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Title: A Cornucopia of Taste
Rating: It varies. Usually M.
Summary: This was originally going to be pure, unsullied Zoro x Sanji but I changed my mind. It'll just be a collection of man x man love fics. Sometimes they'll be long, sometimes they'll be short, sometimes they'll be steamy, at times sweet. Updated sporadically, labeled as complete since I'll never finish it. Completely unrelated, can jump around from IU to AU to another galaxy. All future yaoi one-shots will be housed here. Het one-shots and drabbles will be housed separate. Pairing will be named at the top of the chapter. I also have moved all other Yaoi oneshots I wrote before in here and deleted them from my stories list. I'm sorry for the huge hassle, but I hope you readers like this streamlined version better. Enjoy!
Pairing: Zoro x Sanji
Chapter One
Love Me Dead
Love me cancerously, like a salt sore soaked in the sea
High maintenance means you're a gluttonous queen
Narcissistic and mean, kill me romantically
Fill my soul with vomit and then ask me for a piece of gum
Bitter and dumb, you're my sugar plum
You're awful, I love you, you suck so passionately
You're a parasitic psycho filthy creature finger banging my heart
You call me up drunk, does the fun ever start?
You're hideous and sexy, how's your new boy?
Does he know about me? You've got the mark of the beast
You're born of a jackal, you're beautiful!
Oh, must be the sign on my head! That says, "Love me dead!"
-"Love me Dead", Ludo
Lazy evening, maybe the best time to have sex on the Sunny Go. If you are feeling the urge, and if you have a willing partner.
The sun is just barely on the edge of the horizon, its semi circle glowing a warm and relaxing red orange. The heat and the light linger in the day still, allowing the Strawhats to walk around cheerfully enough in their shirtsleeves, but the bite and glare have been sapped out of them; only the mellow afterimages remain.
The most noisiest of the crew members by then have usually succumbed to the serenity of the evening, and have opted to fall asleep against each other's shoulders as they fish; allowing for the necessary peace and quiet for two individuals to glance at each other, nod, and slip off to the comforts of each other's bodies.
The more introspective women of the crew have also taken advantage of the momentary lull in their crew's antics; they are either busy mapping the strange islands of the even stranger ocean that they have found themselves in at this particular stage of their life, or are sitting outside, reading a good book. And deep in the bowels of the ship, an engineer works on his latest project.
So, laying languid and sweaty, pillowed on hard flesh that to them, is soft, with the evening melting in through the window…that is perfection for lovers. If they are lucky, the skeleton musician will be on deck, serenading the dying day with a melody that aches in remembrance, so that their sex is adrift in sweet melody. And they are often lucky.
"Hmm.", the cook doesn't turn over, but a small grunt lifts his chest, so that Zoro knows that he is listening.
"We always do it good, huh?" He doesn't know why he says it, doesn't know why he wants to tell the cook so that he knows the cook knows. He just wants to say it. A sort of capping triumph.
"But of course.", Sanji still doesn't turn around; Zoro is still graced with the sight of his bare back, the subtle lines of muscle crossing it, the sweat quickly evaporating from off the white skin, the pink scratches of his own fingernails, the wounds of pleasure.
He reaches out a finger and traces the light lines, chuckling when Sanji twitches and snorts, "Ticklish…stop that."
"You ever wonder if we're just going to keep banging right up to Raftel?", Zoro asks him, his tone both lightly teasing and serious.
"We'll be in one piece when they name Luffy King of the Pirates, get it? One Piece?", Sanji cracks up at his own wit. The vibrations of his laughter shake the bed softly, and Zoro punches him lightly in the back, both for the disturbance and the wisecrack.
"I think that was the stupidest joke I've ever heard, cook."
"I think that was the stupidest joke I've ever said, swordsman.", Sanji finally switches sides so that Zoro can see his face, "But I just had to say it." His grin is satisfied, not at all sorry.
"No, but seriously, you think we're just going to keep on going at it, forever?", Zoro reaches out and traces a light hand across his jawline, Sanji's eyes flutter at the touch.
"Well…I think so…If we don't have a problem with each other, I mean, I can't see you cheating on me with Luffy.", Sanji half shrugs, "Why, thinking of cutting if off with me?", he pretends to sniff loudly and dramatically wipes a hand across his eyes.
"No, it's not that…just seems…", Zoro shrugs, "Seems so…domestic, what we're doing."
"Just because we're in the Grand Line where everything's out of this world, doesn't mean we should have Grand Line sex.", Sanji smirks at him, and flips his hair over his other eye. "Is my ass getting too boring for you, oh, great swordsman who knows all?"
"I didn't mean it like that.", Zoro says, amused at Sanji's antics in spite of himself, "I'm just surprised that things turned out like this."
"I can sympathize with that. Hell, when I saw you, I thought you couldn't even get it up." Sanji grins at him, it isn't an insult, or even a jibe, it's just something he says, a little Sanji-ism.
"When I first saw you, I didn't think you swung both ways. Ladies' man.", Zoro reaches out and traces the pink-brown oval of the cook's perky nipple, "Was I wrong."
"I can think of something much more productive that your finger can be doing.", Sanji answers, his eyelids drooping, Zoro has seen this happen before and can positively identify that look as the blonde's 'fuck me' sign.
"I think you're not taking this entire 'how our relationship has progressed' discussion seriously, cook." But his thumb runs rapidly over the bud, feeling it harden magically underneath his caresses.
"Hmph.", Sanji grunts, he doesn't look as impressed with events as his counterpart, but his back slightly arches with the actions of Zoro's hand, "Whatever…It's because I'm not sure where you want to take this conversation…Is the sex good? No good?"
" 'S good.", Zoro says, and rolls on top of him.
Later, their bodies more sweatier and the room more muskier, Sanji murmurs, "You could've just said that."
"Forget it. You don't understand, cook."
"Hmph. Shouldn't we clean ourselves, get dressed?"
"You can if you want. I got nothing they haven't seen themselves.", Zoro closes his eyes and props his arms behind his head.
"Oh yeah. I'm entirely positive that Usopp has seen my jizz splattered all over his stomach.", Zoro can hear the squeak of the bed springs as Sanji gets up and the rustlings as the cook cleans himself and struggles back into his suit.
"He better have not, or I swear upon my mother's grave that I'll chop your balls off. You know-Oni Giri has amazing precision."
"Do you seriously think I'd be desperate enough to sleep with the sharpshooter who wears a mask to get his balls to drop…?", Zoro hears the metallic click of Sanji's lighter, and the subsequent whoosh of flame. The smell of smoke completes the trilogy. "I swear he wears that mask when he jacks off-"
"I don't think Usopp is at that stage yet.", Zoro interrupts, chuckling, smiling as he thinks of the long nosed boy aboard the Sunny Go.
"I don't think he'll ever be. Here clean yourself up.", the small thump of something light, presumably a towel, or even his own discarded shirt, hits the covers near his head. Seems as if Sanji is determined to have him clean before the day is done.
"I think they already know for sure anyway. It's not going to be such a scandal if I have your come splashed on me somewhere." He makes no move to grab whatever it is that Sanji has thrown at him.
"It's called decency.", he can't see the blond, but Zoro can picture him. A hand on his hip, another holding his cigarette, his swirly eyebrow drawn down in disapproval.
"Oh, that thing.", he can't help his lips from curling up.
"'Oh, that thing'.", Sanji mimics sarcastically, "Clean up, marimo."
"Why don't you clean me up? You left it there in the first place.", Zoro's grin broadens; deviling the cook is half the fun from whatever constitutes their relationship. He refuses to open his eyes and acknowledge the blond, something which is, no doubt, bothering the cook to no end right this minute.
There is a few seconds of silence, not many, but enough for Zoro to wonder if Sanji had given up and left the room, even though he hadn't heard the door open. He's right about to open his eyes and see where the cook has gotten to, but then he feels the long slathering of heat on his stomach, and his eyes fly open.
"What-", He half gets up, Sanji is hunkered on his side of the bed, his face down, licking up come.
"You wanted me to clean you up, didn't you? 'Cuz I put it there; so it's only fair that I take it off.", Sanji 's eyes dance as he runs the flat of his tongue over the rippled abs, the white substance disappearing into his mouth.
"You don't have to-I was just kidding.", Zoro drops back on his elbows so that Sanji can work easier, surprised in spite of himself, and well on his way to being hornier than heaven.
All he receives is small sighs as Sanji 'cleans', taking come but leaving saliva and a chill and a need. When Sanji finishes, it is night and he is hard. Zoro mutters, "I hate you sometimes."
"That's why I wanted you to do it yourself."
"Come on, just get down here-"
"No, I'm all dressed. I was going to go see if Nami needed some help."
"It'll only take a minute-"
"That's the funniest thing you've said all week.", Sanji sits down on the bed and fits his glossy black shoes on each foot.
"I think you did this on purpose.", Zoro muttered, flopping back down on the bed, knowing he'll have to do it later by hand. Oh well, at least after having had a months long sexual relationship with the Sunny Go's cook, if there was one thing he had gained from all of this, after all the dust and dirt had settled, it was first rate jack off material. That was one thing he did have. "It must all be in your secret agenda."
"Curses, my evil, nefarious plot of having Zoro Roronoa walk around with a perpetual hard on finally revealed.", Sanji blew him a kiss as he walked towards the door, his hips twitching more than usual, a sign Zoro could read as 'I have just been freshly laid and am as happy as a bumblebee.'
"You're fucking snarky today, I noticed. You on the rag?"
"Land Hooooooo!", their captain's bellowing voice, excited beyond measure, drags the crew out of their good night's sleep and into the usually insane realm of the Grand Line.
An hour later, breakfast snug in their bellies, and belli burning a hole in all their pockets, the crew splits themselves into teams of exploration and excitement. The divining up of all members and belli go as it usually does, that is to say, loud and noisy and slightly dangerous.
"I'm going for books! Medicine books!", Chopper's excited squeakings are almost too high pitched to be heard by humans, the stars in his eyes twinkle like small gems, "I've got a little bit of belli I stored up since the last island, and I'm going to buy a whole cartload of medical books so I can learn more!"
"Don't spend everything Chopper, because I swear to God that that is the last belli I'm giving you if you spend it all.", Nami's ultimatum rings out over the general hubbub, "That goes for all of you too."
"Nami! We need a big bronze statue-", Luffy's request is silenced by a hard smack.
"Anyone else think we should change our gold for bronze?", the navigator looks around chirpily. A chorus of 'no's' rings out, subdued and slightly fearful.
"I think I'll tag along with Doctor-san to the bookstore.", Robin comments thoughtfully and favors the reindeer with a smile, "Perhaps we can pool our money together and buy more books that way?"
"Robin!", Chopper's eyes are enough to cause retinal damage, they are that bright and worshipping.
"I'll go with Robin-chwaaaan~", Sanji trills, spinning around, "The island map says that the food section is right next to the book and paper section." He pauses, "Oh, and I guess Chopper's coming too." Chopper takes the opportunity to jab his sharp hoof into Sanji's shin, extracting from the cook a loud yelp.
Zoro isn't even subtle, "I'll go with the cook."
Franky whistles and picks at his thong, "I need some new pants. I'll head off toward the department store section. Maybe get a few more tropical shirts. I need to have style, bros."
"I'll go with you Franky. I need to pick some more shirts up and maybe a few skirts.", Nami muses over the map for a few more seconds before handing it to Robin, "The department stores are on the other side of the island, you sure you don't want to come with, Robin?"
The historian just shakes her head, smiling, "I'd rather buy some new books. But can pick up some map paper if you want."
"Yes, I'd like that. I'll pick you up some clothes too.", they share a perfect woman moment of understanding and good economy amidst a den of half witted baboons.
"Nami! Can we at least buy some meat?", Luffy's looks like's back in action, a strange red bump decorating his head.
"Sanji, you can handle that. I'm going now."
"All right Luffy. I'll pick up some meat."
"Yohohohohoho! I think I'll head to the music store and pick up some sheet music, and see the violins."
"Nami told me that the music section is right next to the knick knack section, Brooke. I'll head off with you. I want to see if I can pick up anything useful for Kabuto."
"Hey Skeleton, if you see a few good guitar strings, pick me up some will you?"
"Of course, engineer-san."
"Robin-swaaaan~ Are you leaving now?"
"Yes, cook-san. Ready Doctor-san?"
"Wait for me~"
"Shut up cook."
"I'm just glad you don't trill my name like that while we fuck."
"Zoro, that's too much information. I can hear you guys at night sometimes! You know I have a disease? The I-can't-listen-to-my-crewmates-have-sex disease?"
"I've never heard of that disease in any of my books, Usopp! Is it dangerous?"
"Why, yes it is Chopper. I'm the only man who's contracted it and survived, you know."
"Yohohohohohoho! I try to drown it out with my violin music, but I can still hear them!"
"Cook, you're the only one in denial at this point."
"Decency, idiots, decency for God's sake. There's a lady present."
"Really? I don't see one."
"Apologize to Robin-swan marimo!"
"I don't see one either, actually."
He's right about to follow the cook into the grocery store when he feels a light tapping on his shoulder. It's Robin. She's alone; Chopper couldn't contain his excitement and had transformed into walking point and headed off at a brisk trot. He probably was already happily rummaging through the old, rickety stairs of the bookstore.
"What?", Sanji is already moving through the aisles of the store, picking up cabbages and sniffing them and he wants to follow him and poke fun at everything from his girly cooking ability to his swirly eyebrow. That's just the way they are.
"Let's go in here.", the blackhaired historian's smile is mysterious, even more than usual, as she points to the nearby bookstore, and her eyes are fixed on the moving figure of the cook. Zoro's ears perk up in spite of himself; the way Robin's eyes are trained on Sanji hint to the fact that whatever she wants to tell him is about the blond, and if she didn't want to be overheard, it further promised the revelation of a juicy something. Anything that would allow him to one-up Sanji was fair game to Zoro and he followed Robin into the dusty bookstore amiably enough.
"I was hoping that you'd help me carry some of my books back to the Sunny?", Robin looks at him politely.
"What, woman! I thought you were going to tell me something good about Sanji!", Zoro mutters, feeling just a teensy bit disappointed.
"Whatever gave you that impression?", he can swear he can see small red devils dancing the bagpipe in her blue eyes, as wide and innocent as a lamb's, and as guilty as Cain's.
"You were looking at him-ah, just forget it. I'm going now.", Zoro throws up his hands and starts to head out.
"Aren't you going to help me with my books, swordsman-san?"
"Yeah, sure. Whatever. Call me when you need me.", he doesn't feel like sticking around to watch Robin flip through thick tomes he can't possibly ever hope of understanding.
"So I'm assuming that you don't want to know what I know about Cook-san.", her voice is musical, casual, just stating the facts, mister.
He immediately stops, his ears perking up again, but this time, wary. "I thought you said you didn't know anything."
"I never said that."
"But-", Zoro pauses as he re-runs the conversation through his head again, realizes that Robin's right, as she always is, and mutters, "But you implied."
"But I didn't say." She'd make an excellent chess player. Or speech and debate captain.
"Whatever. What do you know about Sanji?", he tries to keep the eagerness from his voice, but assumes he has failed, judging from the smirk that is definitely not ladylike currently creeping up on Robin's face.
"I'll tell you but you have to stay here while I shop."
"No." His answer is immediate, a result of his own hubris.
"Fine then." Robin drifts off and stops to casually inspect a rack of books, from what Zoro can see, deal mainly in the questionable subject of necromancy. He wonders what the hell she does in her room late at night when everyone's asleep or having sex.
It takes him half a second to give in and follow the historian, "Okay, okay. I will. But you have to swear that one-you'll actually tell me. And two-that it's something good. That I can use."
Robin smile is nearly voluptuous when she's happy, Zoro would totally lay her in a second if he didn't already have something with the cook, "I swear that I'll tell you. I swear that it's good and that you can use it. Satisfied, swordsman-san?"
"Yeah. But I don't see why you want me to stay here with you, I mean, what's in it for you?", Zoro scratches his head in bemusement, "I doubt you want me to get more literate."
"Maybe I do.", Robin points across the aisle to another aisle, more hidden in shadow, nearer the entrance, "I saw some interesting books about swords and famous swordsmen over there when I came in."
"Huh. I'll check it out.", he heads off, not seeing the smile Robin's wearing develop into a full-out grin of utter amusement and impish naughtiness.
Robin's right. She always is. That's one of the more annoying things about her, in Zoro's humble opinion. The books are fucking interesting. He's not much of a reader, though he can read, which might have come as a surprise to some, especially the orange haired witch and the stupid blond cook. But he'd much rather train or meditate on his spare time than pick up a book and read.
That doesn't detract from the interest he immediately feels for the titles in front of him.
Through Yellow Eyes: The complete unauthorized biography of Juraquille "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk. Zoro snorts laughter as he pulls the book from the shelf and flips through it. There's pictures of Mihawk as a young boy, with the same piercing eyes, and clutching a plastic sword/ as well as pictures of other relations, some with strange yellow eyes and others with short cropped black hair. The rest of it deals with the young Mihawk's childhood and his meteoric rise to fame and notoriety. He puts it back. Boring.
Nitoryuu: A study and training manual. Zoro flips it open and rifles through the pages. Nothing interesting. Two sword style is something he's already mastered. Anyway, this looks like a book for mediocre swordsman.
The Sword Bible. It's exactly the one that marine girl, and creepy Kuina-look-a-like, Tashigi, carried around, except bigger and more detailed. Zoro looks up his own swords for fun and smirks at the prestige given to Wadou Ichimonji. He checks out the other Twenty One Named Swords and ogles them much like he would an Amazon Lily magazine.
How to Polish your Sword: A Beginner's Guide. Zoro doesn't even take it down. It sounds too unsavory.
Samurai Ryumma and the Dragon takes up at least thirty minutes of his time. It is interesting, though a lot of it is written based on the author's assumptions and guesses of what happened in that time period. But it carries a ring of truth to it, and Zoro silently approves of the author's clear and concise style, he most definitely had been a swordsman himself.
The Great Book of Sword Jokes is highly amusing, if slightly juvenile. But he memorizes the more clever ones to take back to tell Sanji.
Swords for Dummies is slightly insulting in its simplicity. It would have been perfect for Luffy or Usopp.
And then, Santoryuu: Roronoa Zoro' Infamous Swordsmanship Style makes him chuckle. He flips through it, sees pictures of his home and dojo, and of his teacher, looking both humble and tired in his simple grey uniform. There's even pictures of the cemetery where Kuina is buried. The actual book is mostly about his activities in the Strawhat crew and an in depth analysis of his techniques. At least the author admired him. The book even comes with his large life-size bounty poster. He puts it back with a sigh of regret after a quick peek at the price tag. Not that he wanted to buy it. of course.
There are other titles, others intriguing enough to warrant him taking them down, others just plain silly which earn from him a grunt of laughter.
Welcome to the Carnival: A look at swordsmanship in the crew of Buggy the Clown just makes him laugh.
Fighting like a Gentleman; the art of the Rapier. Maybe the ideal book for Brooke, not for him.
A History of the Sword is pretty good, but probably more Robin's field than his. There's too much flowery description for him to make any sense of it.
The Medicine of the Sword has good advice for wounds inflicted with metal. He'll have to remember to point Chopper in it's direction. Where did that reindeer doctor head off to anyway?
Kiribachi: Arlong's Weapon makes him grimace.
Devil Fruit Sex.
Zoro blinks. What the hell does that have to do with swords?
He looks up, a sign hanging overhead proclaims that he's stepped into the relationships/love/sex section.
"Why the hell do they have to put that stuff next to the sword stuff?", he mutters to no one in particular, though he probably knows why. Sanji has told him millions of times that he's a swordsman only because he has a Freudian need to compensate. He always retorts that at least he doesn't need to stick something in his mouth all day long in order to feel loved.
Zoro can feel his eyes wandering to the other titles in spite of himself, drawn by a sort of sick fascination by the title of the first book. And curiosity getting the better to him, he reaches over, with a quick glance around to make sure no one's looking, picks it up and flips it open.
He nearly throws up when he reads the paragraph on the Sand Sand fruit. Then, knowing he'll never see Luffy the same way, Zoro flips to the G section and looks for Gomu Gomu.
-then have your partner spin around and around until it wraps tightly around them and aches with both tension and need. At the moment of release, release your grip so that your partner unwhirls rapidly, spilling-
"Holy fuck…" He nearly shoves the book back on the shelf.
He can't help look at the other ones.
The Ten Steps to having Great Pirate Sex.
Love on the Sky Islands: Positions and Desires
The Kama Sutra of West Blue
The Complete Guide to Amazon Lily
Grand Line Sex
He has to pick up that last one. More because of what Sanji had said the other day, then because he's actually interested on what it has to offer.
"Just because we're in the Grand Line where everything's out of this world, doesn't mean we should have Grand Line sex."
Zoro drags it out, it's a pretty thick book, though he can't imagine that there are so many different possibilities of sex available. On the front there's an image of a man and a woman engaged in a passionate embrace against the backdrop of the infinite galaxies of the universe. Classy.
Apparently the book is divided into four sections; man and woman, woman and woman, man and man, and orgy. It's just curiosity that makes him flip to the man and man section. The section cover is enough to make his jaw drop and to trigger the salivary glands in his mouth.
It's a picture of a young, achingly handsome young man with longish brown hair lying naked on a large bed, his cock is standing to attention, Zoro doesn't know if it's red or not, hairy or not, because it's covered in whipped cream, vague shape of the head is adorned with a bright red cherry. The young man's lover has his tongue out and is captured daintily licking the shiny skin of the cherry.
He can't help picturing Sanji there.
"Just because we're in the Grand Line where everything's out of this world, doesn't mean we should have Grand Line sex."
Maybe it does mean that they should have Grand Line sex. Karma itself had directed this book into his hands. Why, it had practically jumped into his arms. It was meant to be.
Yeah. Fate. That's what it is.
"What? You want a book? You want me to buy you a book?", Sanji frowns as Zoro tugs him none too gently into the bookstore, not more than twenty minutes after he had first left it, "What the heck are you so excited about?"
"You'll see. You'll love it.", Zoro favors him with a lecherous grin, emphasizing the love part with deceptive sincerity. In all the excitement of discovering the book and managing to drag Sanji here, he has completely forgotten about Robin and Chopper who are probably still floating somewhere around in the bookstore, and most likely not checking out sexual instruction manuals like their more idiotic crewmember counterparts.
"Your smile is slightly scary, you know. Ah, hell no-I don't want to buy you a sword book.", Sanji frowns at the titles passing by. "Don't you have anything better to do?"
"No, no, it's this.", Zoro plops the thick, red leather bound book into his hands.
He doesn't think Sanji's eyebrows can lift any higher than they are doing right now, they seriously look in danger of disappearing into his blonde hair. "A sex book? Is this what you're so happy about?" His tone is 'are you fucking serious?'
"Look at the title.", Zoro urges.
"Grand Line Sex.", Sanji observes, "Oh, I get it. This is from what I said yesterday, and now you're going to weakly use that little coincidence as justification for buying this shit and coercing me into getting into all these kinky positions for your own benefit."
"Wow, that's some scary intuition."
Sanji's flipping though the book, "Holy shit…this one involves six chairs, a log pose, and a breath dial….is this even legal?"
"A breath dial?" Vague images. Some pleasant, other's just flat out disgusting.
"Motherfucker.", Sanji's eyes widen slightly, "Check this one out- You need a den-den mushi phone, duct tape, and a bull yagara. The pictures are fucking explicit Holy Shee-it."
"So what are you thinking so far?"
"I'm thinking no fucking way…I'm more than satisfied with our boring old, decidedly normal sex…OH.", Sanji sucks in his breath sharply, and Zoro can tell from his spot in the book that he's looking at the cream whipped dick page.
He tries not to laugh at Sanji's expression which can only be described as 'obsessive, wide-eyed intrigue.' As well as 'instant memorization', "What do you think now?"
"Does this thing have a price tag on it? I'm not seeing one."
"Come on, pass it-"
"Hell no…Hey, listen to this one-take a stool and place it near a sturdy wall, then have your partner-"
"Stop spoiling it for me cook! Pass it here! I found it first!", Zoro makes a lunge for it, but only succeeds in having his check smashed with a hard sole as Sanji defended his illegally acquired property. Sanji's lying on Robin's bed, which is, coincidently, where they usually opt to have sex, and where they did have sex yesterday, and flipping through Grand Line Sex.
"So what? I paid for it.", Sanji smirks and pretends to see something interesting in the book, his eyes widen in exaggeration. "Oh my dear sweet God-this one's hot-"
This time, after a few minutes of hard scrambling, rough punches and swift kicks, Zoro does manage to seize half the book, the spine creaking and groaning in protest as the two men nearly rip it apart in the spirit of competition.
"Hey, dumbass-watch it, this thing's gonna rip-", Sanji glares at him, yanking all the while on his own side.
"You watch it!."
They end up sharing it, something which Nami would have scoffed at if it had earlier been mentioned in her immediate vicinity.
"Hmm-hmmm. I can see myself doing that."
"I'd pay you to that Sanji." He flips the page.
"Wow. Okay, that's just plain weird." Sanji.
"Watermelons? I mean, really? Really?" Zoro.
"Ooh, here's a kitchen one."
"We already did it in the kitchen. Remember? On the table, the counter, the pantry, the floor, the fridge."
"But they use all sorts of utensils. Look."
"Hey, I eat with that!"
"Good point."
"Hey…", it's Sanji, sounding both a little too eager and a little embarrassed, "Are we actually…you know…", he trails off, letting Zoro fill in the black.
"What? Do these?"
"Thought you didn't want to, Mr. Normal Sex is Fine.". Zoro leans back and grins at the slightly uncomfortable cook. The want in the cook's body is priceless, it is so much sweeter when he is eating his own words.
"Well, it'd be a waste to buy this book and not…use it.", Sanji turns on his smile, but Zoro refuses to melt.
"Let me here you say it, cook."
"Say what? What?" The innocence act doesn't become him.
"Come on-'You were right Zoro-kun.' Say it."
"Right? Right about what?" I don't know what you're-"
"Say it!", Zoro's outright grinning at the fake look of confusion that Sanji's still hanging on to.
"YouwererightZoro.", Sanji raps it out between gritted teeth, his face slightly pink, and so fast, Zoro can hear the spit flying.
"I didn't hear you. Slower."
"You…were…right…Zoro.", now the cook is obscenely slow.
"Too slow."
"Fuck you marimo!"
"Not until you're a good boy."
Sanji takes a deep breath and growls, "You were right Zoro."
"You were right Zoro-kun."
"You were right Zoro-kun.", now Sanji's voice is robotic. It seems that the cook wouldn't just stay down. He just had to have the last word. Well, two could play at that game.
He doesn't think Sanji's going to do it, Zoro has never seen that particular shade of red creeping up Sanji's neck. It's highly amusing in fact.
But then, Sanji's voice drops two registers, it comes out leisurely and husky, slightly aroused and dripping with a smoker's drawl, "You were right…Zoro-kun." The last word is a moan, and Zoro's already pushing down his pants and stripping his haramaki by the third word.
Sanji's already on him before he's fully done, hands wrenching his head up in need, "Which one should we…try out?", agile hands, the fingers strong and feeling unbelievably hot grip his back as Sanji breathes the question into his mouth.
"The cover-"
"I'm out of whipped cream…I'll make some later.", Zoro can feel the curve of his lips against his own as he smiles.
"Damn, that was my preferred.", he licks a line across Sanji's jaw, musing. "Let's just go in order."
"Practical, I like it." Sanji detaches himself for a second to snatch the book off from the covers, "Hey, where's Robin? She won't come in here soon?"
"She won't, but we will", Zoro snickers, then, "Nah, she's up deck reading this huge book, called The Complete Encyclopedia of all things Government. I checked."
"Ah, my wonderfully intellectual flower. I'll lock the door though."
"While we're down here ogling Grand Line Sex, which isn't much better than an adult picture book."
Sanji ignores him, "Okay, let's see…the first position is….ahhhh, yes….", his eyes twinkle.
"What?", he peers over the cook's shoulder, busy stripping off his shirt, "Oh…I see."
Sanji snatches up a pillow and props the book open on it, "We'll need to see this. Come on, help me with my clothes."
Zoro does, with pleasure.
As he's running his hands all over his lover's body, he feels a smug pride that the book was a pretty good investment, after all. And suddenly. Zoro realizes that Robin never told him what she wanted or what she knew about Sanji. Oh well, he'll find out later. His hands are going to be full of hot naked cook in a few seconds.
Part Two
The Bootiful View
You taught me to not smoke without breakfast
You taught me that embraced to your waist, everything looks like a feast
You taught many things of the bed
Which are better for making love, but also for sleep
You taught me, among other things, how to live
To convert a caress into a masterpiece
-"Me Ensenaste", Ricardo Arjona
"It's called the Bootiful View," Sanji's voice sounds like he hasn't decided if he's amused, aroused, or appalled. His eyebrow has scrunched tight and rolled into something resembling a swirl lollypop. It's Sanji's special, unique, eyebrow body language which Zoro can interpret to mean that the cook is thinking, 'Do I really want to degrade myself for sexual pleasure? Do I really? '
"The Bootiful View? Don't you mean 'the beautiful view?'" Zoro asked, shivering slightly at the change of temperature, and rubbed with the tips of his fingers, his goosebumpy skin. It didn't help. He slid his arms around Sanji's waist instead and nuzzled his chin into the crook of skin between shoulder and neck, keeping an eye on the tantalizing images in the book.
It seemed like Sanji always carried the warmth of his beloved kitchen around him wherever he went, his body is warm and smelled good, like freshly baked bread. The solid muscles in his body are reassuring, and Zoro allows himself to cling; to just relax in someone else's body. It's a rich feeling. Their nakedness is comforting, and the quiet happiness which wraps around their bodies is enough of a covering for them.
Neither of them are hard, though they soon will be. But it's not something which they really think about it. It's off in the hazy distance, a pleasant eventuality.
"No, it actually says. 'The Bootiful View'…," Sanji repeated, squinting at the pages fiercely, as if he truly believed that if he stared hard enough at it, the offensive pun would disappear. "I'm afraid that is a rather pathetic attempt at humor, my friend."
Zoro snorted laughter into Sanji's neck, "Look who's fucking talking…I still haven't forgotten about your 'One Piece' joke. That was even lamer, if that's even possible."
"Hey-I'm a sensitive man," Sanji muttered, pretending to look put out, and Zoro immediately kissed his shoulder.
"Well, then it's obviously I who should be enjoying the bootiful view," Zoro murmured, his tongue flicks out and runs the side of Sanji's neck. The hands that had been clinging, now clutched at what they considered to be their own. Cook just ignored him, his eyes still glued to the sheets in his hands, lips soundlessly moving as the words ran through his mind.
"I don't really care Zoro-"
They end up on the floor, the bed being too soft to be a good training ground. And they might not have been hard when they had been joking around and acting like general idiots, but by the time Zoro takes Sanji's ankles and spreads them, they are well on their way there.
The bootiful view is just that. A beautiful view of the portion of the human anatomy commonly referred to as the ass. The butt. The dual pair of round globes. The boys. Their name is legion.
Sanji could feel Zoro probing inside already, and he shivered from the cold carpet on the floor, which his stomach as lying flush against.
First, frost the cake. Lotion was spread consolingly around the entrance to his being, smeared carefully, with a sort of lopsided affection. His left cheek was patted, even. With the same subtle affection that Zoro would pat the head of a small dog. And Sanji had the presence of mind to chuckle and squeeze his knees together around Zoro's sides. His ankles could barely cross behind the man's back. It was slightly irritating.
Funny, the stuff he thought about during. Sort of like in the transitional stage of a waiting room in a doctor's office. Where the hell where the magazines?
One finger.
It wasn't unpleasant, it never was. A centimeter, he could handle, he wasn't that much of a weakling. There was no whimpering, no mewling. Just a steady throbbing heat down there. Utterly organic. The beginnings of erection. It always felt slightly strange, however. As if something was crawling around inside, a sort of pleasant amoeba. The metaphors abounded.
Two fingers.
Yes, okay, more burning, but otherwise fine. Zoro was taking it slow, letting him adjust. He didn't have to, but then, Zoro was weird. Now the amoeba had extended a tentacle; there were two things, slowly moving back and forth, like they were trying to walk. Doublefinger. Sanji couldn't help it—his muffled snickers turned into hearty guffaws of laughter. It reminded him of the chick in Arabasta.
"Nothing, nothing."
Three fingers.
Pain he tried not to feel. He had broken his ribs and his spinal cord in several places on Drum Island, he had had his stomach cavity cave in when Kurobi of Arlong's goons had decided to take him swimming, he had had metal plates adorned with stone pearls slammed into every portion of his body. But there were different types of pain. And though this one hurt less, it had a different feel to it. It was an intimate pain, a pain with deep roots in the psyche.
"This is a really good view, Sanji, just saying." Zoro remarked from behind him, "You good?"
"As good as I'm going to get," Sanji answered, feeling the slight adjustment on Zoro's part, and the probing heat at his sensitive hole. But Zoro had prepared him well, and the transition from fingers to cock wasn't going to kill him. Or at least, that's what he liked to tell himself. A little pep talk from the old subconscious. Yee-haw.
"It's pretty easy this way," Zoro remarked from behind him; and Sanji's mind blurred and twisted in strange formations as he tried not to think of the stretching. The pushing and grinding entrance of the cock.
God, oh god.
"Stop acting like you've got the hardest job down there; this is hard for me to, you know." Zoro muttered, gripping his legs in a death grip.
"I'm so sorry, Zoro, I mean, shit, I can't believe I force you into this," Sanji grunted, the words hard in their coming as he's entered. It's hard to sound sarcastic.
"You goddamn right," Zoro muttered, and giving him a particularly hard thrust, hit that spot.
Sanji could heat the smile in the swordsman's words, "You might want to keep your voice down."
And the sex starts for keeps.
Zoro grabbed him and plundered him, shifting hips, using his ass like it belonged to him, molding and pulling. Sanji's helpless to do anything except grunt and growl and when the position's right, yelp and cry out embarrassingly when it's not and his muscles complain.
The man behind him with skin that burns really can reduce him to nothing but a quivering puddle of bones and flesh. All Sanji can think of is how fucking good fucking feels—oh fuck yeah. How it feels to be gripped and used and needed. How vital it feels to have something so potent within him. How the rhythm of thrusting cock, shifting ass, and roaming hands have all converged into something called sex.
Zoro's breathing heavily behind him, small grunts escaping him when Sanji involuntarily clenched inside in response to the stimulation inside him, the touching of that unfathomable place.
"How's the position?" he asked after a few more thrusts and eye watering sensations had loosed his tongue.
"Great. Now quiet, this is—hard."
His ass was buzzing. Like it had a hangover. He tapped Zoro's back drowsily.
"I'm going to…sleep."
Zoro grunted quiet laughter. "Go ahead. You deserve it."
He tapped Zoro's back again, a little more urgently even as the room faded dreamily.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll clean up and dress you. Go to sleep."
It was great how during good sex, even their minds fucked and kept on fucking even after orgasm. He was so in tune to Zoro's wavelength that they could probably communicate telepathically at this moment.
He tried it, just as he drifted off.
Next time…me.
And then-
Zoro shifted, "Yeah. Sure. Whatever."


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Question:Should I send my child to full-day or half-day childcare?
Asked By : StarryStars
Words from the Expert:
I am not sure if I should send my 18 month-old child to full-day or half-day childcare. What are the considerations when making such a decision?
Deciding what programme your 18 month-old child needs requires careful consideration as you may be unsure how well your child may transition and what they will need when enrolled in a childcare programme
A few questions to start with:
- What is your purpose in putting your child in school?
- Has your child attended enrichment programmes or had any prior schooling experience (infant care programmes)?
- What is the disposition of your child?
- How does your child react in an unfamiliar social setting?
- Do you have a caregiver in the second part of the day if you are considering half-day childcare?
One of the most crucial and easiest factors to consider is whether you have a caregiver to take care of your child. If you do, then you can move on to consider other factors in deciding which programme suits your child.
Since you know your child well, you may know how well your child can transition into a full-day or half-day programme. If your child usually loves to interact with people in any setting, be it familiar or unfamiliar, they may transition into the programme much faster, and therefore putting your child in a longer programme may not stress your child too much. Having your child settling happily in a programme is most important. If you foresee the possibility of your child being stressed by the initial school experience, you may want to consider putting your child in a half-day programme first. If your main purpose is to enrol them into a full-day programme, then once they are familiar with the teachers and routine of school, you can then move them into a full-day programme. I would suggest that you best speak to the teachers to get advice on when is the best time to transition them into the full-day programme.
If your child has attended enrichment programmes, even if there were accompanied programmes, they may adapt to separation anxiety much quicker and therefore you can consider putting them in either of the programmes.
Usually the parents want their child to learn self-help skills and gain independence. Being enrolled in a full-day programme, the child is given more opportunities and time to learn how to feed themselves, eventually dressing themselves (bath time), etc. There is also more time to interact and work with peers in a full-day programme and therefore children get more opportunities to develop their social and emotional skills.
Although the core learning subjects are usually taught in the first half of the day, some centres offer enrichment programmes in the afternoon. This allows the parents more time to spend with their children over the weekends as they do not have to bring them to further enrichment programmes as the school may have already provided that.
Ideally, if possible, to make the school transition for an 18-month old a happy and smooth one, enrolling in a half day programme first and then extending to a full-day programme once they are ready can make the school experience a stress-free and enriching one for both yourself and your child.
The Expert:
Iris Lim
Principal of Chiltern House Preschool

subset: commoncrawl


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"...the knowing animals are aware that we are not really at home in our interpreted world." - R.M. Rilke
September 7, 2010
New York's new establishing shot
For three decades pretty much any movie or tv show set in New York opened with a shot of the World Trade Center, either from the harbour or from midtown. Once in a while there would be a tracking shot from a helicopter just above the twin towers. These establishing shots were ubiquitous to the point of being cliche. These establishing shot images became part of the post-modern cinemegraphic iconography. Indeed, it would be an interesting challenge for a filmmaker to shoot in New York and not once feature the usual cliche images of the WTC, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, etc.
Someone once made the comment, upon visiting New York City for the first time, that he felt he had already been there because he had seen the city so many times in movies and on television. I think he also stated that because of America's dominance in filmed entertainment, that the country--and by extension its most prominent cities--exists in your subconscious.
As we approach the 9th anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center, I was thinking about how the rebuilt site will become the new establishing shot for New York, not only in movies but also within the symbology of citizens and visitors alike. It will be mighty strange at first, for arguably the best of American cinema was shot in New York in the 70s and the WTC in so ingrained in our mental databanks. There will be a disconnect as we see images that do not match what we expect to see.
But I am certain that it won't be too long before we accept as normal the startling, sculptural imagery of the new World Trade Center site. You can take a look at what you can expect to see in movies and television shows for years in the following short movie.
Posted by Unknown at 12:59 p.m.
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A recent study by CNN reported the most Googled jobs in the USA, 2015. Among them some jobs offer job security, some jobs pay well and most of the jobs offer career growth. Check out the list why these jobs are hot to pursue them as career.
Government jobs: Most of the people are interested in government jobs and searched for different roles in federal, state and local levels.
Warehouse jobs: Job opportunities available at warehouses include production workers, supervisors and managers. Warehouse jobs are demanding and fast paced. Pay levels are based on experience and key skills.
Engineering jobs: Engineering jobs also offers great pay benefits. Most demanding industries which offer job opportunities are chemical engineering and petroleum engineering. Engineers are also employed in industries such as aerospace and health and safety and involved in applications such as mechanical and civil.
Disney jobs: Walt Disney is a huge company with 166,000 employees across 40 countries. The company hires people for different roles like animation and entertainment, sales and marketing, technology and corporate roles, and sewing positions.
NCAA jobs: The National Collegiate Athletics Association is a legislative nonprofit organization headquartered in Indianapolis. It is the governing body for college athletics. It hires people to get administrative support for the NCAA.
Security jobs: Huge jobs are available for the security experts who are able to deal security issues online and offline. Home and business security companies hire people for staff sales, installation and IT positions.
Babysitting jobs: Companies hire people for nurses, grad students, and retired teachers for gull time and part time jobs.
CNA jobs: Certified CNAs have number of jobs in health industry.
Journalism jobs: Great demand for online content, journalism jobs for wide variety of roles.
All rights reserved © 2020 Wisdom IT Services India Pvt. Ltd


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Going for Commercial Property Maintenance Organizations
It is a great joy to work and live in immaculate workplaces and homes. When you are interested in ascertaining that everything stays clean and start doing the daily chores, you are going to realize that the task is extremely hard. The majority of us don't have abundant time to deal with the cleaning administration without anyone else's input. The easiest thing that we can do is to bring in somebody to carry out these employments for us. Likewise, individuals don't have an opportunity to deal with these contractual workers. In such a circumstance, it is a smart thought to choose a firm that represents considerable authority in commercial property administration; there are numerous such firms.
When you have such a firm dealing with the cleanliness administrations of your business area, you never again need to deal with the cleaning tasks without anyone else. They are going to provide you with a site manager that will have the responsibility of ensuring that everything goes on well and send you timely reports on the same. Different firms even take photographs of the cleaned territories and supply them together with the reports. Landscaping is a crucial factor that adds to the stylish interest of a building or complex. It is critical that the landscaping be done appropriately because the smallest irregularity will diminish the interest of the place. Subsequently, you ought to inspire experts to carry out the activity for you. When it comes to maintenance, hire the professional services of commercial property managers. They utilize exceptional hardware like steam cleaning trucks to ensure that the asphalt and other solid structures are perfect and clean. They utilize vacuum trucks and rucksack blowers, so the corners which are hard to clean utilizing conventional strategies are additionally not dismissed.
Secure the administrations of an association that is worried about nature since it is essential that it be kept well. Make sense of the firm preserves water which is an incredible beginning stage for firms that deal with nature; check if the arrangements that they utilize are biodegradable. The best commercial property support firms take exceptional consideration of the water system frameworks of greenhouses and right away take remedial measures to repair harmed funnels or valves since they realize that water is a precious common asset. Over offering administrations that identify with the outside condition, these business property support organizations additionally deal with the interior locale and ensure that everything is in the ideal request. They can make sure that your walls and furniture are spotless, can also clean your carpet and also take care of your special floor.
If You Think You Get Lawns, Then This Might Change Your Mind


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Ganja Beats present their second album on Organic Records...
more... click to expand contents
...a psychedelic dub infusion of dubbalicious tracks which mix trance, dub and space sounds to create a truly great album.
The album is a true crossover of psytrance and dub to chill you out but enable you to elevate into space and keep those feet tapping. It moves easily through the classic 'Herb is Good' to the pure chill of 'Deep Tranquility'. Light a spliff and 'Space is High'.
This album shows Jake at his finest, its sound goes back a lot further than many of today's chillout artists with clear nods to Lee Scratch Perry, King Tubby and 80s UK electro dubber Adrian Sherwood, as well as Ambient greats like The Orb.
There are few actual heavy dub tracks on there, there is always an incredible sense of space and rhythm, and ultimately, the journey is very soothing and uplifting to the spirit.


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PYT Spring Cone Crusher
|Raw materials:
|Iron ore, copper, steel slag, slag, river stone, granite, basalt, quartz stone, diabase
|Max feeding size:
|Metallurgy, chemical industry, building materials, water conservancy, mining, construction industry, metal and nonmetal mine
|Shipping ports:
|Shanghai, Qingdao or Tianjin
|15-30 days
Adopting the latest technological development, PYT Series spring cone crusher is suitable for hard and mid-hard rocks and ores like iron ore, copper, limestone, quartz and granite, etc. PYT Series spring cone crushers are the ultimate solution for the secondary crushing to achieve uniform product size of hard rocks, ores and minerals.
русский Введение
Пружинная Конусная дробилка – традиционное и давно применяемое оборудование в стадиях мелкого и среднего дробления. Конусные дробилки выпускаются среднего и мелкого дробления материалов с тяжелой и средной твердостью (конусная дробилка PYT аналог конусная дробилка СМД, КМД, КСД).одробнее Описание>>>http://ru.dscrusher.com/crushers/spring-cone-crusher.html
- Spring Cone Crusher is ideal for
- 1.Aggregates production and mines;
- 2.Secondary, tertiary and fine crushing stages;
- 3.Hard rocks, ores and minerals.
Fulfilling All Your Crushing Needs
From limestone to taconite, from ballast production to manufactured sand, and from small portable plants, PYT cone crushers provide unbeatable performance in secondary, tertiary, and quaternary applications.
High Performance for Higher Profitability
DSMAC PYT cone crusher is the right machine to maximize your profitability. For high productivity, low operating and wear costs, long service life, and high product yield with desired fines, there's no better choice than a cone crusher.
- Life Cycle Services - Adding Customer Value
- 1.Experience has shown that regular inspection is key in achieving production goals related to quality, quantity, and time. Our professional crews replace wear parts safely and efficiently, and - in addition - evaluate crushing equipment condition and wear;
- 2.Our repair facility network offers an extensive range of services from bearing replacement to complete equipment reconditioning. Our repair facilities offer highly skilled personnel and the latest technology to handle any equipment repairs.
Little Dust and Low Noise Levels
Equipped with dust-cleaning apparatus water tank, in order to reduce the noise, damping layer is filled in the interlayer between the upper body and the lower body, which combines to create a safer and cleaner working environment.


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4 yrs. & up. Large working thermometer for class display! The 30" wall-mounted thermometer has a 23" tube on a wooden base. Shows both Fahrenheit and Celsius scales from -40°C to 50°C and 140°F to 120°F. Size: 30" L x 10" W.
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|Real customer reviews
29 Apr 2019 06:38
The goods correspond to the description. Goods from this merchant are good. The merchant is very accommodating, communicative. Fast delivery of goods, I recommend this shop.
7 Jul 2018 20:46
Всё отлично! Качество супер! Доставка месяц
5 Jul 2018 04:08
доставка быстрая.подошел по размеру.довольна.
2 May 2018 23:53
Thanks to store shipping is very fast again thanks to seller
19 Apr 2018 00:32
Товар отличного качества. Довольна быстрой доставкой, до Ачинска 23 дня. Рекомендую продавца))
30 Jan 2018 00:19
Заказ пришел быстро. По полноте чашки - чуть маловато.
26 Dec 2017 22:20
Очень быстро спасибо, буду заказывать еще
27 Nov 2017 13:28
24 Nov 2017 10:37
Gute Qualität. Alles perfekt. Passt super.
8 Nov 2017 12:56
доставка быстрая. соответствует
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The Board of Directors and Alumni Committee have established an Alumni Fellow Fund Campaign.
The purpose of the Alumni Fellow Fund will be to raise enough funds to support a Second Year Fellowship Award annually.
WAYS to GIVE
1. Make an online tax-deductible donation via PAYPAL
(credit cards are accepted on this site)
2. Send your tax-deductible donation check to the Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation:
Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation, Inc.
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Great Falls, VA 22066
Please make all payments to the Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation, Inc.
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This article is a stub, an article too short to provide more than rudimentary information about a subject. You can help Pro Wrestling Wiki by expanding it.
Toni Benz is an American erotic professional wrestler. She can be seen wrestling for Ultimate Surrender.
Personal life
Studied Nursing at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She has a daughter named Tabatha.
In wrestling
Championships and accomplishments
External links
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text: Do you have questions about the application process to Kajaani University of Applies Sciences? We are here to help you! Leave you contact information on the form below, and our admissions team at International Students Admission Services will be in touch with you. We cooperate with them to guide you through the application process.


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Studio d'Artisan model 4323 Ranch Jacket brown€ 349.00
€ 288.43
ex vat
(outside EU, import tax not included)
€ 0.00
Studio d'Artisan; A Japanese brand that brings real authentic pieces, "Icons" in a way that only the Japanese artisans can do. Perfect finished, only the best pieces, you always wanted in your wardrobe. This ranch jacket is one of those items you can't live without. In brown cord, lined with wool for perfect insolation. On denims and a turtle neck or a plaid shirt. Just great! I love it like this:
Paraboot Michael, off white cord , a finamore oxford blue and go for it with some red socks..
Made in Japan
Units in centimeters


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Reinforcement wire, Greenline wire, galvanized wire, copper plated wire, rods, bent wire…… Basic material which you use to turn into beautiful products, or which you hide away in concrete, never
For more than three decades, we have served cable makers with superior solutions for applications including power, data, and telecommunications. Over time, we have developed an unrivaled portfolio of
ZHITI JSC was established on 14 March 1924 as a company for production of wires, nails and wire products. Its name comes from the first letters of "Iron And Wire Industry" in Bulgarian. Not
Globally oriented water blocking solutions for cable makers. Company founded at the end of 2012 as a result of joined forces by a team of highly experienced
The name of Lantor stands out in the world of high quality functional non-woven based products and technologies. With over 60 years of experience, we are a reliable and proven global partner for many
FORI Group is an overarching organization, integrating several business systems and activities: production, trade and engineering. Our trademark is being open to new business opportunities and


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It was this theme, along with the pace of change in business, that came under the spotlight at The Marketing Society's Global Conference in London this month.
"Digital is now at the core not only of how we are as people, but how we communicate. [As marketers] we have to learn from fundamentally adaptive businesses and look at how business can be evolved to build relationships and take it to the next level," said Nigel Vaz, global chief strategy officer at SapientNitro, in the opening address.
A digital world also creates new roles and opportunities for senior marketers. How well-equipped they are to lead their businesses was a recurring theme throughout the day. "Marketing leadership has to force the re-imagination of the products and services that are relevant for this customer," added Vaz.
It requires disruption, being bold, and leadership.
Compete And Cannibalise Yourself, Advises Aviva
A 320-year-old insurance firm is not the most obvious kind of disruptive company, but if Aviva plc group CEO Mark Wilson gets his way, that's exactly what it will become.
Wilson said the company considered itself well-placed for digital transformation but initial attempts went nowhere. "Aviva is a brand with a huge amount of capital and assets, and millions of customers. We thought we have something that works in the digital space and invested £100 milion," he said. "We achieved nothing after 12 months."
Realising that for Aviva this had to be done outside, the company took a fresh approach by recruiting data scientists and people from outside its industry and located them as a startup in London's Hoxton.
Wilson said he gave them a simple strategy: "Compete and cannibalise—I want you to kill the rest of our business."
As a result, Aviva is starting to engage with clients in a different way and is drawing on information such as widely available public data to reduce the number of questions it asks customers when taking out policies. "We're able to give our customers predictive advice, that's the business we've moving into," Wilson said. "We are positioning Aviva as a giant fintech; you don't need to be one year old to disrupt."
Returning to the idea of simplicity, Wilson said his biggest frustration with marketers, especially those in Europe, is that they've moved away from articulating their differentiation and why they will win. "Technology companies have taught us all about the simplicity of the offer," he said.
To return Aviva's focus on this, Wilson has asked each one of its countries to describe why customers need their products in just 140 characters—something he calls the "proposition tweet." "If they can't answer, I will kill their product," he said.
Impact Not Effort, Says Facebook
Despite its ubiquity, tech giant Facebook is not immune to being disrupted. At the same time, it takes its mission and belief that "an open and more connected world is a better world" seriously.
To remain competitive and stay true to its mission, Nicola Mendelsohn, vice-president EMEA, described how the company adapts it culture to continue to bring in the best people and talent.
A "focus on impact" is a core principle. "We use a strengths-based approach. The way people usually move through a company is to be a manager of managers, but if you play to people's strengths, you make them more fulfilled and satisfied because they're doing the work they love—happier people make a better company," she said.
Facebook continually questions how and why things are being done in certain ways. "Make sure you ask yourself what you're really focusing on—are you focusing on the impact or the effort?" she added.
Moving fast and being bold are also a must, especially as the company grows. "As companies get bigger, they get slower and take fewer risks because the impact of what a risk could mean paralyses you," Mendelsohn said.
Mendelsohn conceded that Facebook was late to mobile, but it was able to course-correct and then move quickly. It's a lesson learnt for its approach to live-streaming video. "When a trend starts to emerge, we stop people doing what they're doing and move them to focus on it," she said. "People are tasked with clear goals in a concentrated way. You have to be bold, you are guaranteed to fail if you don't take risks."
The Modern CMO Role In Focus
The need for simplicity and clarity was reiterated throughout the day and was picked up again in discussions around the role of the CMO in a digital world.
As CMO of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, David Wheldon has the task of helping the bank realise its vision to be number one for customer service, trust, and advocacy by 2020. That includes being the voice of the customer.
"My job is to represent the customer on the executive committee," Wheldon said. "I make sure I bring timely measurement to the table. Because of the speed of the feedback loop, I can bring to the table today what happened yesterday."
Being the voice of the customer also means explaining what "customer-obsessed" means across internal audiences. "I use simple language, and make sure everyone knows and understands what I'm talking about," he said.
Silvia Lagnado, global CMO at McDonald's, stressed the need for strategy: "[It's] really critical so as not to get distracted by the latest toys and gimmicks. I see the CMO as the chief integration officer. We need to break the silos and keep the customer-centric view and strategy up there—and be close to the CEO."
Facebook's Mendelsohn added: "As marketers, we're the ones who are closest to the customer. If we do one thing going forward, it's about playing the role of translator. The CMO is the chief transformation officer."
Leadership Bridges The Gaps
Although marketers may themselves appreciate the importance of the role they play in a business, that is often not a view shared by the wider company. Examining why that is so, academic Paddy Barwise said there was a paradox at play: "Marketing itself—customer focus—is considered important, but marketers are not."
There are three reasons why. First, a trust gap—marketing is mostly about the future, which makes what marketers say sound less reliable; second, a power gap—it takes all of the people in a company to create a great customer experience, but only a handful report to the CMO; and, third, a skills gap—business is changing so fast it's impossible for marketers to be experts at everything.
How can marketers address these gaps? Thomas Barta, marketing leadership expert and co-author of "The 12 Powers of a Marketing Leader," along with Barwise, revealed that in the CMO interviews they conducted "those who were best at marketing were those who were good at leading marketing."
"They were good at leading their bosses to close the trust gap, and leading their colleagues to close the reporting or power gap with those people who don't report to marketing," he added.
Barta reminded marketers they are in the business of change. "The most important thing as a leader is to find followers. You can't do that by email, you have to go and meet the different species of your organisation," he said. "You have to tell your compelling and convincing change story and show people how things actually work. Your biggest weapon is inspiration."
An Astronaut's Perspective
Providing marketers with a dose of inspiration was former NASA astronaut Dr. Ed Lu. Speaking via a video link from his home in California, Lu told the story of his time manning the International Space Station (ISS) following the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003.
In the aftermath of the accident Lu was required to quickly train how to pilot a Russia's Soyuz rocket, and then spend a six-month stint on the ISS with Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko.
With Lu answerable to NASA and Malenchenko to the Russian space programme, he said: "We realised that having two different bosses could mean conflicting commands. We decided in advance to tell [our bosses] if our orders were different, and they would need to communicate and be clear on their message, and let us get on with the work."
The learning for leaders, he said, is: "The message needs to be clear. Don't micromanage from afar but make sure that everyone knows the big picture."
A further lesson is that if you think safety is your number-one goal, you're wrong. "You have to take risks to do anything and to be smart about them, when you get to a stage when the risks are reduced versus the reward, it's time to push the button and go," Lu said.
Up Next


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Personalised Family Scrabble and Rustic Hearts Photo Frame
This simple yet gorgeous family scrabble photo frame, with cute wooden tree and heart detail, finished with loose crystals in the bottom of the frame, is the perfect gift for any family. Whether for your own family or another, you can tailor to suit their decor.
You can also choose to personalise the hearts with the family members names, please mention this when ordering.
If you'd like to send/email me a photo of the family to be included in the frame, feel free to do so and I will print and insert for you. The size of the frame is 23cm x 23cm and the photo crop size is 12cm x 12cm.
You won't find this family photo frame anywhere else as this design is unique to my shop.
I post my items in discreet packaging, so if the gift is as a surprise, don't worry I won't give it away.
All my products are handmade by me - Stacey, in my workshop at The Vintage Bubble, which is based at my shop - The Wrong End of Town in Dover, Kent.


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Next up in our mattress executive interview series we're chatting with the CEO of of Bear Mattress, Scott Paladini, about his background in the retail/mattress world, multiple mattress offerings and his brand that uniquely caters to the athlete in all of us.
Check out our conversation with Scott below and learn about what makes Bear unique.
Also, when you finish reading, enter to win a brand new Bear mattress in a size of your choice!
Please introduce yourself and let our readers know how you came into the mattress world?
I grew up in the mattress business. My dad was a retailer and ran a large chain of mattress stores. I spent summers through high school and college working in stores and the warehouse, learning the business – not just the mattress business, but the business of understanding customers and how to deliver a better experience, a better product and a better value. Those early foundations are what led to the creation of Bear Mattress in 2014 and have carried forth over the last four years. We have over 50,000 happy sleepers on a Bear, low return rates, high customer satisfaction all while offering great value to our customers.
Bear is a brand centered around the athlete, especially with the stable of professional athletes listed on the website as sleeping on a Bear mattress. It has the feel of being somewhat of an aspirational brand, what that the thought process from the outset?
Our mattresses and products are built and designed for everyone, and we put an emphasis, not on athletes, but recovery. The fact that we have a lot of professional athletes is a testament to the product doing a great job in helping people recover. Whether you are a professional athlete or have a physically demanding job or just generally active in your life, our mattresses can provide the relief you need every night so you wake up feeling great each morning.
If someone does not deem themselves as an 'athlete' at this moment, that shouldn't deter them from purchasing a Bear, correct?
Of course not, in fact, we think that we offer a product mix that anyone would fine appealing – we have our graphite-gel memory foam mattress and our hybrid mattress – two unique offers that offer something to every, plus all our beds are made with Celliant which helps promote a more restful sleep. Athlete or not, everyone deserves a great night sleep and we deliver that with both our mattresses.
Can you walk our readers through the decision to use Celliant fibers on the mattress cover?
I had known the Celliant guys for a while. A big differentiator of Bear is I come from the mattress industry. With over 20+ years of experience we knew what customers were looking for in a good nights sleep. Celliant just made sense to elevate the story beyond just using high quality foams – now it's an FDA-determined medical device proven to help you sleep better.
With the original Bear Mattress being engineered for athletes, how was a the design of a hybrid mattress made to meet those same needs?
All the same thoughts went into the Hybrid as with the original Bear. The big difference is that we were working with feedback from tens of thousands of customers and that gave us a lot of insight. A completely different style vs just a "step-up" foam bed made way more sense to us.
The Bear mattress is now available in some Macy's locations. How has this helped to grow the brand being in a retail store, and what have you learned from having the mattress at a retail location?
I come from a retail background and I may be in the minority, but I still believe physical stores will have a big part in the mattress buying experience for years to come. It's going to change, but stores will still be important. For us, Macy's partnership just made a lot of sense. It gives our customers a chance to try the bed, learn more and get a sense of the product before making the purchase. We plan to continue to grow our physical presence over the coming years.
With the Bear original and Bear Hybrid, are they thoughts as to developing an additional mattress offering?
We are always evaluating new product opportunities. We just launched our Celliant Sheets. Our sheets have been in the works for a while and they are awesome.
There is no question that people are much more likely to take the time to post a negative review online than a positive review, frankly it is just human nature. That said, what initiatives have you taken a brand to nudge your satisfied customers to leave reviews, and spread the word of their positive experience?
I think the product drives reviews. Give your customers a lousy product and experience, they'll leave negative feedback. Give your customers an average product and experience, they won't leave any feedback. Give your customers an amazing product and experience, they'll leave positive feedback. With over 5000 five star reviews, I think it speaks volumes to both the overall customer experience when buying a Bear and the high quality products we sell.
Casper just had their 4th anniversary in April, with the explosion of the online mattress sector and millions and millions of advertising dollars spent by the biggest players in the space, do you feel that has brought awareness to other brands in the space, simply that a mattress can be purchased online and delivered to your home?
Maybe in the beginning, but I think online mattress shopping has crossed over from early adapters to the mass market and at this point, it's about brand differentiation, value and quality of the products.
With more brands entering the space on a weekly basis and the 100 night sleep trial offered by most companies, do you foresee a method in the future to essentially qualify a consumer to understand if a particular mattress will work for them? We all want to avoid returns, not just for the expense, but because of the environmental impact as well, so seems as if an extra emphasis needs to be put on educating the consumer, correct?
It's tough, but one of the ways we have tried to help customers is having more than one type of style – we have a memory foam bed and a more traditional spring bed with our hybrid. We can speak to customers, learn more about them and try to help them make the best decision. Our customer team is available 7 days a week, it's all in-house, full time employees and they all have a vested interest in making sure the customer is happy. That's not something most companies can offer.
The online mattress brands have taken a good chunk of business from the brick and mortar stores. Do you see that trend continuing over the next 24 months?
I think online segment will continue to grow, but maybe not as rapidly as the past couple years. For as much as the mattress market has changed, I think you'll continue to see big changes over the next 24 months.
Huge thanks to Scott, Meaghan and the team at Bear for making this interview possible! For more information about Bear and their products, check out our Bear Mattress Reviews.


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Haisman Shield | round five | Nagambie v Waaia previewBy Alex Mitchell
Waaia will look to stake its claim for a position in the Haisman Shield's top six when it heads to Nagambie tomorrow.
While it sits with a 1-2 record heading to the round five fixture, that is a one-dayer after last weekend's heavy rain, the Bombers are just a win behind sixth-ranked Northerners and could make a large statement with an upset win.
But that would certainly take a form reversal; the Lakers have won all three of their one-dayers so far, including their most recent four-wicket win against Euroa.
The side got more quality scores from brothers Mark (64) and Luke Nolan (37) in that win, with the duo continuing to make the Lakers' batting card a tough one to handle.
The Nolans have made a combined 368 runs in four matches this season, or 48.4 per cent of Nagambie's 761 runs, showing how the duo is holding the side together in a big way.
For Waaia, it will need to take positives from its recent loss to Numurkah, where the Bombers had the reigning premier 3-34 and were at one stage 1-49 themselves, before falling to a 60-run loss.
Their own batting brothers - Mitch and Jordan Cleeland - have made a combined 184 runs this season, but the side needs more contributors.
"We're confident enough, we've got a few in-form players that missed out against Numurkah," Waaia captain Brayden Carey said.
"I hope with the bat we get our heads over it a bit and can put up a competitive score, and with our bowling attack you never know what can happen when they've got enough runs to bowl at."
Reflecting on his side's start to the campaign, Carey saw signs it was heading in the right direction, but suggested plenty would be learned from battling the Lakers.
"We've got that win early that we were searching for and were close enough to Mooroopna, it was a good show with the bat, 197 is a good score," he said.
"But it was two steps forward and then three steps back against Numurkah although it is pretty polished, and will be tough to beat at all this season.
"There's lots of positives, but I think we'll find a lot out about our side this weekend against a Nagambie side on top of its game, how we bounce back will be a good indicator of things to come."


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"La Petite Fleur" (alto sax EASY)
"Sheet Music You"
The famous instrumental for alto saxophone - "La Petite Fleur". "Petite Fleur" is a successful instrumental written by Sidney Bechet and recorded by him in January 1952, first with the Sidney Bechet All Stars and later with Claude Luter and his Orchestra.
In 1959 it was an international hit as a clarinet solo by Monty Sunshine with Chris Barber's Jazz Band, and for Bob Crosby and the Bobcats. Following the Chris Barber instrumental recording, lyrics were added by Fernand Bonifay and Mario Bua in the same year.
The item consist of 1 PDF file of sheet music (in bonus file), 1 melody track mp3, 1 backing track (play along) mp3. For full zoom of the sheet music just click the image.
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