Wado's wings curled tight as Zoro bent low to her back, the white dragon zipping through another ring with practised ease, tail not even clipping the side. Bleu and Sanji were right behind them, passing the ring mere seconds after the duo, and Zoro cast a cocky grin over his shoulder to see Sanji's look of determined fury.

"What, can't catch up shit rider?"

"You're the only shit rider here!" Sanji shot back with a growl, and Bleu pulled upwards, muscles straining with the effort to garner even more speed. In running sections of the race the two of them were marginally faster than Wado and Zoro, but in this – in the fast aerial darts and crazy turns required for a ring race – well, he was good, but he wasn't asgood. The green haired dragon rider turned his attention back to the last ring they had, and he urged Wado higher.

The last ring was always the hardest, barely letting a dragon slip through, and if he wanted to get past with Wado's wingspan they'd need to go into a dive and Wado needed to snap her wings into her sides, lest they get caught. Bleu had the advantage here, smaller than his own dragon, and Zoro's eyes tracked Sanji's dragon as they closed the gap between the last ring and the finish line.

His heart pumped madly with the excitement of the race, the rush flying gave him a buzz beneath his skin, and the close tie between them as they hurtled towards the end. His hair was whipped back from his head as Wado reached height and folded her wings, the two of them plunging downwards in a barely controlled drop, and though everything looked blue through the tint of his goggles he could still pick out the individual flags of all the rider schools that had come out for the competition.

The humans looked like raisins from his position in the sky, but he didn't dwell on their size, snapping his attention back to the race. Bleu was only a fraction of a second behind Wado, but their angle was lower. If Zoro and Wado couldn't pick up their speed, then Sanji and Bleu would likely pass through the ring before them. He bent even lower to his dragon's neck to minimise the air resistance, skin practically pulling away from his cheeks at the force of gravity that pulled them ever faster.

There were three meters left before the ring, and then Wado drew forwards even more, her lithe bulk and streamlined body gaining more momentum than Bleu's own racer body, and with scant seconds between them, Wado's tail practically brushing Bleu's nose, they darted through the tiny ring.

Wado's wings snapped out, breaking their downfall desperately, and they almost scored the tree tops as she banked.

Zoro crowed his victory to the sky, the burst of his adrenalin finally popping and leaving him still riding the high of the race. Wado circled, slowing down from their headlong rush, and Zoro patted her heaving neck. She sent something that felt like a grin back to him, their victory having pleased her as well.

"Oy," Sanji called to him, Bleu flying a counter circle as the rest of the racers began curving the last two rings, and Zoro glanced over to him, still grinning wildly, sweaty skin cooled by the slight breeze.

His grin widened even further, if that was possible, and he finally straightened, stretching out his body. "Yeah?"

"Next race I'm kicking your ass!" Though Sanji's words seemed insulting, the other rider was still grinning from the adrenaline rush, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

"I'd like to see you try," Zoro taunted, as Wado began to spiral slowly down to the landing dock. There were separate ones per school, though still near each other at the finish line, but Zoro and Sanji's were two docks apart, cutting their conversation to a halt as they separated.

Wado's claws thunked against the wood of the dock, and the downdraft of her wings blew back hats and hair, but that did little to deter Zoro's team mates from leaping onto the platform and giving him punches and patting his back. Johnny and Yosuko were grinning like idiots, half dancing as they heaped praises and eagerly recounted the race's last few seconds. Even Nami looked pleased, which probably meant she'd bet something on him and won.

Stripping off his sweaty jacket and goggles, running a hand through his damp hair to stop it from sticking to his forehead, Zoro meandered off the platform, listening with half an ear to his team's chatter. Wado followed obediently, her bulk graceful as always.

Bleu and Sanji came past them a few moments later, Sanji immediately heaping compliments on a coy Nami, but Zoro's attention had immediately wandered. If Sanji was here than-

Luffy wouldn't be far behind.

Unlike Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Franky, and Robin, Luffy didn't have his own dragon – in fact, he wasn't even a rider. He was only here to support his school, and so therefore hung out around Sanji to congratulate him on his race before joining the blond as they met up with Nami and Zoro.

In fact, Luffy would probably-

A weight barrelled into his back, almost knocking him to the floor and Luffy's loud, joyous laughter filled Zoro's ears. "Zoro, Zoro, Zoro! That was so cool! That last dive you did was sooooclose. I thought you were going to bang into the ring, Wado's wingtip almost clipped the side!"

Luffy's excited babble made Zoro smile, tugging the monkey-like teen off his back until Luffy got the hint and bounced around to the other side, heaping compliments onto a pleased looking Wado.

'Boooyfriend,' Sanji mouthed at him teasingly, and Zoro felt his cheeks flush even as he glared at Sanji and mimed cutting the blond's throat. Sanji just grinned even wider.

"Ahh, Zoro, Zoro, will you go riding with me later? Pleeeease, please, please, please? I wanna see the full course! Ace was doing a fire dance at the same time so I didn't get to see all of it," Luffy gave him a pleading pout, and Zoro felt himself nod, feeling slightly tongue-tied. He wasn't talkative at the best of times, but oftentimes while he was around the excitable teen he got even less responsive. He was just glad that Luffy seemed to understand what he wanted even without talking.

Luffy clapped his hands in pleasure at seeing Zoro's nod, and by this point even Nami had decided to get on the 'we're going to tease Zoro' train, as she enthusiastically mimed things with Sanji behind Luffy's back.

'Fly and then kiss him!'

'Kiss him and then fly!'

'Go flying and then have a picnic andthenkiss him!'

'Shut up,' Zoro mouthed back angrily, glaring as Luffy turned around to see what Zoro was watching. Nami and Sanji immediately locked their hands behind their backs and looked innocently at the sky. Zoro contemplated throwing his hands in the air or hitting them in the head with something – Wado too, considering the dragon looked to be on the verge of laughing.

"I need to unstrap the racing gear first," Zoro mumbled, "And we have to wait for everyone else to get off the course."

"Okay! I'm gonna get some food, then. See you in a bit, Zoro!"

Zoro gave a hum of agreement as Luffy waved and headed towards the food stands, and almost before the teen was out of hearing range Nami and Sanji pounced.

"Idiot!" Nami started by saying, and Sanji gave a loud, derisive snort.

"How the hell would you ever get anything done without us? You're such a useless thick-skulled marimo."

Zoro glared back, sneering at the blond, "You're not much better, shitty curly brow."

"Yeah well, I've got more skills than you!"

"Says the guy who came second in our race," Zoro shot back tauntingly, and took great pleasure in watching Sanji fume.

"Yeah, but you're the one who almost didn't place in the land run."

"Only because the shitty dragon from Alabasta tripped us!"

"Tripped nothing! You're just making excuses 'cause you lost."

"Will the both of you shut up?!" Nami shrieked, fist crashing down on their heads. Zoro cursed her, glaring at the female rider as he rubbed the bump he was sure to form. "Sanji, we have more important things to worry about. Mainly trying to fix Zoro's uselessness in the span of five minutes as you two untack."

Uselessness?! Zoro stared at her incredulously, insulted, and he was about to open his mouth and retort when Sanji interrupted, noodling like he usually did when confronted with a girl.

"I'm sorry my sweet Nami. How are we supposed to fix him that fast though? It's not like it's worked any other time."

"I don't need to be fixed," he growled at the both of them, angry that they'd ignored his words, and he stormed past with Wado on his heels, leaving them with their stupid plots. "It's your empty heads that need fixing, especially yours, dumbass land runner!"

"Oh say that again you fly-high bastard!"

"Flightless land rat!"

"Brainless height junkie!"

"Shut UP!" Nami shrieked again, punching Sanji in the side, and Zoro glared, finally stomping off to his school's tack tent. Nami would be able to come by and find him easily enough, but at least he'd be able to get Sanji off his back for a while – besides, the blond had to take care of his own dragon.

The soothing strokes of his towel across Wado's hide as he cleaned off the sweat between her scales forced his mind to calm, and with a sigh Zoro finally felt the last of his tension leave him. He'd heard Nami enter the tent right around when he was checking the delicate membrane of Wado's wings, and he'd felt her stare bore holes in his back, but he hadn't paid any attention to her, concentrating on taking care of his dragon and making sure she was fit to fly.

"You do realise we just want the both of you to be happy," Nami said evenly when she realised that Zoro was just keeping his hands busy now, brushing between the ridges on Wado's neck. "It's only youbeing the stupidly stubborn one, and Luffy forgets that he has feelingssometimes. He probably just thinks that it's obvious, or that you two are already dating." Zoro concentrated even more on smoothing out the splinters from Wado's spines, knowing that his cheeks were steadily heating at this discussion. "It's true, you know! In that idiot's mind he's probably all like, 'yeah, I like Zoro and Zoro likes me and we're dating, and that's how it works'!"

"Nami-," Zoro growled warningly, but the rider was already on a roll, and her rant wouldn't be stopped.

"You doknow you're the onlyone he ever wants to go riding with. He barely even goes with Ace now that he knows you'll take him, and are you kidding me on being oblivious? You can't bethat stupid! Remember a few weeks ago when he didn't steal your slice of cake at your birthday?" She threw her hands up in the air, "He stole mine at mybirthday!"

Zoro turned to fasten her with a vicious glare, mouth opening to shout back, but before he could the tent flap was pushed open and Luffy poked his head in. "Zoro-,"

"Just admit that you like him already!" Nami shouted, not having noticed that the topic of their conversation had entered the tent, and Zoro's expression dropped into one of complete horror.

Nami turned around to see what Zoro was staring at, and her own features morphed into a close, 'oh shit'.

Luffy cocked his head to the side curiously, brow furrowed just slightly. "Like who?"

"No-one." Zoro shot back in a fluster, and he saw Luffy's frown deepen, a flash of hurt in his eyes before the teen forced a smile again.

"Are we going to go riding now?"

"Yeah, just-," he shot Nami another challenging look, and she gave him an apologetic wince that he ignored. "Let me get everything ready."

As Nami made her way out of the tent, Zoro quickly grabbed up his tack again, nimble fingers buckling up the saddle with the ease of long practice. Chucking a spare helmet to Luffy – that almost managed to hit the distracted-looking teen in the face – Zoro buckled his own on tightly. In a few minutes the dragon rider was ready to go, leading his dragon out from the tack tent.

"Where do you want to go first?" Zoro asked, when it became clear that Luffy was still lost in his thoughts and wasn't inclined to speak.

His voice seemed to break the other's reverie, and Luffy seemed to snap back to himself, giving his head a quick shake and throwing Zoro a grin. "I wanna go check out the middle of the race! When you had to dodge all the trees. I missed that bit."

Zoro nodded his agreement, and the two of them headed between the brightly coloured tents towards the fly zone. While there were numerous fly zones around the start and finish of the races, the one at the back of the tents were where any spectators and the competitors themselves could come and go to watch the competitions. They found an empty one soon enough, most people were watching the aerial aces perform, and getting an airborne view was forbidden during those, in case any of the tricks went wrong or someone accidently hovered into the contest zone.

Latching his foot into the stirrup and vaulting onto Wado's back, Zoro twisted into the saddle and held his hand out for Luffy to take. The teen's palm was warm and calloused against his own, and Zoro heaved him up, Luffy fitting into the gap between the saddle's edge, but it still left them pressed closely together.

With a strong push of her wings, Wado was airborne, and then the three of them were darting over the tents and across the race track, avoiding the rings that Zoro and Wado had flown through earlier. Though the banks they made to avoid them were gentler than when they were previously doing the course, out of respect for their passenger, he could still hear Luffy's energized laughter in his ear, and the press of lithe arms wrapped around his waist tightened when Wado tipped to the side, wingtips tilted to the ground.

With another few beats, they cleared the mountainous region that made up the last half of the race, and slowly ghosted on the currents towards the forest section, Though they were moving slower than the earlier harebrained pace, Zoro still almost missed Luffy's words to the slipstream.

"Do you really like someone?"

Zoro turned his head, startled by the question, and Wado dipped, the shock he felt sparking along their bond. "Wh-," he stumbled out, tripping over the words, "What? Are you talking about what happened earlier?"

Luffy gave a noncommittal hum, Zoro feeling it vibrate through his body more than hearing the sound, and he forced his body not to shiver, instead saying, "Nami's a nutty, money-grabbing witch. She doesn't know what she's talking about." Luffy gave another quiet, buzzing hum instead of answering. Zoro felt his shoulders drop into a near indistinguishable sigh.

Their conversation came to a stuttering halt as Zoro ran out of things to say and Luffy kept his silence, and Wado gently circled the forest, finding a small clearing that they'd passed on the race. Before she'd even properly landed, Luffy had slipped off her back haphazardly, leaving Zoro still stuck in the saddle. Stumbling as he rushed to unclip his boots from the stirrups, the dragon rider hurried after Luffy.

"Luffy, damn it, why are you so upset?"

"I'm not upset-"

"Then why won't you stop walking away from me?" Luffy's steps seemed to falter before he pressed onwards again, and Zoro shot desperately, "Look, she didn't meananything by it!"

Luffy whirled around, hands clenched and gaze burning. "I wanted her to!"

Zoro froze, shoulders dropping, and he could feel himself frown in confusion. "What?" Luffy's cheeks slowly grew redder as he held his hand over his eyes and avoided looking at Zoro. The green-haired teen took a few steps closer, brow furrowing even further. "Do you want me to get a date or something?"

"No!"

"Then why-"

"I thought that we- But then you-" Luffy chucked his hands up in the air, unable to stand being still, and his feet moved, pacing on the spot. "I thought we were we.But you said you didn't-"

"But you never asked-"

"I thought it was a given! I was fine like this-," he gestured between them, obviously trying to indicate something that Zoro was still having trouble wrapping his head around (did Luffy likehim?), "But I thought this was a given!"

"What the hell is this? You never toldme!"

"This!" Luffy said again, and Zoro almost gave a growl of frustration, tipping his head back slightly. "This as in you and me and being friends!"

"Then why the hell did you get so mad when Nami said I likedsomeone?"

"I dunno!I just didn't-"

"Were you-," the word almost stops, hesitant as he is to speak it, but Zoro makes himself say it anyway, feeling just a bit hopeful, "Jealous?"

"I dunno," Luffy repeated again, throwing his hands up in the air. "You're just mine."

Excuse me,his brain went, I'mwhatnow?

"You've never asked," Zoro growled, because that would have been something that most people would do rather than just claim possession over a person, but then again it was Luffy, and he most likely thought at some point that he hadasked.

"Are you saying that you would've said yes?" Luffy demanded, something that looked almost like a sneer on his features.

"Yes!'

The both of them froze again, and Zoro almost considered swearing, screwing his eyes shut and feeling his cheeks probably turn six shades of red as they heated in embarrassment.

"…Really?"

Zoro pinched the bridge of his nose, wincing at his blunder, and he lifted one shoulder into a half-hearted shrug.

"Zooorooo," Luffy sing-songed, and Zoro could practically hearthe grin in the teen's voice. "D'you wanna go out with me?"

Zoro pinched the bridge of his nose harder, mouth opening to speak, when suddenly a loud, high-pitched screech broke their conversation. "Wado!" slipped from Zoro's lips, and he immediately turned, sprinting in the direction that the loud shriek had come from and bursting into the clearing that they'd landed in.

His dragon was surrounded by what appeared to be a group of Roamers holding Dragon's Bane, and a growl rumbled in his chest. "Oi!" he shouted, Luffy's footsteps right behind him, "Get the hell away from her!"

The Roamers jumped, startled by the sudden appearance of the two of them, but one of the taller ones merely sneered and shot, "Why don't you makeus?"

"Fine," Luffy growled, and then there was a burst of heat and fire that roared around Zoro, narrowly missing setting him aflame.

What the fuck,was his first thought, coupled with, where the hell did that come from!?

The Roamers all yelped, falling over or scrambling away as quickly as they could, and Zoro turned slowly, unsure of what he might find. Luffy was still glaring after the fleeing Roamers, shoulders tight, fists clenched, and-

With a pair of bloody humongouswings sprouting out his back.

"What the fuck?"he articulated, mouth dropping open in absolute shock. He saw Luffy jump, anger fading as he settled his gaze on Zoro. "You're a dragon?" Zoro shouted, voice definitelynot jumping into a squeaky pitch as he stared in open mouthed incredulity, Luffy's large wingspan twitching ever so slightly under his gaze.

"Well, kind of?" Luffy paused, brow furrowed, and his wings almost seemed to react automatically, folding up and slotting through the large rents that had been torn in his shirt. "I think it's like- quarter dragon or somethin'. I just get the wings and the firebreathing, which is kinda cool."

A multitude of words ran through Zoro's head at that point, none of which he seemed able to articulate, mouth opening and closing uselessly. Luffy cocked his head to the side curiously. "Zoro?"

"You- You- but- dragon?"

"Quarter-dragon."

Zoro took one breath to steady himself, and then another to prevent himself from hyperventilating and fainting or something equally as embarrassing, "So- that's why- you don't ride?"

Luffy nodded energetically. "Yep! I can do it myself, so it's boring. I mean, I can't raceor anything, but like, I can't bond either, which just makes it super super dangerous. Ace got mad last time I had a conversation with Striker."

Okay, back up,Zoro thought, replaying the words in his head. "Conversation?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow and seeing Luffy nod again.

"Uh-huh."

"Talking conversation? As in, like the conversation we're having right now?"

"No?" Luffy said, head tilted to the side again, and Zoro almost gave a sigh of relief, because he could accept his closest friend being quarter dragon, but conversing with someone else's dragon was just pushing it. Of course, he should have waited, because Luffy continued, unheeding of any of the decorum that went with being a dragon rider. "But something like it. Wado's really sarcastic, Zoro, it's so funny."

My dragon is sarcastic,Zoro thought, some sort of calming madness over taking his brain and making him operate as though everything was fuzzed. ObviouslyLuffy could do these things. It wasn't like it was completely against everything they'd ever been taught, or anything.

"Zoro?"

"I'm still trying to come to grips on the fact that you're a dragon.How-?"

"Dad's side."

"But…isn't your dad's name-?"

"Yeah. Gramps is bad at names."

"This is way too many revelations for one day," Zoro said, shaking his head slowly and still staring at Luffy, who fidgeted on his feet, obviously unused to having such focused attention. The teen picked at the ruined remains of his shirt, torn open by his wings, and Zoro rolled his eyes, knowing that he'd probably regret this but also knowing that he didn't particularly care.

"I can't believe I'm gonna go on a date with a dragon."

Luffy looked up at that, startled, and Zoro saw the moment the realisation clicked inside Luffy's head – a large grin immediately bloomed on his friend's face. Luffy laughed loudly, tilting his head back to the sun before once again offering Zoro a large, bright grin. "Really?" He asked, almost looking like he wanted to start bouncing up and down.

His grin was infectious – Zoro felt a smile tug up the corner of his lip that he didn't bother hiding from his friend. "And this time we're making sure there's no more confusion. This," Zoro gave a small gesture between them, "is actually thisthis time."

AN: Makes the title a pun? -thumbs up- nice

And for some reason I really like this fic (probably because I have a weakness for dragons aha). But also ew I am not happy with the characterization and the pacing. What do you guys think?

Once again beta'd by Beyond Kailani! vuv