13/03/2014
Hey y'all! (I'm from the south, lemme 'lone) Came up with the last night. This is my second written fic of my eleven in queue. So many ideas, so little time. Think of this as a sequel to a sequel of sorts. I guess this could be standalone but much love if you read Elementary School Woes by BecauseThereIsOnePiece (/s/10107051/) and Playground Love by hesmus (/s/10147456/) first. To get a good grip on the timeline, ESW was in February of their 4th year in grade school, making Zoro 9 years old and Sanji 8 (roughly). Hesmus didn't specify but I like to think PgL was during the summer of the same year. The following are events that occur after. This is set in the 90's, my era in a way.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Nobody does. We're all just victims of the system. I throw it on the ground. :P
Warning: Rated T for language. Is this considered fluff? Yeah, let's go with that.
This ended up being a lot longer than I initially expected. Hope you all enjoy.
Chapter 1 - Keeping Warm
Snow fell heavily from the sky, the sun hidden behind the thick pillowing clouds above. A small bundle wrapped in heavy yellow and blue trudged through the icy white sea, soft frost clinging to the long blonde fringe covering his face. He stepped up from the curb and marched his way across the yard and up to the front porch. As he shook the slush from his boot, gripping at the handrail so he wouldn't fall, a rustle from the bush beside him caught his attention, but before he could react a giant mass of black and green flew out of the snow bank and with a grizzly roar, landed on top of him.
"SHARK ATTACK! RAWR!"
Sanji yelped out in surprise, but quickly recovered when the green haired boy wrapped his arms around him and nuzzled into his wool wrapped neck.
"You jerk." Sanji berated, tone sounding more affectionate than angry, and shoved a handful of snow into Zoro's collar. "Give me a god damn heart attack, will ya."
"Sorry, Curly." Zoro smiled, extending out a hand and helping Sanji to his feet. He brushed the bangs from the right side of his friend's face, tucking it into his blue cap to stay in place, revealing a cobalt blue eye that shined happily at him. "What the fuck? That is the ugliest sweater I have ever seen."
Sanji looked down at his bright yellow sweater and frowned. "Hey! My Aunt Kokoro gave this to me, jackass! It's way better than that nasty thing you're wearing." He yelled in defense as he gestured to the oversized fur lined leather military coat Zoro found at the thrift store. So okay, the sweater was a bit obnoxious, and sure it itched, but his Aunt Kokoro had spent a long time knitting it (a really long time, considering how drunk she always was) and had mailed it all the way from Iceland where she and her brother, Tom owned a fishing boat. He loved it nonetheless (okay, maybe not), but he had promise he would wear it til it fell apart. And knowing how he and Zoro 'played', he hoped it would be sooner than later.
"What?! This jacket is awesome." His faux frown turned into a bright grin and grabbed onto Sanji's hand, pulling him to the center of the yard. "Hey, you wanna build a snowman?"
"With you? No way! I'll build my own snowman, and it'll be better than any ugly blob you pile up." Sanji fake scoffed, not minding their hands still joined together and playfully stuck his tongue out at the green haired boy who promptly poked it with his gloved finger, the snow freezing them together, much to the blonde's disgust.
~GUZS~
After a fierce snowball fight that included way too many fists and feet, and seeing who could make the biggest snow angel (neither of them winning as they both ended up with alien snow circles), they finally got around to building their snowmen, digging through shrubs and around the trees in the yard looking for decorations.
"Okay! Finished!" Zoro called over his shoulder. Sanji turned around to see a large snow ball with a pine cone stick out from the side, a curly twig above a grey rock and one of Zoro's tan gloves next to it atop an even larger egg shaped snow boulder, 6 rocks arranged across what could only be the belly. It looked strangely familiar and Sanji was not pleased.
"Oi, asshole." Sanji walked over to the older boy with a scowl and jerked his head at the 'snowman'. "The hell is this?"
"What does it look like, retard? It's you. As a duck!" Zoro stated with a beaming smile, highly proud of his work. "Looks just like you, Shit-Cook."
"Fuck you, Marimo!" Sanji screamed. "And don't you dare insult my cooking!" Though they were just kids, Zoro being 10 years old and him 9, they cursed like sailors and didn't give two flying fucks if anyone heard them. Well, except maybe their dads, but it was Sanji's adoptive father's fault anyway. Zeff would let them loiter around the kitchen of his restaurant, and watch the chefs fight and bitch at each other. How could two growing boys not pick up on such fascinating language? Though the punishments sucked (having to clean Koshiro's, Zoro's adoptive father, dojo by hand, or a swift kick from Zeff's peg leg), it was well worth it, and they weren't going to stop swearing any time soon.
"Yes it does!" Zoro argued. "It's stupid and ugly. Just. Like. You. And this hideous sweater." Emphasizing each word with a finger prodding the young chef's yellow clad chest, earning him a spinning kick to his own that sent him toppling backwards and crashing into his creation, reducing it to icy dust.
"Ducks are not stupid, you mossy bastard! They're beautiful and graceful and taste delicious." Sanji picked up the remains of the snowduck and dropped it on the idiot below, clapping his snow caked gloves to let the flakes rain over Zoro's face for good measure. "And I'm not ugly, shit face."
Coughing as he tried to stand Zoro scrubbed the snow out of his hair and grimaced. "That's so like you to eat your favorite animal."
"Like you didn't enjoy the shark fin the old fart made last month?"
Zoro sighed, a look of longing settling on his face. "That was the best soup I ever had in my life." Sanji smiled. Zoro had really enjoyed his birthday dinner. "Alright, Curly-brow. Show me what you made."
"Okay, okay. C'mon." Sanji placed his hands over Zoro's eyes and led him through the snow. "Feast your eyes on a sight that will amaze all ages!"
"What is this, the circus?"
"Shaddap. Behold!" Sanji shot his arms in the air and presented his masterpiece to his friend. "I call it 'A Beautiful Mind'."
Zoro stared confused at the 'masterpiece' before him. It was tall. It was skinny. It had leaves from a nearby red cedar tree arranged on top. It had one of the square stepping stones from Zoro's walkway shoved into its middle. Brusquely turning and staring at the black hole in front of his house he yelled out at the blonde. "What the fuck, Eyebrows! Don't go tearing up my lawn!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll put it back. Don't get your panties in a twist." Sanji waved his hand, lazily putting an end to the argument and looked at the irritated Zoro expectantly. "Well? It's clear that I win."
"Please, that thing is horrible." Zoro laughs. "What is it anyway?"
"What?! Are you blind?! It's Miss Nico, obviously!"
"Miss Nico? Robin Nico? The school librarian? Are you shitting me?! You dug up the walkway for that?!" Zoro shot a hand out at the 'book' holding snow woman, staring dumbfounded at the other boy. He should have known the love struck retard would do something like this. Sanji had been swooning over her since the first time she came to the school and took over for story time. Sanji merely nodded his head and looked at him like the situation was as dire as pulling fresh socks out of the dryer. "First of all, it looks nothing like Miss Nico. It looks like a grotesque dildo. Second, you're dead." And with that Zoro pounced at Sanji, knocking them both into a deep snow bank.
~GUZS~
Silence filled the air and everything stilled. Even the snow stopped falling. Everything was still and quiet. No birds could be heard, the squirrels had taken shelter in their dreys. A sudden scream echoed across the land, followed by jovial laughter and both boys shot out of the snow from the other side of the yard, wide smiles practically splitting their faces in half.
Sanji jumped onto Zoro, knocking them both back under and piled snow onto his face. He laughed til he chest ached and throat burned and looked down at his still buried companion. "Marimo?" No answer came. "Oi dumbass, get up." Silence still. Slightly worried, Sanji brushed the snow off of Zoro's face to find a pale grey face, eyes wide and mouth slack. Frost clung to his dark green eyebrows and lashes. In a fright, Sanji grabbed the boy's shoulders and shook him hard. "Zoro! Wake up! Oh my God! ZORO!" Fighting back the tears, he leaned back on his heels from where he sat straddling Zoro's hips and squeezed his eyes shut. "Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. Zoro…" He heard a crunch of snow and suddenly had a lap full of giggling green grass.
"Gotcha, Curly." Zoro chirped, face nuzzling into Sanji's neck, arms wrapped tightly around his waist.
"You dick! I thought y-. Fuck you!" He whomped Zoro on the head with his fist and pushed him off, crossing his arms over his small chest with a pout. "I'm cold. Go make me some tea."
"Hai hai." Zoro sing songed in Japanese (he had been studying really hard to learn the language, but could only seem to remember "useful" words like hai, dame, kuso, jama and doke) as he stood and dusted himself off before taking Sanji's hand and pulling him to his feet.
"How did you make the snow so deep? Felt like we could dig for miles." Sanji pointed at the waist deep snow that blanketed Zoro's property. The other houses only had a few inches covering their lawns.
"I asked the snow plow man to pile all the snow onto our yard. He wouldn't do it at first until Sensei came out and told him it was okay as long as I shoveled the driveway til spring. I don't really mind, it's good for my training." Zoro slipped his hand into Sanji's and led him to the door. "Hey, I also got Swiss Miss, we can put Lucky Charm marshmallows in it, if you want."
"REALLY?!" Sanji exclaimed. Eyes went wide and mouth dropped open before he quickly steeled himself and cleared his throat, smoothly changing his tone to calm and indifferent. "I mean, really? That's even better." He gripped tighter to Zoro's hand and pulled him inside the house, excited he can get another chance to eat junk food.
~GUZS~
The two boys sat on Zoro's couch wearing clean clothes (Sanji wearing his blue wave print hoodie he left the last time he spent the night) while their wet ones tumbled in the dryer, drinking the store bought powdered chocolate drink Zeff never allowed them to have when they were at Sanji's and wrapped snuggly together in a plush quilt. On the T.V. was an old christmas special from the 70's, the one where Santa went on vacation instead of delivering gifts. It was stupid and they weren't really that interested, but they enjoyed each other's company and didn't feel like getting up to change the channel.
Zoro scooted closer; wrapping his right arm around Sanji's back and rested his hand on his side. Sanji snaked his left hand to his and laced their fingers together. It was a habit they had developed nearly a year ago by chance, and neither of them said anything about stopping, nor did they want to.
"Where are Koshiro and Kuina?" Sanji asked resting his head on Zoro's shoulder. Zoro, in turn, rested his chin on his head, humming into his soft hair.
"They're at the dojo. The older class has a tournament coming up in a few weeks so she's training extra hard. Sensei said he trusted me not to burn the house down or get kidnapped so he let me stay home by myself."
"I'm surprised he's not worried about you getting lost inside the fridge." Sanji snickered only to laugh harder when Zoro tickled his side. "Why didn't you go? I thought you were at the same level as Kuina."
"They wouldn't let me join because I'm 'too young' and I 'have to be 13 to enter'. What complete bullshit. They're just afraid a 10 year old would kick everybody's asses. Buncha pussies." He snorted and finished the rest of his cocoa, before taking Sanji's empty mug and setting them on the coffee table. "Besides, I'd rather spend the day with you."
Sanji turned his head down to hide the blush that wasn't spread across his cheeks. "No. You just didn't want to get your ass handed to you, shitty kendoka." He smiled against the green hair's neck, insult lacking any spite.
"Oi, don't mock my sword skills and I won't call your food crap, asshole." Zoro shifted his position, sitting sidelong on the couch facing Sanji, arms wrapped around his waist.
They stared at the T.V., children all across the world saddened that they weren't getting any presents that year when Sanji spoke up. "What do you want for Christmas?"
"Hm? Oh, come on. You don't seriously believe in Santa do you?"
"No! I never believed in him. I was just wondering what you wanted."
Zoro thought about that for a few moments before shrugging. "Nothing really. Maybe some new GameBoy games, but I don't know. I don't really want stuff. Besides, I just had a birthday. Why?"
Sanji shook his head and settled back into Zoro's embrace. He didn't stay quiet for long, though, which didn't surprise Zoro. "Hey Zoro?" The other boy hummed to show he was listening and for him to continue. "I'm glad I can call you my best friend. Thanks for spending the day with me. I had fun."
Now that surprised Zoro. He looked down at the fluff of blonde hair and reached over to tilt Sanji's face up. "Me too, Sanji. Me too." was all he said before he placed a kiss on Sanji's cheek. That was another habit they had started. They didn't do it often, only a few times since Sanji had first kissed him on the playground that one time in the summer. It was something neither of them talked about, only did when the moment seemed to call for it, this time being one of them.
Zoro laid down behind Sanji, curling around his back and pulling the blonde to lean against him. They sat in silence watching the special, a little girl wrote the fat lazy vacation-taking bastard a letter and everyone started singing 'Blue Christmas'. It was so sappy and corny but neither of them minded. The end credits floating up the screen as they snored on the couch, bodies huddled together as they kept each other warm.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more Growing Up ZoSan. BIRTF will be updated soon!
Sanji's outfit is from a photo I saw on tumblr. I reblogged it on 13/03/2014. BrainDeadMaggot dot tumblr dot com. If this sounded like Frozen, that was not my original intention, it just ended up that way. It's not my fault Disney took a simple commonly said sentence and turned it into a fucking cult.
Hai, dame, kuso, jama and doke: yes, no way, shit, you're annoying, and get out of my way. Useful words indeed.
They watched The Year Without a Santa Claus, a 1974 Rankin/Bass stop motion animated television special. You have never watched these Christmas Specials then I am sorry but you are not human.
Editor-in-Chief Sinn asked why Zeff would kick them while Koshiro would merely make them do chores. "Koshiro teaches martial arts, he'd be stricter than a chef."
IMO, foul language doesn't deserve physical punishment. Vulgar speech should be reprimanded spiritually. Think Spongebob and Mr. Krabbs' mom. "if you want to talk like sailors you got to work like sailors" Zeff, being a sailor himself, would just beat the sense into you. Sailors just beat each other up. Scrubbing floors won't change a sailor. That's their job. They don't give two shits.
(Written: 13/03/2014)