With very cute ideas from: zosanlover

Extra 1 – The Gift of the Magi

It was an ordinary day. The sun was shining. Zoro had started wearing that red and white striped shirt that he left open in the front, which was doing all kinds of exciting things to Sanji's lower half. Today, he sat against the starboard railing on the deck, lifting a small weight in one hand and snoring at the same time. Sanji simply watched him for a time, grateful that he was able to do so in front of the rest of the crew. As he did, an idea occurred to him. But, as he bit his lip, he observed that it would be difficult to accomplish, to say the least.

He decided he wanted to give Zoro some kind of gift. However, the only things Zoro cared about, as far as he knew, were sake and swords. Sanji did not bother flattering himself by including his own existence on that list. Despite all that had happened, he remained insecure about Zoro's feelings for him.

Sanji was a connoisseur of sake, but Zoro was not; he would be as happy with moonshine as he would with expensive champagne, if not more so. Sanji didn't like this idea. Zoro was somewhat knowledgeable about swords, but Sanji knew nothing. Whatever he got him would undoubtedly be unnecessary or a downright nuisance. He briefly thought he could cook something for him, but again Zoro really had no interest in food, and probably wouldn't notice if he did something special. The usual things he would give women, flowers, candy or letters of affection, all seemed equally unlikely to please. Zoro was a simple man who lived his life humbly. It was one of the things Sanji admired about him (though he would not go so far as to embrace the lifestyle).

He pondered the problem for some time as he stood there, failing to notice Robin-chan approaching. She smiled serenely at him. "Cook-san," she said.

He jumped. "Robin-chan!" he said, smiling affectionately. "Did you need something? A snack? A cold drink?"

She shook her head. "I was just wondering what was causing your brows to furrow so."

Sanji blinked. He rubbed the area between his eyebrows. "Were they furrowing?"

She chuckled lightly, but quickly followed his line of sight. "Hm. Determined as ever, isn't he? Our Kenshi-san."

Sanji blushed. "I was staring," he guessed.

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh, no…I was just thinking…" Sanji gauged her expression, wondering if it would bother her, but she merely seemed politely interested, so he decided to share. "I don't know what he likes. I want to do something for him, but…I don't suppose you have any ideas, Robin-chan?"

"Do something, hm… like what?"

"Well…I thought a present…or something…"

She blinked for a moment, and then smiled. "How sweet."

Sanji scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Not very sweet if I get it wrong. A bad gift is worse than no gift at all."

"Really?" Robin-chan murmured. "In my experience it's the thought that is the most important thing."

Sanji considered for a time. "I suppose."

"Maybe give him something you would like yourself."

Sanji sighed. "Things I would like…rare cooking ingredients…women's underwear…the occasional new shirt…and the happy looks when people eat my food. No good there."

"Hm. Then maybe something of personal value to you?"

"Personal value…" Sanji murmured, thinking. "Do I have something like that?"

Robin placed her head on her hand. "Or you could do him a favor of some kind."

"A favor…? Hmm, maybe…can't think what he would need though…"

"That or…" Robin paused, then chuckled a bit.

"What? What is it?"

She flicked her gaze up to him coyly. "You could give him something just for use in the bedroom."

Sanji took this in for a moment, then blushed. "It does seem to be the only thing we have in common…I'll think about it. Thank you, Robin-chan."

She nodded and then left him to his thoughts. He bit his lip again.

That evening, they met in the crow's nest. As sometimes happened, they barely spoke, but made love softly in the moonlight. When they finished, Sanji lay on his back, thinking. Though Zoro could be a bit dim on these things, tonight he happened to notice.

"Hey," he said, and tapped Sanji rather roughly on the forehead.

"Ouch," Sanji muttered, rubbing it.

"Don't frown so much, then."

"Was I frowning? Damn. Robin-chan said the same thing earlier."

Zoro watched him for a moment, then lay back down on his stomach, head rested on his folded hands and closed his eyes. "Hmm," he muttered, with very little interest.

"Listen, Zoro…" Sanji bit his thumbnail for a moment, then came up with a good way to ask without arousing suspicion. "I wanted to get Nami-san a gift for her birthday." He relied on Zoro's dimness not to remember when Nami-san's birthday actually was (three months from that time). "If it was your birthday, what sort of present would you like to get?"

Zoro's eyes slowly opened, but at length he glanced away. "Why are you asking me? I'm terrible at that stuff. Plus that woman and I have nothing in common."

"Well…yes, that's true…"

Zoro glanced at him. "Why are you being weird?"

"I'm not."

Zoro snorted. "Okay. So stop looking weird and saying weird things."

Sanji sighed loudly. "You have no delicacy. I'm just thinking."

Zoro observed him for a moment. Then he went to sleep, knowing Sanji would wake him before watch was over.

Over the next few days, Sanji continued to ponder. He simply could not think of a single thing Zoro would like to receive, although he still had his fallback options of sake or something naughty. Making Zoro wear a pink negligée came to mind, although that was really more a present for himself. As caught up as Sanji was, he was oblivious to Zoro's attitude to all his pondering. He had also forgotten that Zoro still believed he was thinking of a present for Nami, something he really should have paid more attention to.

One particular day, when Sanji was muttering to himself, Zoro's jealousy reached a boiling point, and he kicked one of his hand weights toward the stern of the deck where, he thought, no one could see. Just before the weight reached the railing, a hand grew out of the deck and deftly caught it. Zoro sighed, scratching his head.

"Did I get you?" he grumbled, walking to the other side of the kitchen where Robin was leaning against the wall, reading.

She chuckled. "If you had, I wouldn't be smiling." She closed her eyes and grew hands out of the deck one by one, eventually passing the weight to Zoro. He politely picked it up. "Something wrong?" she asked.

He sighed again, folding his arms and leaning against the railing irritably. "Just the usual." He nodded toward Sanji, who was even now pacing and muttering, not having noticed Zoro's outburst.

Robin observed this with interest. "Has he told you what he's pondering about?"

Zoro scoffed. "Nami's birthday present, or something."

Robin raised her eyebrows. "That's odd. Our Koukaishi-san's birthday isn't for another three months, as I recall." Zoro's eyes widened at that. "In fact, I seem to remember he was having trouble thinking of a present for someone else. Though perhaps I shouldn't say who," she added with a smile.

Zoro considered this for a few moments. He wasn't the quickest with matters like this, but eventually, though his expression remained the same, a blush crept over his cheeks. He frowned, wondering if his suspicions were right. Then Robin patted him on the shoulder as she walked away.

"I gather you're not an easy person to get presents for," she murmured.

His blush increased. "Are you sure?"

Robin shrugged, walking away. "Even if I was, it's not really my place to say. Anyway, good luck."

Zoro blushed heavily and covered his mouth with his hand, thinking.

The next day, Sanji noticed something strange. Zoro was hanging around with Nami-san. On purpose. Despite his distractions, he couldn't help worry about what they were doing. At one point, he followed them to Nami-san's room, jealously burning deep in his gut. He knocked loudly on the door.

Nami-san soon answered, blocking the doorway with her (very fine) body. However, when she saw him, she merely smirked, stepped back, and slammed the door.

Sanji stood flabbergasted.

He banged on the door again. "Nami-san! What are you doing? That stupid swordsman is in there, isn't he?"

Zoro's voice came from behind the door, "No, I'm not."

Sanji went red with frustration. "What's going on?!" He banged on the door again.

Then came Nami-san's sweet voice. "Sanji-kun? Get your jealousy under control, it's very unattractive." Sanji flushed heavily. "We're not fucking in here, just talking, so kindly go away."

He was just as shocked that Nami-san had used the word "fucking". It was both a crack in his image of her and quite sexy at the same time. Nevertheless, he was not happy about what was going on here.

"Just…finish up by dinner time!" he said, trying not to sound upset.

He heard Nami-san chuckle. "Sure. If we can. Oh…Zoro, you're so good at that."

"Stop it," Zoro grumbled.

Sanji was still enraged, but he gathered what Nami-san said was true (except for the last part). Although…he couldn't help wondering what Zoro was "good" at…

Finally, it was Sanji's shift on watch. He had wanted to have a present ready by today, but he merely clutched a humble bottle of sake (having said that, it was still of very high quality, not that Zoro would probably notice), very disappointed with himself. He expected Zoro to come up after a while as he usually did. However, Sanji headed up to the crow's nest, only to find that Zoro was already there.

"Hey," he said.

"H-hey…" Sanji replied.

He climbed up and sat opposite Zoro on the floor. He noticed a box on Zoro's left, and briefly wondered what it was for. Nevertheless, he sighed and came to the topic that he was dreading. He set the sake down beside his knee.

"Zoro…the truth is, I've been trying to think of something I could get you as a present, because I've been so happy lately I wanted to share it…"

Zoro blushed a bit, but then he gestured to the sake. "Is that it?" he said, though he didn't sound displeased. He held out his hand.

Sanji picked it up, distracted. "Um…no, this isn't it." He handed it to Zoro, who was a bit confused, but looked it over.

"Wow," Zoro said. Sanji thought he may have been smiling a bit. "This is a really good vintage. Isn't this brand pretty expensive?"

Sanji blinked, his heart fluttering a bit that Zoro had appreciated his small gift. "Well, I happened to have it lying around. Anyway…"

Zoro tilted his head to regard him interestedly. "Are you sure this isn't a present? I like it a lot."

Sanji blushed again. He shook his head. "I'm glad you like it, though. What I wanted to say was…I wanted to get you something to show you how happy I've been." He saw Zoro glance away, blushing. "Eventually, I couldn't think of anything, so all I came up with was this."

He approached Zoro as close as he could while they were both sitting cross-legged on the floor. He looked in his eyes and said, "I love you. And I don't see that changing any time soon. I wake up happy every morning because you're here. I value so much the quiet time we get to spend together like this, because I've never really had a love like this before. Lastly, I have never doubted for a second that you will be the best swordsman in the world."

Zoro watched wide-eyed as he said all this. Once he finished, he blinked and cast his gaze down.

Sanji shrugged. "That's the best I could do. So…I'm glad you like the sake in any case."

Zoro was looking away so Sanji didn't really see until he looked harder, but Zoro was blushing up to his ears. Sanji smiled a bit. That was a good reaction.

Then Sanji glanced at the box on Zoro's left. "What's that?" he asked.

Zoro immediately shook his head.

Sanji frowned. "You don't want me to know? Why did you bring it up here then?"

Zoro shook his head, shyly pushing it backward away from him. "It's nothing."

"It's a present, isn't it?" Sanji asked, starting to grin.

Zoro blushed and snorted angrily. "I just said it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"If it's for me, then I want it."

"It's not. Forget it."

"Well, I'm opening it." Sanji said, reaching across Zoro to pick up the box.

"It's…" Zoro sighed, covering his face. "Just…throw it away. It's a failed attempt."

Sanji placed the box in his lap and untied the string around the top. Sanji obviously didn't give Zoro enough credit; he had no idea Zoro could tie a bow. He lifted the top of the box. He couldn't believe what he found inside. It must have been the sweetest thing he'd ever seen.

Inside was a modest chocolate cake, with a buttercream frosting. It was a bit misshapen, and the frosting had lumps in it, but it had clearly been made from scratch. Sanji looked at it for a long time. He covered his mouth, as happy tears streamed down his cheeks.

Zoro balked. "Is it that bad?" He huffed angrily, looking very conflicted. "I told you, just throw it away."

Sanji shook his head hastily. "No, I'm happy. Really happy. This must have taken you forever. Is this why you were talking to Nami-san?"

Zoro scratched his head and glanced away. "It's stupid. Don't eat it, you'll get sick."

Sanji shook his head, still sniffing a bit. "No, it's perfect." He set the cake on the bench and then sat in Zoro's lap, hugging him tightly. "Thank you."

Zoro slowly wrapped his arms around him, resting his chin on Sanji's shoulder. "Can we drink the sake now?"

Sanji considered. "I would say yes, but I have a more pressing need at the moment." He took one of Zoro's hands and placed in on the rapidly growing bulge in his pants. He whispered in Zoro's ear, "Do you think you could do me one more favor?" He ground his hips against Zoro's as he straddled him lasciviously. "Do you think you could fuck me?"

Zoro blushed, kissing Sanji's neck. "This is unusual. You're like a cat."

"Like a cat, I suppose I have to be in the right mood to do this. Nn!" He shivered as Zoro grabbed his ass.

"In answer to your question, I don't think that should be a problem." Zoro bit down on Sanji's neck, as he rolled his hips against Sanji's, continuing to grip his ass.

Sanji moaned, wrapping his arms around Zoro's neck and head. "We rarely do this…dry humping over our clothes…"

"It's hot, though."

"Yeah…"

Zoro pushed Sanji back against the floor, never breaking the rhythm of his hips, pulling Sanji's thighs around his waist. "I haven't done you in a while. Your ass is going to be pretty tight."

Sanji was already moaning. "Good. I want to make you come more than once."

"Inisde you?" Zoro chuckled. "You're a weird one. It'll hurt tomorrow."

"Fuck tomorrow," Sanji said, smirking briefly before his moans took over again. Zoro smirked as well.

"I bet I can make you cum with your clothes on," Zoro said, grinning.

Sanji chuckled a bit, but was having trouble holding back his voice. "I…wouldn't take that bet…!" he said, already feeling close.

Zoro drove his hips hard against Sanji's, and Sanji could not resist thrusting against him. Then, so Sanji's shock, Zoro whispered into his hear, "I love you…"

Sanji gasped, then he threw back his head, and thrust his hips forward hard several times before his whole body tightened and he cried out loudly.

Above him, Zoro grinned. "If you had bet, you'd have lost."

"No shit," Sanji muttered, breathing hard. "Keep going."

"If I'd known cakes got you so hot I would have done this a long time ago." Zoro said, grinning as he conscientiously explored Sanji's ear with his tongue.

"Ah! That's…" Sanji blushed deeply. "It's…not cakes…"

"Oh? What is it then? Did you get jealous because I was with Nami?"

A vein popped in Sanji's forehead. "You have the worst sense of timing. No, it's not that." He wrapped his arms around Zoro and said softly, "I'm just happy you think of me."

Zoro was lucky that Sanji couldn't see him at this angle, because he was bright red and wore a complicated expression. "Idiot," he muttered, and without thinking kissed Sanji's hair.

Zoro tilted Sanji's chin away and licked his neck and chin. He ran his hands along Sanji's chest, over his clothes, but then abruptly he sat back and started undoing Sanji's belt. Sanji blushed.

"No foreplay today?"

Zoro smirked. "I'm just getting started."

He pulled down Sanji's pants, carelessly casting them aside. He observed Sanji's half-hard cock for a long time. Sanji started to blush and cover his face.

"What are you looking at?" Sanji asked in a rather high-pitched voice.

Then Zoro ran his hand along the upper parts of Sanji's crotch, which were still sticky with cum. "That's pretty hot," he muttered to himself. "But it can't be very comfortable."

Having said this, he lowered his head and began to lap up the cum from all over Sanji's cock, crotch, and lower stomach. Sanji cried out loudly, and promptly covered his mouth. He was still sensitive there because he'd just cum. Zoro was also licking him in places he never usually did, since neither of them considered them erogenous zones. To be fair, he wasn't sure they were, but the unusualness of the feeling was almost too much.

Finally, Zoro swallowed Sanji's cock deeply, causing him to cry out in a mix of pleasure and pain from oversensitivity. He was already getting hard again. But now Zoro rose, letting a trail of saliva drip over Sanji's cock as he did.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then caught Sanji's eye. He gestured for him to get up, then said, "Come here." He indicated the bulge in his pants.

Sanji swallowed heavily. As he'd previously admitted, he liked it when his partner took control in bed; however, since he also enjoyed dominating Zoro, he had assumed this didn't apply to men for some reason. He was wrong. He nodded and rose, swallowing.

He met Zoro's eyes briefly as he crawled up to him. Zoro smirked. He merely sat back on his hands, one leg propped up, waiting for Sanji to do what he hadn't even asked, had only implied. Yet even this was making Sanji's heart pound. He bent down over Zoro's crotch, affectionately stroking at first, and then pulling Zoro's trick of clasping down with his mouth over the top of the fabric.

"Mm…" Zoro murmured appreciatively, still smiling.

Sanji blushed heavily. Why was this arrangement making him so hot? Hesitantly, he pulled down Zoro's pants, affectionately caressing his haramaki at the same time. He gazed for a time on Zoro's hard cock, somehow more entranced by it than usual. Trembling slightly, he extended his tongue, and briefly licked the tip.

Zoro groaned again, letting his head fall back.

Sanji gazed at him, his pulse rising, and took him fully into his mouth. Today he savored the weird, overly strong flavor, feeling himself salivating at the same time. At length, Zoro's hand rose to the top of his head. He stroked Sanji's hair, causing him to blush. But as Sanji's attacks became more determined, Zoro began to press harder on his head. As he did, Sanji's cock started to harden painfully.

Finally, Zoro lifted up Sanji's head to look deeply at his wanton expression. He seductively inserted his tongue inside Sanji's mouth, drawing him into a deep kiss. Sanji shook with desire. But they were both still half dressed. Today Sanji was wearing a casual shirt, the one he had worn on Sorajima. He barely noticed as Zoro's fingers gripped the seam in the front of his shirt, and the next thing he knew buttons went flying across the room. His shirt fell easily off his shoulders. He gasped, annoyed in the back of his mind but in no position to complain.

Zoro grabbed Sanji's body by the waist so he straddled him again, and deeply kissed Sanji's nipple. Sanji moaned and his hips bucked involuntarily. He stroked Zoro's hair as the swordsman's fingers made deep trails in the skin of Sanji's back. He bit his lip and moaned again. Zoro seemed especially efficient at turning him on today.

While Zoro was kissing his chest, Sanji started pulling up Zoro's shirt and haramaki. Zoro allowed him a brief moment to pull them off over his head, then returned to teasing Sanji's nipples.

Now that they were both naked, Sanji managed to reach into the cupboard where they kept the lube, and without distracting Zoro from his titillating task, began to massage it into his own hole. He shivered at the strangeness. He'd never done this himself before. Somehow it felt like it shouldn't feel good, but in a weird way it did. He noticed sometimes with Zoro that even if he seemed fairly open at first, there was a point about an inch inside him that sometimes objected for a moment. Sanji didn't feel that in himself. Was that bad? He didn't much care. He continued teasing his opening, impatient for Zoro to thrust inside him.

Zoro seemed to feel the same impatience, because his hands moved down and pulled apart the cheeks of Sanji's ass, making his fingers' entrance easier. "Ohh…" Sanji moaned, his head falling back.

Zoro gently let him rest against the floor again, and replaced Sanji's fingers with his own.

"Mm!" said Sanji, fingers flexing against the wood floor. Zoro didn't like this, and instead placed Sanji's hands on his shoulders. Sanji was happy enough to grip into Zoro's skin instead. And Zoro gave him plenty reason to.

Zoro already knew where Sanji's weak spot was, but he avoided it for the moment, taking his time opening Sanji up. Every now and then he would brush it, and adore the shiver that ran over Sanji's body. Finally, he licked the tip of Sanji's cock, causing his hips to thrust forward unconsciously.

Before Sanji was even aware, Zoro had three fingers inside of him, and was teasingly licking and sucking his cock at the same time. Sanji felt lucky he'd already come, if not he would be in trouble now. Zoro made one more attack, digging at Sanji's prostate and at the same time sticking the tip of his tongue in his urethra. Sanji cried out and his fingernails dug desperately into Zoro's shoulders to avoid cumming.

At last, Zoro's tongue reluctantly left Sanji's cock, and he slowly removed his fingers. Sanji was trembling with desire. Zoro took a moment to rub some lube on his cock, then he lined up outside Sanji. But to Sanji's frustration, at first all he did was rub the tip against Sanji's entrance.

"Zoro…" Sanji moaned, gripping his shoulders, pleading for more.

"Just making sure. I don't want to hurt you."

Sanji groaned. "You are. My dick's so hard it hurts. Please, Zoro…"

Zoro glanced at him with a smirk. "At times like this…I'd almost call you cute," he said, gently.

Sanji blinked. Then he started to blush and look away. "Don't think that makes me happy or anything."

Zoro smirked, but then he leaned over Sanji, still lined up but only brushing him. He said softly in Sanji's ear, "Okay, I'm coming in."

Sanji held tight to him. "About time," he muttered, though his heart was fluttering from Zoro's voice.

Slowly, Zoro slid inside. Both men were breathing hard as he moved forward, inch by inch. When his hips finally met Sanji's, they both let out heavy sighs.

Zoro was panting. "Shit…it's been too long…I forgot about this…"

Sanji was honestly experiencing a similar situation, but he didn't quite have the presence of mind to comment on it. There were a few moments of discomfort, and then he remembered that first time that Zoro had fucked him, after their sucking contest. The memory was already a turn-on. But this was so much better.

Sanji was trembling and twitching, his cock if possible getting even harder. "Z…Zoro…!" he gasped, desperately trying to pull Zoro closer.

Zoro stared at him and blushed. "Shit," he muttered, and slowly thrust inside him again.

"Ah…ah…" Sanji cried, but he numbly mumbled, "Faster…Zoro…"

Zoro gritted his teeth. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Same…question!" Sanji cried, thrusting his hips up to meet Zoro's.

Zoro gasped and grasped Sanjis hips. "Okay, I'll move, just don't do that. It won't be much fun for you if I cum so soon."

Sanji moaned, aching for more. Finally Zoro began to pick up the pace, causing them both to gasp and largely lose the ability to speak. But it was still a modest pace. Sanji was feeling good, but it wasn't enough. He moved his hands from Zoro's shoulders to his hips. Then he grasped Zoro's ass.

"Ugh," Zoro grunted, clearly holding back from cumming. "Stop that," he gasped.

"Fuck me…Zoro…!" Sanji pleaded, grasping the flesh of Zoro's ass. "Make me cum…then we'll have another round after…okay?"

Zoro bit his lip. "You know I have difficulty saying no to you," he muttered.

"Yeah…so shut the fuck up…move your hips…"

Zoro snorted a bit with laughter at that one. "Fine. Don't blame me if you can't walk tomorrow."

Sanji moaned at the words. Then Zoro's hips took up the pace they'd both been craving. "Ahhh!" Sanji cried, still grasping Zoro's ass.

Zoro grunted, slamming his cock into Sanji as hard as he could. Sanji's fingers merely spurred him on. Then something happened that made him gasp. The middle finger of Sanji's right hand slipped inside his asshole.

"Ah!" he cried, slowing down out of desperation, having to seriously concentrate to hold back his orgasm.

Sanji grinned at him while panting heavily. "I'll fuck…you while you're fucking me…" he gasped. "Why...didn't we think of this…before?"

Zoro gritted his teeth. "Because, as I said, I'm already close. Don't push me any further."

"Zoro…" Sanji sighed sweetly.

Zoro swallowed. "What?"

"I want you so bad…I want all of you…"

Zoro panted, then began to pound him again, trying to ignore the extraordinary sensation of Sanji's finger in his ass. But soon he was throwing his head back and gasping, matching Sanji's desperate, sexy cries. Finally, he felt Sanji's hole tighten, and Sanji screamed as he covered his own chest in dilute cum. Zoro moaned at the tightening sensation, and pounded Sanji for just a few moments, then the combination of Sanji's tightness and his finger still fucking him made it impossible not to cum. He cried out and poured his cum into Sanji's ass.

Both men shuddered and panted heavily, and neither was able to move for a long few moments. At length, Zoro collapsed onto one elbow, still inside Sanji. "Sorry," he gasped. "Can I stay inside for a minute?"

Sanji panted, barely glancing at him and closing his eyes. "Do whatever…I can't move now anyway…"

Zoro eventually managed to control his breathing. "Fuck. I never thought of that."

"Hm," Sanji commented. "Don't underestimate a lifelong pervert."

"I guess," Zoro muttered. "I just never thought of that as being a good thing."

Sanji sighed. "I swear to god, that mouth on you…"

Zoro pressed his lips to Sanji's with a grin. "This mouth?"

Sanji opened his eyes with a blush. "Zoro…" he murmured.

"Yeah."

"You're getting hard again."

"I noticed."

Sanji blushed. "I am too."

Zoro made a devilish smirk. "We've never done it twice without pulling out before."

That sparked Sanji's interest, and he starting smiling too. "Want to see how many-?"

"Yeah."

"Contest. I top next time."

"Yeah."

Several hours later, both men lay exhausted on the crow's nest floor, both extremely sticky with all sorts of substances. "I can't cum anymore," Sanji panted.

Zoro considered, also panting. "I could get hard, but yeah, I don't think I could cum. How many was that?"

"Seven."

"Are you kidding?"

"Are you kidding? Where do you get all that stamina?"

Zoro looked a bit impressed with himself. "Hm. Training every day has its benefits."

Sanji actually managed to laugh, covering his forehead with his arm. "God, I'm starving. Can we eat your cake now? Let's crack the sake too."

Zoro blushed a bit. "We can open the sake…but you really don't have to eat that. I'm not sure it's fit for humans."

Sanji laughed. "You are so funny. I saw it, and smelled it. There's nothing dangerous to human health in there, I promise."

Zoro sighed, rising and bringing the food over. "Well don't blame me if you get food poisoning."

Sanji cocked an eyebrow. "I will blame you for that. But it's okay."

"It's okay?"

Sanji nodded, picking up a fork that was next to the cake inside the box. "In that case, you'll just have to make me another one."

Zoro snorted, though there was a trace of a smirk on his lips as he cracked the sake. "You have a death wish."

Sanji tasted the cake, polite enough to consider the flavor carefully before swallowing. It was nothing exciting, and the composition was crude, but there was nothing bad in it. The frosting was lumpy, as he said, but tasted fine. And the cake was moist and sweet. He smiled kindly at Zoro, who was watching him apprehensively. "It's good," Sanji said, grinning. "Just what I was craving."

Zoro turned away, deftly hiding his expression, but Sanji could tell he was blushing and very happy. Sanji smiled as he continued to eat the cake, feeling happiness surge inside him.

Zoro took a drink of the sake and let out a pleasant exhalation of breath. "That's good," he said. He passed it to Sanji.

Sanji took a drink, and as expected, the sake was strong but the flavor very rich and subtle. It was a bit too strong for him, though, so he gave it back to Zoro with a smile. "Did you try the cake?"

Zoro grimaced. "Much as I had to. I don't like sweet things."

Sanji stared for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Why is that funny?"

Sanji chuckled, calming himself down. "It didn't have to be a cake. You could have made…well, whatever you like. I would have been happy with anything."

Zoro pointed at him. "Exactly! That's what I said! But that woman said you don't really give yakiniku as a gift."

Sanji started laughing again. But Zoro's patience was wearing, so he wiped a tear away and then said, "But what about you, Zoro? What kind of present would have been better?"

"Oh…I don't really like presents."

Sanji's mirth vanished and his face became despairing. In other words, any kind of gift at all would have been a failure? But Sanji wasn't really sure how else to express his affection…He bit his lip, thinking about this.

Zoro watched all this pass over his face, and considered for a moment. "But if it's from you, I don't really mind. And yours…this time…I liked that…"

Sanji blinked. "The sake?"

Zoro blushed, looking away. Hesitantly, he shook his head.

Sanji's eyes widened. Then he smiled. He abandoned the cake for a moment to hug Zoro from behind. "I do love you something terrible."

He could feel the heat of Zoro's blush even if he couldn't see his face. "And you're…tolerable."

Sanji laughed, squeezing him harder.