Title: Perona's Favourite Time Of The Day
Theme: #27 – Foreign
Pairings: Zoro/Perona
Setting: During 2 years timeskip.
Short one-shot. Towards Zoro/Perona (my second favourite pairing), read at own risk. Thank you for reading and reviewing (:
"Oi, stay still."
The dirty bathtub is, after six month being used four times a day, is not so dirty anymore. In fact, Perona had dedicated a day to clean the bathroom – which Dracule Mihawk had never even touched, before – on the third floor of the castle, with bleach and all other strong detergent, because she couldn't stand taking her bath in a dusty bathroom with foreign moss on the wall. She had removed the moss too.
The bathroom is now very royal-like, thanks to Perona, who wrote down a list of fragrance soap and shampoos for all hair and skin condition, as well as body scrubs of every flavour, and three loofahs, and passed the list to Mihawk every time before he sets off somewhere. Clean towels are hung perfectly on the towel rack at a corner, three white bath towels – each of them has a name embroided at the end – and another smaller one, which seemed clean, but has dull reddish stains.
She took the smaller towel, and brought it to her chair set beside the half-filled royal bathtub. Soap bubbles floats on the surface of the water like bubbles in a cup of cappuccino. She dipped the towel into the soapy water in the bathtub – where Zoro was sitting in, he tried to lean back but Perona forbids him to – and lifts it back before she squeezed it. Carefully, the Lolita lady brought the damp towel to Zoro's wounded shoulder and cleaned the dried blood surrounding the cut.
Of course, though Zoro flinched a little, but Perona doesn't need to warn Zoro and say, "it's gonna sting a little", because Zoro had already known. Perona had been treating his wound every evening, and despite having no basics about treating wounds, she gets better every day, it seems, because she spent her night secretly reading books about medication in her room. The water in the bathtub smelled like medication itself, because she had mixed the water with a cupful of antibacterial solution for cuts and wounds, so she could clean Zoro before she put bandages on his wounds.
"Oi." Zoro spoke, as he bent his head down, allowing Perona to clean his back with the damp, bloodstained towel.
"What?" She answered, half-softly, probably because she was not in the mood for yelling and nagging, and simply she have no reason to be loud, anyway.
"Do you think I'm already strong enough?"
She hits his head playfully. "Stupid. You're still not strong enough." Done with her back, she sat back on her chair. "Hands," she instructed, holding her palms up, and Zoro obediently placed his hand on Perona's palm. "Good boy," she said, and she wiped his muscular arms, and his rough hands, and his thick fingers, and in between his thick fingers too. "But hey, at least you're outside, training yourself to the bones, isn't that productive?"
Zoro sighed. "Then what did you do all day?"
"Watched you train. Have lunch. Wash Kumashi. Now I'm giving you bath." She floated to the other side of the bathtub and cleaned his other arm, and hand, and fingers.
"Pinky."
"What?"
"Aren't you bored?"
"Of what?"
"Of cooking us three meals a day, and treating my wounds, and giving me bath, every single evening?"
Perona slapped soap bubbles on Zoro's face, and he moved a little. Failing to avoid it, he wiped the bubbles from his face. Perona laughed a little. "See? You can't even avoid my bubbles, how can you say you're strong enough?" Done with his arms, she removed the soap bubbles on the surface of the bathtub water, revealing transparent water underneath. She dipped the small towel into the transparent water, and slowly scrubbed on his legs, and toes, and in between his toes too.
"You're not answering my question."
"What makes you think I'm bored?" And she cleaned in between his legs, he isn't at all embarrassed, because every evening, when he's fully exhausted, Perona would give him bath, alongside tending his cuts. He got used to it. After all, it's Perona, on a pretty much deserted island, what is there to be ashamed about?
"Was just wondering."
Spicing up the conversation, she joked a bit, "well yeah, I'm bored of burning up the toast and smelling like medicines and seeing you naked every day. You idiot." Done with his privates, and the rest of his body, she walked towards the end of the bathtub, and stood facing his back. She pulled the removable showerhead, and turned the tap on. "Do you want lemon shampoo or the one smelled like Chinese herbs?"
"Anything will do."
So Perona took a yellow bottle from the shampoo rack, and cold water from the shower poured on his head, soaking his marimo-like hair down to his scalp. Soaked, she placed the showerhead aside, and poured lemon shampoo on his palm, lathered it on Zoro's head and scrubbed his scalp. "I like lemon," she told him, the end of his fingers clawing hard on Zoro's head like a professional hairdresser in a salon.
Zoro leaned back, and Perona did not say anything, so he kept his position. "So what do you wanna do?"
"Why?"
"You said you're bored, so what d'you prefer to do then?"
Perona raised her shoulders, but realizing later that Zoro isn't facing her, she spoke instead. "I don't know. I wish I have my stuffed zombies back. Kumashi, at least. They keep me company, and they run my errands, and they basically do everything I say." She sounded tad sad.
"Sorry I can't be that company kind of company."
"Eh, it's okay. I hope Kuma sends in another guy, at least he can be my boy toy."
Zoro felt a bit ticklish when she shampooed the top of his neck. Lemon. "What's a boy toy?" He asked.
"Someone I can play with," she said. The term, she invented herself, and her innocent mind is so innocent that anything sexual was never implied.
She pulled the showerhead again, rinsing his hair slowly. "Perona," he called.
"Horohorohoro," she laughed.
"What?"
"You called me by my name," she said, bringing her face closer above Zoro's shoulder. "That's once in a lifetime."
"Okay, whatever," and when he turned his head, his lips accidentally brush her ear. "What's a boy toy?" He asked again.
"A boy as a toy."
"What's a boy toy?"
And then she realized she was playing with him. "Shut up!" She splashed water to his face. He splashed her back, reflexively.
"Are you done washing my hair?"
"Emh," she said, and turned the showerhead tap off. She got up on her feet again, and was about to grab his towel – the white, with his name embroided in green – but Zoro pulled her arm, causing her to fall into the tub, on top of Zoro's lower abdomen. Thank God he have no wounds there, only bruises. "Zoro!" She screamed, a little upset that her clothes are now wet, and smelled like the antibacterial solution she poured in Zoro's bath water.
"What do you do with a boy toy?"
"Play together? Do stuff together? Why are you asking so much of this?"
"Do you take baths together?" He pulled her legs, and readjusted her to sit properly opposite him in the tub. He pulled her white top from her waist, and brought it to over her head. She didn't refuse. He pulled off her leggings too, slowly.
"What are you planning?"
"Well, you always give me baths. Thought I'd return the favour, once in a while."
She became excited. "Does this means you're my boy toy now?"
"Kinda," he answered nonchalantly, and reached out for the showerhead.
"Can I be honest?"
"What?"
"I'm not bored at all. Giving you bath is actually my favourite time of the day."