Work Text:
Zoro woke up feeling groggy as hell and like he desperately needed a drink.
Not one to question such urges, he dragged himself up and to the galley where Sanji was already preparing breakfast.
“What do you want?” he grunted without looking up from the stove.
Zoro didn’t answer, instead heading straight to the fridge. The damn thing was jammed so he had to tug it a second time with a bit more umph to get his beer.
“Oi!” Sanji shouted. “What’s your problem?”
Zoro blinked and noticed the broken lock now on the floor. Oh.
He shrugged and flopped down into his spot by the window. His head hurt, and he could use a nap.
Distantly, Zoro heard Sanji grumbling about him, but he just did not care enough to insult him back. Maybe later. For now...
“Zoro!”
Zoro “oof’ed!” at the crash of rubber into his gut.
“Sanji made sausage!”
“So happy for you.”
“C’mon! Let’s eat!”
Zoro let himself be dragged to the table where half the crew was already scarfing down their food while Luffy was distracted. Sanji dropped a plate of bread in front of him.
“What is this?” Zoro asked.
“Carbs. Eat them.”
Zoro glared at Sanji’s back but picked up his toast. He could use the carbs, he supposed. Actually, now that he was feeling more awake, there was a buzz under his skin like he needed to train.
Never needing an excuse to work out, Zoro scarfed down his toast and picked Luffy up by the scruff. “Time to spar,” he said as he carried the man outside.
“Mmkay!” Luffy said through a mouthful of Chopper’s breakfast.
Zoro spent the next two hours beating Luffy to a pulp and being beaten to a pulp by Luffy. The sun was bearing down on them as the rest of the crew avoided them for dear life. Zoro tackled Luffy onto the ground, earning an “oomph!” of his own. Grinning wide, Luffy just squished flat under Zoro’s bulk.
“You’re fun today! Let’s go again!”
“I’m always fun.” Zoro deadpanned and rose to his feet so they could keep fighting.
***
The next day, Zoro’s grogginess had been replaced by the inability to sit still.
Lucky for him, some idiots decided to attack them that afternoon so Zoro traded his dumb bells for his swords and made quick work of them before the others could really get started.
“What the hell was that?” Nami asked once he’d hopped back onto the Merry.
“What?” Zoro asked.
“Could’ve let me take a few out. You trying to prove something?” Sanji asked.
“I’m not the one who needs to prove themselves,” Zoro goaded.
The rest of the crew quickly scattered as the two of them traded barbs between blows. The ship behind them long forgotten as it sunk to the bottom of the sea.
***
On the third day, Zoro just wanted to be left alone.
He didn’t leave his hammock until Sanji bullied him out of it to eat. Then he disappeared into the crow’s nest until the sun was just too hot to lay comfortably. Groaning in annoyance, Zoro dropped down without using the ladder and decided to find somewhere dark and quiet below deck.
“Zoro!” Usopp shouted from the other side of the deck. He had a mediocre-sized fish in his hand and a proud grin on his face. “I got dinner!”
“For you maybe. Sanji isn’t going to be able to cook much with that.”
Usopp frowned. “You’re no fun today.”
Zoro would feel bad for the way his shoulders slumped like Zoro had taken the wind out of his sails. Usopp was probably about to tell him about some grand fight with the sea beast he’d caught or some such. Normally, he’d let Usopp lie to his heart’s content, but he just could not be bothered right now.
His hammock had been co-opted by Luffy and Chopper as it turned out so the bunks were out. Zoro wandered deeper into the ship until he found a nice little corner in the hold.
There was plenty of sacks worth of grain from their last stop for Zoro to fashion a comfortable pile of bed and it was near silent compared to the constant noise up above. Zoro hung his blades on a nearby hook and buried himself in perfectly shaped cargo.
He didn’t quite fall asleep, but the quiet was incredibly relaxing.
***
“Hey Zoro,” an upside down Luffy whispered to him hours later.
Zoro cracked an eye open in answer.
“How’s the heat going?”
“What are you...oh. I’m in heat, huh.”
Luffy laughed softly and dropped down so he was crouched beside him. “Did you not notice?
Zoro shrugged. “Like you notice every heat you have.”
“I notice. I just don’t talk about it.”
“Cool. Is there something you needed?”
“Nope. Just wanted to check on you. It’s been like four meals since you came down here.”
So four hours. Suppose that explained why it felt darker than usual. Sun must have gone down.
“I’m fine. Just wanted some quiet. Took a nap.”
“Alright. Do you want me to get you some food?”
Zoro’s stomach was feeling a bit angry, now that he mentioned it. “Yeah. That’d be alright.”
“Ok! I’ll be right back!” and then Luffy was gone.
Fondness curved the corner of his lip despite himself. When Luffy returned with a beer and that night’s dinner, Zoro found himself making room for him to share.
Luffy was happy to settle beside him in his makeshift nest and pick off his plate. Zoro suspected he’d over piled the food specifically for that purpose.
“Is this why Sanji’s been shoving bread at me for days?” Zoro asked a few minutes later.
“Yep. He noticed a few days ago before anyone else did. Said you reeked and broke his fridge.”
“Nosy bastard.”
Luffy only laughed. “Sanji was mean too. Said he’d been snorting garlic just so he didn’t have to smell omega all day.”
Zoro grumbled insults about dramatic alphas and idiot chefs into his beer.
Luffy laughed again and cosied up even more into Zoro’s side. “Sanji is dumb. You smell really good all the time. Especially when you’re in heat.”
Zoro blushed fiercely at that. “You can’t just say shit like that.”
“Why not? Zoro does smell good.”
Zoro tensed as Luffy actually leaned in and smelled him right in the nook between his neck and shoulder. Far too close to his scent gland to be platonic. At least, not for anyone who wasn’t Luffy.
Food forgotten, Zoro rearranged them so Luffy was just a bit farther from such an intimate spot. Luffy said nothing as Zoro manoeuvred him, far too busy adjusting to his new position on Zoro’s lap.
He may not have thought this through.
Luffy laid sprawled out over Zoro’s front, his head now pillowed on Zoro’s bare pecks and legs straddling his hips. The idiot just hummed all sleepy and cute-like while Zoro tried very hard not to press his erection anywhere near where Luffy could notice it.
Zoro hadn’t even noticed it until just now so maybe he had a chance.
“You should tell me next time you’re in heat.” Luffy said into Zoro’s chest.
“I’d have to know I was in heat to tell you.” Zoro said instead of pointing out that Luffy was not his mate and therefore, technically, was not entitled to that kind of information. Actually, it was wildly inappropriate for Luffy to be in here at all knowing Zoro was heat-induced isolating. Funny how Zoro forgot to be bothered about that.
In truth, Zoro would tell Luffy anything he wanted to know. He was man enough to acknowledge that...to himself. Privately. In his head.
“Tell me,” Luffy ordered. “We can set up a proper nest for you next time. Prepare some good food.”
“I like it here.”
Luffy wrapped his arms around Zoro at that, humming softly in a timbre dangerously close to a purr.
That was not helping his erection, but Zoro didn’t tell him to stop.
“Ok,” he said instead and let Luffy doze on top of him.
And if he pet Luffy’s hair a little bit and brushed his nose along the man’s temple, that was his business and nobody else’s.