Archive of Our Own

Zoro glances behind him to make sure he's not going to trip over the threshold of the supply room. Usopp widens the door more to make sure Zoro and Johnny can safely carry Yosaku in without banging him into anything. Above them, Luffy's arm stretches and tugs on the small chain of the lamp, bathing the room in a warm glow.

"Usopp, push a few of those boxes together," Zoro grunts, shuffling backward as he carries Yosaku's upper body. On the other end, Johnny is holding Yosaku's legs up, careful to stop the door with his elbow before it bangs into him. He lets it gently close behind him.

Usopp shuffles around, dragging large boxes and crates over and pushing them together. A moment later, Nami runs up the stairs from the crew's barracks with a blanket. She tosses it over the crates and then Zoro and Johnny lay Yosaku down on them. "It's gonna be easier than lugging him down the stairs," Zoro says, stretching a shoulder back.

"Trust me, he's slept on worse," Johnny sighs. "You remember."

Zoro grunts an agreement.

"Alright, well, just keep an eye on him," Nami says. "He shouldn't need too much. Looks like he's going to need to just sleep it off. The citrus will have helped. We can probably give him a bit more when he wakes up just to be sure, but otherwise, he should be fine. Fever should go down pretty quickly."

"Thank you," Johnny says to her. "Really, I don't know what I would've done if..."

"No problem," she says, "but you really should do your research. Scurvy's no joke, and I'm willing to bet there are a hundred other things you should probably learn before you're forced to."

"Right on," he says with a nod.

She lets out a long breath. "You hungry? I'm gonna wash up and then I'll throw together some food for us all."

"Oh, you've already done enough."

"He'll eat," Zoro says, leaning back against a barrel and folding his arms. "Probably hasn't had a decent meal in weeks." He pointedly looks Johnny up and down. He's a lot thinner now than he was two years ago when they worked together.

Johnny flashes him a guilty smile and then nods at Nami. "If you have enough, I'd love some."

"No problem," she says. "Usopp, grab a mop and help Luffy clean up the deck."

Usopp spares a nod toward Zoro and Johnny and then disappears through the door after her.

Johnny lets out a long sigh and turns back to look at Yosaku. "I can't believe it. Fuckin' scurvy."

Zoro snorts. "Leave it to you two."

"Yeah, well," he shrugs. "Got no one to look out for us anymore." He gives Zoro a playful smile.

Zoro bites down on his tongue to keep his smile from betraying him.

Johnny looks around the store room in something akin to wonder. "So, you're a pirate now. What made you switch sides?"

Zoro shrugs. "Bounty hunting just wasn't for me."

Johnny looks sideways at him. "Are you kidding me? Yes it was," he laughs. "It was practically made for you."

Zoro drops his gaze down to the floor. He can't tell if Johnny's words make him uncomfortable of his past or proud. It's not like the killing ever bothered him. It's just the way he lived his life. It feels like a different time entirely, even if it was just a few months ago that he was still doing it.

"Heard you got strung up by some Marines. That what did it?"

Zoro shifts his weight between his legs to resituate himself. His skin crawls with the memory, of Helmeppo's sneering smile, of the hunger that gnawed at him every day in the heat. "Didn't help matters."

"How'd you get caught?"

"I didn't," Zoro snaps back, looking directly at him. "I stepped in in place of some mother and her daughter."

Johnny gives him a surprised look. "You? Sacrificing yourself? Well, now I've heard everything."

"You act like I didn't do the same for you."

Johnny lets out a single laugh and nods. "No, you're right. I still owe you for that."

"I haven't forgotten," Zoro responds, smile curling up. It's an empty threat, they both know it. When the three of them worked together, they never kept score between themselves. They were as close to a team as Zoro would let himself get at the time.

Johnny sighs, looking around the room again. "Still, never thought I'd see the day you stood under a black flag."

"That was the difference between us," Zoro says. "I didn't care that they were pirates. I cared that they were worth money."

Johnny grins at him. "You cared a little that they were pirates."

Zoro tilts his head. "I could get away with more, yeah."

"You didn't even demand to be the captain?"

"Not my style."

"Oh, I remember." He says it quieter, narrowing his eyes just slightly at Zoro. "You were always a better listener, weren't you?"

Zoro just holds his gaze, feeling a muscle feather in the back of his jaw. "Only because you always talk."

After a pause, Johnny twitches his mouth in a soft smile. "You look good."

Zoro takes a deep breath, pulling his gaze away finally. It's like a million blurred memories come sinking in at the words.

"Don't worry," Johnny laughs, "I'm not trying to start anything. Is...? Are you...?" He tilts his head toward the door.

Zoro raises an eyebrow at him, trying to follow his unfinished question, before it hits him. "No," he says quickly.

"Ah, alright." And then Johnny lowers an eyebrow. "Is... The girl?" He breaks out a laugh when Zoro gives him a flat look. "Hey, man, you're sailing under a black flag. I don't know if anything else changed, you know?"

Zoro shakes his head, exasperated. "You certainly haven't."

"Oh, you know me," he flashes a sharp smile. He tucks his hands in his pockets and sways in place for a moment before he speaks again. "So, show me the ship! I wanna see where you live now. It's a hell of a lot bigger than our stupid boat."

Zoro tries in vain to fight the smile. He pushes off the barrel and nods toward the stairs. "Barracks are down this way."

"Barracks," Johnny repeats. "Wild."

Zoro rolls his eyes and jogs down the steps. He pushes open the door, flicks the switch for the light, and steps aside for Johnny to walk in.

"Oh, this is sick," he says, looking around at the room. "It's way bigger than I thought it'd be."

Zoro takes it in with new eyes. He supposes it's certainly an upgrade from the pallets he'd sleep on when he was travelling with Johnny and Yosaku.

"Which one is yours?" Johnny asks, pointing across the five hammocks.

Zoro nods to the second from the right.

Johnny tests the sturdiness of the netting and then helps himself into it.

"Oh good," Zoro nods. "Now I have to burn it."

"Oh fuck you," he laughs, swinging back and forth. "Man, this isn't bad. I could sleep in one of these." He turns and looks at the others surrounding it and then over at Zoro. "I imagine it's hard to have a bit of privacy, no?"

Zoro raises an eyebrow at him and then scowls when Johnny makes a jerking-off motion with his hand. "Would you get out?"

Johnny cackles out a laugh and rolls out of the hammock, sneakers landing hard on the floor. "I guess if there's only three of you-- Wait, where'd the broad sleep?"

"She's got her own room."

"Convenient," he murmurs.

"Come on. Out of the bedroom before you get weird."

"Aw, but you used to love when I got weird."

"That's a stretch." He pulls the door open and nods toward the stairwell.

"Fine, fine," Johnny laughs.

They end up on the deck with Luffy and Usopp for a bit, Johnny trying to dig out any embarrassing stories from them, but on silent threat of life, they both seem to have no memory of anything to share.

Nami calls them in for dinner and the five of them take over the island, helping themselves to the food. Johnny tells them the story of a pirate raid they both took on three months back, Luffy tells him about the fight with Buggy, and Zoro tries not to feel too proud of himself when Johnny's jaw drops.

It's not long before the stories trickle down to Johnny telling them about a specific raid that he and Zoro took on, barreling onto a ship taking out a dozen men in under five minute. Zoro can still taste the blood of one of his proudest kills. He'd never known a body could snap like that.

Luffy finds all of this quite amusing, flashing Zoro small smiles throughout the story, particularly on the details about Zoro sneaking up on someone and tucking a sword just beneath their neck with ease. "Yeah, that sounds like him," Luffy laughs, grinning over at him.

Zoro flashes him a subtle wink and turns back to his sake.

After dinner, Nami orders Luffy and Usopp to clean up the kitchen and tells Zoro and Johnny to go check on Yosaku. They're able to wake him briefly and Zoro sits on a barrel and watches as Johnny spoons lime-soaked rice into his mouth.

"Come on, man, you got two bites left and then you can go back to sleep. Just two bites."

Yosaku sighs out a groan but then nods, taking down another. There's a careful, gentle way that Johnny feeds him. Something stirs strangely in Zoro's chest, like it's reaching for nostalgia. There was a time, years ago, that Zoro had folded in easily with them. Days where he and Yosaku would work together to reel in fish, and then he'd hang tipsily over his shoulder as he gutted them. Nights where the three of them would share dinner and then collapse on top of one another in a pile to sleep. Later nights where they'd stumble out of a run-down bar and stumble into the cabin of their boat, the three of them tangled in sweat and arousal and wet mouths. Now, Zoro finds himself watching the two of them from some outer ring.

It's not like he actually misses traveling with them. He knows why he left and he's happy with the path he's taken, but it's still strange to watch it unfold before him from his new place.

Johnny puts the bowl aside and lays Yosaku back down, folding the blanket over him. "We'll check on you in a few more hours, alright?"

Yosaku nods, flashes them both a smile, and lets his eyes fall closed. "Thanks guys."

Zoro forces a smile, even though Yosaku can't see him.

Johnny sits back with a sigh, watching Yosaku for another minute or two. "Thank god for you guys, man," Johnny says, nearly under his breath. He looks over at Zoro. "I don't know what I would've done. I can't--" he shakes his head and blinks back down at Yosaku.

"I'm glad you guys still got each other," Zoro says.

Johnny nods and flashes him another small smile. "We're all each other has," he laughs.

Zoro nods and drops his gaze. They settle into a tense silence for a moment before Johnny speaks again.

"We talk about you sometimes, you know. Not a lot. But... I don't know. Just sometimes. When we want to remember."

Zoro clears his throat and looks out around the store room again.

"I mean, it's all bad things, obviously," Johnny adds, breaking the tension.

Zoro chokes out a laugh, shoulders shaking with it.

"You know, we usually bring up that night you passed out on the jetty and that seagull kept trying to eat your hair and you pissed yourself in fear."

"Prick," Zoro laughs. "I didn't piss myself."

"Your pants were soaked dude."

"I was on the shoreline, the tide came in--"

"Bullshit!" Johnny laughs.

Zoro shakes his head and drags himself off the barrel. He reaches up to the top shelf and pulls down a dusty bottle. He twists the cap off and holds it out to Johnny.

"Shit, yeah." Johnny stands and jogs over to him. He takes a deep swig and then hands it back to Zoro. "Man, you guys have a decent stock here. How do you pay for all of this? Or do you steal?"

"It was given to us," Zoro says, pulling himself up on a box and leaning back against the wall.

"No way."

"Yeah." He nods for Johnny to sit on the box next to him. "We got the ship from that guy in Usopp's village. Long story. But they stocked it up for us too. It was a thank you gift."

"Shit," he laughs. "Never thought I'd hear about a town giving pirates a ship and loot."

"It's...Luffy," Zoro nods. "He's different." He feels Johnny look over at him, waiting for him to explain further, but he realizes there's nothing else to explain when it comes to Luffy.

Evidently, Johnny decides this means: "you're fucking him."

"Jesus," Zoro sighs. "I told you I'm not."

"Fine. He's fucking you. Whatever."

"No, it's not like that," he laughs.

Johnny hums a skeptical sort of sound.

"Have another drink," Zoro says, pushing it in his hands. "I don't wanna hear you talk anymore. You only have dumb shit to say."

Johnny coughs out a laugh over his sip and then takes down another. "Wouldn't be me if I didn't, hm?"

"Guess not," Zoro smiles, taking the bottle back.

"So, fine, if it's not them, tell me you're getting something?"

"Is this all you fucking think about?"

"Yes."

Zoro snorts. "Figures. Well, what's your deal? With Yos laid up like this I doubt you're getting much action these days."

"It's certainly infrequent," he sighs, leaning back. And then: "why? You offering?"

Zoro gives him a withering glance before taking a sip to the sound of Johnny's laughter.

"Nah, we uh..." Johnny shrugs next to him. "We got linked up with this guy a couple months back. Mirror Ball island--"

"No shit," Zoro says, laughing.

"You been?"

Zoro nods slowly. "A while ago, yeah. Yeah. Maybe six or seven months?"

"You, uh," Johnny smile curves up, "you know Mex?"

Zoro's eyes flutter shut as he scratches at an eyebrow. "Don't fucking tell me..."

"Yeah, man," Johnny laughs. "Back office."

Zoro presses his tongue to the back of his teeth, unable to keep the wry smile breaking free. He takes a drink and then passes the bottle over to Johnny, amused. When Johnny tilts his head in question, Zoro says: "keg room."

Johnny's mouth parts just enough to utter "you're lying."

Zoro laughs, shaking his head. "He's got that tattoo of a viper on his hip?"

"Holy shit," Johnny chokes out a laugh that turns into a cough. "You mean we--?"

Zoro shakes his head in disbelief, laughter bubbling up from his chest.

"Man," Johnny sighs. "He was good."

Zoro makes a noncommittal sound.

"Oh, well excuse the shit outta me. You have standards now? You only fuck captains?"

"If I have to tell you again that there's nothing going on with us, I'm gonna smash your skull through this ship, you understand?"

"Christ," Johnny chokes out over a laugh. "Take the pirate hunter out of the demon but you can't take the demon out of the pirate hunter."

Zoro flashes a sharp smile at him.

"So does that mean you're just a demon pirate now?"

"Why, you wanna try hunting me?" He reaches over and takes the bottle from him.

"Fuck no," Johnny laughs. "I value my life a bit too much to go head to head with you."

"Ah, he does still have a brain."

"Partially. I'm still dumb enough to keep propositioning you."

Zoro rolls his eyes and takes back another drink. There's a knock at the storeroom door that pulls both of their attention over. "What?" Zoro yells, confused why anyone would bother to knock.

Usopp creaks the door open. "Uh, sorry. Nami wants to discuss tomorrow's plan. She asked me to get you."

Zoro responds with an annoyed grunt but slides off the box. He gives Johnny the bottle. "I'll be back."

"I'll come," Johnny says, hopping up to stand. "Unless it's, like, a private thing."

"You guys are gonna end up staying the night it seems," Zoro says, nodding to Yosaku's sleeping form. "Might as well include you."

"How's he doing?" Nami asks when they walk in.

"Alright," Johnny says, folding his arms and leaning against the counter. "He could definitely be better, but he's getting there. I was able to help him get some food down."

"That's good," Luffy nods. "Food is important for healing."

They're sitting around the table in the kitchen, but Zoro slides down the wall and takes a seat on the floor instead. The sake is sitting warm in his system now that he's moved around a bit. The feeling's nice. It's been a while since he's gotten properly drunk.

He fades in and out of conversation as they go through the supplies they need. His gaze trails to the side where Johnny crosses a leg over his other, taking part in the plan and offering ideas here and there. In the proper light of the kitchen, Zoro's actually able to take him in. He's leaner now, probably due to poor nutrition, but he's taller too. There was a time Zoro nearly towered over him, but they're probably right around the same height these days. He's tanner, too. But he's always been pretty tan to begin with. Weeks in the sun will do that to you.

He catches Zoro's eye across the kitchen at one point and lifts a single eyebrow.

Zoro lazily lifts a hand and flips him off.

In the end, Johnny's the one who ends up deciding which direction would be best to sail in for their needs. Zoro's hardly paid attention, but he's glad when their meeting is over. He's finding it harder to concentrate.

Nami orders Usopp to man the steering, Luffy heads off to catch up on the sleep he missed the night before, and Nami heads into the pantry to continue checking their food inventory.

Zoro nods for Johnny to head back over to the store room so they can check on Yosaku. He's still asleep when they get there, so they take their places on the boxes again and start passing the bottle between themselves once more.

"Hawk-Eye, huh?" Zoro hums.

"That's still something you're interested in, right?"

Zoro takes back a long sip of the sake and then passes it over. "One of those things that doesn't change, I guess," he says.

"Yeah, I figured," Johnny laughs.

Zoro leans his head back against the wall and looks over at Johnny, watching him take a drink. He knows it's the sake. He's well aware of its effect on him and he's also well aware of what Johnny's effect on him is. He's drunk enough to finally let himself want him again, just once more.

The thing is, Zoro hasn't been with anyone since that day on Mirror Ball Island all those months ago. And before that, there'd been one other guy since Johnny and Yosaku. He'd be lying if he said he hasn't woken up some days wanting it more than other days. Turning in his hammock to keep himself somewhat hidden from the others until he could make it up to the privacy of the bathroom.

"Keep staring at me like that, I'm gonna get the wrong idea, man."

"Hm. Stop keeping the bottle hostage then."

Johnny snorts and passes it back over.

Zoro takes it from him and puts it on the barrel next to him on the other side. When he turns back to Johnny, his body decides to just keep going, and then his brain decides to let it. He reaches over and grabs a handful of Johnny's shirt, tugging him toward him.

Johnny's mouth lands on his almost immediately, hot, hungry for it, and filled with the taste of sake. His hand grips at Zoro's arm as he kisses him back deeply, and then he pulls back. "Yeah?" he asks.

Zoro just nods and moves in again to kiss him.

It's all Johnny needs to get his hands on Zoro's waist and tug him closer, both of them shifting unsteadily on the boxes to face each other more. Johnny's knee bangs into Zoro's and then Zoro's elbow hits the wall behind them.

"Fuck," Zoro sighs, breaking away from him. He stands up and shoves the box aside with his boot. He grabs Johnny by the shirt and drags him off the box and with him down to the floor.

"Jesus," Johnny sighs, back slamming into the wooden slats below.

"Too rough?" Zoro asks, biting down at his neck. "Thought you liked it that way."

"Oh, I do," he laughs, pushing his hips up and tugging Zoro enough to get him properly on top of him. "I just didn't expect it from you. I don't know how much you've changed, you know?"

Zoro growls against him, annoyed, and then pulls back up onto his arms to look down on him. "Would you stop with that? I'm the same fucking person I was two years ago."

Johnny lets out a quiet laugh, eyes narrowed just slightly. "No you're not." He looks down at Zoro's chest and then over at one of his arms, running a hand slowly over the muscle. "You're really not."

Zoro ignores the sense of pride in his chest as Johnny's fingers dig into the muscle. Sure, he's gotten stronger than he was at seventeen, but that's just to be expected, isn't it? "Is it a problem?" he snaps.

Johnny looks up at him, amused. "Does it fucking look like I think it's a problem?"

"Then stop talking about it."

"Why?" he laughs. "You getting shy on me?"

Zoro lets out a low growl and then pushes up from Johnny to his knees.

"Hey, hang on," Johnny says, leaning up on his elbows. "I'm just giving you a hard time, man. Come on."

"You keep acting like I'm some completely different person."

Johnny shrugs. "Man, you-- You kind of are. I mean, not totally. You're still you. But, shit, look at you." He gestures to his body. "You could fucking break me in half if you were the type."

Zoro feels his breath stutter. It's stupid, really. He knows he's better than this, but the words still wash over him in waves. He's never really been satisfied with his own strength, always convinced he needed to be stronger, build more muscle. You're too small, Zoro. You're still too weak.

"You just got smaller," he says, finally brushing away the compliment.

"Maybe," Johnny says, and then he gives him a wink. "But not everywhere."

"Idiot," Zoro growls. He lowers himself back down to press Johnny back to the floor with a deep kiss. Lower, he feels Johnny push his hips up, and his cock presses hard against Zoro's thigh. God, it really has been too fucking long.

"Lose this fucking thing," Johnny says, hands scrabbling at his haramaki.

Zoro sits back from him and tugs it off along with his shirt.

"Fuck, man," Johnny groans, tossing his hand in the air and letting it fall back to the floor in a slump. His eyes rake down Zoro's body. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Zoro lowers an eyebrow at him. "What?" he snaps.

Johnny laughs, shaking his head and pressing his fingers to his eyes. "Yos is gonna be pissed he's missing this, man."

"Would you shut the fuck up?"

Johnny laughs again and drops his hand to the side. "If it gets you out of your pants, I won't speak for the rest of the week."

"If only it were that easy. Your turn." Zoro tugs harshly at Johnny's sweatshirt.

Johnny pulls it off, the undershirt with it, and then leans back on his elbows. "Not nearly as impressive, huh?"

"What's with you? Since when do you care so much about this sort of thing?" He doesn't understand what the big deal is. He doesn't work out for his body, he works out for his strength. If he's being honest, he tends to find people more attractive when they're lean and cut rather than bulky.

Johnny shrugs. "I don't know, man. Just... Just aware of it, I guess."

"Well, just... shut up."

"No promises."

Another growl threatens to break from him, so Zoro reaches for the sake instead, taking down another large sip before he pushes it to the side and then dives back down to Johnny's neck.

"Fuck," Johnny gasps into the room. His hands scratch at Zoro's side and then run up his back, pressing into the muscle. They slide down to grip at his hips and then Johnny bucks his own hips up again, pulling Zoro against him to press them together.

Zoro ducks his head down against Johnny's shoulder as the heat flares up his body. He lets Johnny take over a bit, grinding them against each other in quiet, muffled grunts and rustled clothing. He can feel the way they line up. He's already plenty hard - not like it'd take long. Every press of Johnny's cock against his own is sending waves of his blood pulsing through his veins.

Johnny's hand slides down Zoro's hip and then dips between them. Zoro feels a sudden pressure of Johnny's palm against him, even through the layers of clothing, and his legs tense. A low grunt forces its way up from his chest. He works to keep his breath steady as Johnny continues pressing up against his cock. He can already feel the lightheadedness building up. He lowers down onto an elbow and reaches down, knocking Johnny's hand aside and hiking one of Johnny's legs up around his hip.

Johnny moves on cue, bucking his hips up when Zoro presses down against him. Johnny's fingers press into his spine and then drag lower, slipping beneath the waistband of his pants and grabbing at him to pull him harder against him.

Zoro rolls his hips down harder once and again until he hears Johnny exhale a quiet "fuck, man..."

He shifts to slip his hand between them, kissing messily at Johnny's jaw while he unclasps the button of his jeans.

"Thank god," Johnny says, moving quickly to slide them off.

Despite himself, Zoro laughs against him, moving back just enough to let him remove them completely.

"Your turn," Johnny says in a mocking tone.

Zoro rolls his eyes but sits back on his knees to quickly undo the fastening of his own pants. He tugs them down, biting back a gasp at the relief when he comes free of them.

"Fuck," Johnny laughs out to the ceiling, a hand at his forehead. "I thought for sure I was hyping up the memory."

"I told you to shut up."

"Look at your cock, man!"

Zoro shoves his pants off, ignoring him, and rolls back onto him, yanking Johnny's leg up probably harder than he has to, given the way Johnny gives a sharp gasp. Johnny grabs Zoro's hand and unceremoniously shoves his fingers into his mouth, pressing his tongue along them and coating them with saliva.

There's a buzzing in Zoro's chest, warning him to take it easy and steady himself. He can already feel something wet between them when their cocks brush, and he's willing to bet anything it's his own precome rather than Johnny's. Maybe he should take care of this sort of thing more frequently.

Despite the length of time since he's last done this, he opens Johnny up with ease and instinct, moving with every gasped out fuck and yeah, there he gets from him. He bites down on his collarbone as he pushes his fingers in deeper.

"Come on," Johnny urges, tapping his arm. "Start. I wanna see if I can still take it."

Zoro bites down the aggravation. He's never been one for Johnny's rambling during sex, but he moves past it and wraps a spit-slick hand around his cock.

It really has been too long. His head is spinning dizzy when he pushes into him, feeling him shift and tighten around him. Zoro hikes Johnny's leg up further to curl it around his back for a better angle and then rolls his hips down.

"Oh, fuck," Johnny exhales, arching back.

"Shut. Up."

Johnny just laughs out to the ceiling. His hands grip at Zoro's arms and chest and then slide to his back. "Man, I'm already jealous of the next guy you fuck."

Zoro pulls out from him and yanks him around by the shoulder, pushing him down into the floor on his stomach.

"Finally," Johnny laughs.

"You fucking prick," Zoro laughs back, hiking his hips up. "Is that why you kept talking?"

"Thought if I pissed you off enough you'd finally get rough with me."

He presses the head of his cock against Johnny's hole, taking his time to slowly push in.

"You're fucking kidding me, right?"

"You wanna keep being a jackass?" Zoro asks, mouth curling in a smile.

Johnny flips him off over his shoulder. When Zoro pulls back from him, he shoots his hand back holding him in place. "Zoro," he warns.

Zoro snorts and then swats his hand away. He lines himself up and pushes in, nearly to the base. He curls over him, pressing his forehead down to Johnny's spine as he breathes out slowly. He gives himself a few seconds to settle and then slowly moves his hips back before pressing fully into him again. Johnny's spine vibrates with the choked off groan. "Yeah?" Zoro asks.

"Oh, now you want me to talk?"

Zoro digs his fingers into his thigh until Johnny laughs.

"Yeah," Johnny says back. "Good."

Zoro nods against him and then lifts himself from him, holding his waist in place and then starts moving faster. He lets his eyes fall closed, head dropping forward as Johnny's pressure tightens around him. Blood rushes up his neck and to his ears, and he can almost hear his heart pounding. Distantly, beneath it all, Johnny is letting out quiet, muffled grunts from behind his own hand, the other stretched out in front of him, hand curling in to a fist, knuckles pressing and scraping against the floor.

It's only a few more thrusts before Johnny's got his knees beneath him and is pushing hard back against Zoro to meet his rhythm. Zoro lets himself sit back just a bit as Johnny takes over, watching him press down against him and then pull forward, nearly fully off Zoro's cock before he pushes right back down again. Zoro's hand grips at Johnny's thigh again, another splayed over his lower back, keeping him angled how he needs him to be.

He feels the build up start a few seconds later and lets his head roll back as his spine starts tensing and tightening. His hips starts jerking forward with each of Johnny's backward thrusts, and he quickly moves his hand down to wrap it around Johnny's cock. He leans forward over him, jerking him off steadily and quickly. Johnny grits out another string of "fuck"s, fists curling up over his head.

"Z, I'm-- Fuck--"

It's only a second later Zoro feels warm come pour over his hand. He pushes Johnny forward and off himself quickly and then grips his own cock just in time to spill out over his back, other hand gripping Johnny's side, fingers digging into the muscle there.

He comes down with his forehead pressed to Johnny's upper back, panting breaths against him.

"Fuck," Johnny croaks below him, head caged in his arms and body heaving below Zoro. "Fuck."

Zoro pushes up from him, blinking away the haze of his orgasm. He keeps a hand cupped around himself and uses his other to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He moves enough for Johnny to slowly turn over and flop onto his back, cupping his own cock and steadying his breathing.

Zoro huffs out a long breath. "Good seeing you again, Johnny."

"Haaaa," Johnny mocks through a laugh. "Yeah, you too."

They set Yosaku up in one of the spare hammocks and Johnny takes the other, and before Zoro's ready for it, the morning greets them with the gift of a hangover and aching thighs.

He leans a head on his fist at the kitchen table, pushing breakfast around his plate while Johnny and Nami talk about the trajectory of the boat. Yosaku is up and moving today, and he takes down two helpings of food, thanking them a third time for saving his life.

According to Johnny, they'll be reaching some floating restaurant within the hour, but the idea of eating is sort of making Zoro nauseous. What he needs is a strong drink to combat the hangover. He'll be feeling right as rain.

"You're alright?" Johnny asks, ten minutes later when Nami's disappeared from the kitchen.

"The two bottles of sake are taking their toll. Haven't drank like that in a long time."

Johnny hums and glances around the room. "So it was a night of multiple old habits then."

He flips him off without even bothering to look up.

Johnny snorts and claps Yosaku on the shoulder. "You missed out, man."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Sorry," Zoro says, looking over at him and grimacing at the glare of the light.

Yosaku lifts an eyebrow at him.

"You know," he gestures between him and Johnny. "Fucking in the same room as you and all."

"Like it's the first time," Yosaku snorts, putting the dish in the drying rack.

Zoro grunts a response.

"Come on," Johnny says to Yosaku. "Let's let him recover. I told Nami we'd fix up the railing we broke."

"We?" Yosaku asks, eyeing him.

Johnny just flashes a grin at him. "I know you guys would be miserable without me around to make you laugh."

Zoro and Yosaku exhange a knowing look and then Zoro follows them both out onto the deck.

Luffy goes off ahead of them when they dock at the Baratie, a floating restaurant on the sea. Zoro sits on the deck, fading in and out of a nap in the warmth of the sun. His hangover has gone down a bit since earlier, but he's still not eager to head off into a restaurant to talk to a bunch of old cooks, so he's glad when Luffy agrees to take care of it on his own.

He doesn't know how long it is; he gets a quick nap or two in, before Nami is storming across the deck and snapping at him to wake up.

"What?" he groans.

"He's taking too long and he probably got himself in trouble. Let's go check on him."

"He's fine. If he couldn't handle it, we'd know."

"I'd like to see the restaurant," Usopp says with a shrug.

"Go get a drink, Z!" Johnny calls over. "You'll feel better!"

"Come on," Nami says, already climbing over the ladder to head down to the dock. "We might as well. Don't know the next time we'll get a solid meal that's not thrown together from storage."

Zoro grunts and pushes up from the deck.

"Besides," Nami calls up to him as he follows Usopp down, "don't you want a say in who our cook is gonna be?"

"I think it should be an old guy with lots of years cooking, you know?" Usopp says as Zoro lands on the dock next to him. "Someone who knows his way around different foods."

"I think it should be a woman," Nami says. "I could use another girl on the ship."

"Hmm," Usopp hums thoughtfully. "What about you, Zoro? What do you think our cook should be like?"

Zoro spares him a bored glance and then pushes open the front door of the Baratie. He stops suddenly, the other two gasping on either side of him.

There, in front of them across the dining room, stands a tall, lean thing in a fitted suit, blonde hair brushing over his forehead and casting a shadow over his eyes. One hand is in his pocket, but it's the other that draws Zoro's attention. His arm is stretched out to the side, hand gripped around the jaws of a bleeding man that he's holding up above a broken table. There's porcelain and glass scattered on the floor around them.

Zoro scans his gaze up the guy's body again in time to watch a thin stream of smoke snake up from the cigarette tucked between the guy's teeth.

"You provoke a cook at sea, you're signing your own death warrant," he says, voice low. "Remember that."

Something settles hard and rough, low in Zoro's gut.