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Sanji had to admit, when the marimo had approached him, carrying his black bandana, and asked with a smirk if Sanji wanted to try something new, several possible scenarios had popped into the chef’s head and he’d been forced to pause before answering to stop a sudden nosebleed.
None of those scenarios involved him growing increasingly irritated in the front seat of Zoro’s car, making what had to be their fiftieth left turn.
“Look, shit-for-brains, we’ve been driving for over an hour. Let me take off this stupid blindfold and maybe we’ll actually arrive wherever we’re going by nightfall,” he growled, drumming his fingers on the center console in frustration.
Sanji didn’t need his sight to know Zoro frowned deeper at that. “No, cook. We’re close. I think those idiots just moved it again. And don’t you roll your eyes at me, I’m serious, it was right here last weekend.”
His lips twitched, but Sanji managed to stop himself from smiling. “Of course it was. You’re right. They probably moved the …” he trailed off, hoping Zoro would finally fill in the blank and tell him what he was planning.
“Nice try, curly. I’m not telling you where we’re going.”
“Arrrgh, fine! I just hope by the time you give up we’re not so lost I can’t get us home again,” the blonde huffed.
“We’re not lost,” Zoro grumbled back.
For the first time in their hour plus drive, the car made a right turn and Zoro slapped the steering wheel in triumph. “I knew it! They did move it! But it’s okay, because we’re here.” Sanji reached up to take off his blindfold, but calloused hands closed gently around his wrists, stopping him.
“Not so fast,” Zoro murmured. “Just leave it and wait there. One second.”
Sanji sighed but decided he’d been humoring the other man for the past hour, so another few minutes probably … hopefully … couldn’t hurt. His fingers itched to remove the silky fabric covering his eyes as he heard Zoro cut the engine, climb out of the car, and shut the door, but he linked his fingers in his lap and resisted the urge. It wasn’t all that often that the moss head did things like this, and Sanji didn’t want to spoil it.
A burst of chilly air hit him as his boyfriend opened the passenger side door, and Sanji swung his feet out when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. Voices carried by the wind reached his ears as he stood up and tried to guess where they were.
“Mommy! Look at this one! This one is the perfectest!”
“Oh, honey, look, wouldn’t this one look great in the living room?”
“I think that’s too tall, babe, what about this one?”
“Marimo … where are we?” Sanji asked, feeling gravel under his feet and noting that the air seemed fresh despite the cacophony of pedestrian voices surrounding him.
“You’ll see, c’mon.”
Nearby someone giggled and was immediately silenced. That giggle was very … familiar.
“Who else is here?”
“No one, cook, just come on already. Jeez, you try to do something for a guy,” Zoro muttered, tugging insistently on his boyfriend’s arm.
“But I thought I just heard … oof!” Sanji’s protest was abruptly cut off as he collided with something warm, tall, and solid.
“Ooops, sorry Sanji,” Zoro apologized hurriedly.
“Sorry Sanji?” The chef asked. “How about sorry whoever you just walked me in to, idiot? That was a person, right?”
“Well yeah, but it’s just me, so fine,” a low voice reassured him amicably.
“Ace?!”
“Shishishishi! Can we tell him now, Zoro?”
Sanji snapped his head in the direction of that all-too familiar voice. “Luffy?!”
“Thanks, guys. Subtle.”
“Oh come on, Zoro, it’s fine! We’re close enough now anyway.”
“Yeah, but do you have …”
Sanji listened as something was silently handed to the man beside him.
“Okay, but what about …”
“Here you go! It’s fresh and everything!” Luffy stated proudly.
“Thanks, guys.”
“No problem, man. C’mon Luffy.”
“Okay! Remember, red bow, Zoro! Right at the top!”
“Got it, Luffy.”
“Don’t get lost!”
“It’s a tiny little lot, how am I gonna get lost?” Zoro demanded.
“Well, you got lost on your way here, didn’t you? It took you like an hour to drive two miles.”
“You- “
“Shut up, Lu. C’mon, let’s leave these guys to it.”
Zoro let out a relieved sigh and Sanji could picture him running a gloved hand through his hair as he heard his friends walking away, their boots crunching on the gravel. “Okay, cook. You can take it off now.”
Sanji all but ripped the fabric from his eyes and whirled around, looking for Luffy and Ace, but they were nowhere to be seen. He’d come up with a few ideas about where they could be going as he rode around, but none of those theories came close to reality.
Zoro stood before him, looking slightly awkward and very obviously waiting for his reaction. The man held a thermos in each hand and was offering one to Sanji, along with what appeared to be a small candy cane. Behind Zoro were rows and rows of pine trees. It took Sanji a moment to remember that during the holidays Ace, Luffy and Sabo ran a little Christmas tree lot, which would explain Ace and Luffy being there. But what …
His question must have showed on his face because a slightly pink Zoro immediately started to stammer out an explanation. “You, uh, you said you never really, you know, got a tree before. So I thought … cuz it’s our first Christmas and you love Christmas and everything, that we could maybe … get one.”
Sanji accepted the thermos and took a tentative sip of its contents. The hot chocolate was rich and delicious, but it wasn’t the only thing responsible for the sudden warmth spreading through his body. He had casually mentioned never having a tree in a passing conversation with the marimo weeks ago, and at the time Zoro hadn’t commented. He couldn’t believe his usually clueless boyfriend remembered something like that. He fought down the urge to throw himself into Zoro’s arms and instead focused on the little cellophane-wrapped candy in his hand.
“What’s with the candy cane?”
If the question surprised Zoro he didn’t show it. “They usually give ‘em out at the end, after you bought a tree, but when I was little my dad used to get them to give us the candy first so we could eat it with our hot chocolate while we looked for trees, Kind of a family tradition, I guess. So I asked Luffy and Ace if I could have ours first if I brought you here.”
Though he was typically considered the more sensitive of the two, Sanji found himself flushing and shifting uncomfortably at the surge of emotions that came from being let in on a family tradition like that; something that was obviously special to Zoro. Unsure how to respond, he decided it was safest to change the subject. “I can’t believe Luffy willingly gives out candy. Remember what happened on Halloween?”
Zoro snorted and settled his free arm around Sanji’s shoulder. “Yeah, I think Ace and Sabo usually man the candy cane basket. Luffy made the hot chocolate for us, though.”
“I thought it tasted like his. He always puts chili powder in it,” Sanji replied, leaning into Zoro’s hold as he allowed himself to be steered toward the first row of pines. “It’s good.”
“Glad you like it. He really wanted to help when he found out what I was doing. Said the best chef in the world deserved the best tree in the world. Apparently he’s been causing trouble all morning, scaring customers away from his favorite one.”
“Red bow right at the top?”
Zoro chuckled and pressed a kiss to Sanji’s temple. “Yeah, I think I see it over there.”
Sanji followed Zoro’s gaze and noticed a speck of red among the green of the treetops. “Well, we better go check it out before the guys lose any more customers on my account.”
When they reached the tree, it was easy to see why Luffy would pick it for them. It was the perfect height for their small apartment, well-shaped and full without any weird bald spots, and with a perfectly straight trunk that wouldn’t lean in a tree stand and drive Sanji crazy.
“It’s amazing, Zoro. Really.”
The man shuffled his feet and shrugged. “I mean, Luffy picked it out …”
“No, dumbass, I mean everything. This day, all of it. It’s amazing. Thank you.”
“It’s just a stupid tree, cook, nothing to -hey!”
Zoro flinched but didn’t pull away when Sanji slid his hands into the man’s warm winter coat and under his shirt, brushing cold fingers against warm skin before intertwining them at the small of his back.
“Just shut up,” Sanji said with a grin, moving closer to the blushing man in his arms. “You did something sweet and it was adorable and I’m never going to let you live it down. And I love it. Thank you.”
Zoro opened his mouth to protest, but Sanji silenced him with a gentle, peppermint flavored kiss.
“OOOOHHH, ACE I THINK THEY LIKE IT! THEY’RE MAKING OUT!”
Sanji broke the kiss in order to facepalm, but Zoro just laughed.
“C’mon, cook. Let’s go buy this thing and get outta here.”
Pulling his now pleasantly warm hands out of Zoro’s coat, Sanji grabbed his lover’s hand instead and led him toward the exit. “Okay, marimo, but on the way home I’m driving!”