Hallo and welcome back!
Thank you for your review Ghost, I didn't mean to make you feel guilty or anyone else for that matter, I was just being petulant. You guys honestly have no idea how addictive your comments are! I'm glad you liked the way I portrayed Smoker, I always saw him that way, let's just hope he'll make it! Reading your take on the relationship also made me very happy, it's on point, exactly what I wanted you to get from it!
As always a huge thank you to Rexica for beta reading this mess.

Last time Robin was out for a quiet dinner and got some unexpected company, good guy Mihawk helped her along with her musings. This time we'll see how Zoro copes with their little fallout… Did anyone say booze?

OK, so maybe he had overreacted. Maybe he shouldn't have ordered her up to the crow's nest the moment they'd dumped Smoker in the infirmary. And maybe, just maybe, he should have asked her to heal the scarring wounds instead of demanding it. But gods fucking damn him, how in all the hells could this woman be so unfazed by this situation? He'd been fucking terrified of the possible consequences, had been sitting there next to Chopper and Smoker, and the only thing he'd been thinking of had been worst case scenarios of Robin captured with his mark, providing all the leverage pirates or marines could dream of. And she'd just given him a fucking thumbs up, for fuck's sake!

"Roronoa, we've been here like four times already. If you don't fight me soon, I'll stab you in the back!" Tashigi threatened from behind him.

"No you wouldn't," he quipped back, but even to himself, his voice sounded too far away. She stopped, and so did he, turned around.

"What's wrong with you, Roronoa?", she pushed with a degree of concern a marine really shouldn't feel for a pirate.

"Nothing, just get us somewhere to fight."

Her eyes grew wide, her mouth went slack. "Are you… are you admitting you're lost?"

For fuck's sake! "Yes, gods damn it! Now get moving!" he bellowed, but she didn't budge. Confusion and suspicion had her rooted to the spot… fucking woman should work on her pokerface.

When she spoke up, her voice was low, careful and laced with disbelief: "Did you, by any chance, drag me out here to talk?"

"No!" he defended instantly, only to realise that… "I don't know, maybe."

He hadn't originally. When he'd asked her for a fight, he had wanted to vent his anger and frustration on someone who wouldn't immediately blame him for everything and at the same time wouldn't ask stupid questions. He'd figured with Smoker still in a coma, she might need the distraction, too.

Now that she'd said it though, talking sounded pretty fucking good… "If you don't mind."

Irritation creased her brow before her features softened, looking away from him she nodded. "Yeah, I think I could use some talking, too," she admitted.

"We should get booze."

She agreed, told him to stay put while she got some… As if he was a dog that would run off to gods knew where.

When she returned with a clinking bag thrown over her shoulder, she grabbed his hand and dragged him after her.

"Oi, Oi, Glasses! I'm not some lost puppy!" He protested but followed regardless.

"Right, a puppy knows its way around a straight road. Honestly, I didn't believe the reports, but first Punk Hazard. and now this. You're really hopeless."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," he grumbled, didn't have the energy to fight her on this, wasn't like anyone ever listened to his arguments about the topic anyway...

When she finally stopped, the town was nowhere in sight. Instead, there were trees and a small creek, sun setting in the distance. Robin would have loved the view. Tashigi sat in the grass, patted the spot next to her, and he followed. Like a fucking puppy. She handed him a bottle of sake and took one for herself. After clinking their bottles together, they drank and stayed silent long enough for the sun to completely set.

"Do you… think he'll wake up," she finally broke the silence, her voice was soft, insecure.

"Chopper is doing his best," he said, knowing full well that it wasn't the answer she'd hoped for, even though this was the answer that should instantly cease her worries. If there was any possible way for the vice admiral to survive, Chopper would find it. If Chopper couldn't save him, it just couldn't be helped. No other doctor would have been able to, and he doubted bringing up Law's proximity would calm her down. Quite the contrary probably. Their relationship with the ex- shichibukai wasn't the same as with them.

"Thank you for protecting him earlier. I know you did it for your captain, but… thank you anyway."

He took a huge gulp from his bottle, not sure if he should admit out loud that he would have done it for her as well. He knew he shouldn't. They were enemies by default, but on the other hand, they shouldn't be drinking together either. "Would have done it for you, too."

She choked on her sake, sputtered some indiscernible words before falling into a coughing fit that had him fearing she'd suffocate. He hit her back to help her through, but she ducked away from him. Odd. Wheezing, she jabbed one accusatory finger his way before stuttering some more: "Y- you.. you you you you… you are not confessing to me, Roronoa, are you?!"

This time he choked on his drink, though with much more refinement than her, in his opinion. "Fuck no, Glasses."

Instant relief filled her features, and she settled back down next to him. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you got the hots for your boss," he added and relished a bit at the yelp she gave at his observation.

She hung her head in defeat. "Being in love with my superior is just as bad as drinking with a pirate," she grumbled.

"Great, you're on a run, then."

She didn't respond to his tease. Just as well. Took her awhile to speak up again. "So why would you have done it for me then? Is this because of that friend of yours?"

Kuina? He shook his head. "No, you outgrew her in the last two years. Maybe because of your hair, or because you actually got some tits now…" She boxed his arm. "Pig."

"Yeah yeah, anyway, I don't know… it's weird… like you're Nakama," he continued, and she didn't protest or go on a tirade of how she'd never stoop so low as to bullshit bullshit. He took it as a good sign, chose to believe that it meant she felt the same about him.

"So," she asked, "what had you so riled up that you didn't even want to fight? And why couldn't you talk with your actual Nakama about it?"

Ah fuck, couldn't they just keep drinking in silence? He took another huge gulp only to realise that his bottle was already empty. She handed him another before he could even ask.

"I fucked up, that's why. Pretty sure the others would see me as the bad guy and her as the poor victim. Not like she can't fight for herself, for fuck's sake, but they'd instantly come to her defense."

"Her?"

"Not gonna tell you, Glasses. That's classified. If she locks herself up and refuses to talk it's automatically my fault. If she's in a bad mood, my fault. I get that they don't see me as the emotional type, which actually might be my fault, but none of them seem to care what this whole thing does with me. All they tell me is to get my shit together. or 'oh boy look at the marimo, he's more grumpy than usual.'" He stopped his rant. That had sounded harsher than he had intended. Wasn't like they didn't care. He'd just never really given them reason to care about his emotional state. "During battle, something happened that shouldn't have happened. Smoker saw, told me in the cave if anyone else had seen, our relationship would be out in the open, and I'm sure you can imagine what such information means to our enemies."

She'd patiently listened to him, nodded at all the right moments, but now she seemed confused. And buzzed.

"And how have you fucked it up? You could have prevented this from happening?"

He gave a nod. "If I hadn't given her a … sign of our relationship, it couldn't have been seen, and it would definitely still be a secret. Told her to get rid of it, and apparently that's what I shouldn't have done"

Her eyebrows drew tighter together. "We're talking about a ring or something? Why get rid of it. She could hide it on the ship if she wants the reminder. I mean if people find it on the ship, it's too late anyway."

Yeah, if it were a ring that would be a great solution, wouldn't it? He downed the rest of his bottle. Should have fucking known that talking with her wouldn't do shit. He felt just as fucking miserable as before. There was just nothing he could do to make himself feel any better. The wound was on Robin's body, and if she didn't want to heal it, he couldn't force her, as much as he fucking wanted to right now. Fucking powerless is what he felt. He should come to terms with the fact that eventually the woman he was in love with would be tortured and killed because she insisted on keeping his damn sign carved in her body. The sign of a relationship she didn't even accept to be a relationship. Fucking 'arrangement' is what she called it. Fuck. The woman was fucking brilliant; how could she be this fucking stupid? Gods fuck. A pathetic sniffle next to him reminded him that he wasn't alone. Wasn't the only one feeling helpless.

"What the fuck are we even doing here, Glasses, we should be trying to kill each other," he grunted, vaguely aware that his speech really wasn't as clear as it should be when he intended to use his swords.

.

.

.

His eye blinked into focus, Gods his head was killing him. A huge grin hovered above him. "Shishishishi." Fucking shit, why did it have to be his captain to find him? "Shishishishi." Fucking high pitched laugh of his. A groan somewhere above his head. Feminine. Fucking shit, got plastered with Tashigi. Sat up. Didn't wear his robe, had taken it off before fighting… probably. Yeah, tripped over it when getting up, so he'd taken it off. Maybe. How the fuck had he thought a swordfight was a good idea when he couldn't even walk in his own fucking clothes? Fuck. Shallow cuts all over his chest and arms. Haramaki in tatters holding on to the bits and pieces still left from his pants. Fucking hells, it was a wonder he still had all his limbs attached. Fuck, Glasses, he turned around too quick for the hangover he was nursing. She was on all fours. Good, so he hadn't severed any body parts. Couldn't say the same about her clothes though. Fuck. She lifted her head to look at him, did a double take. Her red eyes looked him up and down, and he was pretty sure he could read a silent curse on her lips before she gave up and slumped back to the ground. With a grunt she rolled herself on her back. "You should seriously work on your defense, Roronoa, you're two cuts away, from being naked," she scoffed.

"Right back at you, Glasses."

She propped herself up to look down on herself. "Fucking shit," she murmured, before flopping back down. "And stop calling me Glasses, pirate."

"Shishishishi," Fuck, he'd almost forgotten about him, but him being so carefree and happy at least meant that Smoker was stable.

"This is funny," his captain laughed with one finger up his nose. "I thought you only did the naked fighting with Robin."

Tashigi gasped behind him, and he plopped back to the ground. Just fucking great, now Tashigi knew.

"Are you serious? This was about Nico? I was convinced you only used feminine pronouns as a ruse! I was sure it was about Black Leg!" She called out.

What the fuck? How the fuck? He'd literally fuck anybody else before the shitcook. For fuck's sake, he'd fuck Franky, and there was a veritable chance that the guy had a trash compactor up his ass. He'd rather get fucked by Akainu's transformed lava dick than go to bed with fucking curly brow!

He glared at her. "You could have done so many things, Glasses. You could have stolen my sword, could have taken me in for my execution, could have achieved my title… but this… I will not ever forgive you for this assumption. Ever."

She just laughed at him. What the fuck was it with women not taking him seriously?

Please leave a review and let me know what you think, see you next week!
If you got time to spare, go and read the latest steaming chapter of Disinhibition