Hey hey have you ever thought about how zoro breaks his body again and again for Luffy gaining scar after scar loosing eyes and shit trying to keep up with Luffy and his devil fruit and sanji with his genetically modified body. Do you think zoro wonders what will be the thing that tips him over the edge into death??? Do you think Luffy does???
well hello to you too, anon! sorry that it took me a while to answer but I love this and ended up typing a lot. so, I also apologize in advance for the long-ish read.
but yeah! actually I was sort of thinking about it thanks to some twts I saw discussing thriller bark again. I gotta say, perhaps I have a bit of a less angsty view? because the thing is... zoro's a pretty straightforward and single-minded character, which doesn't mean he's flat or lacking in depth, but his overall thought process isn't extremely complex.
though zoro treasures his life (just like his swords, both which he needs to achieve his goals), he's not naive. he knows death is a real possibility, more so in the pursuit of his dream. zoro says as much to sanji back in baratie:
zoro doesn't seek death, the opposite actually, and he refuses to die in situations he finds dishonorable or out of his control, but he's come to terms with the idea of his own death. aside from that (or additionally), zoro's most prominent traits are rooted in his deep sense of commitment, devotion and loyalty to what he wants and believes in - namely his dream and his promise to kuina. this aspect of his character doesn't change imo, rather it broadens to encompass luffy and the crew as well.
all this to say that albeit I've called it a sacrifice myself, I don't think what zoro chooses to do for luffy or the crew would count (for him) as such. it's just what he believes he must do - to achieve his personal goals as much as to ensure luffy gets to fulfill his own and to protect the crew as a whole, because they've all become intertwined with zoro's dream to begin with. especially where it concerns luffy. what good is ambition if I can't even save the life of my own captain? indeed, for someone whose end goal is to become the strongest, what's the point of doing so if his strength doesn't allow him to protect those who are important to him? the person who is most important to him?
so when zoro chooses to keep pushing himself to train harder/become stronger, to do the exchange with kuma, beg mihawk to train him or agrees to do crazy stuff like take the drug that will help him recuperate enough to fight but will worsen his injuries/pain tenfold the moment the effect wears off in wano - they're not sources of regret or decisions he sees as tragic sacrifices. he's quite like luffy too, who's made similar choices along the story.
the angst of moments like "nothing happened" for me lies more on the implications of what could've happened (zoro dying for real), what eventually did (almost getting killed in sabaody, the crew's separation) and what luffy's reaction would've been if he'd found out. I do agree luffy would ultimately respect his decision, what I don't usually agree with is that he'd be immediately okay with it. the last thing luffy wants is to lose someone he loves, less so if they get hurt trying to protect him. points at his backstory, marineford and post marineford. this is exactly why sanji insists on not letting him know.
on the other hand, imo, zoro's not trying to keep up with luffy per se... how I see it, it's more like meeting him halfway. when you're faced with how powerful luffy's become nowadays, it's easy to forget he's not infallible. luffy has weaknesses and shortcomings too. post TS zoro is even more aware of both of their limitations (he's the one who's literally experienced luffy's pain as if it were his own) though he's also become more confident in their strength and the crew's as well. zoro will do his best to stand by luffy's side and protect him/their crew, but luffy has to measure up! zoro has no qualms about reminding and demanding him to get his shit together. zoro might not reach luffy's levels of raw strength (and I'd argue he doesn't need to), still, there's other ways in which he makes up for what luffy lacks or can't do in certain circumstances. so if you ask me, it's not about keeping up - it's meeting each other in the middle and striding forward together.
as for sanji, a similar thing applies. for all their petty rivalry and their roles as crew combatants, it's important to remember sanji's more of a nurturer (he is the cook, after all) and his dream of the all blue has little to do with strength, unlike zoro's. his genetic modifications don't really become an issue (for the crew) until wano and if anything, rather than this setting him above zoro in terms of power/abilities or turning into something zoro has to catch up with, sanji relies on zoro to keep him in line if he ever endangers the crew because of it.
all in all, I don't think zoro's the type to wonder what's gonna make him kick the bucket, though he knows dying is a realistic possibility. plus, he's not the only relatively Normal Guy who's ever become crazy strong among DF users and other enhanced characters. rayleigh is a very good point of reference as to what zoro is capable of becoming or achieving, and it's no coincidence they share a bunch of a similarities too.
AND FINALLY LUFFY. I rambled about this in the tags of a post a while back but luffy is a bit of a more complicated case imo. the manga doesn't exactly provide insight on luffy's inner thoughts/feelings (he voices most of them anyway) and though he's not naive in this aspect either, especially not post TS, the story rarely lets him witness situations in which zoro's vulnerable or in real danger of dying. this leads to him sometimes coming across as insensitive or being unfair (by having almost unrealistic expectations wrt zoro) but part of it is that he sees zoro bouncing back from the seemingly impossible more often than he sees him down.
however, the way he loses his goddamn mind when mihawk hurts zoro at baratie, when kizaru almost kills him and as kuma sends him away in sabaody, is a very good indicator of how he handles the idea of losing zoro which is - not well. at all. OPLA also gave us a more blatant example of this with the near dissociation, panic, losing his appetite and actively refusing to eat etc when zoro's wounded and unconscious after his duel with mihawk.
whether he thinks about zoro dying or not is probably more headcanon/fanfic territory, since it hasn't come up in the manga itself. even so, I do believe luffy's the type who... deliberately does Not ponder about sad or potentially upsetting things. one very brief moment that stood out to me while reading was this:
luffy not wanting to remember when garp left him on his own as a kid and straight up getting mushroom-high after being separated from his friends? man.
despite his cheerfulness and confidence, luffy is at his innermost terrified of losing the people he loves and hates the idea of being alone, ever since he was a kid. he begged ace not to die, has fought time and time again to rescue his friends and bring back those who've left. zoro's not just his first crew mate but he's also been the most long lasting and steady throughout the story. as some people have pointed out - zoro is the only one of the east blue gang who's never left the crew, even if the rest all had very understandable reasons for doing it each time. so on a more speculative note, after all the losses luffy's suffered, I'd say wondering when or how zoro will die is something he'd very much avoid. the thought's likely pretty devastating. instead, it's easier to put his entire trust and faith into believing zoro will pull through anything, like luffy says in dressrosa, and zoro would accept no less than that imo - because that's the kind of trust/faith he places in luffy as well.
lastly, about the scars and such... this is where zoro and luffy's similarities are highlighted. when it comes to all the choices they make wrt their dreams or protecting their friends, those luffy understands well. he's pretty much the same as zoro in this regard. that's why he refuses to let buggy interrupt zoro's fight with cabaji and stops johnny and yosaku from interfering in his duel against mihawk, even if seeing zoro get hurt upsets him greatly. zoro and luffy match in many ways, their dreams and determination to fulfill them is one of them, no matter what they have to do or how many scars they collect along their journey as a result.
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☆ naked in bed.
•°. *࿐what are their reaction when they see your naked body waiting for them under the sheets?
•°. *࿐NSFW, featuring : Law, Shanks, Zoro
Law
It was a long day, and he wanted nothing more but to rest in his bed and relax
You had other plans
You have been craving for his touch for such a while but never found the perfect moment to make a move
So you thought about doing something simple but clear: sleeping naked
You giggle to yourself when you hear your boyfriend slide open the door from the bathroom.
You stare at him shamelessly full with need and lust
Only his hips were wrapped around a way too colourful towel for him (you insisted to buy it for souvenir at an island) the water from his wet dark hair was slightly dripping down his toned back. You watched his beautiful tattooed body move as he was searching for his clothes, his tooth brush in his mouth.
You wanted to jump on him
He still hasn’t noticed your little stunt and you don’t believe he will until he gets into the bed
Law finally heads back into the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth and change into fresh clothes
As he gets out, his eyes connect with yours immediately. Your gaze barely left his silhouette and he has been quite aware of it.
He smiles as he approaches the bed and he quickly kisses the top of your head. He moves the sheets a little to get into them, until he stops and look at you.
“What-…”
“What’s wrong?” You ask him with a smirk as you wrap your arm around his waist. Your chest pressed against his tank top. Law smiles
“You never really let me rest, you know that?”
“It’s just another way to relax” you say to him as you feel his cold fingers brush against your skin. His lips press against yours and with his other hand, he cups your breast.
“If you say so..” he whispers back before diving back into another passionated kiss.
Shanks
Your lips were hungrily attached to his as you two were caught in an intense making out session
It basically started off by some flirty comments from both side, a little kiss on the neck by Shanks and boom..
You found yourself hovering over Shank on the bed, desperately trying to get his clothes off
Then suddenly you got interrupted by a knock on the door, claiming they needed the captain for something
You two sighed frustrated and you got off your man and watched him leave horny and disappointed.
“I will be right back ok?” He reassured you with his familiar smile before closing the door behind him
You wanted to waste no time, so you took your clothes off, ready to just get right into it
As Shank opened the door again, his eyes fell on your naked upper body , leaving him confused at first, but it was soon replaced with a mischievous smirk
“So eager, are we darling?”
His mouth closed around one of your nipples , bringing a moan out instantly out of you
“Shanks please..”
“We have time, let’s take it slow”
He’s such a cocky teasing asswhole
we still love him
Zoro
He always ripped apart some pieces of your underwear
Last night your thong barely made it alive, few days ago your bra lost an arm, one of your pantie didn’t make it through the injury
You were two panties away from a penury of underwear and when you were sailing for days and days, you couldn’t afford that
So you had to protest in your own way, and it was now to sleep naked so he won’t rip none of your clothes off
Zoro walked into your shared room with a cocked eyebrow when he quickly realized what was happening
“What are- why are you-“
“I’m protesting!”
“Huh?”
“You carelessly rip my underwear off so I won’t sleep with them anymore”
He rubbed his face against his face before he broke in a silent chuckle. He smirked and looked you up and down.
“Sure, doesn’t seem like the big punishment if you ask me”
“Shut up and get to bed already” you spat back annoyed as you push yourself more against the wall to leave some space for him
“Who said we were gonna sleep?”
He smirked as he removed the sheets and pulled your body closer to him. He got to his knees and propped himself between your thighs.
“Let me apologize first”
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congrats on 2k!! for the event, I was wondering for option one, with Sanji, zoro Luffy and laws reaction to their s/o covering their face with kisses, leaving lipstick marks?
Characters: gn reader x Sanji, Zoro, Luffy, Law
Total word count: 730
Lipstick Stains
Sanji
Oh you already know this man is inches within his life. Nothing gets him so weak in the knees like physical touch and affection.
He relishes in your kisses during the moment, letting you go on as long as you want. You can never give him too many kisses, really.
After the fact, any time he passes by a mirror, he stops to admire your love and your handiwork. He just stares at all the marks you left on him for a few minutes, his hands lightly passing over each one.
Some of the crewmates (Zoro and Usopp) make fun of him, but he just smirks and says “What, boys? Jealous?”
He struggles to wash it off. He’s a very clean person, but he hates to wash his face after you’ve marked it all up. You can very often find light traces of your lipstick still across his face the next day because he scrubbed so gently while bathing.
Zoro
Whenever you cover his face with kisses, Zoro…tolerates it. He doesn’t love it, but he doesn’t hate it either.
Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t look at himself in the mirror much, so he doesn’t notice the red-stained marks you had left all over his face in the process.
A few things tipped him off when he went down to dinner, though. Sanji is stifling a laugh at him, which isn’t uncommon. But Robin is also giving him a cheeky grin. Usopp and Luffy are both looking anywhere but at him, trying not to burst into laughter.
And you…your cheeks are flushed red with embarrassment. He rushes to the bathroom and looks at himself in horror. It took him a minute to realize exactly what was all over his face, and he let out a small string of curses as he grabbed a towel and desperately scrubbed at them.
He comes back to dinner, his face beet red (from embarrassment and excessive scrubbing), and sits down next to you, pretending like nothing happened.
After that, he always ALWAYS checks himself in the mirror after you come visit him.
Luffy
Luffy loves to battle with you on who can give the other person more kisses. Everything is always a game with him.
He wears your kisses around without even knowing it for a while, until Nami says something about it.
At her words, he rushes to the mirror and looks, admiring his face and all the proof of your love. He’s kind of jealous that you can mark your kisses so easily.
That’s when he gets an idea. The next time you two have a kissing war, he offers to put on lipstick as well, that way you can tell for sure who won.
And that way, you get to see proof of his love too.
The two of you parade around the ship with your faces covered in shades of red and pink, showing off your new designs and laughing the entire time.
Law
Law is not a man who enjoys physical touch. But if you’re alone…he’ll allow it. Sometimes, he might even enjoy it.
Especially if he’s in his study and you come in and curl up in his lap, softly kissing his face to try and get him to come to bed. You can be very persuasive.
“Go on to bed,” he finally says, shutting his book. “I’m going to get some water and I’ll be in a minute.”
He doesn’t pass by a mirror, or else he would’ve noticed the new addition. Instead, Shachi, Penguin, and Bepo see it as he grabs water from the kitchen.
“Love the new look, Captain!” Shachi teases, a mischievous smile plastered on his face. “You should keep it like that!”
Law reaches up to inspect his cheeks, but he can’t feel anything. He looks at Bepo, confused.
“It’s kind of…everywhere,” Bepo says, trying his best not to crack a smile.
Law quickly rushes to a mirror and finds his face covered in lip marks. He races out of the room without another word and back to you.
“Y/N,” he says, trying not to get angry. “Next time, please inform me when you’ve…redecorated.”
You giggle and pull him into bed, adding another kiss mark to his forehead. Scrubbing it all off can be a problem for tomorrow.
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⭐️ OPLA Characters and the “Only One Bed” Trope
[Suggestive + No Gendered Terms]
⭐️ Characters Featured: Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Mihawk
⭐️ A/N: So... Maybe just the part one to this if people like it? I'll write the next part with the other characters if people want it :) Anyway, cranking out these compilation posts because I’m brain broken with just OPLA content.
Monkey D. Luffy
✖️ Luffy didn’t show any concern about there being one bed. He saw it as something to find fun in a way! To share a bed with one of his friends!
✖️ He’s immediately jumping into the bed and turning to you, holding out his arms, waiting for you.
✖️ “I promise not to take up too much space! Come on!”
✖️ Luffy is immediately wrapping himself around you like a little backpack, nuzzling his head into your neck.
✖️ “M’so soft…” while his hand gently caressed your belly, gently grabbing and massaging it.
✖️ When he felt himself half-asleep, he didn't notice how he was trailing small kisses at your shoulder and the back of your neck. It was like an unconscious habit shining through.
✖️His arms around you are tightly clung so it’s safe to say that you aren’t leaving the bed until he lets you. And he just might not all night.
Roronoa Zoro
✖️ Zoro is immediately refusing. The moment he saw one bed in the room, he spun on his heels and walked out to try and complain.
✖️ When there really was no other rooms, he entered back inside with an annoyed look.
✖️ “Just… *sigh*. Take the bed. I’ll be fine”
✖️ Maybe he could just lay on the floor instead in his mind. Even when you offered to share, he refused. But, he soon found that the discomfort wasn’t worth it.
✖️ He carefully climbed into the bed, taking up the minimum he could at the edge. When he was drifting asleep, he didn’t notice his hands reach out for you, pulling your body toward his.
✖️ As if you were a stuffed animal, he pressed your body to his and hugged you close.
✖️ His tired voice just hushed you when you tried to ask what he was doing as his hands moved toward your chest. “Shh… Jus’… You’re warm.”
✖️ After your restless night together, the next morning, he acts as if he has no idea what you’re talking about when you ask him about last night.
Nami
✖️ Nami is annoyed but won’t make a big deal out of it. She’ll roll her eyes and complain while setting her stuff down.
✖️ “Let’s just… do what we can. It’s only for one night. You take that side, I’ll take this side.”
✖️ She didn't want to make you uncomfortable or overstep boundaries. Keeping on her side, facing away from you.
✖️ She soon heard you rustling around in the bed, unable to keep still, she was annoyed but asked what was wrong. "Nami... I just- Sorry, I can't sleep."
✖️ Nami's face softened in realization. Sighing, she scooted closer and pulled you into her, holding you close. Her hands gently rubbed your back.
✖️ "It's okay. I can make you feel better." She let her hands lightly caress your sides, trailing up to your neck then cheek. "C'mon, I'll help tire you out."
Vinsmoke Sanji
✖️ Sanji immediately smirked at the sight of one bed but on the inside, was absolutely dying from embarrassment at the idea of being so close to you.
✖️ He immediately laid in bed, hands behind his head with a cocky look. "Already nervous, beautiful? It's only one night..."
✖️ You were used to Sanji's flirting and mainly ignored it since he was like that with everyone. You weren't inherently special in your head.
✖️ The moment you relaxed into the bed on your side, facing away from Sanji, Sanji was laid on his side, eyes to your back. He hesitated to do anything but stare, but he couldn't help it. A phantom touch of his fingers lightly traced your spine.
✖️ You were initially going to complain like you normally did until Sanji scooted closer, placing a kiss at your shoulder. His hand lightly rubbing your arm.
✖️ You heard that ever-familiar teasing, soft laugh behind you. He enjoyed your reactions to his simple touches.
✖️ "You're so stiff... It's just my hands, you know? I just want... I need to feel you."
Dracule Mihawk
✖️ Mihawk stared at the bed indifferently. It was an inconvenience but certainly not something he was going to fuss about. It's just a bed.
✖️ He placed his belongings aside, getting ready for bed and slipping under the covers. When he saw you looking to instead sleep on the floor with your bag as a makeshift pillow, he didn't say anything.
✖️ Laying in bed, Mihawk always found it difficult to drift to sleep, as though he was meant to be tormented by the mere idea of sleep.
✖️ Maybe an hour had gone by and he looked over to see you still on the floor, huddled into yourself. He sighed loudly. "Stop forcing yourself to freeze. Lay down here."
✖️ Seeing you carefully slip under the covers as well, he looked over at you, eyes scanning your face then raking down your body.
✖️ Mihawk reached out with his hand, pulling you closer to him until your face was inches away from his. His stare was critical still, as it always was.
✖️ His hand went to the back of your head, gently caressing you. “I can warm you up, if you’d like me to. Lay back.”
⤷ divider credits: @cafekitsune
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Pining Zoro and blind-to-it Reader?
un-certainly
opla!zoro; 3,422 words; fluff fluff fluff so much fluff, straw hat!reader, fem!reader, (seeminlgy) clueless!reader, lots of pining, banter, teasing, smitten!zoro, the whole nine yards
summary: in which everyone knows zoro's got it bad for you, except for you, of course.
one.
“so… i should just… talk to her.” zoro says uncomprehendingly, blinking at an exasperated nami, who has to take a long, steadying breath to keep from shoving him overboard. the waves beneath them are calm, the day above them, a gorgeous, endless stretch of blue so brilliant it almost pains the eyes to stare.
nami resists the urge to pinch her nose bridge as a dull ringing starts to echo in her ears.
“yes. sweet god — just go up to her and say ‘hey, i think i might like you’ and i guarantee you, things will go from there.”
zoro shifts his tightly knitted arms, squinting at her as if she might be lying or purposefully luring him into a trap, “go? so there’s a chance it could go badly.”
this time, nami really does drop her face into her hands, groaning loudly.
“well there’s always a chance it could go badly —”
“sounds like a bad idea to me.” zoro looks away, eyes still narrowed as the light sea breeze ruffles his hair, a colony of news coo squawking loudly overhead, one of them dropping down to careen towards the going merry, landing on the thick white railings next to them, ruffling it’s feathers as nami pushes off to dig in her pocket for some berry.
“oh! newspapers here!” your voice makes both zoro and nami jump, and a second later you’re bounding up the stairs to the forecastle deck and stuffing some berry into the news coo’s bag. your arm brushes by zoro’s as you lean over to offer the news coo a piece of dried shrimp, which it considers for a second before leaning forward and gobbling up.
nami gives zoro a soft shove from his other side, leveling him with a meaningful look before turning and making a show of going to check on her tangerine grove.
zoro doesn’t have time to glare before the news coo takes off with a pat-pat-pat of wings, leaving you and him very much alone on the sunny fore-deck. he purses his lips, casting about for something to say even as you hum happily to yourself, your arm still painfully close to his as you unroll the newspaper and flip though, blissfully unaware of the inner turmoil of the man standing next to you.
“uh — anything interesting?” zoro asks, desperate for something, anything to fill the silence.
you shrug, “nope… just the usual — uptick in piracy along the coast, tightening of marine patrols…” you turn and cast him a grin that makes his stomach twist inside him like a contortionist from buggy’s freakshow.
zoro clears his throat, thumbing absently at the hilt of his swords before taking a deep breath.
“hey — uh…”
“hm?” you turn towards him, with your wide attentive eyes and your stomach-curling smile.
zoro blinks, his gaze flickering from your soft button nose to the way the wind twines its fingers in the loose strands of your hair. two twin pearls glitter from the lobes of your ears and he feels the tension melt from him as he sucks in another breath.
just say it, nami had said, just tell her.
really, how hard could it be?
“i uh — there’s something i wanna talk —”
“wait, hold still,” you say, your eyes going wide as you lean forward suddenly and zoro’s visions tunnels in around him — you’re close, closer, too close/too close/too close!
your fingers card through his hair and he has to bite back the shiver that rockets down his spine as you pull your hand back with a black-tipped feather.
“the news coo left you a present,” you say, laughing as you offer him the feather.
zoro considers it for a second before taking it from you.
“it could’ve left worse,” he says, recalling the few times that he’d gotten bird shit in his hair.
you giggle; the sound makes him want to scream but instead, he settles for clearing his throat again.
“now, you make a wish,” you say, nodding towards the feather in his hand.
“never heard of that before,” he frowns slightly, “thought you could only wish on dandelion seeds and…” he waves at the endless stretch of sky above you, “shooting stars and stuff.”
your smile is so wide that zoro thinks his cheeks might start to hurt for you.
“haven’t you heard that rules are meant to be broken?” you ask, offering him the feather again. he looks at you, then at the feather, and the back at you.
“okay — i wish —”
you squawk flapping your hand, “no! you can’t tell me what the wish is! otherwise, it won’t come true!”
zoro smirks, cocking an eyebrow, “i thought rules were meant to be broken?”
you blush the most darling shade of red and he decides to take it easy on you (and, honestly, himself). so, he plucks the feather from your hand and closes his eyes, making a soft, silent wish. a wish that, in truth, he’d been making since the moment he met you.
when he opens his eyes, it’s to find you staring.
“kay. now what?” he asks, rolling the feather between his thumb and forefinger.
“now…” you gently tug the feather from him before opening your palm and letting the wind whisk it away, “you let the sea take your wish. and if you’re worthy, it’ll grant the wish for you!”
zoro lets out a breathy laugh, “if i’m worthy? and how’s it supposed to know that?”
you lean in, and if it were anyone else, he might’ve been annoyed, but with you, somehow, he finds himself charmed.
your voice is conspiratorial as you whisper, “because… the ocean knows all the secrets the sky can’t keep.”
two.
at dinner, with you by his side, usopp detailing some imaginary adventure, nami laughing, sanji blowing smoke rings towards the middle of the fire-lit deck. your cheeks are pink from the wine everyone is passing around and for a second, you bump into him and turn — he turns towards you too —
your eyes catch like unsuspecting fish to a bobbing hook and zoro feels his stomach tug as you grin up at him, the night sky caught in the flutter of your lashes.
he can’t help the way his gaze flicks down to your lips, and then back up again.
“feel like sharing?” you ask, nodding towards his half-finished bottle.
wordlessly, he hands the bottle to you and watches as you bring the mouth to your lips and take a long drink. he tracks the soft bobbing of your moon-lit throat and feels his own mouth go dry at the sight.
across the fire, sanji watches with a growing smile and nami rolls her eyes.
“oi, moss-head — mind if i take a swig too?” sanji asks as you hand back the bottle, dragging the back of your hand across your lips, and zoro turns to pin sanji with a glare.
“get your own,” he says, before polishing off the rest with a few hard sips and tossing the bottle into a rapidly growing pile.
zoro licks his lips and tries not to think about the way your lips had fit around the bottle just right; he tries not to wonder if you’d taste like wine. or, if he’d even have the mind to think that far if you were to let him kiss you.
three.
“… and then, you pull it through… like this?” you slowly bring your arm through a swiping movement, your hands clutched around the hilt of a wooden training sword. zoro sighs, shaking his head.
“uh — not quite — here,” he pushes off from the barrel he’s sitting on to circle around behind you, wrapping one hand around both of yours, the other palm curling around your middle to press against your stomach, “you’re breaking in your waist again — keep your core tight and —” he helps you swing the sword through in a swift arc.
“oh.”
it takes him a second to realize how close you are, how he can feel your entire back pressed against his entire front, how perfectly you fit into his arms, how easy it’d be to hold you to him and never let go.
“so just… practice that a few hundred times,” he says, stumbling back as his cheeks go hot and he feels the inexplicable urge to toss himself into the calm, saltine waves below, if only to cool down just a bit.
“will you practice with me?” you ask, your smile wider than the sky is wide — zoro is sure.
he blinks at you for a second before making a show of sighing and rolling his eyes.
“ah… i guess i could use a bit of practice too.”
he pulls out the wadou ichimonji and takes his stance next to you.
“ready?” he asks.
you nod, glancing over and adjusting your posture.
“okay, how many are we doing?”
zoro casts around for a number, “a thousand.”
“zoro!”
“five… hundred?”
you cast him a look that makes his stomach flip inside him.
“how about we start with a hundred, and then i’ll see how i feel from there?”
zoro clicks his tongue, smirking, “i could do a hundred in my sleep.”
you make a show of rolling your eyes, “fine then — go take a nap!”
zoro huffs as he clears his throat, “right then — let’s start — one, two —”
you squeak as you hurry to catch up, jumping as he reaches out a hand to correct your posture.
up on the foredeck, luffy watches with usopp by his side.
“hey! i wonder if zoro would teach me sword tricks if i asked!”
usopp sighs, clapping luffy on the back even as he shakes his head.
“uh — not that i think he wouldn’t but … maybe you should just… let them do their thing, yeah?”
four.
“i think you really should tell her,” luffy says, slapping zoro on the shoulder, a bit harder than he’d intended. zoro winces, pressing a palm to his chest — still sore from their recent raid.
“i don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”
luffy laughs, leaning forward against the railing, “nami said you’d say that.”
zoro fights the urge to scowl as he sighs, his eyes narrowed at the damnably calm horizon. at least if the weather weren’t so nice, he could make up an excuse to leave but —
“really, what’s the worse that could happen?” luffy asks.
zoro grunts, shooting luffy a sidelong look, “oh i don’t know, she doesn’t feel the same and shit gets awkward and —” he waves a hand at the going merry, “the crew falls apart.”
thankfully, luffy doesn’t pause to call him out on for once not denying it.
instead, he lets out a contemplative hum, “hm… yeah, that could happen. but… i don’t think it will.”
inside his chest, zoro’s heart clunks, strange and uncoordinated.
“why? she say something to you?” he can’t keep the curiosity from his voice, the stomach-squeezing anticipation he’d only ever associated with the heat of battle and a really good fight. but now, he feels it whenever you get too close, and he wonders if he can go insane like this — if one day his heart might just give out.
“nope!” luffy’s voice is too bright, too cheerful, and zoro feels himself rolling his eyes before he can stop himself, “i’ve just got a feeling!”
“a feeling.”
“yeah! and — have a little faith! the straw hat crew isn’t that fragile.”
with that, and another hearty clap to the shoulder that leaves zoro hissing in pain, luffy clomps off towards the kitchens, where sanji is already doing dinner prep. zoro lets out another sigh as he straightens, carefully stretching his arms to test the range of motion.
above him, a flock of migratory geese fly southward in a soft, arrowhead formation. zoro holds up a hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he watches them pass overhead.
a single feather flutters down towards him and he finds himself reaching out to catch in the palm of his hand.
a wish, huh, he thinks, twirling the feather between two fingers before casting around to make sure no one else can see him. satisfied that everyone else is either too far away or below decks, zoro closes his eyes and makes a wish —
alright roronoa, please. don’t fuck this up.
five.
“ahem.” zoro clears his throat after dinner, making a point to down a couple more drinks than usual. he’s never been one to believe in liquid courage, but… it couldn’t hurt, right?
“can we, uh, talk?”
you smile a smile that threatens to crack his chest wide open, nodding.
“sure! what’s up?”
across the room, sanji visibly stills but nami catches his eye and shakes her head ever so slightly.
“c’mon… not in here,” zoro says, jerking his head towards the hallway that leads to the decks above.
“what’s got you so secretive all of a sudden?” you ask as he leads you all the way up to the crows nest, reaching down to help tug you up, letting his hand linger in yours as you grin up at him.
“i’m allowed to have secrets,” he says, turning to stare out at the darkened sea, the summer moon hanging low and full-bellied over the glittering waters, the stars winking like so many all-seeing eyes.
“we all are, but… i thought we’d gotten all your big ones after that one night the whiskey bar —”
zoro coughs, “alright, alright — don’t need to bring that up again.”
you laugh, leaning forward to pillow your cheek against your crossed arms, propped up along the edge of the crows nest.
“so? what’s this new secret, then?”
zoro swallows, “uh — wouldn’t exactly call it new.”
“alright then, an old secret.”
“not super old, either —”
you turn to look at him, half-exasperated, half-amused, but when you catch sight of his expression, you still, pressing your lips.
“zoro? is… everything okay?”
he ticks his tongue against his teeth and lets out a long breath, as if bracing himself for something before he says —
“yeah. i think —” he clears his throat again, trying to recall what nami had said about just saying it and he tries again.
“i think i might like you.”
the coil in his chest feels tight enough to snap, but you’re quiet as he turns to steal a glance at you.
“oh,” you say, you expression curiously contemplative as you look out over the darkened seascape.
zoro has to physically stop himself from shaking you by the shoulders — say something, goddamnit! say anything!
“so…” he says, knitting his arms across his chest instead.
you turn towards him, your eyes bright as twin stars.
“you think you might like me, right?” you ask, and for a second, zoro can only blink down at you, completely thrown by your lack of reaction. of all the things he’d imagined you doing — everything from getting angry to apologizing to throwing yourself at him with an impassioned speech about how you’d felt the same since the beginning — this was not one of them.
“uh… yeah, pretty sure that’s what i said.”
you cock your head, a quick, bird-like gesture that makes zoro’s heart skitter inside his chest, threatening to leap from his mouth as you continue to stare up at him, completely unabashed.
“ah… so what do you think we should do then?”
zoro stares, “… do?”
“yeah, because if you’re not sure if you like me… we should do something to make sure, right?”
and it’s then that he sees the soft, playful uptick of your lips, the glittering darkness behind your eyes. the tension in his chest seems to loosen even as he lets out a breath, chuckling before quirking an eyebrow and taking a step towards you, caging you in against the crows nest’s edge.
“mm. you’re right — i can think of a few things we could try, though.”
“yeah?” you voice is little more than an exhale on the wind, but it’s the last thing zoro tastes before he finds his lips on yours.
as far as kisses go, zoro would later think back, it was a pretty damn good one.
it started as a slow kind of kiss, a soft, unfurling of breath on breath, and then lips on lips. the ghost-friction of promises made and kept and unbroken, the first spark to a fire that had been threatening to consume him since the moment he’d heard you laugh.
and then — just like that, he’s kissing you. and you’re kissing him back, the gravity and inevitability of it making his head spin even as he presses in closer. it is sweet and warm and trembling — soft and hard and deepening. he runs his tongue along the seam of your mouth and savors the way you gasp open for him.
just him.
he swallows it like he wants to swallow you, reaching up to sink his fingers into the silk and gossamer of your hair, pulling you so close he can feel your heartbeat thrumming against his chest, your nails as they curl into the linen of his shirt.
it takes everything inside him to pull back, and everything else left not to dive right back in again. you’re both panting, a little breathless, and zoro — a lot relieved.
“so…” you say, your tongue flickering out to lave across your bottom lip.
zoro doesn’t try to stop his eyes as he tracks the spine-tingling motion.
“so?”
you grin, biting back the shiver that chases through you at the deep, base rumble of his voice, echoing from his body to yours.
“what’s the verdict? have you decided if you like me yet?” you ask, batting your lashes even as he watches your own eyes drop down to his lips. a dark, warm, purring satisfaction curls inside his chest at the way your pupils dilate, black as the night, bright as all her favorite stars.
“hm,” zoro hums, leaning down to skim a knuckle along your jaw, slowly guiding your face towards his again, “dunno… jury’s still out… might have to try it a few more times. y’know… just to be sure.”
“mm…” you sigh as he leans down to graze his teeth along your pulse point, fingers tightening around your waist as he feels you tremble in his arms, “y-yeah… wouldn’t want you to be —” you hiccup as he sinks a soft bite into the juncture of your neck and shoulder, “uncertain.”
“no…” and his voice is all groan and gravel as he lets himself breathe you in, “we certainly wouldn’t want that.”
bonus.
far below, beneath the decks of the going merry, sanji takes a long pull from a post-dinner cigarette, his lips twisting into a concerned sort of frown.
“it’s been a while since they’ve been up there. think we should go check on them?”
luffy shugs, still happily picking at the remains of the turkey carcass sitting in the middle of an oblong plate.
“they should be okay — i mean, they say that no news is good news, right?”
“uh, not sure that applies to this kinda thing,” usopp says as he makes to peak out of the nearest window.
nami swirls her drink, “i think they’re fine. and we’d hear if zoro threw himself off the crows nest, right?”
across the table, sanji blinks and luffy pauses in his munching.
“whoa, you think he’d really do that if she rejects him?” usopp asks, his face going a little pale.
nami rolls here eyes, “no.” and then a moment later, “but really, we’d hear him if he jumped, right?”
luffy licks his lips, shrugging, “dunno, probably though. he’s pretty heavy so he’ll make a pretty big splash.”
sanji taps a bit of ash into his empty bowl and lets out a long suffering breath.
“yeah, y’know really, no news is good news.”
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