Sanji was out on his smoke break, glaring down at the cover of his cell phone. God dammit Zoro, why even have one if he didn't intend to ever reply? Sanji hated to admit it, as he kicked a bit of the gravel in the back alley of the restaurant, but it bothered him. And maybe, on occasion – though he'd never admit it, even under intense torture – it made him worried. It wasn't like Zoro to go so long silently, least he did was send a stupid smiley face. Then there was the fact it said that each message had been delivered... Was he being ignored?

The chain smoker sighed and lifted his foot, shoving the last bit of his cigarette into his heel to cut it off, the nicotine not enough to soothe him anymore. He'd already decided the next time he got to see that bastard he was gonna kill him for making him feel this way. What's that, Marimo? Explanation? Fuck no, more like kick to the face-

"Sanji."
The cook froze, his head perking up as he turned around. The lighting here in the back alley was so fucking shitty at night, so it was hard to tell if he was ever alone minus the spare stray cats that wandered past, because hello, giant fish restaurant. But he recognized that voice. It was the same bastard he'd been just complaining about being distant and unresponsive.

"Zoro?" he asked to the silence, watching as the light played tricks on his eyes.

He turned again though when he heard the crackle of gavel under the swordsman's tennis shoes as he turned towards him, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Holy shit," he laughed lightly, watching the figure come closer. "You scared the shit out of me."
He knew it was Zoro; hell, who else owned such a obnoxious red foxy football hoodie? It didn't explain, however, why he had the hood up over his head and a baseball cap casting a shadow over his face. Sanji rolled his eyes, only his boyfriend would look like the total creeper stalking the nights. He took a few steps forward until stopping, his face softening in confusion as he noticed Zoro staggering back as he did so.

"Stay away..." Zoro's voice, or rather a more hoarse version, warned.

Sanji furrowed his brows still.. "Okay... then."

This was beyond weird behavior, more so than the usual Marimo weird. He slid his hand back into his pocket, on his way for cigarette number two.

"So then what the hell are you doing here, Marimo? I've been calling your phone and texting you all night. You forget your password again?"
Zoro's figure hesitated, then his head shook. It was obvious there was something different and bothering him, the way he kept his chin low and turned himself away from the light just a bit. It was like he wanted to say something to the blond, but could not find the words or the strength to speak.

"Wanted to see you..." his voice growled, almost pained.

It made Sanji lower his unlit cigarette and put the damn cancer stick back instead of lighting it up. He wasn't sure if he was suppose to be flattered or what. He was confused and he didn't like it, not in the slightest. He moved forward again, snarling when Zoro dared to step back.

"Really, Zoro? What the hell is up with you, huh? This some early Halloween prank or something?"

Zoro clenched his teeth painfully. This was a horrible mistake. What was he thinking coming and finding Sanji after this had happened? Was he setting himself up for rejection? He began to turn to leave. He couldn't do this, not now, not when Sanji would probably think of it as only some kind of prank.

"Sorry... gotta go." he muttered softly before stepping off his heel and starting off down the alley.

Sanji's eyes widened. What the actual fuck was going on in Zoro's head? Showing up here all suspiciously, barely saying anything at all about wanting to see him like some crazy stalker and then running off?

"Oh no you don't!" Sanji snapped, starting off after him.

Lucky for the blond, he was quite the fast son of a bitch. He jumped up into the air a few feet around Zoro, aiming his leg up high before literally kicking him down. He huffed when they landed and fell down to a crouch, leaning over to look at Zoro's face that had met concrete. Much to his distaste the hoodie hid it well. "Not until you tell me what the fuck is going on with you."

"Let me go cook! It's for your own good, I gotta go."
"You aren't going anywhere bastard!" Sanji grabbed him by the shoulder, flipping him over the moment he lifted his leg. Then he fell to his knees and held him down, wanting a clear look of his face. Unfortunately, in the dim light, it was not what he expected to see, his breath and heart stopping simultaneously as he met Zoro's eyes. He scared the shit out of him but... Was this Zoro? It sounded like Zoro, it wore his clothes but that face... It had to be him in... Halloween make up?

Zoro tensed though, his heart racing. Fuck, Sanji saw. He saw him! Now what was going to happen? He tried pushing him away to no avail. The cook was already pulling out his cell phone and bringing it to his face, using its light for a better view.

Sanji swallowed thickly. That was some of the best make up work he'd ever seen… It was fucking crazy. Zoro's usually dark eyes were pale and green, practically glowing, contacts he figured. He had four costumed fangs in his mouth and prosthetic on his ears to make them more pointy, it was kind of cute. The coolest thing Sanji could tell in his phones light though was a dark almost scale like texture that moved up Zoro's neck following his veins and resting on the sides of his face.

He jerked on the hoodie. Fuck, talk about commitment he had it going down and into his chest, which had so many jerky trails; damn, someone did their anatomy. He snapped out of it though when he looked up, having heard his name being called once again.

"Sanji!"

"Oi, Marimo... this costume..." he said, releasing him and sitting back on his ass. "Who did this for you? Looks fucking sweet."

Zoro propped himself up by his elbows, lowering his eyes. Fuck, he knew this was going to happen. Dammit, why did he come...?

"I mean those contacts and heh. These pointy ears..." Sanji's voice trailed as he reached towards Zoro's marimo head and brushed a finger past one of the ears he was addressing. "So cute-"

Zoro couldn't take it anymore, reaching out and grabbing Sanji by the shoulders of his shirt. "It's not a fucking costume!" the Marimo barked at him, causing him to jump slightly.

Sanji's chest seemed to dropped. What did he mean it isn't a costume? Of course it was a costume, Zoro didn't normally look like this. Was he trying to pull something here? Zoro was analyzing his face though still and lowered his grip around Sanji and looked down at his hands, where the blackness traced there as well.

"It's real, Cook, it's not a costume..."

"What… what do you mean by that Zoro? Of course it's a-"

Dammit, why was the cook so fucking stubborn? He always just went with what he thought was logical and never out of the box. So how was he suppose to prove to him otherwise? Of course. He was staring down at his hands, there was only one way. He grabbed the Cook's cell phone which, damn it was fucking bright, and flashed it at his wrist. Then, taking a deep breath, he dug into his flesh with new fangs, listening to the curse from his lover before pulling the arm away. Thick black liquid oozed from his vein where crimson used to flow.

Sanji's eye grew wide. He wasn't exactly... aware of any kind of make up or prosthetic that could imitate that. He looked up and met Zoro's face. Was he serious... was this serious? No way, that shit only happened in science fiction. His vision began to blur and he looked back at the wrist and foreign blood in question.

Zoro watched him, biting into his lip slightly until some important information he'd stored away in his mind seemed to falter back and make him want to face palm. Yes of course, show the cook your freaking blood. Show Sanji, the one who had a huge phobia of seeing blood. Zoro was only able to act fast enough to reach and grab him as he fell forward and passed out.

–

When Sanji woke up again he was surprised to find himself in his apartment. Had that been a dream? He sat up in his seat looking around. Everything seemed normal, but after looking over at the clock his fears were confirmed. It was at least a half hour since he should have been back from his smoke break back at the Baratie. If he was back here it could only mean one thing: Zoro had brought him back here.

But what was going on with him? He'd seen him in the alley way barely, looking like that... Then there was the whole thing there he claimed it his new appearance wasn't a costume. Then the black blood. Tch! That already had a shiver running down Sanji's spine. So the Marimo brought him back home, that was nice he supposed, but the asshole better still be around for explanations or so help him.

His suspicions were confirmed though when glancing around his apartment again he noticed the light on in his bathroom. He approached it, listening to the sounds moving inside. Zoro was in there, he had to be, but what was he up to? Without warning the cook turned the knob and yanked it open, taking in the sight.

Zoro had stripped himself of his shirt and hoodie for now, his toned upper body for display, its veins trailed with the foreign black pigment that nearly glistened in the light. He was leaning over top of the sink, gazing at himself, or more so into his own eyes through the reflection. Those piercing eyes, looking even more intimidating and pale than they were in the dark jerked over to look at Sanji there.

Then he spazzed, having not been expecting the door to open like that and nearly knocked over all the stuff of the cook's bathroom vanity. He cussed, looking at the mess then back up at Sanji. His face was worried, sure, it looked different and had new features, but that was still quite evident.

"Shit cook, don't fucking scare me like that!" he muttered, trying to set some of the things up straight again, but hesitating when he noticed his finger nails... which looked far more claw like at this point. When had that happened?

Sanji's mouth was open, but he didn't honestly know what to say. Okay, it wasn't make up, that much was obvious. Because despite looking completely otherworldly, water was dripping down Zoro's skin and there was a wet towel on the counter. He couldn't tell, due to the black trails, but if he didn't know any better it looked as though the sections of normal... err, more tanned sections of skin looked inflamed, as if the Marimo had gone ape shit on himself trying to rub and get any of the stuff off him.

The cook just brought his palm to rest on his forehead as he closed his eyes a moment, trying to gather his thoughts and make sense of all this. "How... what... The hell is this Marimo?"

Zoro lowered his chin, turning his eyes away, not exactly sure how he was gonna answer this. "It's... just me?"

"Just you?" Sanji repeated a little more irritable. He took a step forward, reaching out and touching his hand against Zoro's flesh. He repeated it again. "Just you? Zoro, look what's happened to you..." He looked up at his face, his anger seeming to drown out as he studied it. "The fuck kind of voodoo shit did you get into now? I mean, what even are you- No, I mean, Fuck! Tell me what the hell is going on!" Sanji stuttered on his words, remembering a tad too late that if this was Zoro's new appearance he didn't want to actually insult him by implying it was... bad?

"I don't know what's going on!" Zoro finally admitted, pursing his lips and glaring down at his hand. "I left for work like normal and next thing I know I got this shit spreading on my skin... Then by lunch I look like this and I'm hiding out behind the dumpster at McDonald's so no one sees me-" He stopped, letting out a yelp as Sanji grabbed his ear harshly and tried pulling him by it, perhaps just trying to check to see if it was really his legit ear. Or maybe he was just pissed at the very fact he'd ventured near a fast food place.

"People don't turn into monsters on their way to work, Marimo!"
"Oi..." Zoro pouted slightly. Monster.. really?

Sanji just shook his head though. "Not like that, obviously yes, you're a monster, but still a sexy monster idiot. Now, don't give me that puppy dog look, its creepy as fuck."

Sanji stepped to the side and began circling him and Zoro scowled, repeating to himself what Sanji just said. "Did you just call me a sexy-"
Sanji rolled his eyes though, interrupting him again. "Don't get sentimental about it. I dated you with just the Marimo head. It's not like my standards were very high to begin with..." he tried to explain, demanding the flush on his cheeks leave. He was behind Zoro now and gently touched the curve of his back, feeling the heat come from him while he examined him more curiously. "Did you run into someone, anyone say anything to you?"

Zoro shrugged. "Just the normal way to work… There was this one chick though..."

"You pissed off a lady?!" Sanji bared fangs, but Zoro wasn't phased.

"I bumped into her shoulder, but I apologized. Other then that I swear nothing was different."

Sanji groaned, putting his face in his hand again and walking to his bathroom door. "This is great just great. Boyfriend's turned into some weird ass thing and has no idea how or why."

Zoro frowned, glaring back at his image in the reflection. "It's still... happening too."

The cook stopped and turned on his heel, narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean?"
Zoro just held himself up by his hand on the corner of the counter, his face darkening. "I can feel it. Or well, hear it, smell it... It's all happening inside my head and then there's..."

"Then there's...?"

"Cook." Zoro said a little sadly, glancing up at him pained. "You wouldn't happen to have any raw meat, would you?"

Sanji swallowed thickly, clicking the top of his mouth with his tongue. "Raw meat?" he repeated, which he found himself doing a lot, since just thinking about it didn't seem real unless he said it. Zoro also was getting a craving for meat? What the fuck was that suppose to mean for him then, huh? Was this gonna be some lovers tragedy where he woke up the next morning with his throat ripped out?

Seeing Sanji's unsure expression Zoro shook his head. "No I don't mean like that, it's not like a craving for flesh or some shit! fuck!" He pulled at some of his hair, meeting his reflection again, then cringing.

"That's not what I meant. Ugh. I shouldn't be here, not while this is going on. I have to leave." He turned towards Sanji and began to walk into a straight line towards the door. He had to get out of here for Sanji's safety and his own. He was stopped though when the cook put out his arm and caught him, pulling him into an embrace.

"Where do you think you're going, shitty Marimo? You think I'm gonna just let you roam the street terrorizing more people?" He lowered his voice to a serious hush.

Zoro studied his face more. "I can't stay here Cook. Who knows what's gonna happen to me next-"

"You think I care about that?" Sanji scowled. "How shallow do you think I am, huh? I don't care about that. I'm not letting you go out there. I'm keeping you here, with me, until we figure this out, bastard."
"Sanji..."

Sanji lowered his face before leaning up and stealing a kiss from Zoro's lips. Despite any appearance the gesture felt the same, Zoro tasted the same and Sanji loved him the same. "I'm not leaving you. We can do this together, Zoro. Besides... This is gonna be really hard to explain if I get a call from the pound telling me they've found you."
"Tch!" Zoro growled slightly to himself, but he was relieved. So Sanji didn't care about this, he was still here with him, he still wanted to help him despite how he looked. He hugged him tight in silent thanks, because if he said it he might really look mental.

Sanji melted into his hug and lightly patted at his back. Leave it to his Marimo to totally get into this type of trouble on his own. They'd definitely need to work together though, if they were gonna try and get to the bottom of this and maybe cure it. He was enjoying the embrace until he opened his eyes, the sound of something moving against fabric grabbing his attention. He raised himself up on his toes and looked down at Zoro's backside over his shoulder, watching as something from behind him moved and wagged inside his pants.

He went silent and straight faced, pulling back to look into a confused Zoro's face. "You… have a tail."

Imagine Person B of your OTP going through a horrible transformation because of magic, and now they're a weird supernatural creature of some kind, though still human inside. They're worried Person A will freak out when they show them, but instead Person A just kisses them and tells them they love them for who they really are, no matter what they look like now.

Author's Note: This is a small little one shot I wrote a while back and forgot to ever get beta'd or published. XD But thanks so so very much to Aerle for being my beta for this, you are so wonderful to work with and I really appreciate it ! QuQ lots of hearts