Chapter Text
Sanji was staring, unblinking at Zoro’s sleeping face on the couch.
Currently he was picking petals off of an imaginary rose in his head asking himself “I wake him” and “I wake him not.” There was something so very important that he needed to ask his boyfriend, and while it could feasibly wait until after his nap, there was also the very real possibility Sanji would combust if he didn’t ask him right now. Therefore, he silently leaned down so that his face was just centimeters from Zoro’s, and he could feel his breath against his nose.
“Would you eat an eyeball?”
Zoro jerked upwards as he was startled awake, smashing his forehead against Sanji’s own. The resounding smack of their skulls echoed off the walls of the living room in their apartment.
“God, why are you so fucking close?” Zoro groaned angrily. He rubbed his head as he began to sit up.
Sanji was similarly massaging his head from the blow. “Why were you born with the biggest forehead in the whole world?” When he opened his eyes again, he caught Zoro glaring.
“So, like... would you?” Sanji prodded, casually.
“Would I what ? I didn’t hear you the first time because I was sleeping .”
Sanji rolled his eyes and scooted over to the couch to sit next to Zoro, his body facing him.
“So. If I were to take a small lychee ball, put a blueberry in it, maybe use red food dye to draw little lines on it to make it look like an eyeball, and then put it in some strawberry jell-o so that it looked like eyeballs floating in blood plasma... would you eat it?”
Zoro stared back at him with his mouth open dumbly. “Why... why would you ask me… I think I want to kill you,” he babbled.
“Well,” Sanji looked around nervously biting his lip. “Okay, so I know it’s still a month away, but when you told me yesterday that your family wanted to come over for Christmas dinner, well, I got really excited. I couldn’t sleep last night because I was thinking of what I should make for dinner.” Looking back at Zoro with a shy smile, he continued, “but then I thought about a perfect idea!”
Zoro crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows – signaling for Sanji to lay his idea on him.
“Halloween for Christmas!” He nearly shouted. “Your family is into the macabre and the creepy and the gothic aesthetics of the world. I feel like it only makes sense to make them a Halloween-themed feast!” He held his hands out in front of himself and smiled with his mouth open as if he were silently saying “ta-da!”
Zoro’s heart skipped a beat at the look of excitement on Sanji’s face.
The cook was right, he admitted only to himself. His adoptive father – Dracule Mihawk – raised him in a creepy black mansion on top of a hill that was covered in fog at all times of the day. His dark facial hair was shaped into sharp edges around his face, and he wore a large cross around his neck – not for any religious reason, just in a cool, goth way.
He had been Zoro’s kendo instructor since he could hold a sword, but after the tenth night of trying to kick the young boy out and stop him from sleeping in the dojo, Zoro finally let it slip that he’d rather sleep there than in the orphanage. Mihawk, moved by the determination in the kid’s eyes, decided then to offer his own home.
On his adoption day, Zoro was seriously convinced that the Addams family was welcoming him into their clan. As it turned out, there was already a young girl there, Perona, who Mihawk had adopted a year before Zoro. And “adopted” was a bit generous to say because what really happened was that she showed up on his doorstep one day and then refused to leave. Thus, the three of them grew up together as one dysfunctional and completely morbid little goth family who loved ghost stories, magic spells, black lace, and Edgar Allan Poe.
Of course Sanji would want to make a good first impression with his less-than-normal family. And Zoro loved him for that. However, there was no reason for him to overextend himself for his family; in fact, Zoro thought it better that he didn’t.
“Don’t worry about it, curls. You don’t have to go all out for them like that.” Zoro tried his best to smooth over the confused anger in his tone from earlier.
“I know, but...” Sanji picked at the skin around his nails.
He honestly was trying his best not to make this a big deal, but the truth was that this was a huge deal for him. According to all the movies, all the songs, and all of his friends’ social media posts, Christmas was a time for family. And because of that, Christmas was never really a time for him. His biological family – a cold distinction he always had to make – never allowed him to join in any festivities as a child, and instead he’d spend the day alone pretending like he was preparing a Christmas feast for everyone he loved.
But this year, it could actually be real! Zoro’s family was coming over to meet him for the first time, and Sanji could host a dinner for them. It was something he knew he could do, something that he’d been wanting to do for forever, and so what if he was starting to plan everything a month in advance?
“...I guess I just want to.” Sanji smiled back at Zoro, not elaborating any further.
Sanji clutched the steering wheel of his car a little tighter as he drove down the highway. Zoro had to pick up another shift at the dojo unexpectedly, so he’d asked Sanji to bring him some dinner he could eat there. Since the dojo was on the way to the Baratie, Sanji agreed to stop by and drop off some food before his evening shift. He was currently listening to a Krampus podcast that was giving him goosebumps.
“Maybe I’ll just stick to Halloween scaries,” Sanji said aloud before changing the radio to listen to some Christmas carols. He’d spent the past week narrowing down his ideas for the dinner, and he was settling on a blend of tasteful horror and wholesome Christmas traditions – but no Belsnickel, no Mari Lwyd, and definitely no Krampus.
“Classy and gothic. Edgy but also festive. I wonder if they like acorn squash…” Sanji continued to mutter to himself as he parked.
He walked into the dojo without a second thought, which was not helpful as he realized he had no idea which class Zoro was in or how he could find him. So, he stood in the lobby for a bit, turning around and looking lost while holding a tupperware full of warm pasta.
He didn’t notice a young girl next to him until she tapped him lightly on the arm.
“Are you lost, mister?”
Sanji tensed and slowly turned his head down toward her. Letting out a breath, he crouched down so that he was eye level with her. She couldn’t have been more than 12, and she was dressed in a traditional kendo uniform with black, flowy pants and white shirt. Her hair was tied back with a lavender bow.
Sanji smiled at her warmly. “Hi, darling. I am lost, actually, thank you for noticing. It’s very kind of you to look out for others.”
The girl blushed and looked down at her feet. “Well, that’s what Sensei always says we should do.”
“Well, I’m sure they would be very proud of you right now. Say, I’m actually looking for Roronoa Sensei – do you happen to know where he might be?”
Suddenly the girl snapped her eyes back to Sanji and looked him up and down. A slow, knowing smirk grew across her face, and her eyes darkened into something more mischievous. She grabbed Sanji’s hand, and he stood up as she started leading him down the hallway.
“I’ll show you where he is, Mr. Sanji,” She said determinedly.
Did I tell her my name? Sanji thought to himself as he was led into one of the training gyms.
As soon as they stepped foot into the room, the pair was met with about 20 other staring faces from young girls aged 11-13.
Oh , Sanji realized. He’s teaching the middle school girls class right now .
“Roronoa Sensei, your boyfriend is here to see you!” The girl by Sanji’s side shouted mockingly.
All of a sudden, the room erupted into high-pitched squeals that made Sanji grit his teeth and raise his shoulders to his ears. He found Zoro at the front of the room staring at him wide-eyed with a look of oh, shit on his face.
Frozen in a perpetual fight or flight power struggle within himself, Sanji couldn’t move as the young girls swarmed him.
“Ohmygosh, your hair is so pretty! Can I braid it?” One girl asked, standing on her tippy toes.
Sanji blushed up to his ears, “Um..."
“Is it true you make the best food in the whole world?” Another asked while trying to grab at the container in Sanji’s hands.
“Who told you that?” Sanji laughed, knowing there was only one person who could’ve told her that.
“Nice butt.” Someone else muttered just loud enough to make Sanji jump and turn around.
“How dare you bewitch our Sensei, you wench!” Came a cry from a girl with a french braid and blue-rimmed glasses.
Zoro grabbed Sanji by the arm to pull him roughly into a nearby storage closet along the wall. Once they were both inside, he locked the door and shoved a broom under the door handle for good measure. They could faintly hear the commotion of excited preteen chattering outside.
“Sorry about that,” Zoro offered, almost shyly. “They, um... they’re really invested in my love life.” He poked at a bottle of Windex as a small blush graced his cheeks.
Sanji let out a snort and started to chuckle. He mentally cataloged the day and time so that he could show up to this specific class more frequently — especially if it meant embarrassing Zoro in front of his students.
“Did one of them accuse me of witchcraft?” Sanji asked once his fit of laughter ceased.
“Oh!” Zoro looked back at Sanji. “Yeah, that’s Moira. She’s in her witch phase right now.”
Sanji raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side in confusion. “Her what?”
“You know, her witch phase. I thought every middle school girl went through one...” Zoro pondered for a moment. “Well, at least, my sister definitely did. She was obsessed with the Salem Witch trials when she was 13. Made me reenact the fucking Crucible with her, and, wait... are you writing this down?”
Sanji looked up from the notebook he’d been furiously scribbling in. “Huh? Oh, yeah, this is helpful to know for the dinner,” he explained before writing some more.
“It is?” Zoro asked him doubtfully.
“Yeah, I wonder if I could maybe make a rye bread like how they used to eat in the 1600s. Or maybe, I can make a punch like a witch’s brew, and I can put dry ice in it to make it all foggy..." Sanji began to ramble.
Zoro’s face fell. “Or you could, like, cook a ham. Or just buy a can of cranberry sauce..."
Sanji suddenly glared back at Zoro with murder in his eyes. “You did not just suggest that I use cranberry sauce from a can, you heathen.”
Zoro smirked back, “sometimes it tastes better that way.”
Before Sanji could tell him that he had the tastebuds of a neanderthal, a loud pounding on the door grabbed their attention.
“Are you two kissing in there?” Came a high-pitched voice followed by some “Ooos” in the crowd.
“She’s right; we really should be kissing,” Zoro shot a smolder at Sanji and went to reach for his waist.
“Absolutely not! I’m already late to work as it is, and Zeff is going to make me clean the grease traps tonight because of it!” He shoved the tupperware bowl into Zoro’s open palms, keeping his face low so that he couldn’t see the redness creeping into his face.
Zoro grabbed Sanji’s hands with the bowl and pulled him in closer — nose to nose — and spoke to him in a low, tender tone.
“Whatever you make for Christmas dinner is going to be amazing. Don’t stress so much.” He then grazed his lips across his cheek to whisper in his ear. “Thanks for bringing me food.” And he pulled away with the bowl in hand — Sanji’s limp fingers barely putting up any resistance.
“Yeah, whatever, mosshead.” Sanji tried to sound indignant, but his voice cracked at the end, and his breathing was borderline ragged.
Zoro, satisfied, turned around toward the door. “When I get out there, you all better be in the middle of your warm-up drills, or everyone has to do push ups!”
There was a horrified collective gasp.
“One..." Zoro started to count.
Sanji laughed as he heard the girls start to scream and run away.
“Thank you for gathering here with me in my time of need,” Sanji announced over the small table in the corner of a local coffee shop.
He’d sent a text message to Robin and Brook the day before asking if they could help him brainstorm for an upcoming event. They’d both agreed without asking any questions, and it made Sanji’s heart swell out of fondness.
“I could never pass up an opportunity for scheming,” Robin mused playfully while taking a sip of her chai latte.
“I am just delighted to be included,” Brook added, collecting crumbs of blueberry scone on his jabot. “So what shall we discuss this afternoon?”
Sanji tapped the edges of his coffee cup. “Zoro’s family is coming over for Christmas dinner.”
Brook straightened with an animated “oh!” and Robin pushed her drink aside to lean forward and rest her chin on her hands in interest.
“I know, I know, it’s kind of a big deal. I wanna make a good first impression,” Sanji sighed and slouched in his chair.
“Whatever it is you make will be magnificent,” Robin encouraged with a smile that made Sanji’s ears turn red with embarrassment.
He cleared his throat. “Thank you, Robin, dear. So here's the thing. Zoro’s family is into spooky things, so I’m going to make them a Halloween-themed Christmas dinner, and you two come to mind when I think of creepy.”
“Naturally. Happy to provide all of my insight.” Robin nodded her head resolutely.
Sanji beamed at her, “I knew you'd be extremely helpful in this. I could never dream of being as dark and cryptic as you.” Robin rolled her eyes and waved him off, obviously pleased by the unconventional compliment.
Brook looked back and forth between them with a blank look on his face. He blinked his eyes a few times before speaking. “Again, I appreciate your trust in me, but I’m not quite sure why you’ve included me as an expert on this topic..."
“You’re really old, so you know a lot of stuff, and you give me Spooky Scary Skeletons vibes,” Sanji began. Muffling the second part of his sentence as he spoke into his coffee cup, he mumbled, “and you kind of creep me out sometimes.”
“I do love that song..." Brook agreed.
“You’re also wearing a jabot,” Robin noted matter of factly.
“Point taken,” Brook admitted while staring down at his clothes.
Sanji pulled out his notebook he’d been keeping in his back pocket these past couple of weeks. “So, I’ve been trying to think of ways to maintain a perfect balance of horror and festive. It needs to be tasteful while still being true to the theme, you know?
“So with that being said, I’ve been thinking of foods that could easily resemble things like ghosts, bats, skeletons, etc.” Sanji flipped through his notebook as he spoke.
“While that is the most logical place to start, might I expand your thinking to go beyond the food?” Robin chimed in. Sanji stopped his flipping to look at her with furrowed brows and a “huh?” hanging off his lips.
“What I think Miss Robin is alluding to is the aspects around the food. For example, have you considered that you could make a normal dish but plate it on something Halloween-themed – like a pumpkin-shaped plate?” Brook elaborated on Robin’s behalf.
Sanji gasped before furiously scribbling on his paper. “Brilliant. That opens up so many options.”
Robin hummed in agreement. “Moreover, there are some foods that don’t necessarily look creepy, but are still on theme through their names: ghost peppers, hemlock tea..."
Sanji locked eyes with Robin, and they both said in unison, “deviled eggs!”
Everyone at the table laughed at the jinx moment – Brook’s signature “yo ho ho,” carrying throughout the shop. The trio continued to discuss various ideas to help Sanji’s planning. They talked about how foods that were red had a lot of versatility, rice could be molded into a variety of shapes, and it was probably a good idea that he invested in a candelabra or two for peak dinner ambiance.
When Sanji returned home a couple hours later, he was practically bouncing off the walls from giddiness. He was feeling like he’d hit a bit of a creative roadblock a few days ago, but the conversation was exactly what he needed to keep moving forward.
“ Somebody just got asked to prom,” Zoro teased from their dining table. He finished typing something on his laptop before closing it.
Sanji rolled his eyes as he sat in the seat across from him. “Yeah, and she was pretty and smart, and she gave me flowers. The whole school was there. We had our own segment on the news.”
“A shame I have to kill her.”
Sanji kicked Zoro’s shin from under the table.
Grimacing, Zoro asked, “So what were you up to anyway?”
Like a flame to a pilot light, the energy in Sanji reignited instantly. He fidgeted in his seat and smiled back at Zoro in a way that made the other man’s breath hitch.
“I grabbed some coffee with Robin and Brook, and they gave me a lot of great ideas for Christmas dinner.” He started to bump his toes against Zoro’s under the table out of joy.
Zoro’s shoulders dropped slightly, and he moved his feet under his chair and out of Sanji’s reach.
“Hey. Soup for brains. You’re spending so much energy on this,” he started with an annoyed tone. Sighing to relieve the tension in his voice, he continued, “you’re already gonna have to deal with the holiday rush at the restaurant. Why don’t you take this dinner easy?”
Sanji seemed to relax a bit, soaking in what Zoro had just said. He leaned back in his chair and looked up at a crack in the ceiling above him. Zoro felt like he was sitting on the edge of his seat, anticipating that he had finally gotten through to the numbskull, and he was going to give up on all the planning he’d been doing.
“You’re so right.” Sanji finally declared.
Zoro let out the breath he’d been holding in and leaned forward on his elbows on the table. “Great, because–”
“I’ll have so much opportunity to try out my ideas on the customers at Baratie! I bet Zeff will even help me out if I agree to keep wait times at less than 15 minutes! You’re a genius!” Sanji jumped up from his seat and leaned forward to kiss him on the forehead before skipping into the bedroom.
Zoro stayed at the table for a moment, feeling like his joints were glued on the spot.
Zoro growled in annoyance as he violently sifted through his bag. Giving up, he dumped out all the contents on the floor, but almost cried actual tears of frustration when he realized his keys weren’t in it. He was definitely going to be late to his students’ competition at this point.
“They’re on your nightstand.” Sanji didn’t look away from the T.V. as he spoke.
Zoro whipped his head around toward him. “My keys?”
“Mhm,” Sanji responded lazily. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor with a blanket around his shoulders and a mug of hot chocolate between his fingers.
Scoffing in disbelief, Zoro rushed toward their bedroom to prove that Sanji was full of shit, and that… his keys were for sure on the nightstand where he left them… on purpose. He snatched them quickly and finished packing his bag. Throwing his coat on, he spared a few seconds to walk over to Sanji’s sitting form to say goodbye.
When he got near him, he glanced at the screen in front of them.
“Are you watching The Nightmare Before Christmas?” Zoro was struck with a heavy nostalgia all of a sudden.
Sanji finally looked away from the movie in front of him to look up at Zoro. “Yep. I’ll have to admit, I never really watched it when I was younger, so I thought it was better late than never.”
Zoro crouched beside him while watching the opening song. “Oh, this movie was a Christmas staple in our house; I can’t believe you’ve never seen it. I could probably still recite every word to the Oogie Boogie song. He’s the best character. When he has Santa Claus in that room and–”
“Spoilers!” Sanji shouted at him while covering his ears.
Zoro nearly let his legs give out beneath him as he laughed, wanting so badly to call out and stay with Sanji under his blanket. But he had responsibilities and a group of anxious kiddos waiting for him that he couldn’t ignore.
So instead, he gave Sanji a rough kiss on the cheek and took a big sip of his hot chocolate before standing back up to walk out the door. Before he shut it closed behind him, he shouted “enjoy the movie! I’ll be back by eight!”
“Be careful driving home! It might snow!” Sanji yelled back.
-
It did snow on his way home, as Zoro’s luck would have it. Because of this, his commute took much longer than he had hoped for. He’d spent all day at the competition and now nearly 2 hours on the road. He was ready to get home and do absolutely nothing the rest of the night. Maybe he could get Sanji to make him some pity onigiri for his woes…
“I hate you for saying it might snow on my way home!” Zoro yelled as he walked through the doorway, kicking the snow off his shoes before entering. Only once he was inside and his jacket was off did he hear the chorus of “Making Christmas” float through the living room.
Slowly, Zoro made his way into the room with a look of complete disbelief on his face. Almost like time had frozen over, Sanji was still sitting in the same spot on the floor as Zoro had left him. He was still wrapped in the same blanket, and he still somehow had steaming hot chocolate in his hands. The only difference was a notebook full of notes and a few crumpled pieces of paper by his side.
“Last time I checked, this movie was not 8 hours long,” Zoro tried to start the conversation since Sanji’s gaze was glued to the T.V.
“It’s not. I’m on my sixth rewatch. I think... I think Jack was really onto something,” Sanji answered in a trance.
Zoro connected the pieces in his head as he looked back at the notebook on the floor – realizing this was part of Sanji’s Christmas dinner plans.
“Alright, it’s time for bed.” Zoro swiftly grabbed the remote off the floor.
“What? No! This is the best part!” Sanji yelled back. He tried to snatch the remote out of Zoro’s hands, but he missed. Not wanting to stand up to Zoro’s level, Sanji opted instead to swing his legs from underneath himself and knock Zoro off his feet.
Zoro stumbled and fell on his ass, clutching the remote tighter so as to not drop it. He held the remote above his head and tried to push Sanji away as he climbed on top of him. They were a mess of clashing limbs on the floor, Sanji gripping and grabbing at Zoro to try to reach the remote.
All of a sudden, all movement stopped.
Zoro had his back flat to the floor as he stared up at Sanji on top of him. There was a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach when he felt an odd pressure on his left ear.
Sanji stared back into Zoro’s eyes with a look of surprise, despite the fact he was the one who had grabbed Zoro’s earrings and was still holding them in a death grip.
“What... are you doing?” Zoro inquired slowly and as calmly as possible.
“I think my intention was to pull,” Sanji answered back softly, shocked at his own audacity.
“How about you don’t do that?” Zoro gritted through his teeth.
Sanji slowly relaxed into his new position of power and smirked down at his boyfriend. He gave a little warning tug. “Then give me back the remote.”
Zoro shoved the remote toward Sanji’s chest, pushing him away. “Fine,” he grunted while getting up from the living room floor. Sanji stuck his tongue out playfully and turned his attention back to the movie.
“I’m going to bed,” Zoro called out while heading to the bedroom. He didn’t try to hide the annoyance laced through his words.
“Night!” Sanji shouted back.
Zoro shoved his head under his pillow hoping the pressure would ease his headache.
It was the day before his family was supposed to come over for Christmas dinner, and there was so much on his mind that it was making him feel like limp celery. This was the first time he had ever hosted a gathering with them, and there was the added anxiety that they were also meeting his boyfriend for the first time. He laid in bed for a few more minutes trying to contemplate every scenario that could happen when they arrived.
Eventually, he was able to remove himself from the covers and make his way to the kitchen for some tea. Maybe the warmth and the slight twinge of caffeine would help smooth out the tension in his shoulders.
Sanji was already there, but that made sense because it was rare when he was not in the kitchen. Zoro yawned and squinted at the blonde as he was placing things meticulously on a large plate Zoro couldn’t quite see in front of him. He smiled at the back of Sanji’s head and opted to give him a lazy hug from behind instead of continuing his tea-making quest.
“Make me tea?” Zoro asked into the crook of Sanji’s neck.
Sanji hummed pleasantly and leaned back into Zoro. “Wow, I need to do everything for you?” he teased while reaching up to comb his fingers through Zoro’s short hair.
“Next time there’s a spider, I’ll let you kill it,” Zoro threatened back.
“Jeez, fine, I’ll make you some tea. Just let me finish this really quick,” Sanji shivered and pushed Zoro away to complete the platter in front of him.
Zoro adjusted his eyes to take in what Sanji had been working on all morning. In front of him was a long wooden board with various meats, cheeses, and bread slices. He was about to write it off as Sanji making a charcuterie board – one of the weirdest things he’s ever made for breakfast – but then he realized some unique details among the food.
First he noticed the two small brie cheese wheels. The rind of the cheese had been meticulously cut so that they looked like two skulls staring up at you at either side of the board. Also on the left side of the platter, there were pieces of prosciutto, and each one was wrapped around an olive with cream cheese – giving the resemblance of eyeballs. Opposite on the right, were pieces of bread sliced to look like small ghosts, and in the center of it all was a bright red pomegranate spread.
Sanji noticed Zoro silently studying the dish in front of him. He tweaked one of the bread slices slightly in a nervous attempt to make sure everything appeared perfect. He looked back between the food and Zoro a few times before settling on staring back at Zoro.
“Do you like it?” he asked, gesturing toward it. With a goofy grin he added, “I call it a charspookerie board.”
Zoro counted to ten in his head and tried to control his breathing. “This for the dinner tomorrow?”
“Yep!” Sanji exclaimed while starting to clean up some of the mess on the counter. “I still have a lot to do, but I’m trying to prep as many things as I can now so that I don’t have to do everything tomorrow. I have some really fun ideas I’m excited to show you. I think I’ve included enough things that your family will like, and–”
“I thought I told you not to go all out like this for them.” Zoro spoke like an avalanche over a mountain road with no other way of entry.
Sanji immediately picked up on his irritation. He had spent his whole morning working on this – not to mention the month of preparation he’d been going through – and this was not the reaction he’d hoped. Of course, he’d been picking up bits and pieces of Zoro’s annoyance whenever Sanji brought up the family dinner, but he thought that once he could see it coming to fruition that his mood would shift.
He clenched his fists at his side.
“What is with you? A Christmas dinner should be elaborate and made with care. I’m not going to just make our regular Tuesday meal.”
“Well you also don’t have to do a college capstone project to plan a dinner for one night.” Zoro crossed his arms and frowned, not backing down.
Sanji scoffed and threw his hands up in front of him. “Wow, I’m sorry I wanted to do something special for them. It’s not like they’re some of the most important people in our lives or anything,” he replied sarcastically.
That made Zoro dig his fingers into his arms. He raised his voice slightly. “They’re not. They haven’t done a single thing for you, actually. That’s why I’m telling you that it’s not worth your effort. You haven’t been listening to me this entire time!”
Sanji shot Zoro a look of exasperation – his own voice raising to match Zoro’s. “I said I wanted to make them a dinner they would enjoy! It’s something I wanted to do! It’s important to me that they have a lovely evening in our home, and we can share a piece of our lives with them! That’s something that I can do for them, and–”
“They’re not your family!” Zoro shouted abruptly.
Sanji flinched at the outburst.
They both stared at each other in silence, allowing the words to settle around them like dust in a worn-down home. There was a lot behind what Zoro had said, and even though the words spilled from his lips in a quick rage, it was something he’d have to pick back up by each individual particle around them.
He didn’t mean to say that. That’s not what he had meant to say. Watching as Sanji nearly wilted in front of him from the comment made him want to knock his own teeth out lest he bite off his tongue. The regret flooded through him, and he stood in the kitchen numbly as Sanji left with a blank look on his face.
He heard the bedroom door close and lock gently down the hall.
Zoro took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “Well that was very holiday spirit of you, wasn’t it?” he mumbled to himself as he finally started to walk to where Sanji was.
Once he was in front of the door, he tried in vain to twist the handle.
“Can I come in?” he asked softly through the wood.
There wasn’t any response, so he pressed his back against the door and slid down to sit on the floor in the hallway. It was quiet on the other side, but Zoro knew that Sanji was right there – pressed up against the door just the same. Sometimes it was better for them to talk like this, he reasoned in his head. It’s much easier to be vulnerable when they can’t see your face.
“I said something... really mean back there,” Zoro started by stating the obvious. He was prepared to do most of the talking, but was struck by how quickly Sanji responded.
“No, it’s okay. I’ve been bothering you about this all month. I need to learn when to not be so much.”
Zoro paused for a moment while his mouth opened and closed and his mind tried to decide if he was confused, angry, heartbroken, or all of the above. If Sanji weren’t on the other side of the door, Zoro probably would’ve started banging his head against it in frustration.
“No! Curls, that’s... that’s not it...” Zoro sighed. He felt like he was gripping at words that were nothing but sand between his fingers.
“I got carried away thinking this could be my first family Christmas, but I’m just the boyfriend. I have no right to–”
“Move away from the door,” Zoro ordered – his voice low and serious.
Sanji didn’t move, but once he started to hear wood cracking, he lunged forward. Zoro ripped the door from its hinges.
“Good luck explaining that to the landlord, fucking Hulk Hogan!” Sanji shouted at him from the floor.
Zoro ignored Sanji’s comment and immediately fell to his knees in front of him, squishing his cheeks between the palms of his hands to look him in the eyes.
“Sanji. Listen to me. You are not just ‘the boyfriend.’ You’re right. You are a lot. You are so much , and I love everything about you.”
Sanji tried to furrow his eyebrows in disbelief, but Zoro used his thumbs to smooth the crease on his forehead.
“I hated answering all your questions, but at the same time, you’re the only person who has ever tried to get to know me and my family at such a deep level. I was too stubborn to admit it, but that means the world to me.”
Zoro pressed his forehead against Sanji’s.
“I didn’t realize how much inviting my family over for Christmas dinner would mean to you. I don’t know why I didn’t realize that, but I’m really sorry.”
He sat back a little now, releasing Sanji’s face so that he could gently hold his hands. He fidgeted with Sanji’s fingers for a beat before taking another deep breath in.
“It wasn’t that I was getting annoyed at you for putting so much effort into the dinner, it’s just…” Zoro tugged at Sanji’s pinky. “I was more upset thinking about my own family is all.”
Sanji watched Zoro’s fingers intertwine with his own. “What do you mean?”
Zoro threw his head back in a dramatic sigh. “They’re really fucking picky! About everything. And they have weird tastes. And they’re not subtle in their criticism. Long story short, they’re very judgemental.”
He frowned while squeezing Sanji’s hand. “I was just getting worried that you were putting so much effort into this and then they would screw it up and make you sad. I was trying to protect you from them, but ultimately I was the one who hurt you, and that’s not okay.”
Zoro was looking down at their hands still, but Sanji was staring intently at his face. It was tempting to trace the worry lines on his forehead and poke at the pout on his lips, but he held back.
Instead, he kicked him in the stomach.
“I deserved that, but don’t think I’ll go so easy on you next time, twirlbrow,” Zoro wheezed as he laid on his back and clutched his stomach.
Sanji climbed over top of him, sitting all of his weight directly on Zoro’s stomach and making him grunt in discomfort. He leaned over until they were nose to nose.
“You’re stupid.”
Zoro snapped his head to try to bite Sanji’s nose, but he dodged.
“I mean it. You think I can’t take some cruel judgment? Do you know who my dad is? I work every day inside a pressure cooker with that geezer.” Sanji rested his head against Zoro’s, and his bangs created a curtain around their faces.
“I’m confident that I can make a kickass dinner for tomorrow, and I need you to believe in me too. We’re supposed to be in this ‘life’ thing together.”
Zoro stared up at Sanji, feeling like he was finally seeing something clearly after being lost in a blur for so long. His hands were resting on top of Sanji’s legs, and he slowly brought them up his sides and around his back. He could feel him shiver slightly under his touch.
“I do believe in you,” he muttered softly. “I trust you with my life.”
Sanji snorted, but the fondness of his eyes was far from teasing. “That’s a little dramatic, but it’ll do, marimo.”
Sanji moved to stand up, but instead Zoro pulled him down to be flush to his chest. He then rolled them over so that he was laying on top, squishing Sanji below in a bear hug.
“Jesus, Zoro! I can’t breathe!” Sanji complained underneath him.
Zoro just grinned into his neck and squished his head painfully into the crook of his neck.
Sanji pinched at his sides while laughing. “You better let go and help me set up the apartment so we can please your freaky family!”
Zoro picked them both off the ground and started pulling Sanji back into the living room. “Let me show you just how freaky we can make Christmas,” he said with ignited playfulness in his eyes.