Author Notes: Onward with the challenge. (Omigosh reveiws wow O_o I love you guys!)
[Random info time] AcexZoro was actually my first step into yaoi fangirl-ism. Believe what you will. It all started because my brother was trying to make me 'eww' at yaoi pairings and I said something like "no one can dominate Zoro" and then he said "Ace" and I said "ah...hmmm... well... actually." Since then, my brother probably hates that he ever said that because I quickly went from AcexZoro to LuffyxZoro - also because I brought up ZoLu to my brother and he said "no, no, no, never them, don't do that, and anyway, Luffy would so dominate Zoro and you know it" And then I became a LuZo fan. And then joined the uke-Zoro fans. Funny. I blame my homophobic brother. And he hates it so...
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. My disclaimers are boring. Haiku anyone? [Yeah, I know, it sucks, but there it is - the reason I don't write poetry!]
Theme 2: "news; letter"
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Claimed
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Chapter 2: Love Letter
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Ace was too focused on his current prey to notice his brother. Too focused on loosening the tense shoulders of the swordsman beneath him...to notice Luffy standing in the doorway. Too focused on grabbing Zoro's green hair and pulling him down, forcing him to fall completely to the deck... to hear Luffy whine his name in complaint.
Ignoring the sounds around him - but knowing he had an audience all the same - Ace kept his lips locked to Zoro's and pushed him down, even though the swordsman refused to relax. Even though the swordsman was tense as hell, still and unresponsive. Well, except for the warmth on his face that Ace could feel being as close as he was.
Shifting positions - mainly moving his knees down to the deck - he encountered a bit of a grind and only stopped to think on it because a moan vibrated over his lips. Coming from Zoro. Ace blinked, lifting his head to stare at the red-faced swordsman beneath him - and to give them both a chance to breathe.
"Shiiit," Zoro whispered, his voice barely making it out beyond his lips.
Ace took a moment now to sit back and admire the catch he had landed on. Zoro's signature green hair almost glistened in the sunlight because it was soaked in sweat now. The swordsman panted in heavy breathes as he worked to get air back into his lungs, and Ace smirked as he ran his fingers down the white shirt, fingering the green haramaki. He watched as those always scrunched-up eyebrows twitched and the eyes slowly opened, the look Zoro passed to Ace being part glare and part...something else.
"I said..." Zoro breathed. "Get off of me."
Ace grinned at the command coming from the man trapped beneath him. It wasn't like Zoro really was in a position to be telling him what to do, after all. Not that he would listen. He was feeling way too playful to do something just because he was asked - and especially not if he was commanded.
"What if I don't want to?"
Ace lifted his hand, tipped his hat up because it was covering his eyesight a bit too much. He smirked at Zoro's blank expression, taking his other hand and running a finger up the jaw line, lifting the swordsman's chin to expose that muscular throat. He was about to dive down and continue the foreplay, but another, very familiar voice stopped him.
"Ace."
Immediately, he stopped what he was doing. And he even noticed that Zoro's breath seemed to catch. But Ace didn't get to see the blush spread, because he turned to face a somber-looking Luffy.
Oh yeah. I'm on Luffy's ship.
Putting on a grin, he tried to ignore the fact that his brother's face was shrouded by his straw hat - a sure sign that Luffy was pissed. "Oi, Luffy, there you are!"
"He told you to get off," Luffy said, his voice low, dangerous, threatening.
For a moment, Ace weighed the pros and cons of fighting against his brother. He had come to visit Luffy, after all, come to spend some quality time with his brother and his crew because out on the sea there was no guarantee that they would meet again. But he hadn't expected the green haired swordsman to be out on deck - he had hoped for it, maybe, but expected? He didn't want to fight Luffy, but he'd be damned if he just stood by and let such a good catch get claimed so easily.
So, knowing exactly what kind of rift he was making, but not caring at all, Ace repeated the words he had said to Zoro earlier. "What if I don't want to?"
Luffy lifted one of his arms, cracking the knuckles in his hand. "Ace," he said, taking a step forward. "Get off."
With a frown and a forced chuckle, Ace did as Luffy said, slowly getting to his feet. When Zoro scrambled to his feet, grumbled something, and walked off - going inside somewhere, as was obvious by the squeak of the opening door - Ace waved after him. Then he turned to Luffy and shrugged.
He opened his mouth to say something, but Luffy spoke first. "I told you, Ace; I told you I wanted him," he murmured.
Ace stepped forward and stopped, standing just beside his brother and looking straight ahead, putting his hands in his pocket. "Yeah, well, what if I want him, too? Why don't we wait for him to decide, eh?"
"But..."
Ace sighed, pulled his hat down and stared at the deck, knowing Luffy was doing the same. "All right, I'll make a deal with you. I won't be so forward anymore, but neither can you. Win him over with a different method - and we'll see which brother he chooses, deal?"
Luffy turned to face him, so Ace turned to do the same. They clasped hands, and he was relieved to see the smile on his brother's face. Those eyes had a devilish spark to them, though.
"Deal."
When they dropped hands, Luffy put his arms behind his head and kicked one foot up to tap it against the deck. Ace used his thumb to tilt his hat up again. "So, do you have something around here I can write on?"
Luffy blinked and turned to look over his shoulder. "Oi, Nami?"
The orange-haired girl nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'll show you where, Ace." Nami said, waving at him to follow her.
Before he could take more than a few steps, Luffy grabbed his arm. "Why?"
Ace just smiled. "Got a message I need to write."
~!~
Sanji managed to slink past the devil fruit brothers without too much notice, and he heard Nami question him but ignored it. He had more important matters to deal with. That shitty marimo was getting in way over his head, giving Ace reactions like that.
He had to know. Why would Zoro lead him on like that? Why would Zoro let his body react like that? What was going through his mind, telling Ace to get off instead of pushing the damn Fire Fist off himself? Zoro should have the strength to do it, or to at least make his point, so why hadn't he? Why had he just sat there and made it look like he was playing hard-to-get?
He slammed the door open into a darkened room, looking around before noticing the green haired swordsman sitting against a wall, his swords on the floor in front of him, his arms and legs crossed. Zoro hadn't even looked up at Sanji's intrusion; he seemed focused on the wooden deck in front of him, or maybe he was staring at the three swords, as if asking them why.
"Oi, what the hell was that, shitty marimo?" Sanji shouted, standing in the doorway, feeling the sun hit his back.
Zoro didn't look up. "Go away."
Sanji stepped forward, lighting a cigarette as he did so. "I refuse."
Zoro's face shot up, and he was glaring, the reflecting light causing shadows to hit his face in menacing angles. "Shit cook, just leave me alone."
Sanji turned around, closed the door, and turned back, meeting the glare with his own. "No." He stepped forward and crouched down at a safe, polite distance, hooking the cigarette between his fingers and blowing smoke into the dark room. "What the hell was that?" He asked again, his voice quieter this time, less anger-filled.
Giving up on getting him to leave, Zoro instead turned his head to face into the darkness, refusing to meet his eyes. "I don't know."
Sanji puffed once on his cigarette and resisted the urge to crush it in his hands. "What the hell does that mean. You don't know?"
"Yeah, I don't know what to say," Zoro said, swinging his head back around to shoot his glare again.
"How could you?"
Zoro blinked. "How could I...what?"
With a growl, Sanji stood up, tossed his cigarette to the floor and stepped on it to put it out completely, crushing it into the deck as he tried to crush his anger down. Why was he so angry anyway? He stepped forward and waited until he was right in front of Zoro, stepping over his swords. He crouched down and had no problem putting his face in front of the swordsman's, wanting the man to feel his anger.
"How could you almost let that guy rape you?"
Startled, Zoro jumped, swinging back and smacking his head against the wall behind him on accident. If Sanji hadn't been right in front of him, he probably would have fallen forward. "What the hell?" Zoro growled, rubbing his head.
"That's what I asked," Sanji muttered, narrowing his eyes, not letting his anger let up, even though it was hard not to laugh at the marimo now.
"I didn't - he didn't..."
Sanji hung his head and rubbed at his eyebrow. "You almost did."
"I wouldn't have let it go on -"
"That's not what it looked like to me, shitty marimo," he said, knowing by Zoro's silence that he had caught the swordsman now. "It looked to me like Luffy saved your ass."
To his surprise, a small smile graced Zoro's lips and he looked to the side again. "Yeah, Luffy likes to do that."
Feeling frustrated because he didn't sense that Zoro was taking this situation seriously, Sanji slammed his hands on the wall on either side of the marimo's head, leaning in close to his face as he swung back to stare him in the eyes. "You can't rely on him."
"Back off," Zoro whispered.
But Sanji was on a tirade. "You're fucking Roronoa Zoro. You should be able to take care of yourself, dammit all. No matter what the situation."
"Back off..." Zoro said again, but this time it sounded a little more breathy.
Sanji refused to back off, at least until he had said his piece. "I mean, what happened out there just wasn't you at all. You shouldn't have a hard time kicking someone off - are you blushing?"
He felt Zoro's hands reach up and push against his shoulders, but now he was curious, confused, shocked. "Get...off...dammit."
Sanji blinked, realizing that Zoro wasn't pushing him with the strength he should have had. Usually, if Zoro wanted something, Zoro damn well got what he wanted. With a few exceptions here and there. But as far as pushing Sanji away, there had never been much issue.
Until now. "You're blushing, aren't you?"
"N-No," Zoro denied, but he had lowered his head, trying to hide the growing pink on his face and his eyes had closed. "Damn...it," he muttered, speaking as if through clenched teeth.
For a moment, Sanji could only sit there and stare, trying to process the thought. Had he ever been this close to Zoro - and it not be in the middle of a shouting match or fight of some sort? Had he ever really been this close? This uncomfortably... No, usually Zoro only let Luffy hang on him, or Chopper. The rest of the crew just kept their distance, Sanji included.
Realizing now something he should have learned a long time ago, Sanji backed up, stood, and moved away, making his way back to the door. "That's just weird, marimo."
"Shut up," Zoro growled, placing a hand over his eyes. "Just...go away."
Letting the thought simmer for a bit, he grasped the door handle. But before he left, he turned back around and gave his nakama a warning. "You should be careful. I think Ace is staying for a while."
With that, Sanji opened the door and left the marimo alone to himself like he wanted. But he did catch the groan from the darkness before he stepped away. "...Fuck." Things aboard the ship were definitely going to heat up, of that he was sure. Too bad. He used to like Ace.
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Luffy didn't get a chance to sit next to Zoro until after dinner. Ever since the incident with Ace, the swordsman had found a secluded place and managed to stay hidden. Sanji had admitted to knowing where Zoro went, but he had also warned Luffy that Zoro wanted to be alone right now.
So Luffy had grumbled, complained, and waited for his swordsman to show himself on his own. If Zoro wanted time alone, he would let him have it. Now. It would probably make Zoro happy not to be bothered anymore, especially after what Ace had done.
Now, Luffy sat at the head of the Going Merry in his special seat, staring out at the sea spray and setting sun in the distance. Robin stood nearby, offering company, watching the sunset with him. Luffy pouted his lips when the thought crossed his mind that he would rather be watching the sunset with Zoro instead of Robin, but he refrained from saying anything.
Mostly because Robin said it for him. "You would rather Swordsman-san be out here with you, huh, Captain-san?"
Luffy nodded slowly, not finding the words in his throat to answer.
"I'm a little surprised you didn't fight with your brother."
Luffy turned to her, blinking. "He's my brother. I don't want to fight him. Not now. Not over something serious."
Robin smiled, but it seemed sad. "Then what are you going to do?"
He yawned, and he was about to answer her when he heard a door open behind him. Spinning around in his seat, he saw that it was Zoro who had walked out, rubbing his neck. Luffy jumped up, grinned, and prepared to launch himself at the swordsman, before remembering that Zoro always complained when he did such a thing. So, pouting his lips a little, he climbed off of his special seat and slowly made his way over to his first crew member.
Ace beat him to it. He froze when Ace showed up next to the green haired swordsman, and he noticed that even Zoro seemed tense around the fire devil fruit user. But Ace simply gave him a piece of paper, said something that made Zoro blush - something Luffy preferred seeing when it was something he had said - and then Ace left him alone.
Letting out a breath, Luffy followed the path his feet had set for him. He finally ended up next to Zoro, but the swordsman barely noticed him. Instead Zoro was reading from the paper Ace had handed him, and his face had turned a deep shade of red. Seeing the contrast between Zoro's green hair and the new color of his face, Luffy couldn't help the giggle that escaped his lips.
"Your face is red, Zoro," he said, pointing out the obvious, and grabbing his swordsman's attention at the same time.
Holding the paper in shaking fingers, Zoro looked down at Luffy and then shook his head. He crumbled the paper up and stuffed it in his pocket, saying, "Yeah, well, your brother..." He paused, looking around as if worried he would be overheard by the person he was talking about. "How can he write that?" He whispered.
Luffy giggled. And shrugged. "I could say it, so am I better?"
Zoro blinked, caught off guard. "H-Huuuh?"
"Am. I. Better?" Luffy asked again, grinning, resisting the urge to jump up and force himself into Zoro's arms.
Instead of giving the immediate answer he wanted to hear, Zoro put his hand to his head. "I-I... I can't deal with this right now." Luffy felt his eyes tearing up, not sure how to handle rejection, which had to be what Zoro had just given him. "O-Oi, Luffy, can't you just act normal?"
Luffy sniffed, put a finger to his bottom lip. "Normal?"
Zoro nodded. "Yeah. Like..." He took a breath. "Why didn't you swing from your seat to come talk to me? That would have been normal."
Luffy cocked his head to the side, looking behind him at the mentioned special seat, then turning back with a wide grin. "So you like it when I do that?"
"Well, no, not really," Zoro admitted, wincing when Luffy's face fell. "But I prefer you doing what you want, instead of you worrying about whether I'll like it or not."
Feeling excited, Luffy jumped forward, pushing Zoro back against the wall and then falling on top of him. He started to cuddle in his nakama's lap when he felt the tension and the faster heartbeat. So, trying to keep his smile, trying to act normal, he snuck a kiss, letting it land on Zoro's green haramaki, too worried to do any more than that, afraid that Zoro would push him away.
Then he sat back and swung around to sit next to his favorite nakama instead of cuddling in his lap. He had made that deal with Ace, the deal to hold back and to try a different method. But Luffy had been slowly building on Zoro's feelings for him since their first meeting. Just because he was forward every now and then didn't mean he hadn't been working on his claim since the beginning. Because he knew people. And he had known he wanted Zoro from that first meeting.
But could he make Zoro want him?
Looking up at the frowning swordsman, he had to wonder. Zoro didn't seem to be taking all this attention too well. It was all Ace's fault, too.
He blinked, remembering something. "Oi, Zoro?"
"Hm?"
"What did Ace write?"
He watched the pink blush spread across the swordsman's face, and Luffy frowned, knowing that whatever it was would always be connected with Ace's name from now on. And it would make Zoro blush, something that made Luffy jealous.
"It doesn't matter," Zoro said, clearing his throat. "I'm not responding."
Luffy smiled. "Good," he murmured before reaching out and touching Zoro's hand, only losing the smile because Zoro pulled away from him. It hurt, but he had to remind himself to give it time. Too much too fast - especially now - wouldn't work. He had to be patient.
But it still hurt.
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End Chapter 2
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A/N: I feel like I'm so mean to Luffy, and I think Ace really came out as a bad person in this chapter. But that's just because it was mostly Sanji and Luffy point of view, and it makes sense that they don't really like Ace right now. Sanji's point of view part was my favorite this chapter ~
