December 19 - 6 Days till Christmas

Sanji awoke slowly the next morning, which was highly unusual for him. Usually, he had his phone set to an alarm so he wouldn't oversleep, but for some reason it didn't go off that morning. He blindly searched the surface of his make-shift side table for his phone, eventually sitting up when he couldn't find it.

"Shit, I think I left it upstairs." Deciding that it was perfectly suitable to walk around in his pajamas in an all boys dorm, Sanji threw back the covers and slid out of bed, rubbing a hand over his face before straightening out his hair a bit.

Skipping stairs two at a time, Sanji made it to Zoro's room quickly, just wanting to grab his phone and get ready for the day. He threw open the door, long past the point of knocking. He just hoped someone would be awake.

"Yo, Zoro, Law. You guys awake?" He made sure to be quiet enough so that he wouldn't wake anyone should they be sleeping, but loud enough to be heard.

"Oh, Sanji. Do you need something?" Law mumbled from behind the door where he was changing.

Sanji looked over at Zoro's bed, and, sure enough, the useless lump was buried under the covers. However, as he stared, he noticed that the lump seemed abnormally large. He decided to ignore it.

"Hey, Law, did I leave my phone here?" He asked, trying to be quiet as he looked around the room.

"Yeah, Zoro found it. It's on his dresser." Law pointed to the dresser of which he spoke.

"Thanks." Sanji walked over and, despite himself, looked down at Zoro's bed. As he scanned over the blankets, he could clearly make out two forms beneath the covers. The one closest to the wall shifted over towards the other one and, from what Sanji could tell, wrapped its arm around the unmoving body.

As the form moved, the blankets slid down a bit, revealing the lilac purple hair of Saga and the green spikes that protruded from the baka Marimo. He halted and just stared at the two cuddling bodies.

"They're like one person split into two different bodies." Law commented with a low chuckle. "Makes you kinda jealous."

"I-It definitely doesn't!" Sanji grabbed his phone off the dresser. His outburst however woke Saga from sleep. The purple haired man sat up, his hair slightly disheveled and his eyes only half open.

"Mmm...wha'time izzit?" He mumbled as he sat up, the blanket sliding down his body to reveal both his and Zoro's naked upper bodies. Zoro was curled up and had his arms pulled up by his chest. Sanji internally snorted at the effeminate sleeping pose.

However, he couldn't help but look over the exposed body a bit. Sanji looked down the chiseled chest. He certainly was well built, but as his eyes traveled, he didn't see any sort of waistband where a waistband normally would've been. He looked over at Saga and saw much the same thing. Was the man seriously naked? On top of that, was he seriously naked in bed with Zoro? Sanji didn't know what to think. He turned away and quickly left, a sour scowl on his face as he slammed the door.

"Oi! Watch the god damn door, asshole!" Law shouted agitatedly. He had low blood pressure, so mornings were especially difficult for him, even though he is easily agitated pretty much any time of day.

"Wassup with 'im?" Saga asked before yawning loudly. He looked down at his stomach as he scratched at an itch. "Ah...my pants are falling down." He reached under the blankets and pulled his boxers and pajama pants up to where they needed to be.

Law tutted, a frown setting in. He crossed his arms over his freshly clothed chest. "Just an idiot being an idiot."

Saga uttered a sleepy laugh, "I see." He looked down at his friend and placed a hand on his warm shoulder. "Zoro~ Zoro, wake up!" He gave the body a gentle shake before kicking him out of the bed all together. "Wake up, sleeping beauty!"

"Wha!" Zoro had been somewhat awake the moment Sanji had entered. He'd felt eyes wandering over his body and had decided that feigning sleep would be easier than an awkward confrontation with the gaze of a pervert. However, he was wide-awake after Saga had kicked him out of bed. "What the hell, bastard!"

Saga just laughed at his friend's irritation, that is until he was pounced.

"I'll get you for that!" Zoro tackled his friend and the two of them began rolling around, wrestling in only a semi-violent manner.

Law felt his annoyance mount the louder they got, yet he couldn't tear his gaze away from the two half-naked forms, a certain form in particular catching his eye. He turned away, blushing a bit. "Idiots."

o()o()o

Sanji hurried back up to his room, irritation making his movements harsh. He checked the time, the original reason he went down to Zoro's room, and was relieved to see that it was still before 10. As he checked his phone, he noticed that an unfamiliar text was in his inbox.

He opened it and felt his heart fly into his throat as he read it:

Hello, it's Conis! I'm returning the text you sent last night. I was wondering if we could perhaps meet for lunch before your shift?

He took a shower in record time, only 20 minutes, and got dressed. He was on cloud nine! A beautiful young lady was asking to meet with him, Sanji, for lunch! Perhaps his luck was turning around. He promptly answered her after officially adding her number to his addresses.

Dear Conis, I'd be delighted to spend my lunch hour with you. Where would you like for us to meet?

He excitedly awaited a response as he dressed, making sure he looked dapper, yet casual, for his lunch date. It was only minutes later until his phone buzzed with her response.

I'm happy to hear that! Would meeting at the Sky café be alright? At noon perhaps?

He responded with an affirmative, despite the fact that he wasn't exactly looking forward to eating at where he was forced to spend numerous hours serving the food he was sick of looking at, but for such a darling girl, how could he refuse?

I'll be there at 12 o'clock sharp!' He pressed send and couldn't resist twirling excitedly before flopping down on his bed, all irritating thoughts of Zoro having completely vacated from his mind.

However, a new disturbance was steadily approaching his room. "Sanji-kuuun~" Usopp's annoyingly warbled voice indicated he clearly wanted something. The door sprung open and the long-nosed sophomore burst into his room. "I'm here on official Secret Santa business!" He saluted.

"Oh?" Sanji sat up in bed and looked over at the intruder. "Lets see it." The day before, a little after dinner, Nami had gone around and, much like the year before, gather the names of everyone who wanted to participate, including a list of desired gifts.

Usopp handed Sanji the envelope with his Secret Santa's information. "We're planning ahead this year." Usopp said with pride. "We're gonna try and avoid doing everything last minute like we did last year." He laughed sheepishly.

"Yeah, that was a real train wreck." Sanji muttered as he pried open the envelope. Memories of the year before and all the drama with Zoro floated into the front of his mind. With the appearance of Saga, he was pretty sure that this year would be a lot like last year: full of Zoro-centered angst.

...Wait a moment...

Why should this year have to be filled with Zoro? They were on good terms...well, as good as they'd ever be, and his friend was in town. He figured he'd be pretty Zoro-free this holiday...and...and he had Conis...

Huh, his chest felt funny. Odd.

Usopp watched Sanji's internal turmoil act itself out on his face. "Oi, you alright there?"

"Hm? Ahh...yeah..." He pulled the name out of the envelope and read over it. He felt his annoyance meter shoot up again as he read the name. Sometimes, he swore that his darling Nami-swan did these sorts of things on purpose.

o()o()o

Conis had gotten to Sky Café a little earlier than planned. She ordered a mocha from the barista and sat down at a table, waiting for Sanji to join her. She bit her lip a little, a nervous habit she'd picked up. She was a little nervous about meeting with Sanji, to be honest, but he seemed like such a nice guy, a guy she could talk to. She felt her unease slowly wash away as she filled her head with reassuring thoughts. Before she knew it, she had company.

"I'm sorry I made you wait, Conis-chan. I hope you haven't been waiting long." He placed his coat over the back of the opposing chair. "Would you like me to get you something to eat? It's on me."

"Oh! Hello, Sanji-san! Uhm, if it's alright, then..." She blushed a bit, "then I'd like a chocolate croissant, please."

"Alright. Coming right up~!" He smiled at her. She really was a charming girl.

Sanji and Conis had a pleasant time; chatting about this and that and just generally getting to know each other. Eventually, they wound up on the subject of their friends. Sanji, inevitably, began talking about Zoro.

"—overall he's a complete moron and a pain in the ass, but..." Sanji paused in his tirade and a softer expression crossed his face. "Well...he can also be..." Sanji thought of this morning and that peaceful sleeping position, and of last night when they'd been playing Street fighter II and Zoro had been so close. He quickly brought his mind back to where it needed to be. "A-Ah, but that is that. Why don't you tell me more about your friends."

Conis was taken a bit aback by the sudden turnaround. "Me? Well, there's this one person who is the same with me as you would be with Zoro-san. He was the green-haired one in here yesterday, right?"

"Ahh...yeah...that's him."

"Ahh, he was cute." She chuckled, "He seemed the bashful type."

"I can assure you he's anything but." Sanji said, disbelieving the words that were coming from her mouth.

Conis chuckled, "Sorry. That was just my impression."

Somehow, she'd managed to direct the conversation back to him, but Sanji was persistent. "So, this friend of yours is like that baka Marimo?"

"Eh, well, not exactly. Its just that our relationship is similar." She sighed sadly, "I'd like to be closer to her, but she doesn't seem to have any interest." She gripped her nearly empty mug a smidgeon tighter. "Or rather, it would seem that she doesn't like me at all."

"How could anyone not like you, Conis-chan. You're such a sweet and interesting girl." Sanji insisted, leaning forward a bit. "I hope that the two of you grow closer, I hate to see you sad."

"Thank you, Sanji-san. I wish the same for you and Zoro-san." She smiled as her eyes glanced towards the clock. "Oh! Doesn't your shift start soon?"

Sanji's head whipped around towards the clock. "Sh-Shit!" He stood up. "I'm sorry to end this so abruptly, Conis-chan, but we should definitely do this again." He smiled at her; in fact, he couldn't stop smiling at her.

"For sure, Sanji-san!"

o()o()o

Sanji flopped down on his bed the second he returned to the dorms. He was absolutely exhausted. He'd had to do an extra hour of overtime and it had been especially busy that day and the other employee didn't show. He wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. He pulled out his phone to check what time it was: 11:11. 'Heh, Zorome...' His brain was foggy with exhaustion and his thoughts were beginning to become dreamlike. 'Zoro o'clock...it's Zoro time...s'pposed to...make a wish...' Those were his last semi-sensical thoughts before drifting off to sleep.

Minutes later, there was a knock on the door. "Oi, dartboard eyebrows, we're about to play Street Fighter II! You promised you'd get your ass kicked again!" There was no response. "Sanji?"

Zoro opened the door a smidgeon and peeked inside. The lamp was still on, but Sanji had crashed on his bed. Zoro walked over and inspected the sleeping form. Sanji had stripped himself of both his shirts, but he still had his pants and shoes on. Weird guy. Zoro gently shook his shoulder. "Oi, Sanji."

"Zoro..." he muttered.

"Sanji, you awake?"

"Iz Z'ro uh'clock...make a w'shhh..." He fell back asleep again, snoring gently.

"What the hell?" Zoro sighed when he didn't get a response. "Seriously, you're a real pain in the ass." Zoro scooted down to the end of the bed and untied the blonde's shoe. "Don't take on extra hours if you're gonna wear yourself out, dumbass." He continued to berate as he slipped the first shoe off and began to work on the other one. "It's the week before Christmas, you know? You're supposed to enjoy it, aren't you?" As he slipped off the shoe, the knuckles of his hand tickled across the bottom of Sanji's foot, making the blonde spasm in his sleep. 'So the idiot's ticklish.' Zoro smirked, deciding to store this interesting tidbit for later.

Zoro looked over Sanji's body. He figured that sleeping with pants and a belt on would be uncomfortable, but he felt a little awkward about removing them. He'd decided to simply stick with the belt. However, it was then that Sanji decided to roll over onto his side.

Zoro frowned at this. "I'm trying to help you here, baka..." Since Sanji's bed was against the wall, he couldn't simply go around to the other side. He'd just have to reach over the sleeping moron. Trying not to fall on top of the person he was helping, Zoro angled himself carefully and began to work the belt off. Sanji's arm shot up and wrapped around Zoro's waist, making him fall over Sanji and land between the blonde and the wall, his lower half draped over Sanji awkwardly.

'Shit!' His face exploded with an embarrassed blush. 'Let go, dumbass!'

"Mmm...Conis-chan..." He mumbled, hugging Zoro tight and sighing into the soft green hair.

Zoro frowned, a complicated emotion shining in his eyes. First of all, he didn't appreciate being confused for a woman, and second he didn't...he didn't quite know how he felt about being so close to Sanji. He...

The hand Sanji had on his back began to gently tickle over his lower back in soothing little circles, a gentle 'Conis-chan' slipped from between his lips again.

Zoro pressed his hands up against Sanji's chest and began pushing away, but Sanji's persistent hand tried to hold him closer. Zoro really didn't want to wake Sanji, especially not now, but he had to get out and head back upstairs to Saga. He's been gone far too long.

Slowly and carefully, he slithered out of Sanji's hold. Sanji's hand followed him, but eventually fell back to the bed. "Cold..." He muttered, shivering a bit.

Zoro looked back at him, a frown on his face. He walked back over to Sanji's side and lifted him enough to get the blankets out from under the cook before tucking him in. He walked back across the room to the lamp. "G'nite, Sanji." And with that, he switched off the light and left.

As soon as the door closed, Sanji's eyes opened and he sat up, fully awake. He looked over at the door before looking down at the belt that Zoro had partially undone. He finished the job and tossed the belt to the floor. Sanji had been awake ever since Zoro had tickled the bottom of his foot, but curiosity had made him pretend to be asleep, to see what Zoro would do.

"What the hell am I doing?" He muttered. He could hear the idiots upstairs thumping about as they played another round of Street Fighter. "I'm such an idiot."


Author's Note

I totally didn't post this late ¬ w ¬

It's all in your imagination~

-PD