Zoro hated when things around him happened out of his knowledge and control. One minute he was asleep, the next he woke up and the room had been cleared and replaced with new furniture. Even a soft new mat was placed underneath him while he slumbered. How did they keep doing that?

Then there was this circle on the wall, out of his reach. It glowed an annoying colour and hummed. Everything in this place hummed. Granted, it was quieter than the last cage he was kept it, but it still jarred with his senses.

He groaned rolling over in the new futon and burying his head under a sheet. The darkness was a little soothing. But he could still smell the stifling air, and feel it cling to his skin like warm, damp sweat. He sat up, the heavy chain rattling with his every move. He wanted to break something again, preferably the chain, and move somewhere more open. Somewhere he could breathe cold air and look up at something that isn't metal walls.

A faint click had his ears turning towards the glass doors. He waited. Soon enough, that lanky, blonde-haired human he'd grown familiar to seeing appeared behind the glass. He was with the woman, the one with long dark hair and eyes that stared too much; the one the smelt of something sweet in an earthly way, and faintly of something metallic. They talked in hushed tones behind the glass.

Zoro curled back in his futon. Maybe if he ignored them, they'd do the same. A click, and the door slid open. So much for that plan. He chanced cracking an eye open to observe whoever entered. Surprisingly, it was the woman. The blonde was nowhere in sight, but Zoro could smell him close-by.

The woman took small steps, crossing the room and stopping at other end of the new table. Slowly, she knelt on the floor and placed a grey briefcase on her lap. Zoro growled, rising slowly from the futon. Whatever was in that briefcase couldn't be good.

She paused, her eyes that stared too much flicking up to look at him. Zoro decided he didn't like her. Her thin lips spread in a smile, as she opened the briefcase and pulled out a wooden box covered in black and white squares. He frowned. It didn't look like anything that was ever used on him before, but he refused to let his guard down.

"How are you today, Zoro?" she asked.

Zoro glared at her, thumping his tail on the floor. I don't like you.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've been properly introduced. My name is Robin."

"Go fuck yourself."

She giggled. That was not a normal reaction to being told to 'go fuck yourself'. This Robin woman was nothing like the blonde. She didn't seem phased at all by Zoro's hostility. The thought gave him a twitchy feeling.

She placed the box on the table and unfolded it. From inside, she took out a bag filled with dozens of wooden shapes, some black and some white. Zoro was even more bewildered.

"Are you familiar with chess, Mr Zoro?"

He snarled at her. What the hell was she talking about? Zoro watched with heightened caution as she opened the bag and started to assemble the shapes on the squares on the box.

"It's a game we used to play in the old world, before the Hush," Robin continued, as she placed all the black shapes in one end of the board and all the white shapes on the other end. "A year ago, a friend of mine taught me how to play it. In fact, he made this board himself. I've been addicted to it ever since. But I'm greatly lacking in opponents."

She pushed the box towards the centre of the table. Zoro looked from her to the black and white pieces and back to her again.

"Find someone else to play your stupid games with, bitch."

"Oi," came the blonde's rough voice. "Don't talk to a lady like that."

Zoro bristled his fur, sneering at the blonde as he strode into the room. The blonde's scent was one thing, but there was something else the tiger could feel around the man's presence. It was like a heat that radiated in a wide circle from around him. It was stifling, but in a way that made Zoro want to snuff it out.

"You better be nice to Robin," threatened the blonde, as he placed a bowl of water on Zoro's side of the table and a small cup on the woman's side.

Zoro chuffed. "Or what, you poison me?"

"Don't make me try it, kitty."

"You don't have the guts to try anything, blondie."

"Mr Black," Robin interrupted. "Perhaps dinner some time soon would be best?"

The man faltered, almost turning into a gooey, fawning mess over the woman. It was Like the blonde had two different heads that kept switching back and forth.

"Of course, my lovely Robin!" he chimed, throwing the tiger another fierce look before leaving the room.

"Moron," Zoro muttered under his breath.

Robin smiled. "All men are, Mr Tiger. But we learn to love them."

Zoro stared at the woman. There was a softness in her eyes.

"Is he your mate?" he asked.

Robin's lips parted for a moment before she stifled another laugh behind her hand.

"No, no. My 'mate' is someone far louder and more moronic," she answered. "Mr Black is unspoken for in the present time."

"I can see why."

Robin laughed again, before a silence settled between them. She took a sip from her coffee. Zoro stared at the water is his bowl, finding the rippling suddenly fascinating.

"Would you like me to teach you how to play?" asked the woman again, gesturing to the board.

Zoro glared at the black and white pieces. "No."

"It's simple, once you know it," Robin continued anyway. "All the black pieces are yours, and the white are mine. The aim is it to 'eat' or get rid of the other player's king, whilst eliminating all other pieces that get in your way. Quite brutal, really."

Zoro frowned. King? Eat? He didn't get a single word of that.

"Perhaps a demonstration would be best?" Robin moved a small piece with a rounded top two squares forward towards Zoro's side of the board. "White always moves first. The piece I moved is called a pawn. They can only move forward on the board."

"I don't want to play," Zoro interrupted her explanation.

Robin nodded. "Very well."

She paused to take a sip from her cup before folding her arms across her chest.

"How do you like your new surroundings?" she asked.

Zoro scoffed. "What difference does it make? Anywhere you keep me is a cage in some form."

"Is there anyway we can make your stay with us more comfortable?"

"I'll give you three guesses," said Zoro, slapping the chain with his tail.

Robin smiled. "Unfortunately, that is something out of my power. But take comfort in the face that it is temporary."

The tiger's ears twitched forward. "Temporary until when?"

"Until we deem it appropriate to remove."

Zoro growled and crossed his arms, hunching and glaring at the board laid out on the table. Typical.

"Perhaps some clothes that would feel more comfortable to wear?" asked Robin, gesturing to the hospital vest sagging around Zoro's shoulders. "Or would you like some reading material or an ambience installed?"

When the blonde came around the open doorway, Zoro's eyes instantly shot to the man.

"You can get me a better cook," grumbled the tiger. "His food tastes like shit."

He received a glare for it, but then the man smirked.

"You say that, but I don't think I've gotten a plate back from you that hasn't been licked clean," said the cook as he placed plates of green leaves on the table. "Honestly, Mrs Nico. I think he's scratched all of my crockery by now."

"Maybe you don't feed me enough, shit-cook."

"I feed you plenty, kitty!" snapped the blonde. It was funny watching him switch from polite, composed gentleman to irate bastard. "If I fed you anymore, you really will turn into fat housecat."

A warning roar escaped Zoro's muzzle, but his retort was cut off by Robin's voice again.

"Mr Black," she called, holding out her empty cup. "Could I possibly have more coffee, please?"

"Of course, my lovely Robin!" answered the blonde. He took her cup and practically pranced out of the room, not chancing a glare at Zoro anymore, in case he broke that gentlemanly posture again.

Zoro returned to sulking at the other end of the table, glaring at his plate of delicious smelling leaves. His stomach grumbled.

"You know," said Robin, as she started to pick through her salad with a fork. "Perhaps you should play nicer with Mr Black. The sensor on your collar is synced to his touch, after all."

Zoro narrowed his eyes at her. Why was she telling him this? Before he could ponder on it anymore, the blonde was back again, flitting around the woman like a madman. Zoro sneered, but he'd had enough of riling the cook up for now. He wolfed down his food, watching the one-sided interaction between the two humans out of the corner of his eye. Mostly, he watched Robin. His earlier decision about her was beginning to falter. Perhaps he didn't dislike her that much after all.

Sanji didn't really know what he was expecting when Robin said she'd perform tests on the tiger. He'd given up trying to comprehend her methods a long time ago. The lady worked in a more psychological field of science that was too broad and unpredictable for the blonde's liking, so he decided not to question or think on it too much.

So far, the lovely Robin spent an hour and a half alone with Zoro as Sanji made diner. Then he sat in with them afterwards and listened as Robin tried to illicit conversation with the Companion, who more or less ignored them. It irked the cook. How could someone ignore such a beautiful, radiant presence?

He didn't really see what Robin was trying to do in the few hours she was there for. But before he knew it, Sanji was seeing her off at the door.

"Thank you for the time, Mr Black," she said, bowing her head.

"Any time you're around is a better time than ever, my dear," he answered. "But I hope you got what you wanted."

Robin smiled, her eyes glinting in a way that Sanji wasn't sure if he liked or not.

"I got some answers," she said, turning and walking towards the lifts. "There's also the feed from the transponder. I'll check in on you again tomorrow evening, Mr Black. Good night."

"Good night, my dear Robin!" Sanji called after her, watching as the lift doors sealed her from view before heading back into his flat. When he returned to the tiger room to clear the empty plates, Zoro was sitting up, glaring at the board Robin left behind. The tiger didn't say anything or make a move to acknowledge the cook's presence.

Sanji placed the empty dishes in the sink in the kitchen. He'll wash those tomorrow. Grabbing two bottles from the fridge, he went back and placed one on Zoro's side of the table. The thud of the glass on the wood got the tiger's attention. Ears perking, Zoro's eyes darted between the bottle and the blonde.

"What's that?" he growled.

Sanji popped the cap off his bottle. "Beer. Now that Law has your blood samples, you can spoil your liver all you want." He paused to take a sip, and began to roll himself a cigarette. "Also means I can smoke in this room now too, thank fuck."

He tried not to pay too much attention to Zoro's hard stare. The tiger was glaring at him like Sanji had put a gun on the table and asked him to shoot himself. If Zoro was surprised, so was Sanji. He didn't quite know what spurred such a charitable mood. But if alcohol would help pacify the tiger, then alcohol it would be.

Sanji slid the bottle opener across the table. Zoro eyed the glinting metal before wrapping a tentative hand around it and cracking open the bottle before him. He took three, long sips, downing almost half of the drink.

Sanji chuckled. "Better?"

Zoro frowned, glaring at the label. "No. This tastes like shit."

Sanji rolled his eyes. "Can't win with you, can I?"

The tiger squinted at the letters, long and hard. He must be trying to read.

"It says Macano," said Sanji. "It's the brand."

Zoro looked up at him. "It's a shit brand," he grumbled, but took another sip nonetheless. His attention returned to the board on the table, brows furrowing, and lips pulling downwards over fangs.

"What the hell is this?"

"It's a chessboard, you idiot. Weren't you listening?"

"Not particularly. The woman is as boring as a rock."

Sanji resisted the urge to kick the tiger, settling for biting his unlit cigarette between clenched teeth.

"Robin's not boring, she's highly intelligent. Something you obviously can't comprehend."

Zoro glared at him, but soon after averted his eyes back to the chessboard. "So what does it do?"

Sanji followed his gaze to the pieces standing idle on the black and white squares. "Nothing. You play it. Like a lot of the games from the old world."

"How?"

The cook glanced back up at the tiger, but Zoro's attention was on the chessboard. He wasn't this interested in the game with Robin. What made him change his mind?

"You move the pieces," continued Sanji, deciding that going with the tiger's mood was best. "But they all move differently."

He pointed his unlit cigarette at each piece as he explained. "The pawns can only move in a straight line, one square at a time. Rooks move in a straight line too. Bishops move diagonally, knights move in an 'L' shape. The queen can move anywhere because she's a lady and they're just that awesome, and the king can only move one space in any direction because he's a fat, lazy bastard."

The frown was growing ever deeper on the tiger's face. Sanji shook his head. "Don't think too hard about it, lawn-head. You look like you'll snap a synapse."

Zoro chuffed. "Why the hell are you people making me play stupid games?"

"You don't have to play them," said Sanji, as he moved the pieces back into the chessboard and folded it shut.

Zoro's eyes followed the box as the cook placed it away under the table. The tiger's face seemed more relaxed now, but Sanji could see his tail swishing behind him. He sighed, chewing on the end of his cigarette and leaning on the table, meeting Zoro's gaze.

"What are we going to do with you?" he muttered his thoughts aloud.

Zoro's ears folded backwards, fur ruffling around his neck. Something flickered in his eyes for a second, but he looked away before Sanji could decipher it.

"Why are you keeping me here?" asked Zoro, looking up at the edges of the walls where they met the ceiling.

Sanji watched his stripes quiver. "We just need to watch over you for a while."

"What for?" Zoro's voice rose as a growl.

Sanji didn't reply. They sat like that for a long time, Zoro staring with disgust at the walls that surrounded him, and Sanji sat unmoving, watching the knot between the tiger's brows, and the curl at the end of his striped tail.

"Listen," Sanji began. "You'll be here for a while so you may as well get comfortable."

"I don't want to be here," stated Zoro, his voice low and quiet, despite the constant growl that rumbled on like a rolling thunder in the distance.

Sanji felt a heavy weight press at his gut. "Well, where would you rather be?"

The tiger's eye met with the blonde's, amber fighting against dilating black. But no answer came. Sanji wondered is the tiger had even seen the world outside of walls and cages. The weight on his stomach spread to his chest and pressed harder against his insides. Taking a deep breath, Sanji lit the tip of his cigarette and stood up to leave.

"Get some sleep," he muttered, as the lights in the room dimmed and door slid shut behind him.