You may be wondering why so many of these are Zoro and Sanji, and the answer is because when I can't think of anything to do for a prompt, I put Zoro and Sanji together and see what happens.
Anyway, here's the Febuwhump day 13 prompt: Hiding Injuries.
Glorious Thorn
"You okay?" he asked. "Me? I'm fine," Sanji smirked at him, "Barely a scratch on me. Honestly, my guys were pushovers. Must have sent all the heavy hitters after the great Pirate Hunter Zoro.
In the aftermath of a fight, Sanji finds Zoro.
Zoro finished off the last of the pirates with a series of slashes and collapsed against the wall of the alley.
Shit, he was tired, and bleeding. The ground was covered in blood, most of it the other guys', but a fair amount was his own. He should probably go find Chopper.
He started to slide down the wall, which was the opposite of what he wanted his body to do, but his legs didn't seem to be working right now.
He'd be fine in a bit, he was sure. He just needed to rest for a few minutes.
"Shit," a voice said.
He cracked open an eye and glared at Sanji, who had just finished lighting his cigarette and crouched down next to him, "You still alive, Marimo?"
"'Course," he slurred out, head growing lighter by the moment.
"They really did a number on you, huh?" He sighed, "Can you walk?"
Zoro did his best to shrug, but everything was hurting a little too much.
"Okay," he grabbed his arm and yanked him up to his feet, "Up you go."
He went with him and ended up leaning most of his weight on Sanji's body. Sanji winced and inhaled sharply, and Zoro wondered how bad they'd hurt Sanji, if this is what they'd done to him.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Me? I'm fine," Sanji smirked at him, "Barely a scratch on me. Honestly, my guys were pushovers. Must have sent all the heavy hitters after the great Pirate Hunter Zoro."
"They know who the real threat is, and it's not Pirate A."
"Shut up," he growled, and Zoro smirked, "At least I didn't run through a meat grinder or whatever the fuck happened to you."
"They had these wind blade things." Zoro's head rolled forward, and he wasn't so much as walking as letting Sanji drag him to wherever he was going, "Threw me for a loop before I figured out how to cut them."
"Cut the wind?" He felt more than saw Sanji roll his eyes, "Do you plan the ridiculous shit you spout or is it all spontaneous?"
"Shut up," he said more out of habit than anything else, "Need to get stronger."
"You need to heal first," Sanji said, "You can skip your insane training for a day or two."
He stumbled, almost sending them both careening to the ground, but Sanji caught him, taking on almost all his weight with a sharp gasp.
"You sure you're okay?" He asked.
"Of course," he grinned and started walking again, "Why, you worried about me?"
Zoro snorted, "As if."
"Good."
They fell into a comfortable silence, then he said, "Can't keep winning like this."
"As long as you're winning, that's all that matters, isn't it? It means you're walking away alive."
Zoro growled in frustration. Sanji didn't get it. He would never become the greatest if he kept getting so damn hurt by these no names, no matter how many of them there were or how strange their weapons were. He had to be better than that.
"Not enough," he groaned out, "Need to be better. Better than this."
Sanji paused for a moment, his grip on his waist tightening a fraction.
"You will be," he said softly, almost a whisper, "But you have to let your body heal, or else you'll keep getting hurt, over and over and over again, until..."
He trailed off, but Zoro knew where he was going, "I won't let that happen."
"You better fucking not."
They were at the ship now. Chopper took one look at them and rushed Zoro off to the infirmary to stitch him back up again.
Sanji sighed in relief. He was sure Zoro looked worse than he actually was, but he looked really fucking bad.
He winced and grabbed his side as he leaned against the wall. His vision was starting to blur as he slid down. He unbuttoned his jacket and saw that his blood had now soaked through his shirt, covering his side in red.
"Shit," he groaned, leaning his head back against the wall.
He just needed to rest for a few minutes.
