Their seats were nearly front and center; just a few rows back from the stage (Robin imagined it had been difficult to make sure they were all seated together, so it made sense). Franky, however, had to sit on the floor at the very back of the theatre; there simply was nowhere for him to go that he could fit into. Luckily, he didn't seem to mind one bit. Nami had saved Robin a seat beside her, at the very end of the row. Robin, noticing the seat to her right was empty, swallowed as her eyes nervously darted around the theatre looking for-
"This seat take—?"
"Yes," she hurriedly replied, barely letting Sanji finish his question. As luck would have it, Usopp was just behind him in the aisle. So she immediately stood and grabbed him by the wrist, a surprised Sanji swiftly moving aside from her lunge.
Usopp had been off in his own world and not paying a lick of attention. "Wha?"
"You're sitting here, aren't you, Usopp-kun?"
"Oh, no, I'm sitting next to Chop—"
Robin shot him a quick, sharp glare as she dug her nails into his wrist.
"—peeer-actually, y-yeah, yep. This is me."
Sanji raised an eyebrow, a bit suspicious, but ultimately shrugged it off, hands in his pockets as took his seat elsewhere.
"Sanji's been bothering you again, huh?" Usopp leaned over to her once they were both seated.
Robin nearly jumped as she sharply turned her head to him. "W-wh—I—why would you… think that…?"
Usopp scrunched his brow, perplexed. "Well, I just mean… like he always does with you two, you know?" he gestured toward Nami.
She let out the breath she'd been holding. Of course that's what he meant. Get your shit together, Robin. "Something like that, yes."
Whether that was sufficient enough for Usopp, Robin would never know, as just then, the lights dimmed and the curtain rose.
'Something Borrowed, Something You' was a romantic comedy of errors, centering around two rival wedding planners; contentious colleagues who wind up falling in love.
Despite Robin & Nami's noted lack of… enthusiasm for the play at the start, they both grew notably more and more invested as it went on. Regardless of Robin's… opinions… of Leah as a person, there was really no denying that she was a wonderful actress: incredibly charming, engaging, funny and sincere. It really was no wonder that Sanji had been drawn to her; he'd always had a flair for the dramatic, and he fit right in with big personalities. Robin also noticed that Nami's interest was especially strong whenever Leah's co-star would appear, and she'd had a pretty good idea why.
He's cute, right? Nami silently mouthed to her at around the halfway mark, confirming her suspicion.
He was lean and elegant, around Robin's height, if she had to guess. Pure white hair cascaded to his collarbone, and his eyes were very striking, even from afar: saturated emerald green with lashes so full it was like he could barely keep his eyelids open.
Robin was compelled to agree.
Very, she mouthed back with a warm smile.
When the lights came back up for intermission, the low hum of soft conversation in the auditorium was immediately overtaken by their captain.
"What the SHIT? Is that it?! Is it over?! WHERE'S BROO-mrph," he demanded, cut short as Nami slammed her hand over his mouth, reprimanding him for yelling like that in a theatre, teeth clenched in annoyance as she tried to explain the concept of an intermission as quickly and as simply as possible, dragging him out of the auditorium and to the bar/lobby.
"I swear, I can't take you anywhere. Can I get one day on this earth where you don't embarrass me…"
Robin wasn't far behind them. She really needed a drink. Or three.
Unfortunately, as she got closer to the bar she realized that intermission wasn't the best time to get a drink; it was absolutely packed to the brim. She sighed, opting to just take a walk and explore the theatre a bit.
She didn't make it very far into her excursion, however.
"Guess who figured out where they keep the wine," a warm, confident voice crept up from behind her.
She bit her lip. Well, time to figure out what she needed more at the moment: avoiding Sanji at all costs or getting alcohol in her system.
"We'd better make it quick, then."
Alcohol. Definitely the alcohol.
Sanji grinned as he swiftly grabbed her hand, locking their fingers together as he led her to this top-secret location.
True to his word, she found herself in a storage room with racks upon racks of wine, and Robin was beyond relieved at the sight of glorious, glorious alcohol.
So relieved, in fact, that she failed to notice the sound of Sanji locking the door behind them.
Sanji, who obviously had been in there before, knew exactly where to go to find the good stuff.
"Grenache or Sangiovese?" he called out, reaching for the top shelf.
"Grenache."
"Great taste as always," he pulled out a pocket knife to pop the cork. "No glasses in here, so hopefully this'll be—"
As soon as the cork was out, Robin snatched the bottle out of his hands and started chugging.
"—fine." He raised yet another curious curly eyebrow at Robin, but opted not to comment.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she handed the bottle back to Sanji.
"Bit heavier on the fig than I was expecting for a Grenache," he pondered after taking a swig. He then snapped his fingers in epiphany, "This'd be perfect with a garlic-crusted lamb roast."
"I quite like the lavender notes, too." Robin took a seat on a stack of boxes nearby, staring off into the distance as she surveyed the rows upon rows of wine.
She wasn't looking at Sanji.
Perhaps she should have been.
"Mm, great pairing for something with honey… maybe a… pan-seared sea bass with honey soy marinade."
"There's something earthy, as well," she replied, still staring off into space. "I think it might be leath—"
She blinked and he was there; arms around her, mouth on hers. His kisses and motions were nothing short of ravenous, to a degree that was new even to Robin, even after they'd been together so many times. She leaned into every bit of it, hands eagerly grasping, gripping, nails raking, pulling. This wasn't supposed to be happening. But it didn't matter; it was happening, now.
Her 'avoid Sanji at all costs' plan really wasn't going well.
"I need you to understand something…" he'd undone the buttons at the collar of her dress for easier access to her neck, lips pressed against it as he spoke softly, yet firmly, into her skin, sending vibrations from his voice down her neck and all the way through her spine.
"I thought I could wait 'til we got back… I really did," his lips found hers again, and he peppered words between kisses.
"But you… in this dress…" both his hands moved downward, and in one quick motion, her skirts were up at her waist.
"…have been driving me utterly, absolutely, out-of-my-goddamn-mind insane all night." With that, he dragged her right to the edge of the box she was sitting on, wrapping her legs around his hips and pulling her right up against him.
Robin could feel he was being very, very truthful.
Just then, however, his lips left hers, and he pulled back. And just when she thought the universe was throwing her a life raft and was about to allow her to get out of this situation with her principles intact:
He got on his knees.
Get up, she commanded herself as she watched him begin a trail of kisses just beyond her knee. Get up so you can go back to your seat, and then back to your room, and think. Think about what the hell you've actually been doing all these months. Think about whether or not you should keep doing this. Whether or not you can keep doing this. Think about why you feel…
Hurt.
He was getting quite high up on her inner thigh, now, and his kisses were wet and deep.
"If we're not back…" this was all the protest she could muster, as least for the moment. Part of her hated how easily he destroyed every last ounce of willpower she ever thought she'd had, with so very little.
Another part of her, though… relished the feeling. There was something oddly… freeing about the way he would get her to just… let go…
And forget.
She felt him smirk against her skin. "Intermissions are what, ten minutes? That's around… eight more than I'll need, here. 'Course, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, am I, Robin-chan?" His tone shifted from lackadaisical and carefree to dark and dangerous so easily and naturally. She should have been used to it by now, but it always seemed to catch her off-guard, in the best of ways.
Robin turned a very deep fuchsia as she bit her lip and looked away in silent defeat. Of course Sanji wouldn't miss an opportunity to gloat about his… talents and tease her at the same time.
"I'll take that as a 'no, you aren't, Sanji'…" he mumbled, still smirking, into her thigh.
Once his deep, wet kisses reached the soft corner where her thigh met her pubic bone, she covered her mouth to stifle the obscene sound she let escape.
She wasn't sure where it came from, but somehow, some way, in that moment, she had the tiniest little window of clarity, and she was able to blurt out:
"We need to go back."
For a bold-faced lie, it must have sounded pretty convincing, because Sanji immediately put a stop to everything and pulled back.
"You sure?"
No.
"Yes," she whispered, entirely unable to look him in the eye.
Sanji, clearly disappointed but still smiling, immediately stood, straightening his suit jacket and tie.
It was that easy. It always was. All she ever had to do was say the word. Not that Robin was complaining, it was, of course, a wonderful quality to have. And… well, she'd never, ever felt this way about anyone before, but… sometimes…
Sometimes…
She wished he would just… pin her down and make her—
"All yours," he playfully shook the bottle of wine the two of them had been sharing for her to take. "I've had plenty to drink tonight, and you seem like a pretty big fan of this one."
There wasn't much left, maybe a wine glass full, so she polished off the bottle with ease.
Once she put it down, he softly grabbed her chin and locked his lips with hers, slowly running his tongue over her bottom lip, tasting the remnants of fig, lavender and…
"You were right about the leather." He softly brushed her cheek with his thumb, and grinned.
"Be seeing you."
Less 'parting words' and more… 'overt threat.'
She powered through the shiver she felt coming on. "Are you not leaving?"
"In a minute. You go on ahead, I've gotta… take care of something."
She paused at the door.
Don't you dare, Robin.
Don't even fucking think about it.
You're so close.
You're almost home free.
Just open the goddamn door and leave.
Don't. Say it.
"I cou—"
"Before you say what I think you're gonna say," he grabbed her hand and kissed the palm. "Know that everything I do for you, to you, is just as much for me as it is for you. There's nothing tit-for-tat about any of it, never will be."
"The very last thing I'd ever want is for you to feel anything like that." He left a chaste kiss on her forehead, just between her brows. "I know you want to head back and that's exactly what I'm gonna make sure happens, no strings, alright?"
He was unknowingly giving her everything she could have possibly needed to escape her little predicament, scot-free.
…
So why did she feel so disappointed?
"Now get outta here before I change my mind," he winked.
She made her escape before the intrusive 'would that be so bad…?' thoughts wrestled away the self-control she'd finally been able to get a tenuous grasp on.
She was somehow able to make it back to her seat just as the lights were coming down.
After Robin had engaged in some light, hushed chit-chat with Nami, Luffy decided he had yet another proclamation for the entire auditorium to hear.
"IF Brook doesn't show up, I'm gonna find that green-haired girl and smack her for lyin—"
THWAP.
"Itaaai… The hell was that for?!"
Sanji had returned and whacked Luffy in the back of the head quite hard with a several rolled-up playbills on the way to his seat. "You'll do no such thing."
A group of patrons nearby all turned to 'Shhh!' the two of them. Unfortunately for them, they had no way of knowing that this would have the opposite of its intended effect on Luffy.
"YOU shhh!"
"Luffy, what did I just explain to you about embarrassing me?" Nami hissed.
"The shitty thing hasn't even started yet," he grumbled.
"It's about to, so hush!"
Despite the whirlwind of varying emotions she was feeling at the moment, Robin couldn't help but laugh behind her playbill as they bickered. The lights were down, but the curtain hadn't come up, yet; it almost felt like stage management was delaying the start of the second act just so the Mugiwaras could get all the chatter out of their system and not distract the other patrons.
Almost as if to confirm her little theory, the moment they all actually settled down and not a moment sooner, the curtain rose.
A/N: I cannot believe I forgot to upload this chapter here! Oops.