Author Notes: I have never written a yaoi pairing before. Bear with me. (Inspirational Theme: "You gave love a Band-Aid" from livejournal group 31_days)

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. Obviously.

Spoilers/Timeline: After current arc (chapter 590~) - a continuation/spin off of "Things Never Were Normal"

Warnings: Rated M for a reason. Involves yaoi relationship. Shoo if you don't like that kind of thing.

Pairing: Luffy/Zoro, as in LuZo, as in Zoro uke. Because I said so.

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Steal My Pain

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The night air was calm. Quiet. Peaceful. The sea waves slapped lightly at their ship, and the clouds were thin and few, leaving room for the bright stars to shine.

It was a sight he could enjoy again. But he wasn't enjoying it for its existence on its own; he was more enjoying the serene calm that had blanketed his nakama.

So much had happened. So much had changed. There had been worry, at first. Tension, even, because they had been separated for too long.

Yet they were nakama.

And things really were going to be okay, as normal as they could be with a crew as diverse as theirs. At first glance, an outsider might wonder how they all got along, how they all worked. Usually pirate crews had a similarity among its members, an outward, obvious similarity.

But theirs…

They just were.

Luffy had chosen well, and Zoro had been first. A reluctant first, he admitted. A you-blackmailed-me-but-I-promised first. But still, the first. The start of it all.

Everyone else looked to him when Luffy was absent or unable to lead. No one ever came out and said "Zoro's the first mate" but at the very least, they turned to him after Luffy. They depended on him after Luffy. If Luffy was ever down…like at Thriller Bark… If Luffy was ever unable to defend for himself… It fell to him, Roronoa Zoro, second in command.

No one ever said so, but he definitely felt it - that responsibility. And he accepted it.

A light breeze whistled through his open shirt. He grimaced slightly, lifting one hand from the side rail of the ship to touch the skin, still sore. Was that soreness left over from so long ago, or was it just Luffy's punches from earlier today? He couldn't tell what worried him more.

"Did it hurt?"

He froze. Luffy was awake? And asking such a strange question…

The rubber boy was beside him before he could turn around. Of course, those rubber arms of his had stretched, grabbed the rail, and pulled the rest of Luffy's body to the edge, where he now sat cross-legged on the side. To be honest, it was a dangerous position, considering one wrong move and Luffy - the devil fruit user, cursed to never swim - could fall into the dark ocean below. And Zoro was most definitely not in the mood for a cold rescue dive tonight.

"Zoro?"

He froze again, feeling his face heat up at the way Luffy said his name. It was embarrassing. That question. That…almost pity… from Luffy, his captain. They had all adopted that tone around him after the tense moment today. But now Luffy had as well, but what was Luffy's reason?

Because he wasn't answering, Luffy poked his head into Zoro's face, successfully causing a now startled Zoro to tumble backwards a few steps before regaining control. He clenched his teeth together and met the eyes of his captain, wondering why the heat in his face wasn't cooling down even though he had control now.

"I'm fine."

Luffy cocked his head to the side, studying him, his hair and clothes flapping silently in the steady ocean breezes. Zoro put a hand up to his head to scratch at his own hair, but Luffy's grin made him freeze halfway.

"Yup. Still Zoro. Still lying about how you feel."

At this statement, he could feel his anger rumbling to the surface. So what if he lied about how he felt? If he wasn't hurting anyone or causing anyone else a problem, what did it matter? It shouldn't still be sore anyway. He was just imagining things! What right did Luffy have to talk about hiding pain, anyway? Luffy's pain was…

He grimaced, remembering how such a small sample of his captain's pain had been so horrible. It really was a miracle he had survived.

"Stop it, Zoro."

He blinked, coming out of his thoughts, seeing Luffy's serious expression and being startled backwards again because of it, putting a wall to his back. "Stop what?" He asked, watching Luffy shift positions to dangle his legs over the edge of the rail, facing Zoro with the hat down, the shade covering those eyes.

What now? Why do I keep making him angry?

Instead of answering, Luffy slid off the edge and walked toward him, keeping the hat down until they were almost touching. Then his captain did touch, reaching out with small boyish - but strong as hell - fingers to poke at his chest between the shirt. The touch was gentle, light, and yet he winced, feeling a sting of electricity run up the scar he had gotten from Mihawk oh so long ago.

"Stop stealing all the pain," Luffy said, at a whispered voice but with a demanding tone.

Zoro blinked, starting to feel the hints of something else in the air. Something…different. Definitely different. He had accepted the fact that Luffy had changed, but his captain had become even less predictable than he had been before.

"I'm not-" he choked on his words, losing his breath mid-thought.

It was Luffy's fault. The young captain had grazed his fingers across a sensitive area on his stomach. An awkwardly sensitive area. And with his face insisting on being red and hot, he doubted he could play off the slight moan as a reaction to pain - not pleasure. What was Luffy even trying to do? And why the hell was his body being so weird tonight? He was supposed to have excellent control over his own body and know his surroundings well enough to not get caught with his back to a wall - though, he did have to admit, Luffy was one of the few that could surprise him and catch him off guard.

"Stop stealing it all. Share some with me," Luffy said.

He shook his head, clearing the new and unwanted thoughts that had just hit his mind. "Luffy, just wha-"

He didn't get to continue. As soon as he opened his mouth, Luffy had dived, enveloping his lips with Zoro's, pushing his tongue into Zoro's unsuspecting, open cavern. And Zoro felt his mind explode.

He tried to resist. This was wrong after all. Luffy was his captain. Not his - not his… No! Just because he had thought of it before, imagined it… Just because…

What if that cook came walking in?

He moved his arms, intending to push Luffy away, but his captain was quicker and expecting it, grabbing his wrists and shoving them against the wooden wall behind them. Again, Zoro tried to resist, but if anyone could beat him in super human strength, it was the man he had chosen to follow: Monkey D. Luffy. The man he had been blackmailed into joining; he had accepted it as a duty at first and then later he had grown to accept it as something he had been meant to do. He had been meant to follow Luffy.

He had been meant to…

Clearing his thoughts again, he felt his face heat up more as a second moan filtered through his defenses straight into Luffy's mouth. What the hell is wrong with me? After that, Luffy pulled back and grinned, looking up, no longer letting the hat shade his eyes.

"Zoro, did you know, the first is always the most special?" There was a question, but Zoro didn't know how to answer it; he couldn't shrug all that well in this position after all. "Everyone else was chosen because they're the best at their position. But you…"

"I'm not the best swordsman," Zoro murmured. "Yeah," he sighed. "I kno-"

Yet again, he couldn't finish his thought, even though he had been so close this time before Luffy kissed him again. His captain didn't linger this time; he just pecked and then backed off.

"Would you stop doing that?" Zoro growled.

To which Luffy giggled. "But it's just so easy."

Zoro felt his eye twitch. "Oh so now I'm easy, too."

Luffy grinned. "Yup! Only for me though. Because I chose you for a different reason than the others. You see-"

"Wait, wha-"

Peck. Back away. Third kiss.

"Gah! Damn it, Lu-"

Another one. Longer. Way longer. So long, Zoro's lungs started to scream for air and he began to feel lightheaded. But the pleasure kept him going. Even if it was Luffy, it felt good. Maybe because it was Luffy. Maybe because he was being dominated by the younger captain, pushed into position yet again by this strange kid. When no other could make him feel so weak; when no other could demand so much loyalty from him. Whatever the reason, he didn't care anymore.

He was enjoying himself.

And as soon as he reached that point, Luffy let go, dropping his wrists as he took a step back. Zoro promptly fell, sliding down the wall until he was sitting at Luffy's feet, having lost control of his legs as well as everything else.

As Zoro fought for breath, Luffy spoke. "Stop interrupting me! I keep trying to explain what makes you so special, and you have to keep talking over me. Don't you want to know why I wanted you? Why I wouldn't have it any other way?"

"I thought…that stuff…didn't matter…to you."

At this answer, Luffy crouched down, poking his face right in Zoro's again to the point that their noses were almost touching. Luffy sat there, staring, doing nothing but staring straight into Zoro's eyes, making him uncomfortable with the proximity. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes as his breath finally came back to him.

Trust Luffy to put him in such an awkward position. Trust Luffy to put him so off balance. Trust Luffy to…

"No one blames you, Zoro. No one. For anything. Ever." Luffy stated, as if it was the most simple fact in the world.

Zoro blinked. Trust Luffy to know me better than I know myself.

"Now give me back my pain. Those guilt feelings are supposed to be mine, you know," his captain whispered, tapping at his chest again. "That's not you. You aren't supposed to regret. Remember? You told me back when we first met that you hadn't done anything you regret and you never would. So what you feel now? That's my pain."

Zoro blinked again, remembering back to when he had fought Kuma. Remembering what had been said: "All his pain and suffering." Did that include mental, too, and not just the physical. Just what in the hell had he accepted in order to save Luffy?

"Give them back!" Luffy whispered forcefully, punching his stomach and then forcing him down to his back before straddling his chest and glaring.

With a wince, Zoro frowned. "No."

Surprisingly, this answer caused Luffy to lose his anger. A sly smile slowly crossed the boyish face and the hat fell from his head to hang by the thread around his neck. "Then I'll just make it go away."

As Luffy leaned in, Zoro managed to throw up his hands and stop him this time. "H-Hey wait a minute. Aren't you even going to ask if I'm okay with it?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Uh, because otherwise, it's…just…that's what people do!" Zoro stammered. "It's polite."

"I didn't know you wanted polite," Luffy said. "I mean, your reaction to being forced was exactly what I guessed."

Heat started to seep into Zoro's cheeks again, and he put up no resistance as Luffy grabbed his arms and pushed them down to the deck of the Thousand Sunny. The captain then leaned his face down and connected their lips again, claiming every little inch of his mouth before releasing, leaving Zoro gasping for breath again, but leaving no time to get it back before latching on to his neck, blowing warm air across the sweat, licking, sucking when he got a reaction.

Damn it, Luffy. How the hell do you know me…? Why the hell do I even… Gah…

Zoro closed his eyes and clenched his teeth as Luffy's own teeth latched on to his ear lobe, the tongue making his earrings chime against each other. He could feel himself getting hot. Damn it, this is why he had been glad Sanji had started picking up the duty of saving Luffy from the water. Having his captain so close, breathing on him, licking, sucking, nibbling. Damn it all. He felt a moan coming to the surface, so he bit his lip to keep it from escaping. Damn it all to hell. What would Luffy say if he knew his strong swordsman turned so weak around him…

He heard Luffy giggle in his ear. "You know, that's actually kinda cute, Zoro." He blushed. "Especially when you turn red." Peck. "But you know…" Nibble on the jaw line. "I have a secret, too." Kiss on the tip of the chin, making him open his eyes and glare. "I moan the loudest."

Their lips finally met and Luffy snapped his rubber arms back in order to let Zoro free, because nothing in the swordsman was resisting anymore. As their tongues went from battling to caressing in turn, Zoro brought his now free arms around to hold Luffy at his waist, hooking his thumbs under the jeans, loving the thought that his hands were in Luffy's pants.

Luffy, on the other hand, now had free hands as well, which quickly moved to Zoro's shoulders, and worked at removing the open shirt, needing a bit of Zoro's cooperation in the end. After the shirt was off, one hand anchored on a shoulder, and the other started tracing the long scar diagonally across Zoro's well muscled chest, taking a short detour to rub and pinch a nipple, earning a throaty moan that vibrated through their mouths.

Luffy broke away from the kiss and started to wiggle down, kissing, licking, and nibbling as he went. Zoro closed his eyes and felt his hands pop out of the tip of Luffy's pants to hang in mid air, at least until he found Luffy's hair. His messy black hair that was usually hidden by the hat; he loved Luffy's hair, more so than the hat, but he would never tell Luffy to stop wearing the hat because it meant so much to him, but still…

"Gahhh…shhhiii….t," he hissed, having to work to keep the noises quiet.

Luffy had found another sensitive spot, and there was no way he would allow himself to be loud enough to wake the other crew members. He would never live it down if Sanji saw them like this - well, more precisely, saw proud, strong, demon pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro enjoying a spot on the bottom. He would lose his reputation with the crew if they got caught.

He knew his face was flushed, and he knew his breathing was erratic; what he didn't know was that Luffy was done teasing. He felt the pleasure shoot up and fan out like a wild fire; he'd heard that description used before, and that was exactly what he would say it felt like. Like fire coursing through. But a good fire. A warm fire.

A fire that made him… "AH! Fu- LUFFY! Daaamn…it…" ….that made him scream louder than he wanted to; if someone wasn't awake now, he would start praying.

Luffy chuckled. "Why so sensitive, Zoro? Has it been a while?"

"Mmf." Not…fair, Luffy. Not fair at all.

"I would think that of all the people on the crew, you'd have the most experience with this."

He felt his face flush again. Damn body. Through clenched teeth, he forced a response as Luffy continued to toy with the area around his rock hard body part, ever slowly working on lowering his pants. "Damn it, Luffy. You're supposed to -mmf- be the one who's innocent and all."

With a light laugh, Luffy looked up, his black hair poking into the edges of his round eyes. "Me?" He questioned as he slipped Zoro's pants down, throwing them off. "Innocent?" He smirked, sending an involuntary shiver down Zoro's spine, before the young captain popped the swordsman's rather hard member into his not-so-innocent-after-all mouth.

The fire of pleasure all but exploded and he felt himself drifting away, trying to remember the last time it had felt this good, but unable to come up with anything. As Luffy worked on him, he felt his lips part, felt his heart beating fast, felt his fingers clawing at something, anything. What the hell? Why does Luffy do so much to me? It's not like I'm a virgin. But it has been a while… And…

A hum brought him back, broke through the drifting to force him back to bliss. It also forced the inevitable scream from his lips. "LUFFY, FUUUUCK…ing…hell…" he barely squeaked out the last before familiar lips could enclose around his, muffling the rest of the moans as he released.

~!~

They had been forced to cut the evening event short because certain members of the crew had woken up to that last cry, though hopefully none of them had deciphered the words - or the voice. Luffy had apologized for messing it up, as if he had been the one to scream and wake up everyone, and Zoro had promptly smacked him for forcing it all so fast.

And so suddenly.

Now, they were gazing up at the star-filled sky, marked by thin clouds moving across the lights and the moon to create expressive shadows across their faces. It had been Luffy's watch after Zoro's but Zoro couldn't sleep. He was still trying to unwind the tangled web that his thoughts had become.

Leaning against the ship rail, he looked to his left to stare at his captain, who was yet again sitting cross-legged on the edge, not a care or worry about sitting so precariously close to possible death. Maybe it was his trust in Zoro that kept him so care-free.

"So, Luffy," he started, wanting to figure out the answer to a certain question that had been bothering him.

"Oh, look, it's Chopper!" Luffy exclaimed, pointing to a set of stars, which, after a while, Zoro could admit looked somewhat like their little reindeer friend. He grunted. So much for Luffy listening to him. "Sorry, Zoro, what did you have to say?"

He blinked. Or maybe the captain had always been listening. "Nothing, I guess, I just-" This was strange. He was at a loss for words, stumbling over his thoughts.

What in the hell was it about Luffy that messed him up like this?

"Just what?" Luffy prompted, turning from staring at the stars to look Zoro in the face.

He took a breath. "Why?"

Luffy blinked. "Why what?"

"Why me?"

At this, Luffy laughed. "Because you're Zoro, duh!" Smiling at his swordsman's confused quiet, Luffy turned back to look out at the water.

Zoro shook his head and put his face in his hands. What the hell was he doing?

"You're my swordsman, my nakama, my first," Luffy stated as if just marking off common knowledge points. "Because you promise and you keep it. You dream and believe in it. You never regret, never turn back." Luffy paused to look over at Zoro, who was staring, dumbfounded. He smiled and grabbed his swordsman's hand, pulling him closer. "You get lost but you know you'll always eventually get there."

Zoro felt his face flame up again, a reaction that had suddenly become so normal, though still just as embarrassing. He glanced away, but Luffy put a hand to his face and leaned forward to meet their lips in a quick kiss. This successfully turned Zoro's face a temporary shade of light red.

"I don't know, really. I just… From the moment I saw you, I knew. When I talked to you, I knew I was right. You had to be mine. My first. My Zoro."

And with that, Zoro took the initiative and pulled Luffy close to him, murmuring a quick. "Then I'm yours, Captain." They touched again, enjoying the lull of the waves against the ship and the relative quiet of the night, but the cliché of kissing under the moonlight was lost on them. They just resolved to enjoy themselves - this time without going the next step, at least for now.

And of course, Luffy broke the moment when he broke the kiss to comment on his random string of thoughts. "You know, we're going to have to find a place where you can scream without waking everyone up. I want to show you what I can really do."

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A/N: FLUFFY! *cough* Anyway, there will be more in this collection. And I do mean more hot LuZo action, too. This is my first so be nice but please let me know what you think. ~