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It’s no secret to any of them that Sanji loves dancing.
Whenever there’s a banquet or party where the people present could actually dance, as opposed to the Straw Hats (and believe me Sanji has tried), he’d spend the whole night whizzing and twirling around the room, changing his dancing partners every so often because no one was able to keep up with either his energy nor his enthusiasm. It’s almost like his body’s made for dancing, his long slender legs, his tall physique, his excessive amount of flexibility and grace, and if he weren’t a Cook, Zoro is sure he’d be some kind of famous dancer.
To be perfectly honest, though, Zoro is tired of it. Tired of just sitting on the sidelines, watching Sanji enjoy himself and do what seems like second nature to him while he’s unable to join. Because he can’t dance.
After a particular long night filled with lots of spinning, dancing and music, Sanji returns to join Zoro in bed and his cheeks are flushed with the rush of adrenaline and exertion, his eyes glowing. Zoro feels a gnawing pain in his chest and pulls Sanji into an embrace. He’s happy for Sanji, of course he is, why wouldn’t he be, it’s just… he wishes he could contribute to his joy. Or at least be a part of it.
That night, after hours of stroking the blond’s hair and sullen contemplating, Zoro finally makes a decision.
If he can’t dance, he’ll just have to learn. How difficult can it be?
—
Zoro groans and grits his teeth. He was doing it wrong again. Why wouldn’t his feet just cooperate with him? Sanji always makes it look so easy, so effortless, that Zoro figured one day would be more than enough time to learn a few basic dances for the banquet tomorrow.
He figured wrong.
Zoro glances at the clock and scowls. He’s been at it for almost the whole day and still hasn’t made any progress whatsoever. Frustrated, Zoro goes to start the music again and gets into position. He would have quit trying a million times already, if it wasn’t for the mental image ingrained into his mind of him and Sanji dancing, Sanji’s beaming eyes directed at him.
One, two, three. One, two, three. Left, left, no, wait right,… or is it left?
Thud. Creak.
The sound of the door to the aquarium opening and Zoro landing flat on his arse coincide and Zoro whips his head around to see who walked in on his practicing – and failing – and feels the blush creeping up his cheeks when he realises it’s Sanji. There’s silence for a moment between the two of them, except for the slow music playing in the background, making the whole situation even more awkward.
“Were you just – Are you… Are you trying to… dance?” Zoro feels his face burn and quickly scrambles to his feet in a desperate attempt to save a shred of his dignity.
Zoro looks at the ground and sheepishly rubs the back of his head. “I just thought I could… you know, give it a try. Since you like it so much and all.”
Sanji gapes at the bizarre scene in front of him, at Zoro who is standing there embarrassedly, who’s trying to learn how to dance for him and it’s so very endearing yet so not like Zoro that the romantic inside Sanji squeals. “I could have told you from the start that dancing’s not for you, oaf,” he comments instead.
Zoro merely scoffs and crosses his arms in front of his body, turning his head the other way. “Yeah, well, I was just about to stop anyways, Shit Cook.”
Sanji can still see his fiery red ears, clashing horribly with his moss head and walks up to the other, gently cupping his face to turn his head around. “I could teach you. If you want me to.”
The expression on Zoro’s face promptly softens and his eyes lose all their edge as his body leans into Sanji's touch instinctively and he lets his guard down. “Might be worth a shot,” he contemplates in a low voice and Sanji grins fondly, before stepping away from the other, clearing his throat dramatically. He extends an arm and tilts his head slightly. “May I have this dance?”
Zoro didn’t think it was possible for him to blush even more but is annoyingly proven wrong once again by that damn Cook. He nods and takes Sanji’s hand, the familiar feeling of their fingers intertwining enough to make his stomach flutter. Sanji expertly aligns their bodies and hands, gently forces Zoro to straighten his back and puts his free hand on Zoro's shoulder. “I’ll lead.”
After a few minutes of, quite honestly, the most disastrous dancing Sanji has ever experienced – it was more like dragging Zoro around, while being stepped on the feet a few times – Sanji throws his hands up in mock exasperation. “You really are impossible to dance with, Marimo.”
“We should just stop, this was never gonna work anyways,” Zoro grumbles.
“No,” Sanji backtracks immediately. “I like dancing with you.” Zoro gives him a sceptical look. “Or at least, attempting to.”
Zoro huffs and catches another glimpse of the time and, freaking hell, they’ve been at it for far too long now. Zoro is getting quite bored by all the rules and patterns and step sequences. He looks at the blond Cook who has resumed teaching and is watching Zoro's footwork with hawk eyes while desperately trying to keep him from stumbling over his own feet and a mischievous grin appears on Zoro’s face. He might as well indulge himself.
“No, no, no, Marimo, for the last time, it’s left left right, not left right right, how can you –“ Sanji stops mid-sentence when Zoro suddenly puts his hand on the Sanji's hips and plucks him off the ground.
“Oi, Stupid, what the hell do you think you’re doing, that’s not how the dance –“ He is interrupted again as Zoro starts spinning Sanji around in his arms effortlessly with a low chuckle.
Just as he is about to get dizzy, Zoro suddenly stops twirling and dips Sanji with a surprising amount of expertise and charm. He looks down at Sanji with sparkling eyes, a small smile tugging at his lips and pants slightly. And as if that alone wasn’t romantic enough, he even leans down and claims Sanji’s lips in a kiss, making Sanji's heart flutter.
Sanji blushes furiously, mortified at how nice it feels to be held like this by Zoro. Zoro breaks the kiss and pulls him upright again before drawing Sanji into a tight embrace. “Maybe we can dance together at the banquet tomorrow, Stupid Lovecook,” he mumbles into his ear and Sanji just nods gently, hugging Zoro back. “Yeah, I’d actually quite like that, Marimo.”