Chapter Text
"Switch !" Said a loud voice thundering from above.
Sanji didn't bother to look up. He was busy fighting the mosshead on the deck of the Thousand Sunny about– what were they fighting about again ?– and his foot was pressing up against Wado. Then suddenly, he was falling. Looking up, he saw a boy with pink hair and a gorgeous blonde lady floating upwards. Looking down, he saw the ground racing towards him.
The fall didn't last long, and soon he landed on top of Zoro, his head against the mosshead's massive chest.
"Where are we ?" Zoro asked, looking around. "Also, get off me, shit-cook."
Sanji pushed himself up, purposefully putting all his weight on the swordsman's abs, which were warm and soft under his touch.
"Aren't muscles supposed to be hard ?" He asked, glaring.
"Someone keeps me well fed so I have a healthy layer of fat above that. Do you know where we are ?"
"So you admit I cook well", Sanji said, raising an eyebrow as he looked at their surroundings. "And no, I don't recognise this city."
The city was full of people dressed in all sorts of fashion, though none recognizable to Sanji, some of them milling about while a few seemed surprised at their falling from the sky.
"I never said that", Zoro said as he got up and sheathed his swords. "You keep me fed, but you're still a shit-cook."
Sanji lit a cigarette.
"Let's ask for directions, since you'll be no help."
"Okay. I'll go this way and you'll go– don't touch my swords !"
"We're not splitting up, idiot. You'd get lost and we don't have Nami-san to help find you."
"Well at least I know the difference between east and north", Zoro grumbled as he mimicked Nami's voice. "That witch. Let's just ask where we are first."
"We can do that while we ask for directions to get back on the ship !"
"I know, I just don't want to do what you say."
Sanji didn't bother answering, instead moving to ask a young lady where he was.
"Why, you're in Magnolia, silly !" She answered, then left while giggling.
"And how far away is that from the Grand Line ?" He asked another passerby.
"What's a Grand Line ? We're in the kingdom of Fiore, and I've never heard of that."
"It's– mosshead, get back here !" Sanji yelled as Zoro was already straying far away from him.
He dragged him back by the haramaki –he was currently bare-chested, so there was no collar for Sanji to grab.
"You don't know what the Grand Line is ?" Sanji asked the passerby. It's the largest part of the world, and where we were just a few seconds ago !"
"Yeah, maybe another world, then", he said, rolling his finger near his temple as if Sanji were crazy.
"Where the hell have we landed ?" Sanji wondered aloud.
"Well, he said it", Zoro said as he pointed to something in the distance. "Another world."
It was a large map on a wooden board, which showed a completely different world from Terra. It was far smaller, looking at the scale, and had large swaths of land unlike Terra's endless islands.
"I can't believe it, you were actually useful to finding out where we are", Sanji said, absolutely astounded. Where had all these problem-solving skills been hiding in the mosshead ?
"I did my part, now you figure out how to get back to our world."
Asking some more passerbys, Sanji gathered that he could ask something called 'mages' to fix a problem related to magical powers like devil fruits. The problem was, they required money for their services and wouldn't take Sanji's berri –Zoro had none, of course.
Sanji ended up doing a tour of nearby inns and restaurants, looking for a job as a cook. He had to try several, but eventually a gorgeous woman named Marigold accepted to take him in.
"I'm in luck, my cook quit on me just this morning", she said. "Say, your boyfriend here, you think he could work as security here ?"
"He's not my boyfriend", Sanji tried to say without gritting his teeth, "but he might as well be useful. He's a skilled swordsman, as you can guess."
"Does he do well against mages ? They're usually the ones to cause trouble in my inn."
"He managed to slice up a man who could turn his body into blades. I think he'll be fine."
"Y'know, I can speak for myself", Zoro grumbled.
"You don't know how to talk to beautiful ladies, so let me do the talking."
"Why, thanks", Marigold said, blushing. There is one problem though : I only have one spare room in the employees' quarters. Would you mind sharing that space while I figure something out ?"
Sanji exchanged a glance with the mosshead. His gaze said he didn't care, but the set of his jaw said he didn't like it.
"That will be fine. We're used to being in close quarters."
While Marigold wasn't looking, Sanji stuck out his tongue at Zoro. He fumed, but didn't say anything. Sanji grinned, happy to piss him off, but then he considered that he'd have to share his space with one of the smelliest, sweatiest men in history. His smile melted.
"I will need to see how well you two are doing before I hire you, but I'll prepare the contracts now, Marigold said. "Is that alright with you ?"
"More than alright !" Sanji agreed, already seeing his way out of here.
The kitchen was suitable, full of fresh ingredients and plenty of nice tools Sanji couldn't wait to try. He read the menu his predecessor had left for the day, and got ready to work. They were simple dishes, so he made a few improvements here and there, and got ready to serve the plates once clients started piling into the inn.
"It smells heavenly", Marigold complimented him while he held three plates at once.
"Thanks !"
Twirling on his toes, he managed to get everyone their order, and watched the clients' faces glow with excitement as they took their first bite. This never got old.
Near the entrance, Zoro stood as he usually did on the Sunny, looking menacing. He looked like he was watching Sanji. He raised an eyebrow to ask him what was wrong, but the swordsman simply rolled his eye and turned away.
Before long, the day was over and the contract was signed. Sanji was exhausted, but Zoro seemed just fine after only having to break up one fight and kick out a drunkard. They climbed the stairs to their new apartments, and found that their room was nice, with only one caveat.
The single, king-sized bed. Sanji claimed ownership of it first by climbing on it, but the mosshead managed to kick him out of it.
"How dare you !" Sanji exclaimed as he held his pained cheek. "Kicking is my move !"
He received another kick to the chin as an answer. Zoro smirked at him from atop the bed.
"Sleep on the floor", he said. "I hear that's good for the back."
"Don't be silly. We'll share that stupid bed and that's it. Sccoch over, I’m tired".
They fought for another thirty minutes over the bed, and Sanji came out on top, sort of. Zoro had started snoring with his back against the side of the bed, while he had the entire rest of it. He thought of hauling the mosshead up to the bed, but decided against it. He was too tired, and he was happy to have his space. He fell asleep to the thought of wondering if this world was where the All Blue was.