scone | — SALTBURNT INBOX.

i hate surprises. i wouldn't have wanted any of you to go through the trouble. i wouldn't have wanted it to go wrong. you always take care of zoro. and he... he takes care of me when i need it. i think i'm the one that's not pulling my weight.

( very momentarily offended. but, well. with their track record, maybe it's valid to presume they would've fucked it up. )

you aren't trouble. you're our guy. are you kidding? you do more than either of us. what's this really about?

i told zoro i loved him. right before everything changed again and we ended up here.

[ please.... Kill Him........... ]

( oh. )

did you mean it?

we were in the middle of fucking. and he didn't say it back to me so it doesn't matter. and i told him we were over when we got here, so whatever he's saying now is just a load of shit.

sometimes

( extended, minutes long wait. nami's cuticles are all bitten and torn by the time she actually messages back, which makes it fortunate they're going to a spa today, and no one can clock the anxiety making her fingertips bleed. )

sometimes it's not easy to say it, for some people. it doesn't mean they don't feel it, just because they can't say it. you know? sometimes they show it instead. even if they suck at it.

( they're talking about zoro, obviously. Anyway, )

zoro is an idiot but he's not a liar. can you guys please behave for my birthday? pleeeeease please please.

[ they're talking about zoro. right. ]

i think you're perfect the way you are, nami. i want you to know that. you've always been perfect to me.

[ cringe is not in his vocabulary.

zoro is an idiot (true) but he's not a liar (also true). which means that the thing zoro said right before he stormed out... he probably meant it. which is pretty much the worst thing sanji has ever thought about. ]

he said he was going to tell me he loved me, but then i told him it was over and that he was useless. so then he got pissy and stormed out, and everything's been shitty since. that's it. i don't know what he's been telling you, but that's all that happened. i'll do anything you want. if zoro's going to be at the spa too, then i'll make sure he regrets it if he misbehaves. your birthday can't be anything less than perfect.

ok sappy!! ( off screen: secretly extremely pleased he thinks she's so perfect. she isn't, obviously, but sanji's always had rose-tinted, or maybe tangerine-tinted goggles on. ) you look good when you're flattering me. he hasn't told me anything. other than complaints he has about you, which isn't new. but i mean why it is over again? you're missing that part. yay 🧡 it'll be perfect with you three there.

[ he's missing that part. but how can he explain that everything about this place sets him on edge, that he doesn't feel at home in his own body, that he thinks something terrible is lurking behind the pristine halls and ever-changing rooms? nami is clearly more comfortable here than the less than stellar place they'd come from — and for good reason. his heart aches every time he sees the scars still littering her skin.

he can't explain that this place is just like the vinsmoke mansion, that he swore reiju he'd never go back there, and now he feels like he's walked right through the very same doors. every day the knowledge that there isn't an exit to be found winds a little tighter inside of him. they're trapped. and nami and zoro and even koby don't seem nearly as close to losing it as they should be. ]

it's your birthday. let's only talk about happy things! like the secret menu for your spa day. you can put in one request, but everything else is going to be a surprise, and i promise you'll love it.

( the avoidance is heard loud and clear. so nami has two choices: she can either get hurt and upset that sanji chose once again to keep her on the outside of his feelings, or she can meddle and probably piss him off again, and make the whole situation a million times worse. obviously the latter is the better choice.

and anyway, it is her birthday. if zoro and sanji don't expect her to meddle, they don't know her at all. )

tangerine tarts? they're my favorite.

— SALTBURNT INBOX.

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