"The sea is truly beautiful in the night" he thought, gazing longingly into the black horizon.
"Perhaps this is all there is, glancing at the skyline and breathing the cold oceanwinds. Perhaps it is only in these moments that I can truly exist."
A shadow moved behind him. No. Please. Anyone but…
"Ohoho, being all philosophical in the DEAD OF NIGHT? Get it? Dead of night!" The blonde slapped Zoro's shoulder.
"No, actually, I don't get it." Zoro answered sarcastically.
"Nah, didn't think you would either." Sanji turned his back on Zoro, and went into the cabin.
"Ah, stupid chef. Sometimes I think his sole purpose in life is to make me as irritated as possible." Zoro said to himself, clenching his fist.
The next day was a bright day. The sun shared it's happiness with the crew, and especially Luffy seemed to enjoy this:
"This is the most perfect day ever! Let the wind take us where it wants!"
"Uhm...no" Zoro replied.
"Nan de?"
"...'cause we're set on a course, stupid." Zoro slowly shook his head. "What did I ever do to have to endure these idiots?" he continued, with a big smile upon his face.
He set sail toward the west, feeling the gentle breeze twist his hair. Now, THIS was a way of living. It was in days like these that he felt the closest to heaven, because in the end, the ocean became the sky.
"Sanji! What's on the table today?" Luffy screamed towards the caboose, targeting his voice at the blonde chef.
"Fried Calamari!" Sanji answered.
"I'm really hungry, how long 'til it's done?"
"...first you'll have to catch me some some squid, and then I'll have to prepare it..."
"No! I need food now!"
"...just kidding, kiddo. It'll be ready when the rice is ready, in about 15 minutes."
"Can't wait!" Luffy licked his lips.
"You can never wait." the chef answered with a smile.
He lit a cigarette and savoured the flavour in his mouth.
"ITADAKIMASS!" Luffy shrieked, stuffing his mouth with the squid.
"Luffy, take it easy, you'll suffocate yourself." Nami poked Luffy in the side.
"Y wnt m t strv t dth, Nm?" he swallowed and took another bite.
"As much as you eat, you could live on your storages for years. " the orange-haired girl smiled and caught a bite of her own.
"Exactly where are we going?" asked Zoro.
"To the west handsome." the chef answered absentmindedly, while stuffing his plate with rise.
"...excuse me?"
The silence fell upon everybody around the table. They all looked at the blonde, who seemed to have stiffened.
"Ahaha...I mean...funny joke, right? Seeming as he isn't very handsome." Sanji sounded like a drumrolland pointed both his index fingers at Zoro. No one laughed. The chef put on a forced smile to excuse himself and murmured something about the bathroom. The crew followed him with their eyes into the cabosoe, and then continued their meal.
"DAMN!" Sanji hit the wall with his fist and looked into the mirror. "What's wrong with you?" he asked the reflection. "It's probably just the sea. Not a woman in sight. Oh well, there's Nami, and...not a GOOD woman in sight. That's it! You just have to pull yourself together." He looked into his own eyes for a couple of seconds, flushed the toilet so that they would think that he had used it, and went back. Little did he know that a certain green-haired swordsfighter had been standing just behind the bathroom, minding the cargo when he just happened to hear someone swear from inside...
The next day was another glorious day on the sea and Luffy had climbed up onto the watchtower.
"Land ahead!"
They put down the ancour and rowed to a small island, surrounded by white beaches.
They all lay on the warm sand under a palm tree, sipping juices Sanji had pressed from the oranges that grew on the island.
"Ah." Luffy said in a sigh. Sanji looked upon the thin pirate, envying him. Why couldn't he too live such a careless life? Why must these confusing feelings roam his mind?
Zoro, on the other hand, was also wondering about yesterdays events. Stupid erocook. But what had Sanji really meant last night? The green-haired man decided to just let it go, and buried his body into the warm sand. But there was something inside of him that wouldn't quite let these feelings escape so easily...
Sanji was just finishing the dinner, when he heard the caboosedoor open. He turned his head to see who wanted him something. To his surprise, it was none other than the swordsfighter who had just stepped into his sacred zone.
"What do you want?" Sanji asked.
"I was just curios about what's for dinner tonight."
They both knew this was a lie. Zoro had never asked Sanji about the dinner before. He had never even spent time in the kitchen.
"That's a ridicoulus lie." Sanji knew that he was playing with fire, teasing green-hair this way.
"Oh? So why did you think I would come her for? Stupid blonde."
"...marimo."
Sanji turned back to mind the food, and they were silent for a couple of minutes.
"If you really want to know, I am cooking noodles and the strange vegetables we found on the island."
"Hm."
The silence fell again. The blonde finished the cooking, poured the vegetables and noodles into a strainer and put them on a big plate. As he walked from the stove to the door, Zoro stopped him.
"What do you want? Let me go, I am going to serve dinner to the crew. And that includes you."
Zoro didn´t say anything.
"Enough, marimo."
And then it just happened. Zoro leaned forward, and their lips met. Sanji widened his eyes and he felt his heart skip a beat. There wasn't really anything more to say. Zoro carefully lifted him up on the counter to a sitting position, without breaking their lip-contact. The blonde put the plate down beside him, and cautiosuly put his arms around the swordsfighter's neck. Zoro answered this by a moan, and by opening Sanji's mouth to be able to stick his tounge inside. He felt a minute taste of cigarettes in his mouth, but most if it was just Sanji.
The chef sighed into the other mans mouth. He couldn't really believe this was happening, but on the other hand, he didn't really care for reality right now. And when Zoro's hands, that had been resting on the counter, reached up unto his chest, there were no longer any thoughts in his cloudening mind.
The green-hair really enjoyed listening to Sanji's moans as he let his hands dance on the blonde's thin chest. The vibrations it sent into his mouth were mesmerizing. He decided to cross the border even further, and started nibbling on the chef's slender neck. Zoro got exactly the answer he had wanted. Sanji groaned loudly and shivered in his grip. The swordsfighter's breath got heavier.
-Knock knock knock!-
Someone was at the door.
"Is there something wrong in there? I heard strange noises coming from the inside!"
Nami's voice felt like a punch in their stomachs. Zoro took a step away to let Sanji parry the situation.
The blonde took a deep breath before he shouted back:
"Nothing is wrong, I just...burnt my fingers on the hot water. Just get back to the table, I'll bring the food in a minute."
As they listened to Nami's footsteps fading out, once again the silence fell over them. Sanji looked down on the floor.
"I should probably bring them the food." He picked up the plate.
"Meet me in the cargo room when they have fallen asleep."
The dinnertable was, as usual, very noisy. Except for two factors. A blonde, and a green-haired. They were, for some reason, unusually silent.
"Oh well, actually the green-hair was never one for chit-chat. But something here IS fishy." Nami pondered the silence between her chews. She observed their gazes flicker between them, like they shared some kind of secret.
"Oi, Sanji! I really liked today's meal!" Nami shouted across the table.
When hearing his name, the chef jerked and looked straight into her eyes, giving her a very confused glance.
"Hello? Is there somebody in there?" the girl waved her hand in front of the blonde's face. He winced, and looked like he had just awoken.
"Yes, Nami?"
"Oh, nothing. You were just awfully silent, that's all." That was a small lie from her part, she thought. She knew that Sanji and Zoro were up to something. And they weren't the ones who were usually up to something. But, with a little time, she would find out. She always found out.
At the same time, Sanji couldn't concentrate. He had to force the food down his throat, just to make everything seem normal. His minds wandered into the cargo room. Oh, god! What a torture to be sitting here, and time was crawling forward. But, he was also very nervous. What would he do? What would he say? Should he say anything? What had happened? What were Zoro thinking right in this very moment? Why couldn't everyone just get sick and get to bed?
The wait was as endless as the questions.
Zoro was actually quite content with the situation. He had, somehow, overcome all his strains, pushed the borders away and crushed the opposition. Although, he did wish for it to be night as soon as possible. The feeling of the bony chest wouldn't leave his fingers.
Finally, after what had seem like hours to Sanji, the crew started grabbing the plates to get them into the sink. First, the blonde wanted to rush them, but he figured that things would move even slower then, when he had to figure out some sort of excuse for his behavior...
When all the dishes had been done, and everybody had finally gotten into their beds, Sanji listened at his nakama doors to check if they were asleep. As soon as he could only hear the soft breathing of deep sleep, he sneaked into the cargo bay, to find the swordsman standing by the window, looking into the dark sea.
"Hmmm..." Sanji cleared his throat to announce his presence. Zoro quickly turned around and looked at him with big eyes.
"Oh, you...". He turned back to the window.
"Yeah, I am here now, just like you asked." Sanji hated himself because of the weakness he so apperantly showed in front of the marimo. He couldn't really make up his mind. On one hand he wanted to turn his back to the green-haired and walk away. On the other, he wanted to wrestle him into a corner and...Sanji shivered a little, lost in thought.
"So, anyway..." the chef didn't know what to say. Oh, how he despised the situation! What is there to say, what is there to do?
"There is nothing left to say", the other man suddenly said, as if being able to read the blonde's thoughts. "Where do we go from here?"
Sanji thought about all the opportunities he had let slip through his fingers. This was not going to be one of those.
"I still can't believe that some of the events that took place today. But I will say this, with an obvious risk of loosing everything: You attract me. I never thought I'd ever say that to another man, least of all to you. But this is the truth."
Marimo looked at him, trying to comprehend the situation arisen. Yes, he had been the one who had started all this. But he was confused. And now, they could never really turn back.
"Okay, erocook, here's the deal: I feel the same. I don't know why or how, and maybe I wish that it wasn't true. But the thing is, I am a man of action. I want you. This is real. You are real. We are real."
Having said that, he took a step toward Sanji, who weren't late to copy the action. They met in the middle of the bay floor, attacking each other with furious passion. Teeth clanged together, tongues battled. Hands reached sensitive spots, moans filled the midnight air.
They weren't sure about their feelings, they weren't sure about the future. They weren't sure about anything, except this: Lust will always prevail.
The cook decided to take it one step further. He grabbed the lining of Zoro's shirt and and started lifting it off his neck. The swordsfighter was not late to succumb to the blonde, and soon his tanned chest was exposed. Sanji groaned at the sight of the other man's defined upper body. His hand stretched out, almost automatically, to feel the rough skin. Zoro moaned. Never had a woman made him feel like this.
Sanji kissed Zoro's neck, and let a hand out to softly pinch one of his nipples. He got just the answer he wanted. The green-haired turned him around, and Sanji was forced down unto on a hammock hanging from the ceiling. The other man placed himself between the blonde's legs and quickly tore of his shirt. He could clearly feel two erections growing between them. Zoro started grinding his lower body against Sanji's crotch. Two load moans echoed across the ocean.
Afterwards, Sanji snuggled against Zoro's shoulder. Zoro kissed him lightly on the hair. It was soft, and he could smell a scent that was only Sanji. He took a deep breath. Somewhere inside his chest, a warm feeling was erupting from deep within. This was new, he thought.
The cook beamed in his lovers arms. He thought that maybe, his heart was with a little more life than it usually did. Maybe he had found something tonight that had never been there before.
And as the sun cast it's first light upon the endless sea, two bodies lay tangled together on the sack, looking each other in the eyes.
"Now what?"
"What the fuck do you mean by 'now what'? How unromantic can you get?"
"...I'm kidding, erocook."
"...kuso marimo."