Hello, everyone

Thank you for all your wonderful feedback! The polls are closed, the next few chaps will be updated weekly! I'm sorry there seemed to be a misunderstanding about when I'd start this schedule...

I have an announcement for you, 3 actually.

1. I have enough chapters ready to provide you with updates twice a month till february, which is good, because i have lots of tests to write in february and wouldn't be able to write during that time.

2. I have written some lemon for you (right now scheduled for february and still 7 chapters away), don't get your hopes up too much, I found out I suck at these, and not in a good way.

Thing is, ff only allows M-ratings, while ao3 does host MA- ratings. If you are uncomfortable with anything too explicit, please continue reading this fic on fanfiction, if you're saying 'no way, I've only suffered through this long ass exposition FOR the smut!' read on ao3

3. BDSM can be a sensitive topic and maybe even an intimidating one, if things in this fic are unclear or anything, please ask. One of the worst things in anything sex related are misconceptions. If you're reading this on ao3 and find tags missing, please tell me. I'm not sure whether or not to tag every single practice they indulge in, let me know your preference, want a warning or a surprise?

With that out of the way, two huge thank yous to AKZJ / Alyah727 and Rexica, without them this would be riddled with errors or not here at all.

Last time Robin had doubts about her sanity, unsure how she could feel the way she does, desire what she does, even though that had been what she had despised in her past.

How did Zoro cope with their last interaction? How far along is he with that list of his? And what will he do when he sees Robin sneaking around town? Why is she even sneaking? And what does any of this have to do with cats? So many questions!

G.

He watched their navigator with a certain unease as he cut the line as she had instructed. There couldn't possibly come any good from that. Did she want the unspent money from Karni-Island back? Yeah, that had to be it.

"So go buy yourself something nice, Robin, yeah? Make sure it accentuates all the right stuff, if you know what I mean," she sent Robin off before turning to him with agitation, "come on now Zoro we don't have all day."

"Witch, I don't need your handout, I still got some from last time, you want that back or what is this about?"

She went white with something suspiciously close to horror before turning the brightest red humanly possible.

"You what?!" she screamed at him, all teeth and nails before he could even point out how her skin colour clashed with her hair, "I gave you that money for a purpose, you moron! How could you? You better go out there and find-" she stopped there, taking a calming breath before leaning right into his face to hiss her next words in a way that made him want to face all 4 yonkou by himself; if it got him out of this situation with his balls still attached to his body: "You better go after Robin and buy her whatever she fucking wishes for, you buffoon. Honestly how could you let her pay for the room? Haven't you learned anything from Sanji?" Of fucking course she knew. He should have known the moment she had been generous… she might love him like a brother, but never would she hand him that much for his own amusement. Of. Fucking. Course. He sighed. "You better keep this between you and Brook, nothing happened, so there really is no reason to spread this among the crew."

Another deep breath from her and she backed off, still glowering down at him from her elevated position on a crate, with the only purpose to make her taller than all of them so she could look the queen she wished to be. Shaking her head she called him an idiot while attempting to kick him off the ship. He left without any resistance. Of course she knew… nothing was a secret around her. Her and Brook, fuck those gossip tea parties, and Brook too for that matter; acting all sophisticated and then go around asking for panties and spreading rumors.

Wasn't surprising either that Nami hadn't used the knowledge to extort him yet, after all, this was about Robin. Robin hadn't told her, he was sure, but with them living in the same room it was probably inevitable for Nami to notice that something was up. Did Robin know Nami knew? Maybe ask her. If he could find her. She had been just a few meters in front of him...

If Nami knew about them, did she know how badly he had fucked it up three weeks ago? Probably not, would have ripped him a new one...would have served him his balls for breakfast, if Sanji would allow such a thing in his kitchen… Thank god he didn't. He probably deserved it though. Didn't know what exactly Robin had been through in the past, she had never outright told him but… he wasn't as oblivious as most of the crew, hadn't grown up in blissful naivité.

Back then, when he had still been a bounty hunter, he had seen how scum treated people weaker than them, had met the girls they had left in their destroyed villages and had met those they had taken with them to keep for themselves. The broken husks, trying to please even him because it was all they still knew. All they could do without having to fear the wrath of their 'masters', even after they were already dead. Treating people like that… disgusting. Sure that didn't happen to every woman coming across this type of vermin, but his encounter with the late Mr 7 had made it painstakingly clear that Robin had not been so fortunate. If he had worked hard enough for the organisation, he might have been allowed a go with Mr 0's little pet. Not that he had known that said advertised pet had been Robin. Hadn't even known when she had first joined the crew, but when she had started to sleep around him… the terrified whimpers, the murmured pleas, the assurances that she'd be a good girl… And what had he done? Trampled all over it. Told her things she had probably heard a million times, manhandled her. Sure, she had reacted appropriately, but what if that's what she'd been trained to do? And not the good type of training. He could fucking kick himself! Of course she couldn't stand his presence anymore, couldn't look him in the eye. Fuck!

That was probably it then… no chance in hell she'd trust him now, was there? He should apologize to her… if she wouldn't duck out of sight the moment he came around the corner like she'd done the last weeks on the Sunny.

How did you even apologize for something like that? Sorry I treated you like your tormentors did, no hard feelings, right? Promise her that it would never happen again? He couldn't though, had meant every word he'd said to her, it was who he was after all. He halted at that.

For the first time ever he realised that they probably had no future, not even a chance at one. He stood there in the middle of the town, staring into the distance not even noticing the busy townsfolk hurrying past him. He had a firm grasp on his sexuality, knew what aroused him and now, in sudden revelation, knew that he couldn't possibly do that to Robin. Fuck. He should break this off. Would be the honourable thing to do, wouldn't it? She was already distancing herself from him so this was probably pure formality. Make her know that yes, she was free of him and had no more transgressions to fear. He sighed, rubbing his head, he liked her, felt good with her around. Karni-island, waking up with her next to him, her weight on him, her breath against his skin… he could live with that, would like to in fact, but no, that would be selfish. Liked her too much for that, wouldn't ever want to see the lifeless expression in her eyes that he had seen in others. Wouldn't want her to be reminded of abuse when she was with him, and that was what would most likely happen. What probably had happened already.

He saw her. Stealing away from Chopper and making for an alley south of the town Square. The sun was in that direction so it had to be south, right? Alright, time to grow a pair.

He followed her, his Haki focused only on her energy, like he could count on the town to stay the way it was, no he knew better by now. He kept clear of her randomly sprouted eyes and ears checking her escape route. Could everyone using Haki feel them this easily or was it because they'd been so close to each other? He huffed, close to each other his ass, he wanted to apologize for being a creep and what does he do? Stalk her when she clearly wanted to be alone. He came to a stand in front of a door that looked just like the one on the next building and the next, the house looking exactly the same as the ones on each side. What could she possibly want here? How had she even known that this was where she wanted to be? It was in no way different from any of the other houses next to it, not even a tiny sign… He tried the handle, unlocked, he stepped in his muscles tense like they always were when he entered unknown territory.

No, following her here was more than enough, following her in? Couldn't intrude on her privacy like that, he turned, closed the door and leaned next to it. He'd just have to wait until she came back out. It took her longer than he'd expected, so he assumed that there was either very good coffee or very interesting books in this house behind him, if not both. When she finally came out she did so in a whirl. Not even seeing him right next to her she was that busy to get away from the place.

"Robin."

She gasped, stared at him with wide eyes, her face flushed an adorable crimson, as the bag full of books fell from her grasp; it's numerous contents splaying across the alley. For a moment they just stared at each other before she jumped into action to dive for one book in particular, pressing it against her chest. She became solemn after that, staring him in the eye in a way that bordered on challenging. He accepted it, looked at the rest of magazines and books. 'Psychology yesterday - trauma causes BDSM tendencies, amazing study with 3 participants!', 'release your inner goddess, embrace your kinks', 'psychology tomorrow - overactive libido, a case study', EXIT- red flags in a relationship', 'bdsm for dummies'.

He looked up at her and the book pressed against her chest, the only one she seemed ashamed of. Looked like any other of her sappy romance novels. Not as sappy as he'd assumed, seeing the display on the ground. And maybe not as focused on romance as he had originally thought, either. Ha, Sanji's nosebleed would rocket him through the fucking roof if he found out that dear, sweet Robin-chwan read porn!

"You know, Robin, I came to apologize for last time but," he took another look at her choice of books, "maybe we should talk for a change"

She smiled at him, nervous, "Yes, maybe we should," she said while disembodied arms collected her research material, stacking it neatly before putting it back inside the bag, "I...inside they had a sign saying they had rooms, if you want." Of course they had… charging a million an hour probably, well then he could at least invest his money like Nami had intended, he gave a quick nod and followed her in.

"Ah, you're back, my dear, decided ya needed the merch after all? I'm telling ya, I have that one myself and it d-", the overly enthusiastic babble of the old crone behind the counter stopped as her milky vision focused on him, damn, she had to be even older than Kuleha "My, my, now of course ya have no need for such hotchpotch with a hunk like that," she continued, undeterred by Robbin's attempts of cutting her off and the furious blush on his face, "I'd sure like to have a go at that myself, with so much on display a lady can only imagine what kind of pack-" the rest of her sentence was muffled by Robin's hand having sprouted from the woman's shoulder "We need a room!", she said, before freeing the shopkeep's mouth, who stared at the hand for a moment before grinning wickedly at them "Oh my, aren't ya a kinky one? Of course ya two need a room; couch, bed, cross or swing? If ya want to lend props 'n toys that's an extra of 50 Beri and if ya want them clean it's 500 Beri." No wonder Robin had been fleeing this place, that hag…

"Chairs and a table will suffice, thank you, and maybe some coffee," chancing a look back at him she added "sake, too please."

"My, my, ya young folks sure know how to spoil the fun for an old lady like me, come on, follow up," she said before waddling up the stairs to her right muttering about all the things she'd do to him if she were in Robin's young and supple body. Maybe they should have asked for a shower, too, damn hag made his skin crawl. She showed them into a small room lined with tatami and a low table at the centre. Unexpectedly modest.

"Through this latch here you can get your order once the bell chimes, if you want more, there's a menu on the table, fill out the form and place it in there," she instructed. "Please enjoy your stay." This had to be another woman, they must have switched sometime! Just like they had switched location, this was nowhere near the heady, dark bookstore they'd been in before and this old woman was a perfectly polite innkeeper instead of a lewd old hag! With a polite bow she pushed the paper door close behind her and left them to themselves. "What the fuck?"

"Yes she did seem strange when I bought the books and magazines," Robin laughed, "I'm a bit surprised she didn't try to chain us up in a dungeon." She sat down on her knees, spreading the magazines on the small table after having disposed of said menu that screamed anything but modest restaurant. How about a steaming bowl of ramen? Here, take that cat on the side to spice things up!

"As you can see, I came here to do some research," she opened.

He huffed, picking 'psychology yesterday' scrutinizing the headline, bullshit!

"Oh, that one was unrelated, it has an article on how our morals and perceptions influence our findings in all possible fields, I can't believe it only got two pages! And what for? For a study with three subjects, that's not a study, it's a disgrace! I really shouldn't have bought it, I know that I really shouldn't support this type of magazine but I really like the author of that article. God knows what got into him to publish in th- " She was rambling. Going on and on about that great mind that had somehow ended up publishing his findings in dubious magazines, completely ignoring the giant in the room. Just as well, really, it gave him time to think, and her too, probably. Neither had seen this talk coming, neither were prepared and neither really wanted to, probably. That was probably his new favourite word. Nothing was really sure with Robin, not even his intentions anymore. He had come here to break it off, to officially end what he had thought she had ended three weeks ago, instead he had found her researching kinks and healthy relationships. Did that mean that she wanted to try this or that she was searching for a way to cure him? Not that he needed a cure, wasn't a disease after all… she knew that, right? Sure she did. She was Robin after all.

"What exactly did you research?" he interrupted, really not caring about how climate change had, according to some other researcher, lead to the existence of devil fruits. How had she even ended up at that topic?

She stared at him again with those big blue eyes. Yes she was cute as fuck when she did that, but he was getting sick and tired of that look. Honestly, he wasn't going to eat her, no reason to be that scared… though he might have given her enough grounds for such a hytophesis.

Her mouth moved but no words came out, now that was nice for a change! Nico Robin didn't know what to say instead of the other way round, maybe his studies had payed off! Her face became redder by every second ticking by and when she started fidgeting he had enough.

"You already showed me the books, Robin, just spit it out, how hard can that be?", he asked, trying really hard not to sound as gruff as he usually did. Not all that successful in his opinion, but it seemed to do the trick.

She gasped before clearing her throat, then leveled her gaze on him, clear and sure. "Our last encounter left me… insecure, about myself. I… I reacted in a way that scared me, to be honest. And I think honesty is in order here, otherwise we'll never sort this out. I expect the same courtesy from you." Her voice was firm and he knew she hid behind the scientist, but he didn't care much about that, whatever made her comfortable. He grunted an affirmative and she continued: "I didn't deem it fit for me to react positively to the announcement you had made. You don't know much of my past, but…" She wavered, didn't want to tell him... was probably ashamed. Probably feared he'd think less of her if he knew, they mostly did, just like most he'd met thought it had been their own fault instead of the bastards' really responsible.

"You were a slave," he stated and this time it was honest surprise and fear that hushed over her features.

"How do you know?"

He scoffed. "I may be slow but I'm not stupid, despite curly brow's opinion. I'm not ignorant of how this world works and you tend to speak during your nightmares. I can do the math."

She nodded, sad, like she didn't know what to make of this. "Do you know what kind of slave?"

"Yes." keep it at that, no need to go into details.

She nodded again, her shoulders slumped. When she spoke again there was no security whatsoever in her voice, reminded him more of the whimper he'd hear while she cowered on the crow's nest couch: "They told me similar things. Touched me with similar roughness. He gave me a collar and called me his little pet. He gave me to his officers and frontiers if they pleased him greatly, which didn't happen often, and to his billions if I displeased him greatly." That had probably happened more often but was left unsaid. "He displayed me on business meetings for everyone to see and touch and probe. Provided them with tools... When he thought he had broken me thoroughly he made me number two, after all, what was better suited at his side than an obedient little pet that would never even think of betraying its master?" she looked up at him, tears streaming freely down her red cheeks but her gaze held no trace of insecurity, sadness or anger, just as well, he was seething enough for the both of them, if he ever met Crocodile again, he'd be a dead man. When she continued she did not look away, instead, stared him right in the eye. "I should have been terrified that day, I should have run, but I didn't because nothing had ever aroused me like that. I came the moment you left."

He blinked. She what? What? That was not what he had been expecting. Really not.

Hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to more talking, because that's what they're going to do. What's with the cat you want to know? Well, either you do a quick online search or wait 2 chapters for another clue.

As always, comments are highly appreciated, constructive criticism always welcome! See you next week!