Skie descended the stairs slowly, one step at a time. Skie was the sort of girl who would have either hopped down the stairs or cleared the entire thing in one jump, and this small change in behavior had Zoro watching her with ever growing concern.

“Are you all right?” he asked her softly when they both reached the bottom of the flight.

She turned to face him quickly, her jaw clenched and her eyes glossy. “Zoro, I’m not ready to be a mom,” she said. “I’m afraid. N-not for myself, but for…” She placed a hand on her still-flat stomach. “…but for the baby.” She looked up at the ceiling to keep the tears in her eyes and laughed a stress induced laugh. “You know what kind of shit we go through almost every day! I can’t handle this.”

Zoro only watched as she closed her eyes, causing them to spill over, and steady her breathing.

“Ugh,” Skie shook her head. “I need to sit down.”

Zoro nodded and helped her to her bed He sat down next to her, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared at the floor. He felt her shift beside him, and she moved until she was sitting behind him and was facing the wall, their backs touching.

She drew her knees under her chin and let out an irritated sigh.

“So,” Zoro started. “How are we gonna do this?”

“…”  Skie was silent for the first few moments, many things going through her mind. “Do you remember that night?” she asked.

Zoro clicked his tongue. “Yeah. Kinda hard to forget.” As his face flushed a light cherry color he rubbed the back of his head.

“It’s a bit fuzzy for me. But…but you are used to alcohol a bit more than I am,” Skie let the smile be seen in her voice, and Zoro found himself smiling too, despite the topic.

-

So there they were, two best friends living la vida loca by themselves as night drew closer deep in a forest that they’d managed to get themselves lost in. But this was ‘vacation’ time, according to the duo’s infamous captain, so they decided to stop and have a drinking contest, with the few shot glasses and case of grog he had been lugging towards the bar the crew was supposed to be waiting for them at, in the center of that forest.

Zoro was fairly sure he was going to win, as he was aware Skie had never once drank an ounce of alcohol in her life.

“We’re gonna play ‘I Never’.” Zoro told her. “Rules are simple. Here’s an example. I’d say ‘I’ve never eaten a chair’, and if you have eaten a chair, you drink down the entire shot. Get it?”

Skie nodded, grinning at the prospect of playing in her first drinking game. “Got it. Who’s goin’ first?”

“I will.” Zoro said. He poured two glasses and gave one to Skie. “All right…I’ve never had more than four bowls of ice cream in one sitting.” Zoro grinned at her as her face fell.

“Th-that’s cheating! That’s cheating right? You know I’ve done that!”

“Not cheating! It’s not cheating! Now chug it,” Zoro laughed.

“Ugh.” Skie looked down at the amber liquid in the glass. “Fine.” And with that, she gulped it down. Her eyes scrunched and she coughed. “That stuff’s gross! It’s almost as bad as Nyquil!”

“Nyquil?” Zoro questioned.

“It’s this nasty medicine you take when you’re sick in my world. It’s not that great.”

“But it’s worse than this?” Zoro wiggled his still full glass.

“Yep.”

“Well, that’s good, right? Your turn.” Zoro grinned.

“Fine, okay…” she thought for a moment. “I’ve never been any good with a  sword.”

Zoro nodded at her and raised the glass to his lips, “Touché,” he said. He downed his glass without so much as a flinch. “I’ve never jumped and landed on the same person almost repeatedly.”

Skie let out a snort of a laugh. “Krch, ahahaha!” she shook her head. “Sorry, Zoro.”  Skie drank her shot and coughed again, Zoro patting her on the back and telling her to ‘buck up’.

A few shots later, Skie was officially drunk.

“I-I’ve never eaten grass,” Skie giggled at the thought.

“I’ve never eaten grass, either.” Zoro laughed. Despite the game, he’d chugged a few shots without losing a question, so he was maybe a bit tipsy. “Eating grass. Who eats grass?” Zoro laughed. He put a hand on her head and grinned. “My turn.” he said.

“No, is my turn. Again. I go again.”

“No you don’t.” Zoro shook his head. “I’ve never fit fifteen marshmallows in my mouth at one time.”

“…Wait, are we talkin’ the little ones or the big’uns? ‘Cuz I got up to eleven big ones once.”

“Holy shit,” Zoro laughed, “Eleven? That’s one helluva big mouth.”

“Shu’up.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “Okay, uh…I’ve never shot a gun before.”

“Really?” Zoro blinked, “Not ever?”

“Nope. Not ever. I’d end up shooting my foot er something.”

“Well,” Zoro drank his glass down, “I prefer swords, but guns can be handy.”

“Your turn,” Skie grinned cheerfully.

“Yeah, my turn.” Zoro closed one eye, trying to think of something. “Okay. I’ve never gotten any complaints about how I kiss.” Zoro grinned and gave Skie an eyebrow wiggle that got her laughing again.

She shook her head, “I’ve never gotten any complaints either,” she laughed, “But that’s prolly because I’ve never kissed anybody.”

Zoro blinked. “Really?”

Skie nodded, looking at him through the glass, making him look distorted and orange colored. “Never. Well, you know, outside the family. Not like, boyfriend kissing, or anythin’ like that.” She lowered the glass and looked at him normal-vision again. “Is it something you need to practice at, though? You get…cri…what’s that word…ahm…critiqued on kissing?”

Zoro drank another glass and nodded. “You want to practice?”

In her fuzzy brained state, this seemed all right. There was nothing about ‘practice’ that would cause for awkward situations or anything like that. It wasn’t like it was real, right? “Sure,” Skie nodded. “Why not?” She moved from her sitting position to her knees and leaned forward over his lap, putting her hands on Zoro’s shoulders to keep herself upright and putting her face in front of his, their noses just barely touching. “Okay, shtep one, please.”

Zoro gulped. He hadn’t really expected her to say yes. “Uh…well,” he cleared his throat and adopted a more professional tone. “S-step one, would be where you would put your hands. See, I’m a guy, so I’d put them here.” He very slowly placed his hands on her waist, just above the hip bone.

Skie nodded. “Mmkay, now what about me?”

“You’re a girl, and guys like it when girls play with their hair while they’re kissing-”

“Like this, right?” Skie rested an elbow on his shoulder and placed her fingers lightly on the back of his head, brushing downwards to the base of his neck, playing with a lock of hair that was a tad longer than the rest.

Zoro’s eyes widened at the shiver that jolted down his spine in a pleasant twinge. “Yeah,” his voice squeaked. “Like that.” He cleared his throat loudly yet again.

“Okay,” Skie moved her hand from the back of his head and put it back on his shoulder. “Shtep one is done. Step two, please?”

“Two? Step two?” Zoro’s mind felt glazed.

“Yeah, the kissin’ part.”

“Right.” Zoro nodded. “Okay…well, from what I know, it’s best if the girl moves forward first, and then the guy moves forward the rest of the way and is the one who kisses first.”

“Like the Little Mermaid song. You know, ‘Kiss the Girl‘.” Skie mused.

“Sure.” Zoro nodded.

“Okay, like this?” Skie’s eyes shifted down to his lips and she drew herself closer to him.

Zoro swallowed and watched her move closer. There was no way this was her first time. Just no way. The way her eyes were lidded, the way her hair fell in front of her face…she was a natural if this was her first time. He slowly closed the distance between them, pressing his lips to hers in an almost hesitant way.

Skie’s arms were cramping, bent this close to her body. She pushed them up and wrapped them around Zoro’s neck, remembering his instructions and being sure to toy with the hair on his head.

Zoro’s mind grew even more hazed and his eyes closed. His arms moved from her hips and wrapped themselves around her, yanking her into his lap and pressing her against him.

“Wha!” she said, breaking the kiss, “Watch it!” She grew silent, and looked over her shoulder at his arms. “Is this part of th’ lesson?”

“Nnf.” Zoro replied. “Sure. Sure it is.” Zoro nodded and turned her chin to face him with one of his hands. “Jus’ c’mere.” He put his lips to hers again and ran his tongue over her bottom lip. She cracked her mouth open, probably to tell him that was a weird thing to do, but that was all he needed. He pushed forward and let his tongue explore her mouth on its own.

Skie leaned her head back minutes later and the kiss broke. She stared at him as they both caught their breathe.

“Was that okay?” Zoro asked, his voice rumbling and unusually deep.

Skie thought her answer over. “Yeah,” she nodded, “Can we do that again?”

Zoro’s reply was to move to his knees, dropping Skie off his lap. He leaned forward, trapping her legs with his knees on either side of her hips and placing his hands on the ground below her, until Skie kept her back from touching the ground by propping herself up with her elbows. He put his forehead against hers and their eyes locked. “The lesson can stop here,” he said slowly, “If you want it to.”

Skie raised an eyebrow. “I thought the lesson thing was already over.”

Zoro stared at her. “I guess it was,” was all he said. Clearing his throat for the third time that night, he pulled his head back a bit and then said in a tone quite hesitant, “So…”

Skie rolled her eyes, annoyed. “You’re a pansy, you know that?”

“What? I am not!” Zoro said, eyes narrowing.

“Then why the hell aren’t you kissing me yet?” She grinned.

Zoro sighed in mock annoyance. “Well fine. I guess I could, then. Even though you have cooties.”

“Cooties? Nu-uh! You have coot-” Skie’s brilliant retort was silenced with Zoro’s lips. She wound one arm around his neck, enjoying the kiss for a moment or three, and then pulled. This flipped a surprised Zoro onto his back and Skie onto his chest.

“Gotcha,” she laughed. “Who’s on top now, tough guy?”

Zoro looked at her, eyes still registering surprise. “No way,” he said with a devilish grin, “I’m the one who’s on top. I’m the dominant one.” He put an arm around her and rolled, placing himself over her yet again.

“You’re about as dominant as Sanji’s pink apron,” Skie said. Zoro let out a bark of laughter, and Skie used that chance to yank him over onto his back again. “That’s two points for Skie.”

Zoro rolled again. “There, I caught up.”

Skie flipped him over again. “I’m winning again.”

Zoro let this game go on until he started growing dizzy. Finally, he rolled her over once more and placed his hands on either side of her head and locked her in place, not allowing her to roll him over again.

“You big baby.” Skie said once she realized the game was over.

“I’m not a baby. I was getting dizzy.” he told her.

“Okay, then you’re a sissy.”

“Aw, shut up.” Zoro put his head down to kiss her and shut her up again, but Skie tilted her chin down so their foreheads connected instead of their lips.

“But,” she said, putting her arms around his neck again and playing with the hair on the back of his head in the same spine shivering way as the first time, “You’re my sissy.”

“Fine, I’m yours, but I’m no sissy.” Zoro didn’t let her say anything. He took her lips once again, and with the moon shining brightly overhead, the two of them claimed each other as their own.