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"How do you feel?" Zoro asks, eyes fixed on the cloudy sky. He feels Luffy move a little closer, he might even be looking at him. "Does it hurt?"
"Just a little." his voice is soft when speaking. Zoro doesn't look back at him, but he knows that Luffy is smiling. It's not one of the smiles he's used to but one of those he shows him when he seeks to ease his worries. Zoro doesn't like that kind of smile, it doesn't suit Luffy at all.
"I'm sorry." the clouds move as said words slide down his tongue. If it hadn't been for him, Luffy wouldn't have lost his left eye. "Your eyesight has gotten worse because of me."
"It's not that bad."
"It is."
Zoro looks away from the cloud-filled sky and focuses on the guy next to him. Just as he expected, Luffy is looking at him. He has a hard-to-read expression on his face, one that Zoro still hasn't been able to decipher despite the time he's been with him. He supposes that, perhaps, Luffy is not as transparent as he appears to be and that the side that Zoro does not know goes beyond a pair of bright eyes and that dreamy smile of his.
"Say, Zoro." Luffy's eyes stare at him. It's like he's trying to see past the facade Zoro has been putting up ever since he found out Luffy was awake. That makes him feel anxious. He shouldn't be that easy to read, not when Zoro thinks he hasn't let his guard down enough to resemble an open book. "Were you worried?"
"Yeah." is all Zoro allows himself to say. There's no need for Luffy to know about the sleepless nights nor the intrusive thoughts that ran through his head when he was alone. One person was enough to carry the guilt. "You reckless idiot."
"Guess you're right." Luffy cracks a laugh, as if trying to light up the mood. Zoro knows that he means well, but he would've rather he did not to. He had enough with the smile Luffy wore on his face, which did not reach his eyes. "Don't worry, I'll do better..."
"There won't next time." Zoro cuts him off, his voice a bit colder than he intended to. "Keep yourself out of trouble, will ya?"
"I promised Zoro that I'd set him free." Luffy says and there's such certainty in his voice that it makes his chest ache. "What kind of friend would I be if I turned my back when he's in need?"
Zoro feels his heart being squeezed.
It hurts.
It burns.
He can't breathe.
Humans aren't supposed to worry about their kind, but Luffy… Luffy does nothing but prove him wrong. He stood up for him when Zoro couldn't move, he put his own life on the line in the middle of a battle he knew he couldn't win and Zoro can't help but wonder "why".
Luffy had no reason to break the chains that kept him grounded. He was just a kid back then, young and naive. Zoro could've gotten rid of him as soon as he was out of that cage if he had wanted to.
Befriending a human child — of all things — wasn't part of the plan, yet the moment his eyes met Luffy's, his walls came crashing down. Zoro could then see the light between the cracks, how it touched his skin, making him feel so warm that when Luffy hugs him wholefully, his body trembles. He trembles as if in the middle of a storm, his body sinking into hungry waters, the air being torn from his lungs.
Zoro feels his heart tighten once more. However,
It doesn't hurt.
It doesn't burn.
He can breathe.
"Zoro may be a demon, but he feels as much as I do." Luffy says, his voice muffled. His lips brush the fresh wound across Zoro's neck, right where it burns. "I can tell by his heartbeat whenever he's next to me."
"Luffy..."
"It's okay." he wraps his arms around Zoro, pulls on his torn clothes and Zoro breathes him in. Their bodies are pressed together, keeping Luffy as close as he can in the solitude that surrounds them, safe and sound. “It's okay if Zoro doesn't see me that way. As long as I can have him close, that's enough."
Zoro bites his lower lip, teeth digging into the red flesh just enough to make them bleed. Thoughts are heavy in his brain, heartbeat ringing in his ears oh-so loud that it makes him dizzy.
He wants to scream.
"Don't disappear from my sight." Luffy says, voice a little softer this time. His fingers trace the wound his lips kissed before. It's not enough to ease the pain, but Zoro appreciates the gesture. It makes him feel cared for. Loved, almost. "I... I can't afford to lose Zoro again."
Zoro lets out a shaky breath. Luffy has let go of his grip a bit, just enough to look him in the eye. Zoro's meet him halfway and fuck, he feels his knees go weak.
There it is again. That god-damned thin line that keeps him apart from Luffy. It slips from his fingers so fast that when he comes to touch the tip, there's no trace of it left. Zoro knows he shouldn't, he knows all too well, but he craves the touch so desperately that his heart thumps against his chest.
He's about to explode.
He leans forward, lips pressed to the bandage covering his left eye. Luffy's hands clutch at his blood-drenched clothing, and he sighs silently, the sensation spreading through him, until it touches his fingertips.
A kiss on his temple. A kiss below his ear. A kiss along his neck, where his heartbeat thumped against Zoro's lips. Another kiss. One more. And one more.
Please let me stay here forever.
"I'm not going anywhere." Zoro mumbles and it almost sounds like a confession that only Luffy is meant to hear. "I'll stay by your side as long as you want me to."
"Promise?"
"Yeah, promise."