Author's note:

I'm so sorry for the delay! I was on a short 5 day trip and considered finishing the chapter early but figured what could possibly go wrong? Few things actually: my internet provider messed up and I got a cold from hell. So instead of finishing up the chapter and enjoying the summer I was sipping tea and wearing scarfs at 35°C.

Thanks so much for all your comments, follows and favourites, they motivate me a lot! Also thank you Alyah727 for betaing and putting up with my cranky self, even though you have a lot on your plate right now! Please check out her fanfic if you're into Inu Yasha!

Last time Zoro had a tough day, I guess, this time we'll see how Robin is doing since both, the kiss and the carnage.

Enjoy!

4

She sighed as she wiped the cold sweat from her brow. Another dream. It had not been a nightmare per se, as she had at no point been afraid, it was just that the pictures were so gruesome they were unsettling, even for her. His fights were always of the bloody type but rarely did they entail guts splattered across the ground or severed limbs or heads. In fact, his fights were much cleaner than many of the others. Severing important muscle groups with a clean cut disabled his enemies instantly, but those injuries would also heal easily as opposed to heavy head trauma or crushed bone and nerves sustained through kicks and flying fists let alone the havoc electrocution would wreck upon a human body. She herself was prone to bringing her enemies to the brink of suffocation or dislocating joints and she was not naive enough to believe that none of her victims were suffering permanent damage. There was no other way to describe it, their swordsman had snapped that day, something had preoccupied his mind enough for his cursed blade to gain the upper hand and he knew it. In the two weeks since the incident his weights in the crow's nest had gathered dust, instead of exercising his body with an absurd amount of reps he would just sit cross-legged anywhere on the ship in deep meditation, the cursed blade either held in front of him or laying across his legs. He never reacted to anything but either Nami giving him chores or Sanji calling for meals. During mealtime he was even less vocal than before, if that was possible. Everybody noticed and everybody worried, so much so that their captain wouldn't even attempt to steal his food. She did not worry. She felt guilty.

In the weeks before the incident she had noticed a change in his demeanor, he was more skittish, his concentration during training would break easily and he was grumpier than usual. She knew why. She knew because their kiss had distracted her just as much as him, although she didn't let it show as much. What she didn't know was why it brought such a change in behaviour. Was it because he regretted kissing her, because he never would have had he not been severely impaired by an unhealthy amount of sake? Was it because he felt guilty for straining their relationship as Nakama? Was it because he had never intended for it to be her but some skimpy fangirl that would usually try to catch his attention whenever he went out? Maybe he just hadn't found one this time and redirected his interests to the next best thing? No, of course not. She knew as much as anyone else on the Sunny that he never showed even the slightest interest in those women. Why had he kissed her? Something like this was completely out of character for him. Was that why he was bothered by it so much? That he himself didn't know what had moved him to such an action, to stray from his set path in such a way? Maybe he just didn't know what to do now? Judging from the way he handled the girls in the taverns and bars this could very well have been his first kiss all together, maybe he just didn't know the protocol? Did she know the protocol? She didn't, because in a way it had been her first kiss. Shaking her head she got up, her erratic heartbeat should have calmed down by now, had it even been like this when she had woken up? Carefully she snuck out of the room, the last thing she wanted to do was to explain her troubles to Nami and was not surprised to see the reason for her sleepless night sitting on the lawndeck's railing, the cursed blade tightly gripped in his left hand. She took a moment to appreciate his balance, knowing that every wave could toss him overboard or skewer him on his sword before she continued to the kitchen. Glass of water in front of her she knew that yes it had been her first kiss. The first that had not been a means to an end or unwanted attention if one was into euphemism.

Nice, she had not even thought it possible. It begged for another question though: was she satisfied with just her first kiss? She wasn't if her recent escapades with the showerhead were any indication. She had tried to go back to normal, she really had, however now that she had noticed how attractive their residing swordsman was, reading next to him during his workouts had become exceedingly difficult.

Black letters spread across paper seemed to pale against the bronzed skin stretching above taunt muscle; the colourful worlds the novelists had painted decades ago, lifeless in comparison to the vales and hills of his body. Her eyes would stop skimming the pages to follow the beads of sweat running, dripping from one ridge to the next. The ancient mysteries of the world would make room for the conundrum of whether or not he would taste the same way he smelled. God, she wanted to taste this delicious body, run her hands all over that chiseled physique and feast on him like he was one of Sanji's devine meals and finally to know if he would make the very same delectable grunts between her legs as he did beneath his barbells. She shifted her legs to quell the ache between her thighs, much like she would in the crow's nest, trying to regain her focus and hoping that the skirt she had chosen would not betray the wetness of her arousal. Now it didn't matter, she was alone in the kitchen in the dead of night. No one would know if she were to make use of the hand that had subconsciously made its way into her black lace panties while she had been reminiscent of her hours in the crow's nest prior to the fateful incident. In just 4 hours they would be eating and laughing at this table never knowing that she would have been pleasuring herself shamelessly in this very spot mere hours ago. She'd have to be quiet though, because what if Zoro we're to hear her... She retracted her hand and with a shake of her head and got up to wash her hands, this was getting out of hand. It was bad enough that she seemingly couldn't go a day without touching herself lest she lost any and all concentration and sanity, she didn't need to add an exhibitionism kink to that. As she turned off the faucet to dry her hands another possibility came to her. If he had no interest in women because he was only interested in his dream, as was her working theory, did he even masturbate? Assuming, against all odds, that the kiss distracted him because he was unexpectedly, suddenly interested in more than only his dream and that he felt just as wound up about it as she did, did he masturbate to take the edge off? Or was such an act beneath him? Another distraction? No wonder he had lost it that day. She couldn't really picture him venting his frustration in a similar fashion as she had for the past weeks, maybe it had just been too much? Never mind, she conceded with a blush, she could very much picture the man standing under the shower, water caressing his strained muscles as his large hand pumped his even la- no. No. This could not go on like this. Taking a deep breath she left the kitchen. Her bare feet carried her swiftly down the stairs and over their grassy deck. She did not care that she wore only a flimsy nightgown when she stopped in front of him, because if he was interested he would see much more of her very soon and if he wasn't, well then he wasn't and consequently wouldn't care about her state of almost undress. He did not react to her, not even a change in his breathing, but she knew that he was aware of his surroundings at all times. It took her another four to nine deep breaths to finally say what she had come out to say, but when she did her voice was steady and sweet, taking an example of Nami whenever she wrapped some unexpectant merchant around her little finger. "So, Kenshi-san~, do you want to sleep with me?"

His eye opened, wide, the concentrated frown on his lips dissipated as they parted when his jaw went slack. For a moment he just stared at her, then he swallowed and stared some more. He closed his mouth and opened it only to close it again while the pale moonlight did nothing to hide the tremendous blush spreading over his cheeks and nose. He was adorable, but - knuckles white as her fingers tied with apprehension - she really wished he would start talking already, or acting. He did, both, just as she was about to scold herself for asking her Nakama such a stupid question and just as another wave hit the ship, he opened his mouth to a feral cry, his left hand releasing Kitetsu to clutter onto deck, as his right flailed unceremoniously grabbing at the air for support before falling backwards into the sea. Not quite the reaction she had hoped for.

I hope you liked this, again sorry for the delay, since I'm still not fully back to health I won't make any promises on the next chapter but if you're lucky and followed this story you might find it up a bit earlier than my bi weekly schedule.