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The first time was a genuine accident.
Poor timing, more than anything. You were interrupted in a rather awkward position; settled over Zoro’s lap with one hand pushed between your bodies, fingers wrapped around his length. The kiss you shared was rough, more teeth and tongue than softness as you took advantage of the empty room during the day.
The room had felt safely abandoned, the ship quiet in that rare lull where everyone scattered to their own distractions.
His grip was tight on your waist – almost bruising. Your top was long since gone and the rest of your clothes soon to follow when the door slammed open.
The worst part was Luffy didn’t acknowledge what he’d walked in on. He just said hi, picked up whatever he’d been looking for and walked out as though neither you nor his first mate were trying to adjust yourselves to not be so exposed.
He didn’t even close the door.
It wasn’t long after that that you made landfall and a whole new set of events arrived that kept you separate from Zoro. Two long weeks dragged past where you found yourself watching him far too closely and sighing just a bit too much.
“Have you caught whatever Sanji has?” Nami asked one day when your eyes may have lingered on him for a little too long.
You raised an eyebrow at the beautiful woman. “Have you seen him? How could I not stare?”
“I don’t see the appeal,” she said, looking toward Zoro with a bored neutrality.
“I can’t help bad taste,” you joked. “But it’s been like two weeks. I’m suffering. I wish Luffy would just get rid of whoever needs getting rid of here and we’ll be done with it for good.”
Nami hummed thoughtfully. “I don’t think you’re the only one.”
You turned your head to meet Zoro’s gaze, hot where it burned into you. You waved and he grunted and looked away. Not much for public displays of affection but still… it wasn’t fair that you were the only one showing it visibly.
“We might be here for a while,” Nami said. “You could have some fun with it.”
It was fun. She didn’t lie when she told you that because it was very enjoyable to see how antsy Zoro got when you started to feign innocence. It was subtle but you noticed it when you wore clothes he liked, suddenly dropped every item you were carrying around him, and made soft sounds when only he could hear.
He caught on quickly to what you were doing and began to give it back to you, leaning in far too close to grab things from shelves behind you and whispering things in your ear that made you turn the same shade as a tomato.
He showed off for you when training and so you had to redouble your efforts. You couldn’t just lose.
Sanji called you down for dinner one of the nights and opportunity arrived on a silver platter with a distinct lack of seating. Well, there was one seat for you wedged between Usopp and Nami but Chopper was already perched on Robin’s lap.
“We really need more comfortable chairs,” you sighed dramatically though you had never had a problem with them before. “What happened to the other ones?”
“Hey, for something put together in like five minutes, these chairs are excellent,” Franky defended himself. “They’re temporary anyway but you can thank those two for where the original set went.”
He gestured toward Usopp and Luffy who immediately launched into defences about why they had to use all the chairs for their earlier plans.
“Well, I don’t feel like these tonight.”
Zoro had already noticed the lack of chairs. You could tell by the way his posture shifted, one knee angling outward as if preemptively claiming your attention.
“Mademoiselle, you know my lap is always open if you need,” Sanji offered exactly as he had whenever there was any kind of seating problem. It was exactly the response that you expected and wanted from him.
“I actually do know the perfect spot,” you said and dropped yourself right into Zoro’s lap.
He caught you automatically; thick arms framed your hips as he stared at you. “Off.”
“It’s a good seat though,” you defended.
Sanji dismayed your choice, his expression forlorn. “Surely that brute’s lap cannot be comfortable. Believe me, I would make a far better chair and I don’t smell of cheap sake.”
“If you say so. Zoro doesn’t want me here...”
Zoro’s hands snapped to your thighs immediately, not happy with you even playing along with Sanji’s ideas. “Just stay here if you’re going to insist on being like that. You’re not sitting with that idiot cook.”
“If you insist,” you chirped and settled in; your hips rocked purposefully against him.
Realisation dawned on Zoro’s face. His glare turned sharp and you smiled at him innocently, reached out to grab your plate and practically bounced back on his lap.
His body was already responding. You could feel him pressing up against you the more you squirmed and shifted. It helped that the others were used to this. It was hardly the first time you’d sat in his lap and the crew was none the wiser to what made this different from before.
“Stop moving so much,” he grumbled in a quiet voice reserved only for you.
“Just getting comfortable,” you hummed.
Zoro barely touched his food that evening, more interested in downing his sake and snapping at Nami when she suggested he was getting a little red in the face. She raised an eyebrow at you and you smiled back; a quiet conversation flashing between you.
When Sanji moved to begin cleaning up, you made to follow but Zoro’s hands were tight on your waist and dragged you back down the second you tried.
You smiled over your shoulder at him, expression coquettish. “Something wrong?”
“Don’t stand up now,” he muttered. “You know what you’ve caused.”
“What could you mean?”
He took another swing from his bottle. “Are you joining me on watch tonight?”
You hummed and tapped your fingers against your jaw as though pondering it before you shook your head. “Wish I could but I made plans with Robin tonight. Sorry. You don’t mind, do you?”
You made a point to smile as innocently as possible.
This game went on for a few more days before Zoro stopped trying to retaliate and seemed to decide to show off his self-control which was awfully frustrating considering just how much effort you put into it.
He watched you as though waiting out a storm and you grumbled to yourself about it before coming up with another option.
You stole some of Nami’s outfit ideas when the sun was high in the sky and the weather perfect for sunbathing. The soft rocking of the calm seas against the ship made it the ideal lazy day. You lay down on the same deck where he did his training, waving in greeting as you lounged atop a blanket with your sunglasses turned toward the sky.
Sanji continued to be an unknowing assistant to your cause when he offered you an ice cream and you eagerly accepted.
He headed inside to retrieve it and you noticed Zoro had paused in his training. Sweat trickled down his skin and something fluttered in your stomach – a twisting excitement that made you smirk.
“It’s rude to eavesdrop,” you hummed.
“It’s rude to tease,” he responded before he resumed his exercises.
You laughed but didn’t bother retaliating. Sanji didn’t take long to return with your ice cream that tasted surprisingly light considering how far you were from port. Your expression must have given away how much you enjoyed it because the chef puffed his chest proudly.
“This is divine,” you told him.
“We had some strawberries I froze for this moment,” he said with a brilliant smile. “I meant to use them for a palate cleanser but there’s no point leaving them until then when so many beautiful women are melting under the heat.”
It was very hot. Already the ice cream was beginning to melt and starting to run down the cone and onto your fingers.
Sanji disappeared to bring one to Robin and you immediately felt Zoro’s gaze swing to you. You took your time to clean up the melting treat; dragged your tongue over your skin slower than needed to make sure he saw.
“Do you want one?” you asked, batting your eyelashes. “I’m sure I could convince Sanji for another.”
“No.”
His voice was clipped and tense and you smiled proudly, stood and waltzed your way over with a sway in your hips. He lowered his blade as you approached, anticipating that you had something else in mind.
You stopped just inside his reach. Close enough that the heat rolling off his skin brushed against you, close enough that you could feel his breath change.
His eyes flicked to yours. “What do you want?”
You smiled anyway and reached for his jaw, your thumb pressed just beneath his lip. He didn’t move away from you and you took the permission given by his hesitation.
Your mouth crashed into his, cold and sweet and a delightful contrast against his heat. He stilled for only a second before his hand moved to your side, grip firm as he dragged you closer.
He kissed you back like it offended him, deep and forceful, until your breath stuttered and the ice cream slipped from your grasp. The cold dripped between your fingers and the stickiness of it reminded you of your game before temptation made you forget it.
Sometimes you wondered who you were truly tormenting with this.
“Just wanted to give you a taste,” you hummed. “It’s really good, isn’t it?”
“When are you going to stop this?” he said, his voice rough around the edges.
Pressed against him like this, both of you in awkward stances as you held a sword and an ice cream away from each other’s bodies, you couldn’t help but want to give it up in that very second.
“Maybe when you ask nicely,” you responded though the tease was a little shakier than you intended for it to be.
He held eye contact for a second before he leaned down to speak in your ear in a deep, spine-tingling way that sent gooseflesh over your entire body.
“Please.”
That one word just about stopped your heart and undid you completely. This time, when you dragged him somewhere quiet, you made sure to lock the door.