ZoLu h/c part 6
anonymous
October 1 2008, 21:49:58 UTC
6.
After a few hours they had begun to make more efficient progress, Luffy trailing after him through the jungle on his own rather than hanging from Zoro's shoulder, face half expressionless under the blindfold, and he only occasionally walked into a tree or hit Zoro with the stick he was carrying. But then, those hiccups tended to coincide with him forgetting that listening informed a significant part of his view of the world right now and bursting into little snatches of song.
Luffy was happy again, now they'd stolen back for him a little bit of self-reliance. Okay, maybe the stick was a waste of time because he hadn't much co-ordination anyway and it didn't really hurt him to walk into trees, but it made Zoro feel better.
As for the rest... maybe he shouldn't be so surprised that his captain could adapt to functioning without vision. Luffy was such a creature of the senses and instincts to begin with.
Since the chances of the water, in its rough open jars sword-carved from segments of tree trunks, or the rest of the meat carcass surviving the journey being dragged along by Luffy were both pretty poor (albeit for different reasons), Zoro had opted to carry the water. At least if Luffy ate the meat he was still putting it to good use.
After a while, Luffy had gone quiet, and he spoke up eventually with an edge to his voice. "Haven't we been walking a long time, just to get back to the shore?"
"Huh?" He glanced up at the sun. "It's not that long. Just we've not been hurrying this time. Don't worry about it."
"Zoro--" Luffy began running the heel of his hand over the trees that they passed, stick still awkwardly clutched in his fingers. "Show me a tree with an arrow on it."
"Huh?" Oh, right, he remembered those.
"Zoro," Luffy all but growled, "Did you get us lost?"
"What--? We're not lost, Luffy." Why did everyone always carry on like this? At least the captain was usually more easygoing than the rest. "We're just headed back to the coast. It's not a big island. We just took our time. You were learning to use the stick." Badly. "You're the one who can't see, damn it. Don't worry about it. I got this."
Luffy nodded unhappily and they continued, but another few hours later as they stopped again near an uncannily familiar odd-shaped tree, he had to admit that somehow, he'd managed to get turned about.
He scratched his head. "How the hell did this happen?"
Luffy sat on the dwindling carcass of the giant boar and muttered something Zoro wasn't going to ask him to audibly repeat. "...Lets just stay here," he said louder. "There's more meat and more water and they'll still find us. Nami will find us."
"They'll find us easier on the beach." Shit, was this ever a demonstration how much they needed the money-grubbing witch? Zoro grimaced. The sooner he got Luffy to Chopper's doctorly attentions the better. Even if there was nothing his intervention could do, at least then they should have reliable information, one way or the other, what chance Luffy had of regaining his sight. They could already have landed on the island and be looking for them. They'd find the boat... Chopper would be able to smell their scents on it... He considered. "Luffy, can you smell the ocean?"
They followed Luffy's nose for a while, until it led them to a totally unfamiliar stretch of beach and they were forced to concede that yes, they were on a small island. They followed the beach along, walking at the top of the tideline, Luffy's feet slapping obliviously near jellyfish and sharp shells. But his movements were more confident, here, away from the many scents and sounds of the jungle and with the surer markers of the sea on one side and the wind-whispered undergrowth on the other.
Eventually, they hit impassable rock cliffs and were forced to strike inland, into the jungles once again; and shortly after that it began to grow dark.
"Stop" Zoro put his hand on Luffy's shoulder. "We'll stay here to eat and sleep."
"Okay." Luffy dropped the blankly grinning boar's head that he'd been swinging around for the last hour, and started exploring their campsite. Zoro eyed the remnant meat and looked about for some fruit or anything that looked more edible.
ZoLu h/c part 6 continued
anonymous
October 1 2008, 21:55:10 UTC
It was colder than it had been the night before, and when Luffy flopped down beside him and curled an arm about his chest, it was almost automatic to gather him in a bit closer. Luffy sighed and struggled, and ended up half laying over him, draped like a rubber-human blanket across Zoro's chest with his arms and legs outsplayed, face against his breastbone.
Zoro reached for the bandana. He almost - almost - moved it aside, and just stopped himself in time, fingers twitching helplessly against air. He wanted to see his captain's face -- whole, properly. But however mentally strong Luffy was, he didn't want to destroy the illusory of peace of mind that the ploy of the blindfold had allowed them. If they could stay the panic and reaction until they got back to the others, where Chopper could tell them how bad the news really was...
Astonishing him, Luffy's hand moved in and caught the fingers that hadn't even made contact. Zoro couldn't quash a noise of surprise.
"Felt... movement... air..." Luffy murmured, voice dulled with tiredness. "Thought it was a bug. What're you doin', Zoro?" He propped his hand under his chin, and the blindfold stared into Zoro's face.
"Nothing," he hedged, cursing himself.
His captain gave a little half-shrug and reached in with his other hand, sliding it up the swordsman's t-shirt using the planes of his body as a guide and slowing at his collar and neck. "Can I touch your face?"
"Huh? Why?" Okay, Luffy was... frequently random, but this didn't have the feel of that.
"I want to see what you look like this way. Without eyes. I've been touching the rest of the world all day." He didn't wait for permission but took the silence and lack of any attempt to stop him as assent. Zoro froze as he felt the slightly clumsy touch land on his face, moving over his jaw, then upwards. He blinked down hard, because he certainly didn't want to lose an eye. Lack of depth perception would make it a lot harder to become the world's greatest swordsman.
But Luffy managed to be surprisingly gentle, and didn't poke fingers into anything important. The rubbery fingertips slid over his eyelids, brushing his lashes, travelled onward over the creases of his forehead and the ridge of his nose, and curled to a rest in his hair.
"Luffy..." It was instinctive. Eyes still closed, he reached out and cupped the younger man's face in his own hands, mapping it in return -- careful, so careful, when they wandered close, not to disturb the blindfold. But gently tracing, nonetheless, the bulge of closed eyes underneath. Luffy was still there, even if he didn't completely look like himself with his eyes hidden.
His captain chuckled at him. "Stupid Zoro... you don't need to do that to 'see'."
"Huh." He withdrew the gentler touch and smushed Luffy's rubber face against his chest again. "Just go to sleep."
Re: ZoLu h/c part 6 continued
anonymous
October 1 2008, 22:44:03 UTC
*random Anon who has been following this from the beginning* Awwwww that last scene was so sweet! And I laughed much at Zoro getting lost, his special sense of direction always make me smile XD
I'm loving this story very much, looking forward to next part!
Re: ZoLu h/c part 6 continued
anonymous
October 2 2008, 20:31:54 UTC
Thanks! With the senses stuff I guess this is a... kind of practical breed of h/c. I liked the idea of a circumstance where Zoro could help him in ways the others wouldn't be able to, because of his discipline and training. I'm better at the 'hurt' part than the 'comfort' so I cheat. :)
After a few hours they had begun to make more efficient progress, Luffy trailing after him through the jungle on his own rather than hanging from Zoro's shoulder, face half expressionless under the blindfold, and he only occasionally walked into a tree or hit Zoro with the stick he was carrying. But then, those hiccups tended to coincide with him forgetting that listening informed a significant part of his view of the world right now and bursting into little snatches of song.
Luffy was happy again, now they'd stolen back for him a little bit of self-reliance. Okay, maybe the stick was a waste of time because he hadn't much co-ordination anyway and it didn't really hurt him to walk into trees, but it made Zoro feel better.
As for the rest... maybe he shouldn't be so surprised that his captain could adapt to functioning without vision. Luffy was such a creature of the senses and instincts to begin with.
Since the chances of the water, in its rough open jars sword-carved from segments of tree trunks, or the rest of the meat carcass surviving the journey being dragged along by Luffy were both pretty poor (albeit for different reasons), Zoro had opted to carry the water. At least if Luffy ate the meat he was still putting it to good use.
After a while, Luffy had gone quiet, and he spoke up eventually with an edge to his voice. "Haven't we been walking a long time, just to get back to the shore?"
"Huh?" He glanced up at the sun. "It's not that long. Just we've not been hurrying this time. Don't worry about it."
"Zoro--" Luffy began running the heel of his hand over the trees that they passed, stick still awkwardly clutched in his fingers. "Show me a tree with an arrow on it."
"Huh?" Oh, right, he remembered those.
"Zoro," Luffy all but growled, "Did you get us lost?"
"What--? We're not lost, Luffy." Why did everyone always carry on like this? At least the captain was usually more easygoing than the rest. "We're just headed back to the coast. It's not a big island. We just took our time. You were learning to use the stick." Badly. "You're the one who can't see, damn it. Don't worry about it. I got this."
Luffy nodded unhappily and they continued, but another few hours later as they stopped again near an uncannily familiar odd-shaped tree, he had to admit that somehow, he'd managed to get turned about.
He scratched his head. "How the hell did this happen?"
Luffy sat on the dwindling carcass of the giant boar and muttered something Zoro wasn't going to ask him to audibly repeat. "...Lets just stay here," he said louder. "There's more meat and more water and they'll still find us. Nami will find us."
"They'll find us easier on the beach." Shit, was this ever a demonstration how much they needed the money-grubbing witch? Zoro grimaced. The sooner he got Luffy to Chopper's doctorly attentions the better. Even if there was nothing his intervention could do, at least then they should have reliable information, one way or the other, what chance Luffy had of regaining his sight. They could already have landed on the island and be looking for them. They'd find the boat... Chopper would be able to smell their scents on it... He considered. "Luffy, can you smell the ocean?"
They followed Luffy's nose for a while, until it led them to a totally unfamiliar stretch of beach and they were forced to concede that yes, they were on a small island. They followed the beach along, walking at the top of the tideline, Luffy's feet slapping obliviously near jellyfish and sharp shells. But his movements were more confident, here, away from the many scents and sounds of the jungle and with the surer markers of the sea on one side and the wind-whispered undergrowth on the other.
Eventually, they hit impassable rock cliffs and were forced to strike inland, into the jungles once again; and shortly after that it began to grow dark.
"Stop" Zoro put his hand on Luffy's shoulder. "We'll stay here to eat and sleep."
"Okay." Luffy dropped the blankly grinning boar's head that he'd been swinging around for the last hour, and started exploring their campsite. Zoro eyed the remnant meat and looked about for some fruit or anything that looked more edible.
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Zoro reached for the bandana. He almost - almost - moved it aside, and just stopped himself in time, fingers twitching helplessly against air. He wanted to see his captain's face -- whole, properly. But however mentally strong Luffy was, he didn't want to destroy the illusory of peace of mind that the ploy of the blindfold had allowed them. If they could stay the panic and reaction until they got back to the others, where Chopper could tell them how bad the news really was...
Astonishing him, Luffy's hand moved in and caught the fingers that hadn't even made contact. Zoro couldn't quash a noise of surprise.
"Felt... movement... air..." Luffy murmured, voice dulled with tiredness. "Thought it was a bug. What're you doin', Zoro?" He propped his hand under his chin, and the blindfold stared into Zoro's face.
"Nothing," he hedged, cursing himself.
His captain gave a little half-shrug and reached in with his other hand, sliding it up the swordsman's t-shirt using the planes of his body as a guide and slowing at his collar and neck. "Can I touch your face?"
"Huh? Why?" Okay, Luffy was... frequently random, but this didn't have the feel of that.
"I want to see what you look like this way. Without eyes. I've been touching the rest of the world all day." He didn't wait for permission but took the silence and lack of any attempt to stop him as assent. Zoro froze as he felt the slightly clumsy touch land on his face, moving over his jaw, then upwards. He blinked down hard, because he certainly didn't want to lose an eye. Lack of depth perception would make it a lot harder to become the world's greatest swordsman.
But Luffy managed to be surprisingly gentle, and didn't poke fingers into anything important. The rubbery fingertips slid over his eyelids, brushing his lashes, travelled onward over the creases of his forehead and the ridge of his nose, and curled to a rest in his hair.
"Luffy..." It was instinctive. Eyes still closed, he reached out and cupped the younger man's face in his own hands, mapping it in return -- careful, so careful, when they wandered close, not to disturb the blindfold. But gently tracing, nonetheless, the bulge of closed eyes underneath. Luffy was still there, even if he didn't completely look like himself with his eyes hidden.
His captain chuckled at him. "Stupid Zoro... you don't need to do that to 'see'."
"Huh." He withdrew the gentler touch and smushed Luffy's rubber face against his chest again. "Just go to sleep."
[more tomorrow]
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Awwwww that last scene was so sweet! And I laughed much at Zoro getting lost, his special sense of direction always make me smile XD
I'm loving this story very much, looking forward to next part!
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Hope you don't mind that I took the liberty to make Zoro blush~
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AWWW!! That is so cute! I love how it feels like a special volunerability is being shared between them! I can feel that love/trust!
And I Really love how Zoros hair looks between Luffys fingers for some reason...
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It's okay that Zoro's blushing, Luffy can't tell. *is evil*
I too really love the hands in Zoro's hair. And also the expression on what's visible of Luffy's face.
Thank you so much! <3
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THis is so awesome and just continues to be so!
I love how Luffy has gotten really good at the senses and the line with Zoro contemplating carrying the boar/water in the stumps! Awesome!
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