Chapter Text
Illusions of it passing, once a time it’s refusal ever so persistent to stay, for half of his self remained no longer.
He’d migrate to what was once before.
Magenta was a quiet rush through the warm yellow on the horizon above, it greeted Sanji with a soft promise of peace. As waves lapped loudly against the ship, birds cawed awakening alarms, his friends would be bound to wake. In the flickering guise of his gaze, Sanji could see a straw hat waving in the wind through the porthole, distracting him from the sizzle of a pan on the stove. Luffy was always right on the head of the Merry, his eyes glittering with joy as he gawked at the sunrise each morning.
He hummed quietly to himself, tapping his foot against the tiled floor as he waited. Sanji thought of checking in on Nami’s tangerine grove, picking some in their prime to make good use of them. He could incorporate the tangy flavour into a fresh salad, maybe even a spicy stir fry. Ideas buzzed and whirled around in Sanji’s head, he pulled his notepad out of his apron, skimming over all the previous drafts to an empty page.
And as Sanji crouched over the counter in a craze, hands racing to keep up with the flow, footsteps pattered onto the floor, signifying someone’s appearance.
Sanji could tell by the clack of Robin’s slippers that the girls had awakened. He withdrew from his thoughts to follow the sound. His interest was captured by Nami, her orange messy hair, the puffiness of her cheeks, and that sleepy look in her brown eyes.
Nami yawned as she sat at the dining table, “Morning.”
Sanji had almost forgotten about the task at hand, distracted by the ladies' presence, he quickly scurried to plate their breakfast. The dish was delectably sweet, paired with a dark bitter coffee, just for Robin. Sanji had arranged it so meticulously to his own standard, before he juggled six plates of it into his arms, then drew around the corner to put them to rest.
”Here you are my darlings,” Sanji uttered smoothly.
“Thank you.” Robin turned her head around to thank Sanji with a warm smile.
Now that the girls were getting fed, Sanji now had the task of wrangling up the others. Where Luffy sat was a place he could bet on every single time, so he headed there first.
Upon exiting the galley out into open air, the impact of the wind caused Sanji’s hair to blow all out of proportion. He spluttered in his step, trenching to face Luffy’s back.
Sanji raised his voice.
“Hey, come—”
But not before Luffy struck alight, ”FOOD!”
He watched as Luffy sped past him, nearly missing the door to the galley in his blind chase.
”Shouldn’t even warn him,” Sanji exhaled.
With the knowledge that Luffy’s stuffing his face now, Sanji paved his way right down into the bedroom most of them shared. The floorboards creaked as Sanji creeped in, he treaded lightly in fear of sudden disturbance. His eyes adjusted to the dimly lit environment, only to notice that Zoro was sleeping. He approached Zoro, adrift in his obnoxiously loud snores. Upon further inspection with crouching, Chopper hadn’t gotten far as it seemed. A tuft of fur poked out from between Zoro’s arms.
Sanji could barely feel the smile growing on his face, over the warmth in his heart. He was about to suffice to yell at Zoro, but he’d forgotten all about it, seeing how comfortable the two looked together.
He reached a hand out to poke Zoro’s cheek.
“Marimo, come eat.” He uttered quietly.
Zoro let out a groan in protest, facing away from Sanji’s hand, leaving it hanging in the air beside his face.
A wave of annoyance bubbled inside Sanji, “You’re just ignoring me?”
Zoro kept his peace, eyelids glued shut.
Sanji hummed, standing back up.
“Suit yourself, then.”
He left their room even quieter than he came, trailing back into the kitchen, where he could hear most of his crew clamouring about. They were all sitting at the dining table, engrossed in their own conversations. It was a relief knowing almost everyone was fed or had started to eat.
As much as Sanji has wanted to rip his hair out due to stress from time to time, he’d have to be a real asshole not to feed them properly. Seeing them all together eased the expansion of his heart blossoming out of his chest, warming that part of himself that craved to be cared for as he cared for others.
Sanji walked up to them and pulled up a chair to sit next to Robin, her head was tipped down into a book, glasses just shy of falling off of her face. He was nosy, trying to follow where her eyes skimmed, failing as he realised it was far too complex to comprehend at this hour. It was a little endearing to see Robin completely zone out and let herself be entranced by a book.
“… tiger lillie’s.” Robin’s voice struck through Sanji’s ear.
Sanji broke out of his focus, averting his eyes to Robins.
”Huh?”
“I was just telling you what it was called.”
”Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.” Sanji’s cheeks grew pink.
Robin flicked a page, “It’s alright to be curious.” She chuckled. “You can borrow it if you’d like.”
Sanji’s eyes widened, “Really?”
Robin lifted her gaze, meeting Sanji’s with a smile.
“I’d be more than happy to share.”
”Oh.” Sanji’s eyes widened. “Thank you.”
Nami cleared her throat, demanding everyone’s attention.
“I think we’re headed up to another island soon.” She announced.
“Ugh, finally!” Luffy exaggerated through a mouthful of food.
Luffy turned to Nami. “I say we go.” He declared.
”Hey, hold on,” Nami interrupted. “Don’t get so excited.”
Luffy raised an eyebrow, “Huh? What do you mean?”
Nami sighed, “We need to be more careful, don’t you remember what happened last time?”
Usopp shrieked next to Nami, his expression turning cold.
”Oh, please, don’t remind me.” Usopp said, barely above a whisper.
Luffy furrowed his brows, mind going elsewhere in thought, before the gears clicked in his head.
“Yeah, I remember!” He raised his voice.
Luffy tapped his chin in thought. “Usopp and Chopper were stuck with those…”
A brief memory of grotesque looking men in cloaks flashed in Sanji’s mind.
“Weren’t they the Shino magicians?” Sanji cued in.
Luffy clapped his hands and pointed to Sanji, memories coming back to him.
“Yes! That’s it!” He exclaimed.
Almost comical with the timing, Chopper appeared in the middle of the room, frozen in his step.
“Aw man, Chopper’s never gonna wanna see another top hat ever again.” Luffy said.
Chopper quivered in fear. “Did you just say… top hat?”
Luffy’s head darted around the room, trying to find the voice behind him, impersonating a meerkat with his erratic manner.
He lit up once he noticed, “Morning, Chopper!”
Luffy’s eyes kept searching for something more, before his expression fell.
“Where’s Zoro?” He asked.
Chopper shook out of his flashbacks, ”He’s still sleeping, I tried waking him up but he didn’t move.”
Sanji let out a sigh, glaring over to the empty seat across the table that should be housing Zoro’s ass right about now. It was irritating to Sanji that Zoro could rarely show up on time, and now it was becoming rather apparent at breakfast too. Sanji didn’t like to waste food, he’d rather die than let something go to waste.
Minutes ticked by, plates scraped empty, and yet no sign of Zoro. His breakfast sat there growing cold.
Sanji was now alone washing up the dishes, whilst everyone else went on to do their own thing. In the time he was drying and putting the plates away, Sanji had decided to go over and give Zoro a piece of his mind.
But before he did so, Sanji dug through his pants for a cigarette, sticking one between his lips. As his hand slipped back into his pocket, Sanji felt the absence of his lighter. Sanji patted his pants frantically, like that’d magically make the lighter appear.
He must’ve misplaced it.
Sanji’s patience was wearing thin already, he groaned in frustration and submitted to the lack. He stomped over to open the kitchen door, despite the irritation coating his mind.
Someone’d already beat him to it.
The door flew open, making Sanji step back.
And there he was, standing in the doorframe, in his own blurry haze of adjusting to the world.
Sanji felt his skin prickle at the sight of Zoro.
“About time you showed your face,” Sanji quipped.
Zoro’s eyes were glued to the wall behind Sanji, stepping past him to enter the kitchen.
”Yeah.” He muttered dismissively.
“Hey, hold on,” Sanji began. He stood in front of Zoro to place a firm hand on him.
He began to wave a finger at Zoro’s face, “You slept in, so your breakfast is served cold.”
“That’s fine.” Zoro shrugged.
With a slight tilt, he darted his head down to meet Sanji’s stare. Zoro’s attention diverged to him like a spotlight, a deadpan expression painting his face. Silence strung out, like Zoro was silently trying to gauge Sanji. It was like he was awaiting something.
Sanji’s eyes turned into a squint, unconvinced of Zoro’s quiet intentions. It was infuriating how he couldn’t read him. If he had something to say he should’ve been out with it by now. There was no point in pretending with Sanji, given him knowing Zoro’s never been one to go silent about his opinions.
His jaw clenched, annoyance alighting a realisation. Zoro wanted a reaction, and he knew he’d get it. Zoro was messing with him on purpose, because he knew Sanji could never resist the ease of giving in.
He’d had it with Zoro already, Sanji was just about to indulge in the temptation.
Only for Zoro to break it.
Drifting his eyes to Sanji’s mouth.
Sanji’s annoyance arose, nearly blinded by it, just not enough to notice Zoro’s lingering gaze. He caught it just before Zoro decided to push past him.
Sanji's feet followed behind Zoro unintentionally, trying desperately to express his frustration. Sanji’s hand fell from his shoulder as he slipped by, letting Zoro go, just not without a warning.
“I’m telling you now, if this happens again, and you let my food go cold.”
Zoro paused in his step to slowly turn around, his eyes finding Sanji’s immediately. They weighed heavy, gaze piercing right through Sanji. It looked like he had nothing to say, Zoro was a man of many words this morning. It really pissed Sanji off, usually he’d be jeering at him with snarky comments, with a smirk on his stupid face.
Of course that isn’t what he’s doing now, this was far more irritating. Having the nerve to just string Sanji along, making him wait for his words.
Without warning, did Zoro step into Sanji’s space. He could feel the exhale Zoro took before he began to talk.
”I’m telling you now that I don’t care.” He stressed firmly.
Then Sanji watched, as Zoro turned to sit at the table, digging into his stone cold food. Zoro didn’t spare Sanji a single look, not whining about how shitty it tasted, just sitting there and eating it. He didn’t know whether or not to be pleased or dissatisfied. Zoro was getting to him, and Sanji couldn’t get back at him.
As long as that plate was empty, that’s all he cared for.
⏾
A bead of sweat dripped from Zoro’s forehead right onto his leg, his muscles were on fire. He grunted as he lifted his arms up to his ears, flapping his arms like a bird as he held his weights. He’d been at this for god knows how long, it was easy to get lost in the calm of focus, to distance himself from reality.
Zoro gently let his arms fall as he placed the weights back onto the floor, and retreating to a standing position. He stretched out his arms behind his head, tilting it up to the sky, he noticed grey blanketing what was once vast amounts of blue. That was probably his cue to head back inside.
He made his way down the steps, leaving the front of the deck as he headed to their room. Rain began to patter across his forehead, spots darkened over the wooden floor. As Zoro came to open the trapdoor, he noticed someone standing by the edge of the ship.
It took a second, but Zoro recognised that weft of blonde hair. The more he lingered, and by Sanji’s stance alone, it made him feel as if something was off. And also considering that dinner would usually be at their table by this hour. Sanji looked like he was making no move to do so. It was unnerving to see him so still.
So, without questioning it any further, Zoro straightened up and approached Sanji.
Zoro’s arm dampened with the fresh rain coating the railing as he lent against it. Sanji didn’t acknowledge Zoro, didn’t even flinch once he stood alongside him.
Zoro turned his head, discerning Sanji, trying to figure out what he was dealing with here.
There was a string of silence, before Sanji’s voice strummed.
“Why’re you out here?” He mumbled, his tone accusatory.
He really was in a mood.
“Was just gonna ask you the same thing,” Zoro deflected.
Sanji sighed loudly, shooting a glance over to Zoro.
”You’re getting wet,” Sanji stated, like it annoyed him.
”So are you,” Zoro chided. “And you still didn’t answer my question.”
Sanji turned to face his body towards Zoro’s.
”You didn’t ask me anything,” He scowled.
Zoro held back his already rising frustration, and turned his attention back to the waves.
”If you would’ve given me a second before pointing daggers at my throat...” He said quietly to himself before he began.
“It’s raining— and you’ve clearly been outside for a while— I was curious.”
Sanji’s head dipped down, staring below at his feet.
“How chivalrous of you.” He snorted.
Zoro huffed out a breath and flickered his gaze back to Sanji. Whatever Zoro was about to say disappeared, with the redirection of his attention brought to the cigarette in Sanji’s mouth. It wasn’t lit, just hanging between Sanji’s lips. Seeing that brought him back to this morning, Zoro saw the same thing, that cigarette waiting to be lit. In turn, that also made him remember something else. His posture straightened as he began to pat around his pants, pulling out a shiny silver lighter.
Sanji’s eyes grew curious, ultimately catching a glimpse of that silver he had been searching for.
“Where’d you get that?” He snatched it defensively out of Zoro’s hands.
Zoro kept his hands to himself, feigning nonchalance. “I think I got it from the bar downstairs, I can’t remember exactly, I was too drunk.”
Sanji held the lighter between his fingertips, observing it like a jewel. Before flicking the spark wheel, trying to light a flame. With the increasing rain, it made it difficult for Sanji to ignite a spark. Zoro could see him getting frustrated, eyebrows furrowed, lower lip worried between his teeth.
”Do you want some…” He offered quietly.
”Shut up,” Sanji quipped.
”… Okay.”
Zoro shuffled back, ”You’re welcome.”
The lack of a response— due to Sanji’s deadset focus— made Zoro linger longer than he would’ve normally. Sanji’s eyelashes held droplets of rain, his eyes were squinted as he focused solely onto the flame taunting in his face. Zoro knew he could be some sort of use to this, but he didn’t want to irritate Sanji more than he already was. He also would prefer his dinner to be served at a normal temperature.
Zoro turned away from Sanji, hiding the grin forming on his face.
He found it hard to suppress a chuckle as he walked away.
The rain still trickled down, painting the sky with brash hues.