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Luffy is waiting for him outside the hotel. Zoro sees him standing there casually, as if their meeting together was just one of many. Zoro is surprised he can even find the place, but somehow his awful navigational skills have led him here to Luffy. Zoro walks over to him quickly, not bothering to call his name. If he had given himself an opportunity to take him in, he would have been rooted in place for hours.
Luffy seems to know he’s approaching without even looking up. It’s just something he senses. Zoro wants to believe their bond allows him to know when Zoro is near, but something tells him it’s just another trick Luffy learned in his two years away.
Zoro didn’t want to ask. Right now he didn’t even care.
Luffy just smiles at him, not a wide, ear to ear grin like he’s used to. His lips rest softly in a gentle smile, the kind he saves only for Zoro, when it’s just the two of them alone. The rest of the crew had no clue what meaning it held to Zoro.
He tries not to run over to Luffy, but he feels his feet picking up pace, bringing him closer to Luffy. Luffy doesn’t shout to him either, and Zoro almost wants to hear the voice of his captain calling for him.
Zoro can’t remember what grove they’re in, Sabaody was too confusing for him, but the hotel Luffy had picked was nicer than he thought it would be. Not five star, but better than what Zoro was used to. It didn’t matter to him though, he wouldn’t even notice. Luffy was finally standing in front of him again after two years, and he had his full attention.
They were inches apart, Zoro wanted to kiss him, hold him close, say his name, cry into his shoulder. Luffy seems to understand this, hand slowly reaching up to his shoulder, traveling down the length of his arm, before his fingers slip in between Zoro’s. He still doesn’t speak, and Zoro feels all the words he’d been preparing for the past two years dying in his throat in a small, strangled sound.
Luffy tugs on their entwined hands, and Zoro feels himself being pulled inside. He watches the iridescent world fade away as they pass through the doors, and Zoro tears his eyes away to stare at Luffy’s back.
He said he would take care of booking the room, and Zoro was thankful. He didn’t want to have his first exchange with Luffy in two years in front of strangers at a hotel. He wanted to lock himself away with Luffy, make up for all the lost days in one night.
Zoro’s chest felt tight.
He let Luffy lead him up a floor, before walking down a hall and stopping in front of one of the doors. He simply produces a key, and walks in. Zoro follows him almost eagerly.
He feels like an animal, still unsure, waiting to pounce.
The door closes behind them in a gentle click. Zoro sees the curtains closed, the dim lights in the room casting long shadows. And Luffy is standing in front of him. It almost feels like a dream.
Zoro wants to scream. Something bubbles up inside him, claws at his chest. Every word dies before he can even open his mouth. What do you say to someone you’ve missed for so long? There was so much to say, and only one night to do it all.
Luffy closes the distance before he can even think about his next attempt at speaking.
He presses his mouth against his, in a kiss rough enough to tell Zoro all the longing his captain has built up. Zoro returns in kind, at first daze but then kissing him back with the same level of passion.
Luffy pushes him down onto the bed, Zoro doesn’t resist. He can never say no to Luffy, even now.
He feels familiar fingers slip under his robe, tracing the scar across his chest in a well practiced motion. The other hand carding it’s way through his hair, sometimes gripping it tight, sometimes gently passing through. He roams everywhere he can, almost as if to make sure the man beneath him now is real.
Zoro knew the feeling, having woken up from dreams that often felt too good to be true. But Luffy pressed against him now was as real as it could possibly be.
Zoro and Luffy lay entwined on the bed, Luffy with his head on his chest.
Zoro feels the bruises forming, and other marks on him aching. He’ll have to pull his robe closed tomorrow. But for now, he just let’s himself get carried away in the sound of Luffy’s soft breathing. A sound that had before been animalistic, raw and intense. Zoro let out a soft hum, nuzzling his face in his hair.
Zoro is about to let himself drift off, when Luffy shifts, and Zoro’s eye opens to see Luffy’s own staring back at him. He swallows, Luffy’s expression not telling him his captain’s intent.
Luffy puts his palm on his cheek, and Zoro leans into it, the warm touch something he missed greatly. It moves up his cheek, gently touching every feature. Slowly, Luffy’s thumb traces over the scar on his eye. Zoro doesn’t flinch, he didn’t spend all that time training to show weakness here, now. But Luffy sighs softly, almost familiarly.
“Did it hurt?” he asks. Zoro shakes his head in a lie. It hurt like hell.
“No more than the rest,” he grunts softly. Luffy doesn’t need to look at the scars littering his first mate’s body. Instead, he simply moves closer, pressing a soft kiss over the closed eye. If Zoro wasn’t so tired he could swear he was going to melt.
Zoro looks down at Luffy, who has clearly changed as well. A scar, rivalling Zoro’s own, spreads across his chest, a grim reminder. Zoro lifts his hand, hesitant. Luffy seems to notice, and smiles his soft, warm smile again.
“It’s fine,” he says reassuringly. He takes Zoro’s larger hand in his own, guiding his palm to rest flat over his own heart. Zoro doesn’t move his hand, taking in the sensation of how rough the skin now feels. He feels a pang of guilt at not being there to take this pain away from his captain.
“I’m sorry,” he says, refusing to let his voice crack or tremble. Luffy shakes his head, a grim expression setting on his face.
“Don’t say it’s your fault,” he says, voice approaching a warning. But Zoro can’t help who he is. If he could take Luffy’s pain away, again and again until he was broken and ready to be discarded, he would. He would never even hesitate. Seeing only a fragment of Luffy’s injuries from the war, it made his heart ache. His chest burned with the desire to take his place. Luffy just places his hand over Zoro’s. “Zoro isn’t responsible for my burdens,” he says.
Zoro grits his teeth, a protest builds up in his throat, but Luffy’s gaze makes it die out. Zoro has noticed, Luffy’s eyes are almost sharper now than they were before. Where they were once soft, full of naivete, they now carried weight, the result of Luffy’s two years. Luffy seemed to realize what he was doing, and let his eyes soften again.
“Zoro shouldn't blame himself…” Luffy murmurs. Zoro feels his fingers slip between Zoro’s again, and he brings up his palm, pressing a gentle kiss on it. Zoro wants to say more, be more of a comfort to his captain. But Luffy is content now just to snuggle against his first mate, forehead resting on his shoulder.
Zoro wraps an arm around the man, pulling him as close as humanly possible. He let’s any argument he had go, too tired now to fight back. Luffy can deal with his stubborn need for self sacrifice another night.
Right now, they’re together again, and Zoro is content to let his actions be comfort enough.