The unexpected kiss sent Luffy flying when he jolted up, covering his lips.
"Lovers!? Are you messing w-with me right now? That's not funny!" He shouted at the man who had given him such a small kiss, speaking through a shaky voice.
Zoro shook his head, chuckling. "And here I thought your confession was true."
"IT IS!" The younger extended his arms out at Zoro's neck, wrapping himself around him as the older man suffocated in his embrace.
"Good then." He responded, leaving Luffy to yearn for another answer.
"W...what about you?"
"What about me, huh?" Zoro shrugged, going back to his old self. This change in attitude towards him was rubbing Luffy the wrong way.
"What you just told me... Isn't there something else you need to say?"
"About who or what." The boy felt rather annoyed at how slow Zoro was when it came to getting hints.
"About me. ME!" He held Zoro's shoulders, violently rocking him back and forth in his grip.
This irritated the serious Swordsman who slapped Luffy's hands away as revenge for being shaken like a rattle.
"What am I supposed to do? And stop shaking me like that, you'll give me whiplash!"
"Aren't you going to ask me out?" Luffy reverted back to his shy self, sitting slightly farther away from his potential 'lover'.
"Out? Are you a dumbass?" His eyes widened, looking over at Zoro who was still talking.
"We are 'out'." He began laughing when Luffy took his own shirt off and launched it at him, violently.
The silence filled the air with tension for the conservative male friends who had a million thoughts rushing through there heads.
Many of which were too risky to come true, and some that were begging to be said by one of them.
The wind grew colder and Luffy started to shiver while chills ran throughout his body.
Without saying a word, Zoro gave him a somber, poker-faced glare while sitting down next to him.
"W-w-what.. I-it's c-cowwwd.." The boy's tongue froze up, causing him to slur his speech.
His first mate reeled him into an embrace, coiling him in his body to provide warmth for the shirtless boy.
"Here, put this back on." Luffy lifted his arms up as Zoro pulled the shirt back over his head.
"It's warmer now." He smiled brightly at his first mate, making him feel happy.
"Good.." Their voices rested for awhile in complete silence, but thankfully, things didn't feel as awkward as before.
Zoro's big, gentle hands were able to wrap themselves around Luffy's slender figure, giving him enough heat to help him stop shivering.
"A-are we together now? As a couple?" The doubtful boy asked, watching closely as Zoro guided his hand up to his cheek.
"Yeah, something like that." They closed their eyes, basking in another kiss. One that ended up being deeper than before, and lasted longer as an added bonus to the passion that sparked within them.
"D...dowwy..." Luffy stuttered, breaking the kiss.
"Still cold?" He nodded at Zoro, laughing softly.
"The only part in my body that feels warm is my mouth b-because of your kiss." He shamelessly admitted, holding the man's hand.
The touch of Zoro's hand left a smile permanently marked onto his shy boyfriend's face. At least, that's what they finally decided to become after so long.
Thinking that things would stop at a kiss, Luffy was almost dumbfounded when seeing that the older man was lifting his shirt up.
"Nishishi it's funny..." He giggled, making Zoro look up at him after removing his shirt.
"What is?"
"You told me to put my shirt back on, but now you're the one taking it off of me!" The shy Captain smiled.
"Sorry, I suppose I should have left it on." When attempting to put it back over the boy's head, Luffy's hand stopped Zoro.
"It's okay."
"Weren't you cold?" Zoro's face nearly flushed when Luffy placed a kiss on his head, gently caressing his hair.
"That's what I'll have you for... To keep me warm." His eyes were locked on the man as they became little luminescent orbs within the dim lighting of the dark, cold cave.
Zoro's hands were cold to the touch as his thumbs rotated in a soft circular motion, priming themselves to slide Luffy's shorts off.
"Do we keep going?" The man asked. It took Luffy awhile to respond as he was unsure himself.
"W-will it hurt...?" His face burned red, but Luffy felt it was necessary to ask Zoro that question, either way.
And luckily for him, the Swordsman was more than comfortable talking about the topic as well while they remained frozen in one position: Luffy having his legs wrapped around Zoro's waist, lying flat on the ground.
"It might, it is your first time... And mine as well." This news was making Luffy tense up from the inside.
He knew that an Island was probably a bad idea to do something so risky, especially since they didn't have lubricant to help them out.
Even so, he didn't feel the need to stop right where they were. But though he was nodding his head 'yes', the way he was clenching his jaw and the shape of his lips were giving away how frightened he felt.
The touch of Zoro's lips being pressed against his neck put Luffy at ease for a moment.
"Remember when you hurt your foot yesterday?" He was asked by the older man.
"Haha! How to forget? Stupid rock son of a- Yeah, I remember." Luffy paused, sharing a soft chuckle with his lover.
"Think back to when I was pulling it out of your foot. It didn't hurt, did it?"
"Huh," Thinking back to that night, Luffy came to realize he didn't feel any pain whatsoever.
"Now that you mentioned it, all that I felt was relief when it was over." He commented.
The older male slowly untied the black straps off of Luffy's feet, letting them blissfully slip onto the floor as he pressed his lips against his foot, pecking it sweetly.
"That's because I was gentle," his voice grew softer but remained deep.
"What you're saying is... You'll be just as gentle when we..." Luffy blushed, covering his face with his shirt.
The sound of Zoro's zipper coming undone was giving the younger, excited teen, irregular heart palpitations.
"I'm not saying I'll be just as 'gentle'," hearing this made Luffy gulp while he wrapped his hands around Zoro's back, watching as his face popped up from underneath the shirt.
"I'll be even more than just gentle." From that point on, Luffy was almost sure that his heart could have burst from the amount of intoxicating emotions he felt.
"Is this what love does to one's heart? Or is it only because of Zoro's voice..."
~~~
