chiffonades | inbox for golden peacock

haven't seen nami in a while. she with you?

nah, i thought she might be with you. haven't seen her since last night. guess she's just off with one of her other partners or something?

[ For all that he's trying to play this cool, though, Nami's silence and timing does worry him. It's a worry that's thrashing around in his stomach, making him want to pace— or find someone very annoying to fight. ]

( Other partners? There are more?? )

oh. okay.

as long as she's alright.

( He's worried, too, though he seems to be searching for confirmation on whether or not he should be from Sanji. )

[ Something in him softens when he reads the way Zoro replies, empathy welling up and briefly sweeping away his desire to not talk about this. ]

i'll really start to worry if she's not back tomorrow.

i, uh, dunno if she ever told you, but she'd been here nearly nine months before i showed up. i missed her damn birthday, you know? she's got people she cares about here. so do i.

[ They never really talk about it, outside of Hilda.

For a long time, it was easy to pretend it was just because he was giving her space, giving her room to care about people without having to talk about it. Really, though, he'd started to find something precious in those small, countless moments they'd quickly accumulated, something he craved more than breathe itself, something he was terrified of losing. He still is because the scared little boy still exists deep inside him, certain he's not worth anything of note, but things are different now, somehow. He's worried, but fear plays no part in letting Nami have her space. ]

( Zoro is his own man, and has his own judgement to follow. But he also trusts Sanji, so if Sanji won't worry until tomorrow... )

has she done this before? just disappear, not reply?

( He hopes he doesn't sound like a petulant child starved for her attention, but the change in pattern would concern any reasonable person. At least he thinks so.

He reads and re-reads the next part of Sanji's message, trying to discern what he's saying between the lines. )

i didn't know that.

which people do you care about?

( He's curious, not jealous. )

[ There's an appreciation when Zoro doesn't push back and accepts, at least in part, what he's saying. But at his follow-up question, he tries not to think about how he wishes she'd hurry back to them, wishes she'd slip through the door and back into their arms. ]

she's gone a while without replying, yeah. i don't think she's ignoring us, you know? she's just busy.

[ Those words are easier said than felt, though, because there's no denying that he feels her absence, just like he always does when she's away. ]

aside from nami?

there's this, um, woman here named hilda. she's gorgeous and charming and funny and warm and wonderful. i met her pretty quick after i showed up here and... i care about her a lot, you know? so does nami. and she's got a spot in my heart just like nami does.

i adore them both, so damn much. but i don't think there's anything wrong with that, yeah? who's to say you can only feel that way about one person.

[ It's funny. It's only been a couple of months since the last time Zoro asked about his love life, but it's so much easier to answer now. ]

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