Luffy's still fuming, kicking and flailing and yelling his head off beneath Zoro's arm when the swordsman detours into an alley several blocks from the bar they'd exited at a flat-out run. Well, the bar Zoro had exited at a flat-out run, anyway. With Luffy held tightly in his grasp, positively adamant about heading back inside to continue kicking the waiter's ass.

The moment he's set back on his feet, in fact, he immediately tries to stomp out from between the buildings where they've stopped, right back in the same direction from where they've come.

"Sencho, just let it go," Zoro tells the rubber man for what he swears feels like the hundredth time. "You already clobbered the guy, probably hard enough to break his nose. So unless you're planning to actually KILL him, there's no point in going back."

"He wanted to BUY you," Luffy huffs, turning and stalking a few stiff-legged steps in the opposite direction when he realizes his path's blocked. "-for- for SEX."

"More like rent me, 'n he MIGHT'VE been joking, but- yeah, basically."

His captain promptly explodes, whirling to face him. "Zoro's NOT FOR SALE! Or for- for RENT either. He's-"

"-yours?" Zoro ventures cautiously while raising one eyebrow. He can't help himself; he wants- he NEEDS- to know what was going through Luffy's head at that moment. What prompted him to say something so recklessly proprietary.

Luffy responds by flushing a truly alarming shade of crimson, face lit up like a ripe tomato bathed in direct sunlight. "I- I was just-" He makes a helpless sort of flailing gesture with one hand, almost as though he's urging the right words to materialize in the air beside him so he can grab and hurl them in Zoro's direction, and starts pacing back and forth in extreme agitation. "You were just SITTING there, STARING at him! I didn't know what else to-"

He abruptly stops dead in his tracks, staring at the older pirate, eyes slowly widening. "… wait… wait- Zoro, did you-" His fingers twitch, his hands curling into fists at his sides but just as quickly flexing open again so he can tug nervously at the hem of his vest. "Did you WANT to? I mean, did you actually wanna… go with that guy?"

It's on the tip of Zoro's tongue to tell him "of course not, you dumbass" but- he doesn't want to lie. Not to Luffy, not even about something as awkward and embarrassingly personal as this. Still, it takes a moment before he can admit haltingly, "At first, yeah… I sort of did. A little, at least." The corner of his mouth twitches. "But I changed my mind pretty damn quick when he started acting like a friggin' jackass."

Luffy considers this in silence, continuing to fidget with his clothing, plucking at a stray thread he's located at the lowest buttonhole.

"A-Anyway, thanks for- uh- for clocking him." The swordsman runs the fingers of one hand through his hair, scratching lightly at his scalp near the base of his skull. "I was gonna tell him off, at least, but you sorta- heh, beat me to it."

"… does-" Luffy pauses and swallows, hard. "Does Zoro do that a lot? Go home with guys 'n-" He's worked the thread loose enough to start winding it around the first joint of his index finger. "… do… stuff." The string snags and he pulls absentmindedly at it. "… THAT kind of stuff. Sex stuff."

"Well, I-"

Luffy's hand jerks in response to his voice, and the string the captain's been fiddling with snaps under the sudden extraneous force, sending the button formerly secured to his vest sailing. It hits the cobblestones between them, bounces a few times, and then rolls to a hard stop against the toe of Zoro's boot.

He stoops to retrieve it, glad for the opportunity to break eye contact and gather his thoughts for a few seconds. God, I don't think Sencho realizes how damn INTENSE he looks sometimes. Not that it's necessary a bad thing- it's just- holy shit, it's really hard to figure out what to say with him staring at me like that…

When he straightens with the button cradled loosely in his cupped hand, Luffy's gaze is averted, those fierce eyes peering down at his empty buttonhole and the length of string he's unwrapped from his forefinger to dangle by one end, and Zoro's forced to bite the inside of his lower lip to prevent himself from snorting out loud at the expression of surprised chagrin on his face.

"Somebody'll hafta sew it back on when we get back to the ship," he says when he's sure he can speak without laughing. "Maybe you better let me do it, though. Nami'll charge you an arm 'n leg."

Luffy makes a little noncommittal "mmm" noise, looking up as he approaches, and he's startled to see consternation and dread flickering in the rubber man's eyes.

Does the thought of me hooking up with another guy really bother him that much? Or- is it me hooking up with somebody in general? Could he actually be jealous? Not OF ME- 'cause I know he didn't give a flying fuck about the waiter- or about any of those guys who were being flirty with him either- but- jealous of THAT GUY? Could that be why he got so mad? Aware he's more than likely setting himself up for disappointment daring to seriously contemplate the idea that Luffy might be interested in him as more than a crew mate and nakama.

He's tried so damn hard to ignore his own feelings regarding their relationship, after all, because Luffy's so- well, it's not that he's innocent or naive or even clueless about sex or intimacy or dating. Those things just- don't seem to factor into what makes Luffy LUFFY. And while Zoro can't do a whole hell of a lot about his dreams- beyond deriving a certain measure of extremely guilty pleasure from their contents- actively fantasizing about being in bed with his captain has been something he's avoided as much as possible. It's always felt too weird- too WRONG- given Luffy's apparent lack of sensuality.

To have one of the LEAST lascivious people he's ever met suddenly addressing HIS sexual drive- and not simply acknowledging its existence but also asking questions about his preferences- is… disconcerting. Not necessarily SURPRISING, since Luffy's never been hesitant to discuss other potentially sensitive topics regarding bodily functions; for example, Nami's pretty well given up asking him to stop loudly announcing when he needs to use the ship's head. But disconcerting? Definitely.

"I've gone to places like that- where guys hook up with other guys, for sex or whatever- a bunch of times with Johnny 'n Yosaku," he admits- and holds up a cautioning hand when he sees Luffy tense. "-but I've- I've never gone home with somebody. Or anywhere else, either." Seeing the question forming on the younger pirate's lips, he forges ahead despite the sudden flare of warmth in his face. "I've never actually- uh- y'know- gone all the way- before. Not with anyone."

Luffy's chewing his bottom lip, looking slighty relieved but no less nervous. He stops long enough to say quietly, "I- I wondered if- maybe one of those guys was, like, your- I mean, the first to-" His fingers have been picking at his vest's empty buttonhole, fumbling anxiouslywith the fabric, and when one of them inadvertently slips through it and gets stuck there, his face goes positively scarlet at the accidental innuendo.

"N-Nah, not- not like that…" Zoro tries not to stare, although his throat's abruptly too dry and too tight and his pulse thumping dangerously fast in his chest and- worse- his groin. He's pretty sure he's going to have an aneurysm on the spot if he ends up becoming visibly aroused while they're having this conversation. "Johnny was the first person I ever kissed, if that- means anything, since we were both drunk 'n… well, there was some- umm- touchy-feely stuff a few times when we were ALL drunk 'n super, super horny. But nobody ever-" He makes a strangled involuntary noise that he guesses is supposed to be laughter. "-stuck anything- in anybody- anywhere."

Having extricated his obscenely jutting finger, Luffy's resumed staring at him.

"What about- what about you? Have you ever-?"

His captain shakes his head slowly, while casually attempting to strangle the hem of his vest with both hands.

Zoro didn't think so, but- eh, he figured there wasn't much harm in asking. Heaven knows Luffy's proved him wrong about shit before- although truthfully he would've been pretty shocked had Luffy responded with anything but a negative.

He takes one hesitant step forward and then another, offering the rubber man his hand with the loose button cradled in it. "Oi... do you wanna hang onto this? Or should I?"

"Oh. Yeah, I guess I could just- put it in my pocket 'til we get-" The moment his fingertips brush the swordsman's palm, Luffy stops to stare at their hands touching, the button he was reaching completely forgotten.

"Sencho?" Zoro asks. "Is everything alright?"

Luffy takes a deep, shaky breath and looks up into his face, hand settling more firmly into his. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." He gives a tentative little squeeze. "I was just- sorta wondering about-" Biting briefly at his lower lip and trying to smile, although that hint of concern never leaves his eyes. "… what it's like to- y'know- to kiss somebody. Since Zoro's already done it, I thought maybe he could tell me- or-" His thumb twitches, then strokes lightly against the heel of Zoro's hand. Only once- one single tiny movement- but a deliberate caress given the obvious wariness that's stolen into his expression.

"Are you- asking me to kiss you?"

"Yeah, I- I think so. But only if you really wanna," Luffy warns him. "It's not an order, 'cause I'm not like that guy. I don't wanna be ANYTHING like that guy. He was a jerk!"

Slowly, giving his captain the opportunity to pull away should he change his mind, Zoro shifts his hand, adjusting his grip so their fingers are intertwined and their palms are pressed flush with the cool metal of the button trapped between them. "Luffy, you're- you're nothing at all like that guy. 'N you're-" He takes a half-step forward, closing the distance between them. "… you wouldn't- you COULDN'T- be just a- a one night stand sort of thing for me either, if anything ever-"

Luffy's free hand closes in the loose fabric of his t-shirt to draw him steadily nearer.

"I don't know how it'd work- I mean, since you're the captain 'n I'm just-" He's startled to realize he's shaking a little, not just excited by the proximity of the other man's body but nervous as well. Knowing this is changing everything between them, straying into wholely unfamiliar territory. "You're MY captain 'n- aren't there, like, rules or something against stuff like this?" Playing devil's advocate even as his own free hand reaches for Luffy's hip, trembling despite his best efforts to hide his agitation.

Luffy gives a snort of laughter, looking immensely relieved to know he's not the only one with no real idea of what he's doing. "What rules? We're PIRATES- it's not like we're gonna get in trouble or anything. At least not more than we already are, anyway."

"Yeah, but- what about the rest of the crew? N-Nami 'n Usopp 'n-?"

"I don't wanna kiss either of them. Or Vivi or Chopper. Or Sanji. Does Zoro wanna kiss Sanji?"

"Oh fuck no- I-"

The gap between them's rapidly shrinking as Luffy snickers and god, if Zoro doesn't love the sound of that ridiculous little "nee-hee" and the next thing he knows, their noses and chins are bumping as their lips meet and it's awkward as hell until they figure out that one of them needs to tilt his head slightly to fit their mouths together properly but it's also somehow entirely RIGHT.

"Huh," Luffy remarks after they've finally drawn apart- rather reluctantly. "I… LIKE kissing Zoro. I bet we'd get a lot better at it too, if we did it a lot more." Flushing as though he hadn't meant to voice that thought aloud.

"Yeah. This isn't exactly how I imagined it," Zoro says without thinking, and then it's his turn to redden with embarrassment, although he can't deny it's more than worth the big smile spreading across his partner's face. "K-Kissing you in an alley, I mean." He nearly lifts a hand to rub sheepishly at his warm face but then doesn't, because that would mean relinquishing Luffy's hand or letting go of his waist, and- well, he really doesn't want to do either. "Not- uh- I didn't mean-"

Thankfully, the younger pirate looks more amused than offended. "You imagined us doin' stuff besides kissing? Like- sex stuff?" He laughs again when Zoro grimaces and nods reluctantly. "It's okay. I think about the cuddly kinda stuff way more, like kissing 'n holding hands 'n things people might think are really dumb, but-" He ducks his head as the color begins deepening once more across his cheeks. "I- uh- I can't say I didn't- y'know- think about THAT too, once in a while."

"… the other stuff's not dumb," Zoro tells him quietly. "Those're just…" He hesitates so long that Luffy looks back up, curious to see what's troubling him. "… those're things people do when they like being together, right? 'N they wanna let each know how happy it makes 'em…" He raises their joined hands, studying the way their fingers are intertwined. "… 'n maybe let other people know too..." Grinning a bit. "Can't really do that with sex, unless you wanna give everybody a show."

"Sex is already weird enough to think about doin' WITHOUT worryin' 'bout people WATCHIN' you do it," Luffy exclaims, looking slightly aghast. "If I decide I wanna do THAT sorta stuff with Zoro, I don't want anybody there but him."

"Same," the swordsman agrees automatically- only to falter as he realizes Luffy's eyes have widened slightly, already solid grip on his hand squeezing even tighter. "Uh- hang on. Does- does this mean we're-?"

"… mean we're, what?"

"… together? A thing? Dating?" He pauses. "… boyfriends?"

Luffy considers this, eyes returning to their clasped hands. "If we get to do this all the time 'n kiss more- a lot more- 'n snuggle 'n-" He lifts his gaze to meet Zoro's again and it's full of excitement. "Yeah- yeah, I want all of that! Can we do that? Can we be those things?"

Zoro's heart gives an extra hard THUMP within his rib cage, his breath caught in his throat. His stomach's not flipping maniacally like when he was contemplating sex with the now-forgotten waiter- it's fluttering, with excitement far, far stronger than anything he's ever experienced before, and his voice is husky and wavering when he says, "I- yeah, I'd- I'd actually really like that…" Unable to supply anything more intelligent, because the enormous smile his words have prompted renders him speechless.

He leans in slowly as Luffy's hand on his chest tugs at the fabric bunched inside it to reel him forward for another kiss. Soft at first, but quickly growing firmer and more confident, until Luffy's laughing against his mouth between moist presses of their lips, and Zoro himself's grinning, nearly dropping his captain's wayward button in the process of releasing his hand and throwing that arm around his neck and shoulders to pull him closer. And for a little while, nothing- not the alley around them, not the bar they've just vacated, and not even their absent nakama- nothing else matters.