30 Day Writing Prompt Challenge

Day 14

'Geeking out over something'

By aoi koneko chan

Despite baring all emotion on his face, the chef rarely shared his interests with the crew. And by interests, he meant real interests. Not Nami, Robin and women of the whole world. Real things. The blond liked cooking enough to count it as a hobby and a lifestyle. Of course he had an interest in it and that was no secret. But other things the cook enjoyed, he wasn't so forthcoming about.

Zoro had first realised this when the two of them had been on a date while docked in Alabasta. Their dates started with the usual. Pick up the food and restock the cellar before heading out again for the real date. They wandered round the city shoulders practically glued together. The cook despite being an insatiable flirt, was always shy when it came to the physical display of affection in their relationship. Zoro took it in stride, the blond may not shout out their relationship to every Tom Dick and Harry on the street, but he always showed affection when it really counted. If he were honest with himself, Zoro quite enjoyed being the only one who saw such sweet sides of his lover.

They followed their usual pattern. Sanji had already performed reconnaissance whilst stocking their wares and now they visited the food stalls and vendors that the locals had shared with the cook. Zoro always enjoyed this part of their trip. He loved watching the cook's face light up when he tasted something he enjoyed and the look of excitement that sprang in his eyes at each newly inspired recipe idea was his treat as a lover. Often the two of them would find themselves burdened with another haul of exotic goods and spices, Sanji itching to get cracking on experiments to utilise their unique flavours to their fullest potential. It was a special moment for Zoro, watching Sanji flutter with giddiness. The chef was usually so composed to the point where he even shocked Zoro with his responses to certain situations. Zoro loved being to finally read Sanji for once.

Although the cook was eager to be in the kitchen playing with his new purchases, Sanji never left Zoro's side or seemed distracted. Today was no exception. After leaving the last vendor with a small sack of fragrant spices, Sanji turned to Zoro with a wide smile.

"Any place you want to go to, marimo? I've got all I really want."

Time seemed to stop for a moment in the face of that beautifully innocent smile. It was moments like these that made Zoro fall in love all over again. He must have been on autopilot because he found himself responding, muttering something or other about a sword smith's store he saw earlier. Beaming smile becoming his anchor point, he felt a soft well looked after hand slip into his own and tug him along. A tender smile of his own slipped onto his face and he gently squeezed the precious hand held within his own.

Would he ever get used to the constricted feeling in his chest? Sanji just filled him over the top pushing his senses into overdrive. They walked only a couple metres before he tugged their linked arms up and placed a soft kiss on the back of Sanji's hand.

The rosy blush and look of shock that melted into a tender smile filled Zoro's soul once more and he almost didn't want to reach the sword smith if only to stay in this moment forever. Their walk carried on in companionable silence until they reached the store and Zoro felt the loss of warmth as the blond retracted his hand to open the store's door. They stepped in to the sound of a ringing bell and a machine grinding to a halt.

"Welcome to Smith's Smithy Emporium. Mornin'." The cheery old man sat towards the back of the store at a grinding wheel. "Feel free to take a gander, I'll be with you in a tick." He continued then once again struck up the machine he had been operating sending the sound of grinding gears and metal being sharpened around the room. Sparks flew all around him and Zoro found himself respecting the old man's unflinching steadfastness in his work. It always puzzled him how Usopp could do the same in his workshop. Blow torches blazing, sparks flying, it seemed that these gadget minded people knew no fear in their nooks.

A furnace blazed behind the old man, its temperature no doubt kept at scorching degrees for melting metal. The smell of steel and sweat permeated the air. The rest of the floor space was taken up with display cases and racks. Swords hung on the walls and katanas found purchase on specially crafted wooden shelves. There were glass cases on tables that housed smaller wares and other metal works. The cook had wandered over to one such display and stood gazing at something displayed quite intently. The swordsman shuffled his way over careful not to tip over any of the items on display.

"Whatcha find, cook?" He asked as he approached from behind.

The cook, somewhat startled, jumped slightly turning to face his lover.

"Oh, it's this knife set." He started. "It's gorgeous."

Zoro cast an eye over the mentioned knives and nodded appreciatively. As someone who used swords on a daily basis, he could appreciate these blades. They were well forged and no doubt would last a lifetime if cared for properly. The pearl handle detailing screamed sophistication and he couldn't help but think how perfect they would look in the blond's hands. His thoughts were interrupted by a wistfull sigh coming from his right. Shifting his head slightly he caught Sanji's embarrassed look as he tried to turn away.

"What?" Zoro asked, intrigued. The cook pulled out a cigarette and lit it, a gambit to hide his embarrassment, but Zoro wasn't going to let it slide like that. "You like these?" He questioned.

Sanji's eyes skittered to the side but he nodded. "They're gorgeous." He affirmed. "But they're expensive. Even more so than the Guilder's set I've been wanting to buy." The cook began to shuffle off to another display. "See anything you want to get, marimo?" He asked but Zoro wasn't fooled. He knew when Sanji wanted to change subjects.

A grin unfurled on his lips.

"Actually, cook. There is." He strode up to the old man with purpose and could sense Sanji following after him in a slight tizzy at his sudden departure. By the time they reached the old man, he had composed himself though and stood silently by Zoro's side.

"Old man," he called. The machine whirled to a stop and the old man popped out from behind it.

"Ho, ho, ho. Sorry laddie. I get a bit carried away. What can I do you for?" He asked.

Zoro turned and pointed to the case that he and Sanji had been standing in front of. "I want that pearl handle knife set." He said turning just enough to see Sanji's flustered face with his squawk of mortification as he realised what Zoro was intending to do.

"Whoo, laddie."The old man started glancing at the two of them. "You pick a good gift." He praised before turning to address Sanji. "They for you, aren't they son? I can tell by your hands, you're a chef, ain'tcha?" He asked.

Sanji just nodded numbly a pink tinge starting to dust his cheeks.

"Well," the old man started, "Not to toot my own horn, but you ain't gonna find a stronger blade in the kitchen out there. Blue Corvitz steel. Came from East Blue, very expensive, but worth every beli." The old man paused a moment eyeing the two of them and Sanji shifted awkwardly. "You got good Nakama, son." The man finished and Zoro found himself smiling at the look of pride that settled itself on Sanji's face.

"Yeah, old man." Sanji started. "I do."

The old man wrapped up their business even offering gift wrap, but with one look at how eager the cook was to play with his new toys he chuckled and brought out a plain paper bag to evelope the goods. Currency exchanged hands and Zoro and Sanji found themselves leaving the store. They walked a little ways down the street and Zoro noticed Sanji fidgety beside him. The cook was brimming with excitement. Smiling, he stretched an arm across the cook's shoulder and brought him closer.

"Oi cook, you wanna go home and test your presents out?" He whispered into feather blond hair.

A slender arm came to curl around his waist and a small nod knocked against his chin. "Yeah."

Back at the ship Zoro sat silently entrances as he watched the cook flitter about in the galley. New knives had been opened and laid out lovingly on the bench top and the cook had several chopping boards with various produce cut, diced and sliced from the chef's experimentation.

"Oh my gosh!" Sanji groaned in enthusiasm. "Zoro, look!" The blond called attention to himself filleting a whiting for their dinner. "It just slides through the flesh as if there was no resisitence. Look, again!" He repeated the action several times over and huffed ecstatically as Zoro watched on.

"The pairing knife the old geezer made is perfect for deveining the prawns and fuck peeling potatoes with anything else anymore."

The cook briskly washed his hands before moving over to another board. This time bringing out a serated knife. As the blade met the bread the cook cursed. "Fuck! Look how easy it is to cut Zoro! Fuck. It's almost like I'm cutting butter, not bread!"

The cook turned wide excited eyes to face his lover when he saw the sappy smile resting on the swordsman's face.

"Wh-What?" He questioned pulling a pout onto his face to hide his embarrassment. Of course Zoro wouldn't be interested in his knives. The man had three fucking katanas after all. Immaculately cared for, he might add. He shifted on his feet. Fuck, he was a boring lover wasn't he? On a date with the most considerate asshole who just spent a small fortune on kitchen knives and he makes them race back home to fucking play with knives. Sanji was about to apologise when the marimo answered.

"Nothing. I just like seeing you happy." Then realizing how corny he sounded he elaborated. "You don't really talk much about things that you're into. I like seeing you excited about some things."

By now Sanji felt that today's blush was permanently stained onto his face. He set down his knife and walked over to his boyfriend who sat at the table, his golden eyes constantly set on him.

"Today's been really great, Zoro." Sanji started as he crawled onto his lover's lap. "I'm sorry if it was a bit boring for you."

Strong arms wrapping around his waist and pulling him closer, told him infinitely how much he was loved. "Any time cook." Zoro whispered. "Any time."

Ok. So…. Geeking out….maybe if you squint and look at it sideways?

Again, not apologetic for it because *duh* prompt based work! Any how it turned out much longer than I was expecting and I guess it's the first kind of 'date' thing I've written between the two of them. I wanted to show a little bit of Sanji's likes and fanboy-ness. He's always so calm, cool and collected and I like the idea of him getting excited over his utensils. I will admit to the idea also being inspired by New Neon's fic 'Blacksmith'. It's a really great fic and next to New Neon's fic 'Fluency' is my favourite One Piece ZoSan piece out there. Give them both a read and give New Neon some love!

Thanks The Last OTP. You're reviews are really nice to receive! Haha, yeah, I didn't want to get too into how breakfast came about but in my mind, Zoro put the whole crew up to it to give Sanji a great rest day. I was thinking of Nami and Robin being the chefs alongside Franky with Usopp as the waiter because he can actually fake it! Luffy, Chopper and Brook were on clean up detail but I did contemplate getting Brook up there to make mood music but liked the idea of keeping it mostly a day for the two of them. Wow. Maybe a little too much information? I don't know. But I did think of these things, just didn't think they were important enough to mess with the flow of the piece to add them in. In any case, here's my word vomit for you. Sorry if it was TMI :)

That's all for now,

aoi koneko chan