But having Luffy put pressure on hi

But having Luffy put pressure on him like that hurt: in his shoulders, in the thrice-fractured collar-bone, down his abused spine and a whole host of other places.

Quick as a wink, as soon as he noticed the beginning of a wince, Luffy released him. Zoro looked away and poked some kind of stick or whatever, refusing to meet his captain's worried gaze.

"You still hurt?"

The disbelief in Luffy's voice made him grit his teeth with frustration. Too damn weak to properly protect them (him) and then too weak to shake it off afterward, causing everyone more worries...

"It's nothing," he said, randomly pulling levers in the hope that something distracting would happen. Well. He managed to turn on the external lights at least. "Uh, is it only me or can you hear a hissing sound?" Zoro asked, trying to fake up a bit of fascination for the submerge.

For once not becoming enthralled by Franky's work, Luffy put two fingers on his chest and pushed gently. Driven more by the intense concentration on his captain's face than any actual pressure, Zoro leaned back in the seat and crossed his arms.

"What?"

Luffy's fingers traced the bandages, moving up towards his shoulder, petting and stroking with feather-light touches. It was, Zoro realized, the first touch since That Event which didn't even cause a little pain.

"Zoro's strong," Luffy said, his finger moving up along Zoro's neck. "I'm glad he's so strong."

He squirmed, feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the whole situation. When Luffy moved in and brought their foreheads together, he blinked in confusion.

"Thank you."

"I don't – There's nothing to thank me for." Zoro thought his heart would burst. He hadn't heard, had he? Idiot curly-brow had kept his mouth shut, right? Nothing important had happened, nothing that would cause debts and recriminations between them. The thought of that hanging over their future was unspeakably horrible.

Tilting his head slightly, Luffy gave him one of those brilliant smiles, which even now had the strength to force his heart to skip a beat. "Yes, there is! You come with me all the time, even though you'd rather sleep. And you're strong, so even if I'm not there to protect you, I don't have to worry!"

"Ah." He managed a weak smile, though he still found himself tense, ready to fight or flight. "No big deal." He considered a moment. "And I did find a new sword on Thriller Bark."

"It's a great sword, isn't it? They look so cool together now!" Luffy tried to step back to look at his sword, but the cramped conditions forced Zoro to keep them angled down, so Luffy ended up leaning awkwardly against a console to see something.

When he next moved, he must have bumped into something, because there was a series of loud clicks, followed by a weird rattle (a chain? Cogs?).

When the entire room (submarine) wavered. Luffy almost fell against him. In the last moment, he twisted in a way that made Zoro's back throb in sympathy and grabbed hold of a handle. This, too, caused something to happen: the entire sub shook, the hissing noises increasing in intensity. Soon, soft clucking sounds surrounded them and they could both feel when the vessel became completely buoyant.

"Oops!" With a laugh, Luffy righted himself and planted his feet more securely. "I think we released the shark!"

"Meh, it's not like we' can float away." Zoro waved at the quite visible walls surrounding the submarine. Although, now that he looked closer, it did seem as if the water was rising. Possibly. "Wanna get out?"

Luffy shook his head. Zoro was wavering between insisting on climbing out on his own, or simply going to sleep in his seat, since it was a quiet and well-isolated place. He wouldn't have any trouble ignoring Luffy exploring around him. Neither did he think they could cause much more trouble than they already had.

"If you want to sleep, you can do that," Luffy said, none-too-discretely eying his bandages.

Zoro immediately decided that he was not tired in the least and forcibly shut up the mini-cook who was taunting him from inside his head.

"It's fine. I just didn't want to be in the mist. Wanna do anything special?"

When instead of answering, Luffy only let his fingers slide over the wrappings, Zoro couldn't hold back a small sound of curiosity. They weren't much for private heart-to-hearts and, frankly, he'd about had his fill of that right now. Still, if Luffy wanted to talk, he'd listen, anytime...

Then Luffy leaned in so close that Zoro could smell the salty scent clinging to him. When he spoke, a whiff of warm breath carrying the slightest hint of the breakfast ham, followed his words. The familiar comfort, made a whole different kind of hurt bloom inside and Zoro opened his mouth, unconsciously seeking to feel more of Luffy's presence.