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“Zoro,” he heard his name but it didn’t process as urgent so he didn’t immediately respond which resulted in him immediately forgetting he’d heard it. His attention refocused and stuck itself back to the phone in his hand, which his face soured more and more at as he scrolled down an endless wall of argumentative and unkind text.
“Zoro,” he heard his name again, and it was said as he simultaneously read an accusation about living in his mom's basement, which he had half a mind to respond to with a detailed description of his tiny, overpriced apartment that he’d attained after moving from his father’s house that summer, and how it made him such a functional adult in comparison to the accusation.
“Zoro!”
He raised his eyes to the doorway, where Ace was leaning in at him, hanging with both hands on the doorframe. He appeared to have lost two more buttoned buttons on his shirt with only one left at the bottom holding on for dear life and and assisting with covering his torso in no way shape or form.
Zoro wondered if the manager would come back and yell at him again-- probably not, it was pushing 8pm and she wasn’t stuck there like they were.
“ZO-” Ace poked his forehead hard enough that it hurt a little, “-RO?” He then started knocking lightly on the top of Zoro’s head until Zoro swatted his hand away.
“What?” Zoro finally asked, and part of the reason he’d been tuning Ace out was that he was sure this wasn’t about to be anything important.
“A hot blond is in here,” he said, pointing toward the front counter with his thumb and grinning like he was providing Zoro with the best news that he wanted oh-so-badly.
Zoro stared at him, then cocked his head.
“Why would I give a shit?”
“Guy! Hot blond guy!”
Zoro scoffed, feeling his face heat up despite his best efforts, because that made the subject even more difficult to navigate.
“Should I ask for his number?” Ace asked, peaking out into the store. “He’s been browsing for a while, though. Do you think he’s stealing stuff? I’d let him get away with it…” he smirked, and his face suggested there were a lot of unsavory thoughts swimming around his head than turning a blind eye to thievery.
“Yeah, sure, ask for his number,” Zoro said, shutting the screen off on his phone and trying to refocus his attention and relax, “maybe confront him, and if he is stealing stuff, take him to the back like in one of those sexy videos.”
“Oh my god,” Ace’s face turned very red, the unsavory thoughts spinning out of control, most likely “…you’re a genius,” then he closed his eyes and shook his head to banish them.
“But I was kidding, I want you to ask for his number,” Ace said, and then jutted his lips out and gave Zoro a look that said he was already judging him if he said no.
“Why me?” Zoro barked.
“Because,” Ace grabbed his phone and shook it at him, “you refuse to make profile on any dating app, you don’t go to bars or clubs. You don’t interact with anyone at the gym as a rule and you have a total of two coworkers under the age of 50, and you’ve already unsuccessfully attempted dates with both of them--”
“I don’t need a relationship right now,” Zoro muttered. He had a lot he was focusing on, like the downfall of any hope he still harbored in his dream-career in competitive kendo kicking off and the misery of thinking he might actually be stuck working in places like this for the rest of his life.
“I’m willing to accept that if we’re talking emotionally, but you’re also always broke. You owe Nami an arm and a leg--,”
“I don’t! She keeps upping the amount! I already paid her back!” Zoro whisper-shouted the objection so the customers didn’t hear.
“--get him to move in with you and voila: dual income.”
“I’m not getting into a relationship just because I need more money! That’s…” Zoro paused to think about what that was “…that’s dishonest!”
Ace released a short sigh, stared at him with big, glistening eyes and a pouting bottom lip.
“What?” Zoro barked, starting to have trouble controlling his volume.
“You’re just such a good person,” he said, miserably.
“Hey,” a voice interrupted them, “can I get some service, maybe?”
Ace looked over his shoulder, and the movement made enough space for Zoro to see through the doorway and to the counter to see the man standing at it. He was looking at Ace, which gave Zoro a moment to look at him.
Blond, like Ace said, with a fringe of hair hanging in front of one eye and wearing a blue scarf.
Zoro’s eyes widened, their attention having been seized unexpectedly. Ace wasn’t picky about looks, he was as free-love as they come and to Ace it seemed anyone and everyone was on his to-do-list, an annoying personality was the only thing that ever put him off. So when Ace says there’s a hot blond, it can really mean anything.
But this time he really did mean Zoro’s idea of hot blond, and Zoro was realizing that at the worst time, because he was staring at the man and couldn’t look away even as he seemed to notice, and made eye contact with Zoro.
“I’m going on break,” Ace said, “man the counter?” He shot Zoro a grin and walked away.
The man didn’t look angry or annoyed that he had to wait, he just looked a little expectant and confused and tilted his head at Zoro as if to ask if he was actually going to be able to check out tonight.
Zoro cleared his throat, and stood up, eyes focusing on anything but the visitor’s face as he made his way to the front. He didn’t look directly at him until he was right in front of him, and he intended to just give a short greeting and ring him up, but his eyes got stuck on a weird spiral of an eyebrow, and he faltered.
“Uh…” he sputtered, and blinked.
The man sighed.
“Most people don’t outright stare, but I guess you’re special, huh?” He said, now sounding pissed off despite having been cordial before.
“Sorry,” Zoro muttered and stared scanning the items he’d placed on the counter. He didn’t like the guy’s attitude but also knew that he probably shouldn’t have been staring at something so peculiar on another person’s face. It didn’t diminish his good looks at all, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t insecure about it.
“Don’t worry about it,” the man shifted uncomfortably, maybe feeling guilty for being abrupt by the look of it.
“Two packs of Black Russians, too,” the man said, and Zoro’s eyes widened a little. Those were the most expensive cigarettes they carried. His thoughts drifted back to what Ace had said about dual income, and then he shook the thought from his head. No one with enough cash to afford those things on the regular is looking for a date with a convenience store attendant.
“Special occasion, or are these your usual?” He had to ask, because it was New Year’s Eve, maybe the guy was just treating himself.
“Nah, I usually get them in bulk but I ran out and the shipment won’t be here until tomorrow afternoon,” the man responded, fidgeting just a little, not enough to make Zoro think he was being impatient but definitely enough for him to feel that he was eager to get his hands on them.
“You need two packs to get you to tomorrow afternoon?” Zoro shouldn’t have asked that, it was so far over the line dividing things that were and weren’t his business but he was genuinely floored by the insinuation.
“I know, I’m going to die, right?” he mumbled, shrugging. “Aren’t we all?”
Zoro was simply relieved he hadn’t seemed to take offense, and just gave him an uncertain smile as he rang up the cigarettes as well. There was an awkward silence, though, and maybe somewhere inside he wanted to leave a good impression on this guy, so he decided to fill it.
“People say I drink too much,” he said, “they’re probably right, so no room for judgement here.”
“You drink?” The man laughed.
“What?” Zoro cocked his head as he bagged the items.
“No, sorry,” he gathered himself, crossing his arms and leaning over the counter a little more, “with your physique you just look like a total health nut.”
“I work out a lot,” Zoro said, quite simply, “but I could stand to be more health-conscious.”
The man sighed, “likewise, Marimo,” he cracked a smile, eyes moving up to Zoro’s hair, which was, as always, dyed bright green. Zoro was also aware he’d forgotten his nametag that morning, as he frequently did.
“Call me what you want, Swirly-Brow,” Zoro didn’t miss a beat, hoping he wasn’t striking a nerve again but it was a total win when the man laughed, a smile filling his entire face lighting up his eyes in a way that made warmth spread throughout Zoro’s chest just to witness it.
He couldn’t keep his mouth shut because of it, he didn’t think he was capable of stopping himself from engaging with this man as much as possible.
“Do you live around here? I haven’t seen you in before, and it’s kind of a hotspot for locals,” Zoro asked, because as insane as it was, he was considering Ace’s advice. If the man said he was only in town for the holidays or anything like that, it meant Zoro would probably never see him again if he left right now. He’d never, not even once before, met someone who he was sure he’d regret never seeing again.
“No, my fiance does. I’m visiting her family for the new year,” the man said, still with that big friendly grin.
It stayed there as reality came crashing down around Zoro.
Straight people, right… he’d forgotten about those.
“Oh, that’s nice,” Zoro forced the words out and forced a smile back onto his face.
“It sounds nicer than it is. It’s an arranged thing, I haven’t even met her yet,” he sighed as if very uncertain about the whole thing. Zoro felt his foolish hope start to resurface. Arranged things don’t really work out in this day and age, right? And they’re definitely not serious-- arranged also definitely meant this guy came from money, though. There were just too many reasons he wouldn’t give someone like Zoro the time of day, even if he wasn’t straight, and that was still a massive possibility.
“Give me your number,” Zoro said, smooth as hell even though it spilled out without his permission, “if you end up liking her, I can tell you the best local places to take her on a date.”
Maybe some small part of him hoped the man was going to say that would be impossible because he was actually gay. No such luck, though.
“Really?” The guy’s face lit up and Zoro at least knew he hadn’t made a horrible mistake and outed himself. “That’d be a huge help!” He was already digging in his pocket and in the process of pulling out his phone.
“Put yours in mine,” he said as he handed Zoro the phone after unlocking the screen, and the way he worded that made Zoro almost fumble and drop it. Even once he had it securely in his hand he had to take a moment to gather himself and he could see the guy’s expression turning back to confused.
Zoro quickly looked down, immediately spotted the option for contacts, and entered in his name and number faster than he knew he was capable of.
“Zoro?” The man snorted after he handed it back.
“Yeah, that’s my name,” Zoro said.
The man snorted again, an amused smile slithering across his face.
“What? It’s my name!” Zoro objected. “What’s yours? It better sound like royalty if you’re going to react like that!”
“Sanji,” the man said, and Zoro was sure any name that the man presented as belonging to him would have sounded as sacred and beautiful as if crafted by the very heavens, and this was no exception. But he cracked a smile and snickered in response to it anyway, making sure he appeared unimpressed.
“Saaanji,” he drawled, mocking it as best as he could just like had been done to him.
“Don’t be a dick!” “Sanji” barked. “I just thought it was weird because of the movie!”
“People with eyebrows like yours shouldn’t call other people’s features weird,” Zoro hated, he hated when people brought up that movie in relation to his name, so maybe he did go a little overboard.
“My eyebrows are a genetic trait! At least I don’t dye my hair green, of all the colors you could have picked,” he didn’t hate how easy it seemed to be for the guy to shift from a friendly conversation to a full out argument. Zoro had gotten into arguments with customers before and they’d left him exhausted. This one didn’t feel like that, it felt… fun?
“I like green,” Zoro stuck up his nose.
“Clearly,” Sanji gestured to his clothes, which aside from the uniform apron, were green or dark green. “I bet you’re eager for summer to come back, right? Longer days, more photosynthesis?”
“Why are you and your eyebrow still in my store?” Zoro didn’t have a better comeback. “Go see your fiance who you’ve never met.”
“Ugh!” Sanji grabbed the bag full of the things he’d bought off the counter, and it wasn’t until that moment that while Zoro had been enjoying the cruelty, Sanji seemed genuinely pissed off.“I can’t believe I mistook you for a civil human being,” he held up his middle finger as he backed toward the door.
“Just a big green asshole!” He shouted as he exited, and it seemed to be directed up at the heavens.
Zoro watched him storm off, certain that he’d made a terrible mistake.
“Well, he’s not going to fuck you,” Ace supplied after emerging from the break room.
“Nope,” Zoro muttered, and he was having a harder time than usual coping with the fact.
***
Zoro wished he’d put his phone number in that man’s phone instead of vice versa, because now, even if he wanted to apologize, he couldn’t. The onslaught of notifications linked to rude responses that he was still getting because he left a comment on a youtube video disagreeing with a fitness influencer’s methods was easy to ignore because against all odds, all he cared about seeing when he looked at his phone was a text from that man.
He really must’ve screwed the pooch on it, because the holiday came and went, and no text ever came. Apparently Sanji had decided he didn’t need Zoro’s help finding any date spots, likely on account of him being an asshole. Even though technically, he was the one who started it by laughing at Zoro’s name.
January and February flew by uneventfully, most of Zoro’s energy went into simply surviving the blizzards and keeping up with his good habits without contracting any new bad ones. Ace looked at him like he was a walking tragedy sometimes, but it was starting to get on his nerves. It wasn’t like Ace was married with a white picket fence and three kids or anything, so what was with the judgements?
Once spring rolled around, he started trying to branch out a little more, but unfortunately, it was in the worst way possible.
“I’m so proud of you,” Ace said, shaking his fists as Zoro chose what he felt were his best photos from the last four years of his camera roll. It was hard to find many, he wasn’t exactly a selfie taker.
Once he’d selected a fifth photo, he’d successfully created a profile on a dating app. That was how far he’d fallen.
***
“Are you listening to me at all?” Sanji griped, arms folded sloppily on the table and cheek rested against his wrist. “She hates me, like totally hates me, has the whole time, and I didn’t find out until now!”
“Mmm, tragic,” the man across from him responded idly, but his attention was focused on his phone which was sitting on the table next to his plate. Sanji could see clearly by the screen that he was on some kind of crude dating app, but probably one that was also socially acceptable for rich assholes.
“Why don’t you sound surprised?” Sanji barked. The man heaved a sigh, looking annoyed.
“Because every woman hates you,” he said, “you’re terrible with women.”
Sanji incoherently tried to protest and felt like he was going to cry. He wished Usopp or Nami was here instead of this asshole. Neither of them would have been so mean to him-- well, Nami would have, but she would have been an ethereal sight to behold while doing it. Unfortunately, Cavendish had asked him to meet so they could make sure the engagement was really dead and give the green light to find Pudding other suitors.
Cavendish was still preoccupied with his phone, swiping left, left, left, pause… left. He sighed wistfully when the screen said he was out of matches for the time being, and focused his attention back on his food.
“I’m sure she had her reasons, and I don’t blame her--,”
“You should, it sounds like she intentionally mislead you,” Cavendish tried to interrupt to no avail.
“--but I hate that I thought we had something but it was all make-believe,” Sanji muttered, “the second she saw a way out of the arrangement, she ripped into me and made me feel like complete shit.”
“You’re not great but she sounds evil,” Cavendish tried again, but Sanji didn’t listen because he never had anything particularly helpful to say anyway. Cavendish’s phone lit up up with a new photo, most of it made up of the color green. Sanji’s eyes zeroed in on it, and before Cavendish could swipe the profile away he reached out and snatched it up.
“Hey, what the hell!” He erupted, reaching across the table to try and grab it back. Sanji played a good game of keep-away while he examined the picture, the profile details, and the name. Zoro, just as he suspected.
“I know this douchebag!” He exclaimed, turning the phone back and shoving it close to Cavendish’s face so he could see. “I have his number in my phone!”
“Oh?” Cavendish scowled and took the phone back. “Is he this good-looking in person?” He asked.
“His hair is green,” Sanji huffed, not sure how anyone could consider that good-looking, and that was evident from the picture so Cavendish had no excuse.
“But is he?” Cavendish pressed.
“Yeah, I guess,” Sanji grumbled, and watched Cavendish swipe right. A notification came up saying that they matched, and the man’s face lit up deviously, like he’d won a prize while cheating or had tricked fat little children into coming into his candy house. Sanji rolled his eyes but observed idly as Cavendish scrolled down the guy’s profile.
“Seems like a loser,” Cavendish shut off the screen, sighing with disappointment.
Normally, Sanji would agree just to throw more insults on the name of the guy that had pissed him off the day he was meeting Pudding. But he knew Cavendish, and when Cavendish said things like that he was going off of employment and financial status rather than his character, and that pissed Sanji off.
“You’re a loser,” he muttered, standing.
“Why is his number in your phone?” Cavendish asked without paying any mind to the slight. “Did you start batting for both sides?”
“No, it was something else,” Sanji said, pulling his cigarettes out of his pocket. There was no smoking inside the restaurant, so he’d have to go outside to do it.
“So you’re in contact with him for some other reason?” Cavendish asked.
“We’re not in contact.”
“Delete the number then, maybe?” Cavendish scoffed, like what he should do was obvious and like it even mattered. He was always tough to deal with one-on-one, he’d helped out during some tough times and Sanji considered him a friend overall but he was judgemental and kind of an asshole. All he cared about was praise and status and he’d already given Sanji an earful about ruining his chances for further prestige in his career by blowing things with Pudding.
“I’ll be back in a few,” Sanji said, because he knew they weren’t done discussing the matter yet.
*** Nine months later, end of the year ***
“Zoro,” he heard his name but he was distracted by a wall of responses to a YouTube video depicting his recent tournament victory. Many of them were positive, but some were insults, and he imagined they were from people who’d been rooting for his opponent.
“Zoro?”
Once of them in particular criticized his form and he wasn’t having that, considering that both from memory and from watching the video it was fucking perfect by the standards of anyone remotely educated on the subject. He hit the reply button and started furiously typing.
“Zoro!” Something light but still annoying bounced off his head, demanding his attention.
“Wha!?” Zoro looked down at it to see it was a pack of Sobranie Black Russians. Zoro looked up and saw Luffy on the customer side of the counter, apparently looking to buy an unholy amount of beef jerky, judging by the fact that he’d stacked it all on the counter. Zoro had forgotten he was the only one on staff tonight.
“Is there a storm I don’t know about?” Zoro sighed as he sauntered out to ring him up. He brought his phone with him and set it on the counter as he started to scan each package.
“I don't know, it’s for the trip,” Luffy said, reminding Zoro that he and Ace and Sabo were all headed north for the new year. Only their family would decide to take a trip north instead of south in the dead of winter.
“This is a lot of jerky for three days,” Zoro was certain it was going to run him over a hundred dollars, but he wasn’t exactly strapped for cash thanks to his father.
“Yeah, I wanted to be prepared,” Luffy sounded proud of himself and handed over a credit card and Zoro ran it without questioning things further.
Zoro’s phone vibrated and he glanced at it.
“Can I get a bag?” Luffy asked.
So about those date spots…
Zoro paused everything and stared at the phone, face twisting into shock at the text from an unsaved number.
“Zoro?” Luffy flailed a bit. “I heard this is your last week working here but can you wait for the next person to not give a shit?”
“What? Yes— no,” Zoro fumbled to answer him and fumbled to grab hold of a bag and start shoving packages of beef jerky into it.
“Hmm,” Luffy’s eyes shifted to the phone and he suddenly reached over and snatched it. Zoro had no clue how he’d gotten ahold of it so quickly because the counter was at neck-level to discourage robbery and the phone itself was all the way at the back but the man’s arms must’ve been long and nimble as hell.
“Luffy!” Zoro shouted, reaching over the counter for it but his arms weren’t that long so he didn’t manage to even come close to snatching it back.
“A wrong number?” Luffy guessed, probably because the text was from an unsaved number and there was no previous conversation.
“Probably…” Zoro mumbled, desperately wanting the phone back so he could devise a response that might lead to an actual conversation, which was absurd because the guy was asking for something very specific that Zoro had offered a year ago so it stood to reason that was all he wanted.
“Hmm,” Luffy studied him, probably already acutely aware that this was not a wrong number and not a text from someone Zoro was indifferent to either. He’d had a lot of experience figuring out what things Luffy was totally oblivious to and which he’d pick-up on with even the smallest hint.
“Okay,” Luffy handed the phone back to him, a little knowing grin on his somehow intuitive face as he shoved the rest of the jerky packages into the bag Zoro had out and then took them.
“Happy New Year,” Zoro rattled off what the manager wanted him to say go customers as Luffy waved, waiting until he left to start formulating his reply to the text. He’d lived in the area most of his life and had been taken to some pretty nice places, even if he personally wasn’t impressed with any of them.
Before he approached that subject, though, he decided that the initial text had left room for a less clinical response.
Still trying to impress your fiancé? Or is it wife, now?
He typed out the message and sent it quickly before he could stop himself. He didn’t necessarily want to hear the answer, but it was the perfect time to figure it out.
Kinda gay of you to remember me after a year.
Was the response he got back. Zoro stared at the screen, mortified by that response, and completely lost on how to reply to it.
Just kidding, haha.
But no, actually… well it’s complicated, but do you know of a place that says ‘let’s go our separate ways for good?’
Zoro was really glad the next message came in immediately, and the next after that, rescuing him from having to respond to the initial one. What he was less ecstatic about was the way his heart-rate picked up upon receiving confirmation that the man was apparently not married, and seemed to no longer be engaged either.
Zoro decided not to make the same mistake twice.
I might be projecting, but I got dumped at Louise’s Place and I handled it pretty well. It’s a nice, seafood place.
Technically, it was a mutual break-up was the reason he handled it well— most of his were. But this guy didn’t need to know that. Zoro just wanted to offer decent advice about the quality of the restaurant at very least.
Kilimanjaro is a high-end bar and grill out west if she’s into that kind of thing, and there’s Little Lyon which is crazy fancy, so she might appreciate a meal from a place like that before it’s over, if you have the money.
Zoro sent the extra suggestions and then set the phone down, deciding three was a good number to choose from.
Thanks, I’ll check them out.
That was all that came in after a long while, and Zoro sighed, staring out the window as he noticed snow started to come down harder than he’d been expecting. Perhaps there was a blizzard on the way that he didn’t know about. To be fair, he rarely bothered to pay attention to the weather, he didn’t drive and while trading through the snow sucked, it wasn’t as treacherous so he rarely bothered.
He picked up his phone again, because there was no way he’d forgive himself if he let the guy take his suggestions and then disappear forever.
Kind of gay for you to save my number for a year.
He sent it, and waited. The response didn’t take long at all, and after the first they came in one after the other at lightning speed.
Hahahaha I was lucky I did!
I just didn’t clean out my contacts.
I’m not though tbh, haha.
Gay, I mean.
In case you really thought so.
Zoro tossed the phone sideways and it tumbled across the counter, the case probably picking up a few more dings and dents after the abuse. Zoro sighed, annoyed that he’d gotten his hopes up again, annoyed that it still bothered him after an entire year and that it took an entire year for him to know that for sure. But now he knew, so that was that.
He thought he should reply with something light and cordial to confirm he didn’t care, but decided to calm down first. If he didn’t reply fast, the guy would probably just assume he was busy.
He didn’t expect it when the phone buzzed again after a long while.
Are you?
Zoro rolled his eyes, wondering why the hell he cared. He didn’t harbor much hope that it was because he was closeted, in his experience most straight people who pressed him about his sexuality were just curious in the way that one is curious about the details of a violent car crash. That always led to invasive questions.
No.
Zoro replied, and he knew he shouldn’t have sent it immediately. Not so much because he lied but because it was a one-word answer that definitely made him seem annoyed or pissed off.
Oh, okay. Well, thanks for the tips!
***
“Seems like a questionable time to be so focused on your phone,” a voice made Sanji jump, worried it was one of Pudding’s family members but relieved when he looked and it was just Nami.
Sanji snickered, and shut the screen off. “This guy just lied to me,” he was a little amused by it, but also a little annoyed.
“What?” Nami didn’t seem to actually care, but asked anyway.
“Nothing,” Sanji didn’t want to get into the details or reveal that he was lingering on something like that.
‘When are you leaving?” Nami asked.
“Well, I have some ideas on where to take her now,” Sanji said, having googled some of the restaurant names he’d been given. They did seem like nice places, and he wondered why someone who works at a convenience store was so well-versed in the area’s fine-dining. He was nice to look at though, so maybe he got dates with enough rich guys before they figured out he had shitty manners.
“Godspeed,” Nami said, “remember, don’t look at her boobs, and no matter what she says or does, you are not going to see her again. Okay?”
Sanji sighed as Pudding stepped into view across the room, her hair spilling down her shoulders and over her breasts— ah, he wasn’t supposed to look at those.
“She’s so cute though,” he whined helplessly.
Nami slapped him on the cheek, and it hurt but he appreciated it.
“Be strong! She’s no good for you,” Nami insisted, and Sanji felt his legs start to give out, “remember what Zeff said! You can’t give Judge the satisfaction!”
Sanji steeled himself at the mention of his father and ex-father’s names, and gave a resolute nod. He would tell Pudding this wasn’t going to happen, just like he’d told him the same thing last year. He would be nicer about it than she had been, though— just not nice enough to crawl into her bed.
***
It was 9:30 pm, and Zoro had an hour and a half left on his shift. That normally would have put him home by 11:30 pm with the half-hour walk, but every step was going to be a chore with the way the snow was coming down.
His phone was dead too, so not only was he bored right now, but if he got lost in the blizzard he had no way to call for help. For him, despite having completed the walk hundreds of times, that was a real possibility. If his phone hadn’t died, he would have considered the blizzard a nice break, because it meant very few people if anyone would be visiting the store and he could sit through the night without worrying about any rude or drunk customers. Anyone who did try to go out in this would probably die on the way.
That was why, when the bell indicating that the door had been opened rang, Zoro was surprised.
He was further surprised by the snow-monster that immediately started to approach the counter rather than the aisles. No, wait, this snow monster had an extremely unique and familiar eyebrow, it and one eye being the only things visible behind a hat and a collar zipped all the way up above his nose. Every inch of him that was covered in clothing was also covered in a layer of snow. He looked like he’d walked here.
“Hi,” the man stopped short of the counter, greeting Zoro, and Zoro just stared with his mouth slightly agape.
“Hi?” Zoro fumbled over just that word. The eyebrow— Sanji— seemed to think he was confused, so he unzipped the zipper on the jacket down to below his chin. Then he removed the hat from on top of his head. When he did the latter, Zoro heard the rapid click of static electricity and once it was off, his hair was sticking up in all directions.
“It’s me,” Sanji said, looking quite miserable with a helpless expression and wide eyes.
Zoro shouldn’t have, but he laughed, the static electricity hair was too much for him to help himself.
“Don’t laugh at me!” Sanji barked. “You’re seriously the rudest person I’ve ever met!”
Zoro forced himself to stop laughing and frown instead, simply doing as he was asked. A silence fell between them once he stopped laughing, and Zoro waited. He wondered if the guy had braved the storm on foot just for more cigarettes or something. Most people who walked in here did so to buy something, so it made sense for Zoro to assume that was all he was here for and wait for him to say what.
“My car slid into a snow bank and now I can’t get it to turn back on,” is what he said instead, expression and even his formerly very upright hair drooping as he made the confession.
“Oh,” Zoro said, processing. “Oh, do you need a phone?”
“No, I had that covered. I need a place to wait until the tow truck shows up. It’s New Years Eve, so they told me three hours.”
Zoro looked at the clock.
“You can wait here, but we’re only open for one more hour,” he said.
“Damn it,” Sanji sounded distraught. “This was the only place I could find that was open at all,” he started fishing in his jacket, and Zoro watched with intrigue until he found cigarettes and a lighter.
“Well, once you close up I’ll figure something o—"
“You can’t smoke in here,” Zoro protested, gesturing to the camera that was currently pointed straight at him.
“Ah,” Sanji stopped just short of lighting the cigarette, and closed the lighter, “right, sorry, I’m just…” he took a deep breath, starting to tap his food.
“Don’t worry,” Zoro said, decisively, “I’ll stay here and keep the heat on until the tow truck arrives.”
“You… you’ll stay?” Sanji asked. “But it’s New Year’s Eve, you’ll miss the changeover.” he reminded. Zoro was vaguely aware of that, but had absolutely no plans in relation to it.
“Well, I can’t leave you alone with the merchandise or trust you to lock up, no offense,” Zoro said, shrugging.
“I…” Sanji sounded like he was going to protest, but stopped himself, likely because his only option other than accepting the favor offered was to brave the cold for three hours. Zoro had no clue what the temperature outside was, but by how frozen the man had looked when he walked in, he would have guessed it was pushing negatives.
“…thank you,” he said, “you’re nicer than I’ve been giving you credit for.”
Zoro appreciated it, but he wasn’t being totally selfless. He’d only been so willing to do it because it meant he got to spend the next three hours with the hot blond from last new year’s eve, which was what he’d been referring to Sanji as in his head for the past year thanks to Ace’s initial description of him.
He’d said he was straight, but Zoro liked looking at him anyway, even with all his hair sticking up and snow melting on his clothes so he was starting to appear soaked.
“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t have plans, and another day is another day, I could give a shit what the date is unless I have an appointment,” he said, shrugging.
“Well,” Sanji sighed, “normally I’d argue with you on the importance of symbolic new beginnings, but in this case it works in my favor that you’re a passionless dumba—” he stopped himself, and looked away, “— never mind, I’m taking that back. Sorry.”
“Glad to hear it,” Zoro said, but less about the apology and more than he wasn’t going to argue. That sounded like a boring argument that he didn’t care to have.
“I’ll bring a chair out from the back so you don’t have to stand the whole time, just give me a minute,” Zoro said.
“Thanks,” Sanji responded in a small voice.
***
“So after all that it took you a year to tell her off?” Zoro knew his face was one of disgust.
“I didn’t “tell her off”,” Sanji protested with air quotes, “I just told her we shouldn’t get married. That decision had less to do with her and more with not wanting to give my biological father what he wanted. I was probably going to marry her until I found out the whole thing was just me getting used by him.”
“How could you just marry someone that treated you like that? Marriage is supposed to last a lifetime,” Zoro’s repulsion to this entire issue persisted.
“You haven’t seen what she looks like,” Sanji said, a sort of dreamy stupor in his eyes.
“No amount of good looks are worth putting up with that,” Zoro said, insistent on the fact.
“Okay, well, she also apologized, and took it all back, so—,” Sanji trailed off, “—damn, I want a cigarette.”
“Let’s change the subject,” Zoro suggested, feeling a bit disenchanted about this guy in response to all this new information. He’d been enjoying being enamored with him, so he needed to move on from that.
“What do you do for a living?” Zoro asked.
“I’m a sous chef right now,” Sanji replied, “working my way up to head chef.”
“Where at?”
“A place called Baratie,” Sanji responded, “it’s a nice place— nicer than any of the places you recommended, for scale, but it’s also uptown so that makes sense.”
“Oh,” Zoro was having a hard time not feeling self-conscious about his choices.
“No, it’s like, really nice, like the best.” Sanji spoke hurriedly, seeming to have read his mind, “I wouldn’t have expected anywhere like that to even exist around here even before I asked you.”
Now he just sounded arrogant about the place, but Zoro could tell from the first time he met the guy that he made good money, so maybe he was just being honest.
“What about you? Is this a side-gig, or…?” Sanji asked, and a year ago Zoro would have been embarrassed to answer that question, especially in response to a rich guy he was digging on. But, since then things had taken a turn for the amazing for him, and he was happy to get to answer.
“Yeah, it is. Actually, I’m leaving this place at the end of the week because I just raked in a bunch of money from winning a tournament, and there’s another one I’m going to compete in and hopefully take home another big prize that starts mid January, so—,” he stopped himself from rambling any further.
“Wow, cool,” Sanji sounded actually impressed, “what kind of tournament?”
“Kendo,” Zoro responded.
“Like, swords?” Sanji asked for confirmation.
“In layman’s terms, yes,” Zoro nodded. “I’m really good with swords,” he said proudly.
Sanji’s expression changed and Zoro wished he could read his mind because his blank stare made it clear that something Zoro had said had left him lost in thought.
“If I get even better and keep winning, I could do really well for myself financially. This is like, my dream, so—,” Zoro cut himself off again, “—well, you get it.”
“I do get it,” Sanji smiled, taking him by surprise, “I’m basically living my dream, too.”
As if the universe was mocking him, the second he finished saying that, all of the electric whirring from the lights, coolers, and machinery around them crescendoed into a monotone drawl and then went silent as the well-lit store suddenly went dark.
“Fuck,” Zoro stood, “what time is it?” He asked Sanji.
“It’s only 11:03, do you have a back-up generator?” He asked, hopefully.
“We do, but it’s fucking broken right now because the manager was being cheap about it,” Zoro grumbled, making a bee-line to a specific aisle where a small selection of flashlights were on display. He grabbed one, and then returned to the front counter with the batteries were kept.
“You don’t have a flashlight back there already?” Sanji asked, and Zoro revealed another flashlight from behind the counter.
“This one is for you while I go in the back and see if I can get the generator to work,” Zoro finished putting the batteries in the flashlight, and handed it to him. “Just so you have light if you need it. Save your phone battery so you know when the tow truck comes.”
“Okay… uh, hey,” Sanji called his attention just before he was going to head to where the generator was housed. “If you want you can close up and I’ll figure something out,” he said, “seriously, this is a lot and it isn’t your problem anymore. If it wasn’t for me you’d just leave, right?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Zoro shook his head, though he wasn’t keen on sticking around to admit that he wasn’t ready to say good-bye forever, “just give me a few minutes,” with that, he went into the back, determined to get the thing running again so he could fulfill his promise.
Ten minutes or so later, he returned to Sanji, utterly defeated by the broken, uncooperative generator.
“I don’t have a car,” Zoro confessed then.
“Huh?” Sanji questioned.
“I just thought you might be thinking our next best option would be to sit in a car with the heat on,” Zoro explained, “but I don’t have one.”
“Oh,” Sanji said, “how were you going to get home?” He asked.
“Walk,” Zoro responded, “it isn’t far. I’d say we could try going there, but who knows if the power’s out there too?”
“In that case, once the tow truck comes I’ll ask them to take you home before taking me back to the hotel,” Sanji said.
“That’s not—,”
“I’m not taking no for an answer,” Sanji interrupted, “it’s supposed to be negative ten at 1 AM, I just checked. You could freeze to death.”
“Shit,” Zoro didn’t like the sound of that for their current situation in the store either. It was still fairly warm for now, but with the front of the store being mostly glass windows that all needed replaced, it wouldn’t be long before that level of cold seeped in.
“We’ll be okay,” Sanji said, keeping calm, “we just have to wait it out,” he pulled something out of his jacket pocket that Zoro couldn’t really make out in the dark.
“The cameras are down like everything else, right?” Sanji asked him.
“Yeah?” Zoro confirmed but was also asking why he wanted to know.
“I’m smoking, then,” he said, and a small flame illuminated his face as he lit up. Zoro had no objections to that, in fact his eyes shifted to the coolers of cheap wine and beer, and a sly smile crossed his face.
***
“I don’t know like, 2015? And that was only because I used to work from 8pm to 4am,” Zoro said.
“Six years? It’s been six years since you’ve been awake at midnight on New Year’s Eve?” Sanji seemed shocked and appalled.
“Yeah, so I guess that makes tonight special, doesn’t it?” Zoro bumped his can of Modelo gently against the hand Sanji was holding his cigarette in, and felt his face get hot when Sanji laughed at him. He probably only felt the warmth rush to his cheeks because of how cold it was getting, though, and Zoro was trying not to think about that.
“Why, what were you doing last year?”
“Well, I’d just met my fiancé, remember?” Sanji said. “Right after a mean ball of seaweed pissed me off, mind you,” he added.
Zoro cackled, “Glad to have made an impression!” He really was.
“Don’t let it go to your head, I’m easily provoked, so says my therapist,” Sanji muttered, and Zoro liked that Sanji had a therapist. Working through personal issues and all that, important stuff. Also Zoro was drunk and he was finding once again that he liked everything about Sanji, especially playing with his mood swings. That therapist was right on the money.
“And the year before that?” Zoro asked.
“Uh, I was out with Nami and Usopp,” he said, “we were all single that year, but we went to a club and we all found someone to kiss at midnight anyway.”
“Are those your friends?” Zoro asked.
“Yeah, best friends,” Sanji confirmed, “now Nami has a girlfriend and Usopp has a boyfriend and a girlfriend, I was supposed to be married but—,” he trailed off. “Well, it’s probably better that I’m not, but—”
“But?” Zoro asked.
“—but I have a hard time with dating, so I guess part of me thought it’d be an easy way to bypass all of that and just have a beautiful wife already.”
Zoro nodded, not wanting to press about why he had a hard time, there was something off and questionable about his demeanor every time he mentioned a woman, and Zoro was already fairly certain it had something to do with that.
“And the year before that?” Zoro was getting to the point where he just liked watching the other man speak, Even in the low flickering light of the cheap candles he’d pulled off the shelves, or maybe especially like that. There was something oddly romantic about it, at least from Zoro’s perspective, and he didn’t know if he’d ever been in a situation prior that he would have described as romantic. But here they were, sitting against the wall furthest from the storefront because it would stay the warmest, talking by soft candlelight.
“Uh, I guess I was at Viola’s place,” Sanji said, “I only dated her for a few months, which is common for me, but it happened to be around the holidays, so,” he shrugged, “we broke up by the end of January.”
“You really are always up to something for New Year’s, then?” Zoro mused, thinking that he had little to nothing to say when it came to recounting his holiday celebrations. He had a lot of good times in his life, plenty of fond memories with Ace and Luffy, but few to none of them coincided with holiday celebrations.
“Yeah, I am,” Sanji confirmed, “there was a party at the hotel tonight, too,” he said, “I’m probably going to miss the whole thing at this rate, and I’m definitely going to miss kissing someone at midnight, which sucks because I haven’t failed to do that since I learned what kissing was.”
Zoro felt him self go rigid as the obvious solution to that problem crossed his mind.
“I mean, I didn’t have anyone in mind, but I always find someone, you know?” He shrugged. “I guess you don’t bother with that because you’re always asleep, right?”
“Yeah,” Zoro confirmed, “sleeping sounds much better than swapping spit with strangers.”
Sanji sputtered a laugh, and the sound made Zoro’s heart twist in his chest as it had every other time. He couldn’t get the thought of kissing Sanji out of his head now, he wanted it so bad he couldn’t even look at the man for fear of getting his eyes stuck on his mouth.
He didn’t even know what time it was, it could have been two minutes to midnight and nearly too late to arrange that kind of thing. Sanji’s phone was the only thing that could tell them what time it was, and he hadn’t checked in a while.
“You lied, by the way,” Sanji mumbled after a few minutes of silence.
“What?”
“Over text,” Sanji went on, “you matched with one of my friends on tinder, a guy who lives around here. I was there and I saw your profile, so I already knew you were gay when I asked.”
“Oh,” Zoro said, having forgotten he’d even said that but more importantly why the fuck was he bringing it up right now?
“Sorry, I just thought that you should know,” Sanji started, “and since you know that I know, I’ve told you everything there is to know about my love life, so now it’s your turn.”
Zoro remained quiet for a while, even as he was being looked at expectantly.
“What time is it?” He decided he had to know.
Sanji looked surprised by the question, probably because his inquiry had been ignored. He didn’t object to the question, though, and instead picked up his phone and turned the screen on.
“11:48,” he said.
Still time. Zoro thought to himself. Twelve minutes to grow a pair.
“Uneventful,” Zoro shrugged, deciding to answer the question after all, “I tried seeing both of my closest friends, who are brothers, but neither of those relationships lasted more than a few weeks because we’re just better as friends. Outside of that it’s just been a bunch of first dates that never made it to the second. The Kendo keeps me pretty busy, I have to train for it, keep in top shape, and work full time to pay the bills on top of it, so…” he trailed off, shrugging.
“No time for relationships,” Sanji nodded with understanding.
“No one worth making time for,” Zoro emphasized the more specific issue.
“Waiting for the one?” Sanji seemed amused. “What an adorable cliche you are.”
“I didn’t say that,” Zoro huffed, very much disliking being called adorable. “But I’m also not going to lose my head over every conventionally attractive guy that walks past me. But why do I get the feeling that’s what happens with you and women?”
The amusement disappeared entirely from Sanji’s face and he glared, “you think you know me, Mosshead?”
“Seems like I was right on the money,” Zoro grinned, “also, Marimo was more creative.”
“I’ll call you whatever I want, just like you said I could.”
“What time is it?” Zoro asked, not a second after Sanji finished yelling at him, visibly throwing him off once again.
Sanji grumbled something unintelligible, but picked up the phone and looked at it again.
“11:52,” he said, and then seemed to study Zoro quietly for a the few moments following, moments during which Zoro was getting more and more nervous that he was going to let the moment pass him by. Maybe he should, because Sanji had said he was straight so even if he could make this happen it would be all he’d ever get.
But damn, was he absolutely positive that it would be so much better than nothing.
“I can’t believe the power’s still out,” Sanji said, shivering, “I honestly thought it would have come back by now.”
“Must be some storm,” Zoro idly responded, side-eyeing Sanji as he shifted on his butt, shuffled his feet, and hugged himself tighter, obviously trying to generate some warmth. Zoro picked up another candle, the largest one, lit it, and placed it closer to him. Sanji looked down at for a while after it was placed.
“That’s not going to do anything,” he said, clearly judging.
Zoro made a shocked sound at his rudeness and pushed away from the wall, scowling at him.
“I was trying to be nice,” he said self-consciously. Sanji snorted, and Zoro watched as he picked up one of the candles and slowly transported it to the other side of him, taking care that it didn’t go out in the process. He did the same thing with the other two, and then once they were no longer in-between them, he scooted closer to Zoro.
First, he left a few inches between them. Then, he closed those inches until their coats rubbed together at the shoulder. Then he moved just a little closer, just enough that Zoro could feel his body heat through their upper arms that were now snug up against each other.
“There,” Sanji said, “this makes more sense for staying warm.”
Zoro didn’t say anything in response to that, he wasn’t sure he could make words at the moment.
It took him a while to ask again, “what time is it?”
Sanji looked at his face, “why do you keep asking that if you don’t care about the new year?” He asked.
“…no reason,” Zoro muttered, pointedly looking away, more and more aware of the proximity as the seconds ticked by.
Sanji turned on his phone screen at the request anyway.
“11:59,” he said, and continued staring down at it rather than turning the screen off immediately this time.
“I guess I’m glad you asked,” Sanji mumbled that or something like it, and didn’t stop staring at the clock. He was probably waiting for it to turn so he could say Happy New Year or whatever, and Zoro was internally floundering and had found himself staring at it too, just so he could bear witness to his own cowardice as time ticked on and the opportunity slipped away.
He felt like his heart stopped when the numbers finally read 12:00. He wanted to just kiss him out of the blue, but that would have been fucked up and probably earned him a restraining order if it didn’t go the way he fantasized.
“Hey,” Sanji called his attention, voice loud because he was so close now, and Zoro looked at him in response, and damn it all, as soon as he did his eyes flicked down to look at his mouth and the shine of his lips in the dim candlelight.
Then he couldn’t see his lips anymore, because they were pressed against his.
For a second Zoro thought he’d done this himself, but he ran it through his head once, and then once again, and he was certain he hadn’t moved. It wasn’t until Sanji pushed a little harder that he understood, and he only got to tilt his head and lean into it for all of one second before it was over. When he pulled back it was like it was almost like it never happened, because Zoro was still staring at his mouth from the same distance, the other difference being that Sanji’s lips were glistening wetter than they had been.
Zoro couldn’t stop himself from closing the distance again, and Sanji didn’t stop him either. He moved his mouth slowly and gently, trying to get as much as he could without crossing a line. He wanted to put his hands on him and he wanted his tongue down his throat but he couldn’t do that because he didn’t know what this actually was. So after a few more seconds, he pulled back too.
This time Sanji’s lips were wetter and he was breathing heavier. His eyelids were drooped more than usual and he appeared to be having trouble gathering himself back up enough to speak. If Zoro didn’t know better, he would say he was turned on.
“There,” Sanji finally said, “I didn’t break tradition, and you got your first New Year’s kiss,” he said, turning his head away, and Zoro didn’t know what else to do except keep staring at the side of his head. He had to know now that Zoro wanted him, wanted more than just that, so it wasn’t like he was giving anything away. Even if he couldn’t have it, he was once again left in a position of at least I can look.
At that moment, looking got a whole lot easier, because following a mass resume of electric whirring, every light in the store came back on.
Before either of them could comment, Sanji’s phone started to vibrate and play music as well, and the screen indicated that a call was coming in. He hit the answer icon, and put the phone up to his ear.
“Yes?” He said, and Zoro heard an incoherent voice through the speaker, “oh thank god,” Sanji heaved a sigh, and started pushing himself to his feet. “Yeah, I’m on my way back out there, I should be back by the car in ten minutes.” He was already walking toward the door, and Zoro stood fast, wanting to tell him to wait.
“Do what you gotta do here, and I’ll be outside, okay?” Sanji said to him, standing at the exit. “I’m still getting you that ride home.”
Zoro opened his mouth, not sure what to say, but then just closed it and did as Sanji suggested. He picked up the candles, blew them out, and tossed them along with the empty beer cans, stowing the ones that were left in the backroom’s refrigerator. He locked the back door, and then headed toward the front like he would have every night.
“All good?” Sanji asked once he stepped outside. It seemed the snow and wind had died down considerably, though it was still undeniably freezing.
“Yeah,” Zoro said as he locked the front door, then pulled on it.
“All right cool, let’s go,” Sanji said, and started to walk.
“Hey, wait—,” Zoro tried, and Sanji stopped and turned around to face him and started responding before Zoro could even speak his mind first.
“Look, I’m happy you liked it,” he said, “but I’m still straight, okay? It was just a one-time kiss for a special occasion.”
Zoro was angry— not so much at Sanji, but just because he was sure he’d just felt his heart break and that was devastatingly infuriating.
“Yeah, I get that,” he said anyway.
“Okay, come on then,” Sanji urged him along, and Zoro reluctantly followed.
Sanji discussing the tow went by in a blur, Zoro only noted that the man seemed to have no issue giving Zoro a quick ride home given the low temperature, and then Zoro was alone in his apartment with the lingering smell of cigarettes on his coat, and a bunch of clocks blinking 12:00.
***
Six Months Later
“We should break up,” she said, and Sanji had seen that coming a hundred miles away, but he made himself looked shocked anyway.
“But Kalifa—,”
“Don’t,” she interrupted, and stood, “we both know this wasn’t a match, you knew I liked your money, and I knew— well, you know what you liked about me,” she flipped her hair over her shoulder, and Sanji didn’t look her breast on that side through the fishnet in her underarm except he actually did.
“Okay, well— bye?” He said.
“Good-bye,” she turned swiftly, and left.
Sanji sighed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. He wasn’t that broken up about it— she was hot as hell, but kind of strange and kind of mean too. She was the type he’d rather watch from afar than be with. A lot of women were turning out to belong on that list lately.
He got the check, paid, and was only a second from slipping out of his seat and into the night air for a cigarette when a man sat down across from him in the same spot Kalifa had just been sitting.
“Sanji, right?” The man said, voice low like a smooth whisper, resting his head on his tattooed hand.
“Who wants to know?” Sanji asked, glaring.
“I know your father,” the man said.
“Which father?” Sanji scowled, waiting for one of two names to be spoken, and if it was the wrong one he’d leave immediately.
“A man by the name of Zeff,” he said, and Sanji deflated, relaxing in his seat and crossing his arms.
“Okay, what does the geezer want?” He grumbled. Zeff had moved to simply being the Baratie’s owner, which left Sanji as the head chef. He was making a hell of a lot more money, certainly, but Zeff was also micromanaging him more than ever.
“What? Oh, you misunderstand, he didn’t send me, I just know him,” the man said, leaning back and resting his hands behind his head, “I thought it was a good ice-breaker to mention it.”
Sanji narrowed his eyes, and one of them twitched a little.
“Are you hitting on me?” He asked.
“I’m that obvious?” the man cocked his head, smiling a lazy, intentful smile that for one second was doing it for Sanji until he snapped himself out of it.
“You haven’t given any other reason for sitting at my table,” Sanji mumbled.
“I noticed you got dumped and thought you might need some... comfort?” the man said, tapping his fingers in a slow rhythm on the counter.
Sanji rolled his eyes, but somewhere in doing so they fell on the guy’s collar bone and followed the trail of toned muscle up to his jawline. The guy was hot, somehow both conventionally, uniquely, and interestingly hot all at the same time. Sanji had never had a problem admitting when a man was attractive, but this felt different— and admitting that had been a long time coming.
“Why me?” Sanji felt compelled to ask, because some part of him couldn’t help feeling this guy was out of his league. That was a strange thought, though, because he’d never been with a woman who he didn’t feel the same way about.
“Have you seen you?” The man asked, head tilting the other way, brow raising pointedly as if to say to him he should have known how desirable he was.
“I own a mirror, like most people,” Sanji stood up, not interested in the games, “I was just leaving, so make your case on the way out,” he closed his eyes as he spoke, forcing the words out but trying to make them seem casual as he placed a cigarette between his lips, not intending to light it until he was outside.
If he was going to finally let it happen with a guy, he couldn’t think of a better contender than the hottest guy he’d seen all year.
The man failed to make any kind of case, but he did quietly follow Sanji to the exit. His foreboding presence alone wore Sanji down enough on its own that when they reached Sanji’s car, Sanji discarded the unlit cigarette and went all in without another word on the matter. He kissed the man while pushing him up against the passenger side door of his car before he’d even asked his name.
It was only his second time kissing a man, and it wasn’t bad, but he decided fairly quickly that he liked the first time better.
Another Six Months Later
Zoro was slouched on his couch on New Year’s Eve, swiping away more of the onslaught of notifications alerting him to comments on the video his channel had posted of his win in this year’s state finals. He didn’t bother reading them anymore, it was a waste of time. He’d just banished the most recent one, when a different type of notification appeared where it had been.
A text from an unsaved number.
You’re illusive these days.
He fumbled an attempt to sit up fast, socks sliding forward on the pristine hardwood floor that had been waxed shortly before he moved in instead of giving him leverage to push himself up. Slipping made him lose his grip on the phone and he dropped it in his lap as his feet kept running away from him. He cursed as he scrambled to get ahold of the phone turned his foot sideways to get a better grip and sit up straight at the same time.
Once he finally got where he wanted to be, he held up the phone again, except it was up-side-down, causing the orientation to flip, flip back, and then flip again until he turned it right-side-up to cease its confusion and could finally comprehend what was on the screen.
He stared at the text message, noting that he’d never made an official contact for the man in his phone. After he’d been rejected, he hadn’t bothered to revisit the conversation. He read it a few times over before hitting the option to reply.
That sounds like you’re stalking me.
He sent it fast, rocking forward and back subtly as he watched the screen in anticipation of the response.
I didn’t want to break tradition, you know me.
Zoro’s heart rate picked up as that made him think about the last time this guy had done something just to avoid breaking tradition.
He didn’t have a chance to respond before another message came in.
Plus, Pudding and I are friends now, so I’m in town visiting her family again. This time nothing heavy. I forgot you quit that store and I dropped by for a visit but you weren’t there, then I went to the crummy apartment the tow truck driver dropped you at and you weren’t there either.
Zoro didn’t know what the hell to make of any of that, so in response he sent:
So the answer to my question seems like a yes.
The next reply took a while, longer than he would have liked as he had ended up teetering on the edge of the couch as he waited.
Well, the next part of my story involves me going back to the store and asking the guy with the freckles if he knew where you lived now. So yeah, I guess I am.
Zoro stared at that, and he knew there was no way in hell Ace didn’t tell Sanji where he lived down to the goddamn apartment number because Ace was the one who wanted Zoro to get his number in the first place and even without that motive, he was a meddler.
So you figured out where I live? Why?
Zoro had barely hit send when there was a knock on his apartment door.
He froze, looked down at his state of dress— a tank top and sweatpants that he’d napped in, god damn it. It wasn’t like he had time to change before answering it, though, so he dismissed the concern as was his only choice, and approached the door.
He took a deep breath, telling himself to keep cool, it was just a friendly visit from the son of a bitch he’d spent all year trying to get out of his head. No problem there. He muttered curses under his breath as he unlocked the door and opened it.
“Hi,” was all he said, and Zoro’s eyes got stuck on him before he could respond, because he looked different but it was difficult to discern what had changed. His clothes were similar to those he’d been wearing the first time Zoro saw him, and he was pretty sure it was the same blue scarf.
“Hey?” Zoro said, more a question than a greeting as he pieced it together. The first thing he gathered was that he had more facial hair, and then the rest became obvious all at once. Zoro almost wanted to laugh, because his hair was covering the opposite side of his face now and the swirl on his eyebrow was pointing inward instead of outward.
“Staring again?” Sanji narrowed his eyes in judgement, and Zoro noted that the changes didn’t make him any less irresistible. “He never fails to be rude.”
“At this point it’s kind of like a tradition,” Zoro leaned on the door with a mocking smile and earned an eyeroll. He stayed there, waiting for him to state his business. He didn’t, though, instead he just asked in an annoyed voice:
“Can I come in?”
…and Zoro stepped aside with no hesitation.
“This is way nicer,” Sanji commented as he walked in, his head moving back and and forth and in circles as he gave the place a thorough once-over. “I guess I never saw the inside of your old place but the building and halls don’t suggest much for the—,”
“—it was shit, yeah,” Zoro interrupted, “this is better. What are you doing here?”
“I—” Sanji slowly turned to face him, looking somewhat sheepish, “—well, the thing is…” he paused, scratched his neck, and then got on with it, “I’m, uh… not straight anymore.”
Zoro stared at him for a long time while that statement computed, complete with motherboard clicking and dial-up noises until the process completed like an ocean wave crashing into a rock and he understood.
“So, I wanted to ask you on a date. I was thinking Kilimanjaro unless you’re more into Seafood.”
Zoro had a lot of questions, like how dare you, where do you get the nerve, etc, but he set them aside.
“I have a boyfriend now,” he said instead, and watched Sanji’s eyes widen and also watched the cigarette he shouldn’t have been smoking in Zoro’s new apartment nearly fall out of his mouth as his jaw dropped.
“Oh. I didn’t consider that, um… possibility,” he started to choke, probably on whatever smoke he’d inhaled due to the surprise. Zoro waited until he gathered himself, then waited a moment more, just long enough for the silence to get awkward.
“Just kidding,” he winked, and watched Sanji’s expression morph from shock into mild rage.
“Asshole,” Sanji glared death at him, but sighed and recalibrated “so, then—,” he started.
“Yes to the date,” Zoro said, is brain was moving a mile a minute but he kept cool on the outside, “but you’re not going anywhere until after midnight tonight. Not saying we have to— y’know, but I’m know what you get a craving for at 11:59 PM and I’m going to be around for it.”
“Fair,” Sanji agreed enthusiastically and with his heart-wrenching giddy smile. “I knew it, I knew you were obsessed with me.”
“Says the guy who tracked me down like a stalker when he could have just texted me for my address,” Zoro countered, walking right by him.
“I don’t think you’d have it any other way,” Sanji called his bluff, eyes following him and he turned his body to face him too after Zoro passed by him. Zoro picked up a glass bowl he’d eaten cereal out of earlier from the coffee table, and walked back to Sanji. He stopped in front of him, and in a quick motion, snatched the cigarette from between his lips.
“I have a balcony if you want to smoke when you’re here,” Zoro said, pointedly stamping out the cigarette in the bowl.
“Right, sorry,” Sanji mumbled not without guilt as Zoro turned away from him just to set the bowl down, then turned back and took a step closer, shoving his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants while they were only inches apart. He stood that way quietly for a while, contemplatively.
“I don’t really want to wait until midnight,” he decided, matter-of-factly, and giving Sanji plenty of time to move away if he wanted to take things slower. “I’ve already waited two years, you know?”
The only move Sanji made was to cock his head with concern, “Most people would say ‘I’ve waited two years, what’s another five hours?’”
Zoro smirked, because he knew the answer to that question.
“Torture,” he said, “it would be torture,” and closed his eyes just to listen to the soft, familiar laugh he earned and had waited a year to hear again. Then he leaned in, bumped and then rubbed his nose against his, and titled his head to kiss him the same way he had five hours short of a year ago.
“What to know something?” Sanji asked against his mouth during a break.
“What?”
“At midnight, it’s never been the same person two years in a row before,” he confessed.
“Hm,” Zoro considered, “groundbreaking. Why not make it three in a row, then? Or four?”
Sanji laughed, leaning into his mouth again, he kissed him, and bit his bottom lip and let it slide between his teeth.
“Obsessed,” he hissed through a grin and Zoro wouldn't have argued even if he had had time to speak before he was met with a needy, open-mouthed kiss and a curious tongue. He was becoming more obsessed by the minute.