Snubbed

"Snubbed"

9/26/16

Elly x Zoro

"Awkward" scenario

Non-Canon Anime/Manga: ONE PIECE

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"All right," Sanji stated, standing up straight. Today's lunch had been quieter than usual, seeing as most of the crew were gone on a trip. It was just himself, the moss-haired asshole and the half-cat lady with the angel's voice. He was happy because they'd at least left him one woman to fawn over. Smiling to himself, he checked the plates and made certain everything had been put away properly. "Lunch is put away."

"Great." Zoro tossed a dishrag on the counter and stretched his arms over his head. "Time for a nap."

"That sounds like a great idea, Zorokun." She flashed him a fang-toothed grin. Zoro wobbled a little on his feet and Sanji elbowed him in the ribs, waggling an eyebrow at him.

"Shut up," he hissed at the younger man under his breath.

"That got you, though, didn't it." Sanji chuckled. "Honorifics. Whoooo." The subject of their discussion hadn't heard what they were saying. She'd flounced happily out onto the deck to find a spot to settle down.

"I'm surprised no one's back yet." Elly peered out over the sea with one hand cupped over her eyes to shade them from the bright sun. "Didn't they leave for that island an hour ago?"

Zoro grunted as he sat down under his favorite tree. "It'll be a few hours. Not just one."

"Yeah," Sanji agreed. "The girls," he danced about for a moment as he referenced them, "will probably want to take a few moments to relax off ship. They usually do."

"Huh." Elly wrinkled her nose. "I guess I spent too many years on dry land. I like it better here." It's quieter, and the music of the sea calms me."

"My beautiful little Angel." Sanji sat down beside her in the shade and took her hand in his, kissing it lightly. She blushed, unsure of what to say.

"'Little?'" Zoro snorted laughter. Elly's eyes widened, her face darkening further. She swallowed past the huge lump that had suddenly formed in her throat, and though she fought hard, tears started to slip down her cheeks. She was enraged at the fact that he had caused her to cry almost more than the insult. Snatching her hand out of the cook's light grip, she spun around and dashed down the deck, disappearing quickly into the girl's bathroom.

"Oh, you are a fucking idiot," Sanji sighed, hanging his head. He clapped both hands over the blade that came swishing automatically at him and snarled at the big man in a rage. "Stop that! Can't you think without those for a second?"

"Don't call me stupid and maybe I won't," Zoro snapped.

"Well, now," Sanji drawled. "It's fine for you to call her stupid. You don't even use her name. But, unlike me..." He grunted, knees popping slightly as he stood all the way up. "I gave her a compliment. And you denied it."

"The fuck are you talking about." He slid his sword back into its sheath.

"You said she wasn't 'little', like she's some huge beast." He casually lit a cigarette.

"I didn't mean that!"

"Ah, I rather think that's how she took it. I said she was beautiful, you laughed and acted like she wasn't."

Zoro bared his teeth at the other man in frustration. "I meant," he ground out, "that she's not like those worthless little dainty crap wenches you perv over."

Sanji raised one curly eyebrow in surprise. "You've got a weird way of complimenting her, moss-head."

"Eh." Zoro blinked.

"Yeah. Admit it. You got jealous and said shit you didn't mean."

"I-!"

Sanji blew smoke out in a huge gust. "You did. And you made her cry."

Zoro blinked several times more. "Ehhh?"

"Go. Apologize. Stupid." The blond chef enunciated each word as if he were speaking to a simpleton. He pointed at the ladies' room.

"But-"

"Angel!" Sanji called out. "The green-headed asshole wants to apologize to you!"

"Hey!"

"Now do it right." He snorted and walked off in disgust as the door creaked slowly open. Elly peeked out from a tiny crack hesitantly, reminding Zoro of when they had first found Chopper. She was just as skittish now, and that worried him. She'd never acted that way before. If it really was his fault, he felt terrible. And all that bullshit wasn't something he wanted to deal with. Feelings weren't Zoro's forte.

"Uh," he began, scratching his chest nervously, "I didn't mean it that way."

She walked out, still not looking him in the face. "Yeah."

"It came out wrong."

"That's okay." Still not facing him. He felt anger bubbling up in him once more.

"Damn it, cat, look at me!" He reached out and grabbed her shoulders, turning her towards him. She lifted her face and his colored abruptly. There were tear-streaks running down her cheeks and her eyes were red. The purple shade of her irises were paler and she wasn't focusing properly on him.

"What."

"I did this," he choked.

"Did what?" she grunted, frowning. Some spark came back to her eyes and she glared at him. "It's not your fault you think I'm a stupid, ugly bitch. You're probably right." Her ears laid flat against the sides of her head, tail lashing wildly as she bared her fangs. "Just leave me alone!"

Most people know to leave a cat alone if these warning signs are present. Zoro did not, and probably would not have anyway. Instead, he clumsily tried to apologize again.

She bit him on the arm.

"Crap!"

Sanji rushed out at the swordsman's yell only to find him holding his arm up ruefully. "The hell happened? You were supposed to apologize!"

He stared down at his bleeding arm. "She didn't buy it."

"No shit."

Elly pelted off through the kitchen door and leaned against a corner of the aquarium, panting hard. She hadn't meant to bite him, he had just pushed every single one of her buttons. All at once. And then he hadn't let her go when she'd asked. Stretched to the limits of her emotions, she'd simply reacted, like the stupid feline she was.

"Ughhh." Her ears drooped. If he didn't like her then, he probably hated her guts now. "What a great day."

A firm step beside her shocked her out of her melancholy. "You've got spirit," Zoro chuckled as he sat down beside her.

"Ah!" She would have fallen over in her surprise but he quickly caught her before she tipped forwards. "Zoro!"

"No more honorifics?" He sounded mildly upset. She noticed he'd cleaned his arm but hadn't bound it.

"Uh. What? You..." she trailed off. "I can't think."

Amazingly, he pulled her closer than ever before, into his lap with her back resting on one arm. Laying sideways in his embrace she froze, her mind even more jumbled and unable to form coherent thought. "I liked 'Zorokun,'" he admitted. A tiny squeak escaped her. "But I didn't like him saying the stuff he was to you."

"What?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Like how - how you look," he said awkwardly.

"Beautiful, you mean?" She snickered. "I know I'm not."

"That's... that's not," Zoro fought to try and express what he wanted to say and refute her statement at the same time. "You're fine. He's not supposed to say shit like that!"

"But he does."

"Not supposed to," he said in a grouchy tone.

"Yeah, well, he always does, to all the girls."

"He's not supposed to do it to mine!" The minute this was out he clapped a hand to his mouth. That definitely hadn't been something he'd intended to admit.

"What!?"

"Shit!" Zoro's his blush was burning all the way down his neck in its intensity. He looked around desperately for a change of subject but found none. Especially because she was sitting up in his lap, staring an inch away.

"Zorokun," Elly breathed in exasperation, "if you felt that way, all you had to do was say it."

"Stupid cat." He thrust his lip out in a pout.

"And that's it, isn't it." She sighed and bent forward, resting her forehead on his upper chest. "That's as close as you can come to affection. That's why I'm 'stupid'. It's not me, it's your emotions you can't control."

"Erk." He pouted harder, scrambling on the floor, but there was no escape. He'd been backed into a corner.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said it out loud." She shrugged. "I won't bring it up again, anyway. But if it's true..." He watched carefully as she raised her head. "...do one thing for me? Please?"

"Spit it out."

"Kiss me." She said it calmly, and he wasn't sure at first that he'd heard properly. But she leaned forward more until their noses were touching and he saw the truth of what she had said in her eyes. He squeezed her close, still pouting a little... and she made the first move instead, kissing his upturned lip.

"Eh!"

"Too slow," she murmured with a sly grin.

"M'not slow." Zoro laid one hand on the back of her neck, pulling her to him while he covered her mouth passionately with his own. True to his word, he pressed forward immediately, overwhelming her with his lips and tongue. After what seemed an eternity to both, they parted with a moist sound and mutual gasps for air. But he wanted only a few breaths before he was at it again, this time on her neck while his hand played with her sensitive, velvety ear. This surprised a miaow out of her and her tail quivered, raising from where it had been laying on the ground. "Didn't you say no one's allowed to touch this? Why?" He whispered in her ear.

"No, wait!" Elly cried out, but not fast enough. Zoro's hand whipped around and caught the base of her tail. "Ngh, Zoro..." Her eyes slid half-closed and she grew limp in his grip.

"That's good." He grinned and stroked the fur in his palm. She gasped and he chuckled, warm puffs of air tickling her ear. "Did I find a weak spot?" She hissed softly and he kissed her again, effectively silencing her protest. When she could speak again she did it quickly, rushing it all out before he could do something more outrageous.

"You can't be seriously doing this, there are people all around outside and -"

"If that's what you're worried about, I'm not being serious enough." He gripped firmly and squeezed, rubbing upwards along the fur. He was peeling her defenses back by handling one of her most sensitive spots. Elly swallowed hard, trembling and swaying in his arms.

"That's not - my tail is --" She bared her fangs and gave her best effort to pull herself together. "Only a cat's mate is supposed to do that!"

"That's why no one can touch it?" He looked faintly surprised. "That's it?"

"What!"

"You act like it's a problem." Zoro pulled the length of her tail through his hands and let it drop. When that hand was free, he used it to grasp her closer to him, circling both arms around her waist. "You didn't stop me. You cut that pervert's face up when he did it to you."

"I know, damn it," she said through gritted teeth. She flexed her fingernails in his arm warningly.

The big man chuckled. "And he barely touched it. I just felt the whole thing up."

"Damn it," she repeated, slower this time. "Zoro. Don't say it like that."

"I'll say it anyway I want." He gasped with laughter when he saw her face scrunched up in a comical grimace. "Listen, little one..."

"Oh, now I'm little."

"Ch', shut up for a second." He slid his hands from her tail to her bottom, gripping tightly and pressing her into him. This had the effect he wanted as she froze, her eyes growing wide at his boldness. "You're already mine. We just haven't sealed the deal yet," he added with a vicious smirk. She choked, and he unexpectedly let her go.

He certainly got his point across, and every time she met him after this her heart felt like it would explode for how fast it raced in her chest. All he had to do was wink at her whenever no one was looking.