Going out with Nami and Vivi required actually going home to shower and put on decent clothes beforehand, so he took a taxi straight to Okama's Way once he had cleaned up and waited for them a few buildings down. He was sure to get hit on if he got any closer without a companion.
He'd chosen what he considered nice but clearly stated 'heterosexual' clothing for the evening – black suit pants sans the jacket, plain white, loose fitting button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up since it was so hot out, and a black tie. He'd easily not stand out, but still look decent.
He'd been waiting about ten minutes when he began to wonder if they were already inside. The last thing he wanted was to go in and find they weren't there - then he'd be trapped - but he didn't feel like waiting around outside for much longer.
A taxi pulled up to the curb in front of him just then, and possibly the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on emerged.
Raven black hair, her gorgeous face all mature lines and angles, curves he could get lost in and beautiful ethereal blue eyes.
"You got a lot of nerve accusing me of stalking you, cook."
And from the other side of the cab emerged the only person who could ruin such an obviously destined moment. Roronoa Zoro.
"Oh, is this Sanji?" Her voice was so refined. Not that girls like Nami and Vivi weren't beautiful – their young, flirtatious charms were more than adequate in Sanji's eyes – but this was a woman.
"I'm not sure how you came to know my name, but I don't think I can go a moment longer without knowing yours." He took her hand gently and kissed it. She smiled, but oh, that smile was just full of thoughts, information, experience… It gave him shivers.
Zoro stepped between them, giving Sanji an icy look. "You heard Lucci and me talking about Robin."
Sanji blinked, and realization of the most amusing kind washed over him. No wonder. If there was a woman in the world who could trip up Rob Lucci, it would be this goddess before him. This goddess who, by the look on Zoro's face, definitely was 'off limits'. Besides, even for her, he'd be hard pressed to cross Lucci. He didn't care what the man really did for a living – he would end up on the bad end of something painful if his bartender found out.
"Ah, yes, I do remember. No wonder he's so vexed over you," he smiled, charm oozing from his pores. And now he also understood Lucci's complaint about Zoro. The guy was giving off all sorts of 'protective' and 'territorial' vibes around the woman. Maybe they were having an affair, but Zoro was too chicken shit to admit it. Hell, he would be too, if it were him.
"And I don't know where you get off on accusing me-" Sanji began, but someone interrupted by calling out his name.
"Sanji! Oh, Robin! Did you all come here together?" Vivi, Nami, Ace and Franky all came walking up the sidewalk hurriedly.
Shit, Sanji cursed inwardly, though he was otherwise very pleased to see his friends. It was those damn small-world connections again. Nami and Vivi must be here with Robin, and Robin was here with Zoro, and Sanji was there with Vivi and Nami, so he'd be stuck with Zoro all night.
They were let in free of charge, as usual. The owner was particularly enamored of their circle, or, to put it more honestly – Sanji. There had been an incident with a thing and a place, and somehow the very flamboyant, cross dressing owner of the gayest night club in New York was either in love with Sanji, or had some very mixed up, Freudian notions about him. Sanji didn't hate the guy, but it was easier to just avoid him altogether. He had an uncanny ability to push the chef's buttons.
Fighting their way through the barely dressed, glittery horde of writhing men-folk, they made their way to a VIP booth upstairs. It was too much to ask that the owner wouldn't show up at some point, but Sanji intended to get a bit more alcohol in him before that happened. A waiter came and took their order, and he lit a cigarette as soon as he was settled. The more he could do to medicate himself before the guy showed up, the better.
Ace noticed and grinned. "Putting on your armor while you still can, eh?"
"Shut the hell up. If you had to go through what I do every time I see this guy, you'd be snorting coke everyday to ease the nightmares."
Nami and Vivi giggled from their end of the booth and Zoro sat back, nonchalantly throwing an arm around Robin's shoulder and looking at him. "What are you talking about?"
Sanji just glared, not intending to answer, but Franky spoke up for him. He slicked a hand through his ridiculous hair. "See, Bonclay's gotta a lot of love in his heart for our man Sanji here. A lot of love. A lot of manly love, even though Bonclay isn't the manliest man I know. But his heart's real manly, ya know?"
Zoro obviously didn't know, so Nami filled him in. "Bonclay has the hots for Sanji."
Zoro smiled and laughed, and Sanji's stomach flopped unpleasantly.
Their drinks arrived shortly after, and Sanji didn't hesitate to order another one before he even finished. Zoro was the only one who raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem inclined to comment again.
After some chatter and a few drinks, the girls urged the guys downstairs. Zoro looked like he was going to follow Robin, but then noticed Sanji wasn't getting up.
"Oh, Sanji doesn't dance here," Vivi cheerfully informed him. "He always gets raped out there, so we let him sulk up here and get drunk."
Zoro sat back down.
"Good idea," Nami said before taking Ace's hand slyly. "You can defend him from all the scary gay men for a while!"
After they were gone, Sanji's jaw clenched. "I don't need a babysitter."
"Good, 'cuz I'm bad with kids."
"Bullshit. You teach a class at the rec center, you can't not be good with kids."
"So you finally remembered."
"Sorry for having a life and a job outside that place. You aren't so fucking special that I'd remember a guy like you after a few days of being gone."
"Wanna tell me why the fuck you feel the need to be such a dick to me?"
"Maybe if you didn't go around telling half of New York that I got jumped by some perv in a bathroom and that you 'just happened' to be there to save me, I wouldn't have a reason to be a dick to you."
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Shuraiya and Saga, dip shit. Are you just out to make me look bad?"
"I was talking to Saga about it because he asked about you; Shuraiya just happened to overhear. And it's not like I made myself out to be heroic or anything. The facts just seemed to speak for themselves," he scowled.
"Well if you wouldn't mind keeping your mouth shut about it, I'd rather people not know what happened-"
"I didn't tell anyone he tried to-"
"Shut your fucking mouth right now, asshole. If you ever, ever mention it again, I will kick your ass all over this city," Sanji seethed. "And what the fuck is with you, anyway? No wonder Lucci's so pissed about you being all over his woman, you act like she's your property-"
Zoro's glare turned cold. "One thing doesn't have to do with the other; you're just looking for someone to be fucking pissed at because of what happened. I helped you, and you're treating me like shit for it. I'm not the one who forgot who you were after seeing you all the god damn time for two years, I'm not the one who got piss drunk and got attacked in a bathroom. All I did was help you and try to talk to you. God fucking strike me down with lightning for trying to be nice to an asshole like you." He got up and kicked a chair out of his way, stomping down stairs.
Sanji waited all of twenty or so seconds before he downed the rest of his Manhattan and ran after the man. He thought he might have bowled over something pink and loud on the way down, but he didn't stop to check. He saw Zoro's back disappear out the entrance and he pushed through the crowd after him.
By the time he got outside, Zoro was already down the street with a cab pulling up beside him. Sanji sprinted after him and then the worst happened.
As it was happening, Sanji could see it occurring in photos, like it was sometimes portrayed in television shows or movies. The sound of a camera shutter, each still image worse than the last. The first image of him running after Zoro, the second of his foot catching on a hole in the sidewalk, the third of the horrified look on his face, leading into the fourth of him starting to go down at an alarming speed. The fifth of Zoro's horrified look, the sixth of Sanji's face in Zoro's crotch, and the seventh and final photo of them both on the pavement, limbs tangled.
Real time caught up with him. Sanji's hand was stinging, he could feel it grind against the pavement trapped underneath the other man's ass, his other wrist in a ball, also skinned badly and his face… still in Zoro's crotch.
"FUCK!"
"Are you sure you don't need to go to the emergency room?" Robin asked worriedly as she offered Zoro a bag of ice. Sanji sat with a sour expression on the couch next to the green haired man, bandages on both hands and his pride all but obliterated.
Zoro's head had taken a pretty hard knock on the pavement, and he had bled a little. He had a bad headache, but he wasn't sure if he was experiencing a concussion or not. But just to ease Robin's worries, he reassured her.
"Don't worry. This guy is gonna make sure I'm juuust fine. If something happens I'm sure he'll take real good care of me," he nodded at Sanji, who rolled his eyes.
"If you're sure…"
"Yeah, get back to the club. Tell them we're fine and not to worry about it."
Robin thanked Sanji and left.
As soon as she was gone, Zoro stood up and went to the kitchen.
"Is this Robin's place?" Sanji asked, betting it probably was. It was a tastefully decorated railroad flat in Manhattan that made him more than envious. All he had was a shitty apartment in The Bronx (thankfully on the Westside or his commute to the Baratie would have been hell) that he paid too much for.
"S'mine. You want some water?"
Sanji frowned, noting that the man who might have a concussion was up and around and waiting on him, but the displeasure was momentary, since he was being forced to be a caretaker.
"I'm fine. Sit your ass down before you pass out."
Zoro emerged from the kitchen with a glass of water, his expression unreadable.
"Just what the fuck were you doing?"
Sanji rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I was coming out there to apologize."
Zoro downed the glass of water.
"Good job."
The chef scowled and stood up. "Look, we obviously got off on the wrong foot, and I didn't want you thinking that I'm an ungrateful dick, or that I can't take care of myself. I was pissed about what happened, I was kinda freaked out, and more freaked out because I thought you were going around telling everyone what really happened, and then it turned out that somehow you know all my friends but I never knew, and that pissed me off even more, and then you followed me into the bathroom at Water and that was just weird, and I didn't know you were coming tonight, and we just had to go to Okama's Way and I fucking hate going to Okama's Way and I didn't mean to trip all over the fucking place!" He ended his rant, panting slightly.
Zoro put his glass down and sat back down on the couch. Sanji sat down as well.
"I didn't mean to freak you out," the green haired man said evenly, staring forward. "I went to Merry's that night because Lucci was supposed to be there, but he cancelled at the last minute."
Sanji remembered, because Lucci had planned to meet up with them then abruptly texted Ace to say he couldn't make it.
Well, that at least confirmed that Zoro wasn't actually stalking him.
"He was going to introduce me to you because I wanted to meet you formally."
Or maybe he was.
"Meet me formally?"
Zoro sighed, irritated. His head was throbbing and the ice wasn't helping. "I kept seeing you all those times at the rec. I used to come early enough to see you fight, and I thought you were really good. Then Saga got hurt, and I lost my sparring partner. Shuraiya's too busy, so I was gonna ask you. But then a month later you stopped showing up, and it took me a while to track you down. Well," he corrected himself, frowning, "I wasn't actually tracking you down. I'd given up on ever talking to you. I met Lucci, who turned out to be a really good sparring partner anyway."
"So why did you still want to meet me if Lucci was good enough?"
"Well, sort of a whim I guess. I was out with Lucci and Kaku one night and they mentioned your name, and I asked if it was you. I told them how I knew you and they offered to introduce me. You can't have too many sparring partners, and lately Lucci's been real off his game… Robin's got him real distracted. So we were supposed to meet up at Merry's that night. Then he didn't show up, and I saw you and your friends, and I kept trying to think of a good way to go over there – hence why I'd noticed that Marshall was creeping on you. The rest is history."
Well, that answered a lot of questions in a very normal way. Sanji felt pretty damn bad about it, but then, it had all happened in such a weird way, he couldn't really blame himself for being a bit creeped out.
"So who the fuck is this Marshall guy? And really though, what is the deal with you and Robin? 'Cuz Lucci really is caught up, and you two... well, I gotta look out for my bartender."
Zoro snorted. "First, Marshall is a fucking creep and a sex offender who owns a dive in Queens. Lucci and I worked for him for about a week a few months ago – that's how we met – but once we realized he was seriously harassing some of the other customers and employees, we turned him in. The sick fuck got off on a technicality, but he's been out to get us ever since."
Sanji nodded, not sure what to say to that.
"And Robin and I are not involved, never have been and never will be. What Lucci won't believe is that I spend most of my time defending him to her. She doesn't believe that he'd be good to her – faithful to her - because his history is pretty fucking incriminating."
"Just doesn't look that way."
Zoro sighed and rolled his eyes. "It's none of your business, so I don't give a fuck what you think. Robin and I have been friends for years. She's like my sister and Lucci's fucking lucky that I even want him to date her."
The clock said 1 a.m. and Sanji was beginning to wonder what he should do. Zoro was now on the normal list – he even seemed like he might be a pretty decent guy – and he'd solved the mystery without needing the Mystery Machine van or Scooby Doo. But he had to get up and be to work by 6 am (he had several shipments coming in). He could change at work easily enough and he had his wallet and his cell on him. It wasn't really worth it to pay a taxi to take him all the way back to The Bronx when he was already in Manhattan.
"Look, since you're the one at fault here-"
"Oi-"
"-stay the night and wake me up once an hour until you gotta leave."
"Fuck, for real? I gotta be to work at 6 am."
Zoro sat up and blinked hard. "Yeah, well, I think I might have a secondary concussion. So just wake me up once an hour and ask me a few questions that we both know the answer to. If I slip into a coma, it'll be on your head."
Sanji huffed. "Fine."
Zoro went to a closet and pulled out a few blankets and turned off the lights in the kitchen. He tossed a blanket at Sanji and collapsed on the couch on the other wall.
Sanji pulled out his phone and set the alarm for one hour, hoping he would remember where he was when he woke up.
Zoro had managed to answer Sanji's questions satisfactorily on the hour every hour until 5 am. Sanji wondered if he would really be alright and almost thought about having Zoro call him later in the day to make sure. But for some reason that felt a little too much like mollycoddling, so he left it alone. He'd ask Lucci later.
It was Friday and the rush was hell on earth, so even if Ace had wanted to give him shit about it, neither of them had time to talk until they hit afternoon close an hour late at three thirty.
Sanji altered the events to make it as flattering to himself as possible, but that didn't change the fact that the entire day he'd been distracted. It's not like he cared about the guy or anything, but he really would feel bad if Zoro did slip into a coma. He should've taken the prick to the hospital…
Lucci walked in ten minutes early, and Sanji started in on him as soon as he walked in the door.
"You heard from Zo… ro…" he trailed off lamely as the green haired man followed Lucci in.
"Worried about me?" Zoro grinned.
Sanji snorted, wiping his hands on his apron. "I seem to recall it was you who said that if you fell into a coma, it'd be on my head."
The corner of Lucci's mouth twitched. "How sweet. He was worried."
"Shut the fuck up and do your inventory already."
Lucci swept past him and got behind the bar, pulling out a clip board and beginning to count bottles.
Zoro hesitated in the doorway.
"Hungry?" Sanji asked, pulling out a chair, indicating that Zoro should sit there.
"Actually-"
"Shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down. Carne!" Sanji turned on his heel and bellowed, "Warm up that Porterhouse!"
From then on, Zoro usually showed up whenever Sanji and the others went out somewhere, if not immediately, then within half an hour of his arrival. Lucci seemed to be texting a lot more these days too, Sanji noticed.
The company wasn't unwelcome, and Sanji found they did have a lot to talk about when it came to martial arts. Zoro studied kendo, but he'd dabbled here and there, and if Sanji knew about one thing, it was dabbling. The other man was keen on learning more about savate, too, which was a topic that always got Sanji pretty hyped up. They hadn't had the time to get together to spar though – Zoro had eventually gone to the hospital to get a CT scan (Sanji offered to pay, but Zoro assured him that he had really good insurance), and he wasn't supposed to participate at the rec center for a week. Then the next few weekends there were holes in the schedule at the Baratie – either someone didn't show up, or they were short staffed already because of vacations – so Sundays left Sanji completely dead and unmoving in his apartment.
On one such Sunday, however, he received a knock at the door at around 4 pm. This was highly unusual, since he knew Ace was out of town with Luffy (two more holes in the schedule), and no one else ever came to his apartment except Kathy, Dan and Stu – the delivery people from the three places he ordered food from.
He groaned as he pushed himself off the couch. His joints, no, his everything ached, right down to the soles of his feet. He limped pathetically to the door in his pajama pants and nothing else. He looked through the peephole, but the asshole was obviously standing out of sight. He hated it when people did that.
He opened the door and Zoro was standing there in a very attractive ensemble of black slacks, a white shirt and a fitted vest. Attractive, that is, in the sense that Sanji could appreciate a man that knew how to dress. Not anything else.
"Uuuh," Sanji said, a little stunned. "Wha… um, what are you doing here?"
Zoro chuckled. "Can I come in?"
"Frankly?" Sanji asked, looking over his shoulder into his apartment, then back to Zoro. "No. My place is a wreck. This is Sunday, my dead day. My day to be… uh, dead. You'd probably get something on your nice outfit or something."
"Alright…" Zoro smiled and Sanji's stomach did that god damn flip flop thing again. He was gonna have to see the doctor about that at some point. "I just came by to invite you out. Well, not technically. Lucci told me to use force if I had to."
"No. I mean… what? Why? Lucci knows I don't go out on Sundays until past 10 pm."
"They got together."
Sanji blinked, then realized by 'they', Zoro meant Lucci and Robin. His confusion broke away to a big grin. "No shit? So, wait, what does that have to do with it?"
"They're having a celebration dinner. Everyone's invited. And what Lucci wants, Lucci gets, so you should probably hop in the shower."
Sanji sighed and dropped his head. If he skipped out on this, he'd be dead. His whole body ached and all he wanted to do was watch the No Reservations marathon, but Zoro was right.
"Alright… do you wanna go ahead without me?"
"I'll wait. I brought my car."
Sanji sighed heavily and let Zoro in, kicking clothes and books out of the way. He cleared off a spot on his couch.
"Just… don't move around too much."
He took a shower in record speed and wrapped himself in a towel for the trip from the bathroom, across the living room, to his room.
Unfortunately Zoro was wearing almost exactly the same outfit he would have chosen for such an occasion. He hollered from his bedroom, "Where are we going?"
"15 East."
That caught Sanji's attention. It was a somewhat new sushi place run by an up and coming sushi chef. He'd been wanting to go, but hadn't had the time or the occasion.
He 'settled' for a cream, long sleeve, super low neck Henley shirt, and his pride and joy, the suit he'd only ever pulled out for his interview at the Baratie and when he went to Skypeia the same night Jessica Alba was rumored to be there; his black Pringle of Scotland suit, straight off the fall line. It cost him more than the Armani pants Zoro had been wearing at Water 7 that time, and that was all he would say.
The best thing? You could go casual with it, or insanely formal – either way. He slapped on a silver linked belt, grabbed his watch and was ready to go.
It seemed like everyone was there – Jyabura, Brook, Saga, Shuraiya, Franky, most of the Baratie staff, hell Coby was there. They'd taken up the entire bar and some tables. Vivi was there too, which surprised him. She had a irritated look on her face, but she was sitting next to Robin, so he assumed they must have worked something out. Lucci was sitting on the other side of Robin, looking no less stoic than he normally did, but his hand was linked with Robin's, their fingers interweaving.
They received cheerful hellos and waves, and Lucci nodded to two open seats across from him and Robin. Sanji frowned as Zoro took the seat next to Nami and across from Robin, but didn't say anything.
"Thanks for coming. I know it's your day off."
"Heh, you're one of the few people I'd go out on Dead Day for anyway."
"Is that the Pringles suit?"
"Like the chip?" Zoro asked.
Sanji snorted. "No, and it's the Pringle of Scotland suit."
"I didn't know you knew anything about fashion stuff," Zoro said to Lucci as he waved down a waiter.
"I don't, but the jerk made me go with him when he bought it. He almost cried when he handed over his credit card. I thought he was going to wet himself."
"It was an expensive commitment, alright? Three month's rent at my place costs less than what I paid for this thing. And Jessica did smile at me that night, so it was worth it. Besides," he looked at Zoro, "you look like you know how to dress yourself."
Robin laughed. "Every decent article of clothing he owns is due to my influence. I even had to label everything so he knew what went with what. Otherwise he'd walk around in a ratty t-shirt and jeans all the time."
"I just tried to make myself scare whenever she handed my credit card to the cashier. I didn't want to know. I still don't."
That explained the Armani jeans, then. And probably the décor at his flat, too, now that the chef thought about it.
Sanji ordered the most expensive thing on the menu straight out – the seven course sushi meal, and some high grade sake. Saga and Shuraiya came over from the bar to chat while they waited for the food to come out.
"You're skipping the rec again," Shuraiya, perpetually with the scowl, lectured.
"Work's been hell and I gotta make a living," Sanji shrugged. "But if it makes you feel any better, I do reps twice a day now."
"Lift up your shirt."
"No, man, this isn't Water 7, it's a civilized joint and there are ladies present."
"Nothing anyone here hasn't seen already," Lucci said, his mouth twitching. "Except Robin, and I have no worries that your flab is going to impress her."
"Yeah, come on, Sanji," Nami winked. Vivi smiled next to her and nodded. He received a few more encouraging cheers from his staff, particularly Franky.
Zoro stifled a laugh and Saga whistled. "You gotta put up now, man."
Sanji rolled his eyes. There weren't any customers besides them that he could see, and the wait staff was entirely male. Besides, any chance to show off his sculpted abs to Nami and Vivi was a chance he was going to take. He stood up and lifted his shirt.
"See? See?" He showed left, then right. "Happy? Good." He sat back down.
Shuraiya snorted. "Wow, congrats, it's not as flabby as it was three weeks ago. Here, have some more liquor and go smoke some more cigarettes-"
"Man, you seriously are worse than the old man," Sanji grinned, shaking his head.
Robin smiled. "I think they looked very defined, Sanji. You must work very hard."
"Oh, well, you know. It's nothing. When you're as fit as I am-"
"Oh god, shut him up someone. Look, here's the food."
The dinner was delicious, the company was good, his bartender was probably as content as he was ever going to be… Life was pretty good, even if he was out on his Dead Day.
But, he knew his limits. When they all started making plans to meet up at the Merry later, he turned them down, looking cautiously at Lucci who didn't seem to have a problem with it. He needed sleep. The aspirin he'd popped earlier was starting to wear off. The only thing he wasn't looking forward to was the ride back to The Bronx, especially if Zoro needed him to take the subway. Even in Zoro's car though, it was a 40 minute ride, and he was ready to drop.
"What about you Zoro? You don't have to bounce tonight, you coming?" Jyabura asked, throwing his arm around Kaku, who rolled his eyes.
"Nah, I got a class at the rec tomorrow."
Someone chuckled and muttered, "Shyeah, you mean Sanji's not coming." That was followed up by a thump, an "Ouch!" and a vehement "Shut up, asshole!".
Sanji didn't know who'd said it, but he saw Zoro's jaw clench, and his ears got noticeably pinker.
Everyone got real quiet.
It was silent for a split second before Saga said, "Yeah, you've been switched to the early class, huh?"
Zoro grabbed his keys. "If you want a ride, I'm leaving now."
The green haired man stalked out of the restaurant. Sanji stood there, stuck somewhere in a growing sense of awkwardness and hesitance.
"Go with him," Lucci said simply.
"Right," Sanji said. "Thanks for inviting me, the meal was great, congrats you two, see most of you bastards – and my lovely ladies, of course – at work tomorrow."
After he left, Lucci turned around and pinned the culprit, Carne, with a cold glare. Nami was the one who had kicked him and told him to shut up. Her glare might have been worse than Lucci's.
Sanji's sense of perspective was spiraling quickly. He kept thinking of weird things, weird things that skewed the facts that he thought he knew. He remembered how Ace had said Zoro didn't like going to clubs on his time off, yet there he'd been almost every night for the last three weeks, showing up wherever Sanji was. And how even though they were so close, he'd never date Robin. And how forgiving he'd been of Sanji's shitty attitude.
He could tell Zoro was pissed. Maybe Sanji was just thinking too much, and it was just that Zoro didn't know how to take a joke. It could all be coincidence, and someone had just said something they thought was funny.
They pulled up to his apartment after an excruciatingly quiet ride. Zoro put the car in park but kept the engine running.
"Thanks for the-"
"Whatever the worst scenario is that you're thinking, it's right."
Sanji swallowed. Okay.
"So… You're gay and everything that's happened up until now has been your attempt to get with me?"
Zoro stared straight ahead. Sanji could see his jaw clenching again. "Yeah, that's right."
Sanji nodded to no one in particular.
After a moment, he said, "I… am not gay."
Zoro chuckled and shook his head. Sanji got the impression that he wasn't in the least bit amused.
"I know that."
"Okay. I don't- I'm not- I'm cool with you. I'm flattered, I guess. But we're friends and… I'm just not into guys."
Zoro's knuckles were white they were gripping the steering wheel so hard.
Sanji sighed. "Look, I don't want you to be mad at me or anything. I know it fucking sucks to get shot down, I've been there. A lot. So I know how it feels, and I don't want you to feel shitty like that. I can't really say anything to make you feel better, but at least… just… don't worry about it."
Zoro released the steering wheel and took a deep breath. "I didn't mean for you to find out like that. I'm not a creep or anything-"
"I know-"
"I wasn't even sure I was ever gonna tell you-"
"It's fine-"
"I'll… stay away if you want."
Sanji frowned. "No, I think I made it clear that I don't want that. I better see your sorry ass the next time we all go out. You better show up at the Baratie for lunch some time this week. If you don't and you start avoiding me, I know where you live, and I'm pretty sure Lucci could get me a key to your place in under 20 fucking minutes."
Sanji unbuckled his seatbelt. "I'm serious Zoro. We still haven't gotten to spar, we're still cool. Alright?"
Zoro frowned. Sanji punched him in the arm, hard. "Alright asshole?"
The green haired man scowled at Sanji and rubbed his arm. "Alright."
"Alright." Sanji got out of the car. "I'm serious. Don't fucking disappear on me."
"Yeah, yeah."
Sanji wanted to fire Carne so bad. Unfortunately he was a damn good employee, and had been working for the Baratie since Zeff was the head chef. But that didn't stop Sanji from wielding his cooking knives threateningly, trying to trip him as he walked by, and giving him the stink eye.
"ALRIGHT ALREADY! I SAID I WAS SORRY!" Carne finally roared in his own defense. Sanji stuck his pinky in his ear and wiggled it around.
"Anybody hear something?"
In unison the other cooks answered, "No, chef!"
Carne sighed, resigned to the treatment until Sanji felt like he'd gotten what he deserved.
When Lucci came in, Sanji was surprised to receive the same cold glare from him that he'd been giving Carne. But when he thought about it, he supposed it made sense. If no one else, Lucci had to have known. Pretty much everyone else seemed disappointed, but they didn't hold it against him. But it was then that he realized just how out of the loop he'd been. It seemed like everyone that knew Zoro, knew. And, it seemed, they'd been rooting for him.
He wondered… Saga probably knew, and Shuraiya by proxy. They'd most likely understand, too.
He turned out to be somewhat wrong on that assumption.
Zoro had showed up for beers at Water 7 on Wednesday (Sanji didn't know why they were ever allowed back), and had lunch with Robin (who, even if she was displeased with Sanji, managed to hide it well) at the Baratie on Friday. They made tentative plans to meet up at the rec on Sunday at 3 pm if Saturday wasn't too terrible at the restaurant, and Sanji felt up to it.
With the state of things as they currently were, Sanji would have made himself go no matter what. But Saturday had been dismally slow, so he was well rested on Sunday and showed up at the rec at two thirty pm, where he received a downright aggressive greeting from Shuraiya, and a disappointed one from Saga.
"You guys, what the fuck was I supposed to do? I don't do guys. Just because he's a good guy doesn't mean I should just change up my sexual orientation for him! I feel bad, I do, but I'm not gonna go gay just 'cuz he's interested!"
"You just don't know how long he's been into you," Saga said, frowning. "I mean, I can't guilt you into dating him, but I still think you should give him a chance."
"Come on, Shuraiya, level with me here. Say Saga suddenly confessed that he had feelings for you. He's a good looking guy, he's a nice guy, does that mean – even though you're straight – that you have to date him because you feel sorry for him?"
Shuraiya raised an eyebrow. "You are the most god damn clueless mother fucker I have ever met. It's like you get dumber every fucking day."
Sanji looked at Saga, confused as hell. "What the hell?"
Saga was equally confused, but it was aimed at Sanji.
"Sanji, we- Shuraiya and I…" They looked at each other, Shuraiya rolling his eyes and Saga at a loss for words.
"What?" Sanji screeched. "When the hell did this happen? Why does this shit keep happening without me knowing?"
"Keep your voice down, dick head. The kids'll think something's wrong," Shuraiya snapped.
"Well, it happened a few months after my accident. Shuraiya helped me with my depression. I mean… I thought it was pretty obvious, but you know… you weren't here anymore. I don't go around telling anyone, but I don't hide it either."
Sanji's head swam.
"Dense," was all Shuraiya said.
Apparently he wasn't going to get any sympathy here.
When Zoro showed up they went to one of the unused gym rooms and laid out some mats. They both took a few minutes to put on hand, elbow, knee and ankle wraps and did a few preliminary stretches.
"So you're good with hand to hand?" Sanji said, noticing a lack of kendo equipment, and the fact that Zoro was just wearing a t-shirt and cargo shorts.
"Yeah."
They squared off, Sanji feeling slightly nervous. He'd seen Zoro in action before – the fight at Skypeia. He knew those arms packed a lot of power, so his goal was not to get close enough to get pinned. If Zoro got more than a few good hits in to the stomach, he'd be down. On the other hand, Sanji didn't quite know where best to attack Zoro. The head, obviously, but they were just sparring. The ribs and the solar plexus maybe, get him tripped up then pin him with his legs, which was where the bulk of Sanji's power was. Or just wear him out, but that meant that Sanji would have to have more stamina than Zoro, and he just wasn't sure of that yet.
"You gonna size me up all day or are you gonna take a hit?"
Sanji ducked in low and grinned. Speed was one thing he had on Zoro, if anything, and he was going to use it. He stepped past Zoro's right side with his left food, feigning coming straight in, pivoted on that same foot and brought his knee slamming back around into Zoro's back. Zoro grunted and stumbled forward a few feet but recovered otherwise almost as if nothing had happened. He snatched Sanji's arm and did exactly as Sanji feared – tossing him over his back and onto the mat. If it turned into a grappling match, Sanji would lose very quickly if he didn't have the upper hand, so he yanked free of Zoro's grip and scrambled back a few feet, clambering to stand up. But Zoro was unrelenting and in his face immediately after, going in to wrap his arms around Sanji's waist.
Sanji kneed him in the chest a good four or five times before he decided to do something slightly risky – he pushed with all his strength against Zoro, causing Zoro to topple back a few feet, jumped up slightly and trapped Zoro's ribs between his knees and pinched hard. Zoro's reaction was what he thought it would be – he wrapped his arms around Sanji's hips to bring him slamming down into the mat again, but before he could, Sanji slammed both his elbows full force into Zoro's shoulders.
Zoro cursed and dropped to his knees, and Sanji jammed his forearm into Zoro's neck, knocking the green haired man on his back.
From there it spiraled into sucker punches, petty hits, and a lot of rolling around on the floor.
He would later vehemently deny that he tried to bite the other man. Zoro's hand had just somehow managed to lodge itself in his mouth. That was all.
