Third fic in a week of daily drabbles I'm doing with Ivy (cuethe_pulse on LJ). Today, we chose from a list of tropes. I chose drunk confession fic (with a twist).
I'd Rather Dance With You
Sanji was dancing by himself, unless one were to count the glass of wine in his hand as a dancing partner. It very well could be, considering the tenderness with which he was treating it. Zoro wondered if he'd end their beautiful and moving evening together by giving it a kiss.
In the hours previous, Sanji had successfully managed to convince the entire crew to dance with him at least once. Some of them had been easy - Luffy, Brook, Franky, and Chopper, for instance. Usopp and Robin had needed a little convincing, but were compliant enough. Nami had nearly punched him for his audacity, and yet it seemed she had taken pity on him at the last moment.
He had not asked Zoro to dance, which was lucky for the both of them. Now they were alone in the galley, and even the inanimate objects were fair game for ballroom dancing, apparently. Zoro watched as Sanji bowed, tilting the glass as if to end their dance by dipping it. A stream of wine dribbled out, splashing against the wood floor, and Sanji hurriedly righted it. "Oops," he said, and his tone was altogether too cheerful for someone who was acting like such an idiot.
"Are you done yet?" Zoro asked on the tail end of a sigh. He had been self-tasked with babysitting Sanji throughout his drunkenness now that the rest of the crew had gone off to bed. It was irritating, but it wasn't like he wanted to wake up to find that Sanji had tumbled overboard at some point in the night. It'd be tough going back to regular meals now that he had tasted what Sanji could make.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm working up the courage to ask you to dance with me," Sanji said matter of factly, and it wasn't until this very moment that Zoro realized he'd never actually seen Sanji drunk before. It was, somehow, different than he'd imagined it.
"You don't need to ask, because I can tell you the answer right now."
"What is it?"
"No."
Sanji frowned, putting the glass down on the counter before walking over to the dining table. He wasn't so drunk that he couldn't walk, apparently, but there was a specific gingerness to his steps, and he lurched to a halt in front of Zoro, holding his right hand out.
"Just once?" he asked, making his eyes big and round at the same time as he pouted out his bottom lip.
"No."
"Why not?"
"I don't want to dance with you," Zoro said. Somehow, it was amusement that rose up inside of him rather than irritation with Sanji's incessant questioning.
"What if I..." Sanji started, then paused and put a finger to his chin in thought. "What if I gave you booze first?"
"I've had enough booze. I want to sleep now."
"I'll go to sleep if you dance with me," Sanji wheedled on.
Zoro groaned. "Why?"
"Because I want to."
"But I don't. And anyway, I don't know how to dance."
Sanji raised an eyebrow, and a rather frightening smile formed on his lips. "You say that like I didn't already know you were going to be terrible at it," he said, holding out a hand.
For several seconds, Zoro stared at it, but didn't reach out to take it.
"Come on, we don't have all night," Sanji said, flapping the extended hand around in Zoro's face.
Reluctantly, Zoro took it, and allowed Sanji to pull him up out of the chair. He'd barely gotten to his feet when Sanji attempted to twirl him out, but Zoro just stood firmly in place, feeling entirely too confused for such a simple situation. "You're ridiculous," he muttered.
"Yes," Sanji agreed, as he anchored his hands on Zoro's waist and used them to force him into picking up a swaying motion. "But you like it. It gives you all the more material to make fun of me with, doesn't it?"
Zoro laughed. "Is that why I like it?"
"Yes."
"I don't think it is."
"Then why do you like it?"
"It's cute."
Sanji's eyes widened, and Zoro almost wondered if the drunken flush on his cheeks had deepened further. "Huh?"
"I said it's cute, I didn't say you were cute," Zoro clarified.
"You saying I'm not cute, shitty marimo?" Sanji asked, doing a very good job of feigning offense. Still, he didn't take his hands off of Zoro's waist, nor step away.
"I didn't say that either."
"You're being too confusing!"
Zoro smirked. "You're just too drunk to understand anything. I didn't know you were such a lightweight."
"I'd kick you if I didn't think I'd fall flat on my face."
"I know."
Sanji made a snuffling noise and dropped his chin to Zoro's shoulder. They were still swaying together, and Zoro found that it was soothing, in a way. He sighed, completely resigned now to Sanji's whims, so he wrapped his arms around that slender waist and held on for the ride.
It took him several minutes after that to finally realize that he was the one doing all the swaying, and that Sanji wasn't contributing at all anymore. He turned his head just barely, cutting his eyes to the side only to see that Sanji's were closed. The dumbass had fallen asleep on his shoulder, and was starting to drool on his shirt.
And yet Zoro couldn't even find it in himself to be angry; only endeared. "Cute," he whispered, pressed his lips to the top of Sanji's head, and kept on swaying.