romancedawn | 𝐈𝐂 𝐈𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐱 🦚 𝙶𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝙿𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚘𝚌𝚔

( Is that a petname that isn't "dumbass"? Woah. Be still, his heart. His next reply doesn't come until fifteen minutes later. )

i'm coming out to the pool now... pretty sure someone groped me in the locker room, but i couldn't see anyone else. 😑 that wasn't you, right?

Do you think you'd be leaving the locker room right now if it was me, dummy? If you can't recognize it when it's me groping you, I'm just gonna have to grope you more.

think it was one of those fucking ghost hands...

( He sighs to himself, stepping out of the lockers to walk towards the pool, already on the lookout for the siren in the water (or wherever she is). )

[ Give her a moment to reach the other end of the long lap pool, before she surfaces, spotting him easily and grinning to herself while she replies. ]

At least the ghosts are easy to make fuck off.

You look gorgeous today, by the way. [ She's so gross she disgusts herself. ]

Zoro?

[ manuela's voice drifts from the spare bedroom in her suite. she hadn't yet decided on what to make of it, and passed by it on her way from the other bedroom she had already claimed, and so lingered by to give it another thought before his knock and his voice draws her attention. while far from the king and queen suites, the nine designation has certainly afforded her the opportunity to go about her days in comfort... the fully stocked drink bar has certainly seen quite a lot of uses since her arrival, for example. ]

That is you, right? You look quite capable, so I'd hate to have to defend myself against you if you weren't.

Would you have just missed me forever if Luffy didn't decide to come get me from Arlong's?

mm... no, i think that would've gone differently.

What do you mean?

if we didn't go, we wouldn't have found out what was really going on. and i wouldn't have changed my mind about you.

That's what I figured.

what's on your mind?

How easy losing someone is.

did you lose someone recently?
besides luffy.

Not recently. It would have been ironic; you deciding I didn't care and hating me for everything, while I wondered about all of you for the rest of my life.

mm. if it makes a difference, luffy and sanji didn't doubt you for a second.

I'm not surprised, that sounds like them. I don't want to almost lose you again.

why are you worried about that?

When the resort first started getting weird, some of the statues had heartbeats. I went and waited by Luffy's just in case for a while.

mm. c'mere, let me hold you.

Only if you're not letting go for a while.

[ Anonymously delivered at a time when he's in his own room. No note, no fancy box, just one that's slender and practical. ]

Edited 2025-05-09 00:21 (UTC)

( Your boy is over the moon, Nami. )

truly.

come here, i want to kiss you.

( For being so damn cute! )

Some days, Zoro forgets he's a prisoner. The Golden Peacock offers pleasure in most of its conceivable forms, and with Nami here, his initial vow to rage against the machine sometimes dips down the priority list. How can it not, when enjoying her company (and missing her when she's not beside him) takes up so much of his time?

Today, he remembers. Each step on another restless walk around this luxurious prison grates on his nerves. For days he's been trying to excise the tempest brewing inside him, but it clings to his spirit, unaffected by any amount of exercise, or by the hours he'd spent under the resort's artificial waterfalls.

He has the nagging, irrational feeling that if only he could cut something, he'd feel better. But without his swords—two shattered, and one stolen away with all his worldly possessions—that isn't an option. His blades were more than weapons; they were extensions of his will, his focus. Now, with only his bare hands and the storm of his thoughts, this place feels even more like a gilded cage designed to fray his sanity.

Nami. Her face flashes through his mind in a montage of memories—fixing him with an impatient glare, smiling openly under the true sun, contorted in pleasure as he shows her all the things he feels that he doesn't quite have the words for. He reaches for the hilt of his sword, fingers flexing over nothing, and huffs another sigh of frustration.

Frustration. That's what he feels. At least on the surface, because what lies beneath is so much more difficult to unpack.

Beneath the frustration is what he truly feels.

With Nami, it began as a grudging respect, an unexpected and sometimes infuriating camaraderie as they slowly grew to trust each other. They followed their captain from one precarious situation into another; he depended on her cleverness, and she depended on his strength. Not a crew, they'd declared in sync, and perhaps they'd railed against the idea so hard that destiny saw it fit not to let them escape.

Now the crew is their found family, and that was so precious to Zoro that he was never going to act on his attraction for the navigator.

But then they found themselves here, where the rules are different, where fantasies are allowed and encouraged to leave the private depths of one's mind to instead bask openly in the light of day. So they'd given in, and after that, he'd lost all control.

The respect and trust he held for her deepened, twisted into something fierce, consuming, and utterly new. He's never felt this for anyone, this bewildering mix of tenderness and the terrifying urge to claim.

With it, the acid burn of jealousy feels like a dark tide threatening to pull him under. He saw it, felt it—that undeniable connection between them in their nest, a spark that promised a future he'd foolishly allowed himself to hope for. But the bitter truth, the one that has him pacing these damn halls like a caged beast, is the crushing weight of knowing he's not the only one who holds a place in her heart. The thought is a constant irritant, a shard of glass working its way deeper and deeper under his skin. He worries it'll go so deep he'll never be able to get it out.

He imagines her smiles, her easy laughter, the expressive warmth in her eyes directed elsewhere, and the jealousy is a visceral, choking thing. He's no good to be around like this, a snarling mess of emotions he can barely contain. So he avoids her, puts distance between them, waiting for this inferno to become manageable enough that he can act like a semblance of a normal person around her again.

He never meant to stay away forever; the thought of truly being without her is a deeper, colder ache than even this current torment. But for someone who feels things as intensely as he does, for someone only now discovering his heart could be this open, this vulnerable to loving another, these feelings don't just pass. They cling, they fester, they demand to be wrestled with. This place is a special kind of hell for a man like him, trying to learn how to breathe with a heart suddenly, painfully exposed.

Zoro finally reaches the door to his suite, and it takes him an extra second to realize what he's seeing.

Nami. Curled up on the floor, looking impossibly small and defeated. She doesn't look like the vibrant, sharp-tongued woman who makes insults sound like honey, nor is she the calm, contented woman he sometimes wakes up beside, her features softened by sleep, desire, and affection.

Instead she looks tired, and sad, and he immediately knows it's his doing. The sight punches the air from his lungs, and a dull ache blooms in his chest, sharp and sudden.

He unlocks his door and knows she must have awakened from the hand on his calf. His movements are careful as he reaches down, sliding one arm beneath her shoulders, the other under her knees, lifting her from the cold floor. She's never heavy in his arms, but tonight she feels lighter than ever.

He says nothing as he carries her inside. Words feel clumsy, so he stays quiet as he carefully places her on the couch, gaze locked on her face as he sinks to sit on the floor before her. It's like he suddenly doesn't have the energy to even take his place on the couch beside her, instead gazing up at Nami like he's trying to figure her out.

A long silence follows, until, without much thought, the words slip out: "I'm sorry."

( He's not an expert on relationships by any definition, so this conversation is really akin to the blind leading the blind. Or bros figuring shit out together, maybe. )

What do you mean, your own history? Are there other people you feel anything close to what you feel about him for?

( He sighs, shaking his head. ) Look, all I'm saying is you're going to hurt yourself keeping all of this in. Trust me on that. ( Yes, this part he's talking from experience about. Though truth be told, he hasn't found a resolution, either. But he imagines it's a much different situation. He's not officially anything to Nami, besides her crewmate. )

Mm. Maybe. I'm used to pain. ( He grins wryly, recognizing how dramatic his own words sound. He gestures at the bartender for another drink for himself, and for some water for Reno.

Once the next round is on the table before them, he tilts his head and fixes the older man with a thoughtful look. )

Is that gonna make you feel better? If we stop talking about this shit and go have some fun?

𝐈𝐂 𝐈𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐱 🦚 𝙶𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝙿𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚘𝚌𝚔

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better put a ring on it zozo

a ring, with matching earrings, bracelet, anklet—

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