Sanji froze as he felt a sharp blade lightly graze the skin on his neck, teasing, as it barely nicked him. He glanced up, breath hitching in his throat. Zoro's face was inches away from his, dark eyes boring into his own.

He swallowed and opened his mouth to speak, but the motion caused his Adam's apple to push against the blade, the spot there stinging as a thin droplet of blood sliding down his neck. Sanji had no choice but to remain there, frozen, at Zoro's mercy, as one hasty move would be lethal.

"I did say that I'd have you screaming, but I don't know…" Zoro smirked, a playful glint flashing in his eyes, "I like you like this, too. You need to learn how to control that smart mouth of yours, or else it will get you into trouble sooner or later, cook."

Sanji frowned and made sure that his aggravation was understood, as he glared at Zoro with a hateful glint in his eyes. Yet, the action only flued the swordsman's amusement more, his smirk widening. After a few seconds, Zoro seemed to take pity on him and started lowering the blade.

Although, before Sanji had the chance to do anything, Zoro attacked his neck, mouth sucking on the wound. He let out a low whimper, his face flushing as he glanced down and saw Zoro licking away a droplet of blood from the corner of his mouth. Sanji groaned and fell backwards, letting his head hit the ground with a 'thump'. This green-haired bastard was going to be the end of him. Most would think that he was a vampire instead of a werewolf.

Then, he heard some rustling and lowered his gaze, eyes going round as he noticed that Zoro had almost unbuttoned the half of his button-down white shirt.

"Wha— Oi! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he snapped, hand fisting Zoro's short hair, pulling his head back.

"Your shoulder wound, gotta take care of it, too." Zoro explained shortly, then pushed forward and out of Sanji's grip. Zoro pulled down Sanji's shirt, exposing his wounded shoulder and enclosed his lips around the wound.

After a bit of some more blood-sucking, Zoro deemed that his injuries should be fine for the time being and finally got off of him, leaving Sanji a panting mess sprawled on the ground.

"Guess we should start heading back to the Sunny now, the sun will soon start to set." Zoro commented as he fastened all three of his swords on his hip.

"You don't say," he monotoned as he pushed off the ground, standing up to his feet. Sanji quickly walked back to pick up his discarded jacket, clicking his tongue as he saw the dirt stains on the expensive fabric.

Then, they started making their way back through the woods and towards the shore (hopefully, as Sanji had literally no idea where they were, and was probably going to regret trusting Zoro to guide them back).

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Sanji asked, glancing around as he walked a step behind Zoro.

Zoro let out a heavy sigh, "What will it take to convince you that we're going the right way?"

"Oh geez, I don't know," Sanji quipped, "maybe when you actually stop getting lost all the time?"

"Har har, very funny." Zoro deadpanned.

As Sanji was about to throw back a witty reply, his foot sank a bit in the ground. He paused and glanced down, eyebrows knitting together. He tried raising his foot, but it seemed like it was stuck. As he placed more strength, all he heard was a crashing sound before he found himself falling. Before his mind could even process the thought, he collided with the ground quite painfully.

"What the fuck…?" he grumbled, coughing a bit as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Oi, curly! Are you alive down there?"

Sanji raised his head, squinting his eyes as he peered up at the tiny hole of light high up above where he had fallen through. "Somehow! Although, it's really fucking dark down here, I can't see a thing!" he called out, frowning as he realized that his voice kept echoing.

He lowered his head, staring into complete darkness ahead and placed his hand on the wall to his right. Sanji started walking forward, his hand grazing along the wall as he went. Then, he bent down and blindly searched for a rock. After he successfully found one, he threw it as far as he could and waited. The sound of the rock clattering on the ground came after several seconds, the sound echoing through the tunnel.

"Seems like there's a cave system down here…" he wondered out loud.

Then, a loud sound crashing was heard from behind him, and fear exploded in his chest, but the familiar growl that followed, with two bright, yellow eyes glowing in the dark soothed him down.

"Fuck, you scared the hell out of me, damn marimo! Warn a guy before you decide to jump down here." He chastised, hand placed on his chest, heart pounding.

The wolf, with three swords between his teeth, only huffed and started walking forward, further into the cave. "Wait, do you even know where the fuck you're going? We'll get lost down here in the dark!" Sanji protested, struggling to see through the darkness.

Two yellow eyes appeared a few feet away, staring straight at him quite impatiently, and Sanji sighed and caught up to Zoro, placing his hand on the wolf's neck, as he was currently the only one that could guide them through the dark.

Sanji didn't even notice how much time they had spent it walking and taking turns shrouded in darkness. It's not as if he was afraid of the dark, but that, in addition with little to no room to move, brought back unwelcome memories that Sanji did not want to have the displeasure of experiencing again.

Eventually, they saw faint light at the end of the tunnel, and once they reached it, they stepped foot into a huge cave. It was probably the main one, as all around it there were other smaller tunnels like the one they had come from that led here. Thankfully, faint rays of light shined through numerous tiny cracks in the ceiling, enough for the human eye to grow accustomed to.

"I wonder if anybody else knows about this…" he said and jumped down from rock to rock, as the main ground of the cave was further down. When he finally landed down, Sanji did a full circle, taking in the entirety of the cave, whistling.

A green blur rushed by him, and Sanji rolled his eyes as the wolf started maniacally sniffing, running up ahead. "Kids," he sighed, shrugging his shoulders and went after the direction Zoro had run off to, but at his own pace.

Suddenly, he heard a scraping sound and searched around, but nothing was in sight. The sound started getting louder, and as Sanji could still see nothing, worry etched slowly in his gut. He felt an added weight on his right shoulder and glanced over, face scrunching up in disgust at the slimy liquid that landed on his shoulder.

"Ew, what the fuck is this?!" he cringed, and quickly took off his jacket, holding it in front of him, "This better come off, or this cave is going to meet the sole of my shoe!"

Another drop of the same liquid fell next to him, splashing against the ground next to his feet, and gritted his teeth. "I swear to god, if that was a few more inches to the left—" as Sanji lifted his head, he felt blazing dread seize his body, words stuck in his throat.

Above him, dangling off the ceiling, supported by a white web, was the largest fucking spider Sanji had ever seen.

His lower lip started trembling, grip slackening on his jacket as it dropped down. Normally he would have berated himself for treating his precious jacket so poorly, but currently, the only thing that was running through Sanji's mind were those huge eight eyes staring right through his soul.

Do not make a sound. Do not make any hasty move. Walk away slowly. Do not make a sound. Do not make any hasty move. Walk away—

As Sanji played that mantra in his head like a broken record, about a dozen other spiders slowly inched down from the ceiling, their chelicerae snapping together suggestively. A meek sound escaped his mouth, and before he knew it, he was sprinting at full strength. He didn't turn back to look and only kept going forward, as the repulsive sound of their appendages crawling on the ground could be heard from behind him, clearly hot on his heels.

As he kept running, a thought struck his head, terror contorting his features. They were far under the surface of earth, without a single known exit. Was he going to die like this? Eaten alive by these huge spiders? He shuddered at the unfortunate image that he envisioned, the impending fear only fueling his strength further as he picked up the pace even more.

After what seemed like hours, Sanji slowly came to a stop, wheezing as he slumped over, hands supported on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He blinked, noticed that his vision was blurry and touched with one hand his cheek, finding it soaked with tears.

"-ook? Oi, cook, snap out of it! Sanji!"

Sanji flinched, hands coming forward to shield himself from any danger, but instead of fuzzy and disgusting appendages, warm and calloused palms were wrapped gently around his wrists, slowly lowering his hands.

"Z-Zoro…" he stuttered, a dry chuckle bumbling from his throat, "F-Fuck, that was so fucking s-scary…we need to…need to get out of here fast."

"Are you okay? What happened? I just heard you scream and I came running as fast as I could." Zoro gave him a quick once-over from head to toe, checking for any sustained injuries.

Sanji quickly wiped his tears away, clearing his throat. "I'm fine. Thankfully, I managed to evade them before they got to me, but we need to leave now, or else they'll catch up to us!"

Zoro frowned in confusion, "Who's 'they'?"

As Sanji was about to reply, he saw movement from behind Zoro and tensed up. Zoro immediately pivoted around, narrowed eyes zeroing on the huge spiders and took a step to the left, standing in front of Sanji, bodily shielding him.

Sanji clutched onto Zoro's white shirt, anxiously glancing at the huge spiders that crawled threateningly towards them. Zoro pulled his lips back in a snarl, emitting a growl low from his throat, and the spiders briefly stopped advancing, as if hesitating. At first, he thought that Zoro had managed to scare them off, but the more he observed, Sanji realized that they weren't backing away, as they slowly started surrounding them, but were preparing for something, waiting.

Then, that's when it appeared. Its ginormous appendages slowly emerged from the shadows, and Sanji came face to face with eight familiar crimson glowing eyes. His eyes went round, mouth dropping open in terror as he took in the sheer size of this spider, probably rivaling Zoro's wolf form. If Sanji thought the other spiders were huge, this was nothing like he had ever imagined.

Now, the animals' absence from the forest made absolute sense, as anyone with even slight rationality would immediately flee away from it. And by the other spiders' behavior, this one seemed to be their leader.

Sanji swallowed through the lump that had formed in his throat, a tremor running down his spine as he realized that just yesterday night, he had stared into this very monster's eyes across the lake. He had been so close to being swallowed by this beast and Sanji had no idea.

"Z-Zoro, we must leave, we can't possibly fight this, we are outnumbered," he fretted, tugging at Zoro's shirt frantically, looking back and forth at the spiders and him, but Zoro refused to budge an inch, and instead tilted his head to the side.

"Move you damned mutt, otherwise we're going to die here! Why can't you just—"

"Gomu Gomu no…"

Sanji's ears perked up at the faint, but familiar voice.

Luffy.

"Pistol!"

Something crashed through the wall to their right, and Sanji lifted his arms in front of him, as debris and dust were sent flying all around, the ground shaking at the impact.

"Oh! Zoro! Sanji! You were here, too? It's been a while!"

Sanji coughed and lowered his arms. Where the monster spider with its minions once stood, now Luffy was perched upon a fallen wall, waving down at them with a huge grin on his face.

A relieved smile twitched on his lips, his heart a bit more at ease. "You're late, Captain!"

"I'm late!" Luffy agreed excitedly. "Wait, why am I late?"

As Sanji was about to respond, the ground underneath them started rumbling and shaking, and Luffy had to jump away as the monster spider emerged from the ground, hissing furiously.

"For the party, of course!" he exclaimed, courage coursing through his veins as Luffy landed next to him. "Zoro here was about to steal all the fun and take on the monster spider. Alone."

Zoro sent him a glare, and he merely cocked an eyebrow at the swordsman.

Serves you right for scaring the crap out of me, he thought bitterly. If Zoro had sensed that Luffy was close by, he could have said something! For a moment there, Sanji thought that Zoro had actually lost it and was about to take all of them alone.

"Zoro!" Luffy chided, hands placed on his hips, "that's very…rude of you! In this crew, we share things!"

"Yeah! Tell him, Luffy!" Sanji encouraged, muffling his giggles by covering his mouth with his hand.

Suddenly, an appendage appeared in his field of vision, raised high above them, posed to strike. They only had a few seconds before it came hurling down, drilling into the ground.

"Yosh! Let's do this, guys!" Luffy yelled, grinning sharply.

Each of them surrounded the monster spider from three different locations, rushing towards it in a triangle formation. By combining their strength, the three of them managed to defeat the monster spider quite easily, and with little, to no grave injuries besides a few scraps here and there.

As they made their way out of the cave from the path Luffy had come from, he and Zoro had fallen back a few steps behind as Luffy guided them on the front.

"So, that was quite the spectacle back there." Zoro mused, hands locked behind his head.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sanji said tartly, gaze glued straight ahead.

"Oh, yeah? Then I must have imagined you crying and whimpering in fear like a little girl."

Sanji bit down on his lower lip. "I don't know what kind of fantasies you're into, but it would be better to keep them to yourself."

Suddenly, a muscular arm was wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him in. "I didn't expect to see you in that state so soon, but I'm not one to complain when offered such a sight. A shame I wasn't the one that caused it, though." Zoro whispered against Sanji's ear, and then immediately released him, walking ahead.

As soon as Zoro's words registered in his head, a flush dusted his cheeks, cursing at Zoro under his breath.

Perverted bastard.

It took them a few hours to reach the Sunny, as Luffy kept getting distracted by every odd thing they happened to come across on their way back. Zoro was the first one to get onboard, muttering something about 'dying' and 'need booze' (the classic, barbarian alcoholic).

"You finally made up with Zoro."

Sanji turned towards Luffy, shooting him a confused look. "Finally made up…?"

Luffy nodded, "Before we reached this island, Zoro and Sanji were very mean to each other— more than normally!" Luffy stuck out his lower lip, pouting. "I don't like it when my nakama fight each other, so I hoped that Nami's plan to leave you two alone would work out, and it did!" Luffy beamed at him.

"This requires a celebration! Let's have a feast!" Luffy whooped as he launched himself onto the Sunny.

Sanji gaped at Luffy's retreating form, and then his eyes softened, mouth curving into a smile.

Sorry for making you worry, Captain.

After two days, they had managed to gather everyone back on the Sunny to throw the feast that Luffy had been anticipating. As Sanji was in the galley, preparing the dishes, the door was pushed open.

"How many times do I have to fucking say it, Luffy? The food is not ready ye— R-Robin-chan!" Sanji's face flushed as Robin stood in the door, staring at him with a knowing smile.

"I-I'm so sorry, my sweet Robin-chan, I didn't mean to yell at you! I thought that you were that idiotic rubber again." He explained, offering her an apologetic smile.

Robin shook her head as she walked further in and sat on the dining table. "It's quite alright, cook-san, I understand."

"Thank you for being so forgiving, my angel!" he gushed, and continued cooking.

"If you don't mind me asking, cook-san," Robin started, "from what I assume, I believe you made good use of your time here alone, correct?"

Sanji blinked, and glanced at Robin in confusion. "I apologize, my flower, but I do not quite understand what you…?"

Robin placed her right elbow on the table and propped her chin on her palm, whilst her left hand rested flat on the wooden surface. A cryptic glint flashed in her eyes as she smiled at him. "Why, I'm talking about you and swordsman-san, of course."

Once the meaning behind Robin's words registered in his head, he started fumbling and stuttering, hands flailing around. "I— it's not like that, Robin-chan! While it's true that me and marimo had a few differences, and the time that was provided did help us to solve our problems, but it was nothing more than that! A…a friendly misunderstanding. You do know, dear, as well as everyone on this ship, that me and Zoro do not see eye to eye very often." He reasoned, chuckling nervously.

Robin hummed, "I would actually say that it's the opposite. You two do seem…a lot closer. Although, I can't say that for sure, as I haven't been a part of the crew from the start."

Sanji felt cold sweat drip down from his forehead, palms becoming clammy. He waved with his hand in a dismissive manner as he said; "Surely, you must be mistaken, Robin-chan, me and marimo can barely tolerate each other!"

Are we really that fucking obvious? We haven't even done anything suggestive in front of the crew that would raise suspicions! he thought anxiously, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

Maybe it's because Robin-chan is so perceptive? Ah, my sweet Robin-chwan! What a powerful woman!

"I reckon I should probably leave you to your craft now," Robin announced as she pushed off the dinner table and walked towards the door. "Thank you for your time, cook-san."

"You know I'm always available for you, Robin-chan!" he simpered.

"Oh, and, cook-san?" Robin paused and glanced over her shoulder, hand wrapped around the door handle.

"Yes, my dear?" he prompted.

"Congratulations." She said and walked out of the galley, leaving a stunned Sanji alone.

Time flowed, and soon, almost three months had passed since he and Zoro had become an item. For the longest time, things on the Sunny were surprisingly quiet. 'Quiet' for their standards meant Luffy was thrown overboard at least once a day, he and Zoro still fought and bickered five times a day (two on their best days), and overall, one huge mess.

Sanji wouldn't have it any other way, however, as this was who his family was.

Nevertheless, Sanji felt as if there was…something missing. He couldn't exactly pinpoint what was troubling him, but for some reason, every time he spent time with Zoro, he would feel a certain hole in his chest, something yet to be fulfilled.

It was longing.

Longing for what, though? As far as Sanji knew, he pretty much had everything. Yet, something was still itching, prying at his soul relentlessly.

Then, one day, it occurred to him.

The mating bite. It probably wasn't as evident to him, as he was a normal human, but the urge was still there, somehow. Although, the real question was; did he want to make that commitment? According to werewolf culture, the mating bite was something sacred, once-in-a-life-time chance. Once the pact was created, a bond established, connecting two souls, there was no turning back.

Was Sanji willing to accept Zoro for the rest of his life? He pondered on that particular subject for quite a while, his mind becoming a mess. What if they didn't work out in the end? What if they did actually go through with it, only for Sanji to later on realize that he wasn't ready for that commitment?

Yet, as several doubts ran through his mind, one truth was crystal clear. There was no one other out there like Zoro. As sappy as it sounded, Sanji was completely sure that he would never be able to find someone like Zoro. Someone that he could trust one hundred percent, someone that shared the same ambition as him, respected and supported his dream.

Someone that would give up his own life for Sanji without a moment of hesitation.

Subsequently, every voice that spewed doubts were pushed to the back of his head, becoming powerless. Sanji knew what his decision was, knew what he was after. A life with the swordsman at his side.

Some time after he had come to his decision, he started noticing a rather…peculiar change, which only applied to the werewolves, and mostly Zoro. Whenever Sanji was in a close vicinity with him, the swordsman would act very out of character; he would flinch and shy away from Sanji's touch, as if burned, and even stutter through his words.

Zoro never stutters.

Sanji was sure that he wouldn't get any answers from Zoro, for the man barely managed not to malfunction as they talked. Thus, he went to Robin for help (Sanji had long since accepted that she had knowledge of his relationship between him and Zoro, and had stopped pretending at least in front of her, which had actually made things a bit easier, as he now had someone to confide in).

Sanji gently rapped his knuckles on the door, waiting patiently for a reply. When a smooth voice responded, he opened the door and walked into the library.

"Ah, cook-san, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Sanji raised the tray, a small smile on his face as he walked up to Robin at the desk. "I thought you'd like some refreshment, my dear." He placed the drink on the table and bowed.

"Thank you," she gave him a smile and glanced down at the book in her hands again.

Sanji stood there, holding the tray flat over his thighs, fidgeting for a few seconds as he wasn't sure how to exactly word out his thoughts.

"Is there something troubling you, cook-san?"

"Yes, actually, Robin-chan, I'm terribly sorry for wasting your time, but I had a question concerning the marimo." He admitted, immediately feeling like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

Robin marked the page she was on and closed the book, turning her full attention towards him. "What is it that you'd like to know, cook-san?"

Sanji rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, I don't know if you've noticed it— you probably have, as Robin-chwan is so perceptive!" he chirped, and continued, "but the thing is, I think Zoro has been acting kind of…weird? For example, he keeps fumbling over his words and generally is…very jumpy."

Robin hummed in agreement, crossing her one leg over the other. "I assume you have noticed that he acts in this particular way only around you, correct?"

Sanji blinked, slowly lowering his arm. "Uh, well, yeah, I guess…but why is he acting like this? I have come to you for help, because you have a vast knowledge on werewolves…" he trailed off.

"By the looks of it, every sign leads me to believe that swordsman-san's mating season will arrive soon." Robin speculated, and peered up at Sanji. "I suspect you must already know by now a few things concerning werewolves' mating seasons? If not, I could—"

"Oh, no, no, I'm perfectly okay, Robin-chan!" he interjected, feeling awful for interrupting Robin, "I wouldn't want to take up any more of your precious time— besides, I think I have the gist of it. Thank you for your assistance, my dear!" he bowed, and then whirled around, walking fast out of the library.

Sanji stood there, leaned against the door, and sighed. He pressed his lips into a thin line as he glanced up at the crow's nest where Zoro spent his time scooped up for most of the day.

The information he had read from the book all those weeks ago flashed through his mind, thickly swallowing. He had to do it, he couldn't let Zoro suffer through one week, possibly even more, through that alone. Besides, it's not as if Sanji will be forced to it…for a while now, he has actually wanted to take their relationship a step further, to explore the sexual aspect of it.

With a determined nod, he walked down the stairs, and walked towards the bottom of the crow's nest. In a few seconds, he had climbed up the ladder and stepped inside, closing the hatch beneath him. Sanji stood up, gaze falling over Zoro, almost choking on his own spit as the swordsman was currently topless, sweat glistening on his muscled chest and biceps.

Sanji took a deep breath, calming himself down and turned back to Zoro again. "Zoro," he called out, "we need to talk."

Zoro paused and glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. "Talk, then." He replied curtly and started swinging his weights again.

Sanji felt his eye twitch in irritation, but decided to ignore Zoro's rude behavior, giving him the benefit of the doubt, considering why he has been acting so strangely lately. He passed by Zoro, moved towards the couch to Zoro's left side and sat down.

"I'll help you." He stated.

Zoro faltered in his swings, but despite that, didn't show any more disturbance. "Help me with what?" he grunted.

"What else, you moron? Do I need to spell it out for you, too?"

Zoro frowned and stopped swinging, the weight supported on his shoulders. "Look, curly-brow, if you came here just to insult me—"

"I know your mating season is coming soon, and I decided to help you with it." Sanji declared.

Zoro snapped his head towards him, eyes going round. His grip seemed to slacken and the weight slammed against the wooden floor, making a small dent. Zoro cursed and quickly lifted it, another stream of curses following as he looked at the floor.

"No." Zoro refused, "You won't help me with anything. I can handle it on my own."

"What?" Sanji's mouth dropped in shock, "Why the fuck not?" he stood up, hands clenched at his sides.

Zoro let out a heavy sigh as he walked back to the rack and placed his weight down. "Just leave it alone, cook. I already made my decision."

"To hell with your 'decision', I'm not going to let you suffer when I can clearly help you!" Sanji retorted, and then narrowed his eyes. "What, is it because I'm not good enough for his majesty? Perhaps you would have liked to go with a woman? I can't blame you, honestly— why go with me when you can have a goddess?"

"Do not put words into my fucking mouth!" Zoro bellowed, turning to glare at him. "Do you really think so low of me? This has nothing to do with you, it's for a personal reason, alright?! I have dealt with this in the past alone, and I can do it again!"

Sanji rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, suddenly it has nothing to do with me. Okay, I got the message loud and clear, sorry for wasting your precious fucking time." He spat and started walking towards the hatch door.

"Fuck, that's— that's not it!" Zoro protested and stormed forward, grabbing Sanji by the elbow. "Will you fucking listen to me for a second?!"

"I have been listening to you, and it seems like I'm not wanted here!" Sanji struggled against Zoro's iron grip. "Let me go!"

"Not until you calm down and actually listen to me, shit-cook!"

"You god damn fucking mutt," Sanji ignored him and kept struggling, "with your stupid muscles and stupid, inhumane strength—"

Suddenly, Sanji found himself slammed against the wooden floor, hands pinned at either side of his head. "I just don't want our first time to be like this, okay?!" Zoro exploded, and once the words were out of his lips, his expression hardened.

Sanji stopped struggling and blinked up at Zoro in confusion. "What?"

Zoro's cheeks slightly flushed as the man averted his eyes and slowly slackened his grip around Sanji's wrists, pulling back. Sanji pushed against the floor with his hands and came up to a sitting position, eyebrows furrowed.

"When my mating season comes, I completely lose my senses. My instincts take over, and it could be very dangerous for the both of us. All we crave to do for a week is fuck continuously and mate, which I don't…I don't want to subject you to, especially not for our first time. Y-You deserve more than that…" Zoro mumbled.

Sanji's eyes went round, butterflies fluttering in his stomach as Zoro kept glancing around anxiously. Zoro was actually concerned for him all this time? While Sanji had learned what a mating season entailed and knew this was one of those things, and had long since accepted it, Zoro was worrying and fretting over it because he thought he was going to hurt Sanji.

Idiot, he thought fondly, a wide grin stretching on his face. "Aw, was little marimo worried about me? You're so cute~" he reached over and patted Zoro on the head while praising 'Good boy!'

Zoro growled and batted his hand away, "Knock that shit off, I'm being serious here!"

He raised his hands, palms showing in a defensive manner. "Okay, okay!" he slowly lowered his hands, and offered Zoro a gentle smile. "You know, I came here fully committed to help you. I might not be a werewolf, but I have learned a few things about how your mating season works and I'm prepared to take this to the final level."

Zoro blinked dumbly at him, swallowing before hesitantly saying; "You mean…"

"I believe it's called the 'mating bite'?"

"But that's— that's binding for life! There's no going back from—"

"Zoro," Sanji interrupted, "do I look like the kind of guy to date another guy just for the shit and giggles? Especially with someone like you? I've known you for years now, and my opinion on this is not going to change. Unfortunately, I'm in this for life. And do you really think you could possibly hurt me?" Sanji scoffed, lifting his chin. "Don't make me laugh."

Zoro's eyes softened for a fraction, but then as he registered the words, he scrunched up his nose. "What the fuck do you mean 'someone like you'? What's wrong with me, huh? Got a problem, shit-cook?"

As they started bickering, the permanent frown that had formed between Zoro's eyebrows in the last couple of weeks slowly etched away, and Sanji knew that they were going to be okay.

Prepare yourselves because the next two chapters are going to be full with all the smut that has been asbent from this story up until now! ;))