Chapter Text
A pure, unadulterated walking danger.
That's the first thing that crossed Venus's mind when a certain green-haired swordsman sauntered into her bar, the Drunken Porthole, tucked in the corner of her little island in a godforsaken part of the New World.
Bullfrog Island, and most particularly Gashiro Village where she lived, had never been known for more than being a stopover port for ships. The landscape was absolute shit, unless you had a kink for getting lost in a swamp, stumbling into marshes, and/or sinking neck-deep into quicksand. The food mostly consisted of roasted caimans and monitors (the lizard kind, not the screens) apart from the occasional remaining babirusa that had yet to be hunted to extinction.
But the booze. The booze was what made the island tolerable, if not outright special.
Part of it was due to Venus’s grandfather, one of the most renowned sake makers on this side of the New World. Motsuru sake was famous for its cleaner, lighter, and more fragrant taste than your typical drink, with enough kick to knock out a full-grown adult after only a few sips. Many brave souls had tried, but only a few managed to conquer the drink.
And that, Venus suspected, was why someone like Roronoa Zoro was here. Of course, by that time, she had no idea that he had wandered into her bar because he’d lost his way and was only following the smell of alcohol. She would only find out about that later. Much later.
That afternoon, the Drunken Porthole’s crowd was thinner than usual. Just a handful of men nursing mugs of ale and swapping stories about the storm brewing eastward. Then the door burst open, and all heads turned in its direction.
Wearing his scowl like a crown, with his three swords (two too many, Venus thought) clanking softly with his every step, the swordsman walked in and planted himself at the counter. His one visible eye glared around the room, as if daring anyone to look at him the wrong way. Nobody did. Even as his crew’s bounty posters were plastered across the back wall (and his was a particularly attractive one, she would admit, considering she had spent a decent amount of time staring at it). More than one-point-one-freaking-billion Beri. Even with that absurd amount of money, nobody was idiotic enough to challenge a member of the pirate crew led by one of the Yonko himself.
What an arrogant prick, Venus noted. She couldn’t help but mentally smirk.
Because that was exactly her type.
She loved a good challenge, especially if said challenge was looking this good.
Irritating. Intriguing.
So tantalizing.
Her customer service face snapped into place by default, a smile as fake as it was charming, something that her late grandfather used to say came to her naturally. Scary, but efficient.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” The glass she was wiping was now entirely forgotten as her entire attention shifted towards him. “The Pirate Hunter of the Straw Hat Pirates. Gracing my humble bar with his presence.”
The green-haired man only provided a curt grunt as an answer. She predicted as much; men like him typically preferred communicating in caveman standard language. Grunts, hums, and scowls.
“You always make entrances like that?” Venus quirked an eyebrow, leaning her elbows on the cracked wood of the counter (yes, the bar had seen better days). “Or is the ‘cool, grouchy loner’ look part of your trademarked self-brand?”
He didn’t bite, but his gaze didn’t immediately move to the menu either. His one good eye traveled from her face, down to her leaning posture, and back up, lingering perhaps on her piercings. It wasn’t a lecherous stare, Venus noted, unlike the one she was used to getting from male customers. Rather, it was a look of a man assessing a threat and finding something... interesting instead.
“I didn’t come all the way to this stinking swamp for small talk,” he muttered. Venus felt shivers down her spine at his gravelly tone. “One sake. Best one you got. Unless... the rumors I heard about this place are as fake as that smile?”
Huh. Deathly charming, too.
“Careful, Swordsman. My sake has a higher body count than your blades.”
He scoffed. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
Grinning, she turned around to grab one of the Motsuru bottles from the top shelf, which required her to step onto a small ladder. It meant that anyone behind her would get a front-row seat to her ass. Usually, that made her skin crawl, as much as the view was likely to guarantee generous tips. This time, though, she didn’t mind at all. She took her time, knowing exactly how the light caught her curves.
She wanted him to look.
When she hopped down and slid the ceramic cup over to him, filled to the brim, she could feel his gaze on her. It was just a split second, before he quickly averted his eye to the cup, but the split second delay was enough for Venus.
Gotcha.
“Stuff’s got a hell of a kick, though,” she remarked, watching his calloused, veiny hand wrap around the small cup, which looked like a toy in his grip. “You’ll be lucky to stand up after a round. Just saying.”
She tried not to stare too much at his chest, although the wall of muscle and scar tissue not covered by his traditional green robe and haramaki was too enticing to ignore. Bastard’s got tits bigger than mine.
Zoro let out a sharp, derisive snort. “I’ve survived much worse than a bottle of juice, woman.”
“It’s Venus,” she corrected, an edge in her tone. “And ‘juice’ isn’t a word you’d use for something that’s known to knock out giants.”
He didn’t answer, but Venus could almost see a glint of amusement in his visible eye as he locked eyes with her and downed the entire cup in one go.
Venus blinked. And waited, patiently, for the usual effect.
She had seen, with her own eyes, a guy almost nine feet tall drooling on the counter, babbling about missing his mommy, after just three sips of Motsuru. She had rolled customers twice her size off the floor and out of the bar for passing out after daring themselves to finish a bottle. People said they needed a minimum of three days to recover from their hangovers.
Venus considered them all lightweights. Grandpa had made sure she was used to liquor from a really early age, giving her tastes in small doses whenever he brewed his sake. Hell, the old coot probably even mixed some into her baby formula. In hindsight, it was probably borderline child abuse, but it wasn’t without its benefits, because her alcohol tolerance was now beyond that of a normal human. Venus would bet her entire savings that she could drink anyone she met under the table.
Zoro, however, calmly set aside his cup, meeting her eyes once more. “Another.”
Venus blinked. Well, shit.
He didn’t seem to be affected that much. Correction: he didn’t seem affected at all.
“That’s new,” she mumbled. She reached for the bottle and poured another cup, never breaking eye contact with the swordsman. He met her gaze with the same intensity, only perhaps a little more... smug.
That stirred something inside her. She was impressed, yes, but there was something else: her competitiveness. Like hell she was going to let a customer outdrink her. After all, she had a reputation to uphold, as the sole surviving descendant of the Motsuru sake maker.
“Tell ya what,” Venus said, sliding a ceramic cup over for herself. “I’ll go round-for-round with you. The bar closes in about half an hour anyway. If you can drink more than me without passing out, you get everything for free. If it’s the opposite, you pay double. Sounds good?”
Zoro’s dark eye flickered in surprise before his mouth curved into a smirk. “Tch. I thought barmaids weren’t supposed to drink on the job.”
“Eh, the boss won’t mind,” Venus shrugged, nonchalant. “She’s cool. Not to mention really hot.”
Venus could practically hear the gears grinding behind that stupidly handsome face as he put two and two together.
“Ah. So you’re the owner.”
Venus chuckled. “So you think I’m really hot.”
There was a twitch at the corner of his mouth. Subtle, but still catchable. Venus counted that as a huge victory.
“Quit stalling. Are you in or not?” Venus pressed on. The defiance in her tone was laced with an intentional tease.
“Just pour the damn drink,” he muttered, a glint in his stare. “We’ll see who end up regretting their deicision.”
“Alright. Your funeral.”
Venus tilted the bottle for herself, and then him, the clear liquid sloshing slightly on the counter.
“On three,” she said. “One, two-”
Half and hour later, Venus was pouring the last drops of the bottle. The customers had all but dispersed, leaving the bar completely barren save from them two. And the competition between them only got more intense, as both refused to show any weakness. However, the air between them had significantly grown more relaxed, as each started to feel the effects of the alcohol but not enough to get them blackout drunk.
“You know,” Venus hummed, waving the empty sake bottle at his face, her head buzzing pleasantly, “this stuff normally cost anywhere from 300,000 to 600,000 Beri, depending on who you ask.”
“Ridiculous,” Zoro scoffed. “Sake that expensive should only exist within Wano elites. Last time I checked, we’re nowhere near the country.”
“Grandpa was an apprentice sake maker from Wano,” Venus replied, a little slurry but still comprehensible. “He managed to get out before Oden was executed, brought me, his last surviving descendant here, to this- shitty backwater... Then built this bar and his reputation. Admit it, Isn’t it the best sake you’ve ever tasted in your life?”
Zoro looked down at his empty cup.
“’S’alright,” he deadpanned.
Venus burst out laughing. Maybe it was the way he said it. Maybe it was the alcohol talking. Either one, her laughter echoed through the empty bar. It was a genuine, melodic sound that seemed to catch him, and even herself, completely off guard.
“I take it this is a tie, huh?” Venus finally said as her laughter subsided.
“Tch. Fine. I gotta hand it to you, anyway. Nobody I’ve drunk with can hold their liquor as well as you do.”
“So you’re saying... we’re an even match?”
“Not in this lifetime.”
“Aw, come on. At least admit that much. That way, I won’t be too disappointed with you not noticing what I’ve been trying to do the whole night.”
“You think I didn’t notice?”
Her eyebrow rose. “Oh?”
“I did notice.” He added with a scoff. “Maybe you’re just shit at flirting.”
“Maybe you’re just shit at being flirted with.” She bit back.
A pause. She almost started wondering if she was saying the wrong thing, not that it mattered to her anyway, when—
“Hn. Touche.”
He leaned back, although his eye never left hers. His gaze was heavy now. It might be because of the sake, but Venus suddenly became acutely aware of how his gaze was tracking the pattern of the tattoos on her neck that swirled down her left arm, before moving upward to land on her lips.
“So...” Venus tilted her head, her body slightly shifting forward as she dropped her voice into a rasp, “since it was a tie... does that mean you’ll still pay me double?”
Zoro exhaled slowly. He seemed to be calculating something.
“I don’t have a Beri on me anyway,” he admitted. To Venus’s suprise, he didn’t sound ashamed. In fact, was that pride she detected in his voice?
Venus snorted, but she couldn’t stop her grin from forming. “Bounty that high and you’re a broke-ass cheapskate? Gods. I should probably call the Marines and make myself a billion Beri richer.”
“Go ahead,” Zoro crossed his arms on his chest. His lopsided grin was challenging her, but Venus could see his gaze softening. “But I think we both know that’s not really what you want.”
Venus’s breath hitched. It seemed that the night was going in an unexpected direction, but welcomed, nonetheless.
“You’re pretty confident for a guy who’s racking up a tab he can’t pay.” A smile tugged at her lips. “What is it that I want, then?”
“A different way to settle the debt,” he said, without a hint of hesitation. “One that doesn’t involve a wallet.”
Slowly, he leaned forward over the counter, his earrings swayed as he moved, his swords clanking against the old wood. He was now closer than he’d been all night, their noses almost touching. From this proximity, he smelled like the sake, sweat, and metal. A strange mix, yet Venus found herself eager for more.
“And what is that...?” she murmured, her heartbeat racing a mile a minute.
Zoro studied her face like assessing a battle, his smirk turning into something much hungrier.
Fuck, Venus thought. She knew she was in trouble.
A good kind of trouble that was likely to leave her sore and grinning tomorrow.
*
They barely made it past the door to Venus’s room above bar before she yanked him into a messy, impatient kiss (which wasn’t an easy feat, because he was built like a fucking galleon). He took the time to pause and rest his swords gently against the bedpost as if he was tucking some baby kittens to sleep. Venus found that so fucking hot.
Afterwards, she practically dragged him towards her mattress. It was obvious the thing would barely fit them both, but neither seemed to care. It certainly helped that she was feeling sufficiently tipsy; enough to amplify her usual boldness, but not enough to forget everything the next morning.
They undressed each other in a hurry, her fingers working the ties of his robe almost like she was unwrapping the best present she’d ever gotten, before caressing the scar tissue across his chest with something akin to reverence. The sound of his growl set Venus’s nerves alight, and his hands that were practically tearing her leather top open were only stoking the fire within her. Her lips started to part with a sigh when those rough, calloused palms landed on her bare breasts, when he suddenly stopped.
Venus frowned, looking up at him in confusion and a little annoyance. He seemed to have frozen, his eye narrowing at her chest as if he was measuring a blade.
“You don’t want this?” she demanded.
“It’s not that,” he retorted instantly, his voice a jagged gravel. “I just-”
“What?” she pressed on, irritation evident in her voice.
He exhaled a deep, gruff breath, his hands on her breasts trembling slightly.
“I’ve never been good at... going easy,” he muttered. “And I’m not looking to break you.”
Venus blinked.
This man, the badass Pirate Hunter who probably bench-press small ships (yes, plural) for breakfast, was now hesitating to touch her. Because he was afraid to break her. Venus didn’t know whether to feel flattered or offended. On one hand, it was endearing to see the way he was vibrating with the effort of staying still. It was like seeing a grizzly bear trying not to crush a teacup.
But on the other hand?
Oh, for the love of gods, Venus thought, fuming silently. Does he really think I’ll crumble that easy?!
She grabbed his face and jerked it down to hers.
“Listen to me, Swordsman,” she practically snarled, arousal making her body throb so hard it hurt, her grip tightening around his cheeks. “I’m not some fucking porcelain doll. So either you don’t hold back, or we don’t do this at all.”
That seemed to eliminate the last shreds of his doubt.
“As you wish,” he growled.
Her violet hair tangled around his coarse fingers as his mouth collided violently with hers. His hunger was relentless, now that it was no longer restrained, their tongues clashing and exchanging the remaining taste of the expensive sake between them.
Venus couldn’t remember how she ended up lying in her bed. Her sake-addled brain was too busy focusing on devouring his mouth and exploring every inch of his torso to care how she got there. Suddenly, he was already hovering over her, his hands working their magic with the wetness between her legs. She groaned, half in desperation, half in pleasure, grinding herself against his invading fingers on pure reflex. It wasn’t until she started pleading that he let out a low, guttural chuckle, not unlike the sound of a predator closing in on his prey and knowing he had won.
Venus let out an audible gasp as he hooked his arms under her thighs, hoisting her legs up until they rested against his shoulders, opening her up nice and wide for him. With bated breath, she watched him undo his trousers at lightning speed, kicking them aside. Venus bit her lip, treating herself to the delicious view of his hidden fourth sword. It was majestic, to say the least. Eye hooded with lust, he gripped her ankles on his shoulders as he positioned himself at her entrance.
And then she found out exactly how much Roronoa Zoro did not hold back.
***