Notes: Written for the Zosan Secret Valentines for wherethesunmeetsthemoon. I hope you enjoy this and that your valentines was as every bit as wonderful as you are 3
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When the man walked in, Sanji thought nothing to it. In fact, he didn't even know the man had walked into the shop in the first place. He was in the back setting sugar butterflies on top of some purple-iced cakes, brow furrowed in concentration
"Excuse me, Sanji-san," a soft voice said and Sanji looked to the part-time shop assistant. Mocha was a hard worker and Sanji was always glad for her help. "I've come to collect the order for Roronoa Zoro."
Sanji set down the butterflies and walked over to the side. A collection of large, white boxes sat on the counter and Sanji looked for the ones that were for this particular customer.
"I'll come and make sure they're what he ordered," Sanji said. Mocha nodded, visibly relieved, and Sanji smiled. Mocha was still learning the ropes and custom orders were a little trickier than the generic day to day selling of coffee and cakes.
"Hello sir," Sanji said to the man at the counter. His hair was green and he looked as if he'd spent a lot of time in the sun. Still, it wasn't Sanji's place to judge, even if the hair did make him look like an environmental conservation project.
"This is your order," Sanji said, opening the box and letting the man see. He grunted and Sanji felt a twinge of annoyance. He'd put his heart and soul into these cakes and the man didn't seem to care.
"If you're happy with them then you're free to go," Sanji said, tying the box with some ribbon they kept under the counter and then slipping the box into a bag. It was common to receive customers like this man, ones who weren't too concerned with the effort it took to make each cake. Sanji wasn't too bothered, usually, but customers who asked for custom-made goods were usually a little more appreciative. The man had already paid through the website; a thank you wouldn't go amiss.
Instead, the man grunted and walked off, bag hitting his leg as he walked. Sanji winced at the thought of the cakes inside, his poor creations in the barbarian Zoro's clutches, and set his forehead down on the counter.
"Are you okay, Sanji-san?" Mocha said and Sanji shrugged his shoulders.
"Butterflies," he muttered and returned to the kitchen, smiling at the little butterflies.
So no. Sanji didn't notice the man when he walked in and he even managed to forget about him, at least until he came in again. And again. And again. And, well, it was pretty easy to grasp the picture.
"Why does he never say thank you?" Sanji muttered, forehead against the counter and Mocha patting him sympathetically on the back. "He's been making orders for weeks now, every single week."
Mocha greeted a customer who had come up to the counter and left Sanji to moan. Sanji knew he was acting like a child, but was it so hard to be appreciative? Sanji worked hard for Zoro's specific orders and the man barely had the decency to say one word, let alone a thank you.
"Yes he's paying for them," Sanji said as Mocha moved past him. He thought he saw a roll of her eyes, but ignored it. Mocha was the only one who listened; the other staff would just shove him back into the kitchen and leave him to complain to the radio.
"But he never says thank you," Mocha finished for him, smiling as her customer walked off to their table. "Everyone knows it, even Brook."
Sanji blinked at her in surprise. "Brook knows?"
Mocha nodded.
Well, Sanji thought. Maybe he was complaining a little too much. Brook owned this little café-bakery and Sanji had heard of the job through his old man. Brook and Zeff were friends and Brook had been delighted that Sanji would be joining his team. He wasn't around much – his main aim was to fun whale conservation through music – but Brook did pop in now and then.
"Well," Sanji said and Mocha smiled.
"It'll be alright, Sanji-san," she said reassuringly. "I'm sure Roronoa-san will show his appreciation one day. He comes regularly enough."
She turned to clear some tables and Sanji moved into the back room. He had some orders to fill for the next day, but he frowned at his mixer instead.
Zoro intrigued him. He had never said much and they'd never had a conversation, but there was something about Zoro that made Sanji want to get to know him more, even if he pissed Sanji off.
"He's not even that bad looking," Sanji said as he took out some eggs from a carton. "Even if his head looks a lawn."
The eggs had no reply and Sanji closed his eyes, shaking his head. He was probably overtired, he decided, and turned his attention on fulfilling orders.
.
The card in his hand was heavy and Sanji pursed his lips.
"I… can't accept this," he said, looking to the tall man sat before him. Brook sipped his tea and shook his head, waving a hand.
"Nonsense," he said, voice low and calm. "As one of the musicians I have a number of free tickets to give away to friends. You're one of my friends, Sanji-san."
While his tone was gentle, Sanji knew there was no point trying to disagree. Brook had decided what was going to happen and there was no way Sanji would get out of it. Not that he wanted to – Sanji enjoyed Brook's music and maybe he'd meet the love of his life there – but because he felt a little bad getting such a valuable ticket for free.
"I only have one ticket," Brook said, apologetically. "But you'll be seated with some other friends of mine."
When Sanji entered the private booth his ticket gave him entrance to, he'd expected some stiff-collar men and women. He'd expected to spend an evening in quiet, assuming Brook's friends would be people from richer and stuffier communities, people he had to please for decent funding. What he hadn't expected, however, was a strange collection.
"Sanji!" an energetic man said, running to Sanji's side. Sanji had no idea who he was and nodded, taking a half-step back as the man bounced over to him, tugging at his jacket sleeve. "Did you bring cakes?"
Sanji shook his head slowly, heart skipping a beat as a beautiful woman walked up to them. She smiled sweetly at him before punching the other man on the arm, hands resting on her hips.
"Luffy!" she chastised and the man laughed turning back to Sanji with round, puppy eyes. Sanji knew then that this was the biggest threat to his livelihood; this Luffy would be his ruin.
"Zoro gives me your cakes," Luffy said happily. "Did you bring any tonight?"
"Luffy," the woman said, pushing him back off to their seats. "I'm sorry, Sanji-kun," she said sweetly.
"It's no trouble," Sanji said, bowing slightly and offering his hand to the woman. "Though I feel a little out of my depth as I know none of your names, yet you seem well acquainted with mine." The woman gave him her hand and he kissed her gently, stomach fluttering slightly as it always did with beautiful women.
"I'm Nami," she began, taking her hand back. "That's Luffy, Chopper's just getting a drink and Usopp needed the toilet." Nami wasn't scared of taking a blunt approach, it seemed, and Sanji nodded slowly.
"There's one more," she said, mouth turning down in annoyance. Sanji raised an eyebrow, but she shook her head. "He'll probably wander on stage at the end, knowing him."
Sanji left that comment, unsure exactly what it meant. Perhaps Nami meant Brook?
"I wish you'd brought cakes," Luffy said and Sanji smiled as he took his seat beside him. "Sanji's cakes are the best."
The lights began to dim so Sanji's next words were whispered. "I've never seen you at the shop."
Luffy shook his head. "Zoro's the one who gets them for me," he commented, the conductor walking onstage, cutting off any further talk.
What exactly did Luffy mean? Zoro – the same Zoro who was an ungrateful shit for his cakes – was friends with Luffy?
Sanji was starting to think he wasn't here simply for Brook's kindness. He shifted in his seat, fingers itching to loosen his tie a little. Instead, Sanji watched the performance before him and was soon absorbed, closing his eyes to the beautiful sounds.
The lights came back on slowly during the interval and Nami was the first to move. Sanji hadn't noticed two others join them and he stood slowly, introducing himself to a cheerful, young man and a slightly skittish one.
"You're Sanji then," Usopp said, thumb and index finger coming up to hold his chin. "It is my duty to inspect every potential-"
"Usopp," a deep voice said in warning and Usopp's bravado vanished, shoulders slumping and excuses poured out of his mouth as he slunk off to Nami's side.
Sanji turned to face the speaker, unsurprised to see Zoro standing at the doorway. He looked as moody as usual, though he was dressed considerably better than usual.
"I told you to let Chopper bring you here," Nami said, breaking into Sanji's thoughts. "You're hopeless."
Zoro shrugged and Luffy giggled.
"I like Sanji," Luffy declared and Sanji felt his cheek warm a little. He dipped his head in thanks, looking up and meeting Zoro's eyes. They'd shared glances before, but never like this. For some reason it was far more intimate than anything they'd shared before.
Zoro's eyes were dark and warm, a far cry from how the man had presented himself so far. He was sturdy, Sanji decided, dependable and yet from the way he held himself Sanji could tell there was a certain wildness in him. Zoro was interesting and if Nami and made his stomach tingle before, there was a storm of butterflies inside of Sanji now.
"I knew you would," Zoro said, looking away. Sanji's fingers twitched, but he turned around and moved to his seat instead, leaving Zoro with his friends.
The lights dimmed once more and Sanji tried not to react to Zoro taking the seat beside him. He spread his legs a little wide, thigh brushing Sanji's, and Sanji tensed, trying to focus as Brook took to the stage.
Zoro was warm though. He was bulkier than Sanji and Sanji couldn't help but steal glances throughout the night, pleasure coiling in his chest at the small smile that played across Zoro's lips. He would never have paired Zoro and classical music together, but then again, he hardly knew Zoro. All he knew was that he bought custom-ordered cakes every week and gave some to Luffy.
The concert passed in a blur and Sanji stood quickly when it was done. He agreed to Luffy's repeated demands for cakes in the future (and Sanji thought that Luffy was some kind of magician for he managed to extract Sanji's phone number from him) and bid the others a farewell when Nami's wonderful voice washed over him.
"Oh Sanji-kun, would you do me a favour?" Sanji turned on his heel, smile wide and willing. "Would you take Zoro back to his car? He cannot navigate a single corridor."
She smiled, slipping past him and leaving Sanji with no choice.
"Um," Sanji said, pointedly ignoring Usopp's thumbs-up and Chopper's wide, curious gaze. Even Luffy left quietly, leaving the two alone. "Shall we?"
Zoro followed him, arms crossed over his chest and eyebrows drawn together in a frown. Perhaps Sanji really was the problem and Zoro actually hated him, for whatever reason.
"I don't like sweet things," Zoro said suddenly, his pace never slowing. Sanji had almost led them to the door now and they joined other concert-goers.
"Why do you buy the cakes?" Sanji replied. "Are you an idiot?"
He came every week. He bought around twelve cakes a week. Only an idiot would buy twelve cakes a week (and they didn't come cheap) and not like sweet things.
"The first lot were for Luffy," Zoro said quietly and Sanji nodded. That was believable, but it had been six weeks since he'd met Zoro.
"Brook recommended the place to me," Zoro said as they crossed the car park. Zoro was a stride ahead and Sanji moved his pace up, trying to catch up. "And I found something that caught my eye."
Zoro stopped at a small, dark car. He pulled keys from his pocket and nodded his head at the vehicle.
"This is me," he said, but Sanji was still too distracted by what could have caught Zoro's attention. He'd never had coffee there and if he didn't like sweet things the food was out. Mocha was kind enough, but Zoro had never shown an interest in her (thankfully).
Maybe Zoro was impressed with his decorating skills? Maybe?
"Was it the little pirate decorations I made?" he asked, thinking back to the pirate-themed cakes Zoro had asked him to make.
Zoro stared at him blankly.
"Or the katana ones I made?" Sanji had to admit that they'd been rather fiddly and difficult, even for him.
Zoro was silent still so Sanji ploughed on, determined to discover what kept bringing Zoro back to the shop.
"The alcohol set you asked me to do was interesting. I hope you at least tried them, even if you don't like sweet things-" Sanji broke off as Zoro caught his fingers. He frowned, trying to meet Zoro's eyes and pausing at the slight pink tinge to Zoro's cheeks.
"I'm starting to think you're the massive idiot," Zoro mumbled, meeting Sanji's eyes. "Your cakes are wonderful, I think, but I don't give a fuck about cakes."
Sanji paused and thought it over, the pieces slowly coming together.
"Oh," he said, looking down at their joined hands. "Oh," he repeated, a little firmer and with a small smile.
"I'm going to kiss you now," Zoro said simply and Sanji welcomed him with open arms, pulling him close and letting himself be pushed against the car.
Kissing Zoro was perfect, better than anything he'd ever imagined, and Sanji ran a hair through Zoro's hair, parting for a moment.
"You could grow flowers in this," he said, chuckling at Zoro's dark glower. Sanji didn't give him time to protest though, pulling Zoro back in for a kiss and settling for running his hands over Zoro's muscular back.
And if the café started carrying a range of non-sweet cakes after that night, Mocha made no comment. She smiled when Zoro made his orders and slipped into the kitchen, ignoring their gentle bickering and making sure to leave quickly after close-up so as not to hear anything she didn't want to.
(Sanji did appoint her on Luffy-watch and that was an entirely new experience in itself. Lucking Nami was usually there to stop Luffy wreaking too much havoc and no one could say they didn't cheer the place up.)