The next seven days passed as if the universe was playing a cruel joke on Robin and Sanji both.

Of course, commotion aboard the Sunny was routine, but it seemed that ever since that day, that evening in the farmhouse, overlooking those endless rows of cabbage… ever since, the universe had decided to never give Robin and Sanji a moment alone ever again.

Every day was something new: a naval ship, a giant aquatic beast, a rival pirate crew, a stranger drifting by needing help… it never ended. On top of all this, Nami was in near-constant conversation with Robin about how exactly Smoker and Tashigi knew where they were going to be, and what steps they could take to guard against this in the future.

"I wonder if there's some kind of new technology they have access to… something really sophisticated that can track movements under the sea." It was day eight, and Nami was still rattling off ideas.

"They certainly have the resources to acquire such a thing." It was getting late. Robin was sitting in their bed with a book, half-reading and half-listening to her navigator.

"Hmm… I wonder if it's related to what happened at the island we found last month, you know the – ah, shit." She ran a hand through her hair in self-annoyance. "I keep forgetting to chart that damn island," Nami suddenly remembered. "Let me go do that now, before I forget again. We'll definitely get back to this later, I have a lot more ideas on this!"

Can't wait… "Yes, of course."

Nami bid her a cheery farewell, and (while she would never say this to Nami) Robin was positively ecstatic to have a bit of peace and quiet to enjoy her book in.

Her newfound peace lasted about ten minutes.

One, two, three knocks on the door. They were gentle, but confident; quite a lot like… "Nami-swan? Your drink's ready~"

Robin jumped slightly before stashing her book under a pillow. She quickly crawled to the edge of the bed and paused, turning back to check herself in the vanity mirror and quickly finger-comb her hair, not having time to pull it up. She stood at the door and smoothed out the hem of her dress before taking a quick breath and opening it.

Sanji grinned as he stabbed out the last of his cigarette (he knew better than to smoke near the girls' room). "Robin-chwan~ I was hoping I'd catch you here." In his hand was a tray with two drinks, a cocktail for Nami, as she'd requested, and a glass of red wine for Robin. "I know you didn't ask, but I figured since I was coming by, anyway…" He took a quick look inside their room over Robin's shoulder, trailing off as he noticed Nami's absence.

"You've just missed her," Robin said, her suspicion about those gentle, confident knocks now confirmed. "But that was very sweet of you, to think of me." She smiled warmly at him before looking down at the glass, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Is that the Malbec we found last month? With the black cherry and blackberry notes?" It was so intensely aromatic that she could smell it, even from afar, and she instantly recognized it.

If she only knew, he thought, smiling to himself. She really was all he thought of, especially as of late. "The very same."

"Sanji-san, I had no idea you went back to buy some." She was touched that he so often remembered so many small details about her. It had just been a quick moment in town; he noticed her trying the wine in the marketplace and how floored she was by the sheer quality and taste, they'd had a brief chat about it, and Robin hadn't given it any further thought. But Sanji had.

"Couldn't just leave without grabbing a bottle or two, 'specially not after I saw how much you liked it," he winked. Unbeknownst to Robin (and to Nami; that wine was expensive as shit), he had actually bought every last bottle they had for her.

"I… that's so–" she stopped for a moment and shook her head, embarrassed with herself as she realized he'd been standing in the doorway all this time, tray in hand. "My manners have left me, Sanji. Do come in."

She sure as hell didn't have to tell him twice. In an instant, he was past the threshold, toeing the door shut with one foot behind him as he placed the tray of drinks on the table. He watched Robin grab her glass and eagerly take a swig of the jammy liquid, grinning as he noticed her eyes lilt in pleasure. "Where'd Nami-san run off to?"

"She's on the observation deck. She's been forgetting to chart that island from a month ago, wanted to get it done."

"Sou-ka… explains why she was so quick to forget about her Old Fashioned. She sounded like she really needed a drink. Helluva week, eh?"

Robin softly chuckled behind her glass. "No kidding. My shoulder is still sore from being hit by a giant tentacle."

Sanji frowned, deeply ashamed of himself. "Robin-chan, the fact that I couldn't protect you from some shitty mindless animal will be my greatest shame."

She laughed, broader this time, as she swirled the wine in her glass, surprised by how seriously this seemed to be affecting him. "Sanji, please, I'm a big girl; I can handle getting knocked around a bit." She brought the glass to her lips, eyes still on his.

Sanji could feel her sly smile, reading it through her eyes, even as her lips were obscured by her glass, and he perked right up. If Robin had regrets about underestimating Sanji when they first met, Sanji harbored similar feelings towards her. For a long time, he revered her as something of a… statuesque, stoic figure (beautiful, captivating, but… distant, often impenetrable) and it took him much longer than he'd like to admit to realize that she could actually be…

… a lot of fun.

"Yeah, that's… you're absolutely right," he grinned. He'd never say this out loud, but he'd always felt she was stronger than he could ever hope to be, in many, many ways. "You got him pretty good, Robin-chan. I've got enough tentacle stored up to make takoyaki for weeks on end, thanks to you."

"All in a day's work," she said casually, with a smile and shrug in self-satisfaction. She paused a moment, and her eyes quickly traveled to the clock. "I take it your services are no longer required in the kitchen?"

"Nope." Smiling, he casually put his hands in his pockets, clearly satisfied with his work that day. "Everyone's fed. Kitchen's closed. Nami-san was my last customer."

There was a brief silence as Robin took a slow sip of wine and they both simultaneously recalled the events that week in their minds. Or, more specifically, the events between events. Stolen glances from afar. Discreet, swift brushes of physical contact: fingertips, shoulders. A wink. A knowing smile. And then, quite by chance (almost as if the universe was now apologizing to them…), it was through this train of thought that they also simultaneously realized that, for the first time in almost eight days…

they were

alone.

In unison, their eyes raised and met. Robin raised her glass for a final time, downing all its contents with ease before slowly placing the empty glass on the table behind her, never breaking her gaze from his.

The very second her fingertips left the delicate glass and not a moment sooner, Sanji reached out, grabbing her hand and pulling her into a kiss in a single, easy motion, picking up right where they'd left off seven full days ago, fully defying the mysterious forces that had kept them apart all that time.

Just then, however…

A creak.

A creak that sounded suspiciously like a door opening.

So much so that the two of them immediately parted, a full arm's length apart.

They waited for a moment, eyes on the door, before both coming to the realization that it was just… the sea. Just the sea and the old wood of the Sunny, shifting and settling and complaining, and they both looked at each other, breaking into laughter.

This false alarm, however, raised a concern that Robin was previously too… preoccupied… to pay heed to. "Nami-san," she began. "She'll be back before long."

Of course she would be. Sanji should have thought of that. Well, he would have, if not for the fact that he really, truly could only think about… "Any ideas, Robin-chan?"

She thought for a moment. "One." She opened the drawer of the nightstand, taking out a pen and paper, and hurriedly scribbled a note.

Nami,

Not feeling like myself

Just need a little time alone

I'll unlock the door when I'm feeling better

Hope you don't mind

-R

Sanji surreptitiously looked over her shoulder to read what she was writing. "Seems kinda… thin, don't you think?" Shockingly, his desperation to not be caught by Nami in this... situation... was magnitudes stronger than his life's mission to please Robin, at least in this particular instant. "I mean, as far as excuses go... just seems... Nami-san's pretty... well, you know..." his voice trailed off as he realized more and more that, perhaps… perhaps not doubting Robin in this moment was the lesser of two evils, between her and Nami.

Without missing a beat, Robin put on her best vaguely puzzled expression. "Huh… that's funny," she began, nonchalantly tapping the pen against the corner of her lips, faux-pensive. "I could have sworn you were fresh out of ideas. If something's changed in the last five minutes, I'd love to hear what you had in mind."

"W-well, I-"

"Oh, nothing? What a shame. In that case, I suppose you'd better go, hm? Better safe than sorry." Of course, she was teasing

But Sanji… Sanji couldn't quite tell.

Sanji made a string of various befuddled noises before finally, he grabbed the note right out of her hands, and hurriedly attached it to the outside of the door in a huff before shutting and locking it again. As soon as the soft click of the lock sounded, he reached out and pulled her in for a second time. "C'mere," he grumbled under his breath just before his lips met hers.

It was Robin's turn to be smug, now. "Whatever would you do without my paper-thin excuses, Sanji-san?"

"Gloating, eh?" he mumbled, lips below her jawline as his hand slowly made its way up from the small of her back to the top of the zipper on her dress. "I'll allow it, but only 'cause I find it so goddamn cute..." Still, slowly, he gently tugged at the zipper, inch by inch. Once it was halfway down, he felt her tense up a bit, and stopped, bringing his eyes to hers.

"If you need me to stop, just say the word," he said earnestly. Obviously, he would have loved to keep going, but her comfort, her needs took utmost precedence above all else. This was all still very new for the both of them, and while it seemed like things were going well, he still had that fear of scaring her away. He didn't want to treat her like just another girl in town; she was absolutely, unequivocally, so much more than that. He softly touched her cheek, smiling, "Anything you need, remember?"

Robin bit her lip, pensive as he turned her eyes away from his. In truth, she hadn't tensed up because she was uncomfortable. On the contrary, her own ease with the situation had caught her off guard. This willingness to just… let things happen was not something she was at all accustomed to, and yet, it persisted, and she found herself still trying to fight it back, even now.

She took a moment, just a quick breath, as if she was preparing to jump head first into arctic waters. Without a word, her eyes returned to his, now resolute, and she reached behind her back, pulling the zipper the rest of the way down, and with a small shrug, her dress fluttered to the ground.

It seemed like every time Sanji was sure he'd had Robin figured out, she'd make sure he was proven wrong.

Sanji swallowed his surprise and his trademark, sly smile returned. In no time at all, he'd laid her on the bed.

Robin looked up at him as he knelt above her, removing what was left of his garments, his eyes never once leaving her sight. (He'd had quite a lot of practice undressing from a three piece suit in this particular…context, so by now, he'd gotten it down to a science.) He wanted to kiss her, but it seemed like there was something she wanted to say, so he hesitated a moment.

"I… I haven't…" her face flushed as she turned away. "It's been… quite a while," she finally managed to say, in a timid voice just above a whisper. Juvenile though she knew it was, as foolish and ridiculous as she felt, in her mind she was already comparing herself to every barmaid, farmgirl and lounge singer that side of the Red Line. One of her hands immediately balled into a tight fist. She was damn near furious with herself for even admitting that much; thirty-one years old and getting these… absolutely asinine feelings she hadn't felt since she was an adolescent, for fuck's sake.

Sanji gently tilted her head to the side so he could look at her, affectionately pushing some of her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear with a warm smile. He lingered there a moment before leaning in and kissing her soundly. "Robin-chan," he said finally, lightly chuckling at the very idea that someone as strong and as confident as Robin could ever even feel the vaguest hint of insecurity, "you're in good hands, I promise."

Just as she had felt so many nights ago, in this very same room, this same bed, every last ounce of her anxiety melted away, and once again she was overwhelmed with gratitude and relief for Sanji, how understanding, how thoughtful he was, and remained to be. Except, now… now she could do something with all of those feelings.

Robin pulled him into another kiss, fingers entangling themselves in his golden hair as she suddenly heard the soft snap of her bra clasp being undone.

Three piece suits, bra straps… yeah, quite a lot of practice.

Sanji pulled back, casually doing away with the very last remnants of her clothing, as if it was something he'd done a million times before (which… well, he… may have. Just not with Robin.) He paused there, taking in every last inch of her with his gaze, and his expression began to… shift.

Robin noticed it immediately. It was as if a haze had washed over him; his gaze, playful only moments ago, had now become incredibly intense, eyes lilting as they bore down into her. Through her. Beyond her. His entire demeanor, seconds ago so casual, now steely, resolute. As Robin looked at him, looking at her, there was something flickering in his eyes: a deep, visceral hunger… raw, animalistic.

Robin had come to know Sanji quite well by now. At least… she liked to so. And yet…

She had never seen this person before. Someone who, until now, only the aforementioned farmgirls, barmaids and lounge singers had seen.

Something about the intensity of his demeanor gave her some kind of subconscious instinct to shyly shrink away, like a flower. She averted her eyes from his, and, without even realizing she was doing it, began to move one of her arms across herself, aiming to touch her shoulder.

She didn't even get close. In (what seemed like) a fraction of an instant, Sanji had pinned her hand next to her head, leaning in close to her, that steely gaze ever-present.

"Sa–" Robin had no idea what she was even going to say. Perhaps she just wanted to double check that Sanji was still in there, somewhere. Regardless, it didn't exactly matter, as Sanji crashed his lips into hers, locking their fingers together, before she could even get a full syllable out.

If it seemed to Robin as if a haze had washed over Sanji, it was because… well, it had.

That haze was called lust, and it was very, very strong.

This demeanor was familiar to Sanji, but not at all to Robin, understandably. In another state of mind, he might be concerned about this, but now… he simply couldn't be; it was physically impossible. He was now a slave to that haze, to his instincts, and he could only go where his body would take him.

There had been many, many times when Sanji had thought about what this might feel like, (many more times than he could care to admit…), and his imagination was nothing but a pittance in comparison to reality, to the point where he nearly completely lost control the moment he was entirely inside her. He swallowed, moving his hand out of hers and planting it next to her head, trying to anchor himself to something, anything, as he rolled his hips back, starting a slow, firm rhythm, keeping that steady pace for a time.

"You're just…" Sanji hadn't broken his gaze with hers. He wanted to see it all: every wince, every flutter of her eyelids, every minute expression. But it was getting difficult, the longer he went on. "… Just so–" he let out a very sharp breath, having to retreat to the place where her neck and shoulder met.

"Fucking beautiful," he finally managed to sigh out, hot breath all over her skin, punctuated with a thrust much firmer than before.

If Sanji was struggling to maintain control, Robin's struggles were tenfold. Sanji, at least, was quite practiced, but Robin… Robin genuinely could not remember the last time she'd felt this way. His hands, never once used for fighting, were as soft as she remembered them being, and yet so firm, forceful, strong. She brought her hips to meet his in his rhythm, greedy, wanting to take more than he could give her, devouring the sensation.

"C–" words were trying to escape her lips, despite the fact that she could barely form a coherent thought in her own mind. Slender fingers gently gripped his hair as she softly sighed into his ear, "Close. I… s…so–" that was as far as she could have possibly gotten through that sentence. Language was slipping through her fingers like sand with every passing moment.

Sanji, upon hearing this, smirked even in his haze. He pulled back, more determined than ever to look in her eyes. The firm grip he had been maintaining on her thigh became firmer, still, as he moved his hand just behind her knee, pushing her leg back towards her, amplifying the intensity of his thrusts as his eyes pierced her,

Robin opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words escaped. Instead, her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she arched her spine, her voice shaking as Sanji felt her shivering in his hands. He wanted more than anything to stop time right at that very moment, to just look at her forever, but once he felt her muscles tensing up all around him, felt her shivering, saw her eyes, her expression, he was overwhelmed.

His knuckles were bone white as he gripped her sheets, her thigh, his face falling into her neck just as he released inside her, groaning, kissing, biting, never missing a beat, never once stopping his rhythm until he felt like he couldn't possibly have anything left to give her. Only then did he slowly wind down, shuddering as his hips rolled against hers for a final time.

Elsewhere in the room, Nami's cocktail had all but watered down. Beads of condensation were long gone. In a better state of mind, Sanji would be appalled by this; the very idea that he would leave someone un-served was truly unthinkable. Now, though… now, it couldn't have been further from his mind.

He'd slipped beside Robin and gathered her in his arms, holding her close as he softly kissed the top of her head, both of them basking in that familiar, comfortable silence.

She smelled like a complex, sweet malbec. Like sakura blossoms. Like antique leather-bound books. It was nice.

A/N - Hi, hello! Sorry this took me an epoch : I was having medical and mental health problems (also also I was nervous about the sex scene lol). Sooorrryyy everyone! Hope you all enjoy it~