Hallo and welcome back you lot

Thank you, ghost, for your comment, I had almost lost hope there. As always thanks to Rexica for beta reading and encouraging my totally self-indulgent writing. Now go on, enjoy the chapter.

Last time Zoro had to save Smokey from enemy pirates and Robin's wound got exposed… Zoro wasn't exactly happy about that. Let's see how Robin handles this situation

It couldn't be helped. Smoker knew. It wasn't ideal, but they couldn't change it, so what was it that had him this furious? It wasn't like she had stripped in front of a flock of marines to flaunt his mark. It had been an accident that wasn't likely to repeat itself. She usually fought from a distance, with just her arms really making enemy contact. They should be glad it happened like this, that it had been Smoker who had found out and not some hot headed upstart soldier. With Smoker, she was fairly sure their secret was safe and not just because he was comatose in their infirmary. He was an honest man and one of the few marines whose sense of justice hadn't been corrupted. Given that right now Chopper was doing his best to compensate for the blood loss while their captain was pacing incessantly, eating away his fingernails hoping for him to please wake up again, keeping their secret was the least Smoker could do, should he wake up again. If he even remembered.

As she saw it, there was no need to scream at her or demand she heal the 'fucking wound'. She had refused, and he had refused to continue talking to 'a damn stubborn woman'.

What would it change if she did? It had been seen. There was nothing they could do to change that. Absolutely nothing. She had promised to heal it should she get caught; why wasn't that enough? She could understand his reasoning for that, even if she would prefer to keep it as an anchor, to remember. She'd been through more than enough torture on her own that it would be nice to have someone with her the next time, but she understood his fear. It was rational. This, however, wasn't. This was him 'losing his shit' over nothing.

It wasn't even like she could heal it just like that. Not that he needed to know that… He would probably drown himself in sake and guilt if she were to tell him that in order to heal it flawlessly she'd have to cut out the existing scar tissue first. She was prepared to do so at a moment's notice, carried one of Chopper's scalpels with her for that explicit reason, because she had promised. The pain would be nothing compared to the agony she had endured in her past. The agony she had felt in those two months with the revolutionary army, when they had reopened every scar on her body so she could at least begin to free herself from the shackles of her past. The burns had been the worst, huge areas of formerly dead skin coming alive with thousands of raw nerves.

She huffed with a sip of wine. She really shouldn't have been so surprised by her sexual desires. She was, after all, intimately familiar with the concept of pleasure through pain. First during hours of torture where it was her body's only way of keeping her sane, then when she healed herself from the evidence engraved in her body a year ago. She hadn't even noticed how she'd gone from dreading it to accepting it as a necessary evil and then to finally actively seeking it out.

She emptied another glass and reached for the bottle, the second of the evening, but came up empty. She looked up to sharp yellow eyes studying the label before pouring her a glass fuller than seemly and not quite full enough for her mood.

"You have good taste, Nico Robin."

She offered him the seat opposite from her. She wasn't in the mood for talking, the Shichibukai must have seen it, but since he had decided to ignore it, what else could she do? She wouldn't risk a fight in her state. It was the only reason she'd come to this high class restaurant, didn't want to come across anybody looking for a fight. Look at how that had turned out. Not her day. She scrunched up her nose when she realised just what wine she had chosen, but gave him a fake smile anyway. "And I believe I have you to thank for it. Your pupil recommended it some time ago."

He laughed, "He hated that, even more than the dancing."

"I still can't believe you made him dance," she answered, her smile genuine this time.

He waved a waiter over, who nearly tripped over himself to give him a glass. "In all honesty, I only wanted to see his dedication. You should be glad to have a man with this type of loyalty," he explained, and she blushed before realising that he had been talking about her as an extension of her crew and not of her, herself. Too late. Would you look at that, she didn't need to show off his mark to blurt out their secret. A bottle of rich red wine was enough.

He poured himself a glass, all-knowing hawkeyes on her. "So that's how it is. Poor Perona will be devastated."

She would be? Had there been more to it than what he had told her? Two years was a long time…

"I was joking I'm sure she couldn't care less. She reacquired that stuffed bear of hers, much cuter than your swordsman, she says."

What was wrong with her? Even if it had been more, it didn't matter now. Just one fight and she got all insecure again… A fight over her safety… Must have been the wine.

She smiled again. "Would you thank her for us, for taking care of him?"

He gave her a nod as he savoured his first sip of the velvety liquid. "I will, although I doubt that moron would have needed it. With the sense of direction he displayed every day, I wouldn't be surprised to learn he was immortal. If only for the fact that he would get lost on his way towards the light."

She laughed. Laughed in a way she wouldn't have expected two hours earlier when she had decided to treat herself to dinner. Also in a way she hadn't expected five minutes ago when Dracule Mihawk had interrupted her musings. Who would have guessed that this fearsome Shichibukai could be such good company? Zoro hadn't told her much about his time with him, and even though he might not be the best to rate anybody's pretentiousness, the fact alone that the hawkeyed man insisted on swapping his given and surname had provided her with a drastically different expectation.

"So, Nico Robin, what brought you here? It can hardly be the food as I recall you have the best chef in all the seas on board. I heard your crew had made quite the ruckus the next town over, shouldn't you be celebrating?"

The best chef in all- he couldn't possibly have said that about Sanji in other people's presence, could he?

"Im here for the quiet." She answered truthfully. Not that there was a celebration anyway, with Smoker hovering somewhere between life and death.

He didn't pry, just studied the menu with his all-knowing eyes. Even on a good day, without a bottle of wine in her system, she wouldn't have been able to hide from this man. Maybe that's where Zoro got it from, reading her with just a glance. Or had he done that before the two year hiatus? She should go, leave before she said something that would harm them later. He was an enemy, lapdog of the government, no matter that he had trained Zoro for two years. She should leave.

Instead, she signaled the waiter to order the chef's recommendation of the day and a large bottle of water.

"So, what brings you to this island?" She asked, nursing her glass of water, hoping it would sober her a bit at least.

He took another sip of wine before he answered with a hint of amusement in his voice, "I'm just passing through. World government called, good little lapdog I am, I answer."

He couldn't read minds, could he? It was impossible. People generally called them such, it had to … he was testing her. She schooled her features into the cool facade she had practiced for years.

"I'd be careful if I were you. Word is that they want to get rid of the Shichibukai as an institution," she cautioned, while the poor, terrified boy responsible for their table laid out their first courses.

"They offered us this status because they were afraid of us. Do you really think the world's greatest swordsman is unable to protect himself?" he asked before taking the first bite.

Now wasn't that awfully vain of him, flaunting his title like that. "Generally I don't, but as I understand it, you're carrying this title on borrowed time. Would be a shame if you died before passing it on to a worthy successor," she taunted before enjoying the buttery taste of thinly cut raw beef.

He chuckled before wiping his mouth and taking another sip of wine. No wonder Zoro's eating habits had improved so much over the two years apart…

"No need to remind me, Nico Robin, When the time comes, I will gladly accept defeat by the hands of your boyfriend." He meant it, she could see. Boyfriend.. he wasn't really her boyfriend, was he? They had established that they liked each other, but she had made very clear that she was not ready for the emotional overhead.

He was though, and she knew that she'd just have to say the words, and he would gladly let everybody else know. Not that there were many left who weren't already aware… Franky, Usopp and their captain if at all, it was quite possible that they had talked to Zoro about it like Sanji had with her.

She had insisted on the mark because it had been her unvoiced promise to him that she would come around eventually, and yet, nothing between them had changed since then. She did feel less guilty when lying in his arms, but nothing grave had changed. It should have. The affection of his cuts, even now his order to heal it… shouldn't those things change something for her? Shouldn't it affect her in some way? Why didn't it? Was she emotionally this stunted? Was there truly no hope left, even now that she knew he would rather give up his claim on her than to see her endangered? How could such a gesture not make her heart swell and pine for his proximity? Such gestures of sacrifice always worked in the books, just why couldn't it work for her?

The clank of dishes ripped her from her doubts, making her acutely aware of the golden eyes that bored into hers from across the table. Their waiter had visibly calmed, but even though he seemed resigned to his fate, he was no less clumsy as he cleared out their dishes from the first course.

"You truly are an exceptional woman, Nico Robin. I'm afraid I will never comprehend how this moron could maintain your interest long enough for you to fall in love." her company stated, and she shivered under his golden stare, revelation suddenly washing over her. Why was she so upset that she wasn't moved by the gesture? She really shouldn't be. After all, she hadn't wanted to feel for him, had been afraid of it.

How stupid of her, she'd been feeling all along. She was upset, because it had made her believe that he didn't want, didn't feel. What a fool she had been!

She smiled at the man, a genuine and happy smile. "He can be quite tenacious, Mihawk-san, you should know."

He nodded, took another sip of his wine, eyes trained on hers. Lord those eyes were irritating.

.

.

.

The Shichibukai's cloak hung loosely around her slim shoulders as she made her way back to the Sunny. It really had been quite reckless of her to just wander off without preparing for the cool night air. She had to say, Dracule was quite the gentlemanly warlord. She was sure that her cheeks were still red from their parting. The way his lips had properly hovered above the back of her hand. What an oddly entertaining and stimulating evening this had been. It had been so long since she had discussed world politics, climate change, the latest medical achievements, and the simple pleasure of an exquisite bottle of wine with just one person. To the nervous wreck that had been their waiter, it had probably seemed like a date, which it wasn't, of course. Dracule knew she was with Zoro. He surely wouldn't deem this a date. Not in a romantic way at least. She hadn't missed the affection in his tone, despite the demeaning way he had talked about his future successor. All in all, she would say that Dracule was approving of their relationship.

How truly odd… She just couldn't shake this feeling that she had just been vetted for eligibility.

Please leave a review, see you next week!

If you're reading Disinhibition by my utterly amazing beta, you should be really looking forward to this weekend... And if I'm saying that I mean edge of the seat forward! If you're not reading it, go check it out, it's great!