Fandom: ONE PIECE
Title: Social Animal
Pairing: Zoro/Sanji
Rating: R (for brief slideshow)
Word Count: 340
Topic: Knots
A/N: Nothing much, just breaking my previous statement – some things just come my way nowadays, I suppose. My plot bunnies threatened me and made me write it!
First knot is tied on your umbilical cord: with it you become a separate individual, who breathes, cries and explores the primal mysteries of life all by himself. But there's still your mother right beside you, protecting you, feeding you and providing comfort when life treats you badly. As the years go by, this second knot gets more and more loose, and the two ends finally fall apart as you grow up and choose your own way.
Your newly chosen way bonds you with your sensei, for he's the one to shape you like a finest blade. Your father had given you life, but it's sensei who'll teach you about it and give you a real sword to fight with.
The fourth and the fifth are the promise you've made to your deceased friend and an invisible tie that binds your soul with the katana you carry.
Next are the hitches on the ropes holding sails and the mast of your small but durable home and the friendship growing between you and the people you share your home with. You wouldn't have it any other way, even if a certain someone annoys you so much that you want to slice him every goddamn day. And you don't even know when that certain someone makes his way straight into your heart, with all those silky golden strands of his and the strong scent of tobacco from the cigarettes he smokes.
He still annoys you as much as you annoy him, but slowly you both learn to trust one another with your lives. The night falls and you are both tied in the knot made of your arms, legs and lips, sweating and panting, holding onto each other and tying another bond with words you'd never thought of saying out loud before.
And as you drift to sleep, your last thought is a prayer that all those knots (including the ones of an old hammock you share) would hold just a little bit longer.