"Have you checked out that basketball group-"
"The one near the supermarket? Yeah I have."
Sanji paused to have another mouthful of fried rice. He swatted Zoro's hand away when he attempted to steal a piece of ham. "Do you like the look of it?
Zoro sat back in the armchair; it wasn't of the best quality of course, considering the fact they were sat in the living room they shared with a few of their other uni friends.
"Maybe. Some of the members are irritating but they're all really good at the sport. That Mihawk is the coach so it's no wonder."
"Huh, too bad you're not joining the football team instead," Sanji said.
"What did you say Daddy Strong-legs?"
Sanji snorted. "Daddy Strong-legs? What kind of nickname is that?"
"You shouldn't be complaining you know. It's better than Ero-cook."
"Are you picking a fight shitty Marimo?" Sanji challenged, jumping onto his feet.
"You sound like you want one Swirly-brow," Zoro said, smirking when he saw one of Sanji's curly eyebrows twitch with irritation.
"COME AT ME BRO!"
"ALRIGHT I WILL!"
Zoro had only just walked over to Sanji and gripped him by the shirt when Nami stormed into the room. "You two are too noisy; keep it down!
"I apologise Nami-swan~" His eyes turned into hearts as he asked, "Would you like me to get you something? You must be exhausted from all the studying you do."
Zoro snickered. "Looks like someone's pandering to his lovely ladies again."
"You!"
"GUYS."
Both of them backed down then with a somewhat sheepish look on their faces.
"If you two want to argue, that's fine. Just do it quietly ok?"
Nami gave them one last pointed look before she sashayed out of the room. With that, they sat back down again and Sanji shovelled the rest of his dinner down his throat before it got too cold.
"So…you're joining the football team I guess."
"Yeah."
Zoro pouted. "Well that sucks."
Sanji smirked, his single, visible eyebrow waggling in amusement. "Why? You sulking because your ripped arms mean nothing on the football field?"
His friend averted his eyes, a light blush beginning to tint his tanned cheeks. "Not gonna lie cook, I enjoy things more when I get to compete with you. It's gonna be a bit harder if we're in different sports teams."
Well, that wasn't something Sanji was expecting him to say. Yeah they fought constantly and that's what most people saw but they often didn't see past their attempts to antagonise each other. Sometimes even Sanji overlooked their actual feelings towards each other.
He shifted awkwardly. "Well y'know, we can figure out other ways to do that."
"Uhuh. Yeah."
"Like…" Sanji gestured, "Like, maybe we can see who gets put on the main team first or something like that."
Zoro shrugged carelessly. "Whatever."
"Oi, I'm trying to cheer you up Shitty Marimo…"
"Heh I know." Zoro smiled.
Sanji sighed. "Is that a deal then?"
"Yeah."
They shook hands even though they didn't really need something as formal as that to seal the deal.
Zoro grinned. "I'll have this over and done with before Christmas."
Sanji smirked back at him. "Really? I'll make sure to be on that team before Halloween then."
