Chapter Text
Zoro was engulfed in a huge and very obnoxious hug upon his return. Everyone was glad to have him back, nearly as glad as Sanji.
The decision was made to put the ship on autopilot for the night to give everyone a good nights sleep after a day of excitement. Everyone went off toward their own rooms, it was late and their day had been exhausting. But as Zoro lay down for sleep, he found that he could not find unconsciousness and for him that was a very abnormal thing. There was a nagging at the back of his head, something was keeping him awake.
'Zoro,' came Sanji's cool voice through his head, startling him slightly.
'What?' he responded, not upset at the interruption.
'You can't sleep," Sanji felt his heavy tiredness.
'Um, no.' Zoro responded, Sanji himself was emanating a strange feeling. Zoro wasn't quite sure how he would place it, it felt sort of surreal and slightly warm.
'Hang on.' A few moments later the door to his quarters opened, the password having been successfully typed in, and Sanji walked in. Zoro was curious to see what exactly he intended to do, so he sat up.
Sanji didn't try to explain himself, he just shoved Zoro over and laid down next to him. "Don't do that again," he said out loud in order to emphasize his point, thinking of the swordsman's vanishing act.
"I'll try not to," Zoro said lazily. It was weird how not weird this felt. He felt completely at ease, better than when they had been separated and better than before he had left. He wondered if this was due to the bond or if they'd just become closer in general, he supposed that it didn't really matter either way.
"Good," Sanji said, stretching out his hand. He left plenty of time for Zoro to object, but the weapons officer made no move to do so as the blond placed his fingers over Zoro's psi points. The contact felt warm and welcome. This meld felt different then what they usually did, maybe because this one was without any purpose. Usually, there was a task to be done and there wasn't so much time to focus on simply the feel of it. Had it always been so nice?
It was like warm, soft caramel; sweet and thick. They were blurry, all sensation, no physical form. They stayed that way for a long while, just savoring the feeling of the closeness after the brief separation they had been through.
When Sanji finally ended the meld, they were both sleepy. In his last effort before succumbing to slumber, Zoro pressed their fingers together, it was nothing when compared to the closeness of a meld, but it was more for carrying meaning than for physical feeling. Sanji gave Zoro a sleepy smile and that was what Zoro fell asleep to. It could be worse, he supposed.
XxxX
Sanji was agitated, he had been for the last few days. He was restless and his mood was generally tense. Everyone seemed a little anxious, it had been over a week since anything interesting had happened and things were getting boring, but Sanji was so high strung that once he had even snapped at Nami. She had been poking a bit of fun at him. It was nothing particularly cruel, but Sanji's face shifted into irritation and he told her to fuck off. Zoro and Usopp, who were the only other crew members present, gaped at him as he stomped out of the room. Thereafter ,Sanji closed himself off for the rest of the day.
It was more than enough to make everyone wonder about him. Even worse, he hadn't been eating for the past few days, something that Zoro noticed above anyone else, although the blond didn't seem to get hungry.
The two of them were back to sleeping in their own quarters, although Zoro somewhat wished that they had stayed in the same room. It had been so much more comfortable when they were together. However, that was converging dangerously on the edge of romantic, so it was to be avoided. He felt like they were always on the edge of romance now, they were standing on the very edge of a huge cliff and both were determined not to fall first. Their relationship was developing into just that; a relationship. They didn't talk about it, they just wandered around in the murkiness of their uncertain dynamic. The transition was new and odd, but they took it in stride.
Technically, Sanji had made the first move by drunkenly kissing him, but that was a little easy to ignore, at least for Zoro, because Vulcan kissing wasn't something he usually did in his relationships. And the human kiss they had shared only happened because Sanji was an idiot, so that didn't count.
Three days after Sanji's outburst toward Nami, Zoro took a seat beside the blond in the dining room. Nami, Usopp, and Chopper were also present at the moment. Luffy was hosting a springball tournament in the holodeck, springball being an intense and at times very aggressive bajoran sport. From what Zoro knew, right now it was Luffy versus Brook and Robin versus Franky. The green haired man expected that Luffy and Robin would be the victors of those battles, but who would win in the end he could only guess at.
At the moment, Usopp was telling some far fetched tail about how he had singlehandedly taken down a borg cube using just using the power of his mind. Chopper was inthralled with this story and even Nami seemed to be half interested to find out what would happen next. Zoro was focused on something more disturbing.
When he looked over to Sanji, who was stewing in a black mood, he noticed that he was playing with his food. He had made a plate of gakh, a dish that Zoro knew reminded him of being back at the Baratie. Gakh was a Klingon dish made from still living serpent worms. There were not many non-klingons who could stomach it. Zoro could eat it, it really wasn't bad, it made him wonder if he had some klingon blood in him somewhere. Then there were some klingons who got sick from eating gakh like Usopp, who could barely even look at the squirming dish.
Sanji would usually slurp down the worms and feel in a better mood for it the rest of the day. Now he was picking up the worms and letting them crawl off of his fork, back onto the plate. He was making no move to eat them.
Zoro was a little disconcerted at this revelation, he thought it best to bring up internally, rather than drawing it into attention. 'You aren't eating,' Zoro though lightly, trying to let only a little of his concern leak through.
Sanji's irritation sparked with more force than usual. 'So, what?'
'So, you're being a little weird, don't you think?' Zoro continued to eat his own food like nothing was happening.
'I hadn't noticed.'
'What's wrong?' It seemed about time to ask.
'Oh, what, are you my counsellor now?' The sarcasm was so heavy it was dripping.
'No, I'm just the person who shares your head space, wondering what the hell has been going on with you.'
'Nothing has been going on.'
'That's a flat out lie.'
'Vulcans don't lie,' Sanji insisted.
'You're only half Vulcan.'
'The logic still applies.'
'You're bending your fork,' Zoro pointed out. Sanji's fork was at a ninety degree angle.
Sanji stood so quickly that he knocked his chair back as he slammed down his bent fork. "How about you just leave me alone!" he shouted, drawing everyone's attention as he picked up his plate and dumped it over Zoro's head. No one said anything as he stomped out.
Zoro sat there, stunned, worms crawling through his hair.
"What the hell did you do?" Nami asked, only a little shocked given Sanji's recent behavior.
"Nothing," Zoro sulked.
"I'm starting to think there's something medically wrong with him," Chopper frowned, glancing toward the door as if he could examine Sanji right there.
"Do you want me to get him to come to the med bay?" Zoro asked, wondering the same thing.
"Can you do that?" Usopp asked.
"I can try," Zoro shrugged, "It'll probably take a lot of kicking and screaming, but I'll tell you when he's ready."
He went to stand, but Nami stopped him, "Take those worms out of your hair," she told him, speaking as if he were a child.
Once Zoro was done displacing the worms from his hair, he went after Sanji. He was easy to find, all he had to do was ask the computer where he was, also Sanji wasn't doing a very good job of concealing his emotions.
Anger still hung in the air when Zoro cornered him in his little science lab.
"Did you not just see me storm away from you?" Sanji seethed, aggressively flipping through a book. He tore through it so violently that he ripped a page and through the thing across the room in frustration.
Zoro watched on, perplexed at the over the top behavior, "What the fuck is your problem?"
"There is no problem!" Sanji shouted, looking like h might start throwing more things. "What's your problem?"
"My problem," Zoro said, walking farther into the room, "is that you're being really fuckind weird. Chopper wants you to report to the med bay, he's worried that here might be something physically wrong with you."
"There's nothing wrong with me!" Sanji protested angrily.
Zoro scoffed, "I can tell from just how much you're shouting at me!" he shouted back.
"Fuck you, I'm not going down there!"
"Yes, you are. Chopper wants you down there and I said that I'd take you there."
"I don't care!"
"Don't make me force you," Zoro threatened.
"Just fucking try it," Sanji did not appear afraid.
Zoro stepped toward Sanji, who held his ground. Zoro paused a few seconds before he lunged forward. He only just managed to catch Sanji by the waist. They were forced to the ground, Zoro trying his best to drag Sanji toward sick bay. Sanji was being extremely difficult, he even tried to bite Zoro's face to get him to leave off and when it was starting to look like Zoro might win this fight he actually nerve pinched him. Zoro jerked when the Sanji squeezed the nerve, stunned that Sanji would use that technique and because he had literally been stunned; immediately afterward he was unconscious.
He wasn't sure how long he was out, but it couldn't have been too long. He had been moved, now he was laying on his back, not his side. Sanji was surprisingly still there, his face hovering over Zoro's. He looked like he was feeling guilty.
"I'm sorry," he said when Zoro was fully conscious. His guilt washed over Zoro in a wave. "I didn't mean to-" Sanji tried but then broke off, "I'll go to sick bay." He bowed his head, not meeting Zoro's curious gaze.
When Zoro had recovered enough, Sanji stood, helping Zoro to his feet with a hand of aid.
Sanji followed along rather despondently to sick bay after that. "Are you going to need me to hold your hand?" Zoro asked sarcastically as the half Vulcan lagged behind.
Sanji didn't bother responding, he just kept walking, lips sealed. Zoro thought it best not to press him, not wishing to invoke anymore anger.
Upon seeing them, Chopper ushered the two into sick bay and had Sanji start on some tests. Zoro stayed for the whole thing, if only because every so often Sanji would get irrationally angry again and try to leave.
In the end, Chopper sat them down and read the results of all the testing, a frustrated expression on his face. "I'm sorry, Sanji, I just can't figure out what's wrong with you. Your hormones are all out of whack, but there's no apparent cause I can detect."
Sanji's brow furrowed, "There has to be something."
"Nothing I know of," Chopper shook his head and shrugged, "Maybe it's a vulcan thing, that's the only thing I can figure. I don't know much about Vulcan biology."
Sanji thought hard for a moment, trying to think of all his knowledge on his Vulcan heritage and suddenly the answer seemed so blindingly obvious that he wanted to kick himself. He went pale. Panic colored his form, visibly and internally.
"What?" Zoro asked, a hint of concern at the fullness of Sanji's panic.
Sanji shook his head slowly head brought a hand up to cover his face, panic fading to humiliation.
"Do you know what's wrong?" Chopper asked.
"It is... difficult to speak of," Sanji forced himself to say.
"Why?"
"Because reasons," he sighed uncomfortably, "It makes me uncomfortable, and the Vulcans don't like to talk about it."
"What is it?" Chopper pressed.
"I believe it is the pon farr," Sanji grit out, his face flushing an embarrassed green.
"The pon what?" Zoro asked, confused, but Chopper at least partially understood, his eyes widened considerably.
"Oh," Chopper said rather bluntly, looking a little nervous, "I don't know much about how to deal with the pon farr, the vulcans are tight lipped about it."
"I'll be fine, I'll meditate through it." Sanji said, not making eye contact.
"Wait, what's going on?" Zoro asked, wanting to catch up.
Sanji just made another unhappy sound.
"You have to tell him, Sanji, it's going to affect him too, so you say it or I will," Chopper scolded him.
"Fine," Sanji said with an exaggerated sigh, "The pon farr is basically the vulcan equivalent of going into heat."
Zoro grimaced, "Woah, okay, let's back up here. I didn't realize that Vulcans were like cats."
"Shut up," Sanji hissed, "It's a normal vulcan biological function. Biology and shit, it's not my fault."
Zoro didn't appear convinced, "And you said this is going to affect me too?"
Sanji shifted uncomfortably, "Our brains have a telepathic link, idiot, of course you'll be affected."
"So, I'll want to have sex with you?"
The blond made a indignant sound, "If you don't want to have sex with me now, then you won't want to have sex with me then. You'll just want to have sex, or at least that's how I understand it." Sanji had never gone through the pon farr, having not been over age yet, and to think this would happen once every seven years.
"If Sanji doesn't have sex within the pon farr, he will die," Chopper said with great concern.
"Are you telling me I have to have sex with him?" Zoro asked with a grimace.
"No!" Sanji exclaimed hurriedly, "There are other ways to resolve the Pon Farr; through meditation for example. I don't want to force anyone to have sex with me."
"But that would be difficult for even a full Vulcan, let alone a half betazoid," Chopper objected.
"It's my only choice," Sanji said in a tightlipped manner.
"Okay, so explain to me exactly what is going to happen," Zoro still wasn't quite sure he knew what was going on.
The half betazoid took in a deep breath, "My sexual appetite will continue to increase until the plak tow, the blood fever, where it will become irresistible and I won't be able to speak I'll be so caught up in it."
"Will I have to meditate as well? I mean, will it kill me if I don't.?
Sanji shook his head, "You'll be fine, you can deal with it however you want."
Zoro sighed, this was a lot to take in.
"I should probably stay away from you while this is happening," Sanji sighed, "I think I'm going to shut myself into my quarters until it's over."
"Because I'm so irresistible?" Zoro grinned.
"Unfortunately, yes," his tone was resigned.
"Sanji, I'm going to give you this to balance your hormones as best you can," Chopper stick him with a hypospray. "I'll tell luffy what's going on."
"Fantastic."
Zoro could feel pure dread rolling off of Sanji. Almost reflexively, he reached out to brush the feeling away, but Sanji glared over at him. "Don't do that. Don't mess with the bond until this is all done, got it?"
"Alright fine," Zoro said, rather unsure of how the next few days would play out. "Exactly how long is this going to last anyway?"
Sanji considered the question for a moment, "At this point, I think I'll probably reach the blood fever in a day or two and that time should last a few days if I can't resolve it quickly."
"It's going to be a long few days, isn't it?"
"You bet you're ass it is."
Sanji retreated to his quarters to meditate, hoping that he would be able to manage it. Zoro returned to the bridge, he wasn't really feeling any affects from the bond. Or at least he didn't think he was.
He continued on unaffected for half the day, maybe less. As the hours passed, he began for feel more and more annoyed. It wasn't like something was annoying him so much as he just felt generally annoyed. He couldn't sit still, nothing felt right, he had too much energy and his head was starting to pound.
Although Luffy had been alerted to the situation, no one else on the ship really knew what was going on and that was probably for the best. However, it did mean that they couldn't understand Zoro's sudden abundance of irritation. Nami kicked him off the bridge because he was being too much of a pain. He went down to the weapons bay to take out some of his frustrations on his training equipment.
XxxX
Sanji was having trouble concentrating, he felt hot all over and clearing his mind seemed impossible. But he had to do this, for Zoro's sake and for his own life. He tried to keep himself from sensing Zoro's mind, but his mind didn't seem to be listening to him much anymore. He could feel Zoro's building frustration, he just wanted to reach out and brush it away. But he stopped himself just short every time.
XxxX
Zoro could feel Sanji every so often just out of range. Like a hand hovering just over his skin, he just wanted to grab it and drag Sanji toward him and- and what? His brain was getting all foggy. He redoubled his efforts to destroy the punching bag he way laying into but Sanji's presence drifted over him again.
He swore aloud and wondered what would happen if he actually reached out to the blond. Fuck it, it was worth a shot. Zoro extended his mental reach to touch Sanji. The reaction was immediate, Sanji latched to the contact and melted against it, a puddle of frustrated emotion. It just felt so damn good. Why had he been resisting again?
Zoro was pressing closer when Sanji suddenly seemed to become aware of what was happening and blocked him out, sealing himself into his own mind.
Zoro punched the floor in frustration, breaking a few bones in his hand. He had to fall Chopper to fix it.
XxxX
Chopper came in to check on Sanji a day after he had come into sick bay.
"Sanji I don't think this is working," Chopper said, observing the sweat drenched blond.
"What other choice do I have?" Sanji groaned, he had been trying his best but Zoro made that so hard.
"We can always try something else," Chopper said sympathetically.
"I'm open to any options," the blond said, his voice cracking, "God, I just want to punch him in his stupid fucking gorgeous face." He wanted to tear his own face off, anything to distract him from this feeling.
"Don't the vulcans have a ritual for that?" Chopper said with a tilt of his head.
Sanji's eyes suddenly widened, "That's it! The koon-ut-kal-if-fee! I'm so fucking dumb!" he clapped his hands in his enthusiasm.
"The what?" Chopper asked, he knew there was a battle ritual, but that was all he knew.
"It means marriage or challenge, if he challenges me to the kal-if-fee, the passion fight, and wins then the pon farr will be resolved." Sanji grinned, sure it was supposed to be to the death traditionally, but as long as the opponent was rendered unconscious it should be fine.
"But you and Zoro are about evenly matched," Chopper reasoned, "What if you win?"
"This is the only time I hope I don't win in a fight against Zoro," Sanji laughed breathlessly, "but if I win, I claim the right to my mate."
"Are you sure this is the only way?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Tell Zoro and bring him to the holodeck." He stood shakily, walking toward the door. He focused himself on his destination, forcing himself not to stop. He could feel the plak tow ever approaching, it was close now.
Chopper followed Sanji's word, locating Zoro as he was destroying a punching bag in the weapons bay in all his shirtless, manly glory. He almost didn't notice the doctor come through the door and did not stop when he did notice. He had too much unlet energy.
"Zoro," Chopper said over the noise, "Sanji's meditation isn't working."
Zoro paused, "So, what now?"
"He wants to fight you."
"Fight me?" That seemed like something to involve a lot of physical contact.
"There's a vulcan marriage battle ritual, you can fight for yourself," Chopper nodded.
"If I lose?"
"You become Sanji's mate."
Zoro grimaced that the word, it sounded so simple and animalistic, not like anything a sentient and intelligent being should be involved in.
"Will you do it?" Chopper asked.
"I'm always up for a good fight," Zoro grinned, already moving toward the door as Chopper trotted along at his side. He had all of this aggressive frustration building up, why not take it out on the source? Maybe it would make him feel better.
For once, Zoro didn't need to be directed, drawn toward Sanji's presence, despite not knowing the destination. As they were drawn toward the holodeck Zoro felt the throbbing glow of frustration grow stronger with lack of distance.
"Chopper," Zoro said cooly when they were in front of the holodeck door, "I want you to wait outside."
"But what if-" the doctor objected.
"If we need you, we'll call. Have the computer beam us to sick bay if vitals drop," Zoro said seriously, meeting Chopper's concerned eyes.
The small doctor nodded unhappily and retreaded down he hall. Zoro walked through the door, and turned to face Sanji who was watching him intently, his body tense. The program the holodeck displayed showed a desert landscape, the heat was heavy in the air but not quite as intense as the real heat of vulcan.
"So how does this work?" Zoro asked. Sanji's expression did not change. Zoro assumed that the plak tow had set in, they weren't good at talking anyway. Zoro let a deep breath leave his lungs, his body vibrating with the emotion of the pon farr.
Sanji made the first move, lunging forward with more force than was usual. Zoro realized that in his haste, he had neglected to bring his swords or put on a shirt.
"Computer," he called out, fighting off the intense attack, "Three Katanas-" he was going to name a specific set but a kick to the gut cut him off.
"Please specify," chimed the computer's feminine voice.
Zoro hardly had enough time to think as another kick made for his head, "Fuck- Give me my Katanas," he blurted out.
"Please specify," the computer chimed once again.
"Fuck you!"
"Command does not compute; please specify."
"Computer, the Katanas of officer Roronoa Zoro."
The Katanas materialized at his side and he scooped them up.
He blocked more hits after that. They two continued to exchange blows as the internal heat continued to build. Neither wanted to lose, Zoro wasn't sure if he kept fighting for the sake of his pride or for the consequences of defeat.
They were getting nowhere. They seemed to be at a complete draw. Heaving, Zoro examined Sanji's flushed form. It was strange to fight the blond without having him make a noise. Usually, Sanji's tongue was as sharp as a knife and quick as a whip, now there was nothing but determined looks.
Sanji charged forward, and Zoro let him, dodging away at the last moment and lunging at him from the side, tackling him to the ground. As Sanji hit the sandy surface, the air was forced from his lungs. He gasped for air, giving Zoro time to pin him.
Sanji didn't move, he only stared up at Zoro, frozen in place. Normally, he would have fought to throw Zoro off, but for now he was still. The empath let the shields on his mind, which until then had retained a shaky form, crumble away completely, letting waves of raw emotion roll over Zoro.
Zoro, being disoriented by this sudden dramatic change, let his hands fall away from Sanji's arms to just supporting his own weight against the sand. Sanji took the release of his hands as an opportunity to run his fingers up Zoro's arms and over his chest, his fingers letting off tingling sparks at the lack of mental boundary.
For the first time since the start began, Sanji smiled. Zoro found himself stuck, unable to move although he wasn't really sure if it was voluntary or not. He didn't really want to move, so he supposed that it must be of his own will that he let Sanji bring them closer together. Because, like, fuck it, this seemed like a pretty fucking amazing idea right now.
XxxX
Sanji was asleep, Zoro was half asleep. They were both covered in sand. Honestly, Sanji probably could have picked a better environment for this. Oh well, it was a little too late for that now.
Zoro felt like liquid after being so tightly wound and then finally relaxing. The pon farr was resolved, no one was going to die today, which was a great relief. Although, Sanji looked about dead. He was out like a light, all his energy sapped after an exerted effort and little to no sleep in the past week. His face was half smushed into the sand, his stupid pretty face.
Zoro dragged him a little closer, he didn't even stir. His skin felt cool again Zoro's human heat and the heat of the artificial desert landscape around them. Holding him felt nice, it was like being whole when he hadn't even known that part of him was missing. It was a little awkward though, because Zoro was pretty sure he had a few broken ribs and at one point his shoulder had been ripped out of place only to be shoved back in seconds later.
It had all been much more klingon than Zoro would have expected, lots of biting and bone breaking. It was, after all, good luck to break the collar bone on the weddings night in klingon culture, or so Zoro understood it. Zoro suspected that he wouldn't be the only one going to Chopper when this was all over. Sanji defiantly had some broken ribs and maybe some other minor fractures.
Zoro was dreading having to come out of this room, they'd been in there for a solid two days without interruption. Thank fuck for that. Chopper was probably losing his mind worrying about them, someone else probably held him back from charging in. That would have been very awkward indeed.
When they came out of this room everyone, minus maybe Luffy, was going to know what had happened. Zoro couldn't bring himself to care. Right now this felt good and it made him happy, so they could all suck it.
Some time later, Sanji woke up. He still looked like he wanted to sleep for maybe another thousand years, but Zoro thought it was probably as good as it was going to get. Not that he didn't like sleeping in the middle of a sandy desert, but he was starting to miss his bed.
When Sanji's eyes started to close, Zoro nudged him awake.
"What?" Sanji groaned unhappily.
"I don't want to be in here anymore, let's go."
"No, I'm not getting up," Sanji breathed, ready to go back to sleep.
Zoro sat up and quickly put on his own clothes. He jabbed Sanji in the stomach. "Put your clothes on, we're going," he said.
"I'm staying," Sanji mumbled, rubbing the spot Zoro had poker.
The swordsman sighed and hauled Sanji up into a sitting position then proceeded to cram his half torn shirt over his head. Sanji struggled against his own clothes until he managed to get it on right, kicked Zoro in the balls, and put the rest of his clothes on by himself, but he didn't move toward the door. Instead, he sat back down, ready to go back to sleep.
Zoro, after taking a moment to recover, kicked Sanji in the side. "Come on, we are going."
"Go on without me, save yourself. It's okay, I'll forgive you," Sanji waved a hand at him.
Zoro rolled his eyes, "Fucking fine," he said. He walked over to where Sanji lay and picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Sanji didn't fuss, but he did made a patenting little noise as his probably broke or fractured ribs ached in protest. Zoro ignored him. "Computer, end program." The program shut down and Zoro walked out the door.
He was hallway to the med bay before he ran into anyone. Usopp gaped at him as he walked by, not stopping to say hello. Zoro didn't really blame him for the odd look, he probably looked like he'd gotten into combat with a zombie. He had some pretty good half hicky, half actual bite marks on his visible skin. Robin and Nami walker by next, probably because Usopp told them about him the second he turned the corner. Zoro glared at them as they went by, grinning with their eyes, Nami even had the gall to give him a thumbs up.
He growled and doubled his walking pace. Chopper was waiting now for them when he walked in. Sanji was slumped into a bed and Chopper started examining him.
They were both all fixed up in about ten minutes, good as new and with an apparently much needed scolding on how much force to use when being 'intimate'.
Zoro carried Sanji bridal style out of the sick bay, but at soon as he was sure Chopper wouldn't see, he set Sanji on the ground and started pulling him along by his boots. Zoro liked this much better than carrying him and he didn't seem to mind it much, seeing as he was asleep. Franky and Usopp saw him drag Sanji by, but he ran in order to avid them. Soon enough, Zoro found his quarters and brought the two of them inside, rolling Sanji up onto the bed and settling down beside him. He was still very tired. And they slept like that; very close and very comfortable.
XxxX
Zoro sipped a glass of apple juice as Sanji aggressively flipped a pancake. He was embarrassed, Zoro could tell.
"You care too much abou-"
"Shut up," Sanji glared at him.
"I'm just saying-"
Sanji kissed him in order to shut him up, "You're just saying nothing."
Zoro sighed, "Is this a bad time to ask about our relationship status?"
"We're together," Sanji said as he focused on his pancakes.
"Really?"
"Uh yeah, dumbass, it's kind of hard to deny all this romance we have going on," Sanji huffed.
"Oh, I didn't know if we could talk about that or not."
"Yep, it's all fine, don't worry about it."
"So, does that make us-?"
"Space husbands? Yes, yes it does."
"Then, that means I can do this?" Zoro threaded his fingers though both of Sanji's hands and kissed him on the corner of his mouth.
"If you do choose," Sanji grinned, not moving back.
"Knock knock," said a voice behind them as Usopp and Chopper walked into the kitchen.
Sanji slid away and continued with his pancakes.
"I'm really glad you're back, Sanji," Chopper said, "We had to eat replicator food and it just wasn't the same."
"I'm glad to be back, I haven't eaten in like," he had to think, "A while." Strangely enough, he was only just starting to get hungry again.
"Was your honeymoon not as enthralling was we all hoped it would be?" Robin asked, stepping into the dining room.
Sanji smiled, "I wouldn't call it a honeymoon," Sanji sighed, "It's so good to see a female face after these long and trying days."
Robin opened her mouth, but was cut off by Luffy's obnoxiously loud voice. "Yes! Sanji's back! Sanji, I want meat!"
Sanji fended off the excited captain with a shoe to the face, "I know! I'm on it, keep your pants on!"
"Yeah, Sanji's had his fulfillment of pants less men for the week!" Nami laughed, taking a seat beside Robin.
"Well, I don't know about that," Zoro said, leaning back in his seat.
"Oh, I know so," Sanji seethed, brandishing his spatula fearlessly.
"Oh damn, Zoro, he had control over your sex life now. How does that make you feel?" Nami snorted.
"Doesn't bother me," Zoro shrugged, "I always get my way."
"Because that's not creepy at all," Sanji rolled his eyes.
"What's not creepy?" Franky asked, taking a seat for breakfast closely followed by Brook.
"Nothing," Sanji said, "Breakfast is ready." He laid out the pancakes along with all the dressings and fruits that went along with them, leaning over Zoro's shoulder to do so. The contact was solid, it felt comfortable and warm, rather domestic. Zoro decided he liked that feeling and would very much like to feel more of it in the future.
Around him, the crew tucked into the meal Sanji had provided and started off another typical day aboard the U.S.S Thousand Sunny. That is, if there was a such thing as a typical day with a crew like this in a place as full of mystery and potential.
He looked over Sanji who had a smear of syrup on his face. He noticed Zoro's gaze and smiled, licking away the syrup. Zoro smiled back feeling a bubble of warmth within him; today was a good day.