since you were the one who had to look for him,” Their captain said, the long-nosed smiled evilly, oh he was screwed.

“You are on dish-cleaning duty for the rest of the month! AND you have to help me organize my workshop” Everyone but Zoro seemed to like the idea “FOR A MONTH?!?! That’s WAY too much!! And I also have to help you?!? Screw this!” Luffy laughed “Nuhuh! You have to do it Zoro! Captain's order!” The swordsman grunted.

“Fine! But not for a month, 2 weeks!” Luffy laughed once again and looked at Usopp waiting to see what he was going to say “Okay.. two weeks, but only because I’m feeling generous” Zoro sighed.

“Alright, can I leave now?” He looked at their navigator waiting for an answer, Nami crossed her arms and grunted. “Fine! You can leave!” He stood up and left for the men’s quarters. Everyone seemed to go back to doing their own things so he was finally left alone. He sat on the couch and covered his face with both hands in embarrassment, they thought he was on a date! He was just hanging out with Helmeppo! He did it on an impulse but well he didn’t regret it or anything, turns out now he’s nice to talk to, the guy’s pretty good company, but still, now his crew is bothering him about it.

Tch. They think he was on a date and Brook said he was his “maiden” That’s stupid! SO stupid, they are acting like he has a mysterious lover now or something. Hopefully, they’ll forget about it sooner or later.. Except. He just remembered he gave Helmeppo his number, he said he could come with Koby to the ship, he has to ask if they can come. . He would have to ask if they could come, they would also obviously recognize him as the guy he allegedly went on a date with, oh- they would mention it TO HIM after he’s here. Okay. It wasn’t that much of a big deal, he’ll just ignore them, he and Helmeppo know they didn’t go on a date, and as long as he doesn’t give them a reaction they won’t bother them too much. 

Zoro took a deep breath and came to the conclusion that thinking too much about this was also stupid, so he decided to lie down on the couch and take a nap.

Koby was surely going to get mad at Helmeppo for drinking, he smelled like wine, and Zoro was right he was a little tipsy but he made it to the hotel just fine without any help, he knocked on Koby’s door and heard a little “Helmeppo-san?!”.

“Yes, it’s me” The blonde replied, and then he heard his captain say “Come in!” The marine took his key to the room and opened the door, closing it and locking it behind him after he entered.

“Helmeppo-san!!” Koby sounded a little angry, as angry as he allowed himself to be “Where have you been?” Helmeppo sighed as he took off his jacket, hat and visor, he looked at Koby, his leg and torso were still bandaged.

“Sorry.. I got a little distracted” He said as he started getting close to the nightstand next to Koby’s bed to look for the thermometer.

“I told you that you don’t need to do that… I stopped getting fevers a day before I was let out of the hospital” Helmeppo still lifted Koby’s arm and stuck the thermometer under it. “It’s just for precaution” He clarified for the boy, he sighed in response. Suddenly Helmeppo heard a sniffing sound…

“Helmeppo-san!! Were you drinking?!” It was obvious he had, the blonde didn’t answer, he just sighed and sat next to Koby on his bed “Scoot over” He told him, and so he did, but he quickly went back to questioning Helmeppo “I.. I guess we aren’t working right now.. but still! Why?” Helmeppo ignored him “Did you drink your medicine?” He asked him, Koby nodded quickly “Yes! But you are avoiding the question… is it because of me? I’m so-” Helmeppo interrupted his captain.

“I’m doing this because I want to, you never asked for this remember? So there’s nothing you need to say sorry for, I’m just taking care of my best friend, that’s all” Koby looked down at his lap, still not convinced “But.. it was because you’ve been stressed, having to take care of me and all.. right?” Helmeppo sighed.

“No, this week has just been generally stressful, and.. I wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t been invited to” Koby quickly looked up and stared at his friend with eyes wide open “Invited? By who?” Helmeppo chuckled “Oh you really are noisy hm?” Koby looked embarrassed.

“Hey! No I’m not! I’m just- curious..” The blonde laughed once again “Alright.. I’ll tell you who, but you have to promise me you won’t freak out” Koby nodded “Oh I promise, I’ll be so calm. I won’t even react!” Helmeppo laughed “I doubt it” he told Koby, and he frowned slightly but then let out a little chuckle in the end “Alright… it was Roronoa Zoro” Koby gasped loudly “NO WAY!” He shouted. 

Just as Helmeppo knew about Koby’s crush on Luffy he knew about Helmeppo’s admiration for Zoro, he was actually able to be normal about it unlike his captain “So- how did it go?” Helmeppo tried to be casual about it but he was blushing, he looked to the other side and cleared his throat “Oh uh- it went well” Koby smiled “Well that’s good! But- no one saw you right?” Helmeppo rolled his eyes “No one who we should worry about” Koby nodded slowly “Hmm alright alright” Helmeppo could easily tell Koby’s mind was focused on something else.

“Yes, Luffy is also here” Koby’s expression changed and he started blushing “U-Uhm! I don’t know what you are talking about! I-I never-” Helmeppo interrupted the pink haired marine with a smirk.

“Oh come on Koby, I’ve known you for two years, I already knew you were thinking about it, I got Zoro’s number, I’ll call him and ask where his ship is and take you to see Luffy” Koby smiled and was ready to thank Helmeppo “Buuut, after you are better” His smile dropped “But-” Helmeppo shushed him with a finger over his mouth.

“No buts, you sit here, you rest, you heal, and then I take you to Luffy” 

“What if he leaves before I’m better?” He asked the blonde marine “Well, just make sure you get better then. Besides.. he said they will be staying here for some time, and you seem to be doing much better so don’t worry too much about it” Koby sighed and laid back on the bed “Fine then…” Helmeppo patted his shoulder and got out of bed.

“Alright, I’m going to my room now, call me if you need me” 

“Oh, you’re leaving already” Helmeppo looked at his friend as he started putting on his shoes “Sorry, I want to get some rest, but I can stay for a little longer if you’d like” Koby shook his head “No! No! It’s alright, go rest! Make sure to drink lots of water!” Helmeppo went back to Koby and ruffled his hair “Ok then, remember you have to rest too alright?” Koby nodded “I will, no need to worry so much about me” He said as he slightly fixed his hair, Helmeppo smiled and picked up the rest of his things before leaving, he waved as he closed the door.

When he got to his room he took his shoes off once again, left his hat on the nightstand, and hung his jacket on the closet, but not before taking his pen. After that he took a napkin and wrote down Zoro’s number on it, he saved it in a drawer and then got in bed, Koby told him to drink water but he had no energy for that, as soon as he closed his eyes he fell asleep. 

Zoro was woken up when his Den Den started ringing, who could be calling him? He mostly used it to talk with his crew in the times they were shortly separated  

“Erm.. hello? Zoro?” Helmeppo’s now familiar voice came out of his snail, ah that’s right, he gave him his number “Hey blondie” The snail replicated Helmeppo’s reaction, it looked to the other side, it’s little mouth shaking a little, it was cute- because of the snail. Not because of Helmeppo. 

“Uhm hey, I hope this isn’t a bad time to call or anything..” The snail looked nervous “Nah it’s alright, I was just taking a nap” The snail had an expression of worry now “Oh! Sorry-” It was weird to see him be so apologetic, he cared if he woke him up? “No, it’s fine really, I don’t care” He seemed to calm down a little, he cleared his throat at continued to talk “Alright, I called to ask if you could give me a date” He heard the word date and panicked for a second “For us to go” Oh- Okay date as in day “Koby seems to be recovering just fine, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to just take him out right away, specially around pirates uhm- No offense” Zoro didn’t care “None taken, I’d have to ask our navigator, you’re fine with waiting for a little?”

“Mhm I wouldn’t mind no” Zoro stood up “I’ll be right back” He got out of the room and went to look for Nami, huh, turns out it was nighttime; she was likely working on her maps “Ey Nami” he was right, she had her reading glasses and all “What is it?” She asked without even looking at him “How long will we be staying here” Most of the time Zoro didn’t ask these types of things, because he honestly didn’t care, so Nami was surprised, she took a pause and looked away from her maps.

“For around 5 days, why do you ask?” Now Zoro wasn’t expecting that.. “I just wanted to know” Nami raised an eyebrow “Since when do you care about how long we’ll be staying in a place? Do you- have plans here?” Why was he so nervous about this? He could just tell her.. 

“No” She seemed to be even more intrigued now “Doesn’t seem like it” She turned around to face him “Come on Zoro! Tell me!!” He started walking away “There’s nothing- goodbye” He quickly closed the door and went back to the men’s quarter, basically throwing himself on the couch and sighing.

“You there?” He asked, feeling like he was talking to no one, he didn’t know why he was so surprised to hear an answer “Mhm, still here”.

“Alright, navigator said we’ll be staying for around 5 more days” He saw the snail nodding slowly “Alright.. I think that should be enough time, where is your ship stationed?”.

“We are at the main port I think? The Sunny isn’t hard to miss” He could hear a little chuckle, he looked at his snail and raised an eyebrow “Hm? What is it?” 

“Oh, nothing… it’s just that Sunny is too much of a cute name for a pirate ship, not very intimidating” 

“Well it isn’t an intimidating ship, has like a giant sun at the front” It was a lion, still after so long, no one was able to figure that out “And well we have Luffy as our captain, we aren’t the scary looking type of pirates, people are scared of us because of our strength” Zoro grinned proudly as he said it.

Helmeppo chuckled slightly one more “Right” As he looked at the snail’s soft smile he couldn’t help but wonder what a real grin from him would look like, not his snobbish or smug smile from back at Shells Town, a genuine one. 

“Well, I guess I’ll see ya later then, just make sure to call before you come” Zoro added, now very much ready to go back to sleep “Will do, goodnight Roronoa” He hung up.

Zoro felt weird, he didn’t know what it was but he felt really weird, not bad weird just- weird, but like with most things, he decided to sleep it off, he closed his eye once more and fell asleep.

Chapter Text

After ending his call with Zoro he went out to buy dinner for him and Koby, normally when Koby is sick or hurt he cooks one of the only things he knows how to make, stew, but they didn’t have a kitchen, or that much money on them.

He went back to bed early, and in marine fashion woke up at dawn, he showered and changed into normal clothes, no uniform since it was dirty, sigh... He’d have to find a laundry place, should have waited until he was back on duty to wear it again, force of habit he guessed. 

He walked around town and found a nice coffee shop that was just opening, perfect. He got himself some coffee and cream cheese-filled croissant, hot chocolate, and a bagel for Koby. He headed back to the hotel to bring Koby breakfast but made sure to leave his coffee in his own room since Koby hates coffee, even its smell.

He knocked on the door and he heard a loud noise so he took his key to Koby’s room and came right in, finding his best friend on the floor.

He basically ran and left their things on the nightstand “KOBY! A-ARE YOU OKAY?!” He threw himself down on the floor to help Koby get back in bed, Koby couldn’t help but feel that his reaction was a tad bit… Exaggerated? “Yeah..” He hissed as he rubbed the back of his head “My leg is fine don’t worry” He carried Koby and sat him down, Koby looked at him in embarrassment “I could have gotten up myself…” Helmeppo sighs “Yeah yeah whatever you say what the hell happened?” Koby looks down to his knees “Uhmm I…” He is a horrible liar and pretty much hates lying in general so Helmeppo knew he would say the truth “So uhm I.. I was trying to train” Helmeppo pinched the bridge of his nose “Of course, you were” Koby looked up “I’m sorry Helmeppo-san!! But I’m just- very bored!! I have nothing to do! And- I have to be ready for my duties as a captain! I can’t come back weak and risk my crew’s safety”

Helmepo sat next to Koby and then decided to fall and lay on the bed “I understand, but the obvious thing to do is to wait until you’re sure your leg is healed, you stubborn MORON. Tomorrow we’ll be going back to the doctor and he’ll tell us how you are doing, so in the meantime- You’ll rest. Is that understood?” Koby sighed and nodded “Yes..” Helmeppo stood back up and picked up two bags from the nightstand “Come on, cheer up, I brought us breakfast”.

They chatted and ate together, Helmeppo told Koby about his call with Zoro last night, Helmeppo stayed talking with him for a while, by 10 am he made sure he had his medicines and waved goodbye, he left Koby reading a book about fish, he had no idea of how that could be entertaining at all to him but oh well.

His coffee was cold by now, he took a mug and poured the coffee in it, putting it in the microwave to heat it up, he changed his clothes, baggy dark green pants, and a white sleeveless top, he put on a navy bue cap and changed into his boots, he had training to do, Koby was the one hurt, not him, he had no reason to keep slacking off. 

He heard the microwave ding and he headed to pick up his coffee as he tied up his hair, he took it out and blew on it a little, he drank it while he looked for his wallet and keys, he finished it and left the mug where he found it, he took his uniform and the clothes he was wearing earlier and left off to find a place where he could wash them, he headed out and asked around town, a nervous girl was the one to answer him, she looked for something to write in and asked for a pen, which Helmeppo gladly lent her “O-Oh! It’s purple!” The second time he’s gotten that reaction “Hm, it’s my favorite color” She smiled “Ah! Really nice color, it’s weird to see guys who confidently say their favorite color is one that’s normally considered feminine… UHM I- I mean it in a good way of course!” Helmeppo simply nodded awkwardly as she wrote down the instructions “Here! And- Check the back! But- Don’t feel pressured to use it or anything! B-Bye!” She left, almost running away, Helmeppo thought it was weird.

He began to walk as he read the instructions, when he finished he looked at the back to find a phone number, a name (Tessa) and a heart on top of it “Oh..” This might be the first time this has happened to him.. He’s had guys here and there drop some pickup lines, some of the members of Koby’s crew jokingly whistling whenever he dresses nicely outside of working hours, there’s specifically Surime and Mucho who are always all over him but- That’s just them trying to bother him, joking around, this time someone actually gave him their number, it had a heart, it was 100% with a romantic intention. 

He wasn’t sure he wanted to call this girl.. He realized at that moment that he isn’t exactly the type to just engage romantically with just anyone, but- Come on what were the chances anyone would like him and approach him again? Nonetheless- She was still just a girl on a random island that he wasn’t sure he would ever see again, it made more sense for him to date another marine like- Well Tashigi, he got flustered just thinking about it, almost wanted to slap himself in the face, that’s your friend! Don’t be stupid! In the end, he concluded that he just shouldn’t date anyone until he was rich and retired.

Thinking about all of this he ended up arriving at the place, there weren’t too many people, so he quickly left his clothes, specified what type of care they would need, paid them, and left. As he walked he found a little bookshop, hmm Koby said he was getting bored, couldn’t blame him really, so he thought it would be nice to get him something else to read so he went in and looked around until he found a book he thought Koby would like, he paid with what was left from the money he had brought and with that he headed out of the store and went off to find a place to train.

He had walked around the island before, and he was sure he’d seen a beach around here somewhere, an empty one, so he asked around once more, this time an old fisherman pointed him in the right direction. He found it quite easily, it wasn’t too far away from the main port, but far enough for him not to have to see anyone, maybe a few fishermen here and there, but right now it was empty, just perfect. 

He took off his cap and put it on the ground, Koby’s book beside it. He began with his usual warm-up, and after that, he decided to start with cardio, laps around the beach… Reminds him of his days training with Garp, sand is harder to run on, but oh well he’d gotten the hang of it after the years, and he and Koby do run on the beach from time to time, but now they mostly don’t have time to go as far so they just run around Hq when they’re there.

He decided to run from the beach to the shore, he didn’t give himself a number of laps, didn’t feel like it, just decided to run, and he’d stop when he felt like it was enough. Should have probably brought water… 

He’s the type of guy who can’t seem to shut up, from time to time a few comments just slip and he’s forced to do laps as punishment so as a result of that his stamina was pretty good when compared to Koby’s, still, he’s normally worse than him in most areas and generally lazier as well, so training by his side is a huge help, he motivates him to do more than he usually does, he is in this constant need of wanting to catch up to him, or at least be good enough to have his back, that moves him to do better, to BE better.

Another thing that motivates him to work is having someone to impress, he isn’t sure of what will happen after Bogard retires, he was used to only giving it his best at most things if it could maybe at least impress Morgan a little, and that passed on when he joined the Marines but turns out Bogard can actually be impressed unlike Morgan, he still remembers his first “good job kid”, he felt almost childish being so happy about it. 

He doesn’t know for how long he ran but it was for a whileeee, genuinely air wasn’t getting through his lungs anymore, so he threw himself to the ground, it took him about 2 minutes to fully catch his breath again. After resting he got right back to training. Most of the things he did just required him to use just his own body, but for some exercises, he decided to use big rocks he found around as weights. 

He dropped the rocks and started doing push-ups, he was doing a handstand push-up until he heard someone “Blondie” He fell “Oi- You okay??” Zoro?? What was he doing here?? Helmeppo rubbed the back of his head after sitting up “Yeah- I’m fine” Zoro looked down at him “Good to know” Helmeppo looked up and- oh god.. he looked right back down, ugh he had to get a grip “Yeah.. Uhm. What are you doing here anyway?” Zoro sat next to him and then threw himself to the ground, Helmeppo raised an eyebrow now being the one to look down at him “Saw you running like a maniac” Like a maniac?? “It’s called training Roronoa” He chuckled slightly “Yeah yeah I imagined’’.

“Still doesn’t answer my question, you saw me running alright but why are you here? And where were you anyway? I don’t remember seeing you at all” He was sure he would have shrugged if he weren’t lying down and resting his head on his arms.

“What if I don’t want to tell ya hm?” Helmeppo slipped up his visor and gave him a death glare, the swordsman chuckled once more “I don’t know, just haki, the ship isn’t far from the spot at the chore you were running to, I sensed something, knew it was you and I just felt like seeing what you were up to, noticed you were running and followed you here” He wanted to see him? Oh god.. Wait- Thinking more about what Zoro said, a question came up, Helmeppo raised an eyebrow once more “I stopped running a while ago, why did you get here just now?” He looked embarrassed “Uuuuh- I took a longer path” What the hell was he talking about? “Huh? It’s- It’s just a straight path from the shore to here…” He got even more embarrassed now, looking to the other side “Hm well. I wanted to give you some time to cool off- and stuff” Helmeppo laughed “How thoughtful of you” He looked at him, they ended up making eye contact and for a second he could have sworn he saw that Zoro’s cheeks had gotten redder, but maybe it was just his mind and the sun playing tricks on him. He didn’t have much time to inspect the pirate’s face, he got back up again.

“Yeah, I sure am” Was his answer, Helmeppo rolled his eyes “Come on get up, you were training before I got here, so don’t just sit there, finish what you started, you want to get strong enough to fight me right?” With a sigh Helmeppo did as he said, he got up with a jump and as soon as he did, he began to complain “Well I would have kept training if you hadn’t just suddenly shown up out of nowhere and made me fall!!” Zoro crossed his arms and grinned “At least I know you were taking your training seriously if you didn’t even notice when I got here” He rolled his eyes once more “Yeah yeah, I didn’t get like this” He pointed to his torso, moving the finger around the area signaling his muscles “Just sitting around and doing nothing” And Zoro looked, admiring his improvement, still with that stupid grin on his face “Hm yeah” 

Helmeppo pouted slightly as he frowned “Don’t look at me like that” Zoro grinned even more “Look at ya like what?” 

“LIKE THAT-” He pointed at his face as he said it “Like you’re surprised!” Zoro laughed “Well you can’t really blame me, can you? You know more than anyone that you used to be an ass” No pun intended “Two years ago you wouldn’t do anything by yourself, you used stupid axe hand's power to do stuff, hard to imagine a guy like that ever gaining muscles” He was talking like they hadn’t seen each other in Water 7- COME ON! He was even impressed by his choice of weapon, and he was clearly strong back then, too strong for someone who started his training just 2 months before that.

“I saw you fighting yesterday, but your uniform still covered up your body, now I can see that you’ve done some good work on it, leaving Shells Town was the best thing you could have done for yourself” Helmeppo crossed his arms and pouted as he could clearly feel the heat on his cheeks, he had already forgotten everything he was complaining about “Tch. Well yes, I guess.”

“Hm. Now enough of complementing” 

“Oh, but there’s so many other things you could compliment about me!! My beautiful locks!” He untied his hair dramatically “My charming smile” He smiled as he put a hand to his chin “My voluminous as-” Zoro stopped him “You’re still way too vain” He was about to shout at him but Zoro kept talking “But whatever you say goldy locks, yeah you have pretty hair, a pretty smile and- I’m not going into the last part” Not like he could deny it after seeing his bare ass jiggling as he entered Helmeppo’s room in Shells Town “But that doesn’t help you fight”

Helmeppo raised both eyebrows and his eyes widened, he was taken by surprise, gosh… He didn’t expect Zoro to agree “Now stop yapping and get back to training, might as well leave since I’m distracting ya so much” 

“No wait!! Training on my own is boring! It’s way nicer to have someone to talk to!”

“I guess I can join ya” He started taking off his shirt- Helmeppo gulped while looking at his chests- They were so big... Genuinely they just looked like boobs, he tried to take his mind off of it by looking at the scar going through his chest, he recognized it was from his duel with Mihawk, he knew about it because he visited the Baratie right after the duel and had heard all about it ”You were doing push-ups, right? With your hands” Zoro asked taking Helmeppo away from his thoughts.

“Uuuhm yeah, but I didn’t finish, I was meant to do around 500 I only got to do 30 something” Helmeppo responded “Let’s go from the start, your muscles must have cooled down already” He got right to it oh god- this guy is hot, why did he have to take off his shirt?? He wanted to slap himself in the face, he was acting like he’d never seen a shirtless man before . He quickly began to do the damn pushups, he counted out loud, and by the 100th one he dropped to the ground.

“The hell are you doing” Zoro said as he still kept going “It’s called taking a break Roronoa” Helmeppo said really wishing he would have a water bottle right now “You take a break after you’re done” Helmeppo sighed “I’ll get back to it in a second, just- Too much blood going to my head, got a headache” 

“Is that how you plan on getting to beat me in a fight?” Helmeppo frowned “Tch” He got right back to it “Now that’s what I like to see” Helmeppo frowned once more.

They spent a while training, doing one of Helmeppo’s usual routines “Alright I think this is enough for the morning” Helmeppo told Zoro as they both sat on the ground, Helmeppo was cleaning the sweat on his face with his shirt, Zoro was taking a good look at his abs for- uhmm well... to check how much work he had put into his body yeah. 

He ended up noticing something “When did you get that scar?” He pointed to the side of Helmeppo’s torso “Hm? Oh- Uhm the Rocky Port incident, really ugly scar…It wasn’t deep enough for sewing so it didn’t heal nicely” 

“I see..” Zoro kept looking at his scar “Yours?” Helmeppo asked “The one on your eye that is, you didn’t have it last time I saw you” He clarified “Don’t remember” Zoro lied, Helmeppo looked at him with a raised eyebrow “Hmm so you don’t want to tell me” Zoro attempted to defend himself “No. I said I don’t remember” Helmeppo chuckled slightly “I’m not stupid, it’s obvious you are lying, and now that I think about it... Aren’t your ears a little red?” Zoro covered them up “No they’re not” Helmeppo laguhed “Got yaaa~” 

Blink blink “Huh?”

“You covered them up, meaning that you knew you were lying, I pointed it as proof of that so you tried to hide it” Helmeppo said after being able to control his laughter, Zoro didn’t get it “Are they actually red or did you make that up?” Helmeppo covered his mouth as he laughed once more “Stop laughing!” Helmeppo waved a hand “Sorry sorry- PFTT” Zoro frowned “Oh yeah? Well you don’t seem very sorry” Helmeppo smiled “Oh I totally am” Zoro frowned once more and launched himself at him “WHAT THE HELL?” Helmeppo shouted as he stopped Zoro with both hands, they wrestled each other and turned until they were both breathless, Zoro was ontop of Helmeppo, keeping himself up by doing a plank, Helmeppo kept laughing, Zoro couldn’t help but grin and then chuckle slightly, his laugh was a little obnoxious but he liked it, it was contagious, and he was glad to see him in a better mood than yesterday, maybe he could convince him to have a duel with him, just to see how much he had improved, but his thoughts were interrupted by shadows and whispers.

He looked to the side to find a family of 4, two kids, the father was holding a picking basket “Sorry-” Said the mother, Zoro quickly got off of Helmeppo, the blonde covered his face in embarrassment “We were wresting” The pirate made sure to clarify “Ah it’s okay no worries we’ll leave…” The man answered, Helmeppo uncovered his face and extended a hand “Wait! No no, there’s no need, we uhm we are done with our training, we can leave right Zoro?” The mosshead nodded in reply “Hooray!” One of the children said, the rest of the family shuckled at the reaction.

They both stood up, Zoro put his shirt back on as Helmeppo picked up Koby’s book and his cap, he quickly put it back on “You ready?” He asked the pirate hunter, he nodded in reply, they both left in silence walking side by side until Helmeppo looked back to see they were far from the family by now “Oh god that was so embarrassing” The blonde covered his face once more “I told them we were wrestling” Zoro made sure to let him know, not seeing what he was so embarrassed for.

“Didn’t you see their faces? The parents clearly didn’t believe you” He dindn’t really pay attention to their faces “Well who cares? They can believe whatever they want” Thinking about it, he was embarrassed about his crew thinking he was on a date, so he tried to relate to Helmeppo a little “Just don’t pay much attention to it, we both know the truth, that’s what matters, and uhm just think that you’ll probably never see them again” Helmeppo sighed, but what he said seemed to have worked.

“I guess you’re right” Zoro pushed him slightly to the side “HEY-” Helmeppo pushed back harder, dramatic much, he barely even put any force, Helmeppo laughed at his expression and Zoro ended up laughing too.

“You know.. This is kind of weird” Zoro raised an eyebrow “Huh? What’s weird?”

 
“I don’t know, just us spending time so casually, like we know each other” Zoro shrugged “Well yeah, that’s how people get to know each other better, idiot”

“Don’t call me an idiot! It’s just usually taken me longer to get to this point” 

“Maybe if you stopped taking everything so personally and lightened up a little” Helmeppo did the contrary and took what Zoro said personally “I DON’T TAKE EVERYTHING PERSONALLY!” Zoro laughed slightly “You just did” Helmeppo realized he was right, but still he pouted “No I didn’t” Zoro rolled his eyes “Yes you did”

“Did not”

“You did”

“No!”

“Yes!”

Helmeppo gave up “FINE! Okay… Maybe a little” He smiled slightly, Zoro smiled back. Helmeppo had funny reactions to everything, he’s entertaining, maybe that’s why Zoro had liked talking to him the other day, and why he was enjoying talking to him today.

They walked in comfortable silence the rest of the way until they hit the shore “I’m surprised you didn’t get lost on the way here” The marine told him “What is that supposed to mean?” Helmeppo shrugged with a playful smile “I’ve just noticed a pattern with you and directions” Zoro crossed his arms “Well you noticed wrong” Helmeppo laughed.

“You are very stubborn Roronoa Zoro” He could recognize he was right “That’s not really all that bad” Zoro replied, Helmeppo smiled “Never said it was” he added.

The blonde looked at the sky and then gave Zoro a slight pat on the shoulder “I’ll be leaving now, I had fun today, see you later” Zoro held his wrist before he left “The fun doesn’t have to end- We could have a duel, it’s still pretty early” Helmeppo shook his head “We’ll leave that for another day, I have to go see Koby, it has to be lunchtime by now, goodbye Roronoa” He waved and left, Zoro waved back feeling slightly disappointed. He felt weird again, he didn’t know weird how, just… Weird. 

Damn, now he’d have to get back on the ship… He didn’t really remember the way.

Chapter Text

Helmeppo felt very calm, though well exercise does help with stress, he almost forgot about picking up his clothes from the laundry. He got back to Koby’s hotel room and knocked, coming in after Koby answered, he was surprised to see he had company, two of their crewmates were there, and it just so happened to be Surime and Mucho.. He remembered thinking about them earlier on.

The room smelled like food “Welcome back Helmeppo-san” His captain greeted him with a smile “Lieutenant Commander Helmpooo!” Mucho told him with excitement “Hello! Nice to see you!” Surime waved with a smile.

“Oh wow, hello gentlemen, what a nice surprise, what brings you two here?” He said taking off his cap and letting his hair fall down “Oh we just missed you so much Lieutenant Commander Helmeppoooou!” Mucho replied, Helmeppo rolled his eyes, as he put on Koby’s night stand everything he had brought.

Koby laughed “They brought us some food! And came to update me on the ship's state” Oh Helmeppo totally forgot about lunch.

“How thoughtful, thank you you two” His thank you was received with Mucho putting an arm over his shoulders, Mucho had a habit of just invading his personal space, he found it to be the funniest thing in the world, Surime tended to follow along, but mostly because he’s a very friendly guy, Helmeppo didn’t mind all that much, he did have a little bit of a soft spot for the two of them. 

“It was no problem at all Lieutenant Commander! You’ve been working so hard!” Mucho told him “We even heard you’ve been working around town too” Surime said while pointing at him.

“Oh yes, taking the sheriff’s job and everything, you should stick to being the captain’s nurse for now” Mucho said jokingly, in answer Helmeppo removed his arm from his shoulders “It was just once. Yesterday when I came back from checking on the ship” 

“Our Lieutenant Commander is such a hard working maaan! You always tell Koby to rest, and look! You were training weren’t you?” Helmeppo pushed his hair back as he sat on Koby’s bed “Indeed, stillI wouldn’t say I’ve been working exactly, I’ve mostly just been spending time with Koby. But well- Enough about me. What did you say to our captain about the ship? It looked pretty well yesteday, so it’s good news I hope” Surime nodded excitetedly “Yeah! The ship is is basically done! They finished the reparations, the crew has just been tiding everything up, making sure it’s good as new”

Helmeppo smiled slightly “Well that’s certainly good news, and our captain here will probably be allowed to walk again by tomorrow, seems like we’ll be leaving sooner than we thought”


“Think the captain could come back to the ship?” Mucho asked, Helmeppo shook his head “This hotel is closer to the hospital”

“We could always just have the ship’s doctors check on him” Surime added “Aren’t they busy with the rest of the crew?” Koby asked “Oh yes you’re right captain Koby..” Surime replied.

“There’s no rush! Headquarters isn’t waiting for us, we could even take some time to just relax for a little after everything’s been solved, what do you say, captain Koby?” Helmeppo asked, Koby thought about it a little “Haven’t we rested enough?” Helmeppo rolled his eyes at Koby’s obliviousness and slid up his visor to make eyes at him, to see if he could take the hint “Well you’ve just been laying in bed all week, haven’t even gotten a chance to see the island, to visit around and stuff, there’s this place I said I would take you to the other day right?” Helmeppo added, just to make sure he got it.

It seemed like he did, Koby made a face like he was just now understanding what he meant “Ah! You’re right! Well uhm yes it would be a little sad to leave without having the chance to really visit the island” The pink haired marine replied.

“Oh yeah! And we should all go out drinking to celebrate when the ship’s finally fixed and the captain is ready to get back to work!” Surime added “I’ve missed drinking with you the mooost Lieutenant Commander Helmepoo” Mucho added as he made one of his weird faces, this time he clasped his hands together and made a kissy face, Helmeppo laughed slightly.

“Right… Now I don’t know about you but I’m hungry, how about we start eating?” The smell of the food was driving him crazy.

“Mucho and I ate already! You two enjoy!” Surime picked up the bag with their food and gave it to Helmeppo “Well, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask the two of you to leave, thank you for your visit” Mucho sighed “Always so cooold” He was just being dramatic “I need to talk privately with captain Koby, hope you understand”

After many goodbyes from the two marine officers, Helmeppo and Koby were finally left alone, so the blonde dig right in, Koby followed his action “So- What did you want to talk about?” He said after swallowing his rice “Oh- I just wanted some peace an quiet” Koby looked at him surprised “Maybe Mucho-san was right” Helmeppo laughed “I guess I do have some things to tell you, but that’ll be after we eat” Koby nodded.

He wasn’t a fan of eating like a full meal on top of the bed but there wasn’t really much space to do it anywhere else, after they finished their food Helmeppo took the containers and put them back on the bag they came in to throw them away later, he opened the windows so the smell would leave.

“Alright” he started saying as he sat back on the bed “I saw Zoro again” Koby gasped, he would never admit it but he was almost as much of a gossip as Helmeppo “So? How was it? Did you stumble upon him?” Helmeppo shook his head “No, not at all, he came to where I was, said he noticed me because of his haki, saw me running on the beach and came to look for me” Helmeppo added, sounding as casual about it as he could, Koby’s mouth made an almost perfectly round o shape.

“Well- Wow! Seems like you two got along pretty well!” Koby said with excitement “Seems like we did” Helmeppo replied with a little bit of a shy smile “We trained together and everything, it was fun- But not more fun than training with you of course” Koby laughed “Don’t worry, I didn’t think you were implying that, and I wouldn’t mind if you did”

“Just thought I’d let you know just in case. Oh- Also. Well he asked me to have a duel” Koby looked at him with both eyes wide open “But I had to decline”

“WHAT?! But- You’ve been wanting to have a duel with him since forever!” Helmeppo chuckled slightly “Well yes, but I did tell him we could have it another day, I just didn’t want to leave you alone for too long, since you mentioned being bored earlier” Koby looked embarrassed “Ah that reminds me-” He stood up and took the book he bought for Koby “Look what I got you” He extended the book to him, but koby didn’t take it”

“For me??” He said pointing at himself, Helmeppo nodded “Yes idiot, for you” Koby looked embarassed once more “You didn’t have to…” Helmeppo sighed, already knowing where this was going to “Yes, maybe, but I wanted to. So take it please, no need to feel guilty about it” Koby took the gift, reading the title, examining the cover and reading the description “Thank you so much Helmeppo-san” The pink haired marine said with a soft smile.

Helmeppo gave him a pat on the shoulder “No problem” 

Zoro took a while to get back to the ship, apparently they moved it for some reason, he had to ask around, see if anyone had spotted it, a fisherman pointed him to where he said he’d seen it, but it wasn’t there! He kept walking around until he felt something holding his shirt “What-” He had no time to realize what was going on, all of a sudden he was being pulled into the air, the sensation too familiar, still he screamed all the way through, suddenly he was on the Sunny “LUFFY. I SWEAR I’M GOING TO K-” The whole crew was there once again, all looking at him, great.

“Where were you?” Nami asked, not yelling at him this time around.

“At the beach..” He answered, feeling everyone’s eyes on him.

“Why?” She asked 

“Uh going on a walk” 

“And why didn’t you let anyone know you were leaving?” Now it was Usopp questioning him.

“I forgot”

“And what inspired ya to suddenly go on a 3 hour walk on the beach suddenly?” The sniper asked.

“Just felt like it”

“Just felt like it…” Nami repeated “You know, we had to look for you once again, we’re lucky Usopp spotted you and that Luffy was able to bring you here”

“Well you guys moved the ship…”

Luffy shook his head “Nuh uh! Shishishi Zoro got lost again”

“Did not”

“Totally did” Usopp answered.

“Whatever” 

“Couldn’t blondie help you find the way?” Nami asked.

“How was he supposed to know where the ship was?” Nami and Usopp grinned mischievously, at that moment Zoro noticed he messed up “Uh- I mean…”

“See! I told you all it wasn’t a girl” Saji added 

“Shut it curly brows”

“So you were on another date with your secret lover?” Usopp said with a kissy fase.

“NO!”

“But you two were togehter~” Nami added with a smirk.

“What were you two doiiing? Hopefully not something.. Private” Brook said with a giggle.

“WE WERE TRAINING!” Zoro was blushing, now understanding Helmeppo’s embarrassment earlier.

“Hmm so a blonde man with long hair who is strong enough to train with Zoro, unless he’s lying again” Robin noted.

“No no he isn’t lying, the guy sort of had training clothes” Usopp shared with the crew.

“YOU SAW HIM?!” Zoro said with panic.

“Indeed~” Usopp said as he nodded.

“And you still don’t know who he is?”

“Uuuh so we should be able to recognize him, Chopper write that down!” Usopp said to the reindeer who apparently had a little notebook where he was writing the information they’d gotten from their little interrogation “Blonde.. Long straight hair… He pronoun… Can train with Zoro… aaand we should know him” The doctor said reviewing his list.

“GRAAH Why do you guys care so much?!?” Zoro snapped at them.

“Because it’s fun to make fun of ya!” Luffy told him with a smile, he was being a little too honest…

“Forbidden information is always the most fun to decipher” The archeologist explained.

“Well, I won’t say anything else. You guys figure it out on your own. Goodbye” He was going to leave but Usopp stopped him.

“Nuh uh uh, you didn’t wash the dishes last night, so now you’ll wash them for breakfast” Zoro frowned, he wanted to blame Helmeppo for this, but he was the one who dragged him to the bar and the one who went to the beach to look for him, he had no one to blame but himself.

He went to do the dam dishes, practically stomping down to the kitchen. Stupid Helmeppo, maybe it is his fault, making him feel all weird and stuff, he scrubbed and scrubbed, ouugh and he kept thinking about him, and it’s impossible not to with his crew questioning him about the guy again, and well- he liked talking to him, he wants to talk more, hang out, get to know him more, the more he learns about him the more he wants to see, it’s weird, really weird, maybe he’ll call him- Wait no he doesn’t have his number shit, Helmeppo’s the one that has his, well fuck him, perhaps he’ll get lucky and spot him again tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Helmeppo and Koby woke up early to go to the check up, Helmeppo insisted on carrying Koby instead of borrowing a wheelchair from the hospital again, saying it would take less time. The doctor checked his leg and said that he could take off the bandages and walk again, no need for rehabilitation, which was good because Helmeppo knew Koby pretty well and there was a chance he would just not take it.

Koby was relieved to finally be able to go back to work, they took all of their things and checked out of their hotel, now ready to go back to the ship, Helmeppo did let them know in advance that the both of them were going back, they were received by an excited crew, Surime, Mucho and other members quickly helped them carry their things back to their sleeping quarter.

It was nice to be back, and it was definitely nice to have Koby back as well, Helmeppo can handle acting as captain for some time, he can order people around, he’s a very bossy guy after all, but still it isn’t really for him, he’s much better off being Koby’s second in command.

After leaving their things in Koby and Helmeppo’s shared sleeping quarter everyone got right back to work, him and Koby made a general check up of the ship, Koby focusing on the cabin and communicating with Hq, Helmeppo on organization and checking if there was a need for supplies on the kitchen or med bay.

Koby and he decided everything was in order and that they’d set sails back to New Marineford in two days, for now they would rest and give them for the injured to fully heal. Now more than ever Helmeppo was glad to be back on the ship as he had a nice cup of tea in Koby’s office.

“So captain, now that you’re good and everything regarding the crew has been dealt with, how about… I check in with Zoro and see if tomorrow we’d be able to go” Koby’s eyes widened.

“Oh! I forgot about that!” Helmeppo chuckled “Well we’ve had a busy morning, I don’t blame you” Koby chuckled as well but mixed in with a sigh “So? What do you say, captain?” Koby nodded “Yes! Tomorrow sounds great” Now he couldn’t hide his excitement.

“Aye aye, I’ll be leaving then, you know- For privacy” The blonde let his captain know, which got him eyeing his second in command “What?” Helmeppo asked, Koby looked to the side “Nothing” Still a horrible liar.

 “I meant because someone from the crew could walk in” 

Koby put a hand to the back of his neck “Yes, erm of course!” Helmeppo rolled his eyes and waved as he left, now heading to their sleeping quarters.

The sound of his snail ringing woke him up, the moment he heard it he sat right up and picked it up “Hello-”

“Hey blondie” Zoro accidentally talked over him, oh god, okay that was embarrassing, he was way too excited about this.

“Uhm hi, how are you?” 

“I’m good. You?”

“Also good, finally back on Koby’s ship”

“So he’s finally better now?” The snail nodded.

“Yes, the doctor said he was good to go this morning”

“Hm ‘kay, that's good to hear”

Helmeppo nodded " Mhm and well, now that he’s better I was wondering if we could come over tomorrow?”

“Yeah” Zoro hadn’t even asked the crew… Well now he’d surely have to, but he could do that tomorrow.

“Great! Alright, is your ship in the same place?”

“I think so yeah” The snail raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean you think so??” Zoro shrugged.

“Don’t know, yesterday I had trouble finding it, crew said they didn’t move it but who knows”

“Oh so you got lost, got it”

“Did not”

“You totally did”

“Didn’t”

“Sure did”

“Sureee didn’t”

“Pft alright alright, sure Roronoa, you didn’t”

“Yeah, glad we’re on the same page”

“Hm for sure" He wished he didn't have to see his smile through the snail "Alright, they didn’t move the ship, you said it was close to the beach where we trained so we shouldn’t have trouble finding it, see you tomorrow then” He didn’t want to stop talking.

“Wait-” The snail raised an eyebrow once more.

“Hm?”

“Uh-” He didn’t actually thing about what he’d say “Are you busy right now?”

“Uhm, well not- Right now no” 

“Well I’ve got nothing better to do so I don’t know, maybe we could just chat- If ya want to”

The snail’s eyes widened “Oh! Well uhm yes I guess could talk with you for some time, so uhm- What’d you do today?” Zoro smiled.

“Wake up, eat breakfast, train, take a nap” Helmeppo laughed, Zoro smiled even wider.

“Sounds about right”

“You?”

“Well I took Koby for his check up, then after the doctor said he was better we went back to our hotel to pick our things and go back to the ship, we did some boring tuff, check up on the crew, the conditions of the ship etcetera etcetera, after all that we determined everything was good and decided to let everyone rest” Zoro listened carefully and nodded along.

“Being a marine sounds annoying” Helmeppo sighed with a chuckle.

“Yeah, it is, but well- I don’t know, even if it sucks, I like it here”

“You a masochist or something?”

“Pfft- No idiot, I just mean that well- I feel like this is my place, and it’s not all bad, I liked my old life better for sure but, in the end, it wasn’t good for me, I was alone, I lived in my fa- In Morgan’s shadow and- I never accomplished anything. 

Joining the navy was hard at first but with time I grew used to things here and well I started feeling better about myself, I’m surrounded by people who care about me, I started doing things on my own and accomplishing stuff because of my own effort and- I finally feel like someone now” Zoro wasn’t expecting Helmeppo to reveal such personal things but he was happy he did, he got to understand him better. But now.. He couldn't help but wonder...

“Did something happen with you and Morgan?” Maybe that was a little too personal, but he thought he could just tell him if he didn’t want to answer.

“Hm, yes, why do you ask?”

“Your attitude about him changed”

“Indeed” He kept quiet for a little, Zoro thought that he didn't want to tell him, which he was fine with, but in the end he kept talking “He- Well he escaped, he used me as a hostage to do so, a human shield, that was the moment I finally decided to understand that he didn’t love me, and at first I thought I was just- Doomed to be unloved, that there was nothing I could do, but- Thanks to Koby, I realized that I could have a life outside of Morgan, he.. He called me his friend, he- was the first person to ever call me his friend actually. So... uhm I escaped from Morgan, and long story short now I’m here and that is the reason why my attitude changed”

Zoro didn’t care much about Morgan but now he couldn’t help but be pissed “He really fucking sucks huh?” Helmeppo laughed.

“He does” 

“So- You said he escaped, did someone ever catch him?” The snail shook his head.

“No, no one has, yet. I hope to be the one who does so, to show him I’m not useless, to show him I’m better than him, and to bring him to justice” Zoro grinned.

“That’s the spirit!” The blonde smiled back “I’m happy for you” The pirate told him and Helmeppo smiled even more.

 “Thank you Roronoa, I’m happy for myself too” Zoro laughed.

“And uhm well, any deep trauma you’d like to share?” Helmeppo asked, Zoro shrugged with a slight chuckle.

“My life’s not that complicated” 

“Well you know a lot about me now, but I barely know anything about you”

Zoro shrugged once more “Not much to know, but you can just ask me stuff, I’ll try my best to answer. 

Helmeppo nodded “Alright” He seemed to think about it for a second “What’s your favorite color?”

“Green” Helmeppo laughed at his answer.

“Obviously”

“Yours is purple right?” 

“Oh wooow, you remembered!” Zoro blushed.

“Tch. Well you told me”

“I told you and you remembered it” Helmeppo said with a playful grin that made Zoro blush even more.

“Well- Uh. You know, it’s like I said at the bar, I wanted to know about you so I remembered it. Ask me something else” Helmeppo rolled his eyes with a smile.

“Hmm favorite animal?”

“Tiger. You?”

“Wolf and lycaon”

“Which one’s that?”

“African wild dog”

“Hm okay”

“Favorite food?”

“Uuuh white rice and sea king meat, and stuff I can have with beer. You?”

“Caviar and steak, I also really like wine” Zoro couldn’t help but laugh, yeah of course those were his favorites.

“What’s so funny??”

“Everything you said is rich boy stuff” Helmeppo gasped, the snail looked offended, but Zoro could tell he was just being dramatic.

“Well excuse me for having a refined taste!” Zoro laughed even more.

“Yeah yeah sorry fancy pants” Helmeppo rolled his eyes “Come on, don’t be like that, I’m just messing with ya, go on, ask something else”

“Uuuhm, why did you become a pirate hunter?”

“Easy way for me to make money by fighting people. I only became a pirate because of Luffy, I wouldn't have even considered it if it weren’t for him, but I like this way more, I get to drink and sleep a lot, and I also get to fight really strong opponents, and I’ve got the crew, it’s great”

“Hm it does sound like the perfect life for you, I don’t think I could ever be a pirate, it’s just a type of life that doesn’t fit me, but I do envy the freedom that comes with it”

“What would you do if you weren’t a marine?”

“I’d be a fashion designer”

“Fashion designer?” Zoro repeated.

Helmeppo nodded “Mhm, I really like fashion” 

“Hm makes sense, you dress nice” Helmeppo smiled.

“Thank you”

“You said you want to be a designer though, you know how to sew and stuff?” Helmeppo nodded.

“Yes, one of the few things I did by myself back when I lived in Shells Town. I like designing but I mostly like to wear nice clothes”

“You could be a model”

 Helmeppo laughed “Me? A model? Pft well I do certainly have the looks and the style” He certainly has the looks and the style.. Emphasis on the looks.. He's got long legs, a defined body, nice hair and nice lips and- Okay he was getting side tracked.

“Yeah” Zoro decided to agree with the marine, his response was answered with a blush, Zoro eyed the snail and tried to imagine Helmeppo with the same expression, rose tinted cheeks.. 

“Well uhm, I could also be a stylist” He changed the subject, Zoro raised an eyebrow in response. 

“Like a hairstylist?” Helmeppo shook his head.

“Fashion stylist, basically picking out outfits for others”

“Hm but you wouldn’t get to wear the fits you pick”

“Well- Yes, you’re right, still these are all just hypoteticals, I’m staying on the marines for a while, I’ll save up a lot of money, I’ll get a house of my own, a really nice one, with a garden I can take care of, and have tea parties in, and once I'm tired of the navy life, I’ll retire as marine officer and stay training new recruits” Zoro could imagine that life for Helmeppo.

“Yeah, sounds like you”

“What about you? What does your future look like Roronoa?” Zoro didn’t even need to think about it.

“I’ll be the world’s greatest swordsman, Luffy will be king of the pirates” That was all.

“You want to be the world’s greatest swordsman?”

“Yeah, I will be the world’s greatest swordsman”

Helmeppo smiled “Hm, I believe in you”

“Thanks”

“I don’t want anything that big”

“You want something nice”

“Yes, but well I talked about the way I want to spend my life once I’m older, once I’ve made a name for myself, there are other things I want”

“Like what?”


“I want to fight alongside Koby, I want to have his back at all times, I want to help him reshape the marines, make it an organization that follows his justice, actual justice, an organization I can be proud to be part of” Zoro didn’t expect that, he did know him and Koby were close, but he didn’t know he had strong ideals like that, it impressed him, he liked it.

“You do want something big”

Helmeppo thought about it “Hm, I guess I do”

Zoro felt like he wanted to say something, but he had no idea what it was, so he just eyed the snail, he felt weird again, Helmeppo made him feel weird.

“What are you thinking about?” The blonde asked, Zoro shrugged “I don’t know, I mean- Well I kind of do, I feel like I wanna say something, but don’t know what”

“Hm, I’ve been there, I like to talk a lot, but sometimes silence can speak for you”

“What did my silence say?”

“I think I have an idea but, I might be wrong”

“You won’t be” Helmeppo took a pause, like he was thinking about it, at the end, he spoke.

“Well… I think you’ve liked talking with me”

“I have. Have you?”

Helmeppo smiled lightly and nodded “Yes. And also- I think that you don’t just like talking to me, but that you like me” Zoro’s heart skipped a beat, it seemed like Helmeppo noticed because he corrected himself “I- Meant it as in. You like how I am” Zoro hadn’t noticed he stopped breathing until now. Oh god…

“Uhm, yeah, you’re right, I guess that’s sort of what I wanted to say”

“Well, it is the same for me, I like you too Roronoa Zoro” He was blushing, he knew he was blushing, this is stupid this is so stupid, so stupid.

“Yeah? You do?” 

Helmeppo chuckled “Well obviously, wouldn’t be talking to you if I didn’t” Makes sense “You don’t seem like the type to chat all that much, that really surprised me”

“I’m not”

“Really?” Zoro nodded in response.

“Huh, I guess you really do like talking to me hm?~” Zoro could feel himself blushing again, uuugh.

“Don’t let it get to your head blondie”

“I won’t, I won’t” His smug smile said otherwise.

“Right..”

“What? Don’t you trust me Roronoa? I’m speaking the truth!”

“I trust you, I wouldn't be letting you come to our ship if I didn’t”

“Hmm, I guess you’re right”

That made Zoro think about something “Talking about that, I need to tell ya something, just don’t take it personally ‘kay?” Helmeppo raised an eyebrow.

“Uhm… Alright?”

“Like I said, I’m trusting ya, so if you or Koby do anything to break that trust, if ya hurt my crew on anyway I’ll make sure you don’t get a chance to do it again, so you better not make me have to take action, 'cuz I like ya, and I don’t want to hurt you” Helmeppo raised both eyebrows and then frowned.

“What the hell?? I was waiting for something like I don’t know green isn’t your color, or something like that, it doesn’t really seem like you trust me as much as you say you do.

Let me remind you that Koby is the reason why you didn’t die tied in that yard, Roronoa, so don’t you dare suggest that he’d do anything to you or your crew. 

Koby is the kindest and most respectful person you’ll ever meet, we’re not going to attack your crew while your gourd is low, while you are welcoming us on your ship, Koby would never allow for such a thing. 

And you know what? I’ll say the same, if you or your crew hurt us in any way, shape, or form, I don’t care if I die trying to, I won’t just let you get away with it” Well.. He did take it personally.

“I- I said not to take it personally…” He shouldn’t have gotten so serious on him.. “It’s not because you two are marines, I trust you, I’m trusting you to come here, and I know you won’t do anything, I’m just letting you know what’ll happen if you do something”

“Excuses. There were other ways in which you could have approached the subject”

“Well, what if I didn’t want to?” He fucked up okay he made it worse, he knew it the moment he looked at the snail, Helmeppo was pissed now.

“Alright. Be like that Roronoa”


“Wait-”


“Too late to take back anything. Goodbye” He hanged on him..


Wow, well done Zoro, you just fucked it all up, he’d have to apologize tomorrow… That is, if he comes at all to the ship after that.

Chapter Text

After the call he just stayed in the crow’s nest training, lifting weights, he would gain nothing out of thinking about it, all he had to do was apologize the next day, he’d come, he was sure of it now, he’d come to accompany Koby. 

But.. there was also the other thing he couldn’t stop thinking about, the reason why he cared about Helmeppo being mad at him, he hadn’t noticed until that day, he likes Helmeppo doesn’t he? 

The way he reacted to him saying it, to the words coming out of Helmeppo’s mouth “You like me” Just thinking about it made him feel flustered. And well, it explained a lot, the way he acted, how he got nervous after Helmepp looked at him in the eye.. How he was able to sense his presence so easily, how he couldn’t stop thinking about him, how he made him feel weird.. And well, he was attracted to him the moment he saw him, it reminded him of how it was with Kiku, he liked her but he was only able to tell after Sanji pointed it out to him.

It doesn’t really matter, this changes nothing, he likes him, that’s it. He moved on from the topic and kept training until he heard Sanji calling everyone for dinner.

He cleaned up some sweat from his forehead and then went down to the kitchen, most of the crew was already there, Luffy was already eating, Usopp was fighting him off for trying to steal his food. He sat down at the table expecting another interrogation from his crew like they had done the other times he interacted with Helmeppo, but nothing happened, they all ate, chatted along, and eventually started leaving, and the whole time he’d been too distracted thinking about how to bring up the subject of Koby and Helmeppo coming tomorrow, dinner went by in the blink of an eye.

Nami and Luffy stayed to play Uno after Usopp had proposed the idea, he stayed to watch, and the cook was there cleaning.

“Hey Zoro! Why are you acting weird?” Luffy blurted out in the middle of a conversation, everyone looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Huh? Whatcha mean Luffy?” The sniper asked.

“I dunno! He’s just acting kinda different, you talked a little less today!” Their captain answered, Usopp took a hand to his chin staying pensive, Nami eyed him, the cook laughed.

“He’s always acting weird, no use in wondering if he’s weirder than usual” Zoro frowned and flipped him off.

“I guess Luffy’s right, maybe you are acting a little different, I hadn’t noticed until he pointed it out” Their navigator added, Zoro shrugged.

“Guess I’ve been thinking” Luffy got closer to look at him in the eyes.

“Bout what?” Zoro looked to the other side, guess he couldn’t avoid it now… “Well. I sorta told Koby and his friend that they could come tomorrow” If their attention was on him before now it doubled down.

“You what??” Nami slapped both hands on the table. 

“Uh, is there a problem with that?” Luffy stood up and laughed and smiled with that toothy smile of his “As the captain I say there isn’t!!!” Nami bunked him in the head.

“Zoro you can’t just go around inviting people without even asking the crew first! Much less if you invite a marine! Luffy! Could you at least try to think a little more about this?” Nami reproached him, Luffy sat back down crossing his legs on top of the chair, it looked like he thought about it for a second.

“Hmmm, okay! Thought about it again, I say it’s a good idea!” He smiled once more now with a thumbs up, Nami sighed and ran a hand through her face.

“Uhm- Koby’s the pink marine right?” Usopp asked, Sanji was the one to answer him “Mhm, met him back in Water 7, but you did see him at Uta’s concert right?” The sniper nodded in response.

Zoro was glad they hadn’t even thought about Helmeppo yet.

Sanji had already lit up a cigarette and took a drag of it “Ey Mosshead, you know at what time they’re coming? I need to know if I’ll be having to add two more plates at the table”

“Two?” The sniper asked.

“He said Koby and his friend no? That’s two” Sanji put out his cigarette and got back to washing the dishes, Usopp looked confused “Who was his fried  again?” Great, now they were definitely going to talk about him.

Everyone stayed silent, it looked like they were all thinking “Long nose’s right, what friend are you talking about Marimo?” Everyone looked at him.

“Uh….” Luffy didn’t even let him answer “Wait! Hellhippo right?!” Now everyone was looking at him “Hell what??” Nami asked.

“Butt chin one! With- with the long hair!” Everyone was quiet again, thinking, until it seemed like Nami remembered “Ah! That’s right! The one with the visor! The blonde one!” Oh no.. Everyone’s eyes lit up.

“Blonde and with long hair?” Usopp asked.

“There’s no way…” Sanji added.

“I mean.. It’s what makes the most sense no?” The sniper asked once more, Zoro desperately wanted to change the subject.

“Uh, what happened to playing Uno guys??” He did a terrible job at it.

“IT IS HIM!” Nami basically shouted.

“No it isn’t” Zoro lied, it was a horrible lie, he was red, everyone could tell. Luffy laughed again “BAHAHAHAH! That’s really funny Zoro!” He didn’t get what was so funny about it.

“I never would have thought of him! To be honest, I completely forgot about the guy! But yeah! He’s got long blonde hair, uses uhm some weird type of swords, right? He fought Zoro I think and well he’s a marine and he was with Luffy’s grandpa so he must be buff, it all fits!” Nami highlighted.

“Just a coincidence” Zoro tried to save himself again and failed miserably once more.

“Oh come on Zoro, that lie was ass! There’s no point in doing it now, it’s obvious!” The sniper said with a laugh, Sanji joined in with him “There’s no way you like a marine! Pftt and that guy? He was kind of a loser wasn’t he?”

Luffy laughed even louder “That’s because you didn’t see him before! He used to suck!” He couldn’t disagree with that, but that didn’t stop him from frowning a little.

Nami was cleaning out a tear “Oh goddd, now I get why you didn’t want to tell us before!” Grrrgrgr that wasn’t the reason! It was just none of their business.

“Stop! Okay, I like the guy fine. But stop insulting him okay???” Everyone quited down, Nami gave him a half smile.

“Alright alright, sorry Zoro” She gave him a light pat on the head “Sorry Zo Zo..” Usopp apologized too, unlike the cook who just kept washing the dishes, and Luffy who was just looking at him.

“It’s fine.. I get it, he was kind of a loser” 

“So… How did this happen” The navigator asked him.

“Yeah! I was wondering that too! I thought ya didn’t like him!” Their captain said, with a curious smile.

“It just happened I guess. I saw him again, he was strong, and- He did sumthin nice, I bumped into him, he looked like he was feeling down, invited him for a drink and yeah, then we trained, and uh he called and we chatted, that’s it” Usopp and Nami booed.

“You’re really bad at this” Usopp let him know, Nam nodded in agreement.

“Yeah! You make even the most interesting things sound boring” Nami complained.

“There’s nothing interesting about it! I just like the guy, that’s it” All of them sighed except for Sanji, he didn’t seem all that interested now that they weren’t laughing at Zoro or embarrassing him.

“Come oon can’t you tell us what you like about him at least?” What he likes about him… He’d recognized he found him attractive, but he hadn’t thought about what else interested him about Helmeppo, so he took some time to organize his thoughts.

“Well.. He’s open about what he feels and thinks, doesn’t take bulshit from anyone and even if he doesn’t feel all that good ‘bout himself, he doesn’t let others drag his name around and stuff. 

And well, not just anyone can realize when they’re an asshole and decide they don’t wanna be one anymore, changing is hard but he did it, and I can tell he worked hard for it, he gained muscle and began mastering difficult blades like kukris, going from having others do everything for you to that.. he’s strongwilled.

He’s also…” Cute, very cute, he’s got the cutest laugh and such a nice smile, but he couldn’t say that, just thinking about it made him red already, so he looked to the other side and thought of something else “Nice to talk to.. I don’t usually talk much but uh he makes me wanna talk and stuff.. Yeah that’s about it” Also he’s just really good looking but he also wasn’t going to say that.

Everyone looked at him with surprise, even Sanji “Aw… That’s really sweet actually” Nami said, it made him think that if Franky were here, he would have definitely cried.

“And do ya think he feels the same?” The sniper asked, Zoro shrugged in response “Don’t know, don’t care, doesn’t really matter” Nami basically slammed both hands on the table as she stood up.

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter?!” Usopp backed her up “Yeah! Aren’t you gonna tell him how ya feel?”

“No, I’m probably not gonna see him again for a while” Nami hit the side of his shoulder slightly “That’s exactly why you have to tell him, idiot! You don’t know when you’ll see him again!” Usopp nodded in agreement with her.

“Yeah but it’s not like it’d change anything, he’s a marine, it’s not like we could date or sumthin. Besides… he’s kinda mad at me right now” Luffy laughed again…

“BAHAHAH what’d Zoro do now?” 

“Yeah Zoro.. What did you do?” Nami asked him with a judging look.

“Nothin’- I just.. Well, I kinda threatened him.. said if he hurt any of us I’d hurt him and Koby and he kinda got offended and uh I told him it wasn’t cuz they’re marines and that I trusted him but it was just in case, and he said I could have used another tone.. and uh I kinda.. said that.. what if I didn’t feel like it and he hung up on me..” Usopp and Nami sighed, Luffy frowned? Sanji rolled his eyes.

“You are such an idiot” The cook let him know “Me? All you’ve got is pervy thoughts up there you ero coo-” Nami bunked him.

 “You messed up, admit it, you were an idiot” Usopp let him know.

“Yeah Zoro! Koby wouldn’t hurt us if we invite him to our ship! He’s our friend! And I trust him! And if he trusts Hellhi- Helemp-” He gave up “His friend! I trust him too! You were rude! Now you gotta apologize!” Zoro admitted it, he messed up.. He pouted slightly.

“Yeah…”

“Well?? What are you waiting for?? Call him!” Said their navigator.

“I can't” Nami raised an eyebrow “Don’t have his number, he just has mine” She sighed and ran a hand through her face “And do you think he’ll come tomorrow? Did you even talk about what time they’d come?” Sanji had finished washing the dishes by this point “Our dear navigator made a wonderful question, I still need to know if they’ll come for dinner” He kept quiet.

“You don’t know don’t you…” Nami sighed once more, Luffy laughed.

“BHAHAHA Zoro you really are dumb!” He frowned.

“No I’m not! Just- Didn’t think about it” They all kept quiet “But uh- I’m sure he’ll come, for Koby, he means a lot to him and stuff, and he knows how important Luffy is to him so.. they’ll be here, and even if we don’t know when the cook can just make lunch for them too, and if they come later Luffy can just eat their part, easy” 

“I guess” Said the cook as he dried up his hands.

“I just have to think of a way to apologize now…” 

“Well you just say sorry! I was rude yesterday my bad!” Luffy explained to Zoro, Nami bunked him in the head in response.

“No you won’t! You will give out a proper apology! And we won’t tell you how to do it, it’s up to you Zoro, Usopp nodded “Yeah, just as long as you’re honest it should work” Ironic coming from the liar of the crew.

“Let’s hope it does” Zoro replied. The room went quiet until Sanji basically gasped “WAIT- YOU IDIOT SWORDSMAN. YOU WERE MEANT TO WASH THE DISHES TONIGHT!” He went up to him to quick him, Zoro stopped him with his swords “WHAT THE HELL?! I forgot! And so did ya! You washed them already so why are you mad?!” They kept fighting until Nami yelled at them to stop “You’re going to wake up the others!!” Sanji immediately stopped “I’m so sorry my dear Nami-swaaan!!!” She squashed him again “Still loud” He looked like he was about to cry.

“Ouuuh my beloved Nami-swan please forgive meee” He said almost whispering, Nami rolled her eyes “Yeah yeah I forgive you” He thanked her repeatedly as he bowed down.

Nami yawned and began walking to the door “I’m going to bed now, Zoro you’re on watch tonight since you didn’t wash the dishes, goodnight!” She left and Usopp stood up “Yeah it’s getting late, I’m heading to bed too” He said as he was about to leave, Luffy followed along “Wait for me Usopp! I want ya to tell me another story before bed like the other day!” The door closed behind him and now it was just Sanji and Zoro in the kitchen.

“You heard Nami, you’re on watch” Zoro sighed “Yeah yeah, I heard” Sanji took a cigaretter and lit it up “And shower tomorrow, you stink”

“YOU STINK, and tomorrow’s not my bath day” Sanji gave him a judging look “You shouldn’t have a bath day in the first place, you should clean yourself every day. But we won’t be having this discussion again, it’s useless trying to convince you.

What I meant is that you should be clean for when our guests get here, especially that marine of yours” 

Zoro raised an eyebrow “Don’t say it like that, he’s got a name”



“Well he’s a man, so I’m not putting in the effort of learning his weird name” Zoro was ready to fight again but he stopped him “You heard what Nami said, the last thing I’d want is to inconvenience my beloved Nami-swaaaan!!!” Zoro gave him a look of disgust.

“Yeah yeah whatever, I guess I can take a quick shower then” And with that he went back to the crow’s nest.

Chapter Text

After his call with Zoro he was pissed, so he went for a walk to clear his mind. The last thing he wanted was to talk badly to Koby and the crew because of his argument with Zoro. He was much calmer after, but he wouldn’t forgive Zoro until he apologized.

He had passed Koby on his way out of the ship, he asked what happened, it was clear by his body language that he was angry, he simply did a cross sign with his fingers as he often did when he wasn’t in a state to talk. 

Now being back Koby asked once more, and he simply explained that him and Zoro had a bit of a misunderstanding nothing to worry about, which was true, and Koby seemed to acknowledge it as such and dropped the subject, changing it to talking about their visit to the Straw Hat’s once more, it was then when Helmeppo realized they hadn’t really gotten to talk about the time they could arrive.. So he decided to call once more, except, he didn’t pick up, Helmeppo called, and waited and called and waited, still nothing.


“FINE! If that’s how you want to act” He talked to the air “Koby. We will be showing up whenever we please” The pink haired captain raised an eyebrow “Huh? But- Helmeppo-san.. That’d be rude, what if they aren’t ready to reci-” Helmeppo interrupted him “Well they will have to be! We have no other way of contacting them that isn’t Zoro, and he won’t pick up, so they better find a way to serve us lunch, we’ll be showing up at 12 am”


Koby sighed “Don’t I get a say in this?” Helmeppo opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it “Ah.. My apologies, is 12 am fine by you?” Koby smiled slightly while rolling his eyes at his friend “Yes, 12 am sounds fine by me” 

“Excellent, oh! And before I forget, do not wear your uniform tomorrow, look for something nice and casual” Koby seemed confused by this “Huh?”


“Well we can’t arrive with our uniforms obviously, we’d be showing up as marines, not as their friends and guests”


“Oooh, you’re right! I hadn’t thought about that! Sorry!” Helmeppo chuckled “What are you apologizing for, idiot?” Koby laughed along “So-” He was about to do it again, they both burst out laughing 

Today was the day… Luffy let out the news to the rest of the crew, Robin, smart as always, was quickly able to arrive to the same conclusion the others had yesterday, Helmeppo was “his secret lover” great… Breakfast sure was fun with everyone talking about it. They had to describe Helmeppo to Brook who had forgotten about him, in the end they all ended up laughing at his chin.


“It’s split yeah, but it doesn’t look like a ball sack at all, just a butt crack kind of” Everyone laughed, Zoro grunted “Yer right Zoro! But you guys know who’s chin looks like a ballsack? Judge!” Zoro didn’t really get the joke, but some part of the crew laughed at their captain’s joke, even Sanji let out a little chuckle.


Somehow after Chopper and some of the others had left the remaining people and the table all ended up making dirty jokes about Zoro and Helmeppo’s chin, he finished what was left of his breakfast as fast as possible and left with a growl, angrily stepping out of the kitchen, cheeks bright red. What did he do to deserve being in this sort of situation?

The rest of the morning went by way too slowly for his liking, he trained to kill off some time until he remembered what the cook had recommended to him last night.. He decided to do it, not because the cook said so, obviously, it was just hot out today yeah.

Now officially clean he actually tried looking for something different for a change, nothing too nice, the crew would notice and make fun of him.. Just a nice graphic shirt, some cargo pants and simpler shoes instead of his boots that he usually wears, yeah he looked great, but not like he had put effort into it, perfect.

Still when Nami saw him coming out she was quick to mention his clothes “Oooh, looking nice Zoro! I’m sure your little boyfriend will love it” He frowned, and went back to the crow’s nest, not to train but to meditate since he’d already gone through the effort of taking a bath.

He had no idea of how much time had passed but eventually, they had gotten there, even if he hadn’t heard Luffy scream Koby’s name from the top of his lungs, his haki had already alerted him of their arrival, like before, he could specially sense Helmeppo. 

Now that the moment actually arrived he felt nervous.. Maybe he SHOULD have practiced this before.. No- He had this, the apology would come to him naturally, even if he isn’t the best with words. 

As he went down the Crow’s nest he could already see Luffy launching himself into Koby’s arms and wrapping him around a tight hug before he even finished getting on the ship “Wrap it up! You can hug him and greet him all you want once we’re actually on the ship” That was Helmeppo’s voice.. He couldn’t help but smile, that made him embarrassed, he immediately changed his face unto his usual neutral one, he could feel Usopp nudging him slightly and making eyes at him, great. 

As soon as he got on the ship Zoro went up to him, he hadn’t even began opening his mouth before Helmeppo stopped him by putting his hand in front of him “This too can wait for later, I have to greet your crew first, you can say whatever you want to me after that” And just like that, he kept walking, without even looking at him, great. But at least he was open to listening to his apology- More like expecting it actually, he just hoped he was open to forgiving him too.

“Welcome to the Thousand Sunny!” Usopp greeted both of them, Helmeppo offered him a smile and a handshake “Thank you very much, I believe I really haven’t gotten a chance to present myself to you, I’m Helmeppo” Usopp smiled and shuckled slightly “Yeah! I know, I’ve heard lots about ya!” He had to cover his mouth to stop his laugh, Helmeppo raised an eyebrow at that and kept greeting the others, he guessed he’d ask Zoro about that later.

After everyone had said their hello’s, Sanji announced that lunch would be done in around an hour and got right back to the kitchen, in that time Luffy decided he’d be giving Koby a tour of the ship, he grabbed his hand and dragged him along with him, he could clearly see Koby’s red cheeks, but he had other things to focus on, like the rest of his crew who was now all around Helmeppo.

“So Helmeppo, what’s that blindfold you’ve got there? Can ya really see with it?” Usopp asked, Franky joined in on the questioning “Yeah! Or is it like some Vegapunk invention that allows ya to see radiation?” Helmeppo laughed “No no, nothing like that! Sadly this is just a visor, not a blindfold! Merely a fashion statement, and yes I can see through them, they are like a pair of shades, just- More stylish I would say” Everyone laughed, Helmeppo seemed to be a bit embarrassed by the attention, now that was something he expected, he’d learned that as smug as he looks, he is actually quite awkward in this type of situations, so cute…

“Your top is so cute! Where’d you get it” The navigator asked, it was indeed nice.. His whole outfit was nice, he was wearing an open blouse with a nice floral print, exposing his chest..bell bottom pants with a nice belt, some fancy loafers, his usual visor and to top it all off a baker boy hat “Ah sorry, I’m afraid I bought it at a thrift store, I don’t think they’d have another one like this” Nami sighed in response. Everyone was getting a little too close to him.. 

“And sooo, how’s your stay at the island been, done anything interesting?” Nami asked another question “Not much really, you see, Koby’s been hurt for most of our stay here, so I’ve been taking care of him” Nami nodded “What about your little bar date with Zoro-san?” Brook suddenly asked, he didn’t even need to see Helmeppo’s eyes to know they were wide open, that’s when he decided to bulge in and drag Helmeppo out of their weird interrogation circle “That’s enough! Helmeppo, we’ve got stuff to talk about” And so, he held Helmeppo by the hand and guided him away from his noisy crewmates to the stairs leading up to the crow’s nest, they were both quiet all the way up.

Zoro sat down and offered Helmeppo a seat next to him, which he quickly took “What was that about?!” He shouted as soon as he sat down, Zoro had to make something up.. “Brook’s old- I’m sure he meant like- hanging out. Just don’t think much about it, and uh- there’s more important stuff I want to talk about” Helmeppo seemed to have calmed down, and he agreed with him, he crossed his arms and slid up his visor “Go on” Zoro gulped, alright.. this is happening.

“I- I’m sorry..” There was a slight pause “For?” Helmeppo asked, he knew the answer of course, he just wanted him to keep going “For- Speaking to ya like that yesterday, I don’t know why I did that- I guess I kinda got nervous but still- Not an excuse, it was rude, and you were right, my tone was definitely bad- I’m sorry, I promise I trust ya, I didn’t want to imply you two would actually do something against us- I guess.. I was just being cautious.. Protective and stuff, sorry, I just get like that when it’s about my crew. I get worried for them a lot, don’t want anything to happen to them, so sometimes I kinda act like that when I don’t mean to, and I’m sorry- I’m really glad ya both came on the ship today” Once he was finished Helmeppo stared at him, still with his arms crossed and a serious face, it looked like he was thinking about it.

“Apology accepted” Zoro sighed in relief “I guess I have done worse stuff to you, like tying you up in my backyard and have you without food or water for weeks, so I would be a complete ass if I didn’t forgive you after you forgave something like that and gave me a proper apology, especially since- I get you, I can be like that with Koby too, he’s stronger than me but- He still put his life at risk all of the time! I can’t help but be overly protective of him, so I understand you, and since you’ve apologized, and your apology showed that you really meant what you were saying, I forgive you” He couldn’t help but smile.

“Thanks Meppo…” Helmeppo raised an eyebrow “Huh? We’re using nicknames now?” Oh god… That just came out, he hadn’t really thought about it “I guess I could call you uhm Zo? Zo Zo?” He giggled “Zo Zo is cute” Oh his giggle.. he had almost completely ignored the second nickname.


“Absolutely not, maybe Zo” Helmeppo chuckled “I prefer calling you Roronoa, hehe, it sounds like “ronroneo” Is that a word he didn’t know or was that in another language “Uuuh and what does that mean?”

“It’s purr in spanish” Now that's a surprise “Since when do you speak spanish?”

“Since always, it’s my first language, Morgan speaks it and so did my mother, she was from Dressrosa”


“Was?” Helmeppo nodded “Mhm, she died when I was young” 

“Ah- Sorry”

“No worries”

“My mom died when I was young too”

“Oh”

“Of a sickness”

“I see… well, my condolences” Zoro didn’t speak, neither did Helmeppo, he didn’t know what to say next, but Zoro was thinking about their conversation.

“Yesterday… You said I’ve learned a lot about you, but- There’s still many things I don’t know, and.. the times I’ve gotten to learn something, the more I want to learn. I guess what I mean is- that you’re an interesting guy Helmeppo” Helmeppo smiled “Is that so~?” Zoro nodded with slight blush on his cheeks “...Mhm, very”

Helmeppo flipped his hair behind “Well, what else do you want me to share with you hm?” Zoro put a hand to the side of his neck as he thought “Uuuh, you speak any other languages?” Helmeppo nodded “German” He wasn’t expecting him to actually speak another one “Really?!” He nodded once more “Mhm, got it from Morgan, his mother spoke spanish and his father german, at least that is what my mother said. Oh- And I’ve also learned a little bit of French too, but like I said, just a little” That was still crazy..

“Impressive” Zoro replied with a grin “Thank you~ Anything else you are interested in learning?”

“What was your mother’s name”

“Calliope”

“Pretty”

“Mhm, wish I could have gotten a nicer name like hers”

“Helmeppo isn’t so bad” 

Helmeppo sighed “It is.. but I’ve learned to live with it, at least it is a name that can be turned into many different nicknames”

“Oh yeah, you’re right, it’s kind of a long name”

“Before I joined the marines people just called me by my name, some times they didn’t even put in the effort to learn it and just called me Morgan’s son.. but now- I’m Meppy, Meppo, Helm etc etc”

“I like Meppo..”

Helmeppo laughed “I noticed” Zoro gave him an embarrass chuckle in reply “It’s kinda cute” Helmeppo nodded with a smile “It is, that’s why I like it too” 

“It fits you” 

Maybe he was thinking about it too much.. but Zoro said the nickname was cute, and then that it suited him.. He couldn’t help but blush when thinking about the possibility of Zoro finding him cute “Thanks” he said it with such a shy smile, Helmeppo was right, Zoro did find him cute, extremely cute, distractingly cute, he needed to divert his attention or he would notice it.

“You’re welcome. So uh, got any other nicknames?” 

Helmeppo nodded in response “Plenty, uuuhm there’s Mepps, the crew calls me that when they’re drunk” Zoro laughed, yeah, he could perfectly imagine that “There’s also uhm.. Oh! There’s Helmy” Helmeppo said it with such a soft smile..

“Helmy? That one’s cute too, who gave you that one”

“Tashigi” And the same soft smile accompanied his lips as he said her name, Zoro frowned, she really did have to ruin everything for him “Tch” Helmeppo immediately laughed at his reaction “Oh seas.. You guys really do hate one another!” Zoro crossed his arms “How”d you know?”

“She has talked to me about your little rivalry” Now Zoro frowned even more, Helmeppo was amused, he didn’t think he could look even more mad.

“Tch, of course she has. Don’t listen to anything she said, it was probably nothing but lies” Helmeppo laughed once more, but Zoro didn’t see what was funny about that “Pft! Why do you hate her so much hm? I know her reasoning but said you didn’t have one and that you hated her just because” Zoro humphed “See? Lies! I hate her because she’s a copy cat” Helmeppo couldn’t help but laugh once more “And what does that mean?”

“Looks too much like someone I used to know” He looked to the other side, didn’t want to see Helmeppo laugh and smile, he was mad at captain four eyes right now “And tell me is that really her fault?”


“Tch. Don’t care. Let’s stop talking about four eyes, I want to know about you, not her” And there it was again, that smile.. that laugh.. ugh, he couldn’t be mad anymore “Alright alriiight, how about I keep talking about myself while you show me around the ship hm? 

I must admit I was really tempted to join Koby and your captain, but you and I had some business to discuss, besides, I wanted to let them have some time on their own to catch up” Zoro stood up immediately and extended a hand to help Helmeppo up, he knew he could do it on his own, he was just- trying to be a good host, yeah, totally just that.

Helemppo gladly took Zoro’s hand and followed him downstairs, surprisingly, the crew had left already, Zoro was half expecting them to be there, waiting for them to be over to interrogate them, he was more than relieved to see they weren’t.

“What do you want to see first?”

“Aren’t you the one giving me the tour? Shouldn’t you make that decision?” 

“Uuuuh.. Right, okay so uhm follow me” He decided to guide Helmeppo to the aquarium since it was on the first floor, they could hear Luffy and Koby in the distance on their way. Like a good host and gentleman Zoro opened the door for Helmeppo and puffed out his chest proudly when he received a soft thank you in return.

Helmeppo was left with his mouth open as he examined the room “Oh this is gorgeous…” It was a nice place to nap, and the fish were cool he guessed but.. Helmeppo under the blue light, now THAT was something he would call gorgeous, but not out loud..

“Yeah, it’s nice” 

“I never would have imagined your ship would have such a beautiful place.. you guys have no need to go out for food, this place looks like a luxurious restaurant..”

“You like that type of stuff right?” Helmeppo smiled as he nodded “I mean, who wouldn’t?!” Well.. he doesn’t care much for that stuff, but he wasn’t going to tell him that and ruin his mood “Guess I can tell the cook to send our dinner down here” Helmeppo raised an eyebrow “Dinner?”

“Uh yeah, you weren’t planning on staying for dinner?” Helmeppo pushed a strand of his hair behind his ear “Well.. Since you’re asking.. I guess I can’t decline” Zoro’s thoughts were shouting in celebration.

“Alright, cool”

“Cool”

“You know what else is cool?”

Helmeppo chuckled “What?”

“You, next question, how tall are you?”

“PFFT- Oh I totally forgot about the questions, oh seas okay 6’4 I believe, at least last time I checked” He’s taller than he thought.. “What about you?” Zoro cleared his throat before answering “5’11” Helmeppo smiled “Seems like I’m a few inches taller than you” Zoro crossed his arms “Just a few” The marine laughed, he seemed like he was about to say something but suddenly they heard the sound of the door to the aquarium bar opening, the light from the outside entered the room, and casting a shadow was the crew’s musician.

“Oh! My apologies! Seems like I’ve interrupted something!” Zoro was about to answer him until Helmeppo beat him to it as he approached the skeleton “Not at all mister Soul King! We were just chatting, nothing to worry about!” Brook laughed with that weird, but characteristic, laugh of his “Yohohoho! Oh no need to call me Soul King! You are a friend of the crew! Brook is just fine!” Helmeppo nodded before bowing down “Sorry! I’m just a huge fan of yours!”

“Huh?” Zoro didn’t expect that at all.

“Ah! A fan I see! Well now that makes more sense, you did seem quite excited to greet me when you first arrived at the ship!” Helmeppo nodded with a smile “I’ve been a fan since day one! I- actually- Well.. I brought one of your posters from your final concert!” He took a piece of neatly folded paper from his pocket and unfolded it to reveal something that looked a lot like Brook’s bounty. From the other one she took her purple pen “I wasn’t able to attend because of work.. Preparations for the reverie and all that, but! I managed to take this one from the street and.. I was wondering if you could sign it for me?” Huh, he really is a fan.

Brook laughed once more “Well of course! I’d do anything for such a huge fan of mine!” He gently took the poster from Helmeppo’s hands and went up to the table to sign it for him, returning and handing it back to him after he was done “Here you go Helmeppo-san!” He bowed once more as he hugged the poster “Thank you very much mister Brook!”

“Oh don’t sweat it! It was my pleasure!” Helmeppo folded it and put it back in his pocket alongside his pen “Well, since I didn’t interrupt anything, I hope you don’t mind if I stay here and play a little song?” Zoro liked Brook’s music, but.. he did kind of want to spend some time alone with Helmeppo, but that shine in his eyes told him he would want him to stay and play his song.. And he was right, Helmeppo was beyond excited, he happily nodded, which made sense to Zoro, he’s a fan and didn’t get to go to his last concert, so this was an opportunity he would be happy to accept.

“Yes of course! We would love to, wouldn't we Zoro?” For the first time in what seemed like too long but actually was less than 5 minutes.. Helmeppo looked at Zoro, and.. of course, he had to agree too “Yeah, sure” He tried sounding as normal as possible.

After his answer Helmeppo practically jumped from joy and interlocked his arm with Zoro’s to guide them both to the sofa, Zoro couldn’t complain about that.. After sitting, Helmeppo sadly put his arm away and rested both hands in his lap, bummer.

Brook smiled, as much as a skeleton could, and cleared his throat before taking out a violin Zoro hadn’t even noticed he was holding, Helmeppo of course had seen it from the moment he arrived and had been anticipating this moment the whole time.

The musician began playing a soft ballad, he sang a song about puppy love, a planted seed that was hoping to grow and flourish, a love so new yet so sweet and genuine that he couldn’t wait to see the flower that would grow from it. 

After the song ended Helmeppo stood up and clapped as Brook did a reverence, it was beautiful.. A gorgeous song that he’d never heard before, meaning that Soul King had never published it.. Making it all the more special to him. Zoro had to admit that it was a really nice song, but he also couldn’t ignore Brook’s intentions.. he obviously had a reason for singing THAT song to them.. he might as well have written it about them specifically.. that would be even more embarrassing, especially since there is no blooming love or whatever, they are friends, and have been friends only for around 3 days.. still, even if he wanted to deny it, deep down, he wanted something like that, something that would never happen.. he guessed that he could live it through the song.

Zoro clapped too, Brook kept making reverences “Oh thank you! Thank you, you both are a wonderful public! To be honest I was planning on practicing the song here, but since you two were already in here I thought oh well! I guess I will perform it for them!” Who knew if that was true or if he had been looking for them.

“Well we’re really lucky to have been here for it sir! But don’t worry, you can keep practicing without us here, Zoro was actually showing me around the ship, this was just the first place he showed me, we best continue with our tour if we want to finish before lunch is ready!” Brook nodded “Ah I see I see, took inspiration from the captains hm? Well I hope you enjoy our beautiful ship!” Helmeppo smiled as he nodded “I’m sure I will!” And with that he signaled for Zoro to walk ahead of him “After you” He said with a smirk, Zoro rolled his eye with a smile as he walked out the room, Helmeppo followed, they both waved at Brook before leaving.

“Where to now, my trusty guide?” Helmeppo asked the pirate, which once more, rolled his eye as a smile decorated his mouth “Guess the men’s chambers since that’s all there’s left of this part” He took them both to the door on the other side of the deck and opened it for him, Helmeppo gave him a smile as he went in “Don’t judge the mess” Helmeppo chuckled “I think it’s pretty standard, I’ve seen crazier rooms, the new recruits always leave a mess on their first night, but they learn quickly not to make the same mistakes again” Zoro could imagine Helmeppo bossing around a bunch of teenagers in a strict marine way, the thought made him chuckle.

“Well I guess there’s nothing too out of the ordinary here, just bunks, sofas and lockers” Helmeppo nodded as he went further into the room, he walked up to the wall with all of their bounties, and ran a hand through Zoro’s, the pirate’s stomach started feeling weird as he did it “Your bounties just keep going up and up huh?” Zoro awkwardly nodded “Do you have a Cross Guild bounty?” The crew tended to read the news out loud, that’s how he knew about it.

“I do, a bounty of 2 stars as of recently.. I’ve actually stumbled upon a couple rookies trying to hunt me down, of course, none have been successful” He grinned proudly, Zoro patted him on the shoulder as a way of congratulating him “So uh what’s your rank?” 

“Lieutenant Commander of Navy Headquarters” Zoro looked at him with confusion “Lieu- uh what?” Helmeppo chuckled slightly and repeated “Lieutenant Commander, specifically a Lieutenant Commander from Navy Headquarters” Zoro looked at him confused again “Uh is you being from the HQ different?” The marine nodded in response “Yes, my rank is higher than that of the Lieutenant Commanders who aren’t part of HQ, meaning that I’d have around the same rank as a normal marine captain, same rank as Morgan as of now… But I’m hoping to change that” He liked that, that determination, that ambition, he really liked that.

“Can’t wait to see it, Lieutenant Commander” Oh god- He used his rank, people use his rank all the time- But, it’s a work environment, and they even forget the “commander” sometimes, this shouldn’t make him feel like this, but ough when Zoro said it, he couldn’t help but feel happy.

“Ehyeehyeeh… Really?” Zoro cleared his throat as he felt his cheeks redden “Y-yeah” Helmeppo smiled from ear to ear “You know Zoro, I’ve kept some of your bounties” That took the pirate off guard “Ya have?” He nodded with a smile “I tried using your first one on a training dummy-” Zoro snorted, he could picture that so clearly “But uh, in the end.. I figured out my dad’s was more effective.

But still, the next time your bounty got updated, I snatched one, I couldn’t help myself from doing so, I’m not sure why. 

I kept it, hidden away of course, because I was embarrassed about it.. Well- I still am, but- you know! Uhm- I just wanted to say that, whenever I felt like giving up, I looked at it, and thought about our fight, and how much I still had to work on, and it helped me get back on track so uh- thank you for that” Zoro smiled at him, he did feel a little bad because until the moment they met, just a few days ago, he hadn’t really thought about Helmeppo at all, but right now, he was sure the guy wouldn’t leave his mind so easily.

“Well, I’m glad I was able to be of help Mepps” After hearing the nickname, Helmeppo had to stop himself from giggling uncontrollably, he nervously twisted a strand of his hair, Zoro noticed and smiled, feeling proud of himself, Helmeppo was clearly flustered by the use of that nickname “So uhm how about you show me to another room?” Zoro laughed and gave him a pat on the back signaling him to follow him out of the room.

“So uh, on the second floor from this side, there’s the girl’s room but uuh- I can’t really show ya that, and on the third one there’s the steering wheel, I could show ya to the kitchen on the other side, and uh on top of it there’s also the garden, I think Luffy and Koby were up there and uh there’s also the bath and the library” Helmeppo had a hard time imagining those things on a pirate ship, but then he thought back to the aquarium, if they had such a fancy place like that, the other things made sense.

“Alright then, lead the way” They went up to the second floor, like the gentleman he is, Zoro opened the door for Helmeppo once more, he gave him another smile as he went in before him. He was met with honestly, a really pretty, clean and well taken care of kitchen, but well, looking at the cook of the crew in person, it made a lot of sense, he had seen the guy before, but it was always quite shocking to see him again, he couldn’t take his wanted poster out of his mind.

“Oi, Curly” Zoro called out to Sanji, and the moment he heard his voice he seemed to get pissed, he didn’t even look at him, just kept looking at what he was preparing “What is it Mosshead?” Zoro went up to the kitchen counter and sat down on the- chair? in front of it, then signaled Helmeppo to follow suit, he carefully sat next to him. 

“Tell me what you want already Moss, I don’t have time for you right now“ The cook kept his attention on the food “Won’t ya great our guest or something? Where are your manners?” The cook looked at Helmeppo “Ah- Sorry, hadn’t seen you there, hello” then he went back to cooking “Like I said, I don’t have time for ya, now if you don’t want anything you and your buddy can leave” Helmeppo was offended by his attitude “Rude” Helmeppo stated, the chef finally looked up.

“My apologies uh-” He seemed to try to remember his name but failed “I’m just busy at the moment, I was just talking back to Zoro, but if you do need anything please let me know” Helmeppo sighed “I don’t really need anything, thank you for asking, Zoro was giving me a little tour of the ship before lunch”

“PFFT- Mosshead? Showing you around? And how’s that been going hm?” Helmeppo could already deduce what made the cook laugh “PRETTY GOOD. Not like ya actually care” Zoro answered “Well he has been successfully showing me around” The cook laughed once more “Well that’s good to hear, seems like he made up time on your little tour to come bother me, but at least he hasn’t been worse than Luffy with his.. he came to beg me for food and stole a bunch of the stuff I was making, at least his little marine friend-” Helmeppo interrupted him “Koby” he let him now “Koby.. was able to get him away before he caused too much damage-

I’m getting side tracked!! Since you two don’t need anything then just look around all you want, as long as you don’t bother me or touch anything” Helmeppo decided to let his attitude pass since he seemed stressed.

Helmeppo looked at Zoro “Well, we’ve seen the kitchen already, why don’t you show me somewhere else?” Zoro nodded, they left the kitchen to check the sick bay, Zoro knocked on the open door to let the resident doctor know they were there, the reindeer almost jumped out of his chair, so cute..

“Hey there Chopper, just stopping by for a sec, showing our guest around the ship and stuff” After noticing Helmeppo, Chopper got out of his chair and extended a hoof, which Helmeppo shook with a soft smile from ear to ear “Hii! I’m Chopper! I didn’t get a chance to talk to you when you got here! Nice to meet you!!” Helmeppo could cry.. “My name is Helmeppo, nice to meet you too Chopper” Helmeppo kept smiling, he just couldn’t stop himself.

“I can show you my things if you want!” Helmeppo nodded “I would love that!” He was too focused on Chopper to notice the warm smile Zoro had as he watched the them both interact, he stood by the door looking at the two as Chopper showed him around, Helmeppo paid extra attention to him, especially when he showed him his spinning chair and gave him a demonstration.

The sick bay is pretty small so they were done quite quickly “And that’s all!” Chopper said once he finished “Thank you for showing me around! It seems like you’re a very skilled doctor!” Chopper smiled and danced “Oh you bastard! That totally doesn’t make me happy at all!” Helmeppo couldn’t help but giggle as he waved goodbye to the reindeer “He’s too damn cute!!!” He told Zoro after they walked away from the sick bay, Zoro chuckled “I guess he is, but don’t let him hear ya” Helmeppo chuckled “Will he do another silly dance” Zoro nodded with a smile “Yeah” He answered “Ehyeh then I definitely will” Zoro smiled, he just couldn’t take his eye away from Helmeppo.

“So, where should we head now?” Zoro gave it some thought “Won’t take ya to the lower floor, there’s just machinery and Franky and Usopp’s inventing stuff, guess there’s only the library and bathroom for me to show you, and, I didn’t really give you a tour of the crow’s nest, but you saw it, that was enough right?” Helmeppo nodded “Guess the library’s next” Helmeppo nodded once more “Alright, lead the way!”.

On their way they stumbled upon Jinbe, who greeted them both, he seemed to have been familiar with Helmeppo already since they fought together in Elegia. Once they arrived at the library, they found Nami at her desk with some maps around her, Usopp and Robin sitting on the couch, they all were talking with Koby and Luffy as they arrived, everyone seemed to stop whatever conversation they were having once they noticed the pair and turned to look at them “HEY!” Luffy greeted them both. 

“Speaaking of the devil” Nami said with a cheeky smile, Koby seemed nervous “Miss- Miss Nami!” Helmeppo gave his captain a curious look, Zoro sighed, not ready for what was to come “What? Come on! It’s not like it was anything bad!” Luffy nodded “Yeah!! They were just asking us how we were doing and then asked Koby stuff and then asked us if we had seen you and we said yeah! And then she ask-” Koby covered Luffy’s mouth, which got him a laugh out of the piratre“I- I think they get the idea Luffy-san!! N-No need to go into detail!!” He was hiding something, something embarrassing, Koby was just an open book “Mhm, alright, whatever you say” Helmeppo answered.

He noticed Koby quickly taking his hand away from Luffy’s mouth, he looked at his own hand, cheeks as red as tomatoes as Luffy laughed, his intuition was telling him Luffy might have licked his hand? Kissed? He’d have to ask Koby in private. His train of thought was suddenly interrupted “How about we ask you two instead of asking Koby and Luffy?” Usopp suggested with a cheeky smile “Great idea!” Nami almost shouted as she stood up from her desk to get closer to the group, Koby panicked “NO!” He shook both hands around, signaling Nami and Usopp to stop “I think- I think it’s fine like this!! So uhm Helmeppo-san! Zoro-san! What have you been up to?” Helmeppo almost laughed at Koby’s attempt of avoiding the subject “Been showing him around the ship” Zoro answered “Hey you copied us!” Luffy shouted, Zoro shrugged.

“Seems like you two made up” Robin added with a smile, without looking away from her book, Helmeppo nodded “Yes, he apologized” Robin smiled “Glad he did” Zoro cleared his throat, he was starting to get nervous about the look his crewmates were giving him “We’re almost done with the tour, so uh we’ll be going up so I can show Helmeppo the bath” He let everyone know before heading to the stairs, but he was quickly interrupted by Nami who got close to Helmeppo and held his arm “Wait! We’ve got some questions for your little guest!” Zoro was quick to hold Helmeppo's hand and drag him away from Nami, guiding him to the stairs, Helmeppo’s eyes widened, he had grabbed his hand again..

“Too bad, we’re busy” and up they went, Nami wasn’t desperate enough to follow them, neither was Usopp, perfect “So will you be honest about what all that was about this time around?” Helmeppo asked after they got to the small room the stairs had led them to “I- I will, but not here where they can hear us, let’s get this last room done with and- then we’ll head back to the crow’s nest and I’ll tell ya okay?” Helmeppo thought about it and then nodded “Alright, finish your tour then” Zoro nervously guided him around the last place, trying hard not to let it show, Helmeppo was extremely jealous of their bath and how nice it was, he complained about marine showers all the way back to the crow’s nest, even as they avoided the crew and their questions as they went through the library.

Once they were back where they started, Zoro sat down, regretting telling Helmeppo he’d talk about his crew and how they’d been acting about them, Helmeppo sat next to him, quietly waiting “So..” Zoro was about to talk, he was planning on thinking of what to say as he did, but he was interrupted by Sanji shouting “Lunch’s ready!!” He sighed in relief, only time he was happy to hear the cook’s voice.

“Guess this’ll have to wait” Helmeppo sighed before nodding in agreement “Guess it will, remember you promised me you would hm?” Now Zoro was the one to sigh “I know” he held Helmeppo’s hand and gave it a squeeze before standing up to go back to the kitchen, he had to stop doing that.. holding his hand like it was nothing.

They both quietly headed to the kitchen for lunch.