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The night was cool and refreshing on the Sunny.
The ocean air was crisp, the stars a stark white against the dark void.
The Thousand Sunny rocked slowly with the waves that tumbled below them, the water dark and eerie.
The stars blinked down lazily at Zoro, who was leaning against the railing as he stared over the open ocean. He shifted slightly as his observation haki alerted him of a bright haki signature coming up from the boys room.
“Zoro.” Luffy huffed, collapsing next to him. He giggled as Zoro lifted him into his lap, wrapping his arms around his torso and hiding his face into Luffy’s hair.
“You’re clingy. Something happen?”
Zoro mumbled into Luffy’s hair. “...Missed you.”
Luffy turned his head unnaturally, his nose bumping Zoro’s. Zoro looked into Luffy’s eyes, sparkling. The urge to kiss his King overwhelmed him, but he stayed still, he could wait for his Captain.
“In Wano Kuni.” Luffy elaborated, turning fully around, clambering around Zoro like a monkey, making him huff in amusement. He settled in his lap sideways with his shoulder against Zoro’s chest. His head thumped onto Zoro’s broad shoulder, his fingers coming up to play with the two golden earrings. The third rested on his own ear, given by Zoro after Thriller Bark.
Zoro snorted, not offering any answer.
They barely had any time for themselves, with Sabaody, then Fishman Island, Punk Hazard, Dressrosa, Zou, and then the shitty cook just had to run away, making Luffy go after him.
(He didn’t blame the cook. Kinda.)
The few weeks that Zoro wandered Wano felt like those two years he spent training and waiting for his Captain.
Wandering around (not lost, he doesn’t get lost) in Wano was a daze. Knowing he wasn’t with his Captain again. He wasn’t by his side when he was facing off with an Emperor. It was like two years ago, stuck on that Godforsaken island, unable to help his hurt Captain.
Luffy frowned, knowing exactly what Zoro was thinking about. He flicked Zoro’s forehead, breaking him away from his thoughts.
Zoro yelped, smacking Luffy’s hand away. Luffy laughed, the sound echoing off the calm water around them.
Luffy stopped playing with the earnings, instead turning to Zoro’s hands.
He lifted Zoro’s hand up to his, pulling an intake of breath from Zoro.
Luffy’s fingers were shorter than Zoro’s, but they were not less hardened. They both had scars on their hands, running up and down their bodies as well. The callouses on the inside of Zoro’s hands were mirrored on Luffy’s knuckles, with freckles like constellations dolloped in meaningful dots and splatters on Luffy’s hands.
Zoro intertwined their hands, mesmerized.
Luffy shifted, pressing a kiss to Zoro’s hands. He moved to press a kiss to Zoro’s lips.
“I love you, y’know?” Luffy giggled into the kiss.
Zoro smiled back, their teeth clicking together.
To think, his God, his Captain, his King, had chosen him. He knew he wasn’t worthy, but every time Luffy sent him a blinding smile, he always felt a little better about soiling his Captain's light with his sins.
Luffy shifted again, ever-moving. He hefted his legs over Zoro’s lap, chest to chest. He lifted his arms to encircle Zoro’s neck, tangling his hand into his hair, deepening the kiss. Zoro grasped Luffy’s waist, desperately trying to convey his love.
Luffy was his food, his sleep, his sake, everything that he needed to live. His burning light, the sun itself, the ocean, the land.
Luffy, his partner.
His King,
His Captain,
His God.
Zoro was not religious.
Was.
It was hard not to kneel in the powerful and freeing presence of Luffy. Zoro wanted to drop to the ground and pray, pray to this heavenly being in front of him, because surely no human could ever hope to burn as bright as the sun and not fall.
Luffy was his God.
Before meeting him, he wandered, away from home and comfort, taking lives to live himself.
He was chained by his feeble limits.
Then, the sun descended and took him away from that life.
Luffy.
Who had golden skin, deep dark eyes that burned, a smile with wind chimes, his voice who compelled, his fists that both freed and punished. His dark unruly salt-encrusted hair, his body wielding scars from challenges that only he could face and still stand again after.
Before Luffy, he laughed in the face of faith, of placing your trust in someone who wasn’t real.
But Luffy was real.
The rubber flesh under his hands proved it.
Has proved it before.
Real. Holy.
Luffy shifted on top of him, breaking their kiss to pepper featherlight kisses on his cheek, nose, forehead, before he settled to press another kiss to his lips. He leaned back, smiling softly. His eyes sparkled as he took in Zoro. Zoro stared at his face, brushing stray hair out of Luffy’s eyes.
“I love you, Lu.” Zoro whispered before he chased Luffy’s lips a final time before he crushed him in a hug, clinging onto him as if he would disappear if he let go. Luffy returned the hug in equal strength, wrapping his arms several times around Zoro’s torso.
They melted into each other, sitting in silence. The rise and fall of their chests synced, the ocean around them cradling their moment in the soft crashing of waves on the Sunny’s hull.
The stars began to fade, the sky lightening. Luffy stirred, as if he could feel the sun beginning to rise.
He looked up at Zoro, and as the sun unfurled itself onto the water, Luffy beamed. The sun making a halo around his head, making him look divine. His eyes flecked with gold held so much love, Zoro felt his heart squeeze.
Never in his life will he ever love anyone else like he loves his Captain.
Zoro smiled down at him, cupping his cheek and leaning down to kiss him. It was tender, sweet.
Zoro once mocked God.
He just hadn’t met his God yet.