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Luffy looked up from his spot at the very front of Sunny. Sanji was approaching with a plate of snacks. He could smell them on the light breeze. He sat up and smiled widely, reaching down to jostle Zoro awake. “Zoro, wake up! Sanji brought snacks!”
Zoro groaned, swatting at Luffy’s hand. “’m up, ‘m up. Cut it out already.” Zoro said grumpily. He opened up a single eye and gave Sanji a soft smile. Sanji was a bit surprised by the softness from him. It must be all the sun he was getting during his nap. “Hey, Cook.”
“Hey, Moss-head.” Sanji pulled to a stop and held the plate out. He snatched it back when Luffy tried to grab it and inhale it all at once. “Share with Zoro. Or no more snacks until tomorrow.” Luffy whined but when Sanji held the plate out again, he only grabbed three of the finger sandwiches Sanji had prepared. Sanji glanced over his shoulder to double check no one needed anything and then took a seat on the railing near the two.
Zoro looked up at him curiously. “Need something?”
“I can’t just want to sit with my captain and boyfriend?” Sanji asked. Zoro closed his eyes and shrugged, blindly reaching for another sandwich. Sanji helped himself to a couple. “Nobody needs anything right now.”
“Ah,” Zoro mumbled. “Ya don’t need to wait on everyone hand and foot anyways.”
“I want to.” Sanji said softly. Zoro opened his eyes again and looked up at Sanji. Sanji nodded, taking a bite of his sandwich. “It’s my way of making everyone feel at home.”
“I think you should take more breaks!” Luffy interjected. Sanji looked at him with wide eyes. Shit, is he really overworking himself and he just hasn’t noticed? “Zoro’s a lot nicer when you spend more time with him.”
“Really?” Sanji asked coyly. Luffy broke out into laughter when Zoro stood up and started to wring his neck. All he managed to do was turn Luffy’s head around way too many times. Sanji lit up a cigarette with a smile, shaking his head at the two of them. “Zoro, cut it out. You’ll send him flying off.”
“Bastard deserves it.” Zoro said with a scowl. Luffy was still smiling brightly, shoulders shaking with his laughter. Zoro sighed and let him go. Luffy’s neck started to untwist itself, causing Luffy’s hat to fall off and hang from his neck. “Oi!” Zoro said, grabbing onto Luffy when he stopped spinning. Luffy had quieted down; probably trying to righ the world in his dizziness. “Ya let Robin do your hair again?”
“Hm?” Luffy hummed. He patted the top of his head a few times. “Oh, yeah! Isn’t it nice?” Luffy said, fingering his small ponytail. Sanji quirked a smile and nodded.
“I like it. I think it suits you, Captain.” Sanji told him. Zoro turned to him in disbelief. Sanji sighed, taking a long drag of his cigarette. He hooked one of his legs around Zoro and pulled him closer. Zoro stumbled slightly but went willingly. He sagged back into Sanji, crossing his arms over his chest.
Luffy blinked at the two of them a few times. Sanji could tell by the look on his face that he had a question, so he just waited for the overly vocal captain to speak up. Luffy tilted his head almost 90 degrees. “Is this a sex thing?”
Zoro squawked and reached to smack Luffy over the head. Sanji laughed and pulled Zoro back from beating the rubber man, cooing in his ear. Zoro turned red, huffing and ripping away from Sanji to stomp off. Sanji watched him go, taking another drag. His cigarette was nearly gone already. “Well?” Luffy prompted.
Sanji shook his head. “No, it’s not a sex thing.” Sanji answered coolly. Luffy nodded a few times. He brought his fingers up to his lip and started to play with it. “What’s up?” Sanji asked him. As embarrassed as Zoro got talking about ‘sex stuff’ with Luffy, Sanji didn’t see a problem with it. It’s not like the captain was asking to be nosy. He just doesn’t get it.
“Well, I know Zoro likes sex stuff. A lot.” Luffy said carefully. Sanji felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Was Luffy actually putting some thought in to what he had to say? “Like, a lot a lot.” Luffy clarified. Sanji nodded, waiting. “So, why does he always get so flustered talking about it?” Luffy frowned and looked up at Sanji. “Did I do something wrong?”
“What?” Sanji said out of instinct. He cleared his throat and shook his head. “No. Don’t say stupid shit like that.” He took a final drag from his smoke and then stamped it out. He bent down to pick up the butt. “Zoro is Zoro. You didn’t do anything to him to make him like that.” Luffy nodded, but he didn’t seem fully convinced. Sanji glanced over to make sure Zoro was still sulking over with Chopper and Usopp. “Do you want to know what I think?”
“Yes!” Luffy all but shouted. Sanji shushed him and Luffy giggled. “Sorry, Sanji.”
Sanji shuffled closer to his captain. He could feel himself overheating in his suit and it wasn’t because of the sun beating down on them. “It’s because he likes you.”
“…Likes me?” Luffy questioned. Sanji nodded, leaning against the secret door that leads to inside Sunny’s head. Luffy leaned forward with wide eyes so he could properly see Sanji. “Like, likes me?” Luffy asked.
“Yeah.” Sanji breathed. He chanced a look back at Luffy. “Like, likes you,” he said quietly. His palms were sweaty, and he felt like his knees were going to buckle at any moment. “He has for a while.”
“Hmmm,” Luffy crossed his legs together and leaned his elbow on his calf. Sanji waited while his captain thought about this information. In the meantime, Sanji fidgeted with one of the buttons on his shirt. Luffy suddenly gasped, making Sanji jump. Luffy stretched his head forward and looked at Sanji with a wide smile. “Do you like, like me?”
“W-What?!” Sanji yelped. Luffy laughed and let his head snap back into place. Sanji cursed when he heard Luffy mumble an, ‘uh oh,’ and reached to grab him before he slid off of Sunny again. “You can’t just ask things like that, idiot!” Sanji scolded him.
“…Is that a yes?” Luffy pressed. Sanji groaned and ran his hands down his face.
“Yes, it’s a yes.” Sanji said quietly. He peeked out from his fingers. Luffy had started to look a little uncomfortable. “What’s wrong?”
“Well…” Luffy trailed off, looking in the other direction. His shoulders were tense as he left Sanji waiting for an answer. “You only like the sex stuff.”
Sanji shrugged. “At times. Depends on the person.” He told Luffy. Luffy nodded again. “Is that okay?”
“Of course, it’s okay! That’s not what I meant!” Luffy scrambled to backtrack. Sanji smiled softly at Luffy. “I just meant that, well, I don’t like the sex stuff all that much.” Luffy mumbled quietly. Sanji’s eyes widened. Luffy had never come out and said this to anyone on the crew before, but they had all kind of guessed. He turned down anyone’s offers and was always a little wary of being too far from his crewmates on nights out. “But I know I like you too.” Luffy mumbled. Sanji turned around in shock.
Luffy was fiddling with his hair now. The hair tie that Robin had put in it was slowly falling out. “And you and Zoro both do.” Luffy looked deflated now. Sanji moved to stand in front of his captain. He laid a hand on Luffy’s knee, causing him to look up.
“I think that we should talk about this with Zoro.” Sanji said softly. Luffy nodded, looking a little dejected. “Hey,” Sanji whispered. Luffy looked back to Sanji. Sanji gently pulled the hair tie from Luffy’s hair and redid the style for him. “There.” Luffy smiled and looked down at his lap again. “This isn’t me telling you no.” Sanji said. Luffy nodded.
“Just a not for now?” Luffy whispered. Sanji wanted to pull the captain close and never let him go again. Anything to wipe that haunted look from his eyes.
“Exactly. Just a not for now.” Sanji repeated him. Luffy hummed and leaned forward. Sanji quirked a brow. “What?”
“Hug?” Luffy asked. Sanji rolled his eyes and nodded, opening his arms. Luffy’s smile stretched from ear to ear as he trapped Sanji in place. It felt a little different, however. Luffy laid his head on Sanji’s shoulder, nuzzling into him. “You give the best hugs.”
“Really?” Sanji asked. Luffy hummed and nodded, squeezing tighter. “How so?”
“Dunno,” Luffy mumbled. He wrapped his legs around Sanji as well, scooting to the edge of the ship. “You just do.”
Sanji hummed in response and laid his head on top of Luffy’s. He could feel a heated stare on his back and knew that Zoro was watching them. He didn’t turn around to meet his stare, though. They’d have plenty of time for that later when they all sat down to have their talk.