In celebration for completing my Sabriel Big Bang Fic on time, I shall post a new chapter. Sorry for the wait guys, it's been very busy as of late.

I have gotten a couple questions regarding why Zoro couldn't enter the dreams of the people of Piety. I didn't exactly explain it, it was more implied. The reason was because the Piety towns people actually consumed the Chastity Bell in their daily diet, which is how they keep demons from invading their dreams. The cambion, being dream demons, can not enter a dream of someone who has eaten Chastity Bell within a certain amount of time.

I was also asked about how the territorial thing works with mates and dream energy. First about energy eating: Cambion and Incubi can enter people's dreams but that does not mean they automatically take energy from that person. However, the general purpose of going into one's dream is to gain sexual energy. Zoro might visit his crew's dreams, but that does not mean he's always feeding on them. He might be bored and want to see what everyone is dreaming, like he did in chapter 16. Can you imagine how amusing Luffy's head must be? Adventure! So eating sexual energy is a conscious effort, plus one of the rules of feeding off of lust eating is that the person must be aroused for there to even be energy. This usually means the incubus has to seduce the person via fantasy. Sanji, having an abnormal sex drive, makes this rather easy and Zoro would only have to change a few cues to make it favorable to him. Zoro also takes different forms in dreams, mostly because the disassociation from reality tends to make things flow easier for the dreamer, which is why Sanji didn't see Zoro in his dreams until he himself was dreaming of Zoro; Zoro chose not to look like himself in the dreams he was in.

The mating thing that the mountain people have set up are a community agreement to not tread on another cambion's territory. A mate to a cambion is a worthy lover and also a stable food source. It's akin to the testament to not covet thy neighbor's wife, in other words, an agreement to not steal or wish to possess another person's lover. A cambion can go into the dream world and defend what is theirs depending on several unmentioned variables. I suppose if they were an abnormally non-territorial cambion, they may allow other cambion into their mate's dream; though I can not think of a reason why someone would do that. It's not really a swinger mentality. When a cambion takes a mate, that mate is theirs and no one elses. Off the market and damn it, limbs will fly if that agreement is knowingly broken.

Now unmated cambion are much more casual with sex and it would not be uncommon that a cambion started an orgy with other cambions. These types of cambion are free roamers, and usually younger because hell, they're young, vital, hungry, and powerful; they do what they want and the world is their oyster.

Was that too much? I dunno, but I don't go into the world building too much because I try to show it in story; so I'll splurge on specifics that weren't explained well or any other questions or theories. I haven't answered too many questions so far because they would either be revealed later or spoil something. If any of you had any more specific questions, I'd be more than happy to pour a wall or two of text onto your screen.

"You're a bastard," Zoro said as soon as he got Sanji alone again; though that didn't happen until after lunch time because Sanji got caught up in a brunch rush when the rest of the tribe started waking up for food. While the main meat was spit roasted over the bonfire at night, there was a stone oven and food storage in one of the smaller buildings that doubled as a small kitchenette from what Zoro could tell. It wasn't that much bigger than the Going Merry's but it was a fine place to talk privately; Zoro had finally gotten a pair of leather shoes, but they weren't as worn in as his boots. He happen to like those boots so it was a shame to lose them. He'd also found his pants and was happy to have them back on.

Sanji gave a casual shrug and lit up a fresh cigarette. "Not my fault you got all flustered," Sanji said. He leaned against the table that was stacked with various spices and herbs, looking much more relaxed than earlier.

"I was not flustered," Zoro said firmly. He just hated people watching him when he was doing something private; like being nice to the damn cook. He wanted his private life to remain private, especially when he was still figuring out what he and Sanji were, or what they could be. It was a tangled mess, and then Sanji had to throw in the word 'love' into it. That vague, cliché word that he cringed at every time Sanji used it; especially when used in the same sentence as Nami. It didn't mean much on its own, because Sanji used it all the time. But this time was different because it wasn't as carefree as Sanji's normal use of the word. So maybe it meant more than normal as well. Either way, it was a subject he was ready to bring up. "It's none of their business what we do... or not do." The case being that they still hadn't gone past kissing in Zoro's experience.

"It's not like they're throwing us a parade or anything," Sanji said. "They don't seem to mind, if nothing else."

"Yeah, fine." Zoro folded his arms. "But we're not... lovers."

Sanji deflated a bit and was quiet for a moment before he asked, "Well, you do want to be, right?"

"I think it would be a fine starting point," Zoro said and did not miss Sanji's expression lighting up considerably. "Been a while since I've had one."

"You've actually had lovers?" Sanji asked with his curly brow raised and didn't sound convinced.

"One," Zoro said and scratched the back of his neck. He didn't talk about these sorts of things, so he wasn't exactly comfortable talking to Sanji about it. Especially since the whole crew didn't have the best experience with him. "Do you remember Saga from Asuka Island."

Sanji paused and then frowned. "That jackass you busted my arm for?"

"Yeah..." Zoro might have still felt a smidge guilty about turning against his nakama, especially when he hadn't known the whole situation. "I suppose you could call him my 'ex'." He and Saga had broken it off before he left the dojo to expand his training in the world. But he supposed all of that led to more of his actions on Asuka than he wanted to admit.

"Your ex caused a shit load of trouble," Sanji scoffed and focused on his cigarette smoking for a moment. "He was with that beautiful Maya girl."

"It was over long before I thought he'd died," Zoro said, looking more at the smoldering stone oven. It radiated enough heat that he could unbutton his coat indoors, though he still didn't have a shirt; not that it bothered him that much. "I guess he moved on pretty quickly." He glanced at Sanji, who gave him a curious look. "What?"

"Did you love him?" Sanji asked curiously, quite serious on the matter.

Zoro closed his eyes and let out a slow breath as he felt his face warm. He was not good at these sort of conversations. He quickly thought of a topic change. "I get that you've probably been with women, but you've never been with a man, right?"

Sanji rolled his eyes at first. "Well, obvious-" Sanji stopped mid word, remembering something. He lowered his tone and looked away. "Well... no man besides you anyway." Zoro blinked, reminded that he'd made Sanji orgasm when he was a demon.

"I thought you said we didn't fuck." Zoro was pretty sure that's what was insinuated but it wasn't like Sanji was forthcoming with information.

Sanji's face turned a deep red. "We didn't, but you did every damn thing else to me."

"Like what?" Zoro was genuinely curious. He thought it was unfortunate that he still couldn't remember that part and even more so that he'd completely drained Sanji the night before so he couldn't tell how everything was affecting the cook's libido.

"T-that's private," Sanji said quickly, looking at the floor.

"But I was the one that did it to you," Zoro said.

"Well you should remember then."

"I don't remember most of what I did when I was a demon."

"Damn it..." Sanji chewed on his cigarette a moment. "You... you did things. Lots of tongue things. A blow job. A... fuck, an ass job?" Zoro raised an eyebrow, especially when Sanji sucked down the rest of his cigarette and ended up putting it out in a cup of water. He blew out his last stream of smoke, face stained pink with embarrassment. "And a finger."

"What, no hand job?" Zoro snorted, half joking in hopes that Sanji would lighten up.

"No, you did that too." Sanji looked beyond embarrassed about admitting it. "I'm still wrapping my mind around everything."

"Did you like it all?" Zoro asked.

"For the most part," Sanji admitted after a moment. "Besides you being half cat-bat." He huffed out a frustrated breath. "Yes, okay, I liked it. I'm gay now, or what ever."

Zoro scoffed. "You're not gay." Sanji had a confused look on his face. "You obviously still like women. You're bisexual, at least." Zoro's eyes narrowed on the cook who seemed to be pondering that notion far deeper than he was meant to. "Speaking of women. I hope you don't continue to flirt with every one you meet." It still annoyed Zoro when Sanji went googly-eyed over every pretty woman he saw. Sanji lifted his head, frowning.

"I don't flirt with every woman I meet," he said indignantly. "I'm a gentleman and I simply give them my complete and utter attention as a gentleman should." Zoro raised a brow at the cook for the longest moment until Sanji continued with slight offense, "You could stand to be nicer to the ladies on the ship; or in general for that matter." Zoro scoffed because he realized it was like telling a fish not to swim in water.

"You could stand to be less annoying when you're serving them snacks," Zoro said blatantly.

Instead of rising to the argument Sanji paused in thought and asked, "Jealous marimo?"

Zoro's temper flared. "Annoyed mari-" He put his fist to his forehead to stop himself from calling himself a damn moss ball and Sanji snickered like a little brat. "I'm not jealous. I just hope you know that if we do decide to be lovers, it's a private relationship."

Sanji frowned, as though offended. "Are you saying you'd think I'd cheat in a committed relationship?"

"I'm saying that I'm fully entitled to get pissed off if you're getting too friendly with the natives."

"Well if you pull a Neanderthal stunt like last night again I'm fully entitled to beat you over the head for scaring all those women." Sanji scoffed. "Honestly, barging in before we've even decided this sort of thing."

"That… was a cambion thing," Zoro admitted. He hated admitting he was wrong, especially to Sanji, but that moment hadn't been his proudest. "I know I had no right to put a claim on you when you weren't mine."

"Damn right you didn't," Sanji said and his righteous tone only grated on Zoro's pride. "Honestly, I'm more than your damn meal."

"You're not just a damn meal," Zoro snapped, tired of Sanji's whining. "I'm not even talking about energy right now, alright. I'm talking about…" Zoro paused and rubbed his head because it wasn't completely the demon thing and it wasn't completely him. It was a bit of both. He was still translating all those primal feelings that filtered through his head at that moment.

Sanji waited for several moments before he said, "Explain it."

"Shut up, I can't right now." Zoro hated that it wasn't a cut and dry thing. It never had been easy for him, and it got even harder when trying to say it to Sanji. "It's not just about energy, alright? It's about you. It's about you being a…" He gritted his teeth and folded his arms because he couldn't make it sound any less stupid than it was. "It's about you being a strong, worthy mate that I want for myself." Sanji blinked at him but said nothing. Zoro huffed, feeling his own cheeks redden because he was being fairly open. "I thought you were strictly into women so I never acted on it. I shouldn't have acted on it then either."

Sanji nodded slowly, taking it in. "I um… I'm not sure if I'm 'bisexual' or what ever you want to call it." He pursed his lips a moment before he said, "I just know that I want to try it with you. Not just sex, but the whole thing. So don't think you're allowed to run off and flirt with other people either." Zoro nodded and took several steps to close the distance between them. It felt odd to be in agreement with Sanji, but it was far from being a bad experience.

"Does this mean I can stop being stuck on dish duty every other night just so I can get a kiss?" Zoro asked

Sanji smirked a bit. "But you're my favorite dish washer."

Zoro huffed and planted a kiss on Sanji's cocky mouth. Sanji yielded to the kiss and rested a hand on Zoro's shoulder; warm and welcoming. Zoro tasted no lust and knew it would be several days until they could actually finalize their title of 'lovers', but it was still warm and welcoming. He wrapped his arm around Sanji's waist, drawing them closer.

"Too bad we can't do it for a few days." Zoro mentioned. Sanji stuck out his tongue at Zoro.

"And who's fault is that?" Sanji asked condescendingly.

"Yours," Zoro said firmly.

"It is not mine." Sanji scoffed. "You're the one that drained me last night."

"You're the one that asked me to fuck you out of no where," Zoro countered.

"You should have," Sanji said firmly.

"You're surprisingly alright with the idea of bending over for me," Zoro pointed out, just to see the color rise in Sanji's face.

"I…" Sanji stalled for a moment, cheeks and ears especially aflame. "It felt good, alright. If you're going to say it like that then we don't have to do it at all-"

"I didn't mean it like that," Zoro said quickly. "Just surprised, is all." Far be it for him to make Sanji feel like being the bottom was a bad thing. He had every intention of making sure Sanji enjoyed the experience. Sanji didn't look very convinced and had a pout on his lips. Zoro kissed them briefly and Sanji glanced at him. "You've got to let me make up for last night." Sanji relaxed a little.

"I don't have to," Sanji told him flatly but then his fingers slowly curled into the hair at the back of Zoro's neck where it was still a bit long. "I might let you try though." Sanji wrapped his other arm around Zoro's waist and drew them together in a comfortable embrace. Zoro rubbed his hand up Sanji's back, returning it lightly. He wasn't completely used to the contact and it wasn't one of those hugs that was to be quickly pulled away from. "Let's stay like this for a while." Zoro resisted calling Sanji clingy and kissed the side of his head. He sort of liked this type of clingy though.

"Sure, cook," he agreed and Sanji let out a content breath. He ignored the feeling that hearts were radiating off of Sanji as he rested his cheek on Zoro's shoulder with the content hum he let out.