Author's note:

Hello everyone, welcome back! I almost forgot this upload, since it's been finished for so long. Yes I could have posted early, but then you'd have to wait far longer for the next chapter since from now on, I'll be actually writing hole chapters instead of just refining my drafts.

Thank you all for your continued support, it's great to know I'm not only writing for myself!

Thanks to AKZJ / Alyah727 ("taming the unruly", go check it out!) and Rexica ("Disinhibition", definitely check this one out, too!) for their help with this fic!

Recap

Last time Zoro woke up entangled with Robin on the same bed where they had made a poor attempt at sexy time the night prior and he had some time to think things through before Robin woke up. He came to the conclusion that Robin would become his.

The only problem is, articulation is not his strong suit, so Robin has no idea of this resolve as of yet. Let's see what she gathered from that meeting and how she will move on from this! Hope you enjoy!

"Fucking disaster", is what he had called his encounter with the ghost Princess and while she usually refrained from such language it was what she herself called their own encounter on the last island they had visited. What on earth was wrong with her? She knew he was an honest man, brutally so, and still the first thing she had done was to question his integrity. Not for one moment thinking that maybe she was not the only one fighting demons. With three arms sprouting at the Sunny's bow she hauled Chopper back on deck, one hand waving in response to his panicked words of gratitude as she sat down in the library. Smiling at the steaming cup awaiting her arrival she wondered if Sanji just planted coffee randomly around the ship or if she had really become this predictable. It was a thought that would have scared her to the core three years ago and it surprised her a little that it did not even bother her now. Her crew was her family, her safe haven, if they knew her needs and habits this well, then they did so to help and care and not to exploit and betray. She trusted them completely and unconditionally, but apparently not all of them equally or in all regards.

The velvety liquid on her tongue sharp and unbalanced, the perfect mirror to her feelings. The first time Sanji had prepared this particular roast for her he had apologised profusely, for how could he taint her perfect lips with such a vile concoction. He was right, years ago she would have turned it down after so much as sniffing at it, now however she, dare she say, enjoyed its imperfection. Closing her eyes she savored the sweetness of marshmallow and cola, the floral tobacco and acidic orange. She breathed in the stale rubber and astringent ash streaming from the almost black fluid. When it finally ran down her throat another kind of sweetness assaulted her senses, earthy but rotten. It disappeared as soon as it came and what lingered was a musky spice, cloves and licorice, mellow nutmeg and cutting ginger, soft cardamom and pungent white pepper all carefully aligned on a bed of moss and green tea.

After he had bought every high quality coffee he had been able to get his hands on in an attempt to atone for the grievous mistake that this coffee had been, their chef just could not comprehend how she preferred this blend over the others. She was not going to tell him. She was not going to tell him that the reason for her taking uncharacteristically long to finish her cup wasn't that she had to force herself to take another sip, but that she treasured the aftertaste too much to take another before it had not vanished from her tongue. To her this coffee was more than just a beverage, it's aromas childish yet serious, the taste of dangerous adventure and homely family. Nakama. Every single one of them represented in this black beverage. To her it did not taste disgusting or unconventional, it tasted like home and safety. It tasted like him, in a way none of the others would know because none of them had ever been close enough to explore what lay underneath the smell of steel and sake. Only her and that made the coffee even more enjoyable.

Not that she had known the significance of the aftertaste until after she had woken up on that last island, encompassed by the scent of green tea and spice. It took her even longer to empty that cup since then. The taste of his skin… She really did enjoy this blend even more now but good god what had she been thinking? What did he think? Sure breakfast had been pleasant, but the faint air of awkwardness hadn't left them until they had met again on the Sunny after splitting to not draw any suspicion.

He had even paid for breakfast. Roronoa Zoro had bought her breakfast! She must have been the very picture of patheticness the night before, when she had heaped all her insecurities and trauma on the unsuspecting man, if he had felt compelled to pay. for. her. breakfast. She would have felt flattered, knowing that she had most certainly been the very first woman receiving such chivalry from him, had it not been for the disastrous night before.

She had put so much thought into it, had been sure that it had been exactly what she wanted. That she wanted him. And yet… the moment he had hesitated… She was sure he had wanted her just as much, just like he had said, he would have never accompanied her to that room if it hadn't been the case. His enthusiasm as he had practically pounced her, pressed her against the door in her back, thrown her on the mattress all but devouring her with hungry lips. She got tingly just thinking about it, but then he had withdrawn and so had she.

The strong front she gave the world had crumbled and left her a weak, insecure girl in front of a man that was all about strength and will. Having seen her like that would he be as fervent if the situation arose a second time? Would there even be a second time? A second chance? He hadn't tried to instigate anything after they had resolved their misunderstanding, but neither had she. They had talked like they always did when they were holed up together in the crow's nest, soothingly familiar. Then they had fallen asleep, side by side and woken up entangled like a pair of lovers, complaisantly new.

But now what, she asked herself not for the first time since all this strangeness had started. Most definitely not conjuring a disembodied eye in the shower above, as tempting as it would be. She would have never guessed that her devil fruit ability would come with such moral predicaments until she had felt his stiffness pressed up against her thigh, his rough pants way too thick to allow her proper assessment.

She put down her cup and turned towards the bookcases taking up most of the room. Time to find a distraction lest temptation grew too big to resist. Her gaze lingered on the first print of "wandering forests" that seemed oddly read despite her having only read it once. Was there maybe someone on the ship trying to find an explanation for his miserable sense of direction? fufufufu, maybe she should compile him his own little library, was there a book on how to walk in a straight line?

She wandered along the shelf, trying to spot other books he might have read, ignoring the fact that stalking out his reading habits was only marginally better than peeking at him in the shower. Probably even worse, since she was quite sure that he didn't much care for his own nudity, the fact that she had never actually seen him with a book or that he had not once mentioned reading one, however, spoke volumes on his uneasiness on that topic. They talked about her books all the time, exactly why had he never mentioned that he actually read? She had just assumed that he had different interests. Was he embarrassed by it? Did it not suit his understanding of himself?

There, another book. Dictionary. Oh no, had she embarrassed him by using words he didn't understand? She really tried keeping things simple, but whenever he would enquire about her books she couldn't help but getting lost in the descriptive worlds, illustrating them in all the elaborate words the authors had deemed fit. He wasn't stupid by any means, but she was well aware that he mostly lacked any formal education. Words didn't mean much to him whereas to her they meant the world. It had been worlds of black on white that had allowed her refuge from all the monsters in her childhood, how could she ever lose that affinity? A tentative smile crept upon her features for embarrassed or not, he did try to understand her, the well worn dictionary was proof of that. The embarrassment couldn't be too severe either, after all he had not once ushered her out of the crow's nest or turned down the opportunity to talk to her.

Or did he just feel pressured into humouring her since the initial reason for her being there had been night-terrors that had followed her from her past? She barely even had them anymore, blanketed by his delicious musk of cloves and ginger she mostly slept peacefully through the night.

'Fleas and other vermin - how to keep your favourite pet's fur clean and healthy' She snorted a laugh, remembering when Usopp had bought this particular guidebook as a joke for Chopper's birthday. Fleas… her gaze drifted to the folders where they kept all the wanted posters and other information about Pirates and their affiliates the newspaper provided them with. Since his revelation on the last island she had stared at them a lot, not daring to open the one labeled 'Eu - Gh' and search for 'Ghost Princess' Perona. Her hand hovered before it, what good would it do her? Should she just - Heavy boots thumping on the floor behind her startled her, she froze in place. She had many good reasons for taking this folder out, and all but one were completely unsuspicious. The man that had apparently just finished his shower had no reason whatsoever to suspect anything but serious, actual research. There was no way he could - "She's 25, has a great pair of tits that are a bitch to free from her damn corsets and still is just an immature brat, if that's what you were wondering," he grouched. Blood rose to her cheeks as she slowly lowered her hand and turned towards him. "I didn't. I … I … I mean…" since when did she even stutter? Has there ever been a more embarrassing situation? To be found out like that? Caught red handed?

His eye sparked with mischief, "sure, whatever you say, Robin," he said, making for the door, knowing nothing about the heat that pooled between her legs at the way her name had rolled of his tongue.

End note:

Sooooo, what do you think of this one? Did you find all the strawhats in the coffee right away? Great, give yourself a cookie! You didn't? No problem, take a consolation cookie!

Also, good news everyone, if you want to read more Zoro, you don't have to wait the 2 weeks for me to update here, just head over to Rexica's Disinhibition, though things are a little rougher over there (or maybe because?), the portrayal is delicious!