Stolen // One Piece

chapter forty-nine

Luffy had been pacing outside of the medical-bay door for over an hour.

Chopper refused to let Nami have any visitors, as she was currently recovering from the several stitches she had needed, and whatever drug that Kaito had given her was currently wearing off, therefore she laid in the medical-bay as the reindeer sat beside her, reading a book on the effects of medicinal herbs.

Earlier that evening, the doctor had tended to Kaito's wounds, determined that he luckily had no internal bleeding, and then Luffy had promptly removed his bindings and locked him in the Crow's Nest for the time being, setting a plate of the day's dinner in front of him before glaring at him as he left.

"Pacing outside of the door isn't going to get Choper to let you in any faster." Zoro put a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder. Luffy fought the urge to shrug him off, and instead sighed and stopped his feet. "It's gonna be a while; come with me," he beckoned, turning to shuffle into the Aquarium Bar. They settled on opposite sides of the table, and Zoro leaned down to pull some sake from the cabinet. Offering it to his Captain, the swordsman popped the bottle open. Luffy groaned internally with disdain, but took the bottle anyway.

He'd always hated the taste of alcohol, and, more honestly, he had hated who he became when he got drunk.

As his first swig of the booze passed his teeth and grazed his tongue, burning as it slid down the back of his throat, the younger of the two visibly cringed, causing Zoro to chuckle.

"Ugh," he gagged, after swallowing. "I don't know how you drink this every day. It's disgusting," he complained, forcing himself to take another swig. His companion shrugged.

"It's good for getting rid of things you don't want to think about, isn't it?" Luffy, pausing to consider whether or not it was worth it to keep drinking, sighed in defeat and chugged the remainder of the bottle's contents. The older of the two stared in concerned silence. "...You want some more?" he asked quietly as the brunet slammed the bottle onto the table, and gagged once more. After the horrible taste had left his mouth, and the warm buzz of alcohol began to spread in his brain, Luffy looked at his friend and nodded.

"More."

After downing four more bottles, Luffy was slurring his words. The world had lost its usual stability and as he managed to stumble out of the Aquarium and into the kitchen to drunkenly fumble with the locked ice-box door, Zoro stared at him with both amusement and worry. A string of barely-coherent obscenities fell from the Captain's tongue as he slid to the floor and smacked his face into the tile beneath him, and the green-haired swordsman couldn't help but snort at his companion's inebriated rambling. As he attempted to help him off of the floor, having to hook his arms under Luffy's armpits and heave (for someone so seemingly scrawny he sure did weigh a lot), a disapproving sigh had caused them both to look up at Ace, who had been watching the entire spectacle from the corner.

"Aceeeee!" the youngest exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air, swatting Zoro in the face and in turn prompting him to drop the squirming man onto the floor.

"Need some help?" he asked, looking to his brother and then shooting a glance to the swordsman. Zoro grunted in reply, attempting once again to lift the brunet off of the floor. Ace stepped forward and grabbed his ankles, shuddering as his brother's legs stretched. "Luffy," he groaned, "you're going to need to stop fighting us. It's time for bed." Like a child, Luffy began to pout and whine that he wasn't tired yet, and that he wanted to see Nami before he went to sleep. Ace and Zoro locked eyes as he argued this, knowing that Chopper would only put his foot (hoof?) down even harder, telling him that they couldn't bring a sloppy, loud, uncooperative, drunk Luffy into the medical bay, as there was someone actively recovering from literal torture.