Luffy figured out very early on that there were many things about his first choice of crewmate that he liked. Things beyond the obvious, like how strong he was, or the unwavering conviction he'd already shown in the first few days of their acquaintance. Within the first few minutes. Not that these qualities weren't important, but they were obvious. It was other things, things that Luffy only had the time to notice when they were sailing together in a boat much too small and ill-equipped for any journey really, that began to form a list in his mind.

There were other obvious things. Luffy decided right away that he liked Zoro's hair. It was bright and looked like grass when the wind ruffled it. He told Zoro this cheerfully, but Zoro didn't seem to appreciate it. But his hair also looked soft. He'd mentioned this, as well, and received no response, save for having his hand smacked soundly when he'd then tried to touch that hair.

Another easy one was Zoro's earrings. He'd mentioned these too. He mentioned a lot of things when he was bored, when Zoro was awake. Zoro hadn't seemed to care. Luffy had gotten his hand smacked a second time for his attempt to further investigate this feature as well. He was sensing a pattern.

Luffy decided, after not very long, that he even liked Zoro's perpetual frown. Not for the frown itself, or the possibilities of what put it there, but because it was part of Zoro, and that he could get rid of it if he tried. He was working out, slowly but surely, ways to make his new crewmate smile, make him laugh. It was like a game. Something to do to pass the time. And Luffy thought Zoro looked best when he was smiling, sounded best when he laughed. He was getting good at winning those smiles.

These things, among others, were reasons Luffy was pleased with his choice. He considered these things, these qualities, as he watched his swordsman sleep. Again. He slept a lot. In the middle of the day, at night, in the evening... in the morning... and Luffy was always left to his own devices during these periods of rest. So he had time to consider the qualities he liked best about his choice, yes.

He also had time to be bored. He spent a lot of time being bored, actually, which was probably why he'd gotten his hands smacked so many times already on this particular day. He had nothing to do, and Zoro's hair looked soft, and his earrings shone enticingly, and he had nothing to do. And why did Zoro only wake up when Luffy was trying his damnedest to be sneaky, anyway?

Sitting now with his back to the wall, Luffy squinted under the midday sun, studying his swordsman beneath the brim of his hat as if sizing up an opponent, and Zoro slept on. He even frowned in his sleep, Luffy noted, hands propped on his folded ankles, and wondered if his swordsman was dreaming, and if he was, what about.

"You should wake up," Luffy said, not expecting a response and not receiving one. "I'm bored."

The wind blew, the waves slapped against the hull of their boat, and Zoro slept on.

Luffy's sigh was heavy and long-suffering. He slouched against the wall, stretched his legs out, kicked his feet. Folded and unfolded his arms. Studied Zoro's soft-looking hair and his ever-frowning mouth and wondered if he'd get his hand smacked if he moved really quick.

A grin pulled at his face; he leaned forward onto his hands, set sandalled feet gently on wood planks and crept across the deck. Zoro didn't twitch, didn't move, as Luffy closed the space between them, got close enough to lean in and really see the depth of that frown. He nearly commented, but decided not to test his luck. Lifted a hand instead and, weighing his stealth, motioned near to the left side of Zoro's head, hovering close to, but not touching, gleaming gold and gently-ruffling green.

It was tempting. Luffy's mouth drew into a line in his self restraint. He wouldn't get a chance like this again, not for a while. Not until Zoro slept next, and that could be in ten minutes or five hours. So he moved his hand, flattened it instead against the wall next to Zoro's head and turned his focus back to that frown.

Zoro was always frowning. Maybe his face was just like that. Frowning didn't have to mean you were sad, but... Luffy tilted his head and leaned in until his nose nearly touched his swordsman's and squinted hard, as if he might erase frown lines by force of will alone. But he didn't really mind it. He even liked Zoro's frown, after all.

His attention drifted down, studying Zoro's face, the line of his neck, the half-unbuttoned white shirt, then up again. He was close enough to touch but that would break the moment. Just close enough. Close enough to kiss, even, and was given pause at the idea. He hadn't thought of that before, but now he did, shaped the possibility as he looked once more at his swordsman's frowning mouth. Even in his sleep.

He found he didn't mind the idea, in his consideration. It wasn't the sort of thing he thought about very often. Treasure, adventure, that sort of thing were all well and good. Putting a crew together. Kissing his crew? Were there rules about that? Not that he hadn't done this kissing thing before. In jest, in excitement, usually with friends, occasionally with someone he barely knew. Just for fun, because they could, because why not?

Zoro would wake up if he did, and as Luffy thought this he realized he did want to try it, and that was enough to erase his indecision. He'd have to be quick. Zoro would wake up, and then he wasn't sure what would happen, but suddenly this was very important. Zoro's mouth was frowning and he wondered if he couldn't get a smile if he tried.

Grinning, palms pressed flat against sun-warmed wood at either side of Zoro's head, Luffy leaned in and pressed his lips to his swordsman's ever-frowning mouth and fell still. And that wasn't bad. Warm and soft; a little chapped. He found he liked it, enjoyed just the contact for a brief moment before he pulled away, realized only then his eyes had been closed. When he opened them, Zoro was staring at him.

Saw that coming.

"What're you doing?" Zoro asked, deadpan, and Luffy lacked the grace to look sheepish.

"Kissing you," he replied with the ease of one lacking any sense of tension, and Zoro's frown deepened by degrees. Then his arms unfolded and he angled his head back, and Luffy wasn't sure he'd ever seen that sort of expression on his swordsman's face before. Intent, measuring. Serious like when he fought, but with something else as well, something different. Luffy wondered at it, sitting back only enough to really examine the details, and the silence stretched for a few moments in the narrow space between them.

"Nah," Zoro said finally, and confusion twisted Luffy's expression. Then his swordsman's mouth turned up in that toothy grin he liked so much and then there was a hand fisting in the front of his vest. "That's not how you do it."

A pull and a clash and Luffy found that Zoro kissed much like he fought, like it was a competition, like there would be a victor. And then his hands were tangled in soft green hair and chiming against gold-on-gold, and Luffy didn't think about much else other than the fact that he'd managed to get quite a few things he'd been wanting out of this, and maybe a couple he hadn't known he wanted until this moment, but most of all Zoro was still smiling, and he really did like that.

~ ;3 ~

thanks for keepin it warm for me

(i'm back)