The Wrong Outfit

I absolutely fucking adore the look Red gives Jacob when he’s doin stupid shit

A happy birthday indeed~

The Mandalorian s01e08: The Mandalorian gets severely injured by explosion + aftercare.

Enjoy my whump-friends😉!

[for GIFs - click here and here]

(video source: Disney+)

…because that’s what heroes do.

I've got to tell you guys to watch the sea beast on netflix. I think it just came out today, but it's already stolen my heart. if the mandalorian, moby dick and how to train your dragon got mashed together in beautiful animation, this would be the result.

karl urban as a blonde bombshell/dad/goofball. a 10 year old ball of rage and righteousness who likes to wield knives. a sea monster called red. a sea bug called blue. jared harris screaming at the ocean. vastly diverse characters with gorgeous designs. sea witches. danger. death. destruction. hope. hair. heroes who are wrong sometimes and that's okay. beautiful music.

I haven't enjoyed a movie so much in a long time. it was insanely sweet and I encourage you to sink into this movie like it's a warm bath and hot chocolate and a hug, mostly because I want another one 🥲 look at these goobers

“Yeah, and I get it. I  already have like 10 kids with me at my base at the current moment and they are all on my nerves.” said Yami as he rubbed his eyes. 

“Aren’t they all like… at least in their twenties?” asked Julius. 

“They are my kids god damn it.” said Yami as he would murder people for every single one of them.

嘘 — ❝ 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐅𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐀𝐒𝐌. ❞

ZORO, LUFFY, SANJI, ROBIN, MARCO W F!READER

GENRE // WC: smut, 3.8K word count (MDNI)

CONTENT: heavy overstimulation & dumbification, cunninglingus, exhibitionism, teasing, mating press, squirting, creampie, fingering, individual tags as well!

A/N: reblogs appreciated & would also love to know your favorite so i can include them in future works (:

FILLED REQUESTS: one // two // three

𝐙𝐎𝐑𝐎 — mating press, creampie, fingering

zoro’s thighs push down against yours, forcing you into a mating press as he watches his cock move in and out of your hole— dragging against your walls with each movement of his hips.

he’s always liked pushing you to your limit, watching your faces and taking you like this, fucking you until you’ve lost your coherency and let him have his way with you.

but today, he’s mad. you can tell. each thrust is harder than usual, your body rocking back and forth from the intensity of each thrust, balls slapping against you when he bottoms out.

he’s grunting loudly above you, jaw clenching every time your walls spasm against him. he’s close to cumming, thrusts becoming messy as he tries his best to resist it— but it’s too much. he wants to make you cum, to see you gush all around his cock again, and he definitely doesn’t want to cum first.

your eyes are fixated on the sight of his fat cock pummeling your spot with pure strength, walls stretching to accommodate his size. he feels so good today, the roughness only pushing you closer to the edge as desperate moans slip from your mouth.

you squeal at a particularly rough thrust, arms wrapping around him to tug him closer to you, legs wrapping around his to keep him close to you. your eyes are slammed shut, completely oblivious to the way you’ve pushed him even deeper inside of you.

zoro’s eyes suddenly widen at the tightness, hands slamming down beside you to catch himself from falling on your chest. “w-wait, stop— don’t do that!”

but it’s too much for him. he was trying his best to hold back earlier— but he can’t with you clinging onto him for dear life, your tight hole greedily keeping his cock buried inside of you.

“shit, shit, stop— you,” he growls, hips stuttering into yours as he gasps loudly— trying to pull back, but you won’t let him, clinging onto him tightly as you moan his name over and over. his cock is desperate to cum inside of you despite his best attempts at resisting it, and he gives you one last thrust before his throbbing cock stills inside you, spitting ropes of cum against your cervix as you tighten your embrace around him.

he lets out a shaky breath— one he didn’t even know he was holding— and digs his fingers deeper into your thighs, watching the way your juices and his cum seep out of your cunt and down his cock. his head dips down, panting beside you as he comes down from his high, cock still throbbing against your walls from the intensity.

“you little fucking minx,” he growls between breaths, hand coming to squeeze your cheeks together and tilt your head up. you look so irresistible to him, innocent eyes staring up into his as you tilt your head in confusion, watching the way he glares down at you with clenched teeth, sharply inhaling through his nose.

“first,” he starts slowly, “you fake it. and then now…. you pull another stunt.” his scowl deepens when he sees your lips turn down into a cute pout, prompting him to grab your ankle and pull you closer. “you know what— c’mere.”

his arm easily holds both of your thighs up against your chest, leaving you wide open for him to stuff three thick fingers into your cunt, fucking his cum deeper into you. “gonna ruin this cunt,” he grunts, loving the way your body is so reactive for him no matter what he gives you.

“z-zoro!” you cry out, reaching down to grasp at his forearms, but he doesn’t stop his movements, roughly fucking you with his fingers as he narrows his eyes. “move your fucking hand.”

his voice is low and stern, arms not budging an inch even when you have two hands wrapped around his wrist. part of you wants to see more of this zoro— the one fully in control of your body and your reactions, so you listen, shyly gripping onto your own thighs to hold yourself open for him.

his fingers are thick, curling against the spot that has you gasping, mouth parting open from the heavy stimulation. he perks up at your reaction, lips tugging into a grin.

“yeah? you like that?”

you nod quickly, eyes slamming shut when he uses his other hand to rub at your clit, drawing rough circles into it as you clench harder around his fingers. “‘m gonna cum, z-zoro!”

his grin widens, eyes fixated on the way your hole greedily eats up whatever he gives it, squeezing around his fingers to keep them inside of you. “then cum,” he grunts, rubbing harder at your poor nub. his cum is seeping out of your hole, mixed with your own slick and squelching loudly around his fingers with each movement.

his fingers hit a particularly sensitive spot inside of you, and you choke out a sob. “w-wait, that’s—“ you blurt out, eyes widening at the foreign feeling building up. “finally,” he grins.

“that your spot?”

you nod again, jaw dropping from the stimulation, and you dig your fingers into your thighs, trying your best to keep them open despite their best efforts to slam shut around his arms.

he hums in response. “i’ll fuck you till you can’t walk if you’re lying.”

the threat does nothing but fluster you further, thighs shaking from the stimulation. you’re so close, so close to cumming—

“you tightened when i said that. that what you want anyways?”

you whisper out a please for him, a cute plea to let you cum before he rubs your clit just right, grin widening into a toothy smile when you gush all over his fingers, body trembling in his hold as your head falls back.

“so that one was real,” he admits to himself. he slides his fingers out of your cunt, bringing them to your mouth to show you the way his cum drips from his fingertips. “open,” he commands, delighting in the way you loll your tongue out for him so obediently. his fingers move around in your mouth, letting you suck every bit of his cum.

zoro takes his fingers out, pulling you up into his lap. “there’s more things i wanna try,” he rasps, voice deep and low. “you can handle it, can’t you?”

“i think— i can try,” you mumble, crawling off his lap. you’re not even off his thigh before he’s roughly yanking you back into him, hardened cock already prodding at your hole. “hey, where the hell do you think you’re going?”

“think i’ll let you off easy after the shit you pulled? sit still, i’m taking you like this next.”

𝐋𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐘 — overstimulation, dumbification, creampie

luffy’s hands slam down beside your shoulders, hissing at how good your cunt feels around his cock, so tight and wet, walls wrapping perfectly around his length as he snaps his hips against you.

“more,” he growls, words coming out unsteady from the way he’s slamming his cock into you. “more, more.”

he hits a sensitive spot in your cunt, groaning loudly when your walls clench around him in response, dropping down to hold himself up with his elbows. he moans your name into your neck, messily kissing and nipping at the skin. “i knew it,” he pants, “this isn’t good.”

“h-huh?“ you choke out, too dumb to even comprehend what he’s saying, half lidded eyes still focused on the strong arms beside your head and the way his muscles are gently flexing and tensing.

“not good,” he starts, voice heavy and slurred. “i- i can’t stop myself—feels so good. i can’t….need more.” he exhales shakily before sucking at your neck again, inhaling sharply through his nose as he slams his cock into you. “that okay? it’s okay right?”

his voice is urgent, almost begging you to let him frantically bury his cock into you. he’s so desperate to hold you down, stuff his dick into you until he’s satisfied, but he wants to make sure you’re okay with it, distracting his desire by planting sloppy kisses down your neck.

he’s so rough that you can occasionally feel his teeth nudge against the skin, only to be replaced by his tongue sliding across your neck moments later. he’s so hungry for you, so desperate to be closer and deeper inside of you.

as soon as you nod, murmuring a “please,” his pace quickens to one more frenzied, using his strength to fuck you even harder, make you feel good too. he’s drunk on the feeling you give him, and he wishes he could stay inside you like this forever.

luffy growls loudly into your neck, gasping every time your cunt flutters against his cock, slick even squelching around him with the roughness he’s giving you.

you can barely even catch your breath, his full weight on top of yours as he moves relentlessly. you can’t help but choke out a moan at the way each drag of his cock stretches your walls out so perfectly, his desperation alone enough to bring you close to the edge.

“you always feel so good,” he groans into your neck, “so wet, and so h-hot. fuck—”

he buries his face deeper into your neck, arms wrapping around your body to pull you closer to him. “it’s tight, squeezing me! ahh…i can’t—” he groans, eyes shut tight to focus on making you cum.

he still wants you to cum first, gush around his cock before he empties his load into you. his dick is so heavy, painfully hard and on the edge of finishing— but he fights it.

“luffy, ‘m gonna cum!” you cry, returning his embrace to keep you grounded from the bruising pace he set against you. “please,” he groans, voice muffled as he sucks at your neck. there’s an air of desperation in his voice, thrusts growing sloppier as he tries not to finish before you.

and you do exactly as he wishes, eyes fluttering shut as the knot in your stomach snaps, cunt squeezing hard around his dick as you gush around his cock. he groans loudly against your ear, not slowing down for a second. “i knew it,” he mumbles, “the last one was fake, wasn’t it?”

luffy’s hips snap against yours a couple more times before he moans loudly, cock stilling inside you as it spits ropes of cum against your cervix. he’s panting above you, body slick with sweat as he catches his breath. “again,” he mumbles, voice desperate. “this isn’t enough, i need it again.”

he places a kiss on the fresh hickies bruising on your neck. “i can give you a lot more, so don’t fake it anymore.”

𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐉𝐈 — cunninglingus, overstimulation, squirting

sanji’s face is buried in your cunt, fingers curling deep inside you as his tongue flicks against your clit. he’s getting off to you feeling good from his mouth alone, dick throbbing even harder with each moan that slips out of your mouth.

but it’s different. your last orgasm was different, and he knows.

“you’re usually….much louder,” he groans into your cunt, not missing the way the vibrations from his voice make your thighs squeeze around his head. sanji always prides himself in how well he knows your body, from knowing what face you’ll make with each touch, to where you feel best…..which is why he has to make sure you haven’t been faking it this whole time.

to give you orgasm after orgasm until he’s sure he knows how to make you forget everything but the knot snapping in your core. his tongue laps harder at your clit, fingers curling perfectly against your spot as you tighten your embrace around the pillow, moaning loudly into it. “sanji….t-too much…!”

he can feel his dick twitch at your voice, feeling hard and heavy— leaking with precum. he wants to shove his dick into you so fucking bad, have you against the wall so you can moan his name directly into his ear— but not yet. instead, he grinds himself down into the mattress, cock rubbing desperately against the covers to relieve the burning ache he has. he’s groaning directly into your cunt now, eating you out with fervor as your eyes roll back, moans muffled by the pillow you’re clutching onto for dear life.

he sneaks a glance at you, his own cheeks heating up at the sight of your face, cute noises escaping your mouth as your nails dig into the pillow. his patience is running thin, wishing that he was that pillow instead, thinking about how your nails could scratch into his back like that, but not yet.

“when i touch you here,” he grunts, thick fingers reaching deeper into your cunt to focus on the spot that has you gasping— “you’ll make the prettiest noises for me. won’t you, pretty girl?”

and you do, crying out his name as your thighs squeeze hard and tremble against his head, walls fluttering so cutely around his fingers. your eyes widen when you realize this feels differently than usual, orgasm not settling down in the slightest.

sanji picks up on your response, not stopping the fingers on your cunt until your second orgasm is ripped from you in an instant, squealing into the pillow and squirting around his fingers as he laps hungrily at your clit. he places a hand on your stomach, keeping you down so that you don’t ruin your own orgasm, fingers still rubbing at your spot until you’ve stilled, body shaking weakly from the intensity.

you’re too tired to notice the way his eyes darken at the sight of you trembling and panting, now hovering over you with a hunger he can’t quite satiate no matter how long he spends between your legs.

“h-how did you..!”

your voice is so cute to him, and he leans down, pressing gentle kisses along the side of your neck with a proud grin. “i know your body like the back of my hand, angel.”

it does nothing but bring heat to your cheeks, walls clenching around nothing as you finally seem to notice it. his dick is hard, tip flushed pink with desire, and it’s leaking with precum as he slowly rubs it up and down your folds.

you realize that he’s still trying to hold back, still prioritizing how to make you feel good instead of himself, and you want to push him. just a little bit.

you innocently peer up at him through your lashes, wrapping your arms around him to pull his face closer to yours. “sanji,” you coo, “you don’t need to hold back.”

the way his jaw clenches doesn’t go unnoticed to you, his breaths coming out short as his hand gently wraps around your wrists, pinning them above your head. his eyes are darkened with lust, so desperate to bring you to your limit, make you cum over and over until you can’t feel your orgasms anymore..

“you’re sure?”

his voice is just above a growl, tip of his cock already sheathed inside your cunt as you nod, cutely smiling at him. “i can take it, give me all of it.”

his breath hitches in his throat at the offer. “say blue to stop me,” he says in a low whisper, stuffing your cunt in one swift movement. “otherwise,” he mumbles against your lips, “i’m gonna show you heaven, angel.”

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐎 — exhibitionism, his wings don’t hurt you, squirting, riding him

if anyone were to walk by the two of you, it would be nothing out of the ordinary. you cuddling with marco as usual, his large wings wrapped around your frame to keep you warm— at least, that’s what it looks like.

marco’s hands are cupping your ass, bouncing you up and down his cock, slowly and intentionally, thrusts that bump your cervix each time your ass smacks against his thighs. the pace is so slow, but it’s got you worked up more than usual, and you can feel everything so vividly, down to the prominent vein on the underside of his cock dragging along your walls.

your head is buried in his chest, your weak attempt to hide your teary eyes and pants as he grips the globes of your ass harder. it feels so good, little moans occasionally slipping from your mouth— causing you to worriedly look to the side. you think someone might be watching, but you don’t get to check, marco hooking a finger under your chin to redirect your focus to him in an instant.

“hey, eyes on me,” he coos in your ear. “don’t pay attention to them. only me.”

you really should have known marco would do something like this, take you in front of the others to ensure all your reactions are real this time.

you squeal when he slams you down harder, a subtle warning to keep your focus on um only.“but, w-what if they see?” you ask, your hands come to wrap around his middle, looking up at him with a pout.

“doesn’t matter if they see. you’re mine anyways, we can put on a show for them,” he smiles, “can’t we?”

he chuckles when you hide your face in his chest again, face filling with heat at the thought of someone catching you with your commander’s cock buried deep inside your cunt. the thought alone has you spasming around his cock, growing wetter at the idea.

“m-marco…i’m gonna cum,” you whisper, eyes fluttering close as you bite your lips. “that right?” he coos, almost disinterested. “mm—i can’t hold it in— marco!” you plead, and he hums, prodding at your lips with his thumb.

you part your mouth obediently, letting him stick three of his fingers into it as you suck on them dutifully. “you know,” he starts. “you’re cute when you’re tryna run away from it,” he whispers into your ear, “but i won’t let you.” “cum on my dick and do it now, before someone comes.”

his other hand grabs a fistful of your ass, bouncing you up and down on his cock at the angle that has his tip pounding at the right spot, your cunt already starting to flutter around him before a loud stomp grabs your attention.

marco pushes you down in one swift movement, full length stuffed inside you as you’re forced to sit still, thighs trembling hard as the fullness.

“ah— ace, you need something?”

his voice is casual, so casual that it almost sounds like he just woke up from a nap. you’re frozen in place, cunt pathetically dripping down his length as your orgasm starts to fade.

“is y/n with you?” ace asks. your eyes widen, balling his shirt in your hands.

he nods, giving your ass a tight squeeze as a silent warning not to move. “yeah, she’s right here.”

he quickly takes his fingers out of your mouth, swiping over the trail of saliva running down your chin as he lowers his wing slightly, just so ace could get a look at your face. you’re immediately panicking, cheeks filled with heat as you quickly bury your face into his chest.

“whoa— is she okay? why the hell are you covering her whole body like that?”

“she’s got a fever,” he says flatly, as if his cock wasn’t throbbing inside of you from the thrill of getting caught with you like this. “keepin’ her warm. she’ll be fine,” he emphasizes the last word, squeezing your ass when he feels you tighten against him.

his smile falters when you slowly rock yourself on his cock, trying your best to get some of the stimulation before your orgasm fully fades. you can’t even pay attention to them anymore, not even noticing that ace had left until marco’s hand hooks under your chin, tilting your head up.

“you’re worse than feverish,” he chuckles, helping you bounce up and down his cock. “humping yourself on my cock when ace is right there…”

“you gonna die if i don’t fuck you for five seconds?”

his lips are tugged into a wide grin, shifting his balance before he’s thrusting his hips back up into yours as you whine into his chest. “please….i’m almost..!”

“no need to rush, i got you.”

and you know he does. his cock is such a good stretch, his huge body enveloping yours as you helplessly bounce of his cock, greedy hole taking all of him. you squeal when he slams you down on his length once more, knot inside you finally snapping as you gush around his cock.

you lean into his chest, panting and shaking from the intensity, and you lift yourself off his cock— only for marco to pull you back down on it. “where are you going? we aren’t finished here.”

“you faked one earlier, didn’t you?” “did you think i wouldn’t notice?”

“on my desk next.”

𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐍 — fingering, teasing

you should have figured out that robin would catch on to your little act as soon as it happened. your head falls back on her shoulder, one of her hands cupping your tit as her other arm dips lower.

“oh dear,” she chuckles, fingers rubbing harshly at your clit as you bite your lip, trying to mask your expressions as she brings you closer to the edge. “that wasn’t it, my love,” she hums, watching the way your half lidded eyes avoid hers like the plague.

“why are you running from it?”

she can tell you’re really close, painfully close to finishing, but you’re fighting it with everything in you, eyes clenched shut even when your dripping cunt is squelching around her fingers.

“it’s embarrassing….the face i’ll make!” you blurt out, cheeks feeling hot.

her fingers don’t slow down, still working at your clit while her other hand cups your tits. “your face?” robin muses, a tinge of curiosity laced in her voice. “show me it. i want to see.”

“b-but..” you stutter, eyes locked on her fingers working at your cunt. her eyes are only on you, watching your every reaction to her touch. “will you show me it?”

your cheeks only heat up further.

“you’re so cute, my love,” she coos, fingers leaving your tits to dip down to your cunt, slowly fucking them in and out of your walls. “w-wait, robin,” you cry, reaching down to grasp at her wrists.

it does nothing to stop her, and your thighs clench around her hands, unable to relieve the tightness in your core as you reach the edge. “are you feeling good? you made my hands so wet, look,” she smiles, chuckling at the way you flush at the sight of your slick covering her fingers.

your face falls back when she resumes, fingers curling against your walls. “cum properly, okay?” she coos, rubbing harshly at your clit until you cum hard, shaking around her fingers as she gets a good look at you.

you hide your face in your hands, legs trembling around hers. “i told you,” robin whispers, hands running up and down your sides, “i want to see all of your faces. let me try again.”

PART 1: ace, law, lucci, mihawk

roronoa zoro; 21,051 words (not including epilogue), fluff and angst, ENEMIES!!! to lovers, the slowest of slow burns, canon-normal violence, on-page description of injury, excessive use of flashbacks, some banter, healing from trauma, baroque works!reader to strawhat!reader, no "y/n", emotionally constipated!zoro, hurt and comfort, angst with a happy ending; (epilogue tags will be posted separately)

summary: in which neither you nor zoro are the children you remember each other to be.

update: new chapters will be posted on @shouyuus!!!

a/n: IT'S FINALLY HERE!!! i honestly cannot believe i actually finished writing this lmfao. but anyway, this post will act as a table of contents/masterlist of sorts, and i will update links to the separate chapters as they go up. chapters will be posted every few days (but they are all done! except for the epilogue LOL). i've tagged everyone who has req-ed to be tagged in this series so far on this prologue post, but if you wish to be tagged for the upcoming chapters and you're not already on this fics specific taglist, please comment below to be added! and without further ado -- here we go!

TABLE OF CONTENTS ━

prologue: someone, somewhere

chapter one: a shadow of the past

chapter two: tell no tales

chapter three: sleep of the living, dreams of the dead

chapter four: another life

chapter five: true love's kiss

epilogue: la petite mort (nsfw)

prologue: someone, somewhere

He remembers you most as a child, in halcyon images and gold-limned flashes of his own childhood memories, the edges blurring watercolor soft, but the center (always you) carved in knife-sharp relief.

You were one of the few children that lived in Shimotsuki Village who hadn’t come from the doujou — one of the few children he knew that (at least to the best of his knowledge) had a thing called family. A mother to braid your hair, a father to chase the darkness away, a warm bed and a kitchen that always smelled of freshly made rice. And perhaps it was jealousy, or some other more complicated emotion that had been then too big to name with one single word, but he’d never gone out of his way to befriend you like the other kids from the doujou did — fascinated as they were by your soft hands and round cheeks and the bright, glittering array of homemade sweets you’d bring with you once every couple of weeks.

He’d learn later on that it was because Shimotsuki-sensei had saved your father’s life at some point in time; the story now lost to the annals of legend and withering memory, but back then, he’d only assumed it was the natural way of things. Of waking up for kata practice and then settling in for lunch, and then maybe, if it was to be a good day, you, with your basket of sweets and your blue-bell laughter.

And perhaps this is why, years later, when he meets you again in a dark, nameless village tavern, he doesn’t recognize you — not at first. Because you’d looked so different. Gone was the roundness in your cheeks, or the natural star-bright light in your eyes. Gone, too, were the bright braids that your hair had always been set in — he remembers so clearly, watching the other boys from the doujou jab their fingers into the rings of your pinned up braids, pulling down just to hear you squeak. He hadn’t said anything then, stupidly thinking him above it all, watching as you tried to jerk away, but laughing when the boys finally relented with half-hearted apologies.

You always threatened to take their sweets away; you never did, in the end.

But there, then, in that tiny tavern, you’d been thin, your hair dark as an oil spill, loose and inky as it cascades over your shoulders, your eyes lightless as the windows to an abandoned house — the hollowness made all the more visceral by the light he knew once inhabited them. The way loneliness is always more potent when coming back to it, the second time around.

He wanders up to the bar, slates you a glance before rapping his knuckles on the worn wood to catch the bartender’s attention.

“I’ll have beer and a refill of whatever the lady’s having.”

You shift slightly, shoulders hunching towards your ears.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” you say, shifting to shield your face from his gaze.

Zoro cocks his head, tossing a few Berry towards the bartender as they set down a stein of beer and a champagne flute to replace the one in front of you.

“Can’t a guy buy a girl a drink?” Zoro asks, rolling his shoulders as he reaches out for his beer. You eye him warily.

“Not for a guy that’s been tracking me for three weeks straight.”

Zoro hums, thumb poised on the hilt of his swords.

“We just happened to be going in the same direction.”

You reach out to run a forefinger along the rim of the thin champagne flute before swirling it once by the base. You watch the bubbles fizzle before leaning in to take a dainty sip.

“And they say chivalry is dead…” you murmur, almost too softly for him to hear. Zoro scoffs, allowing himself a twinge of a smirk before his mouth falls flat.

“You let me track you for three whole weeks.”

There’s no question in his words, only a harsh, accusatory certainty.

You lick your lips, leaning back in your stool, tugging your glass of champagne with you.

“Maybe I wanted the company.”

“Or maybe… you wanted me to follow you here.”

Every muscle in his body is tense, drawn taut as a tightrope, coiled tight as a spring.

You sigh, twisting a single lock of your hair around a finger, examining the ends as if looking for split hairs.

Then, quick as a flash, you’re at each other’s throats — him with a sword poised at your jugular, you with a knife pressed against his stomach.

“One move —” you warn, digging the knife slightly further into his skin. Distinctly, Zoro feels the pressure slice through his thick linen shirt, the cool kiss of the blade against his abdomen. And he’s killed enough by now to know that you’ve picked a major artery — one that would hurt, and take minutes for him bleed out. Just long enough for him to suffer, but not enough to get help.

The edge of his mouth ticks upward — not bad.

It’s then, in the infinitesimal flicker of your eyes meeting his, that he realizes who you are.

He nearly topples back, jerking away slightly with the revelation. Your eyes go wide, jolted by his sudden movement. But he’s quick enough to evade the sharp jab of your knife and a second later, you’re on either ends of the tavern, drawn blades and bared teeth.

“Y-you!” the word rips from Zoro like an unripe scab, thick and hard and still bloody underneath.

You lick your lips, eyes narrowing to slits beneath your long, lanky hair.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The hell you don’t.”

“Oi! No fighting in the bar!” the barkeep’s voice is gruff and loud, and for a second, Zoro wonders if you’ll listen. The next, the sharp clang of metal on metal stuns him backwards a few steps as you wrest your knives from between two of his katanas, snarling.

“If you’re so much of a gentleman — let’s take this outside.”

“Ladies first,” Zoro spits out as he whips both swords through the air before sheathing them. He makes a show of holding the tavern door for you as you stalk out in front of him, your hackles raised, your knives jutting out from your belt like so many pairs of sharpened claws.

“What do you want?” you ask, as soon as you’re both out of the bar and standing in the moonlit street outside, the wharf to your left, the strip of small, rundown taverns to your right.

The air twangs with the metallic smell of fish and the thick, oppressive sweetness of rotting wood.

“An explanation,” Zoro says, crossing his arms and planting his feet.

“I don’t owe you anything.”

Zoro nods, “Sure. But that doesn’t mean I don’t wanna know.”

You lick your lips, glaring at him for a second longer before turning and marching down the rickety boardwalk. A moment later, Zoro levels himself with you as you round a corner onto a small stretch of beach, pillowed against a backdrop of sharp, unrelenting rocks, the tips bleached white by the round, silver moon.

“There was a beach just like this,” you say, stepping onto the tide-soaked sand, leaning down to pick up a fragment of a broken seashell, washed ashore by an errant wave.

It takes Zoro a second to realize you’re talking about Shimotsuki village, and the tiny little beach on the other side of the dense, cedar wood.

“Yeah. A bunch of us used to play there — see who can throw rocks out the furthest.”

“You were always the best at that,” you say, your voice softer than he’d heard all night.

“Yeah, well…” Zoro shrugs, leaning down to pick up a piece of rock, weighing it in his palm a few times before whipping his arm back to snap it into the gentle, shushing waves. You both watch as the rock skids out over the water before plunking into the sea, “Guess I’ve always been kind of a show-off.”

The sound of your laughter sends summertime sparklers racing up his spine.

The quiet pools between you like spilt blood, rank and dripping.

“So. You go by Ms. Double Nines now, I heard,” Zoro says, in a flagging attempt to be casual as he turns to glance at you, both his hands resting on the hilt of his swords.

You stand next to him, your eyes focused on a point far out on the horizon, still as statue.

“What’s it to you?”

Zoro sighs, looking down. In the pale, cool moonlight, his earrings glint like baring teeth.

“What happened?”

You suck in a breath.

"Life happened,” you say, turning back towards him with a steely glint in your eyes. Zoro stiffens, his grip tightening on his swords as he sizes you up. He does the mental calculations — you’re just far enough for him to defend against an attack, but close enough where if things were to go south entirely, he’d have a hard time getting back to safety.

You grin, seemingly noticing his rough internal calculations.

“Do yourself a favor, Roronoa — and don’t ask questions you don’t wanna know the answers to,” you say, flicking out one of your blades and tossing it up into the air, only to catch it around your finger, swinging it round and round, the sharp edge of the blade nicking the air just shy of your cheekbone.

“Who said I didn’t want to know?” Zoro presses, bracing himself for a fight.

You chuckle, the sound harsh and mirthless.

“If you’d wanted to fight me properly, you wouldn’t have waited till I got you onto this stretch of deserted beach.”

“Maybe I just wanted a quiet place to kill you.”

“Or maybe…” your voice is so low Zoro almost doesn’t catch the stomach-wrenching longing in your words, “I just wanted a quiet place to die.”

The sharp shink of blades being drawn is heart-rendingly familiar, but the bone-rattling clash of metal on metal still shakes him to the roots of his teeth. Zoro grunts as he parries a blow from either side, before crossing his swords to catch your assault down the center.

You’re fast, he’ll give you that, your body smaller and quicker. You slip through the shadows with the comfort of a person who knows nothing but and he can’t help wondering at the life you’ve led that had pushed you to this point.

To having a mark on your back, a bounty on your head.

You’re a good fighter — this much, he acknowledges. But good isn’t usually good enough to best him. This much, he also knows. Yet somehow, you’re keeping up, somehow, you’re pushing him back, forcing him to retreat one step and then another. It’s not until you duck beneath one of his pin-wheeling blades and force yourself into a knife’s-breath of his space that he realizes — it isn’t that you’re good, it’s that you’re reckless.

Reckless with your own body in a way that makes him stumble back at the realization. Reckless, in the way you charge forward and thrust your body into spaces where he’d easily be able to slip a blade between your ribs — and later, when he’s wiping his swords clean of your oxidizing blood, he’d wonder why he didn’t.

Still, there’s something terrifying in the way you barely flinch when he knicks your arm, drawing a dark line of blood through your clothes, or how you jerk yourself forward when the tip of his sword catches your stomach, almost as if daring him to impale you in one fell swoop.

“You — you used to be… someone else,” he says, panting as he steadies himself against a sharp jut of moonlit rocks. Behind you, the ocean churns, dark and foaming as it throws itself onto the jagged reefs.

You lick your lips, wiping a smear of blood from your cheek. Your chest heaves with the exertion, but there’s a pale, flickering ache behind your eyes that sets Zoro’s whole body on edge.

He shivers as you grin, savage and unrecognizable as the tiny girl with mochi-round cheeks who had once upon a time offered him sweets in a hand-woven basket.

“Yeah? Well — so did you.”

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