03.04.2014 (Belated HB to Usopp! Happy Birthday Brook!)
My Lengthy Apologies:
My dad is leaving for work again soon so my mom's doing her best to make up for time and go on as many vacations as possible regardless of the fact my dad was still recovering, but he's a-ok now, it's just a fracking hole in his stomach after all. Hence, the trips to Hong Kong, the metro and beaches. We just got back from our third beach trip this year yesterday as celebration for my dad's full recovery (he really likes the beach). It feels like I have to pack a bag every 3 days, quite literally. I tried to rush and post it before we left for Puerto Galera last month and again before Usopp's birthday but … well, it's here now! These beach vacations need to stop but there's a chili cook-off this weekend in Pundaquit and we're going :/ So here's Day 5! Enjoy~!
Disclaimer and Warnings:
I own nothing (except DIY Luffy flip-flops and shorts!), Oda-sensei owns the world. A whopping 19,000 word chapter with swearing, Nihongo, written episodes, mild man on man action (FINALLY!)
Don't care for yaoi or BL? Get the fuck out of here! No one likes you. Leave!
This is now rated "M". I think this was "M" since the prologue, but I'm bad at ratings. IMO the Scary Movie franchise is PG-13 :/ To my readers on tumblr: How do I rate this? Bold means characters are speaking/thinking in unison. Time cards shall be read in the French Narrator from Spongebob's voice.
I messed up AGAIN last chapter. I gave Zoro ultra pervy thoughts. That wasn't supposed to happen yet, kindly ignore that. And while I was sitting on the shores of PG, watching the oriental waves lick at the sunset, I had an epiphany. Going Merry-Go* Doesn't Have A FUCKING PANTRY. Well it does now!
I am ashamed as a writer. I do apologize for the very long opening credits.
Chapter 7 - Day 5: After The Storm
"Minna*! Okite*!"
A large wave crashed into the hull, rocking the ship violently. Sanji falls out of his hammock and lands with a splash in the water filled cabin. The water is only a few inches deep, but somehow Luffy has fallen and is now completely useless, while Chopper, in Heavy Point, bails out as much water as he can while Usopp tries desperately to patch up the long, skinny crack that opened up in the wall without losing his tools in the process. Sanji sees the marimo digging in the water, throwing water-logged pillows and books around in search of something and he seems to find it.
"Gotcha!" He yanks a soaked Sandai Kitetsu out from where it washed away to and straps it to his haramaki. "Hurry it up, Usopp!" he calls over his shoulder as he makes his way up the mast.
Sanji kicks Luffy, who had ended up face down in the water, onto his back. "Aho, gomu. Oi, Chopper! You think you guys can handle this?!"
"Ou! We got it! Go help Zoro!" The gorilleindeer ordee aye, Sensei, Sir!" the cook salutes, causing the giant Doctor to dance around, blushing like a madman and spitting out insults. "Urusai, kono yaro!" Chopper giggles in his lower register. 'How is he still so cute even in that form?' Sanji chuckles to himself as he climbs up the ladder.
"Zoro!" Nami called to him from her post at the helm*. She had been on watch when a hurricane suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Hurry and furl the mainsail! Robin already took care of the lateen*." He looks up at the black night sky and even in all its blackness, he can see the thick rolling clouds swirl around overhead.
As he climbs up the ratlines, a flash of lightning lights up the sky in an eerie violet glow. Off the port, he sees giant waves crashing against each other, fighting as they make their way towards them. "Nami!" he screams over the howling wind.
"Yeah! I know!" She calls back. She sees a head of blonde pop up from the deck. "SANJI-KUN! Take the helm and steer us south! We need to get out of this!" She jumps down to the deck and slides all the way to the other side, nearly colliding with their doctor and sniper, then climbs up to the forecastle. "Chopper! Make sure Luffy doesn't go overboard! There's a swell coming and we don't have time to go after him if he does!"
Zoro makes his way down back down the rickety mast to help Usopp keep it steady. "This thing's about to snap right in half!" He hears a scream and looks to the sea. There's a huge wave coming their way and if he squints, he can almost make out the shape of a small boat. "Usopp! Are you seeing this?"
"Lemme check." The sniper pulls his goggles down and adjusts the lenses. "Yeah, theres a sailboat. I can make out three people on a sailboat. Their lines broke and can't hoist their sail. Wait… They look familiar…" He plays with his lenses, trying to get them into focus and when he does he calls for the Captain. "LUFFY! It's Foxy and that woman and gorilla!"
"Ware-Atama*?" Luffy turns around in Chopper's hold and looks over the railing. "OI~! FOXY~!" He cheers merrily. "Watcha guys doing? Don't you know it's raining? Get back to your ship!"
The crew stare deadpan at him. 'Is he serious?'
They hear Foxy yell something, but his words get lost under the crash of waves hitting the hull. They do however make out the Split-Head's cry of "SAVE US, MUGIWARA!"
Luffy grabs a rope and stretches his hand out to them. They instead grab hold of his arm and get flung back onto Merry, crashing into the mast and almost breaking it. Much to Usopp's displeasure.
"Ne, Foxy? Where's your ship?" Luffy huffs and shakes his head at the other captain. "Seriously, get your act together. The Grand Line's a dangerous place, you know!"
Life on ship with the Foxy Pirates is difficult. Apparently they had lost sight of their ship and had wandered the seas for the last few days searching for them. Porche, the blue haired woman, desperately tries to cling herself to their doctor, constantly calling for him to come out and cuddle with her. Chopper spends most of the night hiding in Robin and Nami's room, where Nami had forbade the Foxies from entering. Hamburg, on the other hand, had been quite helpful. He assisted Zoro set up cots for them to sleep in and is even fishing with Usopp and Luffy for breakfast.
Silver Fox Foxy, however, was a complete different story altogether. The Split-Head Captain had complained every fucking minute he was on their ship. He complained about the soup Sanji cooked for them when they literally crash landed in on them, comparing it to hot water. He complained about having to sleep in the galley when there were perfectly good beds; which were the girls, below deck. He tried to sneak in a couple times, prompting Nami to set the trespassing rule. He had complained about there not being any breakfast when he woke up and still is complaining about having to catch his meal.
"Why is there no food?!" Foxy yells at the cook. "We're guests on this ship! Why do we need to fish for you?!"
Sanji grinds his teeth into his unlit cigarette and digs his heel into the deck. He has been holding back his urges to kick the bastard all morning and right now, the Split-head was really pushing the chef to his limits.
"First of all," Sanji grits out to the ugly nosed fucker, "we didn't have to rescue your ungrateful asses. You could be with Davy Jones right now for all we care. Secondly, we lost our entire stock of sea king meat -" Behind him he hears another pitiful sob from Luffy "- half the produce, and more. So if you want to eat, you have to catch it."
This, however, wasn't entirely true.
…
When Zoro woke up that morning, he walked into the galley to get water and found Sanji hiding behind the fridge door, bread crumbs clinging to his light stubble. "Watcha doing there, Guru-Mayuge?" he leaned his elbow up on the fridge door. "Hiding food?" he smirked teasingly.
"Zoro!?" Sanji yelped, quickly wiping his face and putting his food on the shelf. "W-what are you doing here? And I'm Not Hiding Food!" The blonde cook turned his head down, failing to hide the guilt on his face.
"Yes, you are. You told everyone to fish for breakfast, but it looks to me," he points at the small half eaten sandwich, "that there's meat right there. Luffy's going to mur~der you when he finds out~." he chides in a sing-songy voice, shit eating grin plastered on his face.
"Oi, teme! Don't look at me like that." Sanji picked up his sandwich and peeled away the bread to expose the brown flakey filling inside. "I know Luffy will be angry, but we worked so hard to prepare that sea king and I really wanted to taste it before our vacuum devoured it all, so I sliced up a bit of it before bed and saved it for myself." He set his meager snack down and turned to the swordsman with guilty eyes. "I didn't think a storm would show up and wash it all away. All we have left now are the bones and I used some of them for the consommé*."
"Why didn't you eat any last night?" It only seemed natural to Zoro that if you wanted something and it was right there that you should take it. Why bother waiting?
"I had a small piece to test the balance of the spices but I really didn't get much of it. Besides, it's a waste of food to eat when you're not hungry."
The green haired man sighed and smirked softly at the curly dork before him. He thought shame looked quite good on the slighter male. It was different and a pleasant sight to see after all the pathetic swooning and flirting and cockiness he was known for.
"Stop sulking, Cook." Zoro picked up the sandwich and pressed it against the blonde's lips. "You made it, you deserve to at least try it. Don't worry," he added reassuringly, "I won't tell anyone. Now hurry up before Luffy comes in and catches you red handed."
Sanji let out a breathy snort and smiled at the swordsman. He was grateful for the confidentiality and wondered if he should show it. The trust between the two rivals had grown so much in the last couple of days, it was strange that they never expressed themselves like this ages ago. "You wanna bite?" He asked hesitantly as he held out what little of the sandwich he had left; hoping the swordsman would say no so he can enjoy the rest of the delicious meat.
Zoro only shook his head and closed the fridge. "Nah, I had some last night. It's yours, you eat it."
The chef nodded, his inner voice hiding in his subconscious doing a little victory dance, and gobbled down the rest of his tasty breakfast, humming in satisfaction. "Get outta here, Marimo. Go train or nap or something. I don't care, just get out of my kitchen."
"Tsk! You just want to eat more meat you hid." Zoro joshed, earning him a boot to the butt that sent him out the door.
…
"Sanji~" He turns to see Luffy's rubber neck bent backwards, head bobbing upside down from it's tether. "Why did you lose the mea~t? I wanted to try it so~ ba~d." Luffy whines pathetically with a pout, disappointed tears building at the corner of his eyes. Sanji shoots a look towards to front of the ship and catches the supposedly napping swordsman leering at him with a wry grin, no doubt remembering about their moment in the kitchen.
"That's not my problem!" Foxy wails. "Why do I have to fish when there are perfectly good mikans right here?!" He reaches for one but grabs Nami's head who punches him halfway across the deck.
"That wasn't very smart." Usopp comments.
"Is he an idiot?" Luffy agrees.
"Pupupupupu." Hamburg laughs from his seat on the rail next to them. "Yes."
From the kitchen pantry, the Mugiwara Chef hears all sorts of "Ahoy"'s being shouting.
"Ahoy!" He hears Luffy call. "Foxy! It's your ship!
'Ship?' He drops his inventory list as he runs out of the galley and sees the Silver Foxy approaching. "What?! Are they leaving?! BANZAI! BANZAI!" He chants out along with Luffy and Usopp. 'Finally! We're free of these bastards. Not Porche though, she's not a bastard. I'd hate to see her go but...'
Sanji glances over to his left and sees the green head standing at the top of the fore deck's staircase opposite him. The grass head's grinning triumphantly and he can almost hear his mental chanting. Marimo's just as happy to see Foxy leave as he is. If not more. He's always hated having people that weren't nakama on their home.
The swordsman turns towards him and meets his gaze. His eyes light up, grin stretching a bit wider and shoots the man a thumbs up. The blonde's chest quakes in a silent laugh and returns the gesture with a beaming smile. 'Bastard.
…
He looks good with a smile.'
During the reunion of Foxy and his crew, it turned out that the former Captain of Foxy's most recent Davy Back Fight victory (being it that he lost the battle with the Mugiwaras) had mutinied and took control of the Foxy Pirates. Foxy challenged the Captain of the now known as the Fanged Toad Pirates, Kibagaeru*, to a Captain's Duel. And SOMEHOW during the fight, the Mugiwaras MYSTERIOUSLY ended up getting themselves involved.
"Prepare a full assault on Mugiwara!" Kibagaeru orders to his crew. "FIRE!"
Sitting on a staircase, Zoro scuffs at the scene before him. 'Are they seriously starting this crap? Do they really think they can beat us? They all saw what happened last time, right?' Below him, Sanji chuckles as he lights a cigarette. "Let's go, Usopp!" Both men charge out and attack. 'Stupid Ware-Atama betting our lives and Nami's gold. Meh, I'll let them handle this. Cook's enough to beat these losers.' Out of the corner of his eye, Zoro sees a Fanged Toad charge his way. Nami, who's sitting beside him on the step, says something but he doesn't hear it. He pushes her out of the way of a flying axe (ultimately shoving her down the stairs) and kicks the pirate in the face. 'Well that came in handy.' he thinks, dusting off his pants. 'Actually learned something useful from the pretty boy … not that I think he's pretty… Gotta stop thinking about him like that … pretty … Fuck.'
"Looks like we have to take all of them out if we want to get this over with. What a pain." he says to distract himself from his own thoughts.
Luffy charges after Kibagaeru "Try not to kill him Luffy" Nami jadely reminds him. "He's just a normal human."
Another stupid frog pushes his luck and swings his sword at Zoro. 'Heh, perfect. Time to test my training.' He raises his hands and concentrates all of his focus on the blade. "Shinken Shirahadori*…" Just before the sword comes down, a rubber sole connects with the back of his head, causing him to fall forward into the enemy's chest, the sword's tsuba embedding itself into his marimo turf. The swordsman chokes out in irritation at the impact as a lump swells, pushing the blade away and turns toward the blonde asshole that kicked him. "What" he spits out. "are you doing, Kuso Cook?!"
"Teme!" Sanji snarls back. "You pushed Nami-san down the stairs!"
"I saved her life! You got a problem with that?" Zoro argues back.
"What if she got hurt, baka?! You have no idea how to treat a lady!"
The idiot toad takes his chance as the Mugiwaras get distracted with one another, but Sanji senses him and side steps just in time. The man raises his sword with a cry and Zoro prepares himself for another strike, but Sanji kicks the man in the back, leading Zoro to clap his hands onto his face.
"Why do you keep butting in?!"
"Urusai! I'm not done with you yet!"
"Eh? You wanna fight, bastard?!" they say in unison. The man, who's still trapped in Zoro's monster grip moans in pain and diverts their attention back to him. "Doke*!" they roar, sending the helpless Kiba Gaeru flying off the Silver Foxy like a human firework.
"You got something to say to me, Cook?" Zoro grabs the front of his shirt and pulls him close so their faces are only inches apart.
"Yeah! You're a ill-mannered sea sponge and should learn to respect women!" Sanji yells, also grabbing onto Zoro's shirt, pulling him even closer so their noses barely touch.
Both men pant heavily, hot breaths mingling, Zoro inhales Sanji's tobacco stained breath as the latter's senses fill with Zoro's sake tainted one, no doubt from the bottle he stole earlier in the morning. Both men force a grimace at the other's scent, both faces blush slightly, both grunt in what sounds like disgust, both spit out insults in chorus, shoving but not releasing their grip on the other.
"Ero-Cook" "Aho-Kenshin!"
"Baka-Mayuge" "Kuso-Marimo!"
"Datsu" "Saboten"
"Katorisenkō Mayuge!" "Midori-Mushi!"
"Yokai Love Love Machine!" "Kaiju-Tennenkinenbutsu!"
"Eh?! Wanna-GEHH!"
Their bickering was cut short when Nami came up and ceasing their arguing.
"Yamero!" she reprimands. "Mattaku, and just when I thought you guys were... Really Sanji, I'm fine. Zoro did save my life." She explains to the noodle dancing chef that's too busy spewing declarations of love for her authority and strength and beauty and endless giggles of Mellorines* to listen, before turning to the swordsman. "Zoro, save my life like that again and I'll triple your debt." She then turns and walks towards Usopp who is currently fighting with an old man wearing a white coat.
"Che," Zoro rubs at his throbbing head and grumbles. "Umi no majo*."
Sanji knees him once more in the ribs, earning him a held back punch to the shoulder. "Teme…" Sanji wraps an arm around Zoro's neck, grinding his knuckles into his ugly green head.
"Agh! Not a noogie!" Zoro yelps and claws at the snickering blonde's waist, digging his blunt fingers into his ribs.
"WAH! No! I'm-ha!-ticklish there! S-Sto~haha~p!" Sanji laughs, desperately trying to kick the swordsman off of him while grinding his knuckles harder as tears water at the corner of his eyes.
"Leggo of me, Guru Guru!" Zoro tries to yank himself out of the head lock, but Sanji has his other hand pinching at his ear making every movement Zoro makes hurt even more. "Arg!"
"N-NEVER~!" Sanji stammers out between giggles. He's having a hard time breathing, but he's not about to release the bastard. Sanji throws his heel at Zoro's shin just hard enough to make him nearly trip over himself, but he recovers quickly and wraps an arm around Sanji's waist fully and flexes all of his fingers into Sanji's left side causing him to wail and twist Zoro's head painfully.
Their scuffling continues as does Sanji's laughing and Zoro can't help but smile. Somewhere in the distance, they hear a cry of "… no Pistol!" and a loud cheer from the Ware-Atama. "Oh, looks like we won."
Zoro hums in agreement. "Looks like, now let go of my head." He hears Sanji clear his throat, he's not sure, but it almost sounded like a nervous cough.
"P-Put me down, Marimo." Sanji stammers out and it's only then that Zoro realizes he had lifted the blonde cook into his arms bridal style, cradling his body against his chest. Sanji's arms are still wrapped around his neck, no longer in their death grip but in a relaxed manner. Sanji diverted his eyes away from the green man, a faint blush creeping up his neck. He's unsure if the steadily growing thumping in his body is his own or Zoro's, their bodies so close together, heat radiating off of the swordsman's body. 'He's so warm.'
Zoro looks up at Sanji to find tousled blonde hair and half lidded eyes. He's still panting from the exertion of their scuffle, and Zoro eyes the light pink blush dusting the cook's fair skin. Zoro can't help but think of other reasons he could have the lithe man in his arms like this. The man in his arms. In his arms. Sanji is in his arms. SANJI IS IN HIS ARMS! "Oh! Right." He grunts, gently setting him down and thinks it's his imagination when those thin arms linger just a bit longer than necessary around his neck. And he swears he's hallucinating when slender fingers tenderly graze against his neck and collarbone. 'No... can't be. No way. Not this dork.'
He coughs feigning ignorance, "I didn't even notice. You know, with your skinny ass being so light and all." shrugging disinterestedly, hoping the blonde doesn't notice the embarrassed expression on his face. "I'm surprised you don't get blown away in the wind."
Thankfully, this makes the chef snarl. 'My ass is not skinny! Shut up." Sanji smoothes out the wrinkles in his jacket and pulls out his cigarettes.
"Yes, you are. You're like a toothpick."
A match gets swiped against a green sideburn and Sanji takes a long, slow pull. "Well, not all of us have mutant muscles made of lead, and stop checking out my ass." He starts to walk away, confused by his own crazy weird remark and why they sounded so...suggestive. He hadn't meant to accuse the man ogling over him, it just came out that way. He also hadn't meant to comment on his physique, nor had he meant to cling to him when he was lifted off the ground, but he was just so warm and he got a little too comfortable; not that he would admit it. Things were getting weird between him and the swordsman, and though it all needed to stop, he wasn't put off by it.
"With an accusation like that," Zoro calls as he walks past him, bringing Sanji out of his thoughts. "I'd think you were the one checking people out."
Sanji falters. Had he been checking the marimo out? 'No! That's ridiculous!' He wouldn't. He was a man, damn it! Women, 'Ah, such lovely ladies', were the only ones he would be interested in. He wouldn't be looking at Zoro that way. 'Sure, he's a good looking guy, attractive even. But I would have to be blind and extremely insecure about myself to not admit that. And that's exactly what I'm not! I'm not insecure! I don't lack confidence in myself! And I am most definitely NOT staring at his ass! … That muscled … Kuso! I need a cigarette. Another cigarette.' He corrects himself and puts a second stick between his lips.
"God damn it, Luffy! Look at what you got us into now! You and this stupid afro!" Nami's scolds, ripping the afro off before dropping a fist onto their retarded Captain's head. "What is that thing anyway?!"
"What now? Can we get out of here?" Usopp asks from his spot in the corner of the dark room. After their victory over the Kiba Gaeru Pirates, Foxy gave his thanks to the Mugiwaras by shooting his shitty ass bastard beam at them before they plummeted down through a trapdoor in the middle of the deck. Now, here they sit in a small dark room deep below deck.
*Tok tok tok* "Hey," Sanji calls out, head pressed against the wall. "I think…" knocking a once more before nodding his head. "Yup! I found a way out." He swiftly lifts his leg and kicks the wall in creating a large hole. "Easy as pie."
Luffy bounces up to him laughing. "Ohh~! Can we have some pie later, Sanji?!"
Before he can answer, a fake falsetto catches their attention. "Choppy! Choppy, where are you?!" On the other side of the wall turned out to be a bedroom. A very colorful room. A round canopy bed sat in the center of the room, the walls painted with a swirl of rainbows and glittering stars. Stuffed animals and frilly pillows were scattered across the floor. This was definitely one of the female pirate's room. A rather large woman with long dark blue hair and a puffy hat comes out from around a wardrobe. She strangely looks like Porche - but much fatter - and turns towards them. "Choppy! Where have you gone?" The four Mugiwara crew members cringe at the sight before them. That retarded Ware Atama had put on a costume, along with a giant paper mache mask, to disguise himself as the baton twirling wench. 'If you don't come out~, I'll have to pu-ni-sh you~!"
The Mugiwaras are at a complete loss when Luffy approaches "Porche" and asks "her" where Foxy is, completely oblivious to the fact that the Split Head is right in front of him. Luffy is about to walk away when Foxy pulls out a sword to slice him in two, but Zoro is faster and blocks the attack. Luffy has the nerve to question the swordsman's actions and when reasoned with, has the even bigger audacity to think that "Porche" could be the Split-Head's sister!
Foxy gets sick of the charades and rips off his disguise and shoot his beams at them again. They all dodge out of the way, but Foxy has the advantage of having two hands. He shoots more and more beams at them. Zoro ducks and rolls out of the way of another stream of pink rings, and side glances to find Luffy standing in front of a mirror. He calculates where Foxy is standing and sees that when Luffy evades, Nami is in the reflect path of the beam. Just as split face bastard readies himself, Zoro pounces and pushes Nami out of the way. He's just about to dodge when he hears an annoying yell and sees Sanji jump towards him. "You idiot! Stay away!" But just as he's about to grab onto the blonde, so they can both be out of harm's way, the beams gains speed off the mirror and pulses right through them. Sanji freezes in midair and Zoro with his arms held out in front of him, both with their mouths wide open. 'Shimatta!'
~30 seconds~
"Sanji-kun! Zoro!" Nami cries. Foxy runs out of the room with Luffy charging after him. Usopp turns for the door as well, calling for her to follow. She nods to him in affirmation. She turns back to her two frozen crewmates and her chest quivers at the sight before her. "You two just sit tight for thirty seconds." she chokes out as she tries to keep her face straight and tone neutral before running out the room with a cat like smile that the swordsman doesn't miss.
~25 seconds~
Sanji pulls back, bringing himself to an upright position, and hopefully to stop before he runs into the marimo. Zoro digs his heels into the floor, preparing for the impending collision no matter what the blonde tries to do to prevent it.
'Shit. This is taking forever.' He looks down at Zoro nonchalantly and suddenly realizes where he's headed. "No." he breathes out. 'Oh god, NO!'
Zoro watches as Sanji's eyes blow wide and he briefly wonders what's got the blonde so unnerved until he notices the man looking straight at his mouth. 'No way! No fucking way!' He tries to back away from him, but his efforts are fruitless. Before he got hit he was moving forward, it would be impossible for him to change direction before the slowness wears off. "Oh fuck."
~20 seconds~
Their faces are mere inches away from each other and the distance is slowly decreasing. Sanji stares at the man below him with fearful eyes. 'Oh no oh no oh no no no no no…' He feels like he's been floating for hours now and his mind is running a mile a minute. He can't even divert his eyes away from the man before him. He's so close to him he can smell his breath and it takes him back to their moment out on the Silver Foxy's deck, when Zoro had him in his arms. He felt so warm and - unbelievably - quite safe. He felt security in those arms, he doesn't understand why, though. He's perfectly capable of handling his own. He can take care of himself. He proved that years ago when he was still a waiter on the Baratie and arrogant pirates thought they could just barge right in and attack the restaurant. He had never been unsure of himself, and yet when Zoro had lifted him up, he didn't feel like being put back down. It felt so nice to be held when they were just roughhousing. The past few days were the best he's ever had with the green haired buffoon. He had so much fun with him and he was wrong to think the idiot was less than anything than that, an idiot. He was surprisingly kind and actually pretty funny. Zoro being an eyeful was just a bonus. He glances down and realizes just how close he is to being in those tan arms again. 'Shit. I shouldn't be thinking about him like that! Not right now at least! … No! Not ever! Fuck, I wish would speed up already. I keep thinking things I'm not supposed to!'
Centimeters. Zoro can't believe the things that have been happening to him the last couple of days. Out of all the strange things that could ever happen to him and Sanji, out of everything, this was the moment he would dread the most. He never had any form of relationship with the man before, just a rivalry between two nakama that would get out of hand on a regular basis, but then just the other day, things seemed to have changed. Things got better. They had talked, not about themselves though, just about the ship, the others, the things Sanji did while he was cooking, and of course that weird conversation about animal guts and the various dishes you could make with a tongue when they caught the sea king. They joked around, they laughed, it had been nice. Hell, it had been great. But it was obvious to Zoro their newly formed bond was about to get complicated.
~15 seconds~
Sanji stares at the swordsman and relaxes his muscles deciding it useless to fight anymore. No matter how much he struggles they won't be able to avoid this, Foxy's Noro Noro* Beam trapping him in suspension. It was best to just wait for the unavoidable and hope things don't get weird. His eyes focus on the man's lips and feels his face heat up for the third time that day. 'Why? Why do I feel weird about this? This is Zoro for fuck's sake! …But…' The thumpling in his chest is all he needs to confirm his suspicions. 'Oh God...'
Millimeters. Zoro's able to shift his eyes away slightly, grateful the effects are nearing their end. They'll be at normal speed again soon and the inevitable will happen. Now, whatever it was that they had together, whatever this thing between them was now going to be ruined, and all because of that Ware Atama fucker and his god damned beam. 'Shit. This can't happen! … and yet…' He looks up at the blonde and meets his gaze. Dark ocean blue eyes that are being burned into his mind stare back at him. They don't look scared though and Sanji's cheeks are slightly pink, but he doesn't have time to think about what it means when soft parted lips touch his.
~10 seconds~
Sanji blinks once as Zoro's soft yet slightly chapped lips graze against his. They're warm and gentle and he feels a slow heat bloom through his chest. Reason hits him like a pail of icy seawater and he panics. He wants to get away from the swordsman as quickly as possible. He's able to twitch his fingers and mentally sighs in relief; time's almost up. He makes the mistake of moving his face muscles and his lips firmly brush against Zoro's and he lets out a surprised gasp but he's unsure whether it was the other man's or his own. 'Shit.'
Zoro is momentarily taken aback when Sanji moves his lips against his. It almost felt like- 'No, he didn't. He wouldn't! Would he? No! Love-cook wouldn't…' His arms start to feel heavy from being stretched out in front of him so long - though it had only been a few seconds, it felt much longer to him - and slowly lowers them. His elbows gently brush Sanji's ribs and he feels the blonde shiver.
~7 seconds~
A chill rolls up his spine and breaks off into little goosebumps and ripple across his skin making Sanji feel like he's on a high and a quiet sigh escapes him. With the mixture of the marimo's hot breath, the warmth radiating off of him and the softness of his lips; it feels so nice he nearly melts. 'Is this what was happening to us? But… why? We never liked each other before. We barely even acknowledged each other, yet this feels … not wrong. Can two days really change people this much? Why do I… I want to… I want…'
~6 seconds~
The scent of cigarettes fill his senses again, there's a hint of smoked sea king meat and the morning coffee in there as well, and the sensations consuming him make Zoro want to break down his inner walls and just let go. Or rather, grab on. He always thought the blonde was gorgeous, ever since the first time he saw him beating that Marine to a bloody pulp at the floating restaurant. He thought the blonde was dangerously sexy and badass, but the moment he became that "mellorine" yammering dumbass around Nami was such a turn off, the swordsman decided it was best to just ignore his libido and enjoy pissing the cook off instead. He's able to move his arms a bit more, and he loosely wraps them around Sanji's waist. He's thin, but Zoro can feel all of his taut muscles underneath. Sometimes it's just so easy to forget how strong Sanji is when he's always wearing those damn stuffy suits, but who was he to complain? The blonde looked good in them.
~5 seconds~
Sanji flinches slightly when he feels Zoro's strong arms wrap around him. 'Oh dear God is he-?' The swordsman's eyes are half lidded now and glazed over. There's a glint in them that Sanji had only seen during a fight. Not a quarrel between the two of them but a real full out battle against enemies. He's seen it when he fought Mihawk, in Cocoyashi Village, and most recently during the Groggy Ring match, but it's slightly different. It feels warm; Zoro's embrace, like back up on deck. Sanji feels so much at ease and comfortable that he just relaxes even more into it. Then those lips move against his. It's tentative but with the distance between them diminishing completely, the firm pressure makes up so much for the kiss. Kiss. 'I'm kissing Zoro! Shit, what are we doing? This needs to stop.' He wants to pull back and get away, he knows he should, but he's already in too deep and far gone that he doesn't care anymore. It feels so good, and so right that he closes his eyes, tilting his head to the left as his nose nuzzles against Zoro's and eagerly kisses back.
~4~
'Sanji! He's-! Oh~' Their lips move harmoniously together, slow and tentative but even through the effects of the beam, there was still the fight that both men felt the need to have between each other. Zoro inhales deeply through his nose, relishing the smells the flood into him and uses the fading effects of the beam to his advantage, pulling Sanji in closer to him as well as he can, meshing their chests closely together. He widens his stance more to prepare for the eventual impact of Sanji slamming into him so they won't fall. He finally has the sexy blonde in his arms and even though he knows it's wrong and that he's taking advantage of their compromising position, he's not going to let go any time soon.
~3~
Sanji's feels the tip of his leather shoe touch down and he tries to adjust his footing as to not topple them over when time speeds back up, but it's made difficult when his right leg is draped over Zoro's hip. Not that that's a hindrance, it's actually quite the home for his knee. He's able to move a little more and as he open his mouth a little more, gliding his lips against the larger man's, a soft sigh escaping his lips as he nips softly at the flesh and he puts one hand on Zoro's shoulder, the other wrapped around his elbow.
~2~
Zoro hums when he feels Sanji's grip on him tighten and tilts his head, deepening the kiss. It all feels so right that he wants time to both never go back to normal so he can live this moment forever, and to hurry up so he can do more to the handsome blonde. He knows that no matter what happens, he'll definitely want to do this again.
~1~
Sanji feels lightheaded and leans further into Zoro's arms. His breath, hot and heavy, hitch when a hand gently caresses his back and the room spins around them. 'Room…?' A mess of colors warp around his eyes, he feels a wetness on his bottom lip, and it takes him a moment to realize it's Zoro's tongue. 'Tongue?… !'
Zoro's asking for entrance so he can savor all of the chef's flavors fully; to savor Sanji fully. He opens his eyes, not realizing he had closed them, and watches his favorite blonde. He licks at his lip again, and blue eyes - well, eye - look up at him. He smiles into the kiss, running his tongue over Sanji's bottom lip once more when suddenly the visible eye grows wide and Sanji stiffens. 'Oh no.'
Sanji abruptly comes to his senses and everything becomes all too clear. 'Zoro… This is Zoro! I just kissed Zoro! Roronoa Fucking ZORO! He-his tongue! Shit! That was his tongue! His eyes flicked around the room, fists clenching, nails digging hard into Zoro's arms. 'Shit! We're still here! What the fuck are we doing!? God damn that fucking Foxy bastard! … Luffy. Shit!'
…0…
Zoro feels the blonde fall on him and pushes back keeping them upright. Once the blonde has righted himself he drops his arms and studies the blonde. Sanji is livid. It's obvious now that the blonde completely regrets what just happened and no doubt wants to forget. 'How can he do that? He obviously wants this too! Fucking womanizer, why won't he just stop fighting?' Zoro's brow furrows as he returns the glare and holds his ground. He's not about to submit to this irritating ero-cook.
Sanji hops on his toes, finding purchase, and straightens himself up. He looks up and finds two dark, pupil-blown eyes staring at him. Rage builds in him as he glares at the man, the MAN that kissed him, the MAN that wrapped his arms around him when he was vulnerable, the MAN that was supposed to be his crewmate, his friend, his nakama! He presses his forehead against the MAN - anger the only thing keeping him from kissing him again, 'Wait, what?! NO!' - and tries to let as much hate and anger he can conjure from his imagination - since he's never actually hated Zoro - show through his eyes.
Sanji lets out a growl and snarls at the bastard. There is only one thing that can be said now. "That was a close call, and nothing more!"
Zoro is thrown at the words, but he doesn't let it show. He only presses back into the blonde's force and grits out in return, "No argument here!"
They shove each other apart, a wide berth separating them and shoot daggers with their eyes. Sanji is the first to break eye contact to pull out a cigarette with shaking hands. "We better get going." is all he says before turning for the door. As he's snuffing the match out, Zoro shoves past him and makes his way into the lower deck's corridors. 'Che'
"You idiot! You have no idea where we're going!"
"Shut up, Baka Mayuge! I know where we are! They should be over here."
"Aho-Kenshin! This is the third time we passed Porche-chan's room! Stop leading, retard!"
Zoro twitches when he hears her name. Not because it's Porche, no, but because the cook is talking about a woman. 'Fucking ero-cook, can't stop thinking about women! Even after we… Rgh!' He has to stop thinking about it. Just the slightest thought would ... he doesn't need this. Not now.
He's shaken from his thoughts when they hear an explosion. Behind them a large flash of light shines through the hallway opposite Porche's room. "You dumbass! They're right there!" Sanji scolds as he runs toward the light. "I'm coming Nami-swan!"
Zoro suppresses the urge to throw the blonde overboard. 'This is going to be a long day.'
They hear a high pitch scream and low laughter coming from behind a door. "Kuso! Those bastards are harassing Nami-san! Get Your Hands Off Of Her, You Shitty Bast- eh… Usopp?"
Inside was a long narrow hallway and lying on a grate floor was the compulsive lying sniper who was currently out cold and being fondled by the dozens of men that dwell below the grating. "What the hell is going on?" Zoro questions. A hand wanders up through the floor and tried to grab him but he quickly smashes it under his boot, smirking when he hears the knuckles break under the force and the man yelp in pain. "Cook."
Sanji looks up at him to see that flicker in his eyes again. He knows instantly what the swordsman is implying. "Right." He lifts up a leg and smashes it down into the wooden floor, sending splinters and shards down into the Foxy Pirates arms and faces. "Get up, Usopp!"
Zoro jumps down into the pit of pirates and unsheathes his katanas. "You idiots should have known better." He grins evilly and sends a Tatsu Maki flying down the corridor. Sanji jumps down next to him and smirks at his handy work. "Let's do this, Marimo."
It doesn't take long to finish the Foxies. Most of them had escaped from another door, but one of them got stupid and had locked it from the outside, trapping the rest of his crewmates with the two Mugiwara Monsters. In less than a minute, the bastards are defeated and they climb back up to where Usopp is still lying on the floor.
"Idiot. What the hell was he doing? I thought he went with Nami and Luffy." Zoro shakes the blood off his blades with a flick of his wrists and smoothly returns them to their sayas. "Where'd they go anyway? Whatever. Let's go, Usopp." He reaches down and grabs the sniper by his nose and drags him out not before turning back and calling over his shoulder. "You coming, Mayuge?"
"Shut up! I'm leading this time." He says lighting another cigarette. "You'll only get us lost. Again."
"Che. What do you know, Guru Guru? I never get lost. Things just move!"
"Oh. Sure. Of course they do." he scuffs sarcastically. "Go on. Lead the way, then."
~20 minutes later~
"I can NOT believe you."
"Me? You were the one that went the wrong way."
"What?!" Sanji yells, kneeing Zoro in the back of the head. (How flexible is this idiot?) "You're the one leadi-! Wait. Are you admitting how stupid you are? Hehehe."
"Urusai. Hurry up and find a way out, Aho Lovelyn." he turns down another hallway. 'What is with this place?'
"Right, I'm the aho one." Rolling his eyes, Sanji follows the wandering swordsman.
Zoro adjusts his hold on Usopp, who is draped over his shoulder, and turns down a hallway before being yanked back onto the path Sanji set. Zoro looks to his left and sees a light. "Oi, what about that way?" he says pointing.
Sanji turns and hums in thought. "Let's go look." He comes up to the door and opens it to find a free fall drop into the sea off the ship's stern. "Holy shit! What is with your directional sense?! How do you never end up dead at the bottom of a ravine?!"
"Shyaddap, baka. We just need to go this way." He says walking away, unknowingly walking back the way they came.
'This fucking retard...' Rubbing his fingers into his forehead, Sanji follows. 'Why do I even bother?' Before they can walk any further a loud cry of defeat is heard on the other side of the wall opposite them. "Hold it, Marimo." Sanji shoots a leg out, reducing it to nothing but scrap firewood.
Zoro walks through the hole to find Luffy and Nami standing above a hogtied Foxy, Porche and Hamburg, the rest of the Foxies laying in a pile of limbs out on the main deck. "Look, you walk so slow we missed the fight."
Sanji can not believe the proud bastard. "My apologies, Marimo-dono*." he grits out sarcastically, vein twitching violently above his curled eyebrow. "I didn't realize you were a better navigator than our lovely Nami-san. Forgive me for holding you back. Please, after you." Being the mature guy that he is, Sanji sticks out his tongue at the swordsman's back as he mumbles a 'whatever' and drops the now awake Usopp - whom has gone into a rant of how his navigational skills had once saved Princess Brunhilde, a merchicken goddess, and her 50 sisters from their evil wizard father, whom flooded the kingdom and filled it with aquatic dinosaurs, on a boat he built with a pipe and candle*.
It's relieving to know that even after what had happened, they were able to fall right back into place and act normal around each other with no awkwardness whatsoever. Unless you count lip biting, sidelong glances and knocking elbows while they were making their way out of the Silver Foxy's labyrinth not awkward, then yeah. Perfectly normal. That is until he hears Foxy let Kibagaeru and his men rejoin his crew and all the Foxy Pirates run in for a group hug. A group of female Foxies glomp onto their Captain, cooing praises for his kind heart and generosity. He doesn't really care what those fox freaks do during their own time, as long as he doesn't have to watch an orgy transpire in front of him, but a familiar voice coos out and he sees the fucking ero-cook run towards the women, hoping to also be fawned over.
Zoro can't even begin to process the blonde's actions nor understand why he ever wanted to have anything to do with him. Sanji was a noodle dancing, heart spewing, womanizing duck disguised as a penguin. Whatever had come over the moron to kiss him back was obviously gone and irritated Zoro to no end. To think he had been attracted to him. It was amusing, though, to watch him cower slightly when Nami darkly reprimanded him for thinking he could waltz right over to the Foxy crew and get away with it.
The Mugiwaras boarded Merry, greeted by a smiling Robin and a beaming Chopper, who were asking how their party with the Foxies went. The two had stayed behind on the ship, the latter hiding from Porche, playing board games and such while they waited for the others to return. They said their farewells to Foxy who, in turn, offered Luffy the afro, which Nami promptly chucked overboard. "This afro has caused us enough problems! Sanji-kun! Hard to starboard*! We're leaving!"
"Bye bye, Ware-Atama!" Luffy calls out as their ship drifts off into the distance. "Don't lose your ship again! The Grand Line is a dangerous place!"
…
"Ne, Oyabin?" Porche says, standing behind Foxy as they watch the Going Merry fade into the distance. "Are we really going to let them go? Just like that?"
"Porche!" he exclaims, hands raised to his chest and mouth dropped out in offense. "I can't believe you! Do you really think that little of your beloved Captain?!" Porche, Hamburg and the rest of the crewmembers hang their heads in shame. They had really thought that- "I'm not just going to let all that gold go without a proper fight. And did you forget about our Jolly Roger, as well?" he added, pointing at the monstrosity of a sail Mugiwara had painted for them. Their eyes brighten at their Captain's lecherous grin. "YARO-DOMO*! Hoist anchor!" His men cheer and a cry of "aye"s floods across the ship. "Fefefefe! We're going after Mugiwara!"
"Yosh!" Nami jumps up from her seat on the forecastle. "That storm completely threw us off course, but I finally found out where we are and there looks to be a small island nearby where we can gather some supplies before he head to the next island." She gathers up her ring dial, sextant, charts, and other tools, packing them into a lacquer box and turns to the cook as she walks towards the storeroom. "Is that alright with you, Sanji-kun?"
As expected, the Love-Cook leaps at attention and noodle dances towards the door, twirling on his toes. "That sounds perfect, my wonderful Nami-swa~n!" He opens the door for her, which she half-heartedly thanks him for and he gushes out a stream of declarations of love, hearts fluttering up above his head. "You are so very welcome! And so smart and talented and-"
"And you're a yutz."
Sanji gets cut off and he turns around to find Zoro standing by the railing, pointedly not looking at him. "What was that, shit head?!" He's about to call him out on the insult but his jaw snaps shut when he sees the look on Zoro's face. It's only there for a split second before it disappears, replaced by the ever constant stoic stare as the swordsman walks up to the sterncastle deck and picks up his weights.
Sanji doesn't know what make of the look so he just cuts his eyes at Zoro's back before turning back to the navigator as she descends down the stairs to her cabin. "Where to, Nami-san? I'll steer to the ends of the earth for you, my love!" He adds with a thumbs up and a heart blistering out of his visible eye, not noticing Nami rolls her eyes and their Captain laughing at him.
They arrive late in the morning, and drop anchor by a plateau near shore. The crescent shaped island was not large in size, but the high rocky cliff sides and stretching peninsulas made for plenty of land area. Trees lined the beach and stretched up into the foothills. It appeared to be a spring island, but a few tropical fruit trees could be seen from the crowsnest.
Nami had informed them that though the island was large, the fact that it appeared to be uninhabited and from the lack of reaction from the Log Pose, the island had no magnetic field so they wouldn't need to worry about their log resetting and could stay as long as they needed until they got enough supplies for their journey. They had been really lucky that the pose set within the short time they were at the previous island.
"Yosha! Everyone go look for food, I'll stay here and set up the grill." Sanji says as he drags a large iron skillet across the gangplank*. A call of "aye"s from the three younger men ringing loudly in his ears as they charge past him and into the forest. The rest of the crew grabbed their fishing rods, sacks and other necessities they would need to gather fruit, vegetables and whatever wildlife they could catch. Nami objected to eating mice and frogs again (the first time being in Skypiea, much to her displeasure), which prompted the marimo to open his mouth.
"Come on, you're so fucking whiny." Zoro groans and shakes his head in disdain as he stands from his napping spot, making his way across the deck. "It all tastes fine when Guru Mayuge cooks i-egh!" His words were cut short when the ero-cook axe kicks him in the head then follows it with a flying back kick, sending him over the railing and crashing into the sand below.
Zoro shoots up, katanas ready to be drawn, but his hands freeze around the hilts when he sees the cook turned away from him as he casually lights a cigarette, no longer finding any sense in getting angry he straightens up and smirks lopsidedly. 'Especially when I get a nice view of that a-' he mental slaps himself, not wanting to head down that road. He slides Wado's two inches of exposed steel back into her saya and sighs in resign, casting Sanji one last glare before turning to follow the others to search of provisions.
As they trek through the trees and shrubbery, Zoro's mind wanders back to what had happened, confident his feet will keep him on the path. He had enjoyed that kiss, maybe a bit too much. Zoro wasn't up for theatrics or romance, but there was something there when their lips met. Not exactly a spark, but like smoldering coals that with a little bit of tending to, would grow into something scorching. But of course it had to go all kinds of wrong and whatever magic that had been there was gone. 'Jeez, when did I become such a sap?'
Until recently, he had never thought of what it would be like with the blonde, the guy was too straight for his own good. Never did he think he would have a chance to have something more with him than being nakama. They were just two friends that argued and squabbled daily.
He suppresses a laugh at that, he would have never called the cook his friend before. But if you had asked three hours ago and he were being honest, he would have said yes. Sanji was his friend. And judging from the way they acted around each other recently, when they worked together, argued with each other, shoved the other, just being together, he would have called the retard his best friend. But now, now things were complicated, and it was all thanks to that kiss.
'Ah, that kiss!' He shuts his eyes tightly and shakes his head.
"Zoro?" He's broughten out of his thoughts and looks down at the young boy/deer walking beside him. "Zoro, are you ok? You're not feeling sick, are you? Do you want me to bandage that bump on your head?"
Zoro raises a hand to tenderly rub the egg that blossomed after the cook has kicked him off the ship. It hurts but not as much as it normally would. Zoro was sure that Sanji had held back. "No, Chopper. I'm fine." He reassures him with a smile. "Just a little… exhausted."
"I don't see why. All you do is sleep and you barely did anything in the fight earlier." Nami nags from up ahead.
Zoro's about to back sass when he hears a rustle at his left and harshly shushs the group. He sees Chopper's nose twitch and eyes widen in understanding. "Goat." the doctor says quietly and Zoro grins menacingly. Drawing Sandai Kitetsu ever so slowly, it's thirst reverberating from his hand up through his veins and into his ears, he leaps forward into the bushes ready to strike. "Eh? Zoro, wait!" Chopper yells, but his warning comes too late and Zoro trips and falls off a low cliff, landing in the center of a clearing lined with mountain goats whom are glaring and bleating at him darkly. He's been ambushed.
Three goats charge at him from different angles, but he's quick and draws his other two katanas. He brings his arms up, ready to strike but a fourth goat catches him off guard from above and knocks him down. Chopper in Walk Point jumps next to him, locking horns with several of the goats, tossing them into the treeline; Usopp fires flash and tabasco stars from the cliff edge, blinding the goats while Nami blasts them away with a Cyclone Tempo. Robin, however, sits daintily up on a tree branch out of the way from the battle; watching her nakama fight chin in hand, ankles crosses and that ever present knowing smirk gracing her handsome* face, only intervening to pull her nakama out of a charging goat's path or to pick fruit from the nearby trees.
"Oi!" Three stars burst in three goats faces and the Mugiwaras turn towards the sniper. "Where the hell is Luffy?!" he yells in terror. In a panic, they do their best to fight off the raging goats as they frantically try to locate their Captain.
"Where did that idiot go!?" Nami screams, a phantom hand pops out of her shoulder and pushes against the tree she's leaning on, sending her to the side, just missing getting trampled by a baby goat. The kid crashes into the tree trunk and somersaults backwards. Nami looks down at it ready to defend herself when it starts to cry in pain. A bit too much pain. "Eh?"
Next to her, Chopper's ears twitch and blue noses sniffs the air. "The Mountain?" Abruptly, he turns and wails at the top of his lungs. "Minna! Run away! Something's coming!"
The ground quakes beneath their feet, leaves fall from the canopies above and a loud roar echoes and steadily grows. The goats around them scattered bleating in fear and cower behind the trees beneath Robin. The crew stand stock still in confusion and stare wide eyed at a thicket of trees ahead of them. A gravelly bellow rips through the air followed by jovious laughter and the forest crumbles. A white mountain goat half the size of their ship barrels through the forest, a trail of uprooted trees and boulders left in it's wake. The monster has a thick, black collar of fur billowing around it's neck, a stark contrast to it's snow white fleece, garnished by a large brass bell. It has thick, flat horns curving around it's skull, hook behind it's ears and nestled dead center between those horns is none other than Monkey D. Luffy.
"You guys!" Luffy calls down to them, one hand waving joyously and the other holding his strawhat down, preventing it from blowing away as the colossal caprid bucks wildly. "Look! He's like a real life Merry-Go! Omoshiroi*!"
"My," Robin quips from her perch. "what a remarkable specimen."
"Luffy, you jackass!" Nami screams at him. "What the fuck are you doing?!" Around them the other goats bleat in a frenzy, several of them running in circles while the others try to hide themselves behind the pirates, one of them nearly knocking the red hair down. "Chopper, what's going on?"
"It's their alpha, he's gone rogue." Chopper explains. A young kid jump up and rest it's forehooves on the doctor's shoulders. "'Please, you must run away quickly. He's destroyed half the forest and drove us away from the mountains! Get away as fast as you can!' she says."
"Rogue?!" Usopp cries, "As in feral and very dangerous?!"
"Sei'ni-san? Is there a way you could speak with the alpha male?" Robin asks calmly as she comes down from the tree branch, her hana hands acting as steps.
Chopper shakes his head, "No. Once an animal goes rogue, it separates itself from its herd and there's no saving it. It seems that though he has left them, he still comes back to terrorize the flock. It'll only get worse if we leave him be. There were a few rogue Lapahns back on Drum Island that Doctorine and I had to put down because they were attacking villagers. It was horrible, but it had to be done."
"Y-You mean we have t-to…" Usopp doesn't finish his sentence, face draining of color at the thought alone.
"Yes."
"So Dekai-Yagi* went crazy." Luffy says, breaking the silence that had settled between them. The crew look up at their captain sitting calmly on the now settled down buck whose hooves scrape into the earth, prepared to charge at any moment and steam snorting from its nostrils. "Well… Yeah?" they return only to watch the raven haired captain stretch his head down, meeting the beast's gaze with an seriousness that rarely graces his face. "Oi, yagi. What are you stupid or something? You're the king of goats! You're not supposed to hurt your followers! What's wrong with you?!" He throws a fist back, reaching about 27 Gomus* and slams it back right in between its slitted eyes.
"AHO~!"
Sanji nonchalantly smokes a cigarette as he watches the green haired swordsman walk away through a veil of blonde hair. He's slightly piqued when he sees a scowl flicker across Zoro's face; it was too weak to be menacing, similar to the look the man had earlier on the ship. Sanji was at a loss. At first he thought the swordsman was merely worried that if all they found were rodents and vermin, Nami-san wouldn't eat, so he tried to convince her that no matter the animal, Sanji would be able to make it edible and delicious.
'Oh, who am I kidding?' Sanji scoffs as he drags the skillet to shore. 'That oaf? Worried about Nami-san? Sure! On the day I wear a shitty pink dress!' Dropping his grill onto the beach, he tries not to dwell on the matter and sets off to gather firewood, but his mind just isn't on his side today.
As he walks over angular slabs of stone, effortlessly balancing as he piles stick after stick into his arms, he spots a fallen tree trunk laying on the grassy forest floor in a patch of sun, and stops. It's a short narrow log, about a quarter the thickness of Merry's mast, some force of nature had stripped parts of its deep brown bark revealing the golden wood underneath, letting it glow in the rays. One of its ends was covered with a thick patch of light green moss and Sanji couldn't help but smile at how much it resembled Zoro. He can immediately imagine the Marimo sleeping in that same spot snoring the day away, hair blending in perfectly with the ground, gold earrings glittering in the sunlight. He briefly wonders what it would be like to lay down next to the Zorolog, or better yet, with the man himself. 'Surely, it would be very nice.'
He picks up a stick and whacks himself in the opposite shoulder, hard. 'God, what is wrong with me?! I shouldn't be feeling this way. This is Zoro we're talking about. ZORO!' He wipes a hand across his face then through his hair and walks back to camp. 'And what was with that look?'
After he had licked Zoro off the deck, the green head had given him an uncharacteristic gaze. To anyone else, he looked indifferent, like the swordsman was bored and didn't have a care in the world about the things going on around him. But Sanji wasn't just anyone. He knew the man enough to know what those little slips meant, those little instances he showed emotion, like when he tries to contain his laughter during one of Usopp's crazy stories, or the gentle smile in his eyes he nearly fails to hide whenever he's with Chopper. This look, there was a subtle softness in his ever permanent scowl that made it look like a genuine frown. A downward turn in the corner of his dark eyes. Sanji saw the slow, heavy rise in the man's chest that could only be a suppressed sigh and though he had never seen Zoro like this before, he recognized the emotion. It was a mixture of hurt and disappointment.
'The shitty bastard was complaining again and deserved to get kicked.' Or at least that's what he keeps trying to remind himself. What he couldn't convince himself was that he had just been hearing things before he threw his foot into Zoro's head.
"It all tastes fine when Sanji cooks it."
"What was that?! That was practically a compliment!" Sanji exclaims loudly, dropping his load into the sand and throws his hands into his hair, aggressively ruffling it till it stands on end, though the fringe covering his eye strangely stays down if only slightly tussled. Zoro never said anything more about his cooking than being ok, but "tasting fine"? He just basically admitted that he liked the food Sanji cooked. Of course, Sanji already knew how much Zoro enjoyed his food, as everyone did, there was nothing better out there; except maybe from Zeff. It was no longer a secret between the two of them. Zoro didn't have to tell him for him to know, Sanji had told him that much last night. But Zoro had said it aloud, and in front of the others no less. "It was a fucking confession!"
'Ok, wait. Stop right there.' he takes a deep breath and pokes at the slowly burning embers he just lit. Zoro had not confessed anything. Saying his cooking was fine didn't reveal anything, it was just a statement, just like always. It wasn't meant as anything more than that. Sanji was merely overthinking things. He surely wasn't putting words into the other man's mouth and hearing what he wanted to hear.
It's not like he want Zoro to confess. 'Confess to what?!' He didn't want that, he didn't want the man to tell him he liked him-his cooking! 'My cooking!' That not what he wants to hear. Why would that make him happy? Why would he want that marimo bastard to say he likes him-his food! 'Dammit! Stop thinking like that! FUCK! I don't want Zoro to like m-
He hears a loud wail in the distance but doesn't pay it any heed. If anything were to happen, Zoro would be more than enough to handle it. Throwing more wood into the pit, he chuckles lowly to himself when he easily figures out what had happened. "Luffy did something stupid again." Sitting down next to the slowly growing fire, Sanji leans in to light a fresh stick. 'Zoro may be an idiot, but he's capable of protecting the others.'
He throws his poker down in frustration and shoves a hand into his pocket to pull out his cigarettes. After several broken matches, the cook leans forward, putting the tip of his stick into the fire careful not to singe his hair, and inhales deeply, letting the squats down, resting his elbows onto his knees and gives in to his pestering brain.
His thumb rubbing slow circles into his palm, he remembers the warmth emitting from the man's body, how safe he had felt in his arms. He remembers his lips and how soft they had felt, which was surprising since the pig rarely ever bathed. Normally, living on a ship gave one dry salt crusted skin, Sanji had learned that the hard way when he was a kid. The marimo must being doing something to take care of himself since he usually spends most of his time out on deck training or sleeping. But when Sanji thought about it, the man did take care of his body, in a sense. He trains endlessly; mind, body and spirit, to the point he's able to control almost all of his movements to a miniscule degree (when they were leaving Alabasta, Sanji had overheard Luffy telling Chopper Zoro learned how to cut through steel and defeated that Mr. 1 guy). But the only times the idiot didn't even bother was when he trained himself into a coma, refused to eat or purposely let himself get hurt.
Sanji's stomach twists at the memory of one of those instances. He nearly lost his lunch when he saw Mihawk cleave Zoro in two. He had just met the infamous Pirate Hunter of East Blue and was wanting to hear his stories after he learned he wasn't the crazed man the rumors made him out to be. And as much as he didn't like the idea of leaving his home, he knew he would have ended up joining Luffy and becoming crewmates with the others, so it crushed him a little to think that he had lost a future nakama, a potential friend, that was why he screamed at Zoro, for him to give up and not throw his life away. Zoro had been so stupid and Sanji felt like a boulder fell into the pit of his stomach as he watched the swordsman give himself to the Shichibukai.
But the idiot didn't die. He survived and now had to live with that horrendous scar stretching across his body. Sanji had finally stopped wincing everytime he saw it when they entered the Grand Line, only to be replaced by a new cringe whenever he saw Zoro without his shoes on. Dumbass bastard tried to cut his own legs off! Shaking his head hard, Sanji tried not to remember the incident on Little Garden. That was something he didn't want to relive or ever do again. But knowing his crew, it was hopeless to expect otherwise.
Sanji snuffs his spent cigarette out into the sand next to the others and lights another, poking at the flames with his stick. With a heavy sigh he rests his forehead onto his crossed forearms and stares at the yellow sand. No matter how hard he tries, he just can't stop thinking about Zoro. Zoro and the kiss. And the fact that he had kissed Zoro. It had only bothered him initially, when he realized what was happening. His mind had been screaming no no no! But when their lips finally met, he had felt something not unlike a reassurance, like everything was fine and it was okay to be there, standing in another man's arms, lips meshed together, right there in the middle of the room for the whole world to see and his body couldn't help but scream back yes, more! Zoro had pulled him in, just as eager about the situation as he was, and it's only then does he realize that maybe Zoro was going through inner turmoil as well. That maybe Zoro is feeling and thinking the same things right now, about him, about their kiss, about doing it again. There's something churning and tightening in his chest at the memory and he's worried he might have come to a conclusion about his feelings, but before the thought can even come to him, a call from behind brings him back to where he's sitting on the beach staring at the fire before him.
He looks up to see the others return, arms and sacks full of fish and and other goodies. 'They're back already?' Sanji looks up at the sun and frowns. The crew had been gone for a mere hour and he had been so lost in his thoughts he had completely lost track of time, staring aimlessly at his now dwindling fire. Throwing more logs in, he stands to greet his crewmates. "How was the haul?"
"Sanji!" Luffy calls, a little louder than necessary. "We fought this gi~ant goat monster but I kicked its ass and we got meat! Shihihihi!"
"A goat?"
"Yeah! It went looney and ruled over the other goats with an iron hoof! I got to ride on his head, too! He was just like Merry!" Luffy laughs jovially, earning him a fist to the head from Nami.
"We wouldn't have had any trouble if you hadn't have gone and provoked it!"
"Aw~, but Nami." their childish Captain whines, "It was so much fun."
"Yeah, well, your fun got us hurt!" With a huff, the navigator stomps over the blanket she spread out on the beach before they left and drops her load of bananas and pineapples, all the while mumbling under her breath about rubber idiots and putting normal human lives in danger.
Chopper and Robin present to him their findings of peaches and pumpkins. Hefty bags of various kinds of berries in their arms are brought back to the ship for later use. He finds it strange that such a small, uninhabited island can have such a wide variety of vegetation, perhaps past visitors had planted seeds knowing the weather would be ideal for summer and winter crops.
Zoro approaches and he has to stifle a giggle at the fleshy egg left behind by his kick is still blooming on top of the idiot's grass head. Zoro glares at his smug smile and unintentionally rubs at the lump before handing him the sack which the cook accepts it, neither of them drawing attention to their touching fingers that may have lingered a bit longer than considered casual. Not meeting his gaze, Sanji opens the bag to find nicely severed cuts and fights back a smile that tugs at the corners of his mouth. 'Grasshopper is a fast learner. Sensei is proud.'
"That's it?" he grunts out instead. "I thought Luffy said the thing was huge?"
"It was, but Luffy beat the shit out of it and ruptured one of its organs. Even though I drained the blood out, I still had to cut around it to get the good meat." Zoro shrugs lopsidedly.
Sanji looks up at him suspiciously. "How do you know that? I thought yesterday was the first time you ever butchered something properly."
"You told me." Zoro says simply, shrugging again and staring off to the side.
Sanji looked at him confused. He couldn't remember when he had ever said anything of the sort to the swordsman. Thoroughly curious, he presses the matter. "I did? When?"
"A while back. I remembered it yesterday when you nearly hurled your guts out. I… remember everything you say. Hell, I remember every single one of Usopp's stories. It's a thing, I guess. Remembering." He hesitates before adding quickly.
"I see." Sanji turns away Zoro, tucking the information into the back of his mind, and digs deeper into the bag. Beneath the cuts of rack, shoulder and loin he finds a dehorned and skinned goat head. He jerks his head back up to stare wide eyed at the man but Zoro had turned away from him, picking through the fruits scattered across the blanket. Sanji watches his Adam's apple slowly bob up and down. The cook's mouth curls inward, whether in nervousness or to conceal a weak smile he isn't sure, but he nods his thanks anyway before going back to the grill.
Zoro had done a pretty good butchering the goat, even with his swords. Hell, even the head was skinned perfectly. The cuts are clean and even with no lingering bone fragments. Which was surprising given the fact that Luffy's fists were known to reduce any form of structure to rumble in second, broken ribs and fractured skulls no different, neither of which were found in the satchel. He throws some butter onto his skillet before grabbing his whetstone to sharpen his knives, slicing the rack and loin into equal portions. As they sizzle away, he cuts up some peaches, pineapple and pumpkins, and throws them on the barbeque as well.
Zoro watches Sanji work as he chugs down his grog, the shit-cook moving with grace and finesse, a happy little smile plastered on his face, lost in his own little world where it's just him and the food. The uneasy feeling in his stomach from before settles and Zoro can't help but smile a little bit as well.
The sound of sizzling meat, clinking mugs and laughter fill the air as the Mugiwaras celebrate their victory over the Grand Line's treacherous storms, the Foxy Pirates fruitless attack and the wrath of the giant goat. Luffy is stuffing his face while Usopp retells his over exaggerated version of their battle against the "Rogue Mountain", Chopper laughing full heartedly beside him, while Nami and Robin sit on a near by boulder sipping on their drinks. The party comes as the perfect distraction for the two fighters, both of them preoccupied, though every once in a while their eyes would briefly meet before darting away to busy themselves with refillings plates and mugs.
Apparently, after Luffy had punched the giant goat in the face, it went into an all out rage, bucking and thrashing about, digging up the earth. The more normal sized goats ran for cover, crying out in fear, the pirates close behind. After running their lungs dry, they had lost sight of the Rogue Mountain (as the goats had taken to calling him) and found themselves deep in the heart of the island by a lake full of fish. They fished till their pails were full while Chopper and Robin tended to those injured during the encounter, one of them being Usopp as he was trampled by the frightened goats. Repeatedly. As thanks, the goats showed them where they could find a natural garden where onions, wild carrots and other root crops grew but sadly, most of the land had been uprooted, the garden unfortunately being in the path of the raging ruminant, and there wasn't much produce left to harvest. As they were walking back to the beach, Luffy had spotted the Rogue Mountain and aggravated it as he tried to ride on it again, prompting a battle.
Seeing it best to rid the island of the beast as soon as possible, Luffy & Zoro swiftly put the animal down with a series of punches from Luffy's Gattling and a quick Gazami Dori* by Zoro, which severed it's head and allowing the goats to return to their home in the mountains. After a short farewell, they head back to Merry, arms filled with meat, fruits and vegetables.
Nami calls everyone's attention and points down at the map she has unfurled on the boulder. "According to this, there's an island a couple days away. If we leave tonight we'll get there the morning after tomorrow. We'll gather more food again later so we should be fine even if the wind's not in our favor. So," she turns towards Luffy, "what do you think, Sencho?."
He ponders the information and swallows his mouthful before beaming up at the navigator. "OK! We sail tonight!"
Usopp is scolding Luffy for eating too much food at one time, the stock they just gathered sadly diminishing quite quickly, when a loud sloshing in the water draws the crew's attention to a giant red crab emerging from the waves. With a groan the crewmembers shake their heads in disdain. The Foxy idiot just won't give up. They're prepared to ignore them and only fight if they become a bother when their own idiot speaks up and cheers in amazement, oblivious to the fact that the crab is obviously a mecha and from the giant windows on its body, who's inside operating it.
Luffy jumps, ready to claim his third oyatsu* of the day but the crab is fast and retaliates. A muffled cry of Kani Kani* Punch is heard and the machine throws a claw down at him. Within the cloud of kicked up sand, Luffy grabs onto the beast and chucks the crab into a few palm trees where it explodes and metal shards fall from the sky pelting innocent bystanders and the three operators.
The Straw-Hat captain finally realizes that the crab was a fake, all thanks to Nami beating the information into his rubbery head with her fists, and joins his nakama in a lively party of ignoring the three intruding pirates. Sanji, being the experienced chef that he is has plates piled high with today's lunch special ready even before the lovely Porche mentions her hunger to her captain.
"Ooh, this is so good, I feel like my cheeks are melting!" she squees out in delight. "Cook-san, please come sail on our ship".
Sanji noodle dances in joy, twitching and hopping around on his toes at the invitation, speechless as he is torn between joining her and the other lovely ladies aboard the Silver Foxy and leaving his precious Nami-swan and Robin-chan behind. Yet again Zoro is left to watch, vein ticking in his temple in irritation and maybe a bit of jealousy as well.
"Why don't you just leave? I'd be happy, too."
As the Foxies eat their lunch, Porche calls her crewmates with her den den mushi and informs them of their captain's failed attempt at revenge and that they needed to be picked up. The barbeque disappears much quicker than expected with the arrival of the Foxies and Luffy sudden I-was-moving-around-a-lot-so-now-I'm-really-hungry malady. The Silver Foxy arrives and two members sail to shore in a smaller boat, dragging the still out cold Ware-Atama in by his split head and set sail.
"Cook-san! Sayonara*! Everything was delicious! Porche had a great time!" the blue haired woman calls back to shore.
"Take care of yourself okay~, Porche-chwan~!" Sanji returns, arms waving frantically above his head, eyebrow swirled into a little heart.
From beside him, Zoro stands bored with his arms crossed over his chest. "Are you sure you don't want to go with her?"
"Baka! If I left, who would prepare Nami-san and Robin-chan's food?"
Zoro turns his head slightly to glare at him sidelong. Sanji holds his gaze, but a pang of guilt curdles slightly in his stomach when he recognizes a well hidden disappointment behind Zoro's mask. Before either of them could think of something to say, the tension that had settled over them is broken when Nami calls for them to hurry along and help them scavenge for more food, as they were all still hungry, no thanks to Luffy and surprisingly to Porche and Hamburg as well.
They're walking along the trail they followed earlier, retracing their steps back to the clearing when they first encountered the Rogue Mountain and gather undamaged fruit from the fallen trees before heading to the lake. The lake waters glisten in the afternoon sun, butterflies flutter around the reeds. The scene is so beautiful and the air is so fresh, Sanji can't help but think that this would be a great place to bring one of the ladies for a date. Unconsciously, Sanji turns to look behind him and finds the man he was expecting to find gone. He lets out an aggravated groan and frustratedly puts out his cigarette.
"What's wrong, Sanji?" Usopp queries from where he's sitting on the bank, fingers caught in an elaborate knot as he tried to untangle his fishing line.
"Does anything seem off to you? Like we're forgetting something?"
Usopp looks up and studies the love-cook's irritated face before scanning his surroundings.
"AH! Zoro's missing!"
"What?!" Nami calls from under a tree where Chopper and Robin are gathering worms for bait, not like she'll be touching them in this lifetime. "That idiot! Sanji-kun! Go look for him!"
"Hai! Nami-san~!" He twirls away into the treeline before his strides return to normal walking and lights a cigarette.
He can't, for the life of him, understand why Zoro gets lost so easily. If the man remember's everything he's heard or seen, then how the fuck can't he remember basic directions?
'Maybe it's only things that interest him?' Sanji wonders. But no, that can't be right. Zoro said he remembers everything the cook says, does that mean that he finds him interesting?
'Iya, iya, iya*. Not possible.' Sanji waves a hand in front of him, completely dismissing the idea. Not like he wants the swordsman to be interested in him anyway.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he instead takes in the scenery around him. The forest is lush and peaceful, but the occasional line of wreckage slightly ruins the serenity. The giant goat must have been one powerful monster. He glances around and finds no fleece or horn of any goats in the area, 'Must have all gone home up in the mountain.'
It doesn't take him long to find the green-haired waif, who's sitting against a tree, eyes closed and snoring like a tug boat.
"Oi, Marimo, get the fuck up." He kicks at the sleeping swordsman's feet, snot bubble popping as he does so and the man cracks an eye open to glare at him.
"Oh. It's just you." he remarks and settles down more against the tree roots.
"The hell is that supposed to mean, konoyaro?"
"Nothing. So, what? You guys got lost again? Mattaku."
Sanji suppresses the raging urge to kick the idiot's face and flicks his spent coffin nail near his head instead. Deeming the slight flinch by the marimo fit justice, his shoulders relax and nods his head.
"Ikuzo. The other's are waiting." Without thinking, he extends his hand out which Zoro reluctantly grabs, but when he tries to help the man up the arm's limp in his hand and the body attached to it barely budges. He pulls at his again, Zoro's back arching slightly before dropping back against the tree with a thud.
Sanji glares at the shit eating grin plastered across Zoro's face, the man not even having the decency to mask. Zoro obviously thinks that because of Sanji's lithe frame and the fact that he doesn't fight with his hands means that he lacks significantly in upper body strength. 'This shitty bastard.' Sanji digs his heels into the dirt, grasping Zoro's hand with both of his and a solid pull is enough to bring the surprised man stumbling to his feet.
In his state of shock, Zoro fails to support himself and nearly topples onto Sanji, their chests and faces inches apart. The victorious grin falls from Sanji's face, an emotionless gaze taking its place and warily stares back at the swordsman. Their breaths mingle together in their closeness, heat radiates off of Zoro's chest and seeps through Sanji's suit jacket and into his. Zoro's stomach does a little flip-flop, heedless to Sanji's doing its own series of gymnastics. He watches as Sanji's neck and ears redden and he can feel his own cheeks start to heat up.
Sanji slips his hands out of Zoro's weak grip and stuffs them into his pockets. Stepping aside he clears his throat and starts to head back towards the lake.
"C'mon, Marimo. And stay close, don't want you getting lost again."
The rest of the day goes by uneventfully. They're back at the beach enjoying their second lunch/early dinner. Sanji does his best to avoid Zoro, but his unrelenting mind bringing him back to the day's various event, those specifically revolving around the marimo.
Sanji walks off from his post at the grill to a cluster of rocks between camp and the ship and sits down in the sand. He gazes at his nakama, laughing and chatting together. Usopp and Nami are playing cards with Robin acting as the dealer, Chopper nestled in her lap as he attentively tries to learn the art of poker. Luffy is up a tree doing God knows what and Zoro is by the fire napping.
Sanji stares at the grill, or more specifically at the nonexistent meat that was sizzling on it earlier. Zoro had brought him back the goat head along with the cuts, a kind gesture he supposes, but Sanji isn't sure if he should take it as a peace offering of some kind or what, but it's plain to see that Zoro had gone out if his way to deliver the offal. The blonde hides a smile as he lights up a cigarette and leans back against the rock, his brain conjuring up an image of a cat bringing a dead rat to its master as a trophy of its victory. Not that Zoro is like a cat or that he can claim ownership over the man, but it's funny picturing the gruff swordsman with green ears poking out of his equally green hair and a long tail swishing behind him.
Pushing the silly thought aside, he returns his gaze to the sleeping moss-head, momentarily reminded of the log he had found while gathering firewood.
Sanji can't begin to understand the new found feelings he's experiencing towards the man. They have been sailing for several weeks now, living together on the same ship, sharing every meal with the rest of the crew, day in and day out, never saying any a word, nor batting an eyelash or even double taking to the other to indicate something more than simple nakamaship. But now? Now Sanji has started to harbor some unexplained feelings for the man. What this feelings mean he doesn't know, unsure if he even wants to know, but all he can say is that an accidental kiss as changed his whole view of the swordsman and that he is seriously starting to question himself.
Sanji, ass kicking, woman loving, first class chef, one third of the (claimed by Usopp) Monster Trio, has feelings for a man.
'Oh, God.' suddenly realizing, dread drips down his face and back in buckets. 'I like a man.' Shooting upright, he throws his hands into his hair and feels a panic attack spreading through his body.
'W-w-what the fuck?! I can't like a guy! I love women! Women are lovely, beautiful creatures whom deserve to be pampered and treated lovingly. Women are angels! Goddesses! They are the ones I love! Not men! I'm not ga-'
Sanji falters at the thought. Could he be gay? Never in his life has he ever doubted his sexuality, he was straighter than (analogy). God forbid he was gay! '... Not that there's anything wrong with being gay.' he corrects himself. He had grown up on a ship with only male staff on board and though most of the men that would sail out to the nearest island when supplies were needed would indeed seek female companionship, it wasn't unheard of for some of the chefs to hook up with each other. There had been, in fact, quite the few couples on board the Baratie, though not many. None of the other staff had any problems towards such relations, and Owner Zeff wasn't going to fire capable cooks just because of who they shared their beds with.
Sanji knew of same sex relationships and, yes, he didn't have a problem with other people's preference, he just never thought he would want to be in one of them. He was a ladies man, women were all he could think about. Women were beautiful, and elegant. They were modest and graceful, they had soft fragrant skin, silky flowing hair, and when they were strong and capable in a fight like Nami and Robin, their beauty increased tenfold. Just thinking about his two lovely crewmates made him hot under the collar. No man could ever do that for him. Right?
Sanji folds his legs under him and stares down at the yellow sand. 'Could I be attracted to men as much as I am with the ladies?' He takes a breath and imagines all of the men he's known in his life; there were the chefs from the restaurant, 'Egh'. He had met Johnny and Yosaku, 'Meh'. Then the fishmen-'Shit no!' The marines they've battled, some looked decent, some not, but all of them doing nothing for Sanji's attraction. The citizens of Cocoyashi, Drum, Alabasta, Skypiea, the saru brothers, the Foxies, even Luffy and Uso-'No. No, no, no no nononono!'
The blush he had gotten from the girls has now turned into a sickly green. 'Jeez, that was worse than getting electrocuted by that shitface god.' Sanji lets out a sigh and lights a new stick, the nicotine doing wonders for his churning stomach and setting his mind at ease. 'Okay, so...not gay.' But then why had that kiss flustered him so much and why was he blushing like a teenage girl whenever he thought of Zoro. 'Zoro.' Thinking the man's name alone makes the butterflies flutter in his belly, and it dawns on him. 'Maybe... Maybe it's just Zoro.'
He closes his eyes and images of the swordsman fighting flash into his mind. Zoro's charging forward and slices a foe down, he lowers his arms and firmly grips his katanas' hilts.
Sanji can feel his heart beat a little bit faster in his chest. 'Okay, so maybe he has really good fighting skills.'
Zoro's fingers flex, turning the blade in his hands, thumbs rubbing tenderly along the leather binds. His teeth grind into the hilt of his white sword, pink lips wrap themselves around it to stop a dribble of saliva from drooling out the corner of his mouth.
Sanji swallows thickly and a shiver ripples through his spine. 'And maybe he's a little intimidating.'
A quick twist of his hips and Zoro sends a flying Tastu Maki that plows down the black silhouetted foes. Katanas spin in his hands before angling forward and slightly up. Oddly, the black sword in Zoro's left hand thickens and his hand gently caresses the handle.
Sanji hums lowly and shifts in his seat.
The black katana morphs into a long, black something and the green haired man's hand glides up to where the black something bends at a right angle, the shape thickening even more. His hand journeys upward, curving around something soft and round before slipping up over a silver chain and studded belt and into a black suit jacket.
A low guttural moan chokes out of Sanji's throat and his eyes shoot open. He finds himself curled into his upright knees, arms wrapped around his stomach, fingers digging into his back, into the same places he had imagined the other's fingers trailing. As he straightens up, he finally takes notice to the painful tightness in his pants.
"Sanji, are you alright?"
He's broken out of his musings by Chopper's concerned voice and looks up to find the whole crew looking at him, apparently even at the distance he is from the crew he had moaned loud enough for them to hear. His face reddens considerably and his face contorts at the realization that he had been making noise, he wonders what else they had heard.
"I-uhh..." He darts his eyes away from the small doctor's stare and ends up locking eyes with he now awake Zoro. 'Oh, shit. He heard me too.' The marimo is leering at him, as if scrutinizing his actions and Sanji feels his face heat up even more at the thought that Zoro had figured out what he had been doing and was judging him for it. Force of habit makes him return the stare with a heated glare. He scrambles to his feet, pulling his untucked shirt down over the front of his pants hoping it to be enough to conceal his state and runs off the ship, calling out an 'it's nothing, I'm fine.' hastily over his shoulder.
He rushes across the deck and into the bathroom, locking the door behind and slams the toilet seat lid down before nearly ripping off his pants, relieving his member from its confines. He's in a state of half panic and half burning desire as he grabs hold of himself, images of Zoro careening through his vision. A montage of Zoro out on deck doing his katas, weight lifting, pulling up the anchor, cutting down a marine and even sleeping out on deck plays in his mind, pathetically putting himself into the scene; laying beneath him as the swordsman does push ups or straddling his lap where he's leaning against the mast. The images continue flashing behind his closed eyes and the last thing he sees before everything goes white is a close up of Zoro's smiling face.
Breaths evening out, heartbeat slowing to a normal pace, Sanji stares down at the mess that's spilled all over his hands and frowns.
"Shit. I-I'm ... I'm gay for Zoro."
The swordsman watches as Sanji runs off onto Merry like a bat out of hell, glaring at his back before he disappears into the storeroom. 'Asshole cook wakes me up from my nap and has the gall to get mad at me? Fucking prick.' He sits up to grab his mug to find it empty.
"I wonder what's wrong with Sanji-kun." Nami ponders as she throws several chips into the pile.
"Who cares? Let him deal with his own problems." the swordsman says, grabbing a random bottle of sake from the blanket.
"Well," Chopper quips up as he shuffles through his cards, confident enough to participate in the game. "we have been eating a lot of red meat lately. I wouldn't be surprised if he's have digestive problems. I'll have to talk to him about adding more fiber into our diets. Especially, you, Luffy." he pointedly adds as he calls Nami's bet before suddenly folding his hand. Robin informs him of his actions, causing him to cry out an excuse of not exactly understanding the rules and to please let him back into the game.
The others get into a debate of whether or not the cook has been preparing a balanced diet or not, which Chopper confirms that Sanji has, but the little doctor is the one that eats the majority of the more nutritious parts of the meal - being an animal himself, he doesn't eat much meat - and that the rest of them are too busy protecting their meat from their captain that everyone forgets to eat their recommended serving of vegetables.
Zoro tunes them out and settles down, sipping from his bottle of what's turned out to be whiskey as he watches the sun nearing the horizon. They'll be leaving soon, off on to another island for another adventure, to get caught up in the excitement of new journeys, and then maybe this day would be all but remembered and he and Sanji could get back to their normals lives without an air of caution enveloping them.
But god, had Zoro enjoyed that kiss. He wishes he could do it again, to just walk over to the sexy blonde, grab him by the back of his neck and smash their lips together, to relish in the hot glow of lust and ravish the man. But that would never happen, not again. Sanji wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole, let alone his lips. A heavy lump of hurt and disappointment settles in his gut and he tries to wash it away with a large gulp from his long neck, draining half of the liquor in one go.
Zoro never had a problem with rejection before, a fair number of people had declined his advances, a few he even had the courage to flirt with himself, but the thought of almost having Sanji and not getting to, really struck deep. He supposes its because it's so close to home (quite literally, actually) and if they start something it would make things awkward on the ship, even more so if they didn't work out. A nauseous churning pulls in his stomach at that. He would dread it if their relationship fell apart.
'Heh, relationship.' He chuckles to himself, guzzling the rest of his bottle and throwing it aside. That'd be something, him and the guru-cook in a relationship. Ha! Like that'd ever work out beautifully. He can imagine it already. Every morning he'd wake up with a boot in the face, then they'd fight and break things. As punishment, he and the cook would have to do chores together and end up having a different kind of fight, the outcome being the same as always with no victor and both of them exhausted. He hopes that he could get first taste of all of the chef's latest creations, but he guesses that he's already been getting them, if last night had anything to say for it. Then maybe he could steal a few kisses here and there when the others aren't looking.
Zoro looks up at the pink and orange sky, a few stars litter the sky and the moon's glowing bright. He thinks that maybe at the end of the of day they could lay together under Nami's mikan trees and watch the night sky and maybe fall asleep in each other's arms. It doesn't sound that bad, though. Hell, it actually sounds damn near perfect.
'But that's never going to happen.' coming to a sad conclusion he runs his hands over his slightly numb face, the alcohol doing its job to his body but not his senses, and tries to quell the ache spreading in and around his ribs.
'Ah damn. I've fallen for him.'
With everything packed up on the ship, the Mugiwaras continue on their journey across the Grand Line.
The crew scurries around the ship, Zoro raises the anchor, Usopp and Chopper unfurl the sails, Sanji safely securing all their food stock away to prevent another mishap, Robin's numerous arms doing anything and everything to speed up the process with Nami barking orders to the crew. Luffy's up on the figurehead when he catches sight of a flock of white and grey near the corner of the mountain side. He calls out and waves to the goats, who return with their own bleating farewell to their heroes, as they sail away into the sunset.
Sanji's smoking by the railing, watching the island disappear in the slowly darkening sky. The sun has completely dropped off into the sea but the sky is still bright with the hazy peach glow that illuminates this side of the globe. It's a lovely view and he's curious if Usopp's noticed. Maybe the artist could preserve the image onto canvas and hang it up in the galley. He rests his elbows onto the white wood, leaning over the water. The rainbow colored waves splash up against the hull. The world is so beautiful and exciting, a bit dangerous, but in a wonderful adventurous way.
A sense of loneliness flows through him and he silently wonders if there was someone who would love to share this moment of beauty with him. He absently turns his eyes slightly to his left and through his fringe he sees Zoro up on the foredeck, mirroring his position against the railing and watching the sunset. Somehow, the green moss face notices him staring, and looks over to him. Sanji doesn't move, knowing that if he did it'd only prove he was watching the man, even if it had only been briefly. Zoro watches him for another moment or two before smiling sheepishly and turning back to the sunset, his shoulders now loose from the tension Sanji didn't notice had been there before.
Sanji stares back at the water, the sky is only half lit now and it's getting darker by the minute, pondering whether or not he should say something to Zoro.
Author Notes and Glossary
The island they landed on was Goat Island, minus Zenny. He's busy in Water 7 collecting Paulie's debt XD I was listening to Otep and Rammstein while finishing this ^_^ who cares? :P
Also EiC Sinn says I can't say "gay". Quote unquote 'you can't use the "g" word, that's a big no no, say fruit bat, queer steer, fanny bellhop, Anal Buccaneer, Arse bandit, Butt pirate, Peter Puffer etc.' You're joking right?
Going Merry-Go - go means "issue" or "number". Refers to any thing that has been christened a name. Such as ships/vehicles (Merry, Sunny, everything in the channels), Battle Frankies, the Ox Bell, Ratchet's mecha suits, etc.
Minna - everyone, 'you' plural. Anata tachi - same. Omae - rude/masculine 'you'. Omaera - plural
Okite - from okiru. Wake up
Helm - the steering gear of a ship. The Going Merry's helm is a "whipstaff" or a "steering pole" with a sheep's head located in the galley.
Lateen - triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast. The striped sails aft* of the mainmast on both Going Merry and Thousand Sunny are lateens.
Aft - towards the stern/rear of the ship. The sterncastle deck can also be called the aftdeck.
Ware-Atama - Split-Head aka Silver Foxy.
Consommé - richly flavored stock that has been clarified.
Kibagaeru - 'kiba'+'gaeru' = 'fang'+'frog' Captain of the Kiba Gaeru Kaizoku Dan.
Shinken Shirahadori - Bare-handed Blade Block. Hatchan used it in ep39.
Doke - Get out of the way! Move it!
(A while back I made a spreadsheet of all the slurs they ever called each other in the Anime and Movies. Some aren't canon/in the Manga.)
Datsu - Dart. Dartboard = dastu-ban/datobodo.
Saboten - Cactus
Katorisenkō Mayuge - Mosquito Coil + Eyebrow
Midori-Mushi - Green and Bug
Yokai Love Love Machine - Yokai = ghost, phantom, strange apparition. Supernatural monsters (vampire, witch, etc. think Ao No Exorcist or Gantz)
Kaiju-Tennenkinenbutsu - Monster Natural Treasure. Kaiju = giant monster (King Kong, Godzilla) Yosaku called Mohmoo a kaiju in ep32.
Mellorine - cheap ice-cream made with lard instead of milk fat. Sanji says it tastes like a fine woman. Apparently women taste like cheap fat?
Umi no majo - Sea Witch.
Noro - Slow
Dono - roughly means "lord" or "master".
Usopp's Story - Ponyo and the Pop Pop Boat. I can't believe how many people hate Ponyo.
Starboard - right side of the ship.
Yaro-domo - Plural yaro (asshole). IMO it's like "Men!" or "Ye ol' scurvy bastards!" but according to Google it means DUDES. Can you imagine a pirate yelling out "DUDES! Let's rock this joint!"?
Nami's Box - No, not her vag! Sickos. To find the position of a ship by celestial navigation, the navigator measures with a sextant the apparent height of a celestial body above the horizon (i.e. Sun), and notes the time from a marine chronometer. That height is compared with the height predicted for a trial position in the almanac; the arcminutes difference is how many nautical miles the position line is from the trial position. How this works I do not know. Mnot a navigator.
Ring Dial - pocket sundial. They are beautiful and I want one.
Gangplank - or gangway is moveable ramp that stretches from the deck to the dock (or shore). According to Editor-in-Chief Sinn, a gangway is metal, while a gangplank wood.
Omoshiroi - interesting or funny, depending on the context.
Rogue - when a vicious animal (elephant/lion) separates from the herd/pride and roams alone in solitary. Rogue animals are violent to those threaten it's personal space (I think). Rogue is not a disease, there is nothing mentally wrong with the animal. I just made that up because I wanted it to diii~e. Blame Tarzan. Disney ruined me.
Dekai Yagi - 'huge' and 'goat'. Refer to episode 17 of The Adventures of Sinbad. It's Canadian btw.
Gomus - unit of measurement. Determines how far Luffy can stretch. Refer to SBS ch30.
Handsome - Yes, I called Robin handsome. It's old-fashioned for classically beautiful. A woman with the kind of refined beauty and attractiveness that requires poise, dignity, and strength of mind. Handsome. Zoro is strapping, Sanji is dashing, Franky is virile. Usopp is gangly.
Oyatsu - midday snack, around 3pm (3 o'clock is san-ji in nihongo, haha!)
Kani - crab. I like my crabs curried with squash and snake beans.
Gazami Dori - Crab Seize. A guillotine like effect that would normally cut a person's head off, or in this case, a giant goat. Zoro used it against Mr 1.
Sayonara - goodbye/farewell
Iya - no. A less formal version and also carries a masculine connotation.
Sinn: Gotta rottweiler puppy last month, named her "Chop" because GTA5. BDM said "Porkchop" because Doug Funny. Nah, Chop good. Short for Chopper. We call her "Choppy" though. The mother rejected the pups and she was skin and bones (Quiet Brook!) when we got her, but she runs around, barks her yap off and eats like a horse now. Chop will grow to be a happy, healthy dog. Also, I don't get paid enough for this gay shit. Waitress! One lasagna tray! Extra meaty!
BDM: I'm a chef, not a waitress! And don't tell Brook to be quiet! It's his birthday and if we wants to tell a skull joke then let him!