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The soft cawing of seagulls is what wakes Luffy. Pitch high and whining in the sky, and a tingle pulls on his skin. That’s right! He’s on the sea!
Luffy’s eyes struggle to pull open, regardless of how hard his heart is thrumming in his chest, and he wonders why. Why is it so hard to wake up when he’s so excited? So ready to see the sea that they’ve drifted on overnight, ready to explore the world.
Just like Ace.
Heat shifts around him, like a flame that is dancing close to his hand as he sits in front of a fire. Instead of a warning being yelled at him to pull back, Luffy leans closer. It surrounds him, making his eyes heavier, but he fights. Digs in his heels to open his eyes so he can see.
The sun is rising over the edge of the small boat, a deep red against a dark sky, and seagulls float within it. Gliding on the wind, it sweeps down and across Luffy’s face. It’s gentle, like a mother’s caress. Kind, but cold.
A shiver shoots down Luffy’s spine, drawing goosebumps to his arms, and before he can tuck himself closer, the warmth moves. It holds him tighter, surrounding him in its entirety, and for the first time since waking, Luffy remembers.
He has a first mate.
A first mate that is taller and broader than he is. A first mate that comes with a terrifying epithet. A first mate that is curled around him tight in the small space, warming him against the sheer cold of the wind.
Zoro is his name, Luffy remembers this, and other pieces come flooding back as sleep falls away. Zoro’s breath is hot as it gently huffs against Luffy’s neck, and it nearly makes him laugh. The faint tickle continues as Zoro sleeps, and Luffy dare not wake him.
For this man, the one he got to come aboard with him, he’s different.
Not in a way that Luffy wouldn’t expect, seeing as he became his nakama so quickly, but because something else feels off. It’s not a bad thing, whatever it is, quite the opposite if Luffy lingers on it too much. The feel of the swordsman on his skin is like fire, and yesterday when he would brush against him he just thought it was the thrill of battle lighting him up.
Here, away from danger and the rest of the world, it’s still here. A warm heat that threads around Luffy’s mind and heart, begging him to follow it somewhere. So, he does. He follows the path of heat, letting his hands glide gently along Zoro’s arms that are slung around him.
When he reaches the bandana tied on his bicep, Luffy stops, unsure. Zoro used this yesterday to show he was serious, Luffy recalls, and wonders if it’s truly just a piece of fabric or something far more. Could it be magic? Could that be how Zoro is so strong?
Dancing his fingers over it, playing with the fold, he continues up to Zoro’s shoulder. Zoro stirs at the action, pulling Luffy closer still, and when his face is now covered by Zoro’s chest Luffy freezes. Not from lack of air, or even fear, but something in between. He can’t breathe, can’t seem to pull in anything other than thoughts.
The warmth has tangled itself around his neck now, leaving his ears to burn and Luffy is sure that they’re a bright red. Does Zoro feel it? Is he hot to the touch too? Luffy’s hand shakes on his shoulder, just a gentle tremor, and he settles it there.
Pulling his fingers to his palm, he scratches Zoro’s shoulder, almost comically. Like a bad gag where he’s trying to sneak up on him and touch the opposite shoulder than the one he’s standing next to, when in reality he really just wants him to wake up. He wants to know what the feeling in his stomach is and he wants to know now.
“Zoro…” Luffy calls out, nearly a whisper against his first mates chest, and for a moment he thinks he didn’t hear him until Zoro starts to shift. He leans back, freeing Luffy’s face a bit, and blows out a low sigh, “Zoro...are you awake?”
Zoro doesn’t respond, only smacks his lips.
Luffy starts to scratch again, just twice, and Zoro let’s his head fall off the side of the boat. It lands on Luffy’s hat, pushing it into his head, and the straw pricks at Zoro’s skin pulling a low groan from his chest. Leaning back up to the edge, Luffy watches as Zoro opens a single eye to look down on him with.
“Captain?” Zoro mumbles, sleep still digging its hands into his mind, “‘verythin fine?”
Luffy lets his eyes trace from Zoro’s face down his arm to where he’s being held, and when Zoro starts to move the cold seeps back in. Whining, Luffy tugs at his shoulder and Zoro sinks back into place again. The warmth returns and a welcome hum slips from Luffy’s lips.
“I thought you wanted me to let you go.” Zoro says, color now in his tone, much like the sky above. It paints heavy strokes across the canvas between them and Luffy grumbles, “Oi, I can’t read minds.”
Luffy looks up at him again, and when their eyes meet it’s like they lock into place. Like two grooves meant to meet, that were carved out beforehand and this was the last step. How odd, it feels within Luffy’s mind, to feel this again. Before with his brothers it was something similar, a pulling to them that he learned was for a reason, but this is different.
The love and fear held within him for Ace and Sabo is nothing like what his chest is trying to tell him right now. It’s almost nauseating, and if it weren’t for the fact that he knows better, Luffy would try to blame it on seasickness. Shifting upwards in Zoro’s arms, Luffy moves until he’s eye level with Zoro’s chin.
“Does Zoro feel that?” Luffy asks, voice a whisper, like if he speaks louder he’ll scare whatever it is off, “In your chest?”
Zoro’s gaze softens on him then, almost like he’s falling back to sleep and Luffy nearly pinches him to wake him, but stops when Zoro says, “Yeah, I do.”
Luffy’s eyes widen, soaking in the man surrounding him: the sun now coloring his skin, the wind in his hair, all of it. He takes it, holding it close to him and smiles delighted that Zoro understands. But if he understands, does he know what it is?
“What is it?” Luffy nearly laughs, a bubble of emotion stirring harder within him, and it’s hard for him to sit still.
Zoro hums, and his grip around Luffy’s arm slackens, pulling back. Again, the cold greets Luffy’s exposed skin, and he huffs. Before he can open his mouth to complain, Zoro’s hand is wrapped around Luffy’s chin. There, he holds him, gaze set steady like a compass pointing north, and Zoro smiles.
“Affection.” Zoro murmurs, leaning forward to place a kiss on Luffy’s forehead. His lips even hotter than his skin that sits against Luffy’s, “I’m not wrong, am I?”
Luffy breathes out the words that collected in his mind, and they fall into the cold air without form. Is he right? Is this what it is? Does he feel affection for Zoro?
“Do it again.” Luffy commands, a slight pull on his words as Zoro keeps him held.
“Yes, Captain.” Zoro chuckles and again places his lips on Luffy’s forehead. All the nerves that swim around him seem to collect in a bundle above Zoro’s hand. A concentration of energy pulls at Luffy, and he can’t figure out how to dissipate it.
“Why.” Luffy says, a statement more than a question and Zoro shrugs around him, “Zoro doesn’t know?”
Zoro leans back to meet his gaze again and sighs. The sun is coming up faster now, dawn starting to turn to day, and Luffy feels like he’s racing against the clock. That when the night is finally gone, all the answers will go with it. Cold leaving for warmth and Zoro’s arms leaving for air again. He needs answers.
“I don’t.” Zoro admits, letting his eyes gaze out onto the ocean and Luffy turns to look with him, “We just met, there is only so much to go off of right now. Can’t force what isn’t there yet, Luffy.”
Luffy hates that answer. Furrowing his brow, he turns back to a bemused looking Zoro, and he wants to know what is so funny. Why is Zoro is fine with this? Doesn’t he want answers too? Is this normal for him?
“How many?” Luffy asks, tongue working faster than his mind, “How many affections have you had?”
Zoro’s eyes fall then, this time in disappointment, and his brows furrow together as he seems to consider. Luffy hates this, too. Why can’t he just know everything? He’s been out to sea before, he’s done all these things that Luffy hasn’t. Shouldn’t he know the answers?
“A few.” Zoro replies, and even though it makes his stomach flip, Luffy knows he’s being honest, “They’re gone though. It’s just you.”
Just him. That’s a better answer, right? If it’s just Zoro, and just him, then that works out, right? Right. Warmth buzzes in Luffy’s stomach and he knows he needs to move. He needs to stretch, he needs to yell, he needs more.
Wiggling out of his grasp, Zoro lets Luffy go, a soft but confused smile donning his face. Zoro is right, they don’t know each other well enough yet, but that’s fine. They have all the time in the world after all. Time that stretches farther than the horizon before them, the one being swallowed up by the second.
Winding his hand around the mast, Luffy laughs, twirling in place and Zoro settles back against the edge of the boat. He tucks his hands behind his head as he watches Luffy dance, talk, and inevitably fall when a rough wave hits the side. A laugh chokes from Zoro, out of his own buzzing chest, and he knows that in time it will settle.
It’s all still new. A dawn of their very own.