Hiding the Truth (One Piece)

Chapter 50 - Warmth

The rising sun's rays shone through the small round window onto the large bed that took up most of the bedroom's space, the cream sheets falling over the edge of the mattress as the body hidden beneath the comforter tossed and turned. Strands of long, honey brown hair popped up from beneath the blankets with the movement, splaying across the white pillow as the small figure pulled themselves further into the warmth the bed, and the person beside her, offered. 

Turning onto her side, Lana threw an arm over the strong abdomen of her lover, pulling herself closer to the furnace that was currently a sleeping Zoro. 

Zoro, usually having the night-time watch duty on the Sunny, was able to stay the night. Normally, Lana would resort to spending time with the man during his shifts as that was the only time they would have to themselves, but being guests on another pirate crew's ship immensely reduced the jobs they each were usually assigned, giving them the freedom to lounge about and enjoy each others company. 

Mumbling nonsense in the comfort the warmth offered, Lana was slowly lulled back to sleep, burrowing deeper into Zoro's side as he too turned in his drowsy state to pull the sleeping brunette closer. 

Several hours had passed before Zoro woke up with a groan, realising he had slept longer than he had intended as he spotted the sun well above the horizon. Seeing as the two were still a secret from the rest of the crew, they had both agreed to exercise discretion. However, they often found themselves carried away in their affection to be mindful of their agreement, which had lead to several close calls and the suspicion of the more insightful members of their crew.

Lana and Zoro found themselves in one of the storage rooms, and whilst Lana had been tasked by Chopper with restocking the medical supplies they had picked up from the previous island, she wasn't getting much done what with Zoro's wandering hands distracting her. 

Chopper would have done it on his own, but seeing as Luffy and Usopp had gotten into their usual antics earlier, his efforts and attention was spent nursing them back to health. Once Lana had restocked Chopper's office, the remaining supplies were to be stored in a nearby room, though she was quickly tailed by Zoro who had wished to spend the afternoon with her. 

"Zoro, I really need to get this done" Lana couldn't help but laugh as Zoro let his hands settle at her waist, trailing kisses down her neck as she leant forward to place a box of gauze onto the shelf. 

"I'm not stopping you" He smirked against her skin, noticing a particularly dark mark he had left on her neck the other day just beginning to fade. 

"But you're not helping..." Lana moaned as he bit on the mark, feeling all the more sensitive as it had yet to heal. The box she was holding dropped with her loosened grip, though was quickly caught by the swordsman before it could hit the ground, reaching to place it haphazardly onto the nearest surface as he continued to hold her. 

"Zoro..." Lana couldn't help but lean forward against the shelf, her hands grasping the shelf for support as weak gasps left her parted lips as Zoro persisted with his affections. 

"Hey Lana, where are the sterile scalpels? Chopper was asking for them... What are you two doing?" Nami questioned, her eyebrows raised at the flush brightening their strategist's face and Zoro laying on the ground, groaning as he clutched his head. In the rush of hearing someone approach, Lana had pushed Zoro away which left him tripping over a nearby box and tumbling to the ground as he hit his head on the bottom shelf. 

Thinking back on the incident, he could only fondly recall how embarrassed Lana had felt for the remainder of the day, watching her pout as she apologised for causing the bump on the top of his head that had lingered for a few days. He couldn't deny playing up the injury just so he could have her coddle him and try to nurse him. He smugly recalled Sanji and Brook's jealous mutters, fully aware how much he was acting up for the strategist's affections.