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The airport was noisy and crowded. Typical holiday travel. That, he could handle. Just keep you hand on your luggage and follow the cook through the place. Don't take your eyes off him. Don't get lost.
Maybe the flight would be canceled. That would be nice. Sanji would be disappointed but it would mean he wouldn't have to get on the metal death trap.
Was he overreacting? Probably. But just thinking of sitting on the plane for 11 hours... It was enough to make him nauseous. He didn't want to admit that to Sanji though. He would just use it against him later on. Plus, he was supposed to be the tough one. Being afraid of flying isn't tough.
He's never even been in a plane so why did riding one make him so nervous? He hadn't had any traumatic event in one, nor had a family member been in one either. So why? Maybe it was because it was like riding a car in the sky. Cars belonged on the ground not in the sky. It was unnatural. Anything could go wrong.
Shit, where was he? Where was the cook? He looked around, trying to see the blonde hair over the crowds but no such luck. He scowled and bit the corner of his bottom lip in frustration. Sanji would be mad at him. He hadn't seen his dad in over four years and they both finally had time to fly to France to do so. If they missed this flight because of him...
But it wasn't his fault he got lost. The people cut in front of him and Sanji walked too fast. Yeah that's right.
A hand grabbed the one he wasn't rolling the luggage with and pulled him the other direction. "We aren't missing Christmas with my shitty old man, Marimo, so come on and stop playing games." He frowned at him.
"It's not my fault..." He huffed, earning a scoff from the blonde.
"I swear, Zoro it's almost like you don't want to get on the plane. This is the second time you've gone the wrong way and if we don't get there soon they're going to close the gates. Do you know how long it took me to find you after security? Pretty damn long." He scolded him. Zoro swallowed hard and kept biting the inside of his lip. He didn't want to get on the plane. The closer they got to the boarding dock the faster his heart beat got. He was sure he was going to have a heart attack soon.
"You do want to go see my dad," Sanji questioned, raising the visible eyebrow. "Right?" Shit.
"Yeah of course. Zeff's cool why wouldn't I?" Good one, Zoro. Good one.
Sanji frowned and continued pulling him through the Christmas chaos until finally they were at the dock. "Here's your ticket." Sanji dug through his pocket until he found it and started to hand it over before snatching it back. "Wait, on second thought you'll probably just lose it. Just follow me."
Great he was annoyed.
He kept silent as they waited among the other late passengers to board the plane. To be honest, he didn't think he would have be able to speak if he tried. His heart was racing and he was trying just to keep his breakfast down.
As they walked down the hallway to board anxiety started to set in and he tried his hardest to imagine he was just riding in a car. A long car ride. Yeah. That sounded better.
"Enjoy your flight, sir." And now he was back on a plane.
"Hey, mosshead." Sanji motioned for the man to follow him to their seat at the back and he did so stiffly. Sanji opened the compartment and pushed his carry on into it and then grabbed Zoro's and did the same before shutting it and sliding into the window seat.
Zoro closed his eyes and sat down in the isle seat and gripped the armrests tight. He was going to be okay. It was all going to be okay.
"Hey," Sanji's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Are you okay?" Zoro opened his eyes to see Sanji giving him a concerned look. "You aren't afraid of planes are you?"
"God no!" Zoro laughed nervously. "Me? Afraid of planes? That's the most bullshit I've heard you say in your life."
"Zoro." Sanji said sternly.
"I am afraid of planes."
"Okay now was that so hard to admit?" The blonde asked.
"Yes." A stern look is all he received.. "It's such a stupid fear."
"Hmmm. Have you ever been in one before?" Sanji inquired.
"No. It just feels really unnatural to be off the ground in a moving thing. Like what happens if we fall?" Zoro's heart was racing as fast as Zoro thought it could possibly go by now and the armrests were probably going to have intentions of his fingers.
"Hey now," Sanji unhooked his grip from the chair and moved his hand in its place. "It's a fear nonetheless and it doesn't make you any less of a man no matter what your neanderthal brain thinks."
Zoro grunted in response. So now Sanji knew he was afraid to fly but it didn't solve the fact they were still on the plane.
"You should have just told me and I could've talked Zeff into flying here himself." Sanji smacked him lightly on the back of the head. "Idiot Marimo." Zoro shot him a glare and he laughed.
"At least you think it's funny." Zoro said through clenched teeth. It was, in fact, not funny and he didn't get why Sanji was laughing.
"No I'm not laughing because I think your fear is laughable I'm laughing because you hid it from me." He smiled softly. "We've got eleven hours to get you through. Hopefully it won't be so bad once we take off. Maybe you'll even like it?" He suggested.
"Like hell." Zoro scoffed.
"You never know until you try it." The cook shrugged.
"Attention all passengers please fasten your seatbelts and turn you attention to the stewardess as she demonstrates how to react in an emergency situation." The head stewardess who'd welcomed Zoro on board said too cheerfully into the PA system.
"Just pay attention to the woman and maybe that will help. At least you'll know what to do if something does happen. Which it won't." Sanji told him and he nodded. Life jacket under the seat. Place around neck. Pull chord. Oxygen mask above head. Grab it and pull it down. Got it.
"Feel better?" Sanji asked and Zoro returned with a shake of his head. He felt nauseous. "Okay well we're about to take off so here," Sanji grabbed his other hand in his and squeezed down on them a little. "Hold my hands until we're in the air."
Zoro shut his eyes and swallowed hard as he felt the plane start to move. When they started to pick up speed he squeezed Sanji's hands hard. He felt sorry for it, he really did, but right now he was afraid and Sanji had offered so technically it was his fault not Zoro's.
"Marimo, we're in the air." Sanji said and Zoro loosened the grip on his boyfriend's hands.
"Can I still hold your hand?" Zoro asked quietly. It comforted him. By no means did it help completely but it did comfort him.
"Yes, you can." Sanji gave him a small kiss. "You really should have just told me." He smirked.
"I know..." Zoro's frown deepened. "I'm sorry." He leaned his forehead onto Sanji's and took a deep breath as he tried to steady his heart.
"My poor little mosshead." Sanji chuckled. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Never make me go on a plane ever again?" Zoro asked, halfway hoping that Sanji would get a boat home or something.
"We still have the eleven hours to go. And then the trip home." Sanji confirmed his fear. "You'll make it, I know you will. You're strong enough. You can't let a little plane like this get you down."
"Mmmm." He hummed, his forehead still connected with Sanji's.
"Why don't you meditate?" Sanji suggested.
Zoro lifted his head up to look him in the eyes. "I'm stressed out beyond your knowledge there's no way I'm going to be calm enough for that. I won't be able to go to sleep either of that what your next guess will be."
"Okay Mr. Snappy Pants." Sanji raised an eyebrow. "What can we do to get you calmed..." He thought. "We could play a game? 20 questions or something?"
"Okay..." He didn't really see how a game would take his mind off of anything. He was still in a heavy metal thing in the sky.
"Oh! I've got it!" Sanji repositioned himself to where he was sitting facing the other. "We could tell stories about when we were younger. I haven't heard many of those. We'll start with...holiday mishaps."
"Okay...you start." Zoro said, not really believing this would help at all.
"So on my...seventh Christmas? Yeah seventh, Zeff let me help in the kitchen. My job was to peel the potatoes. I went to grab another bag of them after I'd finished the one Zeff gave me because he said he needed to take care if something else first. I thought I was being helpful and my first thought was 'I can show him how grown up I am' and I went to get it. When I jumped off my stool I knocked the peeler into the floor and didn't realize. And when I hobbled back dragging the potatoes behind me I didn't see it either. And so I stepped on it and cut my heel up pretty bad."
Zoro made a face of disgust. "Of course you would, you're such a genius."
Sanji shook his head and laughed. "I really am aren't I? Okay your turn. Holiday mishap lets go."
"Ummm..." Zoro thought, pushing back the thoughts of the plane to dig through the old files of his brain. "There was one Christmas when Mihawk let Perona and I pick out the tree. We were around nine at the time. Well I was, Perona was eight. We couldn't agree on a tree and argued for hours. Eventually she took her belt off and tied me to the tree I wanted and told me to wait for another family to come pick the tree with the moss on it and take me home. I was there until Mihawk realized I was gone about...an hour and a half later."
And these stories continued throughout the plane ride, eventually ranging out of the holiday season and into the rest of their lives. This method of Sanji's had worked more than Zoro would have liked to admit. He didn't even really remember he was on the death trap, he was too engrossed in listening to Sanji's stories and digging for his own, until they began their descent. And then it was back where they started, Sanji offering his hands up for sacrifice as Zoro held on for dear life.
When they got off and found Zeff waiting for them holding a sign that said 'Eggplant and Moss' the chef asked why Sanji looked so worn out.
"It was his first time flying." He said with a yawn, pointing at Zoro who was fishing for their bags at the conveyor belt now.
"I remember your first flight." Zeff chuckled. "Did you do the story thing?"