Imagines III | ZoLu 🥀🔥

Noisy Neighbor | 4 🎸

To make up for the sleep he never had the chance to obtain, Zoro decided to take a nap on his couch to restore it and have energy for the rest of the day.

His robe was barely holding onto the shape of his masculine, broad shoulders given how relaxed the man was. This was the sleep he deserved...

Or so he thought.

"RAAAH!! STUPID STICKS! STUPID DRUM! STUPID STUPID STUPID!" His body began to levitate in mid air when something harshly collided against the floor beneath him.

"Is he trying to break the roof?!" Agitated once more, the man lazily swung the robe around himself and headed downstairs again to knock on the door Law had recently fixed after Zoro knocked it down.

This time, he was able to knock on the door and have someone answer it from the inside, instead of having to take drastic measures.

Behind that door was a reddened face far angrier than his own and a mess similar to a hurricane tragedy, hiding behind the person who Zoro was confronting.

"Back so soon? Did you leave something here?" A straw hat boy asked, feeling an unstoppable twitch in his right eye.

"I thought we agreed on keeping it quiet... Uh, Luffy, was it?" Zoro responded, rubbing the back of his head.

"My dumb drums don't wanna function today. I CAN'T get the sound right, DAMMIT!!" He raged, pulling at his brunette strands of hair.

"It's not my fault your damn drums don't work! I need energy, I haven't gotten a wink of sleep because of your noise." The man scolded, appearing less polite to the younger boy than before.

"But the show's in three days! I have less than like forty eight hours to master this solo or-"

"Three days is more than enough! Practice harder on Sunday when I'm NOT home. Or wait until it's at least 12 o'clock in the afternoon." Luffy frowned at the older male, shaking his head.

"I can't wait! What'll I do until then?"

"How am I supposed to know!? Hang out with Law, he's your roommate, isn't he?" The older man's words made Luffy feel even more upset.

"... We are roommates. But he's not home now, and I get bored without him. I feel lonely without Law." He admitted, lowering his head until his eyes were met with his feet.

"Don't you have any other friends?"

"Law is my only friend. I recently moved to this town and I haven't had any luck making friends. They say I'm a loudmouth."

"Ever wondered why?" Luffy laughed at Zoro's obvious question and nodded at the man.

"I'll keep it down, sorry for being a bother." The energy he had in his voice had been drained by the thoughts that had accumulated in his head, and this made Zoro take pity on the younger boy.

"The noise you make is a bother, but I never said you were a bother. You're young, you'll make more friends soon!" Zoro smiled at the younger boy who was smiling back at him.

"Do you have any friends, Zoro?"

~Silence~

For awhile, no one said anything, leaving Luffy's question unanswered. The atmosphere around the two men had grown awkward and uncomfortable.

The brunette knew what he had asked wasn't too personal, but if he would have known it would make the older man grow this silent, he wouldn't have asked him anything at all.

"My bad..." He apologized shortly afterwards, knowing Zoro wasn't comfortable answering his question.

"I used to have one. Her name was Kuina." The Swordsman admitted, tilting his head up at the ceiling.

"Used to? Could it be... That you aren't friends with her anymore?" Luffy asked, intrigued by Zoro's answer.

"It's a long story I wouldn't wanna bore you with." Just then, Luffy shook his head, sitting down on his couch and inviting the older man to sit down with him like he had done before.

"I got time. Tell me about her!" He smiled kindly to lighten up the mood in between them.

"It happened when I was around twelve years old, training to be a Swordsman..."

~~~

A few minutes afterwards, Zoro found himself telling Luffy more than just a story, but regaining memories from his past along the way.

"She had the same ambition as I did: Becoming the greatest Swordsman in the world. The day I found out about the accident, I couldn't believe it." Luffy's eyes widened.

"She... Died?" The boy asked with caution.

"They told me she fell down a flight of stairs. But that's a story I was never convinced by. I know she wouldn't die over tripping down a couple of steps. Her death still remains a mystery to me, to this day."

In his gaze, Luffy could sense sorrow filling up in Zoro's heart, so he tried to make the situation better by accompanying him in his sadness.

"Do you miss her, Zoro?" The man nodded, unable to deny the fact that he felt loneliness from time to time.

In that moment, all that the boy could think of doing was offering Zoro his comfort through a friendly embrace.

His long arms laced around the man's broad back, giving him a sense of hope and an odd feeling Zoro was unfamiliar with.

"Affection doesn't really come easy to me since I grew up without it for most of my childhood, but this is the first thing I could think of doing. You looked like you needed a hug." Luffy spoke, pulling his arms away from the older man.

In return, the green haired male relaxed his tense shoulders and closed his eyes with a smile, letting his hand drop to his knee while hunching over.

"For a guy who doesn't know how affection works, you give pretty good hugs. Thanks, believe it or not, that really helps." The smile on Luffy's face grew wider upon hearing Zoro's confession.

The sound of keys jabbing into a lock was alarming for Zoro who was tempted in giving Luffy an embrace in return for the one he gave him.

"Love, could you help me with the— Oh, Zoro's here again? Hey!" Law's voice echoed throughout the apartment as he held a bag of groceries in his arms.

Zoro's smile instantly dropped as he repositioned himself on the couch.

"Did he call him "Love" just now?"

~~~