How, she thought, collapsing into the aquarium seating. How could she have been so careless? So overly confident as to think Zoro would never catch on to what was happening? He was a bit… directionally challenged, sure, but he certainly was no fool. Robin knew this. And yet she still allowed this to happen.

"Zoro-san, I'm so sorry," she began, eyes laser-focused onto her lap as she shook her head in disbelief, in shame. "I don't know how to explain it, it just kind of… happened, I–"

"Who else knows?" he sharply interjected, his question phrased more like a statement.

"Just you." As far as she could tell, at least…

Zoro sighed (she couldn't tell if it was a sigh of relief or frustration…). He, too, was having eye-contact problems at the moment, only able to look at the floor.

"You don't… have to apologize, or explain anything," he said gruffly after a brief moment of silence. "We live together. We're close. Nakama. Something like this… bound to happen, one way or another."

Were her ears deceiving her, or was Zoro attempting to be… understanding? "Yes, those are my thoughts exactly."

"That being said," Zoro was facing her direction, but would only look at the tank behind her. "You don't wanna shit where you eat, right?"

"Honestly? Normally I would agree, one thousand percent." Right up until very recently, the very idea of Robin entering a relationship with one of her crewmates, with Sanji no less… she wouldn't even begin to entertain it. So many things could go wrong. So many things would become so needlessly complicated. So many things would fundamentally… change. It would have been absolutely, unequivocally, out of the question.

But now… now

"However," she exhaled defeatedly, finally turning her gaze up to him. "I don't know… maybe I'm naive, or foolish, or god knows what else, but I just… I have this… feeling… I really think… I think it could work."

"I get that, but–" he was finally able to tear his eyes away from the tank, and his gaze inadvertently met hers, causing the abrupt stop to his sentence. He deeply sighed as he plopped down next to her, shoulder to shoulder.

"Listen, I know I act…" Standoffish? Terse? …Generally like a dick? "I'm not the nicest guy around, or anything. Even with you."

He let out a very sharp breath from his nose. "But, I like you. I respect the shit out of you. We're nakama. And, I mean, I'm not blind, you're fucking attrac–"

Surprised, Robin's head immediately turned to look at him at record speed, causing Zoro to stop mid-sentence, clearly having blurted something out he hadn't meant to.

She was truly shocked. As far as she was concerned, he was only attracted to swords.

He growled in frustration, or embarrassment, or both. "Point is…"

Robin never could have predicted that this would be the thing, of all things, that finally got Zoro to open up to her, even if it was just a little bit.

"In any other… time or place or whatever, I mean, yeah, maybe I'd–" he groaned, catching himself once again. "The fucking point is, we can't do this."

Robin blinked. We?

Zoro leaned forward, elbows on his upper legs, leaning on them, with both hands gripping his verdant hair as he looked down. "It's not gonna work between us. For a million reasons. It's got nothing to do with you. At all. You haven't done anything wrong." He was positively beet red. "It's just… the crew comes first. Has to. Which means I can't be doing anything that would fuck things up around here. Change things."

It was very fortunate for Robin that Zoro wasn't looking at her, because if he had been, he would have seen the color slowly draining from her face with each and every word he spoke, seen her eyes growing wider and wider as the reality of the situation pierced her like a knife. Suddenly, all of the many, many recent occasions where she'd forced Zoro into uncharacteristically-bubbly conversation flashed before her eyes.

What. Had. She.

Done?

Her breathing became shallow and quick as her mind went a mile a minute. It took nearly everything she had not to immediately blurt out some variation of 'you've got this all wrong.' That would have been very, very foolish. Because if Zoro's interpretation of things wasn't the true cause of their many recent chats, she would have to provide the actual explanation for them. She would have to explain exactly what she'd been talking about when she'd just said, 'I think it could work.'

Which was abso-fucking-lutely not going to happen, not on her life.

All of her time spent previously as an assassin meant she knew how to be a chameleon; how to hide fear, apprehension, and unease behind pleasantries and charm, to get to the places and people she needed to.

Time to put those skills to work.

She took a deep breath before gently placing a hand on his knee. Not suggestive, just… comforting.

His hands were still in his hair (and his face was still very red) as he sharply turned his head to look at her hand, then, finally, at her face. Her effort to assuage him seemed to work, as gradually his hands relaxed and fell into his lap, and he slowly sat up, surprisingly maintaining eye contact. His expression had hardly changed all this time: slightly frustrated, slightly annoyed, slightly angry, slightly embarrassed, with maybe the tiniest, most microscopic dash of intrigue.

"You're absolutely correct, about everything," she said with her trademark, polite smile. "It was… a colossal miscalculation on my part, to say the least. I suppose I just wasn't thinking clearly. Or even at all," she added with soft laughter, hoping to diffuse the tension a little.

There was a pause, and she gave his knee a gentle, friendly squeeze, softly smiling.

"You're a lot nicer than you think." That last bit actually wasn't part of her little act; she genuinely did think that was true. She always had.

He somehow turned an even deeper shade of red, as if that was even possible.

Completely ignoring her last statement, he cleared his throat and abruptly stood. "I've got training to get to."

"Of course."

He stopped just short of leaving, back still towards her as he turned his head, speaking to her from over his shoulder. "I do respect you," he reiterated.

"But if you tell anybody about this, I will kill you." His tone was so very matter-of-fact; it was as if he were merely telling her the time of day.

She had no reason to think he wasn't being completely serious.

Robin let out a breath she wasn't even aware she'd been holding as she watched him ascend the stairs, having not bothered to wait for a response.

.


.

"What's the prognosis, Franky?"

A week or so later, the Mugiwaras had been caught in a terrible storm, and the Sunny was in a state of severe disrepair. Franky had just exited the girls' room, having just assessed the damage within. Nami wanted to know if it was in any state for her to be able to sleep in., or to at least be able to collect some of her things.

"It's really not lookin' good," he said solemnly.

"So, I guess staying in my room–"

"Is outta the question, yeah. Just ain't safe."

Nami deeply sighed. "Would it be okay if I just went in to grab a few things?"

"Sure, just be careful; I noticed some broken glass near the bed."

"I'll be quick!"

"Oh, Nami," he stopped her just before she went in. "Probably goes without saying, but I'm gonna need a lot more supplies to fix up the Sunny. So, sooner we can dock somewhere, the better."

"Ah! I meant to tell you a few days ago, but we are actually docking tomorrow! Truly the only small brightspot in this shitshow."

Franky laughed. "Yeah, nice to have a little good news, at least."

Nami didn't think much of Franky's warning about the glass, figuring it was probably damage to the vanity. As she looked down, however, having finally seen it, she was… perplexed.

It was a cocktail glass. At least, it had been, before it was shattered.

But this was highly unusual. Sanji never left Nami or Robin with empty dishware; he was always incredibly prompt and thorough in collecting it (perhaps even a little too thorough; Nami often suspected he used it as an excuse to linger in their room for longer than she'd normally allow). She supposed it was possible that he'd simply just forgotten one… possible, but not likely. Nevertheless, she felt like there was… something on the tip of her brain, something related to that glass, but it just… wasn't coming to her.

She decided to put a pin in it and come back to it later.

She had other pressing matters to attend to, like figuring out where exactly she was going to sleep. This task, however, would prove to be a challenging one; every single suitable place on the ship was taken by someone else. Even Robin had said she wanted to try sleeping by herself a bit more (which, of course, Nami was happy and proud of her for doing, but it still made her feel a bit… well, 'betrayed' is a strong word… mildly annoyed with Robin for putting her in this position, perhaps), so sharing a place with her wasn't an option, either.

As Nami was wondering aloud where she was going to sleep, Luffy appeared.

"You can use my bed, if you want."

Nami blinked at her smiling captain. It was… actually a very kind gesture; she knew it meant Luffy would probably have to sleep outside, on the lawn deck. "The boys' room didn't get wrecked? Ours is a disaster."

"Nah, we got pretty lucky! Mostly just water damage on the beds. Guess mine was in the right place at the right time, 'cause it's the only one totally dry."

"Luffy-kun, that… that's really nice of you to do." Nami said, a bit of surprise still in her voice and expression. "Thanks a lot, really."

One of his hands reached up to rub the back of his neck, and his grin got a little shy. "Don't mention it."

Just then, Chopper ran by the pair. "Luffy! Sanji made snacks! The ones with the fluffy pastry dough and the meat inside…!" he exclaimed, not stopping for even a moment as his voice trailed off into the distance.

And just like that, Luffy was off to the races. "Top bunk, middle of the room, can't miss it!" he brightly yelled back to Nami as he bolted in the direction of those delicious meat snacks.

.


.

What is it… Nami thought to herself that evening as she opened the door to the boys' room.

What is it about that glass

She'd been thinking about it on and off all day. She just knew there was something… familiar about it, something she should know. She couldn't help feeling as though she already knew the answer, but it refused to come to the surface.

It was driving her crazy.

Could it have been Robin's? Did she just fix a drink herself and forget about the glass? she wondered, climbing the ladder on the bunk bed. No, that couldn't be it. It was a cocktail glass, and Robin really only drank wi–

Nami yelped, grabbing onto an unmistakable sensation of human flesh at the top of the bed that she definitely had not been expecting to. She was so surprised that she pulled both of her arms (yes, the only things keeping her on that ladder) back, and began to fall.

An elongated, rubbery arm grabbed her just in time, and she was back at the top of the ladder in no time at all.

"Watch it, will ya? If you break your neck and die in here, Sanji'll kill me."

"What are you doing here?!" If this was some kind of joke, Nami wasn't laughing.

"The hell kinda dumbass question is that? It's MY bed."

"Yes, obviously I know that," she rolled her eyes. "But you said I could sleep here."

"Yeah, and here you are, what's the problem?"

She scoffed. "So… what, we're just both supposed to sleep here?" It was a sarcastic, rhetorical question that she wasn't actually expecting an answer to.

But Luffy gave her one, anyway.

"Yeah? Oi, aren't you the smart one? Which part are you not getting?"

It dawned on her that Luffy was being entirely genuine. She should have known… Of course it hadn't been some kind of joke or prank; Luffy was too simple for that. He just couldn't fathom that there could ever be anything wrong or strange about two crewmates sharing a bed.

To be fair, Nami couldn't really think of a good, logical reason why there would (or should) be anything strange about it, either.

After a short pause, she bit her lip and sighed in resignation. "Scoot over."

Well, if nothing else, it was better than having to sleep outside.

"S'that what you normally wear to bed?" he asked curiously as she shuffled into bed next to him, both on their sides, face-to-face. "Dontcha get cold?"

Her face flushed as she glanced down at her (admittedly, scantily clad) self. "It's not like I was expecting anyone else to be here…"

"Not my fault you forgot to use that big brain'a yours," he chuckled as he reached up and playfully tousled her hair.

It was a gesture he'd done to her a million times before, but this time, for some reason… she felt his hand linger there, for just a fraction of a section longer than he normally would. Her expression, previously self-conscious, immediately began to soften.

Once he'd finished, he let his hand fall, as he normally would. However, as this was the first time she could recall him doing said motion in their current… gravitational configuration, it was also the first time this gesture resulted in his hand softly dragging down her face, lightly touching her neck before coming to rest at his side.

The entire moment couldn't have lasted longer than a few seconds, but… somehow… it felt like eons to Nami.

"If you get cold, wake me up," he added as he craned his neck to yawn. "I'll grab some blankets from Brook; not like he needs 'em, eh?"

Suddenly, her mouth felt very dry, and she only nodded, making a soft, vaguely-affirmative noise before she turned away from him, expecting him to mirror her.

Only, he didn't.

She knew this because she could feel his breath at the back of her neck. It was hot. Heavy. And just when she was about to whip around to yell at him, to incredulously ask him just how exactly she was supposed to sleep with him… breathing on her like that, she slowly realized that she was actually being lulled to sleep. By the sound. The feeling. How close he was, how she could feel his body warmth radiating off of him. All of her limbs were going limp. In seconds, it seemed, she could scarcely remember what it was she'd just been prepared to yell at him about. She'd been utterly and completely incapacitated.

Nothing could have prepared her for

Just

How

Nice

Everything felt. All around her. Sh–

"Nami." His voice was so close to her ear she could swear it was coming from inside her own head.

"What, nothing!" she hurriedly spat out as her eyes shot open, staring into the black void of the men's quarters, completely unable to face him.

"I didn't say anything yet." She could hear the perplexion in his voice.

"Oh," she deeply swallowed. "What is it?"

"You were falling asleep."

"Yes, and?"

"You forgot to say g'night."

Even in her frazzled state, she couldn't help but laugh at the trademark sincerity of her captain, putting her at ease, as it always did. Had it gotten them into trouble more times than she could count? Sure. But he just wouldn't be Luffy without it. It was both a comfort and a curse, for better or for worse.

They bade each other goodnight.

It didn't take long at all for Nami to be lulled back into slumber.

.


.

A/N: I got ya'll some LuNa for Christmas, haha! Hope you guys like it. Also, I can kind of get why people like shipping Zoro and Robin together after writing this chapter, ngl. I think Zoro is just very fun to write in general, though, I'm sure he'd be fun in almost any pairing! Sorry again for the delay.