Chapter Text
While many nights on the Going Merry pass by with ease since the rhythm of the ocean waves will lull most individuals into a deep sleep, there are certain cases where things can get in the way of an undisturbed rest. With what the crew has to deal with along their adventures, it's reasonable to assume they have each slept with reminders of their past excursions and turmoil on occasion.
Sanji often would wake up in a cold sweat, clenching his sheets with trembling hands. To calm himself down before waking up his sleeping crewmates, Sanji takes his pack of cigarettes outside until his heartbeat proceeds as normal and his body stops shaking. Once back to normal he returns to the men’s quarters and tries to fall back asleep, most times without success. Tonight he’s dealing with the worst so far of these night terrors.
The feeling of cold metal presses up against Sanji's face. It's dark and constricting. Past the bars imprisoning him, there’s nothing but a chilling lack of presence. The feeling of solitary and existential panic. Sanji can feel his heart beating faster and a tremor building in his hands. Tears well up in his eyes as he backs himself up into a wall. He opens his mouth to cry out but he's surrounded by silence. The wall supporting his weight falters and shifts.
San-
What once felt like bricks is now encompassing Sanji in tendrils of tar.
Sanji
He claws at the wall pulling him backward, but his struggle is futile.
“ Sanji”
His body starts to shake violently, until the dream quickly fades into blurred vision from teary eyes. He meets eyes with the figure in front of him and can’t tell if he’s actually woken up. Zoro’s arms are holding him steady since he’s still enduring uncontrollable fits of shaking and sobbing. As the tears roll down his cheeks, Zoro rubs them out of the way with his thumb.
“Sanji, can you hear me?” Sanji nods in between the shaking of his shoulders and chest.
“Listen to me and follow my directions. On the count of three you’ll inhale through your nose and then out through your mouth on three.” he spoke in a whisper with urgency, but care. “Do you understand?” With Sanji's acknowledgement of what he said, Zoro proceeded to steady Sanji’s breathing back to a normal pace and bring him off the edge, all the while still gently holding Sanji in his arms.
Zoro had never seen him this distraught before. He knew Sanji got nightmares every once in a while and had been woken up a few times by Sanji coming back to the men’s quarters after smoking, but this was worse than any of those instances. He thought about Sanji's selflessness and how much he gives to the crew, but never accepts anything for himself. Looking back on all the feasts for the crew and snacks brought to him during his workouts, Zoro decided he’d try to return the favor for once.
As Sanji stopped trembling and his breathing was normal, Zoro moved his arms away but stayed by Sanji’s side. The loss of contact caused Sanji, still in delirium, to panic and reach for Zoro's arm.
“Wait, please don’t go.” He wasn't in control of the words leaving his mouth, his reactions fueled by pain and hysterics. His calm didn’t last as long as Zoro had hoped since he was on the verge of sobbing once again.
“I can’t go back no, no I can’t live like that again…” he started to trail off into unintelligible rambling mixed with sobs. Zoro sat down next to Sanji on his bed. This type of emotional comfort has never been one of Zoro's strong suits. In the moment he always did what he thought would help, just for it to escalate the situation further or blow up in his face. He awkwardly put his arms around Sanji in a way that gave him room to breathe and while still making contact with his skin which Zoro figured was what Sanji needed in this instance. Before Zoro could have another thought, Sanji wrapped himself tight around his torso, fingers pulling at the fabric of his shirt with anguish.
Zoro wondered when was the last time Sanji had been able to release his emotions to this degree. He also felt that if the cook was openly embracing him, something wasn’t right. The last time they got this close to each other was when Sanji caught him sneaking the good booze from its hiding spot in the middle of the night. They nearly killed each other over that.
Zoro looked down at Sanji who had buried his head in Zoro's chest, snot and drool staining his t-shirt. Normally this would have grossed him out, but the only thought coming to his mind was that he needed to wash the shirt soon anyways.
They stayed like this for a while, until Zoro realized Sanji had fallen asleep; he had moved into a more slumped position and he figured it was too late for him to stealthily move back to his bed. The steady melody of sanji’s breathing sent a wave of calm over zoro. He didn’t remember when he eventually succumbed to the exhaustion, but he did remember waking up.
The morning light was barely peeking through the ship’s windows and dawn had just broken. The rest of the crew was still fast asleep since Sanji was usually the only one to be up this early in order to prep breakfast. Tired eyes opened to meet another pair staring back in shock. Zoro was suddenly very aware of his surroundings. He was looking right into the cook’s eyes, emphasis on the plural. His hair was parted and fell on his pillow, showing the eye and eyebrow often hidden by his bangs. Their bodies were twisted so Sanji's arms were wrapped around Zoro’s torso while their legs intertwined into a tangled mess. They both stiffened up at the sight of one another since this was very different from how they normally woke up.
The memories of the night before crashed into Sanji’s mind causing him to cringe at how vulnerable and idiotic he let himself look in front of zoro. Why did he let Zoro comfort him like that? He should have kicked him square in the jaw and sent him careening back into his bed, that way he wouldn’t have had to endure the embarrassing events of last night. He felt he had to say something to ease the tension, and make up for the fool he made of himself.
Zoro couldn’t think of anything. Well that’s not true, he had one thought that took the forefront of his mind. The golden strands of hair balanced perfectly across Sanji's face, framing his eyes to look like ocean gems. As if the ocean flooded his mind, he lost control.
“Look i’m sorry about-”
“ so beautiful…”
Sanji suddenly had the complexion of a beet.
“Um…huh?” he couldn’t think of anything. He was laying in bed with a man he rivaled with. Sure it was a friendly rivalry far from being serious, but he never remotely pictured them in a scenario such as this.
Zoro moved his fingers to frame Sanji’s face.
“I never would have thought seeing both of your stupid eyebrows would make you more attractive.”
“HUH?” Sanji was experiencing some extreme emotional whiplash and had no idea how to catch up with what the hell Zoro was saying. Zoro sat up in bed and gently slapped Sanji's thigh.
“Well, I’m heading to the little boys room, and then I’m gonna get an early start on some training. Call me when breakfast is ready.” Zoro left the room to do just that.
Having not moved since waking up, Sanji was in utter shock and had no fucking idea what just happened. He looked at his watch and decided he’d give himself another thirty minutes of sleep before starting on breakfast since this most likely was a dream or some type of hallucination.