, .

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃, 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐃.

𝖘𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖞. you're much more than just the nicest boy in southside chicago

𝖕𝖆𝖎𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘. ian gallagher x male reader x mickey milkovich

𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘. fluff, foul language, violence, soft boy!reader, homophobia, established polyamorous relationship, absolute badassery lol, mentions of sex, a little apathy, small mention of blood, good but actually not trope, some mental issues

𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗'𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊. haven't watched shameless, only gallavich scenes and few other moments. my anger issues can't handle watching all of that. which is why none of my writing of them's gonna be accurate to the timeline of the series.

FEM ALIGNED DNI !!

Ian and Mickey couldn't remember the time you were ever mean to anyone even before meeting you, had never even heard of your name being thrown around without it being extremely positive. Everyone had to say everything about you, which is understandable, considering you were definitely the odd type to be in southside Chicago — this place was full of shit with robbery being nonchalantly committed, guns shooting off in different areas, bunch of unconvicted pedophiles walking around, and teenagers high on whatever fucking heavy drugs they first could touch, while you're out there, helping whoever you think might need help and genuinely being nice to even the worst fucking thugs you would ever meet.

It's questionable, how someone could be in southside and grow up perfectly sane and not bottled up with any issues or anger.

You've always been the talk around the neighborhood, how the (L/n) kid helped some randos again, how you talked to them with the nicest personality and utmost respect, how you smile at anyone who passes by whenever you make eye contact with them, how you were calm in dealing with a situation most people would get frustrated at; just about anything positive. It wasn't difficult for both Ian and Mickey to fall for you as much as they fell for each other. You were like a single flower blooming in the middle of a garden that a person would come back to just to see your beauty; something about your softness and kind personality struck a core into both of their hearts.

They never had someone like you in their life. A calm, soothing, comforting presence, like the warm sun in the morning. An accepting, welcoming presence, like the mother earth. You've always been gentle with them — not something they're used to, considering the type of household they grew up in — always checking in, making sure they're okay even if they push you away, taking care of them.

You're one of the first person Ian came out to other than his family, because he knew you'd never judge. Mickey was rather an asshole in your first meet, nearly beating you up, but the way you didn't snark or your nice demeanor didn't change no matter what insults he threw at you made him hesitant, which never happened with Milkovich's. When they started sleeping together, you caught on it quickly before anyone else ever did and kept it a secret the entire time, knowing the personal problems they had to deal with; Ian and Mickey only found out you knew when you stopped Terry from making Mickey have sex with Svetlana by just walking in on the interaction. The near innocence in your eyes as you tilted your head slightly to the side, just staring at Terry until he grew uncomfortable and rushed off. He could never stand being near to you, especially with how holier than thou you were. It wasn't actually an accident to walk in, but they don't know that.

Despite the awkward circumstances, you were calm and paid Svetlana a good amount before getting both of them dressed and taking care of them, even though they didn't have to be taken cared of. Your gentleness with them that time really caused something to burst within their chest, the same feeling they were starting to develop towards each other. The acceptance, the comfort, the gentleness. Everything about you felt magical — you felt magical.

Even after Ian and Mickey figured out their shit together, officially came out, figured out their shit together again that both of them liked you, flirted with you and won you over, and officially came out again to their family as polyamorous couple, they had never seen you be a dick. Sure, you swore a lot sometimes when you drop something or miss something, but never towards anyone. They never saw you doing the typical southside thing, being rebellious, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, doing drugs or shit.

You're always nice — and it's supposed to be a good thing, but it also gets a lot concerning, especially when some dumb fucking guy punched you in the face for mistaking you as someone who slept with his girlfriend and you had the audacity to forgive him when he apologized, making Mickey nearly wanting to strangle you right then and there.

"Why the fuck did you forgive him?" Mickey snarls and shuts the fridge door close, ice pack in hand as he throws it to Ian, who immediately began pressing it to your cheek that was beginning to form a bruise.

You shrugged, "He just mistook me for someone else."

"Yeah, and fucking punched you in the face without asking first who the fuck you are." Mickey retorted, giving you a death glare. He moves around to stand beside you on the opposite side of Ian.

You were sitting on the counter facing the dining table where Fiona, Lip, Liam, Carl, Debbie, Sandy, Mandy, and Franny were, all contorting worried look since you're the nicest and you having a single bruise means when the people you helped before sees it they're gonna flip over and bury the guy ten feet under while still breathing. Everyone knew you, and you're literally the holiest within southside, so they naturally hated when someone messed with you.

Your hand shoots up to rub his arm gently, warm look in your eyes as your soft voice speaks to comfort him. "Calm down, Mick. Let it go, I'm fine." You smile softly, "It was just a little mistake. Everyone makes mistakes."

Mickey frowns, still angry yet definitely calm now that you're giving him comfort. "You're too fucking nice, it's making me sick."

You chuckled, grabbing the ice pack from Ian to press it on your cheek yourself. You pull Ian to kiss him on the cheek before doing the same to Mickey, knowing it will help tone down their anger. "At least I have my own guard dogs." You joke, earning a snicker from the group.

"Haha, very funny." Mickey sarcastically replies.

Ian sighs, "(Y/n), I think Mickey's right though. You're too nice, maybe a bit much. Even to Frank and Terry." He agreed with his other boyfriend, who puts his hands up in a gesture of i told you so.

You tilted your head, still smiling. "Frank's your father and Terry's Mickey's father. No matter horrible they are, I don't think I could treat them any differently from how I treat others." Shrugging, you ignored both of your boyfriends' groan and sipped on the orange juice resting on your side.

"What's up with you treating everyone equally and being unnaturally nice to even someone who doesn't deserve it?" Fiona asked, genuinely confused with her brows furrowed together and crease forming on her forehead. "You were even nice with Monica."

You bit the inside of your cheek, thinking for a while.

You could tell them what was really going on, but it would be too much to dump it on them all of a sudden. Being nice and having a lot of patience is a lot difficult, but you learned to, otherwise you wouldn't be able to survive. It's a survival skill that you had to adapt to; be nice and you get everything you want. A little... useful tactic that you taught yourself, though it's more than that.

Deciding against telling them, because it'll get out when it gets out, you simply gave her a tight-lipped smile and shrugged. "I like spreading dumb kindness. I think it helps people who deals with mental health issues that their relatives probably don't even know. I might've been nice to them and turned their bad day into good day. Small things like that has an impact, you know."

Mickey scowled, "That makes no sense."

You simply smiled and patted his cheek, turning to Ian who placed his hand on your waist. "I still think you should've done something, (Y/n). Press charges or something." He said, wanting to convince you.

Shaking your head with a reassuring smile, you kissed his lips and Mickey's, successfully shutting both of them up as you hopped off of the counter. "I'm going to change. Take me out on a date, will you two?" You let your hands linger on each of their arm before walking away with an angelic smile, leaving the boys staring after you in slight awe.

"Oh my god, you two are so fucking smitten with him." Sandy remarked, laughing. The others nodded in agreement, deeply amused.

Ian and Mickey rolled their eyes, "The fuck we're not." Mickey denies, though failing to convince them and himself.

"But you are," Lip shrugged. "He's got you wrapped all around his finger."

"Kinda cute if you ask me," Fiona chuckles.

"Oh, fuck off." Ian retorts, smile across his face.

Neither would admit it, but they really were. Equally smitten with one another, your relationship had always been wholesome, except for the times all three of you were friends with benefits.

Ian and Mickey slept together first obviously, only started hooking up with you after the incident with Terry. Mickey was first to do it when he went to your house to spend time with you since you're the only person he could trust aside from Ian, the casual conversation taking a turn after he had asked if you would fuck him if you were gay, which you told him you were, causing Mickey to literally demand a fuck from you.

"Hey, man?" Mickey slowly called to you who was sitting on the opposite side of the ridiculously big couch, eyes focused on the movie with a can of coke in your hand.

"Hm?" You hum, turning to look at him despite being completely indulged in the movie plot. Mickey liked that, how you're willing to give him your full attention even though you're busy and don't even have to look at him at all.

He glances down, picking with his hand, slightly nervous. But he knew you wouldn't judge, you never did. It was unlikely of him to feel this way, but Mickey couldn't help it. Nearly unbearable to talk to someone as nice and caring as you yet can't bring himself to stay away. "Would you— Would you fuck me if you were, you know, fucking gay?"

Your brows raised at the random question. Though it wasn't difficult to realize it's because of the previous gay scene in the movie you're watching where the main characters made love to each other without it being censored and shit. "Well," You started with a small smile adorning your face, "I don't know if you knew but I'm actually gay, Milkovich."

Mickey's head snapped to your side, eyes wide. "Wait, what? Why the fuck didn't you tell me? Or Ian?"

"You didn't ask," You simply shrugged. "I normally don't go around announcing to everybody what my sexuality is. Kind of weird if I did that," You joked, earning a glare from the Milkovich. "But honestly, I didn't think it was something I had to tell you or Ian. I just let people guess or notice it on their own."

"How the fuck do they even notice?" Mickey remarks, furrowing his brows. "I've literally never seen you with any guys or girls. Have you even hooked up with somebody?"

You chuckled, "Nope. Wasn't really interested."

"Damn," Mickey gave you a weird look. It was so odd to see someone in southside not doing drugs or shit, let alone sleeping around with whoever they liked. He wasn't used to it. Now, you feel like a fucking holy being or something. But then, Mickey realizes you never actually answered his question, so he repeated again. "You didn't answer my fucking question, would you fuck me?"

You're gay, so might as well shoot his shot. Can't really miss this opportunity.

You stare at him, something glinting in your eyes that definitely wasn't innocence. Your lips slowly formed a sly grin as you tilted your head. "What if I said yes? What are you gonna do?"

A smile appeared on Mickey's lips, "Then fucking get on with it, (L/n)."

Conveniently, you were a switch so Mickey didn't have to pretend he didn't like having dick in his ass. He told Ian he slept with you that came off as surprise since apparently Ian also didn't know you were gay, which led to Ian sleeping with you as well.

"You're so weird," Ian laughed when he caught you stacking some nuggets together to build a makeshift tower, having woken up from a friendly sleepover at your house.

You grinned and stacked the last piece of nugget, looking at Ian as you gestured to your work of art. "Tadaaaa!" It caused him to burst out laughing, sitting down beside you on the couch.

"What are you doing?" Ian asked between laughter.

You shrugged your shoulders, "I was bored and you weren't waking up anytime soon. Figured I kill my time." Smiling, you offered him a can of beer that was sitting on the table, having just taken out from the fridge. Ian accepted, thanking you. "How did you sleep?"

Ian smiled after taking a gulp from the beer and placed it down on the table, "Great, actually. Like the times I haven't been able to sleep isn't real." Relief was evident on his face, considering how big the bags under his eyes were. He never mentioned that you were the reason of him unable to fall asleep, always thinking of you ever since that horrible day that suddenly turned great with your presence. Hearing about you sleeping with Mickey made him decide nothing will happen if he just thinks around, thus the sleepover.

A soft look crosses your face as you begin to play with his hair, touch displaying gentleness Ian had never felt before. His eyes met yours, such a warm gaze making him feel loved even without doing anything. "Well, I'm glad the cuddle worked, Gallagher. You can always come to me when you can't sleep, I'll hold you until you can." Voice merely above a whisper, you gently told him.

Ian was feeling breathless. Everything about your welcoming and accepting nature deemed temptation; his pupils dilating, throat suddenly dry as if he's been dehydrated, stomach growling as if hasn't eaten in days, feeling your soft hand brush through his ginger hair as you stared at him innocently yet almost seducing. The tension was too thick to be cut with a knife. And with the growing urge to just give in to the temptation, Ian leaned forward without a second thought, capturing your lips in a kiss.

You made a noise of surprise that immediately caused Ian to pull away, a panicked look in his eyes, scared he might've ruined the most precious friendship he's ever had. Series of apology slipped past his lips, but you shut him up by putting a finger up to his lips.

"Don't apologize, I'm not mad, silly." You reassured, though concern plastered your face. "Are you sure you want this?"

"Yeah," His response was nearly quick. "Why do you think I agreed to a sleepover?"

That angelic smile of yours returned again, chuckling. "Okay then, Gallagher. Do whatever you want." You said before kissing him again, letting the rest of the day continue.

Again, it was convenient that you're a switch, because even though Ian has tried bottoming before, he preferred topping, especially with you or Mickey. Well, you and Mickey now. Those sleeping around days were a lot... wild, to say the least.

You never slept with anyone besides Ian and Mickey, always uninterested in other guys and turning them down nicely quite often, which Mandy — your bestfriend — noticed. Questionable, of course, because there was one incident at the Alibi where she, Lip, and Fiona were present and you and Ian came out the bathroom covered in hickeys, not even bothering to hide them as the two of you sat down with them. However, when a guy noticed and realized what happened, they attempted to shoot their shot with you, miserably failing as you turned it down without further acknowledgement while Ian just shrugged, as if he already knew that was going to be your answer. Then, Mickey suddenly barged in only to tell you a short "not tired yet, are ya?" while walking to the bathroom, you smiled at Ian before following Mickey.

It happened quite a lot in different circumstances that even the Gallaghers caught up on how Ian and Mickey are the only ones you let getting in your pants.

It was a messy and complicated time where everyone had to deal with their own shit; Mickey with his homophobic upbringing and sexual crisis, Ian with his confusion in feeling something for both you and Mickey at the same time and doubts to himself, you with accepting your romantic attraction to both of them, keeping it locked in, and fulfilling the desire to be with them by sleeping with them. It's either they slept with each other, you slept with either of them, or the three of you slept together, all bonded somehow. Ian and Mickey were the first ones to get their shit together and officially became partners, and well... it honestly didn't turn out good back then due to you still dealing with your own shit that nobody ever noticed. That story could be for another day, though.

The point is, your friendship used to be wholesome, but the extent of it increased more when you three settled after all that shitshow. There were some toxicity at first, especially with Mickey struggling to overcome the genuinely awful upbringing he had — he was dating a guy after all, and not just one but two — along with Ian's diagnosis of bipolar disorder. But having each other and not giving up on each other made the toxicity disappear and morph into something positive, each of you going through some relationship development together.

Compared to back then, the three of you had grown overly comfortable with each other and the polyamorous relationship you had, not feeling discomfort when people look at you weirdly. Coming to terms with the issues truly helped.

However, neither Ian nor Mickey had come to terms with your kindness towards people who didn't deserve it, and they absolutely have no plans of coming to terms with it at all. People can be a lot rude and asshole when you're nice to them, which is why they simultaneously keep themselves and each other from strangling the person's neck everytime it treated or spoke to you horribly.

Well, frankly, nobody would understand and you don't expect them to. Too bad they gonna have to sooner than later, because you've been feeling a little irritable — it's only a matter of time before the truth cracks through the surface of friendliness and nice personality you've plastered on.

Once it does, people will be fucked.

You know who you are when you're not nice; it's never a pretty sight. It's a bloodbath.

Everything seemed perfect.

Dinner's pretty cheap, but it's not unbearable. One of the nicest things about you is that you don't care for the price as long as it's edible and tasty. You're not the one to fuss over the cheapness or expensiveness of anything and the Gallaghers loved that, because you wouldn't talk shit of how they can't afford shit. Birthdays are special occasion where people usually ask for expensive gifts, but the Gallaghers were always reminded by you not to go grand on celebrations or presents, because you didn't like them spending their money on something other than theirselves.

They still went with it though, going to a cheap local bar where they serve cheap dinner so everyone could celebrate the birth date of you, who was born special in southside Chicago with kindness that's seemingly a curse.

The night went by smoothly, everyone enjoying their time and having fun — You, Ian, Mickey, Mandy, Sandy, Lip, Fiona, Liam, Debbie, Franny, Veronica, Kev, and even Frank who was by the bar because his family disapproved of him joining. He still did, considering you're the nicest kid he's ever met.

Perfect. Everything was perfect. Too perfect that it's becoming strange, how well this night is going.

You were absolutely correct to feel like that.

Mickey's blood was boiling at the man that had suddenly approached the table with a friendly smile only to go around spitting whatever the fuck he wanted to talk about, mainly nasty things. But according to him, he knew you and you knew him, well enough, even though they didn't know him despite being your boyfriends. The Gallaghers were collectively surprised of his sudden appearance, considering none of them knew him, but concerns littered their faces when the man mentioned you.

"I honestly don't know what (Y/n)'s thinking, hanging out with Gallaghers and dating one," The man, who ( unwantedly ) introduced himself as Caius snickered.

Ian, despite his annoyance increasing at Caius' presence, tried to remain calm. "What's it to you? And fyi, he's also dating him, so don't fucking talk like that." He pointed at Mickey, who glared daggers at the man.

"Fuck, he's dating two guys?" Caius laughed mockingly. "And a Milkovich at that. But aren't you, like, bipolar though? With the gene." His mention of the diagnosis made Mickey furious as he slammed his hands against the table and attempted to stand up, only to be held back by Ian. Everyone had their blood boiling now, but forced themselves to keep calm since it's your birthday.

"I guess crazy psychopaths are his type, huh? With how the screws in his head are fucking loose, I'm not surprised." He snarled, looking at both of them. However, his words cuts through the boiling rage within Ian and Mickey as they both processed his words, furrowing their brows in confusion at the mention of the screws in your head being loose.

Before anyone could utter a single word, the loud sound of wine bottle smashing against the back of Caius' head erupts throughout the entire bar as he dropped to the floor cursing loudly, revealing you holding the remaining end of the shattered bottle. The nice look on your face no longer visible as it contorted into an expressionless expression, eyes holding utmost coldness with some unknown darkness within them that sent chills up everyone's spine.

You merely acknowledged Caius groaning in pain on the floor, throwing away the shattered piece of the wine bottle to the side as you nonchalantly patted off your hands of any invisible dirt.

"Oh my fucking god," Fiona was the first to react, terrified as she witnessed Caius touch the back of his head and get a blood on his palm. The other Gallaghers were already standing a feet away as they all jumped up and away from the table when you smashed a bottle on the man's head, completely shocked and stunned, Lip and Carl letting out holy fuck.

"Jesus fucking Christ!"

"What the fuck did you just do?"

Ian and Mickey exclaimed in sync, with Ian looking at you while Mickey at Caius, both eyes wide and shock on their faces.

You shrugged, the usual smile completely nonexistent. "Smash a bottle on an old friend's head after talking shit about my boyfriends." The slightest hint of apathy in your tone worried them a bit, but you quickly shifted your cold gaze to Caius. "Quit fucking moaning, Caius. You already saw it coming when you decided to approach them while I was gone for the bathroom."

"Fuck," Caius groaned, laying on his back to shoot you a glare. "I just got fucking discharged from the hospital you put me in, shithead. A little nice sympathy maybe? The one you fucking show people."

"Certainly didn't need sympathy when you brought up Ian's bipolar disorder," You smiled sarcastically. "And don't be fucking dramatic, it was just few broken bones."

"You made me fucking bleed internally and you wanna call that just a few broken bones?" Caius snapped. Everyone's eyes widened.

Rolling your eyes, you folded the sleeves up of your button up while clenching and unclenching your fist, something that Ian and Mickey didn't miss. "Serves you right for planning to shoot Micky Milkovich. Unfortunately for you, I genuinely and utterly loathe someone describing either of them as crazy psychopaths, especially since Ian's been diagnosed bipolar, so..."

You grinned sadistically.

"Consider today your finally meet God and be sent to Hell day."

Everyone watched as you rub your face while talking to the cops about what happened inside the bar, the back of your hand all bloody and knuckles busted, probably tainted in both Caius' and your own blood. It was scary to see you so violent and, as Caius said, have screws in the head loose. The unlikeliness and the way you acted and looked so different from how you usually were terrified them.

Not Ian and Mickey, though. They were standing on both of your sides while the rest were a few feet behind, still attempting to calm down from the shock of witnessing your change in attitude and your true colors seeping through the cracks.

Your entire demeanor now was back to normal; not that cold, expressionless presence with terrifying apathy, but the warm, full of expression and accepting presence. You had quietly greeted the cops earlier with a small smile that turned into a frown of guilt, which somehow was enough for them not to handcuff you despite the damage you caused on Caius.

"I probably shouldn't have done all of those to him," You muttered thoughtfully while biting your lip. "I don't think I regret it though. He crossed the line, I got pissed."

"You normally don't get pissed, Mr. (L/n)." One of the cops remarked.

Shrugging your shoulders, you gave them a small smile. "That's just what you think of me. I don't really care if people insult me or talk shit about me, but my boyfriends are one of the most significant people in my life, so they're off-limits." Your soft tone falling down to a serious and firm one, you narrowed your eyes at the ambulance that contained Caius' unconscious body.

"Are Mr. Milkovich and Mr. Gallagher basically your trigger?" The other cop wondered.

You nodded immediately, "Yeah. I think so." Rubbing your nape with the uninjured hand nervously, you bit the inside of your cheek. "Shouldn't you be handcuffing me? I definitely went too far, I blacked out in anger, and he's unconscious with some injuries that are probably worse than what I think, so."

"Don't worry, witnesses came forward and shared what happened. They confirmed Caius went too far with the disclosure of a person's medical condition confidentiality."

Your eyes snapped to the cops, "Wait, really?"

"Yes, they understood how off-limits your boyfriends are and immediately talked to us after we arrived." The two cops smiled, seeing the look of relief on your face. "We'll get going then, Mr. (L/n). You have nothing to worry about it."

"Thank you." Sighing in relief, you gave them a look of gratitude as they began getting into their car.

"You're fucking one hell of an actor, (Y/n) (L/n)." Mickey remarked after seeing your face fall and glare threateningly at the ambulance as soon as the cops drove off.

"Hey," Ian softly called to catch your attention, cupping your face. "Look at me. Look at us. Calm down, (Y/n). It's fine, we're fine, okay? You don't have to be mad anymore."

Mickey watched silently from the side with his arm around Ian's waist and the other hand gently rubbing your arm to help bring comfort to you. Tense shoulders slowly softening and body relaxing, they witnessed the rage storm calm in your eyes as the hard gaze softened and you respond to their gesture by melting into their touch.

You sighed deeply, "Okay."

Both of them couldn't help but notice the empathy slipping back into your eyes and expression, brightening it up, making it seem more alive. Your eyes looked dead earlier when you were beating the life out of Caius until he was barely breathing, it honestly scared and freaked the fuck out of your boyfriends, even though they would probably never admit it. It was like seeing a soulless person because of the lack of empathy and all.

Though, seeing that happen definitely made them reconsider the thought that you grew up perfectly sane without bottled up issues in southside Chicago — They didn't realize the bottled up issues was simply your kindness and nice atittude, the main things that literally allows you to get whatever you want from anyone because it's the easiest way to manipulate others into giving you what you want, and they wouldn't even realize the manipulation.

That's your own shit to deal with; you force yourself to be nice and caring, so your apathy wouldn't come up to the surface and destroy things. However, Ian and Mickey somehow knew none of the nice or caring side you showed to them were fake. Because if they were, would you even be in a relationship with them?

It would probably take a lot of time to figure you out, especially when you seem to like hiding behind the nicest person in southside Chicago mask and never let the surface crack to get even a peek inside, but they were willing to try. You're their boyfriend after all.

"We'll figure it out, (Y/n)." Mickey gently says. "We always fucking do. Right, Gallagher?" He smirked at Ian, who instantly nodded with an of course, before Mickey grabbed the back of his head and kissed his lips.

You smiled at them, genuinely.

© ᴀʟʟ ʀɪɢʜᴛs ʀᴇsᴇʀᴠᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴅᴇsʀɪsᴇ. sᴛᴇᴀʟɪɴɢ, ᴘʟᴀɢɪᴀʀɪᴢɪɴɢ, ᴏʀ ᴜsɪɴɢ ᴍʏ ᴡᴏʀᴋs ғᴏʀ ᴍᴏɴᴇᴛᴀʀʏ ɢᴀɪɴ ɪs sᴛʀɪᴄᴛʟʏ ᴘʀᴏʜɪʙɪᴛᴇᴅ. ᴀsᴋ ᴘᴇʀᴍɪssɪᴏɴ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ʀᴇᴘᴏsᴛɪɴɢ ᴏʀ ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛɪɴɢ.

Under The Moonlight

Part 14

Request: Yes or No

~~~

Mountains and forests stretched out on either side of the large lake, rich and covered in luscious green. Winter had begun releasing its vicious claws on the land. The days became warmer, the snow melted faster, and there were more sightings of animals. Spring would soon settle in nicely, providing relief from the freezing nights and numbing snow. A welcome season for them all. Especially with the prospect of fishing and plants blossoming. More food, more comfort. 

But while the first signs of spring had lifted everyone's moods, (Y/N) found himself thinking of something else. Of someone else. His sister. 

The last time he'd seen Freydis had been months ago when her belly became noticeable. He remembered how long it had taken for his younger brothers to be born, and if his line of thought was correct, it meant Freydis had likely had her child by now. He smiled at the thought of his sister being a mother. She'd always been a natural with children, but she'd never shown any interest in having her own. Though, there was always the knowledge that many mothers passed during childbirth. He could only pray to Freya that she had kept Freydis safe and strong during her labor. 

"It is beautiful out here." He turned his eyes away from the ripples in the dark water and onto the woman beside him. Eleana, the daughter of the late Lord Vitomir. After the passing of Lord Vitomir, Mariam explained that the man had his daughter pose as a boy to grant her safe passage to Constantinople. And seeing how Gestr eyed her now, he'd been right in doing so. Eleana kept to herself on most days, speaking either with (Y/N) or Mariam, occasionally with the other girls and Harald. But she primarily stuck to (Y/N). He couldn't tell if she merely trusted him more or clung to him since he'd been the first face she'd looked at after losing her father.

"It is... peaceful. But the quiet leaves you alone with your thoughts." (Y/N) said quietly and she nodded, her thumb running back and forth over a line in the wood. She sighed quietly and longingly looked back in the direction they came from. Before (Y/N) could attempt to provide some words of comfort, the boat jerked and shook lightly, a scraping sound coming from underneath them.

"We hit something!" Kaysan hollered and Leif tore himself from his spot beside Mariam, rushing to the front of the boat and peering over the side as Kaysan held the bobbling rudder. 

"The rudder is broken!" Leif called, briefly turning to look at Harald. "Lower the sail!" 

Doing as instructed, Harald and Batu got the sail lowered before watching Leif for any other instructions. Leif and Kaysan held the steering rudder together, directing the boat toward land so they could properly check the damages done. (Y/N) strode across the boat and picked up some rope, waiting for Kaysan to hop down onto the grass and put down wood in the dirt so he could toss the rope and get the boat tied safely. Once done, (Y/N) climbed over the ledge with Harald and Leif, landing on the grass with a soft thud. Leif and Harald stepped into the shallow water, picking up the small pieces of wood floating around. The others gathered around on the boat to watch the men.

"We need a metal band to hold it together," Leif explained, reaching into the cold water and checking the damages underneath the rudder.

"Can you fix it?" Harald asked, tossing the pieces of wood aside. 

"Without a forge, no." 

"There is one in Kodak." Kurya piped up. "It is a day by water, but reachable over the mountain in a few hours." 

"Leif, (Y/N), and I will go then." Harald spoke and helped Leif detach the broken rudder from the boat, carefully setting it on the grass and climbing back onto the bank. 

"Do they have a market? Perhaps we can all go." Eleana proposed as she toyed with the ends of her braid, her eyes occasionally flickering over to (Y/N). 

Shaking his head, Harald wiped his wet hands on his pants and looked back at the blonde. "No. You must watch the boat and be alert. It is dangerous on shore." He told her. Eleana frowned and sighed again, pushing herself off the side of the boat and disappearing out of view for a moment as Batu and Gestr got the platform set up so they could walk on and off the boat with ease. Eleana reappeared with a bow and a quiver full of arrows. She carefully walked down the platform and offered the bow to (Y/N).

"Be careful."

"I will." (Y/N) smiled reassuringly, slipping the bow over his shoulder and placing his hand on her shoulder to squeeze it gently. Harald stared at them with furrowed brows, exchanging a glance with Leif but the older Greenlander merely shrugged and climbed back on the boat to collect his axe.

(Y/N) nodded to Eleana once Harald and Leif were ready before turning around to begin their trek through the forest and over the mountain. Birds chirped and fluttered around, flying into their nests where softer squeaks and chirps could be heard. They'd hear the occasional rustle of an animal moving through the brush and the distant sound of animal calls. Noises that had disappeared during winter due to the cold and scarcity of food. Now, the forest felt lively and full. The wilderness offered much to those who survived its trials and tests. Harald couldn't see that. He knew how to hunt and camp but he belonged in cities and villages. 

The hours went by quicker than expected and they arrived at Kodak, or rather what was left of Kodak. The market that once likely held many things now had nothing but whispers and memories. Things had been burned down, notable by the charred wood and ashes scattered around. Seeing as there was no smoke or the smell of burning wood, (Y/N) could assume whatever group had raided and destroyed the market had done so days prior.

"We should be quick about this. The people who did this may return." 

"(Y/N)'s right." Leif agreed, nodding as he looked over the debris and rubble with a small frown. "We will need to find metal if the forge still remains standing." He told them, walking deeper into the desolate market in search of the forge.

(Y/N) hummed softly in acknowledgment, looking over the remains of the market. It appeared big and housed many merchants. Anything of value had been likely stolen or burned. (Y/N) listened to Harald and Leif rummage through the wood, collecting any metal they could get their hands on. (Y/N)'s interest, however, shifted to the small dock near the market overlooking the shimmering lake. He glanced back at the other two, spotting them by the still intact forge.

With them occupied and working, (Y/N) approached the dock and stepped on it, careful to avoid the areas where the planks were missing. The sound of crackling fire and hammering of metal filled the air, disturbing the peace of the scenery. 

Tilting his head up toward the vibrant blue sky, (Y/N) closed his eyes and whispered a prayer for Freydis. For her and her child. For a safe delivery. And for them to have a safe passage to Constantinople. The sharp cry of a raven flying overhead interrupted his prayer but it only made him grin and peer up at the dark bird. Allfather had acknowledged his prayer. At least the Gods still watched over them. He inhaled the fresh air as twigs and leaves crunched behind him, arms soon slipping around his waist and pulling him against a strong chest. 

"I miss you," Harald whispered, his beard brushing against the back of (Y/N)'s ear. His rough hands found (Y/N)'s, enveloping them and holding them gently. "And I am thankful you have remained by my side through this journey. I understand if you are still upset. I... I know I needed to hear those words. My mother always told me I can be... stubborn."

"That's one word for it." (Y/N) muttered and Harald chuckled, lips pressing against his temple. (Y/N) stared forward at the water. His chest twisted and turned with feelings he couldn't identify. 

"(Y/N), I am aware we can never be like this in front of others but... I still wish to be yours and for you to be mine. When I retrieve my fleet and take the throne, I will have enough riches to prove I am a suitable and capable husband. I can provide your family with as much coin as they desire. They will not have to live out in harsh lands and will have a full belly each night." Harald spoke softly, looking out at the forest across the river. (Y/N)'s brows furrowed slightly and he shook his head, slipping out of Harald's hold and facing him. 

"My family survives well enough. Greenland is our home. The cold, the danger... is part of who we are. We do not care for riches. I do not care for riches. You have done enough to prove yourself capable of caring for a family, Harald. You do not need a fleet or a crown to prove that. You are a warrior and a good hunter. That is enough for anyone. Only nobles would care about how much coin one has. The fact you are not king has nothing to do with your capability. Your arrogance does. Your pride does. It is not your stubbornness that makes you undesirable. You care about riches and power and you cannot accept anything but those things. You need those things. I was happy in the wilderness, even if all we had was a cabin. Yes, I saw how each day you grew more dislike for it but I thought you'd adapt to it. I know now that... you were not made for the type of life I wish to have. And I was not made to be in a court."

Swiping his tongue over his lips, Harald swallowed and stepped forward, taking (Y/N)'s hands into his. "I enjoyed our time at the cabin because you were there. You may find court enjoyable after you see what it is like. Warm food, the finest clothes, a proper bed. You do not know what it is like yet. You have proven you can adapt to changes. I love that about you. I love you." Harald smiled, bringing (Y/N)'s hands to his lips. But when (Y/N) only stared at him with watery eyes, his smile began to crumble.

"I care about you." (Y/N) whispered, voice nearly cracking. Harald's face fell and he shakily exhaled. "I care about you, Harald. I wish to help you and-"

"You do not love me anymore?" 

"Harald-"

I have made mistakes but I am going to fix them. The riches, the power. I can give it all to you. I-I want to support you and help you and care for you. I cannot do that like this. I am nothing right now. But when we arrive at Constantinople, I will be someone. I will give you whatever you ask for, (Y/N). I promise you that. I will earn back your love-"

"You want to buy my love, Harald. All you think about is that throne. All you think about is coin. All you care about is-is..." (Y/N) trailed, ripping his hand from Harald's and scoffing softly as the tears flooded his eyes. Wiping away the tears when they slipped down his cheeks, (Y/N) sniffled and shook his head. "You cannot seem to understand this so I will speak clearly. I did not care for your royal blood when I fought with you or feasted with you or shared your bed. I did not care about how rich you were. I fell in love with you because you were kind and loyal and showed strength. I fell in love with who you were. Your titles and power had nothing to do with it. But I am sure some noblewoman will care about those things and you will be able to buy her affection with whatever riches you obtain." 

"I do not-"

"I promised to help you so I will. But once that is done, I will return home to Greenland, with or without my brother." (Y/N) stated firmly and wiped away the last of his tears. With a weight off his shoulders, he brushed past Harald and walked off the dock, approaching Leif who watched them with a grimace.

Ignoring the quiet questions from his brother, (Y/N) checked the metal they had created and motioned for them to head back. Harald silently joined them a few minutes later and they headed back through the forest and over the mountain. A newfound tension settled with the three and no matter how many times Leif tried to speak with either man, it remained.

But the silence didn't last long when (Y/N) approached the tree line and abruptly stopped, forcing Leif and Harald to nearly topple him over. 

"There are men." (Y/N) whispered, drawing an arrow from his quiver and getting his bow ready. Some of the men had been killed but four remained. One held Mariam with a knife to her throat while the other two restrained Kurya. The last one staggered behind the first man appearing injured. Aiming at the man holding Mariam, he released the arrow when Harald and Leif charged forward. The man collapsed to the ground as Harald took out two men and Leif buried an axe in the back of the last one. (Y/N) quickly joined them, heading up the platform and checking on the disheveled Eleana. She wrapped her arms around him and panted softly, the medallion around her neck pressing against him. 

"I own you! This is my boat and they are my property!" Gestr's voice roared and (Y/N) turned to look at the tied-up man. Brigtoc, Dorn, and Cadlin held him still as he squirmed and yelled. Batu swallowed thickly and lifted his arm, offering his blade to Dorn. She took it and glared back at Gestr, driving the blade into him. Cadlin went next, stabbing his shoulder blade and listening to him cry out in pain. Finally, Brigtoc took the blade and gave the killing blow to his neck. The three girls panted and let him slump over, glaring down at his body. 

"We have to reattach the rudder," Leif breathed, turning away and walking toward the wooden piece laying on the grass. (Y/N) climbed down into the boat, untying the deceased man before nodding for Batu to help. Together, the two tossed Gestr overboard and into the flowing water before doing the same to the other man onboard. Kaysan took care of the men on shore, similarly tossing the bodies into the water. 

"Kaysan, go collect the food they had on their horses." (Y/N) called down to him, watching the fighter nod and jog over to the horses. Eleana climbed down into the boat and stepped forward toward him, glancing over at Kurya. 

"Kurya's the brother of the Khan. There's apparently a bounty on his head." Eleana revealed. Raising her hand, she touched the sun-shaped medallion she had kept hidden underneath her shirt. Moving closer, she leaned in toward his ear. (Y/N)'s gaze flickered to Harald who watched them with a frown. "And I am to be the Emerpeor of Constanipole's new wife."

                    ➸        ➸       ➸       ➸       ➸       ➸

They traveled for a while before stopping again at the Dnipro River. The land was rich and Mariam had pointed out the soil was perfect for planting. Without the presence of Gestr, the red-haired girls had become more open and sociable, laughing and smiling more without the fear of being harmed looming over them. Cadlin and Kaysan's relationship had notably blossomed into romance. With everyone occupied at their camp, Harald had asked the Greenland brothers to accompany him to the waterfall they'd have to go down once they got moving again. (Y/N) and Harald acted courteously with each other but the tension remained. 

Nearing the rushing water, (Y/N) could hardly hear his own thoughts over the roar of the waterfall. He stepped closer to the ledge, debating moving further but a hand caught his and held it. Looking back at Harald, the prince shook his head and spoke but his words were drowned out by the sound of the water. (Y/N) tilted his head at him and Harald chuckled in defeat, keeping his fingers around (Y/N)'s wrist and standing beside him. 

"It's a long drop," Harald spoke loudly in an attempt to get his voice to carry over the noise. He laughed again and looked back at the giant waterfall, clearing his throat for a moment before suddenly yelling into the air. (Y/N)'s brows raised at how quiet it sounded compared to the waterfall, an amused smile pulling at his lips. Leif laughed and stood beside them, taking out his disk and holding it up in front of his face to toy with it. Harald watched him before his gaze lifted and he stepped back, accidentally tugging (Y/N) along with him. He paused and turned his head, peering down at their intertwined hands and slowly releasing his hold on him. (Y/N)'s amused smile fell. Harald's lips pressed into a thin forced smile and he motioned for the brothers to follow him a bit further up the mountain. 

(Y/N) saw it in the distance, peeking out between two mountains. Camps across the plains. A thin strip of smoke slipped out from a clearing in the forest, catching (Y/N)'s eye. A rather close camp of Pechenegs. They were far enough for it to take days to reach the boat but they were camped near the river below the waterfall that led to Constantinople. They'd likely have weapons, and if their reputation was true, the crew would be in for a painful time if caught. 

"If we survive the falls, then we have to survive them." Harald sighed heavily, tightly gripping the hilt of his sword with his hand. "We must move on. The faster we get this over with, the sooner we'll be out of their territory." He said and turned, heading back up the river. (Y/N) lingered on the camp for a moment before his gaze drifted downward. Harald was right. It was a long drop from the top of the waterfall. High enough to destroy the boat if they got unlucky. (Y/N) looked away and followed Harald back to the boat.

Once the boat came into view, Harald called out to them, "Pack up! We're moving on."

"You have seen the falls?" Batu asked.

"We have." Harald nodded, waiting as everyone gathered around. "I'm not going to lie to you. It will be a challenge. We will have to prepare ourselves to go down it." 

"When do we leave?" Kaysan asked next, one arm wrapped securely around Cadlin's waist. She leaned against his chest with a big smile, gazing up at him lovingly.

"Tomorrow."

"What? Why so soon?"

"The water level is dropping. If we wait much longer, the boat will not make it over the falls." Kurya explained, turning his head in the direction of their voices. 

"And we would all be trapped here," Harald added. Catching the look Batu and Kaysan exchanged, he continued. "The longer we stay here, the greater the chances the Pechenegs will find us."

"Then we portage. The men said the Pechenegs have moved east." Brigtoc proposed. (Y/N) frowned. Most of the crew appeared comfortable at the river. They'd need to be convinced to leave.

"They lied. There are many camps visible from the falls. We could see fires in the plains further ahead." Leif revealed with a light shake of his head. 

Huffing, Harald placed a hand on his hip. "We've risked enough camping here the last few nights. The sooner we move, the better." Harald told them and walked toward the platform to get on the boat. However, Kaysan stepped in front of him and gave an apologetic look.

"Then, I am not sure we will be joining you." He said, wrapping an arm around Cadlin when she moved closer to him and nodded in agreement. Harald blinked at them, brows furrowing as he glanced back at the brothers. 

"Why not?"

"I am not ready to die," Cadlin answered, resting her head against Kaysan's chest. Harald scoffed in disbelief and stepped back, looking over each of the crew members. 

"You would all rather risk the Pechenegs?"

"They haven't found us yet. And you can't tell us the fall is without risk." Brigtoc responded with a light shrug.

"Nothing is without risk! All we have done for the last two moons has been with risk!" Harald rebutted angrily.

"But before we had no choice! Now we do." Cadlin pointed out.

"I choose to stay." Brigtoc stood up from her spot on the boat. Dorn stood up and moved beside her, signaling her agreement with Brigtoc. Batu bowed his head when Harald looked at him and Harald's shoulders slumped. He turned toward Eleana but she shook her head at him. With no one appearing to be on his side, Harald groaned.

"What is all this? We have known for months this day will come. And now, when it is finally here, you are not willing to meet the challenge? I will not wait here and let the Pechenegs make a flute out of my coward's bones! I'll go by myself if I must." Harald barked, moving onto the platform and making his way onto the boat. 

"You can't," Leif called and walked forward, making Harald look at him. "We need at least six rowers, and we must lessen the weight of the boat by 50 skippund or it will not clear the base of the falls."

"50 skippund?" Harald repeated softly, lightly tapping his foot and looking over the boat. "So we lose the mast."

"The mast weighs about 15 skippund," Leif told him, his eyes flickering onto the stacks of fur but Harald shook his head.

"No, if I lose my furs I have no reason to go on."

"Then you are just like everybody else." Leif shrugged. Harald stared at him, jaw clenching as he inhaled sharply. Storming off the platform, he stalked off into the forest while cursing softly under his breath. (Y/N) stared after him and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and walking through the grass, following the imprints Harald left. 

"(Y/N)?"

"I'll be back." (Y/N) called back to Eleana and continued into the forest, tracking Harald down to a boulder. The prince sat on it, holding his head in his hands. He didn't move when (Y/N) got closer, only sighing quietly when (Y/N) sat down beside him. They stayed quiet and listened to the sounds of the forest until Harald lifted his head and leaned back. 

"Everything has gone wrong... I've lost you and now everyone else has abandoned me." Harald whispered, looking down at the dirt and pushing it around with his foot. "Have you come to lecture me more? Tell me how useless this sulking is?"

"I only tell you the truth, Harald. And the truth is that you cannot expect them to follow you when you refuse to sacrifice something of yours first. Those people may lose their lives going down that waterfall. They're afraid... and they're afraid because they do not trust you. You have not given them a reason to. Cadlin, Dorn, and Brigtoc are experiencing freedom for the first time in a long time. Mariam is dying. Kurya risks being captured and put in front of his murderous brother. Batu and Kaysan are happy because they're surrounded by friends. Eleana... Eleana is the key to Constantinople because she was promised to the emperor." His words made Harald look at him and (Y/N) sighed softly, delicately placing a hand on Harald's cheek. "You are better than this Harald. You are a man of many talents. You will find a way to make money in Constantinople without those furs. It will just take a long time." 

"How do you know?"

"Because you are an intelligent and strong man. And you know I'm right about everything. About us, about them. You mustn't live in denial anymore, Harald. I wanted us to be happy on this trip and in Constantinople. I wanted us to have good memories of each other that we could think about after we part ways. I was never meant to be in court, Harald. I see it in your eyes that you know this is true. You do not want to accept it but you must. Making hard decisions will be part of being King of Norway. This pain will make you stronger." (Y/N) told him softly, using his thumb to stroke Harald's cheek. Rising to his feet, (Y/N) cupped Harald's face and kissed his forehead. "They are not abandoning you. They are trying to make you see their side of things."

With that, he left Harald with his thoughts and returned out to the clearing by the river. Eleana rose from his seat with a bowl of berries in hand, offering him some and glancing back at the forest. (Y/N) quietly thanked her, taking some berries and popping them into his mouth. "Will Harald agree to get rid of the furs?" Eleana asked with a tilt of her head. 

"I'm not su-" Looking back at the forest, Harald reemerged with a concentrated look on his face. Everyone turned to watch him get on the boat and approach his stack of furs. Picking one up, he tossed it overboard and looked back at the others, gaze lingering on (Y/N).

"I cannot guarantee anyone's survival. What is over the falls, I do not know. I can only guarantee my best efforts to keep us alive. And I cannot do that if we remain here." He said and looked back at his furs, continuing to toss them in the river one by one. Leif approached him first to help then Cadlin then Brigtoc and then everyone else. They took the furs and tossed them into the water.

By the end, Harald appeared pleased with himself, smiling widely as everyone worked together to get the mast off and into the water. They packed the tents and other belongings that were on the shore into the boat and turned to Harald and Leif with newfound determination. 

Getting seated, they tied ropes to their oars in hopes it would keep the oars from drifting downstream when the boat went over the falls. Leif wrapped Mariam in a coat and kissed her before taking his place at the back with the rudder. Harald got the boat moving and instructed everyone to row. (Y/N) and Eleana remained with Harald at the front, looking for any large rocks in the water and checking for when the waterfall grew closer. The river began pushing the boat harder and the waterfall came into view, sending a wave of anxiety into (Y/N). He felt rang a finger over his necklace and took in a deep breath.

Once the boat entered the rapids, he ducked down with Eleana and Harald, pressing his back against the boat and holding onto whatever he could. Leif called for the oars to be pulled in and everyone ducked down, holding on for dear life. (Y/N) squeezed his eyes shut, hearing the roar of the waterfall grow closer and closer. Eleana wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest fearfully. When the boat went over the fall, screams followed. Water lashed at (Y/N)'s face and body, the force and air lifting him.

And then he felt himself being flung from the boat.

A little reminder

Pairing: Portgas D. Ace x [male, amab] Reader Words: ~ 3 200 Summary: Do you need a reminder about who you belong to? Ace is glad to help. Tags: Jealous Ace / Rough / Oral / Chest fixation / Bruises

Requested by anon [Ace and male reader (rough and possessive smut please) Ace gets jealous of someone near Y/n and decides to take him away and show him that Y/n’s his and his alone.]

MASTERLIST

          “And that’s how we got the ship.” Usopp grinned as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the mast. “We are a very skilled crew, but we wouldn’t make it if it weren’t for me!” He laughed, a hand on his hip and the other pointing to himself. “The great—”

“Would you like a drink, (y/n)-san?” Sanji stepped in front of you out of sudden, hence you needed to blink a couple of times until you focused on the glasses on the tray in front of you, not even noticing how Usopp complained at Sanji for stealing the spotlight. “It’s a warm day! You gotta keep yourself hydrated! I bet you and Ace don’t even have the time to settle down properly since you’re always rushing around! Both of you need to make sure you eat properly!”

“Thanks!” You grinned, taking one of the cold glasses in hand. “And don’t worry, Sanji! We make sure to eat enough! And you can bet that Ace and I will eat a lot of your food while we are here!” You winked at him and took a sip of the drink, humming at the fruity, sweet taste of the drink. “This is so great, Sanji! I missed your food, to be honest! It’s been a long while since we met in Alabasta, isn’t it!”

Two years ago, Ace told you his brother had been heading to the same place as the two of you3, which made you excited to meet him. Turns out you met not just Luffy, but all of the Straw Hats and the adventure across the desert of Alabasta was interesting, despite you and Ace finding out you’d followed false tips.

Later, the two of you met again in The War of The Best, but the rest of the crew wasn’t there, so it was nice to be there now with all of them once again. The weather was warm and the sky had a few clouds on it so the sun wasn’t unbearable, hence you dismissed the use of a shirt just like Ace, and also making it the perfect weather to hang out on Sunny’s deck with the Straw Hats. Ace was off with Zoro and Luffy while Sanji, Nami, Chopper and Brook had your attention at the moment.

Sanji grinned, letting Chopper and Nami take the drinks that remained on the tray before he tucked it under his arm. “It indeed is! And don’t worry, I will make sure to prepare a delicious dinner tonight! Also, don’t forget to let me know when you are leaving so I can pack you some meals, okay?”

“Really?” You gasped as you looked at him then grinned more with a nod. “That’s very sweet!”

Sanji’s eyes lightened up. “No worries! It’s a pleasure to—”

“Sorry to interrupt!” Ace’s voice cut him off and you looked up to see him behind you, resting his hands on your shoulders. “I might have to steal (y/n) away for a while! I gotta discuss a few things with my pretty boyfriend!” He laughed and, despite the way the others reacted—Nami and Chopper finding it adorable while Sanji raised his eyebrows a little—, you could notice the forced tinge in Ace’s chuckle and the urgency as he made you stand up. Ace still had that weird expression on his face as he guided you off to the side of the ship until he just pulled you inside a random room with him.

“Ace?” You sighed with a frown. “What’s all of this about, love? I—”

“(Y/n)...” He exhaled sharply and looked away, but you just rolled your eyes and kept sipping on your drink.

“Storage room?” You raised an eyebrow and sipped on your drink again, looking around. There were only wooden boxes, spare wood, barrels, shelves—

Ace had his hands on his hips, blinking slowly as he looked at you with that smirk that didn’t extend itself to his bored eyes. A scoff escaped his lips as he shook his head and took the drink away from your hand, putting it on a shelf before he could step closer.

“Y’know, I wonder if I’m not imposing enough or something.” He placed his hands on your hips, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed. “They keep treating you like that. Mainly Sanji. Don’t they know you’re mine?” He clicked his tongue, gently pushing you to take steps back until you could feel the cold wood of the wall meet your back.

“You know it’s not like that, Ace...” You whispered, trying to make some sort of comforting tone as you placed your hands on his freckled shoulders; his skin was warm from standing in the sun. “We are great friends, and it’s been a long while since we saw them!”

Ace raises an eyebrow, twisting his mouth. “Yeah, yeah. Know who else were great friends? Mhm, that’s right! You and I!”

You scoffed, chuckling. “It’s not like that and you know it!”

A scowl was on Ace’s face as he looked at you, dark eyes and low eyebrows. He decided against arguing and pressed his lips firmly to yours instead, not caring if your teeth grazed together or if you struggled to keep up with the rhythm he imposed, sinking your nails into his shoulders at the surprise, because all that mattered was the fact he was touching you right now.

The kiss left you breathless, panting for air as he started to mouth at your neck, nibbling and pressing close in a way you struggled to keep the gasps from escaping from your lips since the touches came one after the other, with a little more pressure than needed. His teeth tugged on your skin harsher than usual, but the sharp, short spurts of pain did have sparkles going through your body. Your breath grew heavier as even your mind struggled a little to keep up with what was going on—and what would go on, as well.

“A—Ace!” You gulped, feeling fingers tugging on the waistband of your shorts. “We can’t! We are in someone else’s ship and we—”

“It doesn’t matter!” His whispers were a little louder than yours. “Don’t you understand that I need you? That you belong to me?” His lips pressed to yours once again, messily.

You kissed back for a second, but then pressed a hand to his shoulder. “You know that’s not what I meant! I—”

Ace’s face twisted bitterly before he kissed you again, taking your bottom lip between his teeth and biting hard enough to make you wonder if your mouth was bleeding when he let go to continue his way down your neck. His teeth tugged on your skin in between soft sucks that only didn’t leave many marks behind because he didn’t have the patience to continue on the same spot for too long.

You relaxed a little under his touches once you started to get used to the intensity of everything, though it’s not much; Ace’s big palms spread over your waist to massage the skin softly as he keeps pressing you to the wall don’t really do anything to help with how uncomfortable your shorts started to feel. The zipper was painful against your cock, making you hiss a little, only to moan when his thigh pressed to your crotch instead; it had a quiet moan escaping your lips as you squeezed his shoulders. It was hard to resist it now.

“Ace...” You whispered, trying to figure out a way to ask for more without clearly doing it; why would you admit to giving on to Ace’s wishes? A gasp escaped your lips with how he pressed closer, his lips low going lower to leave nibbles and kisses on your pec and risking going around your nipple. His name escaped your lips among poorly suppressed moans as you pressed a hand to the back of his neck to pull him closer, which of course made him keep going—you gasped, covering your mouth with a hand to stop a damn moan because of the way his teeth sunk just right around your nipple.

Ace’s name escaped your lips in a messy moan that didn’t even sound comprehensible while his tongue ran flat against your nipple. Still, those weren’t compared to the way he even made you double over when his teeth sunk into your peck, high on your chest.

“You gonna continue walking around without that shirt of yours,” he mumbled against your chest, but his wide, dark eyes were on yours, “and gonna show everyone who you belong to.”

The idea of it just made you want more, unfortunately, slowly giving in more and more to Ace’s whims and rolling your hips into his thigh in response.

A sigh escaped Ace’s lips as he pulled back, allowing his warmth against your body to be uncomfortably placed with cold air while he started to unbutton your shorts. The bulge in his pants drew your eyes inexplicably easy, making you gulp seeing his shorts seemed about as uncomfortably tight as yours.

The shorts fell to the ground and his lips were on yours again immediately, with slow, open mouthed kisses as his hands slipped into your boxers, rubbing your thighs a little as he slowly pulled your underwear down. You stepped out of it with how the way he held onto your hips made you move until Ace helped you on top of a barrel. You gasped as you looked down between the two of you, seeing your flush cock rest back against your lower stomach, swollen and leaking from how he had been teasing you so far, twitching at the way Ace’s hard cock rubbed against your ass despite still being clothed.

“Don’t you think you still have a little too much clothing on?” You mumbled, resting your back against the wall.

“Are you in a position to ask for anything?” Ace raised an eyebrow. “Giving attention to the others. Did you even know where I was? What I was doing?”

You narrowed your eyes and let out a soft scoff, shaking your head a little. “You’re so...”

The words escaped your grasp, making a smirk stretch across Ace’s face as he hooked his hands under your thighs, bringing them up in a way you were forced into a not quite sitting position anymore, almost slipping if you didn’t hold onto the edges of the barrel and Ace didn’t hold you. His hands were open against your thighs, fingers sinking into them to squeeze the skin for a moment, thumb rubbing circles into your inner thighs.

It was agonizingly good and Ace knew that, holding the strong eye contact as he slowly inched lower, keeping track of the little hitches in your breath while you held yourself back from squirming under his touch. A look of victory took over his face at the moment you let your head rest back against the wall, moaning and pushing into his touch once his hand wrapped around your cock. It wasn’t necessarily good given how dry his hand was, barely moving, but it was already some sort of relief.

You observed Ace through half-lidded eyes, swallowing dryly as you watched him lean forward until warm lips met the inside of your thigh, at first just lingering over them lightly enough to make your skin rise in shivers. It was almost mesmerizing, hence you only came back to reality when Ace’s tongue poked out, warm and wet against the base of your cock.

A gasp escaped your lips, your breath hitching in your throat multiple times with how Ace kept mouthing at the area, letting his tongue poke out now and then; his fingers sank into your thighs to keep them open despite how you threatened to close them around his head.

An embarrassingly high pitched sound came from you when you felt his tongue against your hole. Ace paused before he licked it again with enough spit to trail down your skin. There was certain concentration in Ace’s face as he did it, eyebrows furrowed and eyes sometimes averting up to check on your reaction, especially when you shifted, thighs tensing up under his touch because his tongue started to poke in.

“Ace,” you whispered through a moan, fingers tightening around the edges of the barrel because of how he lapped inside you, keeping you open. Another moan was silenced with a hiss as you tensed up and curled your toes, trying to roll your hips into his mouth out of reflex at the moment he leaned in, trying to reach his tongue deeper and, fuck—

One of your hands flew to Ace’s hair, holding him there, which didn’t really work well given the way he pulled back a little and licked his fingers up. Turns out it wasn’t bad—not at all—, you gasped, feeling your body grow hotter at the feeling of his fingers lining up with your entrance at the same time his mouth pressed to your cock, licking along the underside of it at the same time he pushed his fingers in and curled them up inside.

“Ngh, Ace...” You gasped, struggling to keep the sounds in; you tried to keep yourself quiet by holding your breath whenever a moan threatened to escape your throat, but it just fucking ended up making you out of air and having everything become each time more difficult. “A—Ace—” Maybe it was a little louder than it should this time, your thighs almost closing around his head because of how his fingers curled up and pressed just against the right spot. All of that was dangerous, making you squirm a lot, becoming dangerously close.

The way you clenched around Ace’s fingers only had him pushing his fingers in deeper, making more desperate gasps and babbling pleas spill from your lips at the same time you tugged on his hair. It was so, so close, and you were almost there when Ace just pulled away.

“No...” You whined, feeling the previously crescent pressure in your lower stomach now start to dissipate, much to Ace’s amusement. He only grinned, proudly sporting his face wet with drool as he took a step back and started to undo his belt.

Light throbbing was the only thing that resulted from Ace's strong grip on your thighs, leaving you wanting for more as you quietly watched him finally help himself, lowering his shorts and boxers just a little down his thighs, just enough. Ace spit on his hand before he wrapped his hand around his own cock, giving it a few pumps, mixing the spit with his precum. Just the sight was enough to make your cock twitch in anticipation, leaking as you ached for his touch to return, knuckles going white around the edges of the barrel again.

Ace’s hand sent sparkles through your skin once it pressed to it again, kneading into the fat of your thigh, the other one holding the base of his cock and letting it press gently against your entrance, feeling it flutter. Your breath hitched in anticipation, which easily happened again as you gasped and suppressed moans with how he started to push in, finally.

Your eyes watched Ace disappear inside you, making your breath shaky as you tried to suppress all the sounds that tried to push past your lips; feeling him stretch you out so nice and good, slowly sinking in deeper. He paused once his hips met the back of your thighs in a short pause that allowed you to attempt to regain your breath only to moan at the moment he started to move his hips, moving right away with harsh and heavy thrusts.

“A—Ace,” you couldn’t help but whine, interrupted by a loud moan at the moment he hooked his hands pressed to the underside of your thighs to push your legs back against your torso, allowing him to reach in deeper and just at the right spots. “A—Ace, I need to— The others, they—” You slapped a hand over your mouth, trying to muffle the sounds because of how his cock managed to reach just into the spot that made your thighs quiver, forcing against the grip of his hands in fruitless attempts to press shut.

“I don’t care.” Ace moaned lowly, breath labored as he looked at you from under his lashes, messy black strands gluing to his sweaty forehead. “Why’d I care if they learned that you are mine, hm? Learned how well I can please you?” He scoffed, with that goddamn grin across his face, his fingers sinking into your skin as his hips snapped against yours with more force, making useless the attempts of at least muffling your sounds since you could barely hold your hand to your lips, and Ace didn’t even fucking care about it.

His lips continued stretched in that fucking grin as his hips slammed against yours again and again and, damn it, you were cumming already, all over your torso, hot and sticky as you tried to keep yourself together.

Ace’s eyes met yours with a different gaze this time, in a wordless ‘I hope you know that I’m not ready yet’ as his hips worked more intensely against yours, fucking you through your high and relishing your overstimulation that quickly came with how one of his hands reached forward and squeezed your peck.

“Fuck,” Ace gasped with a pause. He wrapped one of your legs around his own waist, throwing the other over his shoulder before he could squeeze your chest again and go back to moving his hips; they slammed against yours in a messy rhythm at first before finally picking up a pace that made your cock twitch again.

Your whimpers and heavy breathing filled his ears along with the obscene wet sound of skin against skin. Ace let out a moan as he looked down between the two of you, watching his cock disappear inside you repeatedly, leaving a creamy, white line around the base. Damn it. A string of moans escaped his lips as he squeezed your thigh and your chest more; he was fucking coming, pumping cum inside of you as he continued to move his hips and make sure it pushed in deep, coating your insides all over.

Shaky, whiny breaths cut through the thick silence of the room as the two of you slowly came back to reality. Ace pulled away from you, biting his lip as he watched the cum drip out of your hole. Why was it so fucking hot? His hands rubbed your thighs soothingly, pressing kisses to the soft skin as he slowly let your legs down.

“That was good,” Ace mumbled, adjusting his underwear and shorts again. “Want me to clean you?” He licked his lips and grinned, glancing between your legs and at your eyes again with wiggling eyebrows.

“Ace!” Your cheeks burned hotter and you pressed your thighs together, finally, looking away.

Ace laughed. “Right, right.” He bent down, handing you your boxers and your shorts. You struggled to get off the barrel, legs shaking as the ground seemed to twirl under your feet, but you grabbed your clothes and started to put them back on. “Your chest looks kinda nice, may I say.” That damn grin was over his face again, making you flustered and annoyed all at the same time.

“Fuck off, Ace,” you mumbled. How were you even supposed to leave that room given how you were probably too loud and none of you had a shirt? “Damn it, Ace...”

.𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟.

2 or 28 with Jake Sully

prompts.

⠀⠀“i think about you. ceaselessly.” — j. s.

⠀⠀⠀ ⠀“you blush so beautifully.” — j. s.

jake never understood your adoration towards him. he always thinks it’s because he was toruk makto, and how he led the na’vi to victory against the sky people — and you always tell him no. sure, it’s impressive, but you didn’t care for it. at this point, he doubts he’ll ever get it.

but, that doesn’t mean you can’t at least try to force it through his thick skull.

“you blush so beautifully.” that only make his blush darken, hiding his face beneath his bicep. he was naked, vulnerable, nothing to cover his beauty — your words, not his. it made him red, all over, thighs rubbing together.

your skilled fingers rub over his skin, ignoring the spots were he needed them the most, silently worshiping the majority of his body.

he’d squirm, complain, talking about how stupid this is. you only continue, leaning down to kiss everything you touched. truthfully speaking, he loved this. your attention is all he craved. his body saying what he wouldn’t as it twitched, his dick drooling pre-cum.

“please.” he whispers. he wants you inside, any part of you, as long as you fill him. but no, moments like these take time, and you have the patience to give every piece of him the admiration it deserves. he’s so perfect.

“i think about you. ceaselessly.” your words fog his mind. he whines, arching his back, pressing his chest onto you.

after almost an hour had passed, you would finally, finally, touch his cock, then his ass. giving his most sensitive spots everything they needed, and more. what he hadn’t realize, is that you wouldn’t stop doing so until he couldn’t come anymore. he earned this, to have his mind broken, you thought.

this will be a very, very long night.

Requested; No.

Pairing(s); Ghost x Top Male Reader

Cw// Smut/Nsfw, Phone Sex, Bottom Ghost and Top Reader, partial Hc's.

A/n- I promised yall this a lonngg time ago, and I apologize, life has just been so hectic and everything, but I'm back on my phone sex brainrot again so here we go. Need this brainrot gone 💀 I'm also extremely rusty so- might not be the best I can do

______________

- Simon was overseas again, away from home. It was always hard on the both of you, wishing you both were at home in the comfort and safety of each other's arms. However.. there were times when you both were able to call and spend time with each other that way.

- It started off with talks about the day, some details held back of course on his end, and you talking about how his dog did something stupid- yet funny. Though as the call went on, you could hear his breath get shallow over the phone, and the tone of his voice drop. Talking about how much he misses you, and wishes he could be home with you, and how he misses your touch.

- It started slow, with you saying a soft spoken, "I miss yours too." You could hear him shift over the phone, as you leaned back against your bed and closed your eyes, imagining what he was doing.

"I miss feeling your skin beneath my fingers, so warm and soft.." You whispered, hearing ghost moan under his breath with something unzipping afterwards. You knew where this was leading, and fuck did it turn you on knowing that he was getting off to your voice, getting off to the thought of what you'd do to him.

"Fuck.. what would you do?" He spoke softly, hearing him shift some more and you could only imagine that he was on his knees, face pressed against whatever he's on. "I'd kiss your neck, and bite your shoulder, I would cover you in my marks, so everyone knows your mine." Simon moaned, and you couldn't help but pull your sweats down, taking your cock in your hand.

You knew how much ghost loved your possessiveness, how he loved when you'd litter his body in hickeies and love bites. "My fingers deep inside you, stretching you open, and edging you over, and over again" Slowly you moved your fingers along your slit, taking in a deep breath as you began to stroke your cock, "Finger yourself for me." Simon let out a muffled moan, faint ruffling in the background that let you know he was pulling down his pants, "Yes sir."

"Such a good boy, remember how I do it? A finger at a time, with slow thrusts," You could tell he was listening by the way he panted, and moaned, imagining the beautiful sight of him on the other end of the phone. "Keep going," He demanded, and you couldn't help but laugh, the desperation was so clear in his voice, and fuck was it hot.

A moan slipped past your lips when you wrapped your hand around your cock with slow thrusts, "Fuck.. wish I would feel you around me, so warm and soft, but so fucking tight.." You groaned out, gradually thrusting your hand quicker, and simons pants and moans only stirred you on more. "Bloody hell.. I want you to fuckin ruin me, I need you so fuckin bad" His words caught you off guard, he wasn't one to say those things often but when he did- fuck did it get you going.

"You'd love that wouldn't you? Me turning you into a fucking mess, fucking you senseless until all you can think about is how good I'm making you feel" Simon's moans grew louder with each word, and you could feel that knot in your stomach getting much tighter when he did. You always loved the way he sounded, his moans sounding so fucking sweet to your ears.

"Fuck-! fuck.. please- please! I wanna cum-" He begged, high pitched whines spilling from his mouth as he moaned, you wanted to drag it out, to edge him until he was babbling nonsense and his legs were shaking. You wanted to ruin him, and that's exactly what you're going to do.

"Show me how to kiss?"

Pairing: Roronoa Zoro x [gender neutral] Reader Summary: Two sets of headcanons: one in which you ask Zoro to show you what it is like to kiss and another one in which he's the one to ask. Tags: Shy Zoro / Fluffy and loving / Also sorta funny Coming soon (Vinsmoke Sanji's version)

MASTERLIST

If you’re the one to ask him...

• He just. He doesn’t know how to kiss either. I mean, do you think he ever had the time or mindset to do it??

• So, it’s messy. None of you really know what to do.

• Behind it all, Zoro has been kinda hoping he could kiss you and you’d been looking at him in a different way lately, so something like that was sort of bound to happen at some point

• It’s like a switch turns for you two, and it’s impossible to stop after that because, after all, you gotta practice to be perfect, right?

          “...They wouldn’t stop kissing.” You sighed, twisting your mouth a little as you thought back to the couple you saw at a bar when hanging out with the crew at an island. You and Zoro were out on the deck for the night watch; he sat back against the railing while you had your back on the ground, observing the stars above you. Once in a while, a colder breeze would make you shiver, but it wasn’t really that bad. The gentle rocking of the ship would intensify your tiredness, at times, but never enough to make your consciousness slip away into slumber, which resulted in sporadic and pointless talks. “It was obnoxious.”

Zoro hummed in agreement, shaking his head as he kept his gaze far in the horizon.

“What’s so great about it?”

He raised an eyebrow, humming again, and looked at you.

“About kissing,” you explained, sitting up and scooting closer to him with a sigh. “What’s good about it?”

...Why would he know? Zoro blushed a little as he looked away and preferred not to answer it. Maybe you’d give up on the question or talk about something else. Having to deal with always trying to find something other than the annoying couple at the bar was already stressful enough.

“Zoro.” You nudged him. “Can I ask you something?”

He blinked and looked at you for a moment. He nodded. You were a pain in the ass everyday—affectionately—, so he was mostly used to what you could come up with.

“Look, I don’t know how to say it without making it awkward, but like, I trust you, so...” You sighed, your eyes averting away for a moment. “Like, could you show me how to kiss? I never really had any time to think about it because I was always training to be strong out in the sea, y’know?” Was Zoro even paying attention? Even in the dark, you could see his red cheeks. Did you say something wrong?

“I can’t help you with that.” He kept looking forward, eyes narrowed. You knew that serious posture was just a play. It was when Robin and you ran into him taking care of babies.

You pouted. “What? C’mon, I’m just curious. We’ll just never talk about it.”

Zoro didn’t bulge, only groaning when you poked his side, squirming away more than he usually would. “I already said I can’t help you with that!”

You opened your mouth to argue, but nothing really ever came from your mouth. Instead, you searched in your mind for some reference, however, you could only remember Zoro always in the corners of bars or celebrations or over the sake. He was never the type to be around hitting on someone like Sanji did nor pay attention to whoever approached him. Maybe...

“I think I get it.” You smirked a little. “You don’t know how to kiss either.”

The flush on Zoro’s face intensified as he gasped and widened his eyes. “Wh—What are you talking about?”

You chuckled. Of course, Zoro, the swordsman with his unbelievable focus on becoming the best ever and his whole damn shyness wouldn’t allow him to be with anyone else either. It was almost relatable.

“It’s obvious Zoro. You can tell me, though,” you continued, ignoring the stuttering mess he was in, “y’know, it all makes sense. And I’m, like, the closest one to you here, you can at least admit it to me, right?” You elbowed his side a little—you didn’t give a fuck about it, to be honest, it was just nice seeing him like that. “I’m up to helping you with it, though, hm? What do you say?” You chuckled again, but made sure to keep a serious hint. It was all a joke until he agreed. If he disagreed, you were just fucking around, right?

Zoro’s face was so red. He could feel it burning and everything felt too much. His heart already felt like it would rip off his chest, and then the way you elbowed his side and that your face was so close to his that he could feel your breath on the side of his face, he was—

“Fine!” He breathed before he could notice it himself.

You raised your eyebrows. Did you hear it right? “Fine,” huh? Your own cheeks warmed up at the thought.

“You really...”

“Don’t make me regret it.” Zoro gulped, and you almost chuckled as he shifted to face you, his eyes still not looking anywhere near yours.

Despite fooling around the whole time, a serious atmosphere fell over both of you simultaneously, having the two of you gradually fall quiet. Zoro took a deep breath while you already looked at his eyes, waiting for his gaze to meet yours, which it did, eventually, even if still a little uncertain. You wanted to smile, laugh and hide all at the same time, but still held the gaze.

The ship had never been that quiet and maybe the wind was a little colder than you thought it to be. It didn’t matter, though, because Zoro’s hand was warm against your cheek, and you held onto his wrist out of reflex, which also felt warm. A quiet exchange of gazes was enough to determine you were ready and he was leaning in.

It was slow and careful, with nervousness lacing it, but still sweet nonetheless.

Zoro’s nose tickled a little when it brushed against your own nose, as if testing the waters before you leaned in properly. The distance was miscalculated and your lips brushed together too soon, making both of you pull away at the same time as if it’d burned. It didn’t burn, no, but there was something.

Your eyes met Zoro’s and he had a similar look on his face—so he felt it too. He mirrored the small smile that showed up across your face before the two of you leaned in again, carefully and slowly letting your lips meet.

Warm. Zoro’s lips were warm, but the kiss also made you feel something inside your chest that stirred up with the “kiss”, and made you lean in for more as you’d seen other people do, which snatched a soft gasp from Zoro, but he still tried to make up for it. If anything, things were just messy. None of you really knew what to do, trying to set your own rhythm but also match with the other’s and put in practice only brief notions you only had so far.

Suddenly, Zoro had his other hand cupping the side of your neck, which made you pause for a moment, but it was more than enough for him to figure out exactly what was missing and make the kiss more of a kiss. You just followed his lead this time, letting his lips guide yours through a gentle and uncertain kiss that maybe awakened more in you that you were aware of.

Cold air replaced Zoro’s lips when he pulled away. Your mind was still a little fuzzy, so you took a moment to open your eyes, already meeting his waiting gaze when you did so.

“That...” You whispered and gulped. The small pause had Zoro holding his breath and tensing up. “Can we do it again?”

Zoro chuckled, closing his eyes as he blushed again. “I hoped you’d say that...”

The new kiss had actual synchrony, even if it was barely present. Your hands actually held onto his shoulders this time as you pressed yourself closer, allowing the kiss to be deeper.

There was a look on Zoro’s face when he pulled away this time, one you couldn’t quite read. “You taste nice.”

“I taste nice?” You chuckled. “What’s it like?”

“It’s...” Zoro sighed, blinking a couple of times as he looked at you. “Sweet. What do I taste like?”

“Sake.” You answered without missing a bit, which made his face fall a little; you chuckled.

.𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟.

If he asks you...

• Zoro’s been thinking about it for a while now, to be honest, trying to find an excuse to make it happen

• He genuinely didn’t think it would be that good. He had little faith in it—mostly curiosity—, but when you kiss him, he just ends up getting lost and wants more. Just wants you to show him everything. Also uses the excuse he gotta practice to get perfect

          “What’re you so grumpy about?” You raised an eyebrow, seeing Zoro walk in while grumbling under his breath. He usually didn’t come over to the aquarium bar when you were there during the afternoons messing with your own stuff just like the rest of the crew, so he certainly wanted attention that you were more than willing to give.

Zoro took a seat next to you, scowling. “That damn cook.”

“Oh.” You raised your eyebrows and sighed with a nod without looking up from the stuff you messed with. There were a few lists of what each one of the crew needed since you would soon make a stop on another island, so you needed to organize all of those and estimate how much money you’d need, and thinking wasn’t very easy with Zoro there, but it probably wasn’t anything that bad since it was just more fighting with Sanji. Not that he really cared about it, but you supposed it was a way of him gaining your attention despite how shy he tended to be. He wasn’t that shy around you, though. It was even funny when people commented about him being only cold and stoic—he could be, yeah, but he was also too shy for his own good.

“He’s spilling some stuff about kissing today, y’know?” Zoro huffed, crossing his arms. “About how he misses it and how I wouldn’t understand because I’ve never kissed!” He growled.

“Is it true, though?” You mumbled between the numbers of berries. 15 minus 7 resulted in 8, then 2 minus 1 would be 1, so 11 minus 7, so it would be...

Zoro clicked his tongue. “I’m not like him.”

“That doesn’t answer the question,” you hummed. So, 15 minus 7 was 8, then the 2 turned into 1, and 11 minus—

“I don’t have time to waste around like he does, kissing and— and hell knows what.” He looked down with pursed lips then turned to you.

“Right.” You inhaled deeply and scratched out the math you were doing to start it all over again later. “It’s not really a waste of time, I mean. Depends on the person. What, you’re aromantic or something? Or just never kissed? You’re sounding a little too bitter about something so irrelevant.” Now and then, Zoro just needed you to poke him with the raw truth so he would ground himself in reality again a little.

“I—I wouldn’t think about it.” Zoro clicked his tongue, looking away again. “I got better things to do.”

You sighed, putting your pen away and sitting back on the couch. “I mean, you never tried it. I wouldn’t be so secure about it myself, in your position, but you do you, right? I'm no one to judge."

Maybe that rubbed off on Zoro the wrong way. He raised an eyebrow at you for a long moment, but all you could do was shrug and nod at him to say something already. You had work to do, after all.

"If you're so sure about it, then show me."

"What?"

"Show me how to kiss." Zoro's face had a tinge of red despite how confident he tried to seem.

Despite the surprise, a smirk still tugged on your lips as you raised your eyebrows. "Oh? You sure? Wanna give me your first kiss? Am I that special?"

He clicked his tongue and looked away once again. "Don't be annoying about it or else I'm leaving."

A chuckle erupted from your lips as you tugged a little on his haramaki when Zoro started to stand up. The way he put it all made you want to tease him more to humble him down a little, but you knew better than that; things probably wouldn't go the right way if you kept him there grumpier than he already was or even accidentally scared him away, something you absolutely didn’t want before such an opportunity.

“Come on, don’t be like that.” You scooted a little closer to Zoro on the couch, putting an arm over the backrest of the couch, behind him. “Right, seriously. You mean it?”

A little crease was still there between Zoro’s furrowed eyebrows as he glanced you up and down, with his arms still crossed over his chest.

“Okay.” You rolled your eyes. He could be just like that sometimes. Annoying.

“How do you do it? Is there any secret trick or—” Zoro shrugged and raised an eyebrow at you. His shoulders dropped a little from their jagged stance and his arms weren’t crossed so tightly anymore.

“I mean, there’s no secret, but there are a few tips I wish I knew before I did it the first time, y’know?” You shifted a little, trying to push your mind away from annoying numbers to a new setting instead. “Like, it’s not necessarily a continuous thing, and it’s sort of you kissing my upper lip while I kiss your bottom one and then vice versa, but you can also— You’re not listening, are you?”

“I’m not.” Zoro confessed with that grin that made you want to punch it right off his face. “Your lips do look nice while you talk, though.”

“...Shameless bastard.”

“What was that?” He narrowed his eyes at you.

“Nothing!” You mirrored his expression and clicked your tongue, holding back a chuckle. “You’re quite useless sometimes, huh? You listen to nothing.” Your hand cupped Zoro’s face gently, letting your thumb reach the corner of his lips before going down along his lip. “That’s why you’re such an empty head, got nothing but muscles...”

Zoro grinned. “You may complain, but you just never get away from me.”

“I’ll just make you shut up at once.”

His hand held onto your elbow as you leaned in and finally pressed your lips to Zoro’s. It was a simple kiss, just keeping your lips against his for a few seconds before pulling back again. A light blush dusted his cheeks and he still glanced at your lips, so you leaned in once again to give him a kiss that wasn’t just like a prolonged peck, actually moving your lips together.

Zoro wasn’t the best at it—of course not—, but he still tried, his grip against your elbow tightening a little at times while he messily kissed you back, trying to keep it up and mirroring your movements. His lips were clumsy and messy, but still something that you could guide and make the whole thing worth something. You held his cheek as you deepened the kiss a little, which made his breath get caught in his throat and his lips get a little lost for a second before they followed your lead again.

The mere seconds you had to pull away already felt like too long, with you exchanging gazes with Zoro to silently check if everything was alright, before your lips were pressed together again. Your tongue ran against his bottom lip this time, actually snatching a gasp from him.

“Is it okay?” You whispered, furrowing your eyebrows a little. Just a few inches still serpared your faces, having you both feel each other’s out of pace breathing.

Zoro nodded. “I just wasn’t waiting for that.”

“Is it okay, though?” You grinned again, seeing him grow flustered once more.

“...Do it again.”

You did kiss Zoro and lick his bottom lip once again, but this time, he opened his lips and allowed you to slip your tongue past his lips. There was a little taste of sake still, already faint. He still didn’t know what to do, but the way you held onto his jaw did ground him a little so he would calm down.

“Good?” You whispered against his lips, lips still grazing him.

Zoro’s breath hitched as he tried to catch his breath, hazy eyes observing you from close. “Do... Do it again.”

.𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟.