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Chapter 21

You Can Keep It

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He genuinely didn't know how he had ended up sitting alone in the galley with a bottle of booze in his hands. The whole point of the day had been getting away of the ship and as far away as possible from Sanji. But there he was. Just after he had bought two nice bottles of booze, his uncooperative feet had brought him back to the Sunny and he had ended up sighing and admitting defeat. It was almost dinner time anyways; he should have had to come back sooner or later.

And so in the galley he was. Why the galley and not the peaceful and private crows nest was another question he wasn't willing to try to answer. There was no point in it anymore.

He was wondering where the cook was, though. The galley was his default place to be in and the bastard wasn't there. Which was a relief but definitely not a stable fact in time. He could come back any moment, dinner time was getting close after all. Zoro told himself that he should really move his ass and get out of there before some kind of private encounter happened between them, but he didn't find it in him to do so.

He was tired. And half way through his second bottle, which was nowhere near enough if he wanted to forget the card that was still burning in his pocket. He hadn't thrown it away. He hadn't dared even if he had come to the conclusion that getting rid of it would be the best possible idea. He knew that having sex with some hot stranger in order to get things regarding Sanji sorted out in his head wasn't the best way to go about it and that it would probably mess things up more than they already were in his brain. And he really needed to sit down and sort his shit out because he couldn't go on like this if he had to live with Sanji in the same crew as nakama for God knows how long.

On the other hand, having mind-blowing sex had been in his top-things-to-do-when-we-dock list to start with, for several reasons.

One, he needed relief. Too many restrained boners and crazy libido committing mutiny lately. He had to have that inconvenience solved because he was 1000% sure that that was a big part of his problem regarding the blonde. His dick was taking the reins of his brain's needs and mingled with his tortuous thoughts about Sanji and the whole shitty situation they were in. Sexual frustration was never a good thing. Especially not when it leads to you having boners when thinking about your rival.

Two, he needed to get said rival out of his head because lately 90% of his thoughts had been spent on him and that was something he wasn't about to consent anymore. The Roronoa Zoro he had once been proud to be was able to control where his thoughts were going while now he couldn't, not when they had anything to do with Sanji. Which irked him to a fundamental level. He had half of his hopes put on maybe getting him out of his mind with a session of much needed amazing sex and external physical attention. That always managed to leave his head blank and he did need the inner peace that it brought to him.

Three. Just because. He was a man, he had needs to be satisfied and he could damn well do it if he pleased, because there was nothing there to stop him. Or was there?

Moreover, Aila was stunning and amazing, and she looked as if she knew what she was doing.

The galley door opened at his back and Zoro raised his eyebrows as his thoughts were interrupted. When he turned with dread making his moves slower, he saw who he had thought it would be looking at him with a scowl.

"What are you doing here?" he growled.

"My very fucking line," Sanji growled back with something similar to annoyed incredulity written on his face. "May I remind your mossy brain that this is my kitchen? What do you thing I'm doing here: prepare for a session of samba? What about making dinner, does that sound a bit more plausible? What are you doing here?"

Zoro scowled at him, forcing himself not to tear his gaze away, even if he felt the huge urge to do so.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Does the booze in my hand ring a bell?" he counterattacked.

"Sure, you obviously had to come to the galley in order to drink your shitty booze," Sanji huffed as he opened the fridge and got himself to work.

"Can't remember the day when you privatized the damn place."

"Not a surprise, you have about the same memory capacity as a moss ball, which is somewhere below zero."

"Oi!" Zoro snapped with an outraged snarl.

Sanji smirked and turned his back to him to start cutting vegetables. Zoro blinked, suddenly caught by the fact that they had just been normally bickering as if nothing was amiss. He blinked again and got out of the daze that small moment had brought him to, suddenly remembering where his previous line of thought laid.

Zoro bit his lower lip as he felt Aila's card burn in his pocket and he turned his back to Sanji, concentrating on his booze.

"That better not be my booze, by the way," Sanji warned without turning to look at him.

Zoro would have smiled if his brain hadn't been too preoccupied with other things.

"Bought it myself," he muttered.

Sanji frowned at the potato he was just slicing. It had started well, but something was off. Again. The thought that they'd have to compete in a tournament as a team the day after filled his mind as he wondered how the fuck they'd make that work if they only managed to keep their interactions in normal ground for thirty seconds before everything turned awkward and uncomfortable again.

He couldn't restrain a frustrated sigh.

"What?" he heard Zoro ask.

"Nothing."

And he kept slicing vegetables, letting an uncomfortable silence fill the room. Sanji frowned harder. They really needed to sort their issues out; the situation was bordering absurdity.

"You should probably go change," Sanji offered after a while, when the silence was too oppressive for him to take it anymore. By then, half the dinner had been prepared.

Zoro raised a questioning eyebrow and faced him.

"We are going to fancy places and we are planning to leave as soon as we finish dinner; you better make sure you don't dress like a beggar," Sanji clarified. "Move your lazy ass."

Zoro scowled deeper. Smart way of getting him out of there. To be honest, he should thank the cook. He didn't know how to leave without making the situation all the more awkward for both of them. Sanji had always had the brains.

"Watch your mouth."

"Go away."

Nice performance.

Just when his hand was reaching for the doorknob, Zoro stopped in his tracks as he considered an idea. He doubted and stood still for a while, then decided to fuck it and turned to Sanji one last time.

"In case we go lucky with the money thing, there's a place called Dusky Nights that I've heard has really good service."

Sanji turned to look at him with wide eyes and Zoro shrugged.

"Thought you might be interested."

Sanji stared at the closing door as the swordsman left the galley and took a moment to get Zoro's words into his brain so that he could process them. Had Zoro just…? Sanji's gaze glued to the sink as he stood there with his shoulders slightly down and a blank expression on his face for a few minutes. Then he resumed cooking.

"Idiot," he muttered.

You are an idiot, Zoro thought to himself. Why had he ever thought it was a good idea?

He huffed as he headed to the men quarters in order to change into smart clothing that would suit the occasion. Now he was nervous as fuck.

It wasn't the first time he did that, to be fair. There had been a few times where he or Sanji would find a nice place to 'spend the night in' and then discretely inform the other by letting the name of said place slip as if they were recommending some good restaurant. They got the hint and thanked it by being the next one to bring useful information to the other in the next city. They were all men and they all knew what they needed more often than not when they reached a new island. Zoro had crossed Sanji in the hall of a pair of brothels already, and he had even crossed Franky in one of them, which had been deadly uncomfortable, so it was no secret to any of them, and they never bugged the other members of the crew when they spent a whole night out and came back in the morning. They never talked about it, except for Sanji and him. They had established a kind of silent agreement in which, if any of them found a suitable place, they'd discretely let the other know. It would be a lost comment here and there, but the message always got through. It's not as if they frequented those places a lot, so those kind of interactions were a few and short, but when one of them slipped a name, the other knew it was a good place indeed.

So, all in all, telling Sanji about the brothel wasn't new.

But it had been stupid.

He didn't need to be a gifted genius to realize that recommending a brothel to a man he was in deep conflict with, not to mention a man he had kissed with and who had been giving him continuous boners lately, wasn't the best of the ideas. Their relationship was already at stake, this had been pushing it too far in a moment where nothing in between them was stable. Sanji could get a million wrong messages out of that in the context they were in right now and he should have known it before mentioning it.

Zoro groaned.

Then he tried to convince himself that it wasn't that bad of an idea. He used the reasoning he had used when he had decided to open his big stupid mouth just minutes ago.

He had been offered a way out through a tempting offer that was now bugging him to no end and making his brain have to work extra hard to determine if it was a good plan or not to just fuck it all and have a relieving night, which he definitely needed after all the emotional shit he'd been through lately. It was only fair that Sanji got the same possibility, that Sanji was offered the same dilemma as him. It was only fair that Sanji was tempted with the same idea as Zoro: have sex with stunning women to forget all about the other and the kiss and whatever conflicted feelings they had. Use sex to clear their minds and sort things up…

…or further fuck up.

The only reason Zoro hadn't yet accepted was exactly that. The rational part in him told him that mindless sex wouldn't solve a single damn thing but rather make things worse. And a raw feeling in his gut told him that, as tempting and inviting as the idea sounded, he'd be dreading it the day after, if not for longer. Confusion and doubt were still there, though. Which was annoying.

So it was only fair that Sanji got to choose, just like him. Moreover, something inside him wanted to see what Sanji would do. He didn't know why but the possibility of Sanji in a brothel made him uncomfortable, and not knowing if Sanji would end up taking it made him incredibly anxious.

Well, good or bad idea, he had now made a move. He would only have to wait to see how Sanji reacted, and all the while he'd have time to decide what to do himself. If they both did it, it would make him feel less… guilty? Guilty of what exactly?

"Dinner is ready, my lovely ladies! You smelly bastards, get your asses here!"

Zoro rolled his eyes and examined his image in the mirror. He didn't look half bad. As much as he disliked suits, they kind of fit him, he had to admit. Maybe he wouldn't even have to pay for a fun night.

"Is there something bothering you?"

Sanji turned to look at Usopp, who was staring at him quite intently. The blonde raised both his eyebrows in slight amusement, then sighed and looked away with a half-assed smile. He was wearing a black suit and shirt with a shiny red tie that broke the homogeneity, the outfit making him look like a goddamn model. His stance showed that he knew he looked damn fine. His lost stare had been saying otherwise.

"Nope. Why?"

"You are a bad liar."

"Not worse than you."

"Definitely worse than me."

Sanji chuckled and patted Usopp's shoulder. Usopp watched as Sanji lit himself a cigarette, the flame of his lighter momentarily lighting his features up in the beat of a 'click'. When Sanji lifted his gaze again he found his friend frowning at him.

"It's fine, Usopp. Really."

"No, it's not, but you won't spill the beans no matter what I do so I might just as well drop it," Usopp huffed in frustration.

Sanji smiled at him. Usopp was a good friend. But he had seen through his façade and Sanji couldn't have that.

"Yes, might as well drop it."

Usopp frowned deeper and was about to open his mouth when their captain's voice was heard all over the ship.

"So, is everyone ready to party?!"

They both turned and watched as Luffy went out on deck dressed like a dandy, followed by Zoro and Chopper, the rest of the crew slowly gathering around in their smart outfits.

"Yes, captain, my captain," Nami smirked.

Sanji did take a minute to appreciate how radiant she looked in that red dress, but someone on deck noticed the lack of verbal diarrhea going out of his mouth to point that out. Zoro raised a sceptic eyebrow at him, sensing that something was off, but Sanji wasn't looking at him, so he didn't see the gesture.

And if Zoro noticed, Usopp did as well. The sharpshooter grabbed his elbow and discretely forced Sanji to look at him.

"Oi…"

"Hey, Usopp, let's make this a fun night, shall we?" Sanji exclaimed, hanging an arm around his friend's shoulders. Usopp scowled yet again but found himself looking at a grinning Sanji who looked careless and nonchalant as they came. Which left him with no points to make. He sighed.

"Let's bankrupt them all," they heard Nami say. A choir of "hell yeahs" followed and Usopp had to divert his attention to the crew, who were ready to leave and do just that.

Sanji internally sighed in relief. As much as he appreciated Usopp's concern, he didn't need him nagging him about it. He had enough dealing with his own brain.

"Okay, let's make this a fun night," Usopp conceded with a grin as he patted Sanji's back, which basically translated into him dropping the subject but making sure the blonde knew he was there if needed. Sanji looked at him in relief and nodded. When had he become so easy to read, though? Having people worrying about him and fussing about how he looked as if something was wrong didn't sit well in him. He really needed to get his shit together.

"Not to put pressure on you, man, but you do know we depend on you to earn us some good money, right?" Sanji jabbed.

"Relax, I've got it! Did I ever tell you the story of when I bankrupted a whole country in one night?" Usopp exclaimed with his finger rubbing somewhere under his nose, the clear sign that he was about to tell one of his big lies. Sanji smiled to himself. Much better.

Time to go kill it and get rid of the sour mood he had gotten into.

Sanji smiled when he heard the umpteenth cry of despair that night.

They had broken two casinos. And the third was about to fall if the smirk on Nami's face was anything to go by. The gamer trio had been wiping pockets clean at light's speed as if it wasn't their business, as if they weren't just repeatedly ruining the wealthiest people in Terevera in a night span. Usopp would have some real amazing stories to exaggerate and turn into big unbelievable tales later on. Sometimes Sanji considered the fact that maybe every bit of reality that Usopp's brain processed was automatically filtered that way. Only God knows what tiny part of his big stories respected the true original facts, if there were any.

The long-nose had apparently forgotten about Sanji's unsteadiness as soon as he had been put to work by a commanding and demanding redhead. Nami had that predatory look in her face that told them that she'd get to any extent to get 'her' money. Robin's aura was simply terrifying, her relaxed demeanor and nonchalant smile not helping her case. Sanji still didn't quite understand how there were people willing to confront them in a game. He definitely wouldn't risk it, he only needed to take a quick look at them to know that they were going to utterly ruin him by the end of the night. But there are idiots everywhere, and those were the exact people who were generously 'giving away' their fortunes to the Strawhats and crying their souls out minutes after their financial apocalypses had taken place. Sanji almost pitied them. Almost. The fact that he was consequently becoming richer thanks to them, and especially the fact that he was talking about utter idiots who almost literally had asked for it, made him smirk at the scene.

And there he was, sitting back and drinking a fantastic wine in the third casino they had decided to bankrupt as he watched chaos untangle in front of him. He wasn't exactly drinking a lot, but the exquisite glass gave him some well needed presence and interesting finesse in that smart appearances' 'coliseum'. People looked at him and assumed he was someone important, someone who had enough money to look as if he owned the place. But no, he couldn't drink a lot, he had a duty to take care of. A duty that required his immediate intervention when a desperate man that had just been broken by Nami raised his voice at her.

"You cheated! You witch! You'll pay for this!" he howled with a crazed look in his eyes as he aggressively pointed at her and menacingly shortened the distance between them.

Nami blinked at him with a mock-offended expression tinting her pretty features. "No, I didn't, I am very sorry, mister. My legit win."

"You bitch!-"

"Oi! Watch that mouth, bastard! If you ever talk to her like this again I'll kick your sorry ass!" Sanji intervened from his spot. An irritated vein popped in his forehead as he mentally destroyed the living crap out of the man with a glare.

He had clear instructions not to overreact or physically attack anyone unless it became absolutely necessary, and he had mostly stayed true to his word. Not his fault that three bastards had made it totally necessary in the previous casinos. Such a shame that this one wasn't making it totally necessary for him to kick his ass. Yet. So he took the anger in and restrained his protective instincts to a threatening verbal warning that any person with two brain cells to connect and a bit of self-preservation instincts would take as final.

It just so happens that either the man didn't have any functioning brain cells to connect or that he didn't have the least bit of self-preservation instincts. As he was saying, a brainless idiot.

"You shut the fuck up!" the man growled at him. Then turned to Nami and harshly grabbed her shoulders. "You better get my money back, witch!"

Sanji was already there and ready to kick his face in when Nami gave him a forbidding glare that stopped him in his tracks.

"Get your hands off her," he warned with a clenched jaw but still obeying her and keeping his leg to himself.

"If you were a smart man, you'd leave this place with what's left of your dignity and try your luck somewhere else," she stated with the sassiest eyebrow raise of her repertoire.

"If you were a smart little bitch you'd give me my money back before I strangle you with my own hands," the man counterattacked.

Sanji felt his whole body boil in murdering urges as he gathered all his self-restraint to keep himself in place and not cross the last meter between his foot and that bastard's face. "I swear to God, if you dare say something like this to her again, I'll kill-"

"Sanji, stop it. He's a smart man, he won't touch me," Nami cut him without getting her eyes off the threatening man. "He's just butt hurt that I won his every beli, which is totally respectable. But he won't make a fuss out of it because he knows what's best for him, right?"

And the man didn't seem to get the threatening tone to the last 'right', because he violently shook her and yelled bloody murder and life threats at the redhead, who remained unimpressed, the only sign that his grip hurt her being a small flinch.

"That's not helping your case," she sighed.

"Fuck off and give me my fucking money!"

"Oi, Nami, is there a problem?"

Sanji thanked whatever there was to thank in the world when he heard his captain's voice approaching them. Luffy wore a blank almost oblivious expression as he curiously watched the scene. Sanji felt his muscles relax a bit and ordered himself not to jump at the bastard for shaking and yelling at Nami like that. It's not as if he hadn't murdered the man a thousand times in the privacy of his head already, but Nami had expressly forbidden him to intervene and he was rather bad at disobeying women's orders. Not that he hadn't been about to. Had he shaken her for two more seconds, the bastard would already be looking for his lost teeth somewhere in the room.

Nami looked at Luffy and sighed. "Not really, he's just throwing a fit because I got all his money. The usual."

"Oh, I see," Luffy nodded with an understanding look. "Sorry, man. It happens," he consoled the man.

And that was the breaking point were a vein popped in the hysterical man's forehead and his hand left Nami's shoulder to close into a tight fist that was sent flying to her face.

And it would've reached it if Sanji's foot hadn't been faster. By the time the man realized what was going on, he had been kicked to the furthest wall and then kicked again in the gut out of spite and anger. Preventive measures and deterrence, Sanji called it.

"That'll show you to never raise your voice, much less your fist, to a woman, bastard. Now, fuck off," Sanji growled as he lit himself a cigarette and walked back to where Nami was. He took some time to calm himself down as he waited for Nami to explain to an annoyed security guard that Sanji had just been defending her since 'that mean crazy man' had been about to seriously hurt her for no valid reason. Some teary looks and eyelash-batting later, the guard was theirs and he was kicking the bankrupt and now toothless man out of the casino.

Luffy happily patted Sanji's back and cheered for that 'awesome kick', then proceeded to disappear in the hunt for meat, the altercation already out of his mental problems. It had probably never even made it there. Nami could have defended herself without as much as blinking, even when she was still suffering from some pain in her abdominal region as the wound she had received was still healing, but even with that, Sanji was there to back her up. Luffy had probably not even bothered to think of intervening. Not that he hadn't checked on them, though. He was a good captain.

"That's exactly what I was trying to avoid. We don't need to kick every asshole's ass, sometimes we could just spare the effort, you know," Nami reprimanded him with a frown.

Sanji looked at her annoyed expression and drew an apologetic one, a smile inevitably making its way to his lips since her annoyed frowns had always been cute to him. "Sorry about that, my angel. But he had been rude to you and he was about to hurt you, and I couldn't let that happen! I did behave for quite a long time, to be fair," he tried to excuse himself without really meaning it. The only thing he was sorry for was not acting before things had gotten ugly.

Ugh, women did really limit his actions and urges, didn't they? Why hadn't he ever given it any thought before? Why was he even questioning it? He had never had a problem with that; women were divine and perfect creatures he had to cater to!

"Yes, you had some admirable self-control there, actually," Nami conceded with a sigh. Then smiled. "Thank you, anyways. You're always there ready to lend a hand. I could've handled myself though, you know that, right?"

Sanji smiled back. "Of course, darling, you're strong and brave as they come, it's just that I can't let a beautiful angel's hands get dirty if I can avoid it, can I?"

Nami chuckled and patted his shoulder with affection, nodding. "No, I guess you can't."

Sanji's smile quivered a little at that last comment, but he kept it in place. He was quite an expert at doing that. "If you need anything else just tell me, we are around to help."

Nami nodded and walked in between the crowd to get to where Usopp was killing his game, her supervisor mode on. Damn, they really were making them rich. Sanji watched her back as she walked away, his smile slowly fading as Nami's innocent words rang in his head.

No, I guess you can't.

Sanji sighed and scratched the back of his head, distractedly playing with his cigarette in between his lips.

You're always there to lend a hand.

The cook let out an ironical smirk and a huff. If only he had always been there. The thought still haunted him that he hadn't been particularly useful when Nami had been hurt weeks before; that they had almost lost her and he hadn't been able to help her. It didn't unsettle him as much as it used to, though. Now it only kind of stung. Now it only bugged him and reminded him that he had to get stronger if he wanted to be someone who would really always be there to lend a hand.

His gaze automatically travelled among the crowd, trying to spot green hair. The bastard had managed to fuck certain things up, but he had definitely succeeded in making others much better. The thought crossed his mind that he hadn't thanked him yet. As clumsy as Zoro had been, he had helped him when nobody else could. Such a shame that he had fucked other things up in the process like the clumsy idiot he was. Such a shame that he was handling the situation like an even clumsier idiot. Sanji felt something similar to anger and disappointment boiling inside of him when he thought of Zoro's recommendation that evening.

The guy truly was a major idiot.

"What happened there?" Usopp asked with a worried frown.

He had seen a guy being nothing near friendly with Nami, and next thing he knew said guy had been sent flying with a kick delivered by their best kick-ass.

Sanji had been in a bad mood that night and that was the fourth guy who had experienced it first-hand. He had probably earned it, to be fair, but it still bugged him. There was something unsettling Sanji to the level of making him jumpy and have him losing control of his facial expressions and stares, something unusual in the normally nonchalant badass cook who always had everything under control asides from his temperament when it came to Zoro and his nosebleeds when it came to short skirts and generous busts. Lost stares and frustrated expressions being identifiable under his calm mask were definitely out of place.

"Nothing, really. Looks like the man wasn't as smart as I thought. Some people just don't know what's best for them, don't you agree?" Nami casually answered as she took a look at his cards and proceeded to draw a very satisfied smile. Usopp was going to win that one.

Usopp raised an eyebrow.

"And who was that last statement directed to, exactly?"

Nami sent the sharpshooter a surprised look and then smirked knowingly at him. "Also to the rude man."

Usopp rolled his eyes and shook his head with a light smile as he concentrated back to the game. "Figures."

Zoro gulped down his booze sat on a bar stool. His gaze travelled back to the card in between his fingers. Aila. Ugh, dammit, that woman.

His gaze shot up in search for blonde hair. Where the fuck was the cook? Every time he lost sight of him he got irritated. Because he was having an unprecedented mental breakdown trying to decide if he was going to cave in and get laid or not, which, for fuck's sake, should never be a difficult decision whatsoever! Either you want to have sex or you don't. And while he was trying to get his brain to function properly and stop being a pansy about pretty much everything going on around him, the blonde was happily disappearing from sight God knows where, as if he wasn't the cause of all of his headaches. And Zoro knew he didn't make sense anymore but he swore that the blonde had managed to drive him nuts, and Aila was not really helping the situation. It should have been as easy as 'go, get laid, get your libido under control and forget about the kiss or any boners the blonde has ever given you', but no, of course it couldn't be that easy! He had to deal with should and should-nots! Oh, well, what was Sanji and everything related to him if not a challenge? Damn the blonde.

And Zoro had to go and give him the name of the damn brothel, of course, so now he couldn't help but be curious and – there definitely was something wrong with him- nervous as fuck about what the cook would do, only managing to add a headache to another thousand more.

Zoro was about ready to smash his glass against the counter when he heard ruckus and his instincts automatically told him who had caused it. He stood up to get a better view and watched as Sanji kicked the shit out of a classy looking man who had just been shaking Nami like a psycho. Zoro raised an eyebrow, both relieved and unsettled to have located Sanji in between the crowd in the casino. There was the bastard, saving Nami's ass again. Not like she couldn't do it herself, but of course Sanji would step in. He couldn't help but sigh and think that Nami really owed quite a lot to that idiot who liked to play knight.

But there was something off in Sanji's natural and usual movements and demeanor, which made Zoro scowl and feel slightly restless. What was wrong with the shit cook now? He had been acting weird ever since they had left the Sunny. Well, not really acting weird; he had been acting just as usual, but there was that feeling that there was something wrong with him. He was pissed off for sure, that much Zoro could tell. And maybe… frustrated? He couldn't quite tell. But damn if that didn't make him anxious as fuck. He somehow felt responsible for that. But what the fuck had he done to mess up now?

Zoro proceeded to slam his forehead against the counter and ignore people's weird and even offended looks. Then he discretely turned his gaze to follow Sanji's figure with his cheek plastered to the wooden surface. The blonde went and asked for a glass of wine to the bartender, his stance suave and his movements confident. And there was still something wrong. Zoro couldn't get passed the pissed off vibe.

The swordsman huffed and proceeded to observe Sanji's every movement. The cook had a lost distracted look as he sipped at his wine and seemed to be pondering something, a slight and almost imperceptible frown and pout tinting his features. Zoro had to admit that he was surprised when, after a while, he noticed that Sanji hadn't been trying any moves on any of the beautiful ladies passing by him. At most, the blonde gave them thoughtful and quick looks, but there was no trace of the love-corny puddle he usually metamorphosed into when there were women around. At one point he even smiled at one of them who was giving him an interested look, they exchanged some words and smiles but that was about it.

Zoro frowned. Oh, there was definitely something wrong with cook.

And, what the fuck, there was definitely something wrong with him as well if he was ogling Sanji's every movement like a damn stalker! The fuck was he doing?

Zoro groaned at himself in despair and frustration and proceeded to keep ogling Sanji as if he hadn't just reached the conclusion that there was some kind of fundamental problem with his brain cells for doing exactly that.

So, when Sanji happened to look his way, he found a not very intelligent-looking swordsman with his eyes stuck to his very face. Sanji raised a questioning and uncomfortable eyebrow at him and only then did Zoro realize that he had been caught. Shit. Zoro looked away as fast as he could with a slight embarrassed pout and a pissed off scowl. This was not happening. Being caught by the cook directly staring at him didn't do him any favours, did it? Dammit. When he casted a side glance to Sanji to check if he was still looking, he found Sanji staring at him with a face that screamed 'you are an idiot'. And he probably was.

He needed to man up.

So Zoro sighed with deep dread and readied himself, then walked to Sanji with his eyes set anywhere but him.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked even before getting to stop in front of the cook as he looked at a very interesting spot on the floor.

When Sanji didn't answer, Zoro mustered all of his self-control to raise his eye and meet the blonde's without looking awkward and uncomfortable as fuck. Sanji hadn't changed his expression all the while, but had kept it at a perfect deadpan point that did wonders to make Zoro's goal to seem nonchalant become a challenge.

"What," he inquired, sounding more defensive than he intended.

"That's my line. Did I grow a second head?" Sanji countered along with a perfect arch of his eyebrow.

Well. He had noticed that Zoro had been staring at him like a damn stalker and he was pointing it out instead of faking it never happened. Sanji apparently didn't have time for his shit. Zoro scowled.

"You've been acting strange all night," he stated as a justification. His way of asking the cook if he was alright. Because as much as he was being a grown man now, there was no way he was going to just blurt that out.

"I've been acting normal," Sanji replied with a scowl. He wasn't even trying to argue further than that. Great. Now Zoro had been confirmed that the cook was really pissed off. And something told him that he had something to do with it. Agh, how he hated the new course their relationship had taken! Sanji wasn't even calling him names!

"Whatever," he droned with an annoyed frown as he took a seat by Sanji's side, something that managed to break the cook's deadpan expression to show some surprise. "What happened just there? You kicked a guy's face in. What did he do?"

Sanji gave him a long look that Zoro couldn't quite decipher and then took a sip of his wine, looking slightly distracted. "Same as the other three. He got pissed off because Nami got his money. Took it too far and I had to stop him. End of."

Zoro shook his head. Of course. Same old story. The kind that always annoyed him without an apparent reason. "Nami can take care of herself," he commented.

Sanji huffed and let out a smile that didn't look happy or amused in the least. "Tell me something I don't know."

The swordsman looked at him, a serious expression back in place. It slowly turned to worried as he watched Sanji's features relax until he was left staring at his glass with a lost and tired vibe. He could tell that Sanji was angry. But mostly frustrated and resigned. He suddenly realized what exactly was wrong with Sanji even when his pose and stance reflected his usual ones.

Sanji had always had a spark. Both when he was happy and angry, both when he smiled and snarled, both when he stood like a fucking badass and when he turned into the corniest sap he had ever seen: in every attitude and gesture, Sanji had a spark. He had always had it. It was Sanji's spark and it was the one that ignited Zoro's everything, the one that made him angry at him, the one that made him roll his eyes extra hard every time Sanji did something idiotic, the same that made him smile when he heard him laugh and no one saw him, the one that made him respect him. The one that made people around him love him, the one spark that made everything Sanji did Sanji's. He rarely noted his absence. Even when he was angry or sad or desperate, there was that characteristic spark. It had disappeared back in The Rock, back when everything Sanji had left of himself was a mask, right before Zoro broke him and gave him the freedom to fix himself back. And now it was gone again. Sanji looked bored and totally out of it, he looked angry and yet he seemed to have come to the conclusion that he didn't give a fuck anymore, he looked… disappointed. That was it, that was the feeling Zoro had been trying to pinpoint all night. Sanji was not only angry but disappointed. And resigned. What for, he didn't know anymore, but every cell in Zoro's body was rebelling against that.

"Sanji, are you alright?"

He looked just as surprised as Sanji when he registered the words leaving his mouth. Damn it. So much for not wanting to blurt his concern out like that. And he had to go and call him by his name, no less. Which basically bared Zoro to Sanji with no filter. That's why he didn't do talking. He fucked up and ended up expressing things in a way that made him feel vulnerable as fuck.

Sanji blinked at him for a while, apparently not coming up with anything coherent to answer. Zoro considered the option of just discretely standing up and sneaking somewhere else, away from the embarrasing and awkward moment that he had graced himself and the cook with.

But Sanji drew a small smirk and shook his head, his attention back to the glass in his hand, and Zoro stayed.

"Yeah."

That's it. Curt and direct, like a slap in the face. Sanji was fine and he didn't want to discuss the subject. At least not with Zoro. Zoro felt himself deflate. He was about to fuck it all and bluntly ask him what the fuck he had done wrong for Sanji to act like they had never shared a bond to begin with, when a feminine voice caught his attention at the worst possible moment.

"Oh my, what a coincidence!"

Zoro felt his blood freeze and he swore he almost had a stroke. What was his luck. He turned back to face a radiant-looking Aila smiling at him. That woman was really something else. She stole more glances than pairs of eyes in the room and she knew it.

"What are you doing here," he spat with about as much politeness as a rhino. He could as well have growled and snarled at her.

"Wow, gruff, aren't we?" Aila exclaimed with an amused smile.

"Didn't I tell you that I didn't want-"

"Oh, stop it right there. What makes you think that I am here because of you? Didn't expect to find you here, tiger, don't get so jumpy. Last time I checked I could go wherever the hell I please, and I don't think anything has changed ever since," she cut him with a growingly amused face.

"Oi, mind to introduce me to this beautiful lady?"

Shit.

Zoro looked back at Sanji and found a simply polite expression on his face, his smile being especially bright when facing Aila. No love dance, no eternal love declarations, no heart eyes, no trying to overshadow him, no annoying nicknames when talking to him. It was all wrong. Just when he thought things couldn't get more awkward.

Aila stepped in with the brightest of the smiles when Zoro's response didn't give any signs to ever be emitted. "My name is Aila, really nice to meet you."

Sanji's smile matched hers as he took in her stunning beauty and reached for her hand to kiss, which she gave him with a chuckle. "My name is Sanji, my angel! May I say you look heavenly tonight."

Zoro furrowed his nose in annoyance. The scene was unnerving him more than it should.

"You've got a really handsome gentleman for a friend, Zoro," Aila commented as she gave them both a charming smile.

"Thank you, my love. But I wouldn't go as far as to say that we are friends," Sanji intervened with a smile that reminded Zoro of a string about to break.

What actually broke was Zoro's mood. It had already been bad. Sanji's words had made it hell. He almost wanted to smile in bitterness. What did he expect? That was the same line he had heard Sanji or himself repeat time after time ever since they had met each other, but somehow this was the first time it hurt. The first time he couldn't keep up with the joke by adding a 'definitely not friends' or 'he wishes'. Because Sanji hadn't meant it to be a joke this time, a reality they were both very aware of.

"I'll leave you two alone. If you'll excuse me…"

Zoro's stare left the hard ground where it had been stuck to snap at Sanji's standing figure in the beat of a heart, his chest momentarily clenching as the words sunk in.

Just as Sanji started walking away after having politely kissed Aila's hand and without sparing him a look, everything fell into place.

Of course Sanji was angry! Of course he was fucking disappointed! Zoro had been a fucking idiot!

But Sanji was already getting lost in the crowd.

"There's something wrong with your friend, I believe," Aila commented. Then she looked straight at Zoro. "You might want to go after him. Just saying. That's what friends do, tough man."

Zoro blinked at her, then back at the last spot he had seen Sanji in. He was gone. Zoro stood right up, his eyes frantically searching his figure or his blonde hair somewhere. When he couldn't spot him, he quickly turned to Aila and dispatched her with a quick "I gotta go."

Just that Aila stopped him in his tracks by grabbing his sleeve.

"What," he growled.

"Have you considered my proposition yet?" she bluntly asked as if she wasn't being snarled at by a murderous looking man.

Zoro stared at her for a good five seconds and then rummaged in his pockets in the search for something. His hand reappeared with the card Aila had given him between his fingers and he handed it to her, almost plastering it into her hands.

"You can keep it."

Then he got himself lost in the crowd, leaving who could easily be the prettiest girl in Terevera standing alone in the crowd with a raised eyebrow and an entertained expression on her face.

It's safe to assume that whoever witnessed the situation thought he was insane.

TBC

A/N: Hiiiii there! It's been a long time! I am really sorry that this chapter has taken me so long to write but I have been kind of stuck with the plot line and I've been lacking quite a lot of inspiration lately, so even when I knew what I wanted to write, it just didn't come out in a way I was satisfied with. I've been really busy lately and so I will be for the next few weeks so I can't promise I'll post the next chapter soon, but I'll be working on it!

That being said, thank you so much for your reviews, they put a smile on my face and they are really useful to me! :) :) :)

I don't have a beta or anything of the kind so I double and triple-check what I write myself, so I am sorry if there are any mistakes in there, I do try to avoid them but I know they sneak in especially since English is not my languange. Sorry about that!

So, did you like this one? Aila has been pushing the situation without really knowing it hehehe. Can't say the same for Nami, she totally knows what she is doing ;)!

Thank you guys for reading and reviewing and I'll see you in the next one! Have a nice week! Big hug!

:)