Ties in the Sand.

by: a psycho chibi named Wendy

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.

Warning: Lots and lots of piratey cursing!

Pairing: None. Nakamaship

Summary: Sanji and Zoro find out the hard way how horribly Sand neckties chafe. Will they be able to help one another out of a potentially dire situation, or will their constant rivalry spell their untimely demise? Either way, it should be entertaining.

Author Rant: Gotta love pirate punishments. They get so creative.

Enjoy~

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"... How the hell did this happen...?"

"Well, I woke up this morning, saw your ugly mug, then things seemed to turn to shit after that."

"This is your fault, you psychotic bastard! We would have been just fine if you hadn't opened your damn mouth!"

"Forgive me for saving our asses! If I hadn't pissed them off, they would have dropped our asses in the middle of the ocean!"

"Ha! Like this is any better? Either way, we're gonna drown here!"

"We'll get out of this, pansy! Just focus on moving your hands!"

"I've been moving my hands! It's not doing a damn thing!"

"Then you're not doing it right, dumbass!"

"GRAAH!"

Gnashing his teeth together in frustration, Zoro allowed his head to fall back to the sand around him. It was stupid. The entire ordeal was so idiotic. He had heard of a punishment called 'the sand necktie' but he had never thought such a simple thing as being buried in sand would be enough to keep him trapped. Now as he was nothing more than a head resting on the beach and his body was dead weight. His hands and feet had been bound, so he couldn't get enough range of motion to work himself out. He was stuck.

Stuck with the one bastard he couldn't stand.

"This all your fault, shitty Marimo. If you pulled your head out of your ass, you may be able to figure out where the hell you're going for once!"

Zoro let out a deep growl, but he didn't lift his head. "How the hell is any of this my fault?"

"You have to ask?! I had to go out and look for your lame ass! You have all the directional sense of a carrot! I should have left you to walk in circles forever!"

"I'd rather be walking in circles than stuck in this sand with you!"

"The feeling is mutual, Asshole!"

All of a sudden a silence stretched out around them. It was tense, but so was their situation. They had maybe four hours before the tide started coming in. After that...

Neither of them tried to think about it.

When the mouthy cook made no other comment, Zoro fixed his attention on the sky in a weak attempt to focus on something else. The sky above him was a brilliant blue, and not a single cloud was floating by. Which only served to piss him off further. The sun was high overhead radiating an intense heat that seeped into the sand around him.

That steadily rising heat was beginning to make sweat bead up and roll down his reddened face. "Dammit.. This damn sand is frying me..."

There was a short pause before a deep sigh sounded from in front of him. "Drowning isn't the only way this was designed to kill, moss brain. I'd say it's probably... 90 degrees out. The sand can easily heat up another 20 degrees more... Long exposure will cause heat stroke. Without any water, dehydration... Basically, we're being cooked before we get blanched.. Haha, this is ironic."

The bitterness in the smoky voice had Zoro lifting his head. Instead of being buried with his face pointed towards the sea like it was usually done, their captors had decided to add another element of torture by forcing them to face each other as they were buried. An hour had already passed with them slinging every insult they could think of back and forth at each other. Glaring and growling were all they could do as the sun rose higher.

Now that blonde head in front of him was bowed. His chin touched the sand and the long bangs fell over his face like a curtain. It was a sight Zoro wasn't used to. "You've been through this before."

The calm statement forced a chuckle past Sanji's lips. "Yeah... Kinda hoped that I wouldn't have to experience it again, but meh. Guess that's life."

Zoro was silent for a moment, but found himself curious. "How did you get out of it last time?"

The blonde head lifted to show a broad smirk. "I don't remember. After the fourth hour I blacked out. Woke up beside the hole I had been buried in and both my wrists were dislocated. I dunno if I did it, or someone felt sorry for me." He lifted his face towards the clear sky and let out a deep sigh. "For a long time I wondered if I even survived. Then I figured that everything sucked too much to be any sort of afterlife."

That answer had Zoro snorting in amusement. "That sounds like something you'd come up with... Dammit, this is a lame way to die. It takes too damn long."

Sanji looked towards the swordsman with a raised brow. "What? You want it to be faster? Stupid Marimo. Don't say shit like that. We've still got time to figure a way out."

"Eh, whatever. I just don't see the point of all this. It would be more effective to just shoot us." Zoro muttered as he turned his head to look at the sea lapping at the sand.

A bland stare was on the cook's flushed face before his visible blue eye rolled sarcastically. "Oh yeah, being shot would have been loads better. Idiot."

"It's better than staring at your stupid face until something finally kills me."

"Trust me, I'm no more thrilled than you are at the thought of your shitty face being the last thing I see." Sanji blew a sharp breath upwards in a weak attempt to move his hair out of his face. "Dammit.. My nose itches..."

On seeing the twitching nose, Zoro's eyes grew wide. "You better not sneeze on me, you bastard!"

The threat did little to stop the tickling in Sanji's nose. His face scrunched up as if he was attempting to hold it back. "Eh... Nnn... Snrk..."

"I'm warning you! Turn your head dammit!"

"AHCOOO!"

Grains of sand mingled with the spittle that promptly showered Zoro's face. "GRAH! You asshole! Blaaah!"

As the moss head was attempting to shake his head to get rid of the spit on his face, Sanji sniffled lightly. "Heh. Sorry about that." His tone was hardly sincere.

"I'm going to kill you for that, dartbrow!"

"Yeah yeah." Sanji looked away from the fuming marimo in order to watch a tiny hermit crab walk along the sand between them. "Hm.. I forgot about that part of this punishment."

Distressed that he couldn't get the blond's saliva off his face, Zoro grumbled under his breath for a moment. "What part?"

Sanji kept his eyes on the hermit crab that seemed to have no interest in the two of them. "Animals. Birds could come by and peck our eyes out. Various nasty beasties might stop by to rip our faces off."

Zoro balked at the images that were filling his head. "Great... That's just great. So what now? We take bets on what kills us first?"

"Heh, if you're that set on dying, you could go ahead and suffocate yourself in the sand, Shitty swordsman." the cook jeered loudly.

His eyes narrowing, Zoro was close to his breaking point. "You're pushing it, curly!"

"Oh, what are you going to do?" Sanji asked sarcastically. "You're a talking moss ball at this point. You really think all that growling it going to make a difference?"

Fed up with crass bastard, Zoro gritted his teeth and looked for anything to aid him in his retribution. His eyes caught sight of a stick poking up through the sand to his right. Straining his neck against the compacted sand, Zoro was able to grab the tip of the stick with his teeth. It took some effort, but he soon pulled free a decent sized stick.

Sanji's visible eye widened when he realized the stick would be long enough to actually reach him. "Hey.. Wait a sec..."

Ignoring whatever protest the blond was about to make, Zoro got a good hold on the stick before turning his head to the right as far as he could.

"Zoro! Stop!"

With a sharp turn of his head, Zoro struck out fast with the stick. He felt the hit connect and heard a faint hiss immediately after. His eyes glanced back, but he was a bit surprised at what he found.

The blonde head was turned to the side, and those long bangs had fell forward, hiding the blue eyes from view. His lips were parted like he had been about to speak, but he stayed completely still and quiet. The silence stretched on for a good minute, which puzzled Zoro. He had expected another shouting match to occur. He expected anything other than this silence.

"Oi..." Stick still between his teeth, Zoro frowned when the blond head refused to turn. "Come on. I didn't hit you that..." his words died on his lips when he saw a drop of crimson roll down the flushed cheek.

The wet trail skirted past the corner of Sanji's mouth before going down to his chin. Parting his lips wider, Sanji's tongue moved to swipe at the coppery substance. After tasting his own blood, a soft hum left him as he turned his head back around. "Anyway.. Before I was so rudely interrupted, I was going to point out that maybe you could use that stick to try and dig yourself out." Sanji stated in a calm tone.

The suggestion made Zoro grimace slightly. That blue eye was simply staring at him through a small gap in the ruffled curtain of hair. It made a weird feeling coil up in Zoro's gut. 'Do I feel.. Bad about hitting him?'

Another silence stretched out between them that seemed even more strained than before.

Finally Sanji let out a deep groan and let his head fall back to the sand. "You're such an idiot... I just said you can try to dig yourself out. What the hell are you waiting for?!" he growl in frustration.

Zoro frowned, but he began looking between the stick in his teeth and the sand around them. "I'm not at the right angle to dig myself out."

Sanji had figured as much, but he had thought it was worth a shot. "I see.. Well, guess we take bets then. I'm going to say heat stroke."

Hearing that made Zoro's eyes widen. Through the entire ordeal that got them here, Sanji had always been the one that was insisting they could make it out. Kept saying they still had a chance. Hearing him admit defeat didn't settle right with him at all.

Glaring up at the sky above, Sanji was brooding over how he was stuck in such a scenario once more. 'This sucks... Wonder what will happen this time...'

He didn't have long to ponder when he felt the sand moving around him. On looking he was startled to see Zoro using the stick to begin sweeping away the sand from around his neck. "What are you doing?"

Keeping up the motion of his head, Zoro focused on moving the sand. "I can't reach myself, but I can try digging you out."

Sanji's visible eye widened when he saw that was starting to work. It took a few minutes, but eventually the blue shirt that covered the top of his shoulders became visible through the sand. He was tempted to wriggle his shoulders to see if he could loosen the hold of the sand, but he stopped himself and held still. At this point any move could erase all the progress the swordsman had accomplished. So Sanji kept quiet and waited.

The silence was a drastic change, but Zoro knew the blond was focusing on getting out. Arguing and cheap insults wouldn't get them free. His jaw was beginning to cramp at the awkward angle he was having to hold the stick. He also had to be cautious about how hard he dug into the sand or the stick would break. It was proving a tiresome strain.

Noticing the sweat poring from the reddened face, Sanji frowned in concern. "Oi, you don't have to try all in one go.."

"Shut up." was Zoro's only reply as he kept digging.

A less than thrilled look fell over Sanji's face, but he made no other comment.

It was agonizingly slow, but eventually the sand hand been cleared to just around the middle of Sanji's chest. At that point Zoro was starting to breathe heavier and every motion looked painful. Sanji knew the Swordsman was going to cause damage to himself soon.

"That's enough. Let's see if I can do anything..." Sanji didn't give the swordsman a chance to reply when he began moving his shoulders.

Zoro was secretly glad of the rest as he tried to regain his breath. His jaw and neck were killing him, but he ignored it to watch the blond carefully. The only real problem they had was that, while Zoro's hands had been shackled in front of him, Sanji's hands were bound behind his back. The insanely flexible blond continuously managed to escape all other attempts of shackling him, so they had to gang up on him and force him to the deck of their ship after a bolas took out his legs.

Those memories were pushed from his head when it looked as if the cook was making progress.

Turning and twisting his body as much as he could stand, Sanji was able to push more of the sand away from him. His hands worked at the sand behind him until he was able to lift up his arms behind him. Leaning forward until his face was touching the sand, the cook finally pried his arms completely out of the ground.

"Nnn.. Well.. Half way out... Damn.." Sanji grunted into the sand.

Finally able to drop the stick from his mouth, Zoro frowned at the way his comrade was breathing hard. "You hurt?"

The question made a laugh escape Sanji's lips as he forced himself back up. "Cracked a few ribs when they ganged up on me. No big deal." He bent his arms up at an unnatural angle behind him and began digging away the sand from his back.

Zoro watched the way a determined scowl twisted the pale brow even though the visible blue eye was closed. His teeth were gritted tightly, and occasionally he would see a faint hitch in the cook's movements from where he turned at the wrong angle. His progress was moving along faster since he had use of his arms, but Zoro could tell he was pushing himself through a significant amount of pain.

Five minutes passed in silence other than the sound of moving sand and occasional grunt from the blond. Eventually Sanji dug down to his hips and stopped to catch his breath. He slumped forward a bit and tried to calm his pounding heart. "Heh.. Shit.. I need a smoke.." he chuckled through his gasps for air.

Despite himself, Zoro smirked at the statement. "Get us out of here and I'll buy you a crate of them."

That immediately pulled a laugh from the cook as he gave a sarcastic look at the swordsman. "Ha, I know better than that. You're always broke."

"Only because Nami keeps telling me I owe her money." Zoro countered, but his smirk was still in place.

"Heh.. Normally.. I would say that a gentleman repays their debts to a lady..." Sanji leaned back and forced his arms up to attempt to find a firm hold on the ever shifting ground. "But.. You're no gentleman."

Snorting in amusement, Zoro's smirk twitched wider. "And go around acting like your spastic ass? No thanks. All that damn dancing alone makes my stomach cringe."

Sanji snickered regardless of the added insult and grinned at the talking marimo. "How do you think I stay in shape? All that dancing serves a purpose. I've never had such a daily workout before I met Nami-san."

Hearing that made Zoro blink in surprise. "You mean that idiotic show you always put on is your form of a workout?"

"Heh. Well that and constantly having to fight all those idiots out of my kitchen. Then there's our little grudge matches..." Sanji trailed off when he finally found a good enough hold in the sand. "Yosh... Here goes whatever..." he muttered loudly.

Keeping silent, the swordsman watched carefully as the thin figure began leaning back further to place his weight on his hands. The sight looked very uncomfortable as the back arched at an angle that made Zoro wince. He almost cringed when he heard something popping and cracking from the strain that was being placed on the cook's body.

However the self induced torture proved worth it when Sanji's lower half began slipping free of the sand trap. The cook was growling through his clenched teeth as he continued to force himself to bend back further for more leverage. His ribs were screaming along with his spine, but he ignored it and pushed harder.

It seemed like a slow agony, but eventually it was if the sand finally gave in to Sanji's persistence. The hold loosened enough for the cook to pull himself out, and he promptly fell to his side the moment he was free. Harsh gasps wracked through his body as he desperately tried to keep the pain from overwhelming his mind.

Concern was etched all over Zoro's face as he watched the blond trembling faintly. 'No big deal my ass...' "Oi... Just rest. I can wait." he eventually found himself calling out.

"Shut up."

Zoro frowned at the curtly spoken words, but an exasperated smirk twitched onto his face. "Guess we're both too stubborn for our own good." he mused aloud.

"That we can safely agree on." Sanji readily answered as he turned over onto his stomach.

When the blond began bending his bound legs back towards his shackled wrists, Zoro became confused. "What are you doing?"

Sanji lifted his tethered wrists and was able to grab hold of his sand caked black shoes. "I can't free myself with my arms behind my back..."

The moment he had hold of his shoes, he arched his back and was able to hook the short chain around his feet. After that, it was a simple matter of flipping to his side and curling up into a fetal position to bring his arms around his bent legs to his front.

As the blond sat up on the sand, Zoro had to admit he was impressed. "Heh.. I can tell you've done this before."

A shit eating grin formed on the flushed face as Sanji wiped away his hair sticking to his sweat drenched face. "What can I say? I've pissed off a lot of people in my lifetime. Ya have to learn how to weasel your way out of this kind of shit if you want to stay alive."

"Weasel is right. You move like a damn octopus. Hurts just watching you half the time." Zoro snorted, taking note of the small cut that curved around the left cheekbone.

"The advantages of not being a muscle bound meathead like some people I know, Mr. 20k reps." Sanji countered while sticking out his tongue.

Actually enjoying this light banter, Zoro rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Okay, you've got me there. Now what?"

Sanji looked between the shackles that encased his wrists to the heavy rope that bound his legs from his ankles to his knees. "I need to find something sharp to cut these ropes. If I can get my legs free, I can break these shackles apart."

Sorely missing his katana, which were resting comfortably on the couch in the boy's cabin back on the ship, Zoro tried to glance around for anything that might do the trick. His eyes caught sight of a few seashells scatter around the shoreline. "Would a shell be sharp enough?"

Looking towards the water's edge, Sanji soon saw the shells as well. "Worth a shot. Maybe if I can break one I'll get a sharp edge."

He had to crawl on his hands and knees for the nearest shell, but he soon found a yellow scallop shell. Breaking it in half against his shackles, Sanji quickly proceeded to hack at the ropes that wrapped around his legs. They proved to be made of sturdy stuff, but he refused to be beaten by them.

Zoro watched the blond's white knuckle grip on the shell as he sawed at the ropes. He found himself holding his breath until the inevitable snap of the rope breaking cut through the quiet. Soon there was a pile of rope tossed aside, but the cook didn't take a moment to rest.

After moving his legs around for a moment to work the stiffness out of them, Sanji fell to his back on the sand and raised his arms. He lifted his right leg and placed his shoe on the three link chain that connected the shackles. A deep breath filled his lungs before he pushed against the links with his foot while pulling back with his arms.

It placed a strain on the already strung out body, but within a few seconds there was a distinct sound of creaking metal. The metal was starting to cut into the skin around his wrists, but Sanji ignored it to double his efforts. With a heavy 'clank' the ring that connected the links to the left metal cuff finally broke.

The moment his wrists were no longer tethered, Sanji fell back on the sand with a grunt. His entire body was complaining about the extreme positions that it was forced through. However he disregarded it all as he patted down all of his pockets for a cigarette.

He nearly squeaked in joy when he found a crumpled pack in his pants pocket.

Zoro had never seen the cook light up so fast before. Barely a second passed, and the pale man was already taking a deep drag and letting it out in a giddy sigh. He raised a brow when Sanji made no other move. "Feel better?"

Not missing the sarcastic tone, Sanji still nodded. "Yes... This, my mossy companion, is bliss." he purred, taking another long drag.

Hardly impressed, Zoro did his best not to demand the cook move his ass. "Right... Take your time. I'll just stay here and cook for a few more minutes."

Sanji chuckled and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He got to his feet and was soon standing over the green head. There he stood as he smoked, purposely drawing out the moment, and not even bothering to hide his grin. "I kinda like you from this angle."

Glaring with as much dignity as a head in the sand could, Zoro thought seriously of biting the sand covered ankles. "How long are you going to stand there, shit cook?"

His grin turned into a smirk as he knelt down in front of the growling face. "Hey, I probably won't get another chance at this. I'm gonna enjoy it." he declared right before he reached out to ruffle the short green hair.

"Gah! Stop that, dammit! I swear I'll bite your fingers off!" Zoro strengthened the threat by attempting to snap at the offending hand.

"Hahaha! This is too awesome!" Sanji poked at the swordsman's nose, but had to jerk his hand back when the a set of teeth came close to removing a few digits. "Ooo.. This moss ball has some nasty teeth."

"I'm not amused, bastard!"

The smoking cook sat back on his heels and folded his arms over his bent knees. "I'll dig you out if you ask me politely."

"Ask you politely?!" Zoro repeated in an indignant shout. "What the hell are you playing at?! Get me out of this now!"

An unimpressed expression fell over the pale face before Sanji finally gave a faint shrug. "I suppose that's the best I can hope for. Alright, hold on, oh so impatient Marimo. I'll have you out shortly." he announced as his hands began scooping at the sand.

It was surprising that the blond gave up on his teasing so easily, but Zoro wasn't about to complain. The sand was taken away in steady handfuls until the white shirt on his shoulders was visible. On seeing that, Zoro began twisting and moving as much as he could while the cook kept digging. Soon he was finally able to pull his arms free of the sand. The mere feel of his arms moving somewhat freely after nearly two hours was too great for words. Now he was able to assist Sanji with digging himself out.

When they finally dug out to Zoro's thighs, Sanji stood straight and held out his hands. Without hesitation, Zoro took hold of the pale hands and allowed himself to be pulled. With the two of them, the sand had little hope, and eventually gave up its hold on the swordsman's legs.

Zoro resisted the sigh of relief that wanted out, and focused on keeping upright on his bound legs.

"Oi, sit down."

A sudden shove sent Zoro falling back on his ass. "Ow! What the hell was that for?!"

"You were gonna fall over anyway." Sanji countered as he searched for the broken shell he had used earlier. He soon returned with it and tossed it to the grumbling swordsman. "Alright, after your legs are free, we'll have to do something about those shackles.

Already sawing at the ropes, Zoro examined his own shackles. "I could try the same thing you did."

"I don't recommend it. That hurt like hell." Sanji muttered as he examined the broken skin around his wrists.

The sight of the blood smeared on the thin wrists bothered Zoro, but he made no comment. Instead he made quick work of cutting through the last few strands of the rope and tore it off his legs. He got to his feet the moment he was free to address the last issue to be dealt with.

Tugging at the shackles lightly, Zoro frowned when he recognized the feel of tempered steel. "No wonder it hurt.. This shit is the hardest steel there is.." He looked to the cook with a suspicious frown. "Yet you were able to break one of the links..."

A shrug tilted Sanji's shoulders as he fished out a fresh cigarette. "I honestly didn't expect it to work." he admitted while striking a match. Once he was inhaling the smoke, his eyes scoured the beach for anything that would be of use.

When they settled on some large rocks towards inland, he pointed them out. "Over there. You put your wrists down on that rock, and I can try to kick through it."

It sounded like an idiotic suggestion that would leave him with a dented skull.

Zoro had a million reasons not to trust the curly brained idiot.

One look at the bloody wrists reminded him of the only reason he did.

"Okay."

It was a bit surprising that the swordsman didn't hesitate in answering, but Sanji kept silent as he led the way to the rocks.

The rocks were a bit bigger than they had expected when they got closer, but it mattered little as Sanji began inspecting them. He went to each one and lightly kicked them and felt along the mineral grain. After a moment he picked a wide rock that came up to his waist.

Patting it lightly, he motioned for the swordsman to come over. "This one's the sturdiest. Put your wrists up here and kneel down. You can use the side of the rock to shield yourself if any chips go flying." he instructed while jumping atop the rock.

Zoro did as told and knelt down beside the rock. After placing his wrists on the surface, he gave a warning glare to the blond. "I expect to have full use of my hands after this." he pointed out dryly.

Sanji grinned around his cigarette. "Yeah yeah. Don't worry, you'll be back to those violin lessons with Brooke in no time. Now look away. Don't want that ugly mug messed up any worse."

Snorting at the comment, Zoro calmly looked away and waited. He wasn't worried.

Taking another drag to focus himself, Sanji raised his right leg and brought his heel down hard atop the three metal links that tethered the shackles together. The blow jolted the rock violently, but only a few cracks formed around the area of impact. He didn't want to cause injury to his comrade, so he had to hold back on his strength.

When he removed his foot, he frowned when the links were still intact. He was hesitant to try a harder kick, but his eyes caught sight of the connector ring on the right cuff was bent out of shape. "Heh. The connector rings aren't as strong as the rest of the metal. You can probably break through the rest of it. This rock won't hold up to another kick."

Zoro raised his head to see both the small crater in the rock, and the fair sized gap where the connector ring bent. Without giving it much thought, Zoro took a deep breath before pulling his wrists apart as hard as he could. He could feel the metal begin cutting into his skin, but it mattered little when the ring finally gave way with one final jerk.

His hands finally free, Zoro let out the breath he had been holding and moved his arms around lightly. Satisfied the lingering cuffs didn't hinder him, he turned his attention back to the blond still standing on the rock. "What now? Do we wait for the others to catch up, or try to get back to them?"

Sanji wasn't sure how to respond to Zoro actually asking for his input, but he still treated the question seriously. He locked his eyes on the horizon and mulled over their option. "Well... They're on the other side of the island right now. Probably haven't noticed us missing yet since it's still the afternoon."

"So we go to them. How long will it take us?"

The cook took another drag and let it out slowly. "If we go around along the coast, two days if we walk nonstop. Less if we can find a ship to take us the rest of the way."

Zoro frowned. "And if we cut straight across the island?"

"There's a lot of dense forest and mountain ranges further inland. So... Four days. " Sanji looked at the empty spot on the swordsman's right hip. "Probably longer since you don't have your katana to clear the way."

"Coast it is. Let's get going." Zoro stated as he turned to head down the beach.

Raising his curled brow, Sanji cleared his throat lightly. "Ahem.. Other way." He snickered when the swordsman stiffly turned around and came back. "Seriously, Marimo. If compasses worked out here I would have stapled one to you by now." he teased as he hopped off the rock.

"Right. No sense of direction, blah blah blah. Just lead the way." Zoro responded flatly.

Sanji smirked and stuffed his hands into his pockets before heading down the beach.

After a few minutes of walking, Sanji glanced at the swordsman that took up step beside him. An hour ago, he could barely stand the idiot. Now...

He found himself smiling. "Ya know... It hasn't been such a bad day after all."

The comment made Zoro glance back at the blond. On seeing that smile, he gave a light chuckle. "Heh.. Guess not." He looked to the beach stretched out in front of them and carelessly folded his hands behind his head. "So what should we tell the others when they ask where we've been?"

"Your dumbass directional floundering got us into a pile of shit, and my smartass belligerent mouth dug us in deeper."

"Sounds good to me."

fjfjfjfjfj Then End fjfjfjfjfj

Gotta love that manly bonding.

Later~