She felt a little stupid, but at the same time it was the first time she had felt so free and at ease since she had received the phone call about her parent's death. So she knew deep down that she couldn't complain. She had spent so much of her life angry at the world that she didn't even really know what happiness truly felt like. If she had to guess however this feeling that she now had would be it.
It was a Tuesday night and she was sat across from Zoro their legs a mess of limbs beneath the table and on top of the table their hands were entwined at the side of the books they were reading. Nico couldn't concentrate with so much of her mind taken up by thoughts about the heat of his limbs. She could barely lift the page that she was reading to turn to the next one, but as she glanced up at Zoro she was amazed and mildly annoyed that he didn't seem at all distracted as he scribbled notes across an open exercise book idly flipping to the next page with his pen between his teeth.
She was used to this now, or she should be used to this she corrected herself.
Zoro was never self-conscious he was almost proud to be with her; which was another thing that she wasn't used to. She had thought the age difference between them would be a problem, but each time she got a little worried about it Zoro would show her that there was no reason to be. It was as if he possessed a magic that could make all her cares and worries vanish under the blunt truth that he used in all things.
"Hoooo there they are, the studying idiot couple," a guy with blue hair and a manic smile stage whispered as he walked by; Nico tried to get Zoro to let go of her hand, but he held on tighter and slipped his leg behind her knee beneath the desk making her shiver as he trapped her calves between his own,
"Ignore that idiot." Zoro mentioned as he raised his eyes from his text book, "He only makes a comment like that because he is jealous," he looked in the direction of the retreating back that was clad in a red and white striped shirt. "He was rejected the other day." His face softened a little and he lifted their joined hands to his lips kissing them softly. "It isn't your fault that you are the most beautiful woman in here." Nico felt her cheeks turn to flame and hid her face behind a curtain of hair. As she glanced at Zoro she saw the flash of his perfectly white teeth as he grinned; he squeezed her hand a little and went back to his textbook, "I'm so happy," he mumbled, "I think the ice queen is melting." Nico wanted to lash out at him for the words that he had chosen to use, but they didn't hurt as much as she thought they would as the name hadn't been used by him to be the barb that it once was.
"Thank you Roronoa," she whispered as she eventually managed to turn the page and heard Zoro clear his throat, when she glanced up from a depiction of a sarcophagus of one of the fallen Pharaohs her parents had told her so much about she saw that there was a distinct line of pink across Zoro's cheek bones, he was silent for a few minutes the only sound between them being his thumb moving backwards and forwards across her skin.
"My pleasure… Nico," he replied the left side of his mouth lifting in a sensuous smile and Nico could feel herself blush. She had never thought that something as simple as someone using your given name could bring so much joy. "Have you finished studying?" Zoro asked closing his exercise book, Nico shook her head and Zoro tilted his once again as if trying to analyse her. "Ho?" he asked as if her were an old man on some porch, telling all the children to stay of his lawn.
"I'm finding it difficult to concentrate." She admitted trying to pull her hand away worried that he would laugh at her, but he held it firm and cupped her face with his other hand.
"Follow me," he murmured, "Bring the book." She looked at the massive tome confused, she was supposed to be writing her thesis, she had been trying to write her thesis for months; but recently she had been having a lot of trouble. She stood and picked up the book still looking confused, Zoro smiled and gestured they move away from the table.
They walked hand in hand through the library weaving in and out of the tables, through arches and by shelf after shelf of knowledge. He seemed to be wandering aimlessly, but when they found and empty spot he stopped and pulled her to the floor with him. Nico was about to tell him that studying like this was not going to make it easier, but as he made room for her between his legs and had her settled against his chest as he sat against the wall all the fight went out of her. He rested his head on her shoulder as his arms circled his waist.
"Sorry that I've been distracting you," he murmured his lips close to her ear, "Read it to me?" he asked, "I have had enough of numbers for tonight so tell me a story." Nico felt herself relax in to him as she laid the tome across their knees and opened it to the section she had been reading. She turned her head a little and caught sight of Zoro watching her, his eyes fierce in the darkened library. A part of her knew that she should be afraid and that he was dangerous. He had admitted as much to her, but as his arms tightened around her and she felt the hard muscle cage her; she felt protected and cherished.
"This is the story of one of the most ancient of Pharaohs the man that first tried and failed to build a pyramid." She told him in the best narrator voice she could muster, Zoro chuckled behind her,
"I think I'm going to like this story," he told her, his breath warm on her neck as he exhaled.
"You should, it is a good story about a man that never gave up even though he failed," she felt the smile spread across her face as she began to share the story, she had never had anyone other than her parents to talk to about history. They sat for what seemed hours as she talked and talked, Zoro would ask questions and he never seemed bored. He seemed genuinely interested no matter how much she went on. By the time the sun began to rise the next day the pair were dozing not having moved for hours on end. The sunlight woke Zoro first and he grunted making Nico wake from her dreamless, but happy sleep.
"I don't think I can move," he told her his voice rough from sleep, warming her from the inside out. "All my limbs are dead." He laughed then and kissed her collar bone making her shiver. "Please tell me you have no classes today?" he asked as he rubbed his hands down her arms to warm her. She shook her head, and she could almost feel the grin on his face, "Good," he told her his lips dancing over the skin near the hollow of her throat, "Because I want to listen to you talk history until I have to cut my ears off, so let's study some more." He kissed her neck, "You go get cleaned up and pick up some food I'll find some blankets or something and we'll stay here for the rest of the day and you can teach me all about archaeology," He grinned making Nico dizzy, by how bright and uncharacteristic it was; there was no arrogance or threat it was a genuine show of joy that she thought most people didn't get to see. She nodded mutely and stood on shaking legs; as her limbs were as numb as Zoro's. He stood up right after her shaking the sleep out of his limbs as he did so and rolling his neck making the tendons pop loudly in the silent library, Nico winced in pain at the sound, but Zoro didn't seem to mind it.
After a few moments and having the feeling restored to her extremities Nico began to move towards the nearest exit and was dragged back against Zoro's chest, he moved his lips to her ear and whispered,
"Promise me you will meet me here in an hour?" his voice was hesitant and not as cocky as it had been barely moments before, she glanced over her shoulders and in to his eyes. The lack of confidence in them reminded her of the first time he had spoken to her and she remembered that in comparison to her he was a child. She liked to see his vulnerable side once in a while, it made a difference to her being the one always baring her soul.
She turned and stepped up on her tiptoes, the years of ballet training when her parents were still alive finally coming in to use so she could brush his lips with her own. At the contact Zoro's eyes flashed with bemusement that was quickly replaced by appreciation. Nico felt her cheeks flame at how forward she had been, not that Zoro minded at all, she stepped back out of his embrace and flipped her hair over her shoulder and let a cheeky grin overtake her features for a second before she schooled her expression and walked away.
Zoro rubbed the back of his neck and blew out his breath in a deep sigh, before chuckling darkly as he kicked needlessly at the floor. He could feel the heat rise in his cheeks as if he had been drinking the world's best sake for the last three weeks. He glanced up and saw her at the end of the row her hips swaying gently from side to side, he felt his throat go dry as he watched the denim that sculpted her ass shift slightly as she walked. He felt like a lion staring at a lamb as his tongue involuntarily licked his lips. Knowing he had to control himself before he chased after her, he looked down at the floor again and steadied his breathing. He needed to calm down; from the way that she was acting, she wasn't planning on leaving him for a while, so he had the time to treat her right.
If nothing else Nico Robin deserved to be treated like a princess.
Nico was stood outside of the library entrance an hour later when Zoro sauntered towards her, his long legs were cased in tight black denim that was tucked in to dark boots; which on any other man would make him look effeminate, but on Zoro it only seemed to make him look more manly and dangereous and Nico wasn't the only one to notice, as she saw other girls watch him with their eyes as he walked by them. His top half was covered in a thin cotton shirt that formed around his well-developed chest, the low buttoned neck of the shirt showing a vee of tanned skin to anyone that looked. He had his backpack held on one shoulder with his mint green head bent over the book he had in his hand an adorable look of confusion on the features that could be seen.
"Roronoa," Nico called out getting his attention straight away by the use of his first name that felt so right falling off her tongue; the girls around her sent her scathing looks as his green head came up and a wide and white grin covered his features, he raised the hand holding he book and picked up his pace, his long strides swallowing the distance between them. When they were finally face to face he leant down and kissed her soundly in the middle of the quad.
"I thought I had got lost again," he told her quietly against her lips, "I'm not sure if I have told you this, but I have a lousy sense of direction." Nico felt herself smile,
"Noted," she replied linking her hand with his and gently tugging him towards the entrance, just before she opened the door he pulled her back to him and kissed her again.
"This is going to sound so uncool," he told her as his fingers skimmed her frame beneath the sun dress she was wearing, "But I missed you," he finished and Nico could feel his heart rate beating at an erratic speed through the thin cotton of his shirt, she pulled him to the library feeling a little light headed, but when she opened her mouth she couldn't help the flirtatious comment as it stumbled out of her lips,
"You should show me how much," she could hear Zoro groan behind her and bit down on her lip to not cry out in victory that she had finally brought him to his knees. Or so she thought.
They wandered through the library until they found another empty aisle, Zoro opened his backpack and removed a large patchwork blanket that looked like it had seen better days. He laid it on the floor and motioned for her to sit, she did so and he sat behind her pulling her in to his chest and then placed a knitted blanket over her legs as he leant against the wall again; he wrapped his arm around her waist and rested his free hand on his knee all the while fighting the urge to run the hand through her hair.
"So what are you going to teach me now?" he asked looking for a musty leather bound gargantuan book that she would read from, but there was no book to be seen, Nico sighed and tilted her head back catching his gaze,
"I thought I would tell you my thesis," she explained her voice a husky drawl, "Since I haven't been able to work on it for weeks as there is this brooding, green haired kendo enthusiast that keeps distracting me," Zoro laughed and the sound was rich and heavy like a warm duvet surrounding her and making her relax more,
"I am not brooding," Zoro corrected, "I will claim everything else in that sentence though," he kissed her exposed forehead and pulled his knees up so that Nico was caged in his legs, "So this thesis, what is it about?" He tilted his head to the side so it was almost resting on her shoulder the skin exposed by the strap of the sun dress enticing him to kiss the sun warmed skin that was cooling in the air conditioned room.
"I'm writing about the Poneglyphs…" she started and felt Zoro tense behind her, she smiled at the protectiveness she could feel from him, "I'm not doing it for my parents," she told him squeezing the hand that was resting on his knee, "I am doing this so I can understand why everyone it so interested in them. She felt Zoro nod behind her and cleared her throat as she tried to organise her thoughts that she had started to write in to her thesis. "No one knows who created them, the Poneglyphs are a collection of stones that contain all the knowledge of the world in them, on each stone there is a writing so ancient that no one can speak it anymore; the phonetics of the language are so dead that no one even knows what to call the language now and as there is only one Poneglyph that has ever been found very few can read the text that is supposed to be an ancient mix of Sumerian and Egyptian Hieroglyphs, but is neither. Those two languages are the closest to explain what the text is. Some say the Poneglyphs are written in Enochian and that they are the tablets that the angels have filled in with all they have witnessed; I personally think that is ridiculous." Zoro chuckled, "Others have said that they are the written and physical Akashic Records that have left the astral plane and found a home on our plane of existence, but the existence of the Akashic Records depends on them not being in our plane of existence, so that theory is a bust too." Zoro hummed behind her,
"So my little genius, what is your theory?" he asked his voice filled with humour making her insides warm,
"I think they were written by an ancient tribe, one that far surpassed us in our present state, they were a civilisation that were advanced far beyond anything we have yet to imagine." She took a deep breath, but Zoro could feel her excitement, "I think that they were so advanced that it led to their downfall, I don't think the Poneglyphs hold the answers to the universe to educate us I think they contain all the answers to warn us,"
"That there is pride before a fall?" Zoro asked his forehead resting on the crown of her head making his breath shift her hair.
"Exactly," Nico enthused, "I think like the story of Icarus they flew too close to the sun," She laced her fingers with his as she began to explain her theory in detail each exhale only taken because she needed the breath to carry on. Zoro had never seen her more animated and the chance to see further behind her mask of indifference made him fall even closer to his own personal sun. Unlike Icarus though he knew him falling wouldn't be undoing, for him it was going to be like the phoenix; burning up and being given a new lease at life.