Archive of Our Own

Sanji hums as he moves up to the Sunny’s deck, glancing up at the waning moon with a hand on the Sunny’s walls.

(He’d missed this, being on this ship of dreams with all his nakama.

Obviously he’d already reunited with the Sunny when they were escaping from Whole Cake Island and heading to Zou and then Wano, but most of their crew hadn’t been there then.

Nami is a goddess whose presence he’s honored to be in, but he had missed handing Robin her coffee, Franky hammering at some new invention, Usopp yammering away while tending to his plants, Brook playing some tune in the background, and even Zoro either lifting weights or snoring on the deck.

Speaking of the Marimo, he hadn’t seen him in his bunk when he had gotten up to take watch.

Maybe he was up to take a last look at Wano?

That asshole better not have wandered off, Sanji does not want to try and find the directionally-challenged idiot and drag him back.

Or more likely, raiding his alcohol stash again despite the mind-numbing amounts of alcohol they had all had during the party last night.

How that man didn’t have alcohol poisoning was a medical miracle for Chopper to solve.)

Craning his neck up, he sees a familiar shadow up in the crow’s nest, drinking some alcohol straight from the bottle.

“Bastard better not have taken the good stuff,” Sanji mutters as he stomps into the kitchen, checks the cabinets (Zoro had of course found the best sake and taken it because if he can smell good alcohol a mile away and in the middle of a storm, of course he can find it in Sanji’s kitchen), then resigns himself to making some riceballs to go with the sake.

(It’s definitely because Chopper would be upset that Zoro was drinking on an empty stomach, and their poor doctor already had to deal with so much from their resident marimo without having to deal with stomach ulcers or something to add to  the list.)

By the time he finishes making them and sky walks his way up to the crow’s nest, Zoro has already made his way halfway through the bottle.

He sighs (of course the bastard has already drunk most of it), placing some riceballs by his side. “Chopper is going to be mad if he sees that you’re not resting, asshole.”

Zoro snorts, glancing over at Sanji. “That’s rich coming from the guy that Chopper was yelling at as soon as I woke up.”

(The nerve of this man.

He doesn’t even know why he tries.)

“Uh, no, he was yelling at both of us because you tried to kill me as soon as you woke up!” Sanji seethes, taking out his lighter and lighting his cigarette.

“Because you told me to!” Zoro retorts, crossing his arms. “What the hell was that all about anyway?”

(Oh right, shit.

He hasn’t managed to have a one-on-one talk with Zoro this entire time since he got back.

Mostly because he doesn’t want to .

He had imagined Zoro’s expression the entire time on Whole Cake Island, picturing the look of disgust and then cold disdain that their first mate would show once he heard how Sanji had beat up their captain and given up being part their nakama. 

It had hurt almost as much as Nami’s slap had—

And he’s not going to dwell on that now, because he doesn’t know how much Nami or Luffy has already told Zoro.

Thank god Chopper wasn’t there to see it, the reindeer couldn’t keep a secret no matter what.)

“You heard about all the Germa stuff,” Sanji probes carefully, drawing on his cigarette in a long pull.

“All the shit that annoying dinosaur was spouting, yeah,” Zoro shrugs, grabbing a riceball and starting to chomp on it. “Heard some stuff from Nami and Luffy too.”

(…well, he figured that was the case.

Nami knows a lot, but she also knows about painful pasts and keeping them close to her bountiful chest, so how much she told Zoro is questionable.

He has no idea how much Luffy managed to glean—probably no details, but their captain always gets to the heart of the matter.

But if Zoro knew, he would have already said something, because it’s not like Zoro knew anything other than being direct.)

Sanji blows out some smoke and then looks away as he says, “I think the suit made some of the genetic modifications kick in—that Queen guy hit me with a sword when I didn’t have up any armament haki, and I didn’t even feel it—”

“Really?” Zoro asks, immediately, swiping at him with one of his swords.

Sanji dodges away and kicks him for good measure. “Stop trying to test it out, asshole! The point is that I wasn’t sure if the other modifications would kick in too—the emotion suppressing ones.”

Zoro is quiet for a moment, his brow furrowing. “…there’s emotion suppressing ones?”

“Yeah, because Judge is just that much of a fucking bastard,” Sanji sneers, taking another deep draw from his cigarette. “Apparently my brothers literally couldn’t be anything other than assholes—he removed their empathy. I only got off because my mom took something to counteract whatever he did to her during the pregnancy—but it ended up killing her.”

(Fuck, why did he say all that?

And to Zoro of all people?

He’s going to say something shitty, Sanji just knows he is—)

“You want me to kill your dad for you?” Zoro asks abruptly, crossing his arms.

“ What ?” Sanji’s cigarette nearly drops out of his mouth.

“Your asshole dad,” Zoro replies in a patient tone, “Or—I guess you don’t think of him as your dad. Your biological dad then. Vinsmoke Judge. Or your asshole brothers.”

(What the fuck.

…does Zoro really think he’s that weak?

Fuck him, that fucking marimo asshole.)

Sanji lifts his chin up, looking down his nose at Zoro. “I don’t need you trying to fix my problems for me—”

“Yeah, I know,” Zoro interrupts flatly then shifts his broad, muscled shoulders. “You could kick all their asses and chop off their heads yourself if you wanted to, but family—even shitty family that you’ve disowned—it’s hard, right? Thought it’d be easier if you had someone else do it for you.”

Sanji stares at Zoro, not knowing what to say at all (because there’s too many conflicting, embarrassing things rushing through his head), before he finally lowers the cigarette from his mouth to say, “You don’t even know them!”

“You hate them. That’s enough for me,” Zoro says easily, as if it’s just that simple.

(…he doesn’t know how to deal with Zoro basically being nice to him.

That’s not their relationship—they fight and argue and the only time they’re really in sync is on the battlefield.

Okay sure, sometimes they have late night talks like now, but it’s—well, maybe it’s as close to friendly as they can get, but it’s not nice. )

“I hate you sometimes,” Sanji points out, running a hand through his hair.

Zoro’s eye twitches, and he looks as if he’s about to snap out a comeback when an odd expression flits across his face, and he asks, “…is that because I remind you of them?”

“What?”

“Luffy said one of your brothers had green hair,” Zoro persists, shifting forward.

(He would admit that the first time he had caught sight of Zoro’s distinctive green hair at the Baratie, something in his stomach had turned icy cold.

But in the end, Zoro is nothing like Yonji.

They fight, but that’s because Zoro knows he can take it, and Sanji has never seen Zoro bully or belittle someone obviously weaker than he is, much less take pleasure in petty cruelty.

In pettiness though, Zoro has that in spades—it’s why he keeps filching the best alcohol from Sanji’s kitchen no matter how many times Sanji fights him over it.

But no, Zoro is nothing like his brothers.

He hasn’t even thought of that comparison in a long time.)

“No,” Sanji admits, blowing out some smoke. “You’re nothing like Yonji—you’re not like any of them at all. You’re just your own class of annoying marimo ball sword-obsessed directionally challenged asshole-ness.”

Instead of yelling at him like usual, Zoro actually relaxes, picking up another rice-ball to eat. “Good. Offer still stands though.”

“If I wanted them dead, I could have just left them there,” Sanji points out. “Would have been way less trouble overall…”

“Sure, but your sister was there with them, and Luffy said she was nice,” Zoro says with a shrug. “If you ever want to take the offer, it’s there for you whenever.”

“…did you hit your head or something,” Sanji says, purposefully poking at Zoro’s forehead. “Do I need to get Chopper? Maybe that fight with King scrambled your moss for brains.”

Zoro’s knocks Sanji’s hand away with a roll of his eye. “Don’t get Chopper, it’s the middle of the night. And my brains are less scrambled than yours—you actually let that dinosaur chop at your neck ?”

“I was distracted, okay?” Sanji bites out, clenching down on his cigarette. “I told you I felt weird—but anyway, it’s all over now. I destroyed the suit, so that’s it.”

Zoro grunts, taking a swig of sake and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Good. That shit was creepy—and besides, you don’t need it.”

“You’re fucking right I don’t need it to kick your ass around the ship for stealing my best alcohol again,” Sanji mutters, kicking at him lightly.

Zoro blocks him with one of his scabbards. “Then everything is back to the way it should be—even your bounty poster has your right name and the right amount. Right, #4?”

“Bastard,” Sanji curses, kicking at his head, which Zoro unsheaths Wado to block with a sharp grin. “You’ll fucking see—next time Luffy does something stupid again, like fist fights the Five Elders or something, my bounty will be higher than yours again! And it won’t be because of the fucking Vinsmoke name!”

“Better not be, your terrible ex-family doesn’t deserve anything from you,” Zoro frowns. “And they definitely shouldn’t be seen as scarier than me .”

Sanji snorts, purposefully blowing smoke in Zoro’s face. “Like you’re so scary—you can’t even find your way up a set of stairs!” he jeers, “I heard from Luffy that you got lost while riding a giant dog!”

“ Luffy and them got lost,” Zoro corrects stolidly, eating the last riceball.

“Suuure they did,” Sanji rolls his eyes. “How you even got around Wano without any of us to guide you is truly the mystery of the ages…”

“I got around just fine,” Zoro argues. “And if you’re that worried about it, don’t go off on your own like some kind of self-sacrificing martyr, idiot cook. Wait for us.”

(…he had thought Zoro would react to him the way he had to Usopp when he had left the crew, but worse, because Usopp at least had put his true heart on the line while Sanji had lied and lied and lied until he couldn’t lie anymore.

He had been worried about meeting Zoro again in Wano because of it—but the swordsman has never even brought it up until now.)

“I thought you’d be madder about me leaving the crew and beating up Luffy,” Sanji says carefully.

“You came back in the end,” Zoro says, looking him in the eye.

(As if that’s all there is to say, as if it’s just that simple.

It’s what Zoro has in common with Luffy, why the two of them are generally on the same wavelength—they both see straight to the heart of the matter, especially when it concerns nakama.

Although obviously in Zoro’s case, he can’t use that insight to say anything nice or comforting usually, and he certainly can’t use it to figure out any directions for the life of him.

For someone so smart, he’s really so dumb…

And yet he still gets a princess hanging off of him???

It’s so unfair —Zoro can’t even properly appreciate any girl, much less a beauty like that!

Sanji could literally light himself on fire from how jealous he is—although jealous over who exactly or both—

No.

Bad thoughts lie in that direction, he’s not going there.

He made rules, and he’s managed to stick to them this far, and Zoro being weirdly nice to him makes jack shit of difference to everything that has managed to keep him normal and not any weirder than he already is.)

“You didn’t want to marry the girl?” Zoro’s voice breaks into his thoughts.

Sanji twitches, flicking the ashes off the tip of his cigarette to look at Zoro properly again. “Pudding you mean?”

Zoro grimaces. “If that’s the name of Big Mom’s daughter that they wanted you to marry, then yeah.”

(Pudding and her flip-flopping personality and lovely third eye.

She had driven him to the depths of despair, but in the end, she had also saved them.

…maybe partially because Big Mom’s rampage was also threatening their entire island too, but she seemed alright by the end.

And you know, it always helped that she was easy on the eyes and a brilliant chocolatier in her own right.)

“She was beautiful and a great chef,” Sanji says dreamily with a sigh before refocusing and replying, “But I’m the Straw Hats cook, and I can’t just leave you guys, you’ll starve to death.”

“You could have brought her with you,” Zoro says, not looking at him, his voice strangely flat.

Sanji snorts, arching an eyebrow at Zoro. “No, I couldn’t have—she’s Big Mom’s daughter. How would that even work, Mosshead?”

“If she loved you enough, she could have picked coming with you and siding with you over Big Mom anyway,” Zoro says, his voice still sounding strange.

“…I don’t think there was enough time there for that,” Sanji says carefully. “We met maybe two days ago—that’s a lot to throw away after just knowing someone for that long.”

Zoro grunts. “Aren’t you the one always saying that ‘love is like a hurricane’?”

(Love is like a hurricane, but—

But marriage takes more than just love to make work.

He doesn’t know if his mother was ever loved by Judge—and honestly, he couldn’t decide which was worse: the idea that Judge had never loved her, when if anyone deserved to be loved, it was his mother, or the idea that Judge had once loved her, and it had still soured until he had forced all those experiments onto her unwillingly.

But no matter the case—love is a beautiful thing, while marriage is a commitment, and Pudding getting on their boat would have really been a “death ‘til us part” kind of commitment that he doesn’t think either of them were ready for.

The only people he could even imagine doing that with are people he’s already been in life or death situations in—and that’s another dangerous thought to follow, so he’ll just not.)

“What do you even know about love anyway, moss for brains?” Sanji mutters, exhaling smoke.

Zoro’s eye narrows. “More than you’d think, ero-cook.”

(What is that supposed to mean?

Is there actually something going on between Hiyori and Zoro?

What the fuck ?

How is that fair? He’s spent years fighting at this lunkhead’s side with at most a smidgen of niceness now and again, and a pretty princess gets to what, just waltz in, get saved once and patch him up, and they fall in love?

How many times did Sanji patch Zoro up before they met Chopper?

You would think that—

Ugh, why do his thoughts always go in that direction.

It’s all so unfair.)

Sanji snorts, covering his mouth with his hand. “I don’t know who you’re trying to impress here, Marimo. And I don’t even know why you care so much about Pudding—like you said, I came back, and it’s not like you even had to go to Whole Cake Island yourself—”

“I wanted to go,” Zoro says abruptly, his eye flickering over to him and then away.

Sanji blinks. “…Why didn’t you?”

“Can’t have both the captain and first mate going to an Emperor’s island, that’s practically a declaration of war right there,” Zoro shrugs. “Besides, it was supposed to be a stealth mission, and generally speaking, I’m not that good at that.”

“Wow, look at you, actually knowing some politics,” Sanji snarks, blowing some smoke in his face.

“Shut up, twirlycook,” Zoro shoots back, waving the smoke out of his face. “Didn’t work anyway, Luffy ended up blowing up the whole thing like he usually does.”

“That’s our captain for you,” Sanji agrees with a sigh. “Although I guess you could blame me for that as well—could have just snuck away instead of trying to save my asshole biological family.”

Zoro’s mouth twists. “…it’s your choice in the end. If I was there though, I probably would have just tried kidnapping your sister and then all of us hightailing it out of there.”

Sanji lets out a chuckle at the image of Reiju slung over Zoro’s shoulder before taking the cigarette from his mouth and stubbing it out. “It’s probably for the best that you didn’t come though—you would have probably tried to kill me when I beat Luffy up.”

“I think Nami slapping you would have already been punishment enough,” Zoro replies. “Besides, if you want to go, that’s your choice—but not if it’s because your asshole family is threatening you. Did they really put explosive cuffs on your hands ?”

Sanji draws in a shuddering breath at the memory of the frantic despair he had felt when Judge had first announced that. “Yeah—but Reiju made sure they were fake. So—it worked out.”

Zoro is silent for a moment before placing the sake bottle down and growling out in a low voice, “If we ever run into Germa again, I’m going to find Judge and cut off his hands and see how he likes it.”

(…well, there’s the Demon of the East Blue that he knows, but it’s weird when that viciousness is channeled into—what?

Protecting him?

They’re nakama, they always protect each other in battle, but this seems more—personal.)

“Careful, you’re going to sound like you actually care about me,” Sanji teases, flicking his fingers over at Zoro.

“You know I do,” Zoro says simply, staring up at him.

Sanji fumbles as he draws out a new cigarette, chuckling to try and hide the way his hands are shaking (this is all verging into dangerous territory for him). “That’s practically a love confession coming from you.”

“…you can take it that way if you want,” Zoro says, standing up.

Sanji feels his mouth go slack and his cigarette fall out of his mouth. “ What?”

“You heard me,” Zoro shrugs, as if he hadn’t completely lost his mind. “ Thanks for the food, Cook. Good watch.”

And then he leaves just like that, going to sleep despite the fact that he already sleeps so much already that you would think he didn’t need anymore and leaving Sanji to try to sort out his frantic scattered thoughts himself.

(What the fuck?

Had Zoro had a stroke or something?

That fight with King had been pretty bad, and he had even tanked a hit from two Emperors right before that—but Chopper had given him more or less the all clear now.

Still, had Chopper missed something?

Maybe he should try to get Traffy to come look over Zoro too—

But if he wasn’t stroking out—

Zoro isn’t the sort of person to try and prank him like that, so if he was serious—

Fuck , he can’t think like that!

Ever since he was still little and had inadvertently described one of the knights in their storybook as “pretty” and had his brothers all mock him and beat him mercilessly over it, he’s learned that it’s safer to keep his thoughts on the same sex to himself.

Even on the Baratie, where there had been a number of men pairing off with other men, and Zeff hadn’t really seemed to care, some things had already been engraved into Sanji’s psyche. Besides, it wasn’t as if he didn’t like women—women were soft, beautiful, gorgeous goddesses whose presence Sanji was honored to be in and serve!

And if a guy caught his eye occasionally, it was easy enough to just ignore—

All the way until a rubberman had shot a cannonball in the Baratie’s roof, then recruited him as the ship’s cook, and he had met Zoro.

At first, beyond registering Zoro’s shock of green hair and contemplating how in the world the man was still alive after Mihawk had slashed his chest open, it hadn’t been that bad, but day in and day out of being on the same ship as the swordsman, bickering, fighting back to back, sparring, stitching him up before Chopper had arrived, guiding him once again back to the ship, witnessing his surprising soft side for kids, relying on him as the First Mate of the crew, and seeing him constantly working out on the ship shirtless—

Zoro had ended up growing on him.

Like moss.

Ugh.

But Sanji was fine —it didn’t matter after all—so what if sometimes their sparring left his blood singing? So what if his taste in men was so shitty? Nami and Robin were right there! And even if nothing would ever happen with them, there were always other women!

And yeah, yeah, yeah, sexuality and gender are a spectrum and all that, he spent two years on Kamabakka Kingdom, he knows, but even with all that, he is not gay, okay?

Even if he was, Zoro only cared about swords and booze, so—

Yeah.

Although Zoro had just implied that maybe he was in love with Sanji—

No, that’s insane.

He’s—he’s overthinking it or misinterpreting Zoro’s words or something. It’s so late in the night that it doubles as early morning, and really, what could be trusted at that hour, huh???

So what he should do is instead contemplate the breakfast menu for tomorrow and the possibility of the lovely Yamato joining their crew, and kick all thoughts of the overgrown sword-obsessed marimo to the very back of his thoughts where he belongs.

He’ll be fine, he’s had a lot of experience with not thinking about Zoro!)

--

Sanji is not fine.

One would think that between the disappointment of Yamato not joining the crew yet, Luffy insisting on hurling them off yet another waterfall, learning Jinbei’s tastes, and just catering to Nami-swan and Robin-chwan, he wouldn’t have time to think about anything else, and yet it’s all he can think about.

He hasn’t even really fought with Zoro in the past few days because every time he looks at him, he just sees Zoro in the moonlight saying what could be a love confession and—

And he can’t, so he buries himself in the kitchen and tries to distract himself with more and more creative ways to cook sea-beast meat.

(He learned a lot from the cooks in Wano!

Soba of course is one of his new specialties, but he also learned a lot about sashimi, and Zoro does seem to enjoy it a lot—

Shit, there he goes again.

Why is the marimo so annoying???

This is the worst thing, now he’s even haunting him in the kitchen?

The dreams are bad enough, he doesn’t need him also in his kitchen—)

“Uh, should I come back later?” Usopp’s voice interrupts Sanji glaring fixedly at the piece of sea king meat that he had been slicing up.

Sanji takes a deep breath and continues slicing, cutting carefully against the grain, biting down on his cigarette. “It’s fine, lemonade’s in the non-padlocked fridge.”

“Thanks,” Usopp says gratefully, grabbing the pitcher and pouring a glass for himself with a happy sigh before watching him for a bit and then saying carefully, “…are you feeling alright, Sanji?”

Sanji grunts, moving his cigarette to the other side of his mouth as he plates the sashimi slices. “Never better, why?”

“You’ve been kind of weird,” Usopp says, scratching at his nose. “You haven’t fought with Zoro at all these last few days—and I mean, Franky is delighted about it since he has less repairs to do around the Sunny, but it’s been kind of strange overall?”

Sanji stills, then shrugs with what he hopes is nonchalance, saying, “What can I say, I’ve matured.”

Usopp just stares at him for a bit before getting up, “That’s it, I’m getting Chopper—”

“There’s no need to get Chopper!” Sanji yelps, slamming his leg down to stop Usopp, carding his hand through his hair (god, Chopper’s big eyes will have him spilling in no time and the entire crew will know).

Usopp scoots away from his leg and crosses his arms, puffing his chest out. “Then, what’s going on? You may not know it, but I’m actually widely renown across the seas as a great relationship advisor—”

“Zoro just said something weird, that’s all,” Sanji snaps, not wanting to listen to Usopp make up stuff right now. “If you think I need to go talk to Chopper, you should drag him over to Chopper’s office first—he basically gave me a love confession the other night.”

Usopp’s eyes practically bulge out of his head. “ Zoro gave you a love confession? Like—like with flowers? Or music? Or wine? …wine I could buy maybe, but otherwise—oh my god, did he ask advice from Nami? He already can’t pay off the interest on his loan to her, how is he ever going to pay off his loan now—”

“No, he didn’t have any flowers or music or even wine—god, that would have been fucking weird,” Sanji admits, taking a drag of his cigarette. “He just—we talked a bit. The dumbass was acting nice for once, and I said something like ‘careful, you’re getting close to a love confession,’ and he just—agreed with me.”

Usopp blinks, then sits down, grabbing his glass of lemonade and sipping it again. “Well, that sounds like Zoro. Are you mad because you thought there would be flowers and wine and stuff? You know that Zoro isn’t really the type—”

“Why the fuck would I be expecting flowers and wine from Zoro?” Sanji demands, pointing at Usopp, “Did you not hear the part where I said that Zoro basically just said I should take it as a love confession if I wanted—”

“Well, it’s Zoro, right?” Usopp says in a reasonable sounding voice. “He’s nearly as blunt as Luffy, and he’s been in love with you since forever, so nothing’s sounding all that strange to me—”

Sanji chokes on his cigarette and has to pound his chest as his eyes stream and he wheezes out smoke.

“ What—what the fuck?” Sanji coughs, glaring at Usopp. “Zoro’s not—why the hell do you think Zoro’s in love with me?”

Usopp gapes at him. “You mean you didn’t know? He’s—he’s so obvious! Everyone knows!”

“What do you mean he’s so obvious? ” Sanji does not shriek, grabbing Usopp’s shoulders and shaking him. “And what do you mean everyone knows? Robin-chwan? Nami-swan? ”

“What doesn’t Robin know? And of course Nami knows—even Chopper knows!” Usopp’s says, distangling himself from him. “And it’s—Zoro’s pretty stoic except when it comes to you. He only acts like that around you— ”

“Yeah, fighting and arguing and half the time we’re trying to kill each other!” Sanji points out, throwing his hands up.

“But you don’t, and besides, you monsters love fighting, don’t lie,” Usopp says, wagging a finger. “And also, I never said it was a good strategy—Zoro never asked for my advice! Or Nami’s—not that he could really afford Nami’s advice…”

( Everyone knows?

Even Robin and Nami ?

Even Chopper?

And they had even thought he also knew?

But that made zero sense!)

“And—and you guys all thought that I knew and what—just didn’t really care?” Sanji asks in disbelief, running his hands through his hair.

Usopp shrugs, his eyes darting around uneasily. “Well—I mean—we weren’t really sure. Uh—by the way, if you’re going to finally figure out things with him, do you mind holding off for at least another two months, or else I’m going to lose so much money to Nami…”

“You were betting on us?” Sanji wails, covering his face. “Even Nami-swan?”

“Man, you know Nami was the one setting up the pool in the first place—no matter what actually happens, she’s going to get a cut,” Usopp points out.

“It’s true, Nami-swan is brilliant that way,” Sanji can’t help but say disconsolately, lighting another cigarette.

(Nami is a goddess—

But even she thinks that—

What?

That Zoro is in love with him and that—that he’s in love with Zoro?

That’s just—

No.

No, it’s not safe. )

“But—real men love women, and they don’t love other men ,” Sanji insists, pointing his cigarette at Usopp with trembling fingers.

Usopp just looks distinctly unimpressed, frowning at Sanji. “Well—I guess you can try telling Zoro that because I’m certainly not going to. I’ve got ‘pretty sure real men love whoever they want’ disease.”

(…Usopp has a point.

Zoro may be a dumbass mosshead who can get lost while sitting down and needs to shower more than once a week, but no one can deny that he’s a man.

Sanji certainly can’t—that man is made of muscles, toughness, and grit.

And booze, Sanji isn’t sure how Zoro’s liver is still functioning, but that’s probably thanks to that legendary toughness again.

And if Zoro is so undeniably a man while maybe being in love with another man—

Why is he still holding onto this idea from his childhood so hard?

Everything his brothers valued was warped anyway by Judge, and even if it’s still not always safe—

Who cares?

His crew certainly doesn’t, and everyone else they run into will hate them more for being the future Pirate King’s crew than anything else.

But that’s still—

What is he supposed to do with that?)

“Sorry, I just—” Sanji spreads his hands out then glances around the room. “I don’t—I’m still trying to process all this.”

Usopp pats his back in a commiserating fashion. “That’s fine, process away! Process for like three months—or even a year, because then I think I’ll win—”

Sanji kicks Usopp over to the other side of the room and lights up another cigarette.

(So.

Do things even have to change?

What they have right now is already pretty good, isn’t it?

But—

He remembers the clawing jealousy of seeing Hiyori hanging off of Zoro’s arm, the in between days of staring at Zoro’s Wanted poster while stuck on Kamabakka Kingdom, and the utter pit of despair in his stomach when he had woken up on Thriller Bark and searched frantically for Zoro, only to find him absolutely drenched in blood.

Every single time, he had thought that it wasn’t his place to feel any of those things, that their relationship wasn’t defined that way—

But what if it was?

Then he wouldn’t have to worry about princesses or sword-obsessed marines somehow sweeping Zoro off his feet, and he maybe when he yelled at and kicked the marimo over the head for his latest suicidal stunt, some of those words would sink in for once.

He wouldn’t count on it though—Zoro is just that stupidly brave and focused, it’s why he—

Maybe—

Maybe Sanji also wants more.

Also, it’s also not exactly fair to Zoro to just let him keep pining away now that he suddenly realizes that Zoro actually is capable of romantic feelings, is it?

But what to actually do about that twists up his stomach into knots, and now he kind of wants to throw up.)

“Uh, can I open up a window?” Usopp’s voice breaks in as he coughs a bit.

Sanji’s head jerks up, seeing the smoke filling the room, then his eyes dart over to the sea king sashimi, and he groans, quickly turning on the fans above the stove and waving the smoke away from the sashimi while giving it a sniff.

(Salvageable—actually an interesting flavor maybe.

Whether Zoro would even be able to tell is a separate matter—along with if he can successfully fend off Luffy from trying to stuff it down his black hole of a gullet first.

…if he could even figure out what he’s supposed to do next.)

“…shit,” Sanji says, staring dumbly at the sashimi.

“It’s not so bad,” Usopp consoles him, “I’m sure it’ll still taste great—”

“Not that, I just—how am I supposed to face Zoro now?” Sanji asks plaintively. “He’s—I—I don’t—love confessions are really not my thing—”

“You give Nami and Robin at least three love confessions a day,” Usopp says flatly. “Sometimes five.”

“But that’s not real ,” Sanji says, tugging at his hair. “I know I don’t have a chance there, but now you’re saying that with Zoro—I—I might— fuck .”

Usopp starts backing away. “…you know what? This is beyond my area of expertise—I’ll get Franky instead?”

Sanji stares at Usopp. “ Franky ?”

“He’s with Robin, right? So he knows how to confess to nakama! Be right back!” Usopp says before running away.

Sanji dumbly stubs his cigarette out in the overflowing ashtray before lighting up another one and automatically going to the fridge to get some cola for Franky.

(In battle, Franky is of course a force to be reckoned with, but in terms of style, Sanji thinks that the only person he’d be less likely to take advice from is Zoro, because Zoro has no style.

Franky, loud and overblown as he is, does have some—even if it leans primarily towards loud garish prints and speedos.

How he had ever gotten together with the elegant and graceful Robin, Sanji has no clue.

He’s happy for them of course—their smiles at each other are blinding, and Robin deserves the world, but whatever worked for Franky is unlikely to work for him—)

“Sanji-bro, Usopp-bro said you needed my help with something?” Franky asks, his hulking form immediately blocking out the light from the windows as he leans down to get in.

“…yeah,” Sanji admits, taking another drag from his cigarette while handing the iced cola bottle to Franky.

Franky guzzles it down immediately and lets out a happy sigh. “Ah, super, you always know how to get it properly iced! Fire away, bro!”

Sanji taps his foot against the ground for a bit, plating the sashimi, putting it in a container, and sticking it in the fridge for now before finally turning around, taking a deep breath, and saying, “How did you and Robin get together?”

Franky blinks then moves his sunglasses to the top of his ridiculous flower-shaped pompadour. “Uh—does this have anything to do with you and Zoro-bro?”

Sanji twitches, glaring at Franky. “ Why would that have anything to do with Zoro? We’re both guys!”

Franky’s eyebrows rise up into his ridiculous hair, and he even presses his nose to make his hairstyle a slightly more somber looking pompadour. “Bro—you don’t think that a man isn’t a man if he loves a man, right? Because that’s bullshit that only secretly weak assholes believe—is that a Germa thing?”

“…maybe,” Sanji admits, looking down and pressing the toe of his shoe into the ground.

“Figures,” Franky snorts, massive hands on his hips. “Traffy filled me in on Germa, and even though I’d love to get a look at those raid suits, they sound like real bastards! Take it from me—it’s always manly to be in love with someone, no matter their gender!”

(…alright, fine, so Germa is trash, what else is new?

But he can’t switch off his own habitual responses right off the bat either—it’s already a lot for him to even consider Zoro in a more romantic light right now.

…it is nice to get some acknowledgement of all that from Franky though.)

“Great, but me and Zoro—what did Usopp tell you?” Sanji demands, running a hand through his hair.

“Nothing. He didn’t have to,” Franky says, crossing his arms, “after all, you guys haven’t fought for a few days now. And don’t get me wrong bro, I am loving the lack of repairs I’ve been having to make around the Sunny, but—it’s been a little un-super around you guys? 

“Don’t know what would really help, but I have an idea if you want to hear it,” Franky says laconically, lounging against the counter. “You want me to build something for you guys? Like training robot dummies? Could be a fun project…”

(Training robot dummies, while cool sounding, still couldn’t compare to clashing with Zoro though.

God, and is Franky in on the bet too?

Probably, the Straw Hats are just like that.

But—he’s already gotten this far, so he might as well try to get the answer to his question.)

“If you’re going to build a robot, then make a robot to protect the fridge from Luffy,” Sanji says, jerking a thumb over to the locked fridge. “And just—answer the question.”

“Sure bro,” Franky says amiably, taking out a tape measure from his arm to measure the fridge. “Anyway—not too much to tell. I joined your guys’ crew, Robin liked to read in my workshop sometimes, we talked, grew close—and one day, she hauled me in for a kiss, and the rest is history.”

(So easy.

But that’s not—

He and Zoro have never been easy.

And he doesn’t even know if trying for this is a good idea.)

“But—weren’t you worried?” Sanji asks, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and tapping it against the ashtray. “That—that it might not work out—”

“Oh totally,” Franky immediately replies. “It wasn’t that long after I had joined you guys, and Robin is a classy lady, you know? She knows so much, and she reads all the time, so what does she see in a grease monkey like me? But well—got to trust that she knows what she wants, right? And let me tell you, I’ve never been literally picked up and slammed into a wall by a woman before, but it’s really something—”

“I don’t need to know that,” Sanji says, wincing. “But—how did you know that it was worth taking that risk?”

“I don’t think anyone ever knows that,” Franky says, with a twist of his mouth. “But I think that—love is always worth risking it.”

(Love.

God, even using that word in context with Zoro makes him squirm.

…in both good and bad ways maybe, but still.

How is he supposed to know that?

How is he even supposed to define what is between him and Zoro?)

“…and what is love anyway?” Sanji mutters, half to himself, taking another drag of his cigarette.

“It’s wanting to be with that person, missing them when they’re not around, and wanting the best for them,” Franky replies, taking out a ukelele from somewhere and starting to play it. “It’s also thinking that they’re super hot, and not being able to keep your hands off them—”

“I said I really don’t want to know!” Sanji yells, kicking at him.

Franky dodges, still holding onto the ukelele, and says in a more serious tone, “Still, Sanji-bro—I don’t really know what’s going on between you and Zoro-bro, but whatever it is, I always think it’s better out than in.”

(…as much as he hates to admit it, Franky probably has a point.

He can’t just keep avoiding Zoro—that’s childish and cowardly, not to mention the fact that they’re all nakama.

So they’ll need to…talk.

Does he have to give a love confession?

It’s—

Maybe he should just get clarity on what Zoro is feeling first before any of that.

…he might as well give Zoro the sashimi now, it’s not going to do so well in the refrigerator.)

“…can you guard the kitchen from Luffy for me while I go up to the crow’s nest?” Sanji asks, taking the sashimi out of the fridge.

“Super!” Franky crows, doing his stupid pose before shifting around and saying, “Uh, but—Sanji-bro if you could wait like a week or two to use that first mate’s cabin that Zoro has abandoned for the crow’s nest, I could owe Nami so much less money—”

“Is everyone involved in this stupid bet?” Sanji demands, slamming the refrigerator shut.

“Yeah, besides you and Zoro-bro,” Franky nods, unperturbed. “Ah—not entirely sure about Luffy either. I think he just laughs and says you two will eventually work it out yourselves.”

“Sounds like Luffy,” Sanji grumbles, cracking his neck and preparing himself to go out onto the deck while waving meat around. “Well—here I go, I guess.”

“You’re going to do super!” Franky says, giving him two thumb’s up on his massive hands before gently ushering him out of the door.

(Right.

He can totally do this.

It’s just talking to Zoro—he’s done that thousands of times now!

Talking to Zoro about possible feelings while bringing him food—

Ugh.

Why did he think this was a good idea again?

This is dumb, he needs to think through all this some more, consider every angle first—)

“Sanji!” Luffy calls out from the prow of the ship, his arms extending and sending his body flying to right in front of Sanji. “Did you finish cooking the sea beast meat???”

“This isn’t for you, this is for Zoro,” Sanji says, quickly moving the plate away before Luffy can snatch it and kicking him for good measure.

“ Shishishi !” Luffy laughs, grinning widely. “Then you’re talking again! That’s good! Zoro was sad!”

“I find it very hard to believe that,” Sanji mutters, moving his cigarette to the other corner of his mouth.

“No, he was! He missed you! It’s the same kind of sad I feel about Traffy!” Luffy insists, hand on his chest. “He has his own path, but I can’t wait to see him again later! And if it’s after I’m the Pirate King, then he can be Pirate Consort!”

(…what the hell did that mean?

He had always assumed their captain wasn’t capable of a hint of romance—Luffy had been sent to an island of all women warriors for two years and had come out their best friend and nothing else to show for it!

But maybe Luffy just wasn’t interested in women?

He really hadn’t picked up on any of that either, but then again, everyone is now telling him that Zoro has always been obsessed with him, so maybe there’s just a lot that he’s never picked up on.)

Sanji opened his mouth, wanting to ask his captain some more questions, but Luffy just bounds off before he can, already intent on raiding the kitchen. “MEEEATTTT!”

“You’re not getting inside, Luffy!” Franky swears, already bringing out some awesome robot to do battle against their captain.

(…well, as long as they didn’t mess up his kitchen, it’s fine.

Now, he has even more stuff to discuss with Zoro.

Their alliance with the Heart Pirates just gets weirder and weirder—and knowing Luffy, he probably hadn’t even let Traffy know and had just decided all this on his own.

Still, if even their idiot captain can figure out romance and fall in a love with a guy—

It can’t be that hard for him to, right?

He’s not—he’s still not so sure about all this, but in the end, Sanji has never been a coward.)

Sanji draws in another giant lungful of smoke before kicking off and skywalking his way up to the crow’s nest before he can second guess himself again.

Zoro for once isn’t sleeping, just pumping a weight about the size of Franky with his shirt off, sweaty muscles gleaming in the sunlight as he turns and blinks seeing Sanji alight next to him.

(God, Zoro looks stupidly good.

…well, given how much time he spends training his stupid body, he should, right?

All that lethal power in there, it automatically makes his blood sing, and he wants to fight him—

Not entirely right.

Like, he wants to fight him, true, but that’s just covering up for the thought that he wants to touch him.

Fuck, there’s too much to unbury here—he’ll just start with something easy first maybe.)

“Did you know that Luffy is planning on marrying Traffy?” Sanji opens with.

Zoro blinks again at that and huffs as he places his truly massive weight down. “…huh. Law is going to love that.”

“I didn’t even think Luffy was capable of those feelings,” Sanji mutters, placing the sashimi down on a table and moving his cigarette to the other corner of his mouth.

“Luffy is always surprising,” Zoro agrees and then tilts his head. “How did that come up anyway?”

Sanji fumbles with taking his cigarette out of his mouth and mutters while not looking at Zoro, “…he said he missed him. The same way that—the same way that you’ve missed me the past few days.”

“Hm,” Zoro grunts, glancing over at the sashimi on the table. “Makes sense. Is that for me?”

“‘Makes sense ’?” Sanji echoes, staring at Zoro. “You—you’re admitting it?”

“Yeah?” Zoro says, glaring at him. “You’ve been hiding from me, so fine, I gave you your space. Doesn’t mean that I didn’t miss our fights or you being around.”

“But—but fights are one thing, but missing me like—Luffy was mentioning marriage ,” Sanji hisses, pointing at Zoro.

Zoro shifts, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, you’re the one who ran off to get married, sorry if it put the idea into everyone’s head—”

“Why are you not weirded out by this?” Sanji demands, drawing up to Zoro and directly getting into his face. “This—feelings—like—like love almost—”

Zoro just stares balefully at Sanji, not drawing back a single centimeter. “You’re the love cook, why are you acting so weird about it? You sing about your love of Nami and Robin constantly—”

“Because it’s you !” Sanji yells. “You’re not—we fight all the time— and you’re a guy—and you don’t even shower more than once a week—”

“Are you done?” Zoro growls, cutting him off and drawing away slightly, his mouth a harsh tight line. “I get it—why do you think I haven’t brought it up this entire time? I knew you’d freak out—you only like girls, you’re constantly screaming that, I know. You’re the one who keeps bringing all this shit up after three years of just letting it be—”

“Three years ?” Sanji repeats, his jaw slack. “You—since when?”

Zoro lets out a put-upon sigh, a hand coming up to rub at his face as he frowns. “I don’t know—Skypeia? By Water 7 definitely.”

(That’s—

Fuck, that’s probably the hottest thing anyone has ever told him.

Three years.

He doesn’t even think he’s worth pining for over a year, but Zoro—

That’s Zoro for you.

Steadfast and stupidly stubborn.)

Zoro grimaces. “Look—you can just pretend you never heard me say any of this, okay? If it bothers you—don’t worry, I’m not going to try anything. I already know that you’re not—”

Sanji lifts his leg and slams his foot right by Zoro’s stupid face before he can even think about it, hissing, “You’re giving up ?”

Zoro has already grabbed Sanji’s ankle with one hand, starting to unsheathe a sword with another before his words register, and he blinks at him. “…you’re mad that I’m not trying to pursue you?”

“You never give up on anything!” Sanji says furiously, slamming his heel into the mast a few times just for emphasis. “But you’re going to give up on—on this? ”

Zoro gives him a considering look, his thumb moving in a lazy circle around Sanji’s bare ankle. “…I didn’t realize there even was anything to give up on. You—you actually—you hate guys.”

“Yeah! And I hate the fact that I like them too!” Sanji says furiously, words just tumbling out, “But that’s Germa’s shitty fucking teachings in me, and I don’t want to do that anymore, because like fuck I should be scared of any of my brothers or Judge anymore, and if I happen to have deplorable taste and be weirdly into you, that’s my business —”

“I want to kiss you now,” Zoro interrupts, staring at him, his eye intent.

Sanji can feel the way his blood sings with Zoro’s words (the moment of truth is here, and it feels like a fight, except somehow even sweeter than victory), and he lifts his chin up. “Do it, coward.”

Zoro is on him like a tiger after its prey, mouth practically devouring Sanji’s, his hand gripping his ankle a brand, and his other hand so tight on Sanji’s hip that he’s sure it will leave a bruise, but he doesn’t care.

(It’s different from kissing a girl—girls are generally soft and sweet-smelling while Zoro is nothing but hard muscle and smells mostly of sweat, but it just makes Sanji feel greedy.

Finally he can get his hands on Zoro’s stupid sculpted chest and just feel around to his heart’s content, and wow it feels even better than he had imagined—

And this vicious nipping and biting thing that Zoro has going on?

It’s really doing things for Sanji.

Like really —he doesn’t think he’s ever been turned on this fast before, and with their hips slotted together like this, it’s getting dangerous—)

Zoro breaks away first, panting heavily, his mouth red and looking as intense as if he’d been in the middle of a fight. “I—If we keep going, I’m not going to be able to stop.”

Sanji blinks, rubbing at his lip (is it bleeding? Shit) while dazedly looking around and realizing their surroundings again. “You want us to fuck in the crow’s nest?” he hisses, kicking at Zoro. “It’s the middle of the day! Nami-swan and Robin-chwan are down there!”

Zoro casually dodges him, leaning in close, his eye intent. “Wait, so if Nami and Robin weren’t down there, you’d be fine with it—”

“Shut up! I still have to cook dinner!” Sanji protests, half-heartedly slapping at him. “You—later. After dinner. At that first mate’s cabin you never use.”

Zoro blinks, then frowns. “…there’s a first mate’s cabin?”

“You’re hopeless, why do I even try,” Sanji mutters, hitting his head for emphasis against Zoro’s stupidly solid chest. “You’re probably going to get lost trying to find it.”

“So you’ll need to show me the way,” Zoro replies simply, a satisfied smirk on his face as he tucks a strand of hair behind Sanji’s ear. “You like me, twirlycook—you said so yourself.”

Sanji flushes and then glares at him. “Don’t get too full of yourself—it’s because I guess I have terrible taste in men!”

“I’m glad,” Zoro says with a grin, wrapping his thick arms around Sanji’s waist. “Whatever made you suddenly decide—well. I don’t really know what’s going on, but—it’s good.”

“‘It’s good,’” Sanji mimics and sniffs. “You call that a love confession?”

“It was good enough to make you completely reconsider whether or not you liked guys, wasn’t it?” Zoro declares arrogantly, a proud tilt to his head that makes Sanji want to simultaneously smack him and then kiss him.

(…this whole thing is way easier than he thought.

He thought it would make things between him and Zoro weird but right now, it seems that Zoro will just continue driving him up the wall, except now he’s allowed to stare and touch in all the ways he wasn’t before.)

“Shut up, you should be thanking Usopp and Franky instead,” Sanji mutters, jabbing Zoro’s in the ribs for good measure.

Zoro’s eyebrows shoot up. “Wow, you must have been really desperate to ask Franky for advice—”

“That was Usopp’s idea, and even though they were both super annoying, they made their points,” Sanji grumbles, kicking at Zoro to force him to let him go. “Now, let go—I still have to make delicious cocktails for Nami-swan and Robin-chwan!”

Zoro just tightens his hold on him, snorts, and says, “You can flirt with as many women as you like, but at the end of the day, you’re mine now.”

Sanji feels himself shiver ( embarrassing— but he can’t deny the flare of heat that shoots through him at Zoro’s words), but he still wrenches himself from Zoro’s grasp, lighting up a cigarette, and muttering, “Well—that goes both ways. I better not find any princesses hanging off you from now on.”

Zoro frowns. “You’re still on about that? Hiyori is fine, and she fights in her own way, but—I like physical fighters. You need to stop worrying—”

“I’m not worrying! I’m just trying to spare lovely ladies your sweaty gorilla presence!” Sanji protests, waving at Zoro to encompass all of him.

Zoro just crosses his arms, an amused smile flickering across his mouth. “Didn’t see you complaining earlier. And speaking of complaints, I’m not the one who ran off to get married—”

“You said you weren’t mad about that!” Sanji glares at him.

“I said that the Vinsmokes all suck for forcing you to go, and that Nami slapping you was probably the worst punishment possible for you, but still,” Zoro retorts, glaring back. “No more stupidly self-sacrificial moves from you, got it?”

(…he always sort of knew that Zoro cared, but it’s different hearing it from the man himself.

Although, wow, Zoro of all people telling him that, the nerve of the man.)

“You don’t give me orders, and that’s rich coming from the guy who nearly died on Thriller Bark,” Sanji snarls.

“Better me than you,” Zoro says stubbornly, leaning forward to cup Sanji’s cheek.

“That’s fucking dumb, and if you do it again, I’m going to flambe you and then kick you into the ocean,” Sanji says flatly, igniting his leg just for emphasis.

“You can try,” Zoro flashes a dangerous grin at him, then kisses his nose before stepping back. “Better make those cocktails before Nami ups your interest, then.”

“Unlike you, I don’t owe Nami-swan any money, and worship at her feet,” Sanji grouses, dousing his leg.

Zoro sighs, rolling his eyes. “Dumbass cook.”

“Bastard marimo,” Sanji fires back, happy to be back on familiar ground. “Besides, although Nami-swan would be perfectly within her rights to be displeased about her delayed cocktail, she’s probably raking in the money running that bet.”

Zoro’s brow furrows. “What bet?”

“…the rest of the crew has some bet going about when we were going to get together,” Sanji coughs, waving his cigarette around. “I just heard about it from Usopp today—I hope everyone goes bankrupt.”

“And that was Nami’s idea? Figures,” Zoro shakes his head. “She’s the one person who definitely won’t go bankrupt—and she won’t give me a break on my interest to her either, I bet. Still, can’t be mad at her, this time.”

“Really?” Sanji raises an eyebrow at Zoro.

“I have you now, don’t I?” Zoro flashes Sanji a rare genuine smile. “Seems like it sort of has something to do with this dumb bet, so—fine. The witch wins today.”

“Don’t call her that,” Sanji snaps reflexively, flushing all the way down his neck. “And—and it wasn’t just because of that bet…”

Zoro shrugs. “I don’t really care. Honestly, still not entirely all this is real.”

(…he knows Zoro has depths, but plumbing them and finding the odd sweetness there directed at him is not good for his heart.

…making dinner should clear his head maybe.)

“Well—well, it is, and we’ll talk again after dinner,” Sanji mutters, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Zoro just raises an eyebrow. “If that’s what you want to call it.”

“Shut up, marimo,” Sanji mutters, blowing out a smoky heart and then flushing and quickly waving it away.

Zoro smirks and then just picks up his enormous weight again. “You leaving or going to stay and watch?”

“Who wants to watch you sweat and grunt?” Sanji lies, skywalking away before he really did get drawn into Zoro’s workout and delay cocktails and dinner any more.

(Holy shit, he really had actually done all that?

And he had agreed to—

Shit.

Zoro seemed to know what he was doing, but Sanji has never done anything with a guy, and yeah, kissing went fine, but the parts for kissing weren’t all that different.

Also, it’s petty, but who the hell had Zoro been doing stuff with before?

Well, it doesn’t matter now, because Zoro is his—

Fuck, isn’t that a terrifying thought?

No one had really ever been his before—there had been that one liminal moment between resigning himself to his fate and kicking in Luffy’s face and then discovering Pudding’s true nature that he had been somewhat hopefully contemplating what marriage to the sweet pastry chef would be like, turning over fragile hopes as carefully as he had been arranging the flowers to offer her.

But none of those soft, shattered hopes matched what he has with Zoro—and in a way, that’s good.

Those were fanciful dreams, while this is reality, and even if Zoro wouldn’t know how to make a cake even if he was threatened with death, he also would rather die than betray him.

And—

And he’s in love with him.

That’s worth so much more than anything else.

Even if it’s embarrassing as hell!

Fuck, he needs to focus and finish these cocktails—no matter what weirdness he got into, the ladies deserve their afternoon refreshments!)

Somehow he manages to kick both Luffy and Franky out of the way to finish up dinner preparations (just everyone’s favorite dishes—he doesn’t have enough brain cells or attention to do anything creative, and besides everyone always loves that) and put the finishing touches on Nami’s Tangerine Dream cocktail and the Elderflower gin and tonic for Robin even while he can’t help licking his swollen lips and tonguing the break there.

(Stupid marimo, just had to do everything roughly.

…not that he didn’t like it…)

He quickly shakes his head before grabbing his tray and making his way out of the kitchen, dodging Luffy’s greedy rubber hands.

“Nami-swan~~ Robin-chwan~~ Your drinks are ready at last!” Sanji sings out, twirling up to them and gracefully bowing as he carefully sets the drinks down on the table with a slight clink.

Nami lowers her sunglasses, glancing from Sanji to the crow’s nest before taking the drink. “…can I assume that you and Zoro have finally stopped avoiding each other?”

“I’m so sorry for any distress me or that overgrown lout has caused you, Nami-swan,” Sanji simpers. “We…figured things out.”

Robin chuckles behind her hand while Nami’s eyes sharpen. “…are you about to make me a very rich woman, Sanji-kun?”

Sanji scratches the back of his neck, twitching his cigarette to the other side of his mouth. “…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lies.

(He definitely can’t talk about that bet without exploding, but he can’t explode at Nami , so he’ll just play dumb, it’s fine.

Such a schemer, Nami is, it’s so charming!)

“You did ,” Nami breathes, her eyes turning into beli signs, and she immediately pulls out a notebook from her bikini, blowing Sanji a kiss before starting to scribble things. “Thanks Sanji-kun!”

“Always glad to help, Nami-swan!” Sanji wiggles before he can’t resist adding, “Although you know that my heart is always truly yours—”

“Sanji-kun, you wouldn’t know what to do with me if you really caught me,” Nami just laughs, giving him a knowing look.

(…it’s true.

He loves Nami, but it’s not—it’s fun, but if she really ever responded to his advances or flirting, he’d probably drag her to see Chopper himself.)

“…yeah, but you don’t have to say it out loud though,” Sanji complains with a sigh. “A man’s got a certain reputation to keep up.”

“If you say so,” Robin says amiably, resting her chin on her hand. “ We know better though, Sanji."

“…The entire crew?” Sanji asks plaintively.

Robin nods. “Now that you’ve also told Zoro, yes, the entire crew.”

Sanji sighs, rubbing the back of his head. “…well, I hope you made a lot of money then.”

“I did,” Robin replies primly, taking a sip of her cocktail before toasting Nami. “Although far outstripped by our lovely navigator.”

“Then I’m glad to be of service at least,” Sanji twirls into a bow.

“ Shishishi , you guys figured things out?” Luffy laughs and rubbers over, happily hugging Sanji. “Yay! It’s time for a celebration then—MEAAAAT SANJI!”

“Oh, shut up,” Sanji tries to squirm out of Luffy’s grasp. “When is there not meat? You’d probably flip over the entire table.”

“I wouldn’t waste food that way!” Luffy protests, his rubbery arm slithering out to grab Usopp over. “Hey, Usopp, did you hear? Zoro and Sanji are getting along again!”

“Hard to miss with Sanji kicking me into the kitchen,” Usopp grumbles. “You couldn’t have held off from sucking Zoro’s face for another two weeks? I owe Nami so much money now.”

“It’s fine, Usopp, so do I!” Luffy laughs and pounds Usopp on the back. “Anything for nakama, right?”

Sanji narrows his eyes, “Wait, Luffy, you were involved in all this too—”

“Yohohohoho, what’s this my ears hear? Young love finally blossoming?” Brook comes dancing over, already with a string on his bow. “This calls for a song! Even if I don’t have ears anymore! Yohohoho!”

“Seriously?” Sanji calls out, hips on his hands as Brook starts on the swooping melody of a love song that Sanji knows is about a knight and a princess, but Brook has changed to a prince.

“It’s so romantic!” Franky bawls, taking out a handkerchief while sitting next to Robin, who just pats one of his massive bulbous metal arms.

Jinbei comes down from the helm, chuckling. “Well, I’ve lost a hefty amount of treasure to Nami, but congratulations!”

“You too?” Sanji demands despairingly, pointing at him. “You’ve been on this ship a week. ”

“It was fairly obvious,” Jinbei says apologetically. “Your relationship was like a lot of my Sun Pirates…”

“Oh! You’ve finally made up with Zoro?” Chopper asks, scampering over eagerly, wide-eyed. “That’s so nice! Then could you please tell him to rest some more and stop trying to sneak in training when I’m not looking—”

“That’s not going to work,” Zoro declares simply, striding up and jerking a thumb at Sanji. “I climbed out of the depths of hell for this guy—you think he inspires me to be any safer? ”

“Since when did you listen to me about anything?” Sanji retorts, trying to cover up his flush by kicking at Zoro’s head.

Zoro instantly blocks and leans in with a smirk. “Where’s dinner?”

“You can go throw yourself in the fucking ocean!” Sanji declares with a toss of his head before he goes inside to start bringing out the dishes.

Everyone pretty much falls into their usual brand of chaos during dinner, since after all, eating a meal with Luffy is always a battle to keep a watch for any sneaking hand near your own plate. Still, even in his continued quest to pillage and plunder all their plates, Luffy still takes the chance to raise his glass and declare, “To Zoro and Sanji!”

“To Zoro and Sanji-kun making me a rich woman!” Nami sings out, also holding her glass high and winking at them. “Remember, if you don’t pay up now, there’s interest~~”

“All the interest in the world is worth a great love story!” Franky sobs, blowing his nose in a handkerchief (how does that even work, his nose is metal) before saying in a lower voice to Sanji and Zoro, “And don’t worry guys, I went ahead and made the bed in the first mate’s cabin bigger—”

“Thanks,” Zoro says blandly at the exact same time Sanji flails and yells, “Don’t need to tell us that here !”

“But it’s very important!” Brook nods sagely, finishing off his tea and picking up his bow again. “I do have some raunchier songs I could sing—”

“Not while there are children around,” Robin says frostily, sprouting an arm to gently jab Brooks while patting Chopper’s head.

Chopper just blinks and then turns back to Sanji and says seriously, “Don’t let him do anything too strenuous though—”

“Why are you telling me that?” Sanji yelps. “I told you before, he never listens to me!”

“Sometimes, I do,” Zoro says just to be a contrary bastard as usual.

“No, you definitely don’t,” Usopp says immediately in response, waving his hand.

Zoro gives him a thoroughly unimpressed look, and Usopp cowers a bit. “Hey—look, without me, Sanji wouldn’t have gone to talk to you today! I really helped talk him through a lot—”

“And if you say anymore, you’re really going to wish you hadn’t,” Sanji says ominously, pointing his cigarette at him while glaring daggers at him.

Usopp eeps and hides behind Luffy. “Sanji completely didn’t say anything embarrassing or mushy or anything! Don’t kill me in my sleep!”

“ Shishishi! ” Luffy just laughs, stealing some of Usopp’s pike while he’s distracted. “This is great, Sanji! But when me and Traffy get married, I want a meat cake!”

Everyone pulls a face at that, and Sanji lights up his cigarette while saying dryly, “…does Traffy get a say in this?”

“You can make him something he will like too!” Luffy says generously.

“…Sanji-kun, you need to make an actual cake as well,” Nami instructs. “Nothing like Big Mom’s monstrosity though—something small, I think. Neither Luffy or Traffy are really dessert guys…”

“Mini-cakes, got it,” Sanji nods, making a mental note of it.

Chopper’s eyes have gone wide. “Luffy is getting married?”

“After I become Pirate King!” Luffy grins.

“Luffy-bro, no offense, but I think you still need to ask Traffy first,” Franky says apologetically. 

“It’s only polite,” Jinbei adds, nodding.

Luffy grins, tearing off a chunk of meat from the ribs Sanji had set in front of him. “Then I’ll ask him next time we run into him and his crew!”

“Delightful! I will need to find something appropriately romantic to play!” Brooks enthuses, playing through a few test tunes, before turning to Sanji and Zoro, “What do you think? Which is better for a proposal?”

“Why are you asking the mosshead? He doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body,” Sanji snarks, drawing in a lungful of smoke.

“Still got you in the end, didn’t I?” Zoro points out, drinking his sake while generously pouring some for both Usopp and Franky as well.

Sanji flushes. “That’s besides the point—”

“Don’t know, what worked with Zoro and Sanji might really work with Traffy since he’s also kind of stupid like them,” Nami declares, her eyes gleaming as she leans forward. “Anyone want to make a new bet with me?”

“We’re still paying you off for the last one!” Usopp howls in protest.

“I bet all my previous winnings that Luffy will immediately propose in front of all the Heart Pirates, and Trafalgar will sputter and then attempt to Room away,” Robin says sweetly.

“Done,” Nami says, taking a notepad out of her bikini to frantically scribble away again. “Any other takers?”

“I don’t know, I feel like Luffy might forget and wait until the middle of a battle to yell it at Traffy,” Franky says dubiously before turning to Robin, “Babe, lend me some money to bet with?”

“Of course, even if you’re going to lose,” Robin smiles at him and pats his hand.

“Um—one hundred beli on Luffy actually doing something romantic!” Chopper says, holding up a hoof.

Nami coos, patting his head. “Aw, so cute, even if it’s an impossible dream.”

“Three thousand on Luffy forgetting entirely until after we get to Laugh Tale!” Usopp declares.

“Five thousand that he remembers right before we get there,” Jinbei says.

“Hmm…ten thousand that he does it in the middle of a meal while trying to steal Traffy’s food!” Brook offers.

“That’s too easy,” Sanji protests, getting drawn in despite himself and crossing his arms. “Thirty thousand that Law doesn’t manage to Room away before Luffy wraps himself all over him.”

“Fifty thousand that Law does manage to Room away, and Luffy is left holding Bepo,” Zoro immediately says, slanting a glance over at Sanji.

(This man just lives to be contrary with him.

Fine!

If that’s how he likes it—

Although, secretly, Sanji has to admit that’s how he likes it as well.

The push and pull, the challenges of strength and words, the competition—it might have been standing in for other things, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t like this as well.)

“With what money?” Sanji asks disdainfully, nudging him with his foot. “All your share of the treasure is going towards paying off your interest with Nami-swan.”

“Zoro, if you want in on the bet, and if you toss in always being my packmule when you’re not being Sanji’s in the future, I’ll earmark some of your future earnings towards that instead of your interest payments,” Nami smiles at Zoro.

“…fine, witch,” Zoro sighs, holding out his hand for Nami to shake.

Sanji kicks him in the shin while Nami grins like a shark and shakes Zoro’s hand. “Don’t call her that! Also, you are definitely going to be in her debt for the rest of your life.”

Zoro snorts, holding his head up high proudly. “No, I won’t, because I’ll win and never be in debt to her again with those winnings, #4.”

Well, it’s not like Sanji can let that stand, so he launches himself into his usual flurry of kicks that Zoro parries with a sword, and they’re off again as usual.

(Except there’s an extra spark of something—a gleam in Zoro’s eye as he swings his sword at him and bares his teeth at him.

…whatever is going to happen in that bedroom tonight is going to be electric, he can feel that.)

By the time they manage to wrap up their little spat, Luffy has already absconded with all of their food, and Sanji resignedly takes out the extras he had locked up to the table along with desserts.

The crew happily digs into the trifles and starfruit panna cotta that he had whipped up, and when everyone clears their plates, and he stands up, Zoro stands up along with him and follows him off to the kitchen with a grunt.

Sanji eyes Zoro. “…I don’t have to badger you to do dish duty for once?”

“I’ve got certain personal incentives for you finishing cleaning the dishes faster today,” Zoro says blandly, already starting to scrub.

Sanji chokes, nearly spitting out his cigarette and catching the plate he was drying before he can drop it. “You—fuck, is that what it takes for you to do dish duty without complaint?”

“Why don’t you try it a few times and see?” Zoro suggests, smirking with a look in his eye.

Sanjii snorts, drying the plates more furiously. “Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself there?” he asks in a purposefully snotty tone. “That confident in yourself—”

“I’m always the right amount of confident in my skills,” Zoro retorts, with a shift of his muscled shoulders.

Sanji lifts his chin while facing Zoro, blowing smoke in his face. “ I’ll be the judge of that.”

Zoro waves the smoke away and then leans in close. “As long as you think you can handle it, twirlycook.”

“I can handle anything you throw at me, marimo,” Sanji snarls back despite the twist in his gut.

(…can he?

Hell yeah, he’s not going to pussy out now!

Not in front of Zoro of all people!)

Zoro tilts his head to take him in before his tone changes from cocky to something more serious, “…I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to do—”

“When the hell have you ever managed that?” Sanji demands, leaning in to jab Zoro’s forehead. “I’m in—I thought I made that clear.”

Zoro grabs Sanji’s fingers with a scowl. “I know that, but—I don’t think you’ve ever done anything with a guy before, have you?”

“Hell no!” Sanji instantly replies before wincing and rubbing his forehead. “…obviously not. But it’s not like I’m a fucking virgin, and you don’t have to treat me like a fragile flower—”

“I don’t know what to do with fragile flowers,” Zoro interrupts, his voice irritated. “You’re tough as hell, I know that, that’s one of the things I like about you. But that doesn’t mean that you might enjoy certain stuff—and I prefer things when everyone is enjoying themselves.”

Sanjji runs a hand through his hair, shifting in place. “…how many men have you fucked anyway?” he can’t help but ask.

Zoro gives him a look. “Does it matter?”

“…no, I just—look, I’m not used to this okay?” Sanji confesses, glancing around. “It’s—talking about this out loud—it’s not really something that I—I know there’s no need to hide anymore, but I still—adjusting.”

Zoro nods, his eyes darkening. “…this is more shitty Germa stuff, isn’t it?”

“…yeah,” Sanji admits, lighting up another cigarette.

Zoro nods, crossing his arms. “Really want to run into Vinsmoke Judge one of these days then. You know that we don’t have to do anything—”

Sanji grabs the front of Zoro’s shirt, takes his cigarette out of his mouth, and smashes his mouth against Zoro’s mouth to make him shut up.

(It’s too easy for his thoughts to get twisted and confused when they’re just talking about it, but when he moves with Zoro, it’s like all the steps of their usual fights—his body is more honest than he is about most things.

He wants this—

He’s wanted this for years now, if he’s admitting things that he had tucked away in the recesses of his mind now.

And so, yeah, even if he doesn’t really know what he’s doing, he still wants to go into that room with Zoro and let their bodies figure things out between them.

Isn’t that how they usually work best anyway?)

“Does it feel like I don’t want to do anything?” Sanji demands roughly as their lips break apart, licking his lips to break the line of spittle still connecting them.

Zoro licks his lips, his eyes dark. “…Let’s go,” he says after finishing drying the plates, walking over to the door of the kitchen and immediately turning the wrong way.

Sanji rolls his eyes, grabbing Zoro’s hand. “It’s this way, moron.”

“I knew that, I was just taking the more stealthy route,” Zoro argues, completely unabashed as his fingers curl around Sanji’s.

“…going past the men’s bunks is your idea of stealthy?” Sanji asks incredulously.

Zoro just shrugs, and Sanji only stops needling him to flip off Brooks chortling at them while indeed playing a raunchier song about a barmaid’s first time (he is not about to be astounded by anything he’s about to see, he’s fairly sure of that ), and then by the sight of the actual first mate’s cabin.

The bed is indeed quite large, taking up most of the space, but there’s also a small sink set up to the side, some drawers and chairs, and because Franky is just obnoxious like that, rose petals strewn across the sheets of the bed itself.

Zoro places his swords on the rack that Franky has so thoughtfully built by the bed and pounces on Sanji, capturing his mouth while his hands are already greedily tearing at the buttons of Sanji’s suit.

“Watch it asshole, this is designer!” Sanji hisses, mournfully staring at the shreds of his shirt, his suit jacket tossed somewhere while helping Zoro remove his disgusting shirt to reveal the rippling muscles of his chest and abdomen.

“I’ll buy you a new one,” Zoro promises between kissing and biting at Sanji’s neck, gradually working his way down, his hand stopping at the buckle of Sanji’s belt.

“With what money?” Sanji demands, panting and staring at Zoro’s hands. “All your shares of the treasure are going to Nami-swan anyway—”

“Don’t talk about Nami when you’re in bed with me,” Zoro interrupts, slowly undoing the buckle of Sanji’s belt and pulling it out in what to Sanji feels like a tortuously slow motion, especially given the way Zoro’s touch has already made Sanji react and completely ruin the lines of this suit.

Sanji arches up to properly kick Zoro’s shoulder and says, “Then give me a reason to not talk about her, or are you just talk—”

Zoro growls and simply strips Sanji of both his pants and boxers in one savage motion (like maybe Sanji had always imagined Zoro would), and Sanji’s hard cock gives an embarrassing twitch at that.

Zoro notices and smirks, taking Sanji in hand and stroking him up and down with a callused palm (fuck that feels good). “Eager, huh?”

“Obviously,” Sanji snaps, barely choking back a moan as Zoro’s thumb rubs over the slit at his cockhead. “Are you—you’ve got too many clothes on—”

“I’m good,” Zoro says simply before sinking down and engulfing Sanji’s cock with his mouth.

Sanji’s eyes nearly roll into the back of his head, and there are so many embarrassing noises slipping out of his mouth as his hips jerk up and Zoro’s broad hands hold him down.

(It’s—

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Zoro is good with his mouth—his entire ridiculous three-sword fighting style is testament to that.

But this is—

Sanji has had blowjobs before, but this is something else.

His knees have gone weak, and he’s on the verge of cumming already—

But he can’t, Zoro would never let him live it down!)

Sanji grits his teeth, desperately trying to think of unsexy things (Franky’s stupid speedo getup, having to sort through the men’s laundry, Zoro’s awful haramaki) but all thoughts go out of his head when Zoro seems to take him even deeper down his throat.

“ Fuck !” he cries out, grabbing at Zoro’s green hair.

Zoro grunts, but doesn’t stop as Sanji pulls at his hair, just sucking at him even harder, and glancing down, Sanji sees a very obvious bulge even from Zoro’s horribly baggy pants.

(Well, good, at least he’s also really into it.

Although that doesn’t help in terms of keeping him from not cumming, oh no—)

He manages to hold out for awhile, just by keeping a grip on Zoro’s spiky hair and trying to picture the old Baratie bathroom (a boner killer in any context but this apparently), until Zoro starts fucking humming—

And then it’s all over, he’s shouting as he sees sparks in his vision, and just twitching in the afterglow as Zoro comes off of him with a smug-sounding slurp.

(Uggghhhhh he’s never going to fucking live this down.

Zoro will hold this over him for the rest of their lives.

But it had just been that good— fucking hell, what exactly is Zoro doing all the time with that sword in his mouth?

Well—fair is fair, when his brains finally stop leaking out of his ears, he needs to attempt to blow Zoro’s mind as hard as he just blew his.

…although a blowjob is a big first step, Sanji has zero idea what to do with a cock in his mouth—hands maybe???

Is that okay?

Or does Zoro expect more—)

“I can hear you thinking from there, stop,” Zoro grunts, pulling Sanji into his arms and nosing at his neck.

“I—I still need to—you know,” Sanji manages to mumble out, pawing at Zoro’s pants.

“Stop,” Zoro commands, pushing his hand away, but not before Sanji feels something wet and then manages to crane his head up to realize there is a big wet spot in Zoro’s pants right now.

“…did you already cum?” Sanji asks in disbelief, “Just from—”

“You already came too!” Zoro fires back, tightening his arms around Sanji. “It’s just—look, I’m pretty sure if I had even made any kind of pass at you a week ago, you would have kicked me in the head for my troubles.”

“…yeah,” Sanji admits, scrubbing at his face and letting himself sink into the heat of Zoro’s bare skin. “I—well. I already told you. Shitty Germa ideas, and all that… But I also didn’t—I had no idea you felt this way about me. At all.”

“I told you I climbed out of hell for you,” Zoro points out, kicking off his pants.

“To kill me,” Sanji corrects, rolling his eyes.

“You’re the one who asked,” Zoro snorts, catching his mouth in a languid kiss before sighing happily and then growing slightly more serious, “…I’d do it for you, but—don’t make me, alright?”

“Funny, given all your declarations of wanting to murder me,” Sanji says lightly, drawing a hand down Zoro’s back.

Zoro hums, lightly kissing Sanji’s throat as he lazily runs his hand down Sanji’s legs. “Never wondered why I was always trying to get a rise out of you?”

“Because you’re an asshole?” Sanji snarks, raising an eyebrow at him.

Zoro snorts, poking directly at the swirl of Sanji’s eyebrow. “Yeah, maybe, but also—how else was I supposed to get your attention?”

(…fuck, he and Zoro are so much more alike than he ever wants to admit.

It’s why they fight so much but are also so in-synch—and also he guesses why he’s been drawn to the green-haired asshole ever since he took on the World’s Greatest Swordsman and got slashed to bloody ribbons for his trouble.

Zoro doesn’t know when to give up, but he was also willing to just fight for scraps of Sanji’s attention apparently.  

It makes something warm curl up in Sanji’s chest.

Stupid, stubborn marimo, and he really is all his.

He can hardly believe it.)

Zoro’s mouth then twists into a hint of a smirk, “Although if I had known how fast you would go off—”

“Oh shut the hell up, so did you!” Sanji pushes at him.

“Only after you did,” Zoro says stubbornly.

“But I didn’t even touch you, while you— ”

“Bet you that when I fuck your thighs, you’ll be mewling and cumming before I do,” Zoro says with a lift of his eyebrows.

Sanji sputters, immediately feeling his cock twitch and a shiver run down his spine. “You—my thighs? ”

Zoro nods, as if he’s just talking about the weather. “I’ve been thinking about them for awhile. Or you can try fucking me, I guess. I bet Franky put lube in that drawer over there—”

“Don’t talk about Franky right now,” Sanji says, scrubbing at his hot face. “You—you want me to fuck you ?”

“Yeah,” Zoro says simply. “If you’re into that. We could do it the other way around too, but I don’t know if you’re ready for that yet.”

(As much as Sanji wants to instinctively fight back on any implication that he’s not ready for anything that Zoro is, he has to admit that he feels kind of intimidated by the whole thing.

…could that really be pleasurable?

Well, it must be if Zoro wants him to do it to him, but—

Maybe later.

The thigh thing though—

He could see that working.

That could be fun…)

“I—not yet,” he admits, working a hand through his hair. “The thighs thing though—right now?”

“Why not?” Zoro asks, reaching over to rummage through the set of drawers by the bed, and when Sanji glances over, he can see Zoro’s cock rising up.

(Of course he had snuck some looks in the bath before, but those had been furtive, shameful peeks, not being able to just look at it head on.

It’s pretty big—both fat and long.

How it’s ever going to fit inside of him—

Okay breathe, they’re not going there yet.)

“See something you like?” Zoro asks, uncapping the lube and pouring it generously over his cock, fisting at it as it grows even more engorged.

Sanji jerks his eyes up to meet Zoro’s amused smile. “I—it’s not like I’m seeing anything new!”

“Sure,” Zoro agrees in a rare amiable fashion, also pouring lube over Sanji’s thighs. “But this is going to be new.”

Sanji hisses at the cold on his thighs and then at the way Zoro grips them, his fingers digging into his flesh. “Are you just going to sit there jerking yourself off, or—”

“Clench up,” Zoro commands, and then turns Sanji over slightly and slides his cock between Sanji’s thighs and Sanji’s own cock.

Sanji lets out a choked whimper (holy fuck did that feel good—weird, because there’s another cock against his, and maybe he should be freaking out more about that, but it feels too fucking good to think about anything but Zoro’s cock driving against his), scrabbling at the sheets.

“Good?” Zoro breathes into his ear, a slight clink from his earrings as he continues to move his hips.

“M-move faster, asshole,” Sanji manages to gasp out.

Zoro lets out a chuckle and obliges, but at the same time starts to let out a string of filth into Sanji’s ear, “Do you know how pretty you look right now, taking my cock? I’ve imagined this so many times, but this—you feel so good , like you were made for me, like you were made for this—how have you never tried this before? You’re squirming and whimpering so pretty now—let me hear you. All I can think about sometimes when you’re fighting is what your legs would feel around me, and what it’s going to look like when I paint your legs white—”

Sanji twists his head around to frantically kiss Zoro, both to stop the surprising dirty talk (fucking hell, he’s never heard Zoro put that many words together at once before), and also just to distract him from cumming too soon again.

It’s a struggle because while Zoro kisses back eagerly, he also redoubles his efforts, snapping his hips forward like his life depends on it, and in the end Sanji is reaching back and trying to frantically paw at Zoro’s chest, feeling the ridges of that badly sewn scar when he comes up with the idea for a dirty trick.

(…Zoro likes a little pain, this much he knows given what a demon he is for training and battle.

And he had just talked about thinking about sex while Sanji was busy fighting people and lighting them up, so—)

He brings up the heat of his legs just a little—not enough to ignite them, but enough to make it just on the edge of painful, and Zoro lets out a guttural groan, and Sanji feels Zoro’s cock spasm, and then something hot splattering across his thighs and cock.

That nearly drives him over the edge as well, but through sheer spite and biting his inside cheek, he holds out long enough to look smugly over his shoulder at Zoro. “Ha! This time you came first—”

Zoro bites at Sanji’s shoulder, then puts his giant, callused hand on Sanji’s cock (oh fuck ), and then strips at it while sucking at Sanji’s fingers ( what the fuck ) until Sanji falls over the edge as well with a cry.

For awhile, all Sanji can do is lie there, his head blissfully empty, luxuriating in the pleasure still humming through his body and Zoro lying panting on top of him.

(That was—

He doesn’t even know how to describe it.

Is sex with men always this intense, or is it just Zoro?

It doesn’t really matter because Zoro is the only one he wants to do this with from now on.

…also he can’t ask Zoro this question or else the dumb marimo’s head will absolutely get way too swollen.)

Zoro lazily licks at where he bit Sanji, and Sanji manages to muster up the energy to lightly push at him and then wrinkle a nose at the drying mess between his thighs. “Let’s go wash up.”

“Why?” Zoro asks, nosing at Sanji’s throat and running a hand idly through said mess. “It’s kind of hot.”

“It’s not going to be hot when it dries,” Sanji declares, kicking at Zoro until he begrudgingly lets him go. “There’s a sink, so we can at least wipe ourselves down—oh thank god, Franky must have put towels here.”

“He put way too much thought into this,” Zoro declares, sitting up and blatantly ogling Sanji’s ass as he pads over to the sink. “It must be however he modified Robin’s cabin so the two of them can—”

“Do not finish that sentence,” Sanji warns, grabbing a towel to put under the sink and then start to wipe himself off while throwing a wet towel at Zoro’s head.

“You know they’re fucking,” Zoro points out, catching the towel. “I walked in on them one time in Franky’s workshop, and—”

“I don’t want to know!” Sanji says, making a face and getting rid of most of the rest of the mess and then rinsing out the towel in the sink.

Zoro just laughs and embraces Sanji from behind as he returns to bed, burying his face in Sanji’s shoulder. “Alright,” he says fondly, kissing his temple. “Anything for you—#4.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Sanji snarls, kicking at him.

“That’s the plan for later,” Zoro replies languidly, rolling his hips slightly. “I’m ready for round three whenever you are…”

“You’re insatiable!” Sanji hisses, mortified at how his cock is already starting to swell again (god it hasn’t been this bad since he was seventeen and learning about sex for the first time).

“Just for you,” Zoro says, his eyes so clear and sincere that Sanji can’t help kissing him again.

(This big dumb marimo, what would he do without him?

Well, he doesn’t have to find out now.

He may not really know what’s going on but—

He thinks they can figure it out together.)

--

Omake:

Law narrows his eyes as he watches the Straw Hat cook and first mate bicker and fight once again.

(All that is normal enough based on his travels with the Straw Hats, but—

Did Sanji just end the argument with Zoro by kissing him?

…what had happened in between when he had left them at Wano and up until now?)

“Traffy!” Luffy crows, coiling all his rubbery limbs around Law and grinning at him. “What’cha looking at?”

“…Sanji-ya and Zoro-ya seem much—closer than I remember them being,” Law says, nodding at the two who seem to be trading both kisses and blows, while he himself discretely tries to maneuver out of Luffy’s embrace.

(He could just Room away, but that would be a bit of a waste of effort.

…also—

Maybe he doesn’t completely mind.

Coming from Luffy—

But anyway, business first.)

“Oh yeah, they figured things out after Wano!” Luffy nods. “It’s really great for them—which reminds me! Traffy! After I become Pirate King, want to become my consort?”

“…what?” Law asks faintly.

(Surely, he heard wrong.)

“You should marry me!” Luffy cheers, as happy as ever. “It’ll be a great party—a party for becoming Pirate King and getting married!”

“You—you can’t just—are you proposing to me?” Law asks, his eyes widening.

(This is—

Well, this is just like Luffy of course.

But—

He needs space to think about this.

He can’t have the fireworks of joy blowing up in his brain and heart distracting him from his own quest and get caught up in Luffy’s hurricane of ridiculousness as usual!)

“Yeah,” Luffy replies, “Franky and Jinbei and them said that I should ask instead of you know, springing it on you after I found the One Piece—”

“Well, thank god for Franky and Jinbei,” Law can’t help but snark.

“So, you agreed, right?” Luffy smiles widely at him.

And all Law can do at that is Room away quickly, leaving Bepo in Luffy’s clutches instead (he’ll survive), and hunker down in a private cabin, trying to calm his fluttering heart while ignoring shouts about something about a bet.

(What kind of proposal was that ?

It’s—

Just like Luffy really.

It’s much too soon to be thinking of anything like marriage. 

….but, he’ll consider it.)