#hello guys

You heard a gravely voice mutter, and before you could even process that he was awake, you attempted to cut his neck, one of his hands grabbing your wrist right before.

Your other hand came up, attempting to remove his hand before you felt the sheer circumference of his arm— thick, veiny, strong forearms holding you in place.

“Let me go.”

You muttered, attempting to get his arm off of you before he quickly leaned over you, pinning you with his own sword to your throat.

You felt the cold metal against your skin, saw his imposing figure above you, making your breathing quicken just slightly. He smelled of iron.

“You’re not exactly in the right position to argue with me.”

He muttered, in that same, annoying tone that made your brows furrow.

You weren’t necessarily scared, just annoyed. Getting caught like this was embarrassing. And to some stinky rookie with some measly bounty of 120 million berries. Embarrassing. You were trained better for this.

“Kill me.”

You said bluntly, your breathing heavy as you looked up at him.

“Huh.”

He said, now smiling down at you, letting out a chuckle. Your lips pursed, wondering why he hadn’t just killed you yet.

“Ya sound a lot like me, y’know that? Not that I would let myself get caught like this.”

You didn’t know how to respond, your heart rate spiked, your hands clutching onto the grass on the ship— he didn’t seem like he was holding any malice for you, so why did you still feel so scared?

Zoro paused before sheathing his sword, one of his hands casually moving up to rest right below your heartbeat.

“I don’t even have my sword out anymore.”

He muttered, his calloused fingers resting over your heartbeat, his thumb rubbing the skin there. Your breathing had grown heavier.

“Hey.”

He said bluntly, making you glance up at him.

“This doesn’t feel like much of a conversation with me being the only one talking. I’m not going to hurt you. My captain would be mad at me anyways.”

You nodded, attempting to calm your breathing, your hand moving up to his forearm, just reaching for something to grab onto.

And he let you, surprisingly, continuing to look down at you.

“Why?”

“Told you.”

He muttered, readjusting himself so he wasn’t imposing himself upon you as much.

“My captain would be mad.”

His captain didn’t say anything about you spending the night in zoros room, though.

“Hey, hey—!”

You were currently backing ace into a corner, him avoiding your slices until you end up making a small cut on his cheek, a pang going through your chest.

You did feel just a bit bad, maybe it was the way he looked at you like you weren’t dangerous? Like you were a genuine flesh and blood person?

And he caught it. The hesitance in your stance, the way your eyes widened slightly when your blade cut skin.

He’d been holding back on you because he just thought you were the prettiest person he’d encountered at sea, and this just made him even more intrigued.

“You don’t have to do thi—“

“Shut up!”

You barked, nearly panting as you pinned him against the wall, hesitating on your last mark.

He tried to ignore how his pants got a little tighter at the rawness of your voice, his own breath hitching a little bit.

He put his hands on your arms, guiding the weapons out of his face.

“Just—“

His hands were warm against your skin, making you relax a bit more. Just slightly.

“Was that so hard?”

You nodded petulantly, attempting to get another hit on him.

He caught your wrist instantly, flashing you a smile.

“Aw cmon, we’re past that now. I don’t even know your name, and you’re tryna kill me.”

He leaned in a bit closer, his dark eyes meeting yours as his free hand came to your waist.

“Just give me a chance, okay?”

And damn him for being so convincing.