Not so Lonely Nights

A/N Yay, update, hurray, celebration. Just want you to know that I'm looking for a beta, so if you're interested, just leave an e-mail or IM in a review. Beware with beta I do not mean a yes-man. I want someone who can tell me that I'm being stupid ^_^V

Concern

Zoro was pretending sleep. Everyone else was asleep, except for Franky, who was on deck having the first half of that night’s guard duty, and the room was loud with the sounds of men sleeping. Snoring mostly, but both Usopp and Chopper spoke in their sleep, even Sanji did that every so often. Sanji also gritted his teeth frequently. Luffy was probably the loudest though, smashing his lips together, mumbling, snoring, grinning, laughing.

But then, he was always laughing, wasn’t he? Like the entire day that day.

They had left Water7’s climate zone and the weather had went from snowing to bright sunshine to whipping slate into their faces in less than two hours. Luffy had been laughing loudly the entire time. Then the wind had suddenly stopped, with no warning whatsoever. It had been rather as though they had entered the calm belt for a while there. If Nami hadn’t confidently told them to wait it out he’d had thought they had been pushed out into the calm belt after all.

But she had been confident and weather was unpredictable on Grand Line, so for a little while the crew had enjoyed a breather. It had been pleasant; the sun had been bathing them in pleasant warmth, the waves had been lapping pleasantly against the hull, the wind began picking up into a pleasant breeze, Sanji had been having pleasant conversation with Robin, after he had served pleasant drinks to everyone.

It was at times like that Zoro was glad Luffy was his captain. Luffy didn’t do ‘pleasant’. He didn’t do ‘unpleasant’ either. Words like that just didn’t cut it. The captain was too big a person to ever fit under such bland expressions; too exuberant and passionate, too energetic, too loving, too hating, too much of everything.

Luffy had interrupted his pretend sleep with his loud laughing. He was swinging from the beams and railing, arms and legs extended to make an impromptu swing on which Usopp and Chopper was respectively laughing and squealing.

He really should go to sleep. After all being in an unstable zone meant that any minute they could be awoken either by Franky’s yell or by a sudden violent wave upturning half the hammocks. He really should but… for some reason he couldn’t, which was really strange for him of all people, considering his normal sleeping habits.

A sound from the hammock under him grabbed his attention immediately. Not that it was louder than the other sounds but… Zoro sighed. Lately he had found himself hyper aware of Luffy’s whereabouts and what he was doing, so of course when Luffy started whining in his sleep instead of the usual half-laughter he would notice before he even realised.

Peering over the side of his hammock, Zoro wondered what Luffy was dreaming about to make him whine, maybe he was having a nightmare? Not that Luffy was prone to nightmares but everyone could have nightmares, couldn’t they?

“Nngh, Sanjiiiii! Meeeeeeat…” Maybe not. Zoro snorted, falling back again. He should have known better. Really, Luffy was one of the most predictable people he knew, it was just his brain being screwed up and overprotective after that whole mess with Usopp and Merry and… but that was over now and Luffy was OK and there was absolutely no reason why he should be lying sleepless at night at least an hour after he had laid down.

Another set of sounds from Luffy interrupted his thought process again and he was about to reprimand himself for being overprotective again when he heard a pair of bare feet slap against the floor boards.

“Luffy?” No answer. “Luffy, where are you going?” Still no answer however the sound of his feet was steadily retreating towards the door. Sighing again he got out and landed on the floor. If Luffy was sleepwalking it might be best t keep an eye on him, especially since it was a relatively new ship and if Luffy fell in the water, Franky wasn’t likely to take note of the small splash.

Zoro ruthlessly squashed the small voice telling him that Luffy’s sleepwalking had never troubled him on the Merry, even when they had only just gotten her. He hadn’t been concerned with much of anything except his goal back then, before he met Mihawk. Before he had suffered the first loss in a duel since Kuina.

The chill night air made goose bumps erupt all over him as he stepped through the door, following Luffy. Luffy himself wasn’t wearing anything but the shorts he slept in and then his hat. Of course he would remember to don his hat even while asleep.

The moon made his lanky frame look somewhat more toned than it actually was, making shadows look darker and deeper compared to the pale, pale colour that was his captain’s skin in moonlight.

Luffy walked confidently towards the railing, none of the swaying and swaggering for some reason always associated with sleepwalking, and relieved himself into the sea. Leave it to Luffy to know the size and proportions of his ship well enough he can manoeuvre it with his eyes closed. Zoro shook his head. They had only had the Sunny three days.

Finished Luffy turned and made his way up to the kitchen. Well, didn’t take a rocket scientist to know what he wanted to do there and Luffy [i]had[/i] learned to eat while sleeping. Clever boy, this way he could even claim innocence.

Deciding he did want to witness a sleeping Luffy trying to get into Sanji’s now locked fridge, Zoro followed quietly, wincing as a loud sound was heard from the crow’s nest. Luffy didn’t seem to notice though, big surprise that was. Luffy was at least as sound a sleeper as he was himself, when he wanted or needed it.

The kitchen was dark when they arrived and Luffy didn’t bother turning on any light. No wonder, the kid could undoubtedly tell you the exact number of steps, be it his own or just about any other crew member, from the door to the fridge, including calculations concerning the difference whether the dinner table was in the way or not.

Not that Luffy was aware of that though.

The padlock clanged loudly as Luffy tried the handle. Luffy giggled slightly, and pulled a little harder. The padlock whined as the metal gave. Zoro moved over there, debating with himself how to save Sanji’s fridge. Not that he cared particularly about Sanji’s fridge, but he did care a great deal about the food in there and if Luffy wrenched the door open, more likely than not, the entire door would come off. And without a fridge their food would spoil.

He put his hands on his captain’s shoulders, stalling. He felt muscle flexing underneath the soft skin and gripped a little harder, glad that Luffy was rubber and he couldn’t possibly bruise him like this. “Captain, Sanji will be mad at you if you ruin his new fridge,” he tried. Wasn’t there something about waking people when they were sleepwalking? Something like ‘not a good idea’? How the hell did you direct a hungry, sleepwalking Luffy back to his hammock without waking him?

“Zoroo, the door’s not opening,” he whined.

“The door’s locked, captain.” He had to swallow a laugh when Luffy answered with an even louder whine. “You should go to sleep.”

“But I am sleeping, silly,” Luffy answered. Zoro could hear the mirth in his voice and wondered if Luffy had in fact been awake the entire time.

“Well, you should be sleeping in your hammock, not the kitchen.”

“Okay.” Zoro didn’t have enough time to be surprised before Luffy stepped back, pressing the entire expanse of his back against the swordsman’s chest and then left.

“…Shit.” For a little while there, his captain’s strong back pressed against his chest had felt… nice. Exceptionally so.

He sighed and traced after Luffy. Maybe he should commandeer the crow’s nest for some alone time. Just him and his hand. And soon.

It wouldn’t do that chance touches such as this affected him so easily. Next time, what if it was the love-cook? Zoro shuddered.

~ ~ ~

Ya want me to write Zoro's private time out? It's been some time since I wrote lemons though, I'm pretty rusty.

Remember R&R makes me a happy-happy person.