"Yes, I do." Luffy's sudden slip up made it obvious to Zoro that the boy wasn't as awake as he seemed.
"Hey, Luffy?" Zoro placed the barbell back, sitting up to secure his conversation so that his questions wouldn't be left on a cliffhanger.
"Y-yeah?" The boy shook his head, smiling at Zoro who had finally captured his full attention.
"Don't you have observation Haki?" This question was one that his Captain easily nodded to in agreement.
"You should use it sometime to pay attention to what people tell you." His sarcasm hurt Luffy's pride, but he couldn't help to laugh at the slight remark.
"I'll pay attention from now on. Need help?"
"I would appreciate it, actually." Zoro smiled as Luffy stood behind him, listening carefully to whatever his close friend asked of him.
After having added around three to four extra weights on the barbells for Zoro to lift, the boy was let off the hook.
From there, while on his own, Luffy stood by Zoro and decided to give the electric cycling bike a try, feeling tempted by it.
Lifting himself onto it, he sat down on the seat, placing either end of his hands against the handles, pressing the start button on the machine.
At first, everything seemed to be going well for the boy. He was genuinely enjoying his time there, breaking a sweat while cycling.
Suddenly, his disobedient eyes wandered off again, and instinctively landed on Zoro's midsection. The velocity that the machine was running on slowed down when Luffy's legs went weak.
The older man was becoming a distraction for Luffy, keeping him from concentrating on anything else other than his body.
For Zoro it was different: He hadn't exchanged a single glance with Luffy, let alone felt the need to look at him.
The reason wasn't that he was purposefully ignoring the younger male, but because his eyes don't normally wander off whenever he's focused on something serious.
Luffy admired the man's solid dedication. He just wished his own mind was better at focusing on what needed to be done the way Zoro's was, oppose to getting fixated onto his friend.
After all, it wasn't like the connection was mutual. Contrary; Zoro never tends to show off his emotions to anyone, even to his Captain.
But the way he constantly acted towards Luffy was giving him mixed signals from his friend.
"Impossible..." Carefully scrutinizing the new area he and Zoro had moved to, the Captain felt rather mentally fatigued at the mere thought of exercising.
When he was a child, his routine never included any type of physical activity... Aside from being thrown constantly into an unforgiving jungle by his very own grandfather, Garp.
And though life back then was a never-ending survival game for Luffy, he acquired many skills because of this.
His lips curled, timing his eyebrows as they lifted upwards when looking up at a new machine.
When stepping off of the bicycle he was on, Luffy extended his arms out to a pull up stand, where he worked on the muscular development of his biceps.
"N...Nghhh... One!" His teeth clenched tightly with the sudden amount of strength he had to use to be able to lift himself upwards.
Luffy seemed to have underestimated the machine, by looking at it from afar, he believed it would be a piece of cake to workout with it.
But by just wrapping his hands around the steel bars, he realized just how limited he was in his strength.
"T-two..? Argh! I can't do this!" He looked down, spotting Zoro who was partially hearing his voice.
Wanting to be helped by him, Luffy imagined how everything would play if he were to succeed in his plan.
*Luffy's plan to gain the attention of his crush*
"First, I'll pretend to be struggling more than I already am, with added sound effects!"
"AAAH, DAMN! I CAN'T DO THIS ALONE..."
"Then, I'll swing my feet a lot."
"L-LITTLE HELP HERE?"
"Lastly, to make it more believable, I'll pretend to be 'clumsy' the entire time, and thus..."
*A wild savior appears at last!*
Zoro: *puffs chest out, heroically* "Can I help you, ~ Captain?" *winks*
*End of Luffy's fantasy*
"That's it!" With a plan as crazy as it seemed outside of Luffy's mind, the rubber boy was only thinking of how rewarding it would be for him afterwards.
Twisting his hips a little, he commenced his devious plan by wiggling his arms in desperation, all the while, wearing a truly perceivable look of annoyance on his face.
"Ugh... Anyone? Can anyone HELP me over here?" He guided his head, facing down at Zoro's body which continued to lift weights.
"Can I help you with something?" With his mind set on Zoro, the boy subconsciously nodded, feeling someone wrap their hands around his legs.
Snapping back to reality, Luffy freaked out when noticing a shirtless, bearded man with an obese beer belly and chest hairs holding onto his feet.
His reaction to him may have been unintentional, but Luffy's mouth widened and emitted a loud scream, as he now wiggled with a purpose: To escape from "Bigfoot's grip" or so he called him.
"B-B-BIGFOOT!!" Once again, he drew unnecessary attention to him, and this time, the attention was also brought to the workers who ran the place.
"What's going on here?" One of them questioned, as the hairy man with a rather unfit, round figure backed away from Luffy.
"Look, all I did was try to help him out. That's why I held his legs like this. See?"
While demonstrating and proving to the worker that his intentions weren't malicious towards the boy, a large shadow stormed atop the man, making him feel insecure.
His body was now sweaty more profusely than before in the moment he found himself turning over to see who was stood behind him.
"Zoro?"
"Hey little kid, you know this guy?" He nervously asked, earning a nod from Luffy who happily smiled at him.
"He's my friend." He may be Luffy's friend... Yet right where he stood, his look was anything but "friendly".
And that was quite obvious to the sweaty guy who grew intimidated by the demonic aura Zoro gave out.
"Hey, 'little kid', you say? You must be very old then, geezer." Zoro smirked, brining the man's face towards him.
"Just where did you put your hands on that boy?
I must warn you: Depending on the answer you give me, I'll determine whether you'll be able to keep your limbs... Or not."
~~~