Clad in purple form fitting track pants and a white sports bra. It was her alright, but what was she doing in the ship's gym?
Robin?
The surprise made Zoro lose his composure a bit. He felt himself get warm in the face as he looked to the side grumpily.
The elegant Ms. was laying down and bench-pressing silently with patience and determination. Her dark hair plaited neatly into a long braid pinned into a bun. It occured to him he'd never really gotten a good look at her neck before.
"Not that this place belongs to me." He started to speak as he leaned against the room entrance.
"I Just thought you weren't into weights…"
She inhaled deeply, pushed it up once more and placed the barbell securely back in its metal holder with care. The elongated woman sat up on the end of the bench with poise.
"I promise to leave the place as I found it. I know you would do the same, should you visit my library."
He couldn't suppress a soft grin that found its way onto his face. The pesky tic started back when he first joined Luffy and had never quite let him be since then.
"Looks like you know a thing or two about the bench press."
She looked at him confidently.
"Yes."
A moment's silence, Zoro lifted his thumb to wipe the corner of his mouth, still grinning a little, as he looked off again.
"I can come back later."
Robin waited a second or two as he turned around. She couldn't go appearing desperate.
"You could…"
He stopped gently.
"Or you could stay and teach me a thing or two."
"There's only so much I can learn from literature you see. A guiding hand or two, owned by someone strong and experienced could make all the difference." She purred coyly.
He knew her voice and demeanor as generally sultry but this was… Something else.
With effort invested in the following act, he responded coolly.
"I can share some techniques. If you want."
Zoro took the towel wrapped around his bull neck off and threw it on a nearby side bench. His tank top clung flatteringly to his defined upper body.
She got up and walked toward him at a leisurely pace as she spoke.
"I've been fighting using my body's power all these years, and while I have some naturally, I want to build more physical strength. I can't have my limbs failing me while my mental use of the hana hana fruit develops."
He nodded.
"You're the most versed in strength training person I know."
He enjoyed the recognition in secret before she shot her request at him formally.
"Teach me."
He looked back into her beautiful glassy eyes.
"Sure. Start by telling me what muscle group you want to work with."
"Hmm… Optimal would be to start with my arms. It's my main means of taking the enemy out."
It made sense. Plus if she got an injury the damage would be restricted to a small part of her… He'd only ever instructed Usopp Chopper and Luffy before. There had been one girl he'd worked out with in the past, but that was a very long time ago.
Robin would be his first woman pupil, the thought made him just a tad apprehensive, and a bit of… Something else.
"Deal, but you owe me that book on the history of sword combat you talked about." Can't seem too easy to game. Why am I jittery anyways!? Shit!
She smiled sweetly.
"Hope you're still up to this after that bench press…"
"I'd only been on it for a minute, until I was lucky enough to have you drop in."
"Heh, well get yourself in gear, when we're done every square inch of you'll be sore."
She pondered for a second if the weather was extra warm today. Did he mean to sound so… Risqué?
"I certainly hope so."
He wondered momentarily if the heater was on in the gym. Man she's shameless.
Zoro cleared his throat.
"Let's start you off on your knees." Then blushed violently as he realized how it sounded.
"Oh my." She laughed
"Push ups, woman." He looked off to the side frowning. "Straighten that back out and do some light push ups. I don't know if you're naturally able to do full ones. We can work you up to them over time anyway. You need a warmup."
She did as instructed and rested her weight on both knees, lengthening through her arms down to her palms, which planted firmly on the wooden floor. Robin straightened her spine out and went to work.
Zoro crouched down next to her on one knee. "Looks good, let's start with twenty five per set. You'll give me two repetitions. Ten second break in between." doing his very best not to stare too long at her assets he began counting.
"20. Good."
"21…"
"22.. Come on, no slowing down. You're almost there."
"23…"
"24…"
"Alright, you can get up and walk around."
She did as she was told, she stood upright as she craned her neck toward the ceiling and walked slowly.
"Breathe as deeply and continuously as possible. That's the trick to any good workout."
Her ribcage expanded as widely as it could, as she charged her bloodstream full of oxygen and felt her perception sharpen. It really was helping.
"Alright second set. C'mon."
She kept her pace relatively even this time.
"Good breath. How are you feeling?"
"Energetic."
"Wanna do legs next?"
"Hmm, although there's nothing wrong with building on previous strength, I don't fight with my legs like Sanji, and I have literally been on the run for most of my life. I don't think that's a problem area for me."
"Right. We could do core muscles. Those are important regardless of your fighting style."
"Mm. Shall we?"
"Right. Lay down on the floor with your legs bent toward your chest. I'll act as anchor and hold down your feet this this time around, but remember you can always wedge them under something low and sturdy if you're doing this on your own."
"So, Does it matter how much I bend my legs?"
"Not really. Just as long as they're bent together."
"Keeping your back straight like when we did pushups, I want you to lift your torso toward me. Remember, you wanna feel it in your abdomen, not your neck. So don't let that tension build above the shoulders."
The set of twenty-five went rather smoothly. Undeniably, it did help to have the a well-sculpted and handsome man holding her down. There was more incentive to finish raising her torso up, when his face would be waiting not far from her knees.
She got to twenty-five and he let go of her and got back up.
"Let's alternate. One set of pushups, and then I want two more sets of sit-ups."
"Roger."
She was finishing up her last set of sit-ups. He let go of her as she made it to the top a last time, got up and walked over to the barbell.
"My arms are a little worn now, Maybe we could focus on the rest of the muscle groups."
He lifted the twenty kilo bar off its holder so easily, you might think it was made of paper.
"I want you to do a deadlift."
He placed the weighted bar at his own feet and did a half-crouch.
"It might seem like an arm workout, but it's not really. You'll feel it in your legs and torso mostly."
"What you'll want to do is bend down, and then grab the bar firmly. Start with it close to your shins. Hands outside of 'em."
He pulled it upward slowly and put it back down then stepped away.
"Here, you try."
Robin took his place and immitated his starting pose.
She startled as she felt his right hand gently press the small of her back inward. He didn't exactly touch her often.
"You'll want to curve that back more."
In this light she could see his every pore hair and scar, and yet there was no other place in the world she would rather be. His skin looked extra inviting.
"Don't just wait around. Go for it."
She snapped out of her trance to do as he told. With some exertion she slowly lifted the bar off the floor and up to her kneecaps.
"Robin, remember to breathe."
How odd. It wasn't like her to forget. An easy fix, she consoled herself as she inhaled while relaxed and did another lift as she exhaled slowly.
"Looking good."
"You don't look bad either." She teased with an alluring intonation. Her back was arching in easily on its own at this point.
Zoro was doing his absolute best to visualize granny Kokoro in her revealing clam bra. It was getting extremely difficult as it kept mixing with visions of him aggressively pulling her towards him, lifting her sports bra off and throwing it to the side as he—No. Get a grip!
"Ahah! Real funny. Get on with it."
She was very much enjoying the shades of red he was flashing in and out of.
"Try to manage ten. If it's not too heavy."
"It feels perfect." She responded between lifts. She was flushed, panting lightly, and smiling at him penetratingly.
"Well then you" His voice broke as he spoke.
"I uh…"
"Hmm."
He'd lost his train of thought. He gulped.
She let go of the bar and turned towards her trainer, laughed quietly and affectionately under her breath as she walked up immodestly close to him.
"Yes?"