Chapter Text
Zoro was in the Crow's Nest, working out as usual when he heard a tiny reindeer's shouting.
"ZORO!! GET DOWN FROM THERE AND STOP WORKING OUT. THERE'S A STRONG BREEZE AND YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM WILL NOT BE WORKING PROPERLY FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. DO YOU EVEN HEAR ME, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! DID YOU PASS OUT OR SOMETHING?"
Ignoring Chopper's voice, he continued on lifting his weights with the sound of stomping of hooves around the ship. He knew the small doctor worried a lot about his patients and Zoro respected him for it. Chopper was the best and the only doctor he knew, though even if he were to know other doctors he doubted they'd be as caring and passionate about treating people as Chopper was.
He looked at the cut he got this morning which seemed to be healing faster than ever. The Swordsman was still frustrated in himself for getting cut by such an amateur who surrendered the moment Zoro got his swords out. He remembered the weakling in front of him muttering "H-h-how...H-how strong are you...T-to get up so easily af-after being cut by...my swo-" before he passed out. Zoro didn't quite understand what he meant by that, so later on he asked Robin about it which apparently was a huge mistake, because it only caused Chopper to freak out and spread the word across the whole ship about him getting cut by a petty pirate. Though then they figured out that the sword had a curse which caused a temporary failure of one's immune system if the sword touched their blood.
Getting out of his thoughts to focus on his workout, Zoro could feel a slight tingling in his arm but didn't pay much attention to it as the wound seemed to be healing. He also didn't want to worry Chopper who was way too worried already.
A few minutes later Chopper had gathered some of his crewmates under the Crow's Nest. "He's not listening to me, one of you need to get him down. He thinks he will be fine but his immune system will be declining for the next few days."
Pressing a hoove on Usopp's one arm he said with begging eyes "Please get him down for me!!"
A few beads of sweat running down his forehead, Usopp started shaking his head and waving his hands in front of his chest vigorously. "Oh no!! I actually have a disease called can't-tell-Zoro-to-stop-working-out disease! I would love to help but I can't you know, I have a condition..."
Turning to Nami this time with sad eyes, Chopper simply said "Please?" and Nami took a deep breath. "HEY, ZORO STOP BEING SO DAMN SELFISH AND LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR. WE ARE A CREW, WE ALL NEED TO TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES FOR EACH OTHER. STOP WORKING OUT AND GET INSIDE!!" She was yelling at the top of her lungs, both of her hands cupping around her mouth to make her voice reach the Swordsman's ears better.
With heart-eyes, Sanji turned to Nami basically melting where he was standing "My dear Nami-swan, you are so thoughtful! Would you not want me to get sick either?" swaying towards her with a hand to grab around her waist "Would you be concerned if I was sick too?"
Gently escaping Sanji's hold before he could even reach her "Ah Sanji-kun, would you be so kind to get him down here?" Nami said, hands clasped together in front of her chest with one foot raised behind her, almost touching her butt.
After admiring Nami's beauty for a few seconds, Sanji turned towards the Crow's Nest yelling "OI, YOU MOSS HEAD! DON'T YOU DARE VIX MY DEAREST NAMI-SWAN! GET DOWN ALREADY OR I'LL KICK YOUR HEAD OFF."
Zoro put his weights down on the floor. He slowly reached the end of the Crow's Nest, raising a middle finger in the air, making sure his crewmates could see it. Then he got back to working out.
His shoulders down, Chopper said "He will not come down, huh? There's so much we can do...I just hope he doesn't catch a cold."
Placing the last plate on the dish rack to let them dry, Sanji was drying his hands with a towel when he saw a moss head enter the kitchen.
"Oi..."
It was him and Zoro on the night watch that day, so he thought it was his turn even though it seemed a bit too early. Nevertheless he trusted the Moss Head with the time, so he put the towel down and headed for the door.
When Zoro figured out what the Cook was thinking about he hung his head a bit in shame and said "No. It's not your turn yet, there's something else I need to talk to you about..."
This caught Sanji's attention and with a shit eating grin on his face, he very enthusiastically turned on his heel to see the Swordsman's head slightly hanging down in front of his chest. "The ever so stubborn and prideful Moss Head, asking me for help?"
This made Zoro roll his eyes and with a serious tone as he said "You're gonna listen to me, or what? Don't make me regret stepping foot into your goddamn kitchen."
The seriousness in the Swordsman's voice was a bit surprising, and it caused Sanji to feel the tiniest bit of regret for mocking his rival when he was clearly in need of help so he decided to mess with him one last time before listening to what he had to say. "I can't think of anything to make the prideful shithead in front of me so desperate that he would come to me, begging for help..."
This made a vein pop in the Swordsman's head as he angrily turned back to head out.
"Oi, oi! Okay, I'll listen to you or whatever."
Cursing at himself under his breath for putting himself in this situation Zoro turned back again, this time heading towards the stools in front of the kitchen counter to sit on one of them. Sanji also pulled one of the stools under him and sat next to the Swordsman, blankly staring at his face for him to start talking.
Zoro looked around and made a gesture telling the Cook to come closer, cupping his hands around his mouth as he said with a low voice "I don't feel so well...Chopper was right I guess..."
The Swordsman's breath so close to his ear and brushing slightly against his neck caused a tingling sensation throughout Sanji's whole body. He didn't quite get what the Swordsman said as he thought to himself I knew I had a thing for whispering and shit but I didn't know it was so bad that even this Moss Head could make me feel things by whispering.
As the Swordsman leaned away Sanji looked at him and said "I didn't get a single thing you said."
This caused the Swordsman to grunt and hiss. "I know I'm desperate but you're basically toying with me at this point. Fuck this."
He was just standing up when Sanji pulled him back down harshly "What are you on about, I told you I was going to listen. You just murmured under you breath and I didn't get anything."
Grunting and his hands cupping around Sanji's ear again the Swordsman spoke more clearly this time, with a voice slightly higher "I said I didn't feel so well...Chopper might've been right..."
Sanji put all of his focus to understand what the Moss Head was saying this time, and after processing what he had said he jumped from his stool with wide eyes. "YOU'RE AN IDIOT WITH THE BIGGEST HEAD IN THE WORLD, YOU KNOW THA-"
Zoro held his hand to the Cook's mouth, his other hand gesturing the Cook to low his voice. Sanji quickly grabbed the Swordsman's hand on his mouth to take it away and slowly nodding, started talking way more calmly than before, but still pissed off. "Why on God's earth did you not listen to Chopper? You know he's always right, even though he can get a bit over worried at times."
Zoro turning his head to face the Cook again "The wound was healing so fast, so I thought whatever the curse was, it wasn't affecting me all that much. And you're not much different than me, don't tell me you would stop cooking if Chopper jumped around you to go and get some rest, shitty Cook." He turned his head back to his hands, fidgeting with them over the countertop.
"Ugh okay, fine. Why did you decide to tell me about this anyway? What the hell am I supposed to do?"
Sanji felt a little guilty saying that. His words made it sound like Zoro was a burden when he was not. The Swordsman could be shitty at times, more often than not to be truthful, but he would never turn down anyone's ask for help. And his crewmates were the last people on earth to feel like a burden to him.
Zoro still playing with his fingers "You are the only person who's awake on the ship, and I thought you would understand me the most, get the least mad. I don't know what you can do about it though. Do you know any recipes to heal people and shit? Maybe you could make me something that could make me feel slightly better, at least until Chopper gets up and I tell him about it."
Sanji nodded his head. "I can think of a few things. You have to wait a couple minutes though. Is that fine?"
"I know I said I didn't feel well, but I'm not dying Curly Brow. I can wait for a few minutes."
Sanji stood up from his stool and got a few things from the cupboard. He started brewing some tea and turned to look at the Swordsman to make sure he was okay. He had his arms crossed over his chest, eyes slowly closing as the Swordsman was unsurprisingly falling asleep. Sanji shook his head and got the tea out of the stove, took two cups and placed them on the countertop. He poked the Swordsman to wake him up and pointed at the tea.
"Here, drink it."
Zoro grunted and shuffled a little bit on the stool. "Why are there two cups? Don't think I'll like your shitty herbs so much that I'll need two cups shitty Cook."
This time Sanji was the one to grunt as he said "The other cup's for me, and don't you dare speak badly about my tea Moss Head. Especially when you so desperately need my help." Zoro gave him another middle finger as he drank the tea.
"Is it good? Should start showing its effects in a couple minutes. It's supposed to support your immune system and help you feel stronger. It also calms the nerves, as every tea does."
"I didn't know you were such a tea enthusiast..." Zoro said pouring some more tea in his cup.
"How do you even know the word 'enthusiast' you moron?"
"Don't treat me like a child, shithead." Both of them turned back to their cups, drinking their tea in silence.
"You done?" Sanji asked.
Zoro nodded his head, handing his cup to the Cook and said "Thank you." with the lowest voice in the world.
Sanji noticed he thanked him, and was going to mock him for it but then decided to be a little nicer. "It's nothing, Marimo."
"Can you take on the watch duty a bit earlier, I feel like I need to rest for a bit."
Surprised that the Marimo still wasn't trying to hide feeling weak Sanji told him "I can. If you need anything, let me know." He was actually going to offer taking him to bed and waiting until he fell asleep, but he didn't want to ridicule the Moss Head any further since all of this must've had embarassed him enough.
As Sanji settled into the Crow's Nest, starting his night watch, he thought about his and Zoro's friendship. It was unusual to see the Marimo admit any sort of "weakness" so it must've meant that he trusted Sanji a lot when he admitted he was wrong and that he needed help. Sanji was glad Zoro trusted him. Even though they were rivals, they were also mates for life, two of their captain's guardians, proud members of the Monster Trio. They bickered a lot and didn't seem to get along all that well, but at the end of the day they both cared for and trusted each other. Just like with anyone else in the crew. Maybe a little bit more than the rest of the crew.