GROWING PAINS / zoro.

THIRTEEN / zoro's got moves.

"if you'll excuse me, gotta say my goodbyes to the old man." the blonde said, and his eyes grew misty.

anjali gestured for him to go right ahead with an understanding nod.

"what do you see in that blonde womanizing waiter anyway?" zoro said when anjali took the seat next to him.

"uh, nothing? he's a friend." anjali said with a laugh. "nothing to 'see' in him other than a member of the crew."

zoro crossed his arms. "if you say so."

"i do, so quit being a jealous idiot and try to be nice." the copper haired woman replied. "and don't go around calling people you barely met womanizers."

"how are we going to find nami anyway?" usopp asked as he finished loading the last of the barrels onto the ship.

"yeah, we don't even know where she is." zoro added.

he had discarded the topic over whether their new cook was or wasn't a womanizer and made himself comfortable against anjali's shoulder, who grumbled in protest but allowed the man to rest.

"i know someone who does." luffy grinned, and he went down into the ship.

anjali helped zoro up, and he wrapped his arm around her waist for better support, limping all the way to where luffy was at.

the copper haired woman groaned loudly when luffy pulled out a clown head from within a black sack. "not again."

buggy coughed loudly before grinning, exposing his not-so-clean teeth. "hello boys!"

he caught sight of of anjali. "oh, you're still here."

her lips twitched upwards in a snarl. "i thought arlong would've hauled you into the ocean by now."

"he was planning on it, but my dear friend straw hat saved me." buggy said with a sly smile.

great, anjali thought to herself. now we have a clown for a mascot.

"stop smiling, your teeth look like they've been through a cannon-fight." she snapped, wanting to cross her arms over her chest but couldn't due to one arm being used to support the green haired man beside her.

"oh yeah? why don't you stop hopping circles around mister pirate hunter over there and just make out like we all know you want to?" the clown shot back.

anjali's eyes widened and she looked at the blue haired pirate in disgust, flinging the closest thing to her grasp at his head — a thick, four-inch hardcover book.

"next time, you're dead, clown." she snarled, glaring at buggy as he groaned, her ears turning a deep shade of red.

"well, somebody had to say it." usopp murmured quietly to luffy, who nodded his head vigorously in agreement.

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BUGGY'S LOUD AND manic yells upstairs awoke anjali from her slumber, making her jolt in alarm before realizing she didn't care about the one screaming his head off.

the woman yawned and rubbed her eyes, pulling herself out of bed and heading up to the deck to see what was going on.

zoro was holding the clown's head over the railing, dangling him over the deadly waves.

"lovely morning." anjali commented with a hum as she looked down at buggy, her smile turning devilish. "planning to take a swim, buggy?"

"zoro, buddy!" the head-man chuckled nervously, turning to glare at anjali from his peripheral vision. "honor amongst pirates, right? come on, how about i sing a nice sea shanty to pass the time?"