Taking his first steps into his bedroom, the Captain was holding onto Zoro's arm, looking at the changes that had been done to his room.
His windows had been fixed, his bed was made, and there wasn't a single trace of evidence left of the horrific incident.
"I thought it would be hard to sleep in here after what happened. I hate this room... But if he's here with me, it might not be so tough, after all."
The young man thought to himself, staring up at Zoro while he lifted the sheets off of his bed.
He then helped Luffy lie down in a position that wouldn't cause him discomfort, especially since his lower body felt sensitive after using the restroom, earlier.
When he was finally lying down flat on his back, Zoro put a pillow behind his head and walked over to his drawers.
The curious Captain raised his head up, waiting for Zoro to return, wondering what he was searching for in his drawers.
"O-oh, I gotta change?"
He asked, looking over at the Swordsman who was holding a pajama set in his hands.
"Only the pants, if you wanna keep your shirt on. But the pants have to be changed."
His lover responded, pointing at the pants that he had on.
Lowering his head to stare at them, Luffy could tell why Zoro insisted on changing him.
A few inches below his waistline, was a pattern of blood, running down the boy's light blue pants.
"Ack! When did this... Zoro, you don't think anyone saw it, do you?"
The Captain asked, worried that someone may have noticed the stains after he left the restroom.
"Why do you think I kept you behind me the whole time? No one saw a thing, baby."
The Swordsman smiled, making Luffy breathe out a sigh of relief.
He walked closer towards him, placing the pajamas beside him on the bed for a second while bending over.
"Lift your arms up."
Nodding at him, Luffy struggled to raise his arms in the air, but as he did, Zoro slipped his hands underneath his shirt, slowly pulling it over his head.
"What... Is all this?"
The Swordsman's charismatic demeanor slowly disappeared from his face as his expression stiffened.
"They're all over him..."
He thought to himself, scanning the marks and bruises left on the Captain's torso and neck.
From thick scratches that were slowly healing up, to profound teeth marks, belt marks, dark bruises, and vanishing shoe prints from being stepped on, countless times, Luffy's body was tainted in ways that seemed almost unreal to the Swordsman.
Coming across a scene like this made his blood boil, but he acted calm and handled the Captain's situation with an open mind, using a delicate hand when putting the shirt over his head.
The young man didn't complain or make an effort to tell Zoro if he truly was in pain or not. He didn't say anything at all.
Whether he felt pain or was feeling fine, Zoro couldn't tell a difference with Luffy's motionless expression.
"Thank you."
In his Captain's voice, Zoro sensed fear, stored away behind his dead eyes as he stared straight ahead of him.
This behavior of his lasted for awhile, and not knowing why he was acting so cold towards him was bothering his first mate.
"Need anything else?"
He asked, trying to start a short conversation with the younger.
But Luffy had no intention of following up with it, so he shook his head at Zoro, letting him know that he didn't require any further assistance.
"How are you feeling now? Any pain?"
"Nothing."
Unlike the last words that he spoke, Luffy's voice was slowly becoming less and less audible, as he put little to no effort in speaking.
And to make matters worse, he still wasn't making direct eye contact with Zoro, whatsoever.
In his Captain's doe eyes that were almost devoid of light, Zoro could see that there was nothing left for him to say.
He wasn't going to get anywhere, just standing by and waiting for Luffy to speak, so he decided to let the young man be.
"If you need anything, call out to me or anyone else. I'll let 'em know you aren't feeling too well so that they won't be asking you questions."
With that being said, the Swordsman stood up and prepared himself to leave the room, when something stopped him from leaving.
That "something" being his need to get a clear answer from his Captain, to get a better understanding of how he truly felt.
"Uh.. Huh?"
Luffy raised his head up, watching as the Swordsman hovered over him, placing one hand on against the bed, beside him, and the other on his cheek.
Seeing this, the boy's heart rate went up, making him tremble in a way that was hardly visible to Zoro.
"Just checking for a fever."
His lover spoke, staring down at the brunette as he stared back at him.
"Oh, really?"
"Not really. I actually wanted to give you a kiss."
He admitted, leaning closer towards the Captain, but keeping himself at a distance that wouldn't suffocate the younger.
After realizing this, Luffy's throat tightened as his face started to heat up with embarrassment and a bit of uneasiness.
"Okay.. Yeah.."
He stared at the older man with more enthusiasm than before, giving him a nod of approval.
"Yeah?"
The Swordsman questioned with an attractive smile that was almost impossible not to be enchanted with.
He tucked his finger underneath Luffy's chin, lessening the gap in between their faces.
The closer that they were to each other, the louder the voices in Luffy's head told him to pull away.
Ignoring the words they were saying, the Captain gathered up the amount of courage that he was missing and felt the touch of Zoro's lips coming in contact with his own, in seconds.
"Okay.. Okay... It's okay."
He repeatedly told himself, trying his best to ease the tension in his stomach as his muscles contracted.
For a second, Luffy didn't know what to do or what he was doing, far beyond that point.
His mind went completely blank, causing him to feel weary as he drifted in and out of reality.
He no longer moved his lips or followed along with the way that his lover was moving his own.
Not noticing this, the Swordsman pulled his face back with a smile of satisfaction, giving Luffy an embrace before leaving his bedroom.
After he was left on his own, Luffy's thoughts invaded his mind as he wondered if he could have done better while being kissed by his lover.
"When Zoro's around, I feel strange. But when he's gone, I feel lonely. And right now... I don't know what I'm feeling. I just feel.. Empty."
~~~
