Welcome aboard for the new readers.

Enjoy your reading.

Chapter 26

Cards on the table

The next morning at breakfast, Luffy suddenly waved his cutlery with one hand while the other continued to stuff a roll into his mouth.

"Itsh time to vishit the shity!"

His crew gave him an uninterested look and continued to eat, carrying on with its discussions.

"Swallow before you speak", his cook grumbled, clearing the dishes already emptied.

The captain swallowed and spoke again with a big smile.

"It's time to visit the city!"

"I'm all for stretching my legs!" Brook immediately enthused.

"I have the impression that there are many plants and flowers on this island, I can't wait to know their properties", Chopper added.

"That is correct, there is a large zoological garden where the fauna and flora of the archipelago are depicted", Robin confirmed, drinking her coffee.

"Luffy, you must know something for this island visit", the navigator said, turning to him.

"What, what? It's an island covered with meat?!"

Nami stared at him for a second, jaded. Drool was dripping from his mouth in anticipation of her answer and she decided to simply ignore this unappealing picture.

"It's not an island covered with meat, Robin just told you its specificity is plant", she replied as the captain's face was fading. "So what you need to know is that if you keep quiet ashore, I'll ask Sanji to prepare you a special meal tonight."

"A special meal?! What is it?!" he exclaimed, wild with excitement.

He abruptly turned to his cook and clung on to his arm.

"Sanji! Tell me what it is!" he begged him.

"We will decide if you deserve it", the redhead interrupted him. "It means no fighting and no attention drawn to us all day. You think you can do that?"

"I'll be good!" the straw hat boy assured her, rising to support his words. "I want the special meal!"

The captain sat down again and began to swallow his breakfast in silence, surprising all his crew.

"Food blackmail, it's awfully well thought", Franky said to Nami.

"Why didn't we ever think about it before?" Ussop wondered, staring at his friend in astonishment.

"I don't know how long it will last so let's take advantage of it", Nami simply admitted, taking a sip of tea peacefully.

Sanji was drying his dishes absently. Nami had arranged to meet the crew in an hour on the deck, time for everyone to get ready to discover the new island and he should have felt as excited as the others at this prospect but it wasn't the case. Since he knew the reason of his concern, he didn't dwell on it. He had decided that the evening would probably be the best time for a discussion with the swordsman and despite his nervousness, he was planning to spend a day as normal as possible by then. So when he heard the kitchen door open behind his back, he turned mechanically towards it before freezing when seeing Zoro enter the room.

"What do you want, Marimo Man?" he asked, trying to sound relaxed.

"My special meal. I didn't get it last night", the swordsman replied confidently.

"Wh-What?"

The fencer casually approached and stopped a few inches from the cook who was staring at him.

"So, that special meal?" he kept on, a greedy gleam into his eyes.

"Uh..."

Sanji suddenly felt the fencer's hands move up along his back before they pulled him abruptly forward. He found himself pinned against the muscular chest of the swordsman who favored him with a smirk. Resting on his hands, Sanji slightly wriggled out and tried to put up on a bold front, in vain.

"Cat got your tongue, cook? Doesn't look like you but I must say I like it..."

Zoro put his mouth up along his crewmate's jaw in the form of small kisses as far as his right ear. He felt the cook shudder in his arms and squeezed up a little more against him to increase his caresses through his shirt.

For his part, Sanji had his heart in his boots. He knew he had made a decision but Zoro was forcing him to act much faster than expected and his anxiety was increasing to this prospect. An infernal fight was taking place into him between his resolution and his desire to enjoy the swordsman's attentions, perhaps for the last time. Finally, he strengthened his will. The fencer was giving him the perfect opportunity to express himself and the sooner he would do it, the better he would feel. He then put a hand again on the chest of the fencer to put some distance between them.

"We need to talk, Zoro."

The latter slowly raised his head from his neck, annoyed.

"Again? Can't we talk after?"

"No, we can't."

The fencer sighed and moved away from the blond, freeing him from his grip. He had noticed the cook had some strange requests in recent days, but he had thought he could enjoy their moment of peace by doing something other than conversation.

Facing him, Sanji took a deep breath to try to control his restlessness.

"Parameters have changed, we can't continue like this anymore", he suddenly uttered, grabbing his pack of cigarettes with a nervous move.

Zoro waited for the rest that didn't come and he looked questioningly at him, confused.

"Which means?"

"That it's more than just a sex thing between us."

The swordsman continued to stare at the blond with incomprehension and this one got frustrated.

"We never talked about that again since the beginning! We just assumed we'll get over it but for my part, I don't!"

"So what's the big deal? We can keep having a nice time, can't we?"

"For fuck's sake, don't you get it?!" the cook exclaimed, livid with anger. "I am not having fun anymore, I'm getting attached!"

The swordsman frowned and there was silence for a few moments in the room as Sanji slowly took a deep breath again, his eyes shifting in spite of himself. He was feeling his heart ache painfully at the thought of unveiled himself so easily and he could well imagine Zoro openly making fun of him. But after all, he had first to be honest with himself and he would suffer the consequences without flinching for having neglected his own temperament. He knew himself yet, he should have foreseen a physical attraction would necessarily be accompanied by the emergence of feelings. He was like that, too mushy. Too dumb.

"You want us to stop then?" the swordsman asked him.

Sanji finally looked up and stared into Zoro's eyes. It was the moment of truth.

"I'll be frank with you, marimo", he sighed. "I know myself and I couldn't keep playing this game if we're not on the same page, so it's up to you to tell me what this is about and I want you to be honest."

"You wanna keep doing it if I tell you I'm attached to you, too?" the fencer wondered.

The cook rolled his eyes and finally grabbed a cigarette he stuck between his lips.

"It it was enough for you to say it, it'd be easy. I want you to feel it. If you don't, there's no point."

"Wait a minute. What are you asking me now?"

The swordsman frowned even more and folded his arms, on the defensive. Sanji stared at him in disbelief for long seconds. And he had thought he was perfectly clear!

"Shit, you really need me to explain everything to you", he grinded as he pulled the cigarette butt he hadn't lit out of his mouth. "I just wanna say that... We could move to another level of our relationship. Something more... important. A real relationship, you know."

"A real relationship?" Zoro repeated, still suspicious.

"Yes, a fucking normal relationship!" the cook got impatient. "A thing that isn't only based on fucking if you like! You know what that means, don't you?!"

The swordsman seemed to finally assimilate the true scope of their conversation and his eyes widened in shock. Facing him, Sanji restrained himself form kicking his face in front of his bewildered look and he forced himself to wait a few moments in silence. After the surprise, Zoro actually spoke again.

"But I thought you liked girls? I mean... for that sort of thing."

The cook closed his eyes for a second so he wouldn't scream. He wasn't going to make it. The marimo head understood nothing.

"And yet I ask you, you moron! You're not a girl as far as I know!" he hissed, glaring at him.

Zoro winced. He didn't understand how the idea of getting laid had turned into such an unlikely discussion. Yet the furious eye of the cook was assuring him he wasn't dreaming and the latter was obviously waiting for an answer from him but the suddenness of his declaration left him speechless. He ran a hand through his hair, clearly uncomfortable, before withdrawing to the door.

"Hey, where the fuck are you going?" the cook shouted at his back. "I asked you a question, stupid swordsman!"

The fencer slowly turned around and fixed his impenetrable gaze on the one of the chef from the other end of the room.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" the blond repeated, taken aback. "How can you not know?!"

"I don't know, that's all", the swordsman repeated, clenching his teeth.

"But you don't... I mean, what you were doing lately, it's...?"

The swordsman's questioning look finally convinced Sanji not to finish his sentence. By the look of it, he had misinterpreted Zoro's attitude towards him so he wasn't going to make a fool of himself further. All he wanted was an answer, even if it was a negative one. For him, it was incomprehensible that someone didn't know how to determine his feelings at the very least, so he interpreted the fencer's answer as an attempt to duck out.

"I have to think about it", the swordsman then added.

At these words, Sanji felt his blood boil.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" he shouted back. "I'm not asking you to get down on your knees and recite poems to me! I'm asking you to be frank about what you feel, it shouldn't be that complicated!"

The swordsman tensed up in his turn and his hand closed on the hilt of his swords.

"What's your problem, stupid eyebrows? You don't understand simple sentences?!"

"You're my problem, you idiot! You don't even have the courage to tell me what you think! I ain't made of glass so spit it out! You can even laugh in my face, it wouldn't surprise me from a marimo man like you!"

"You're looking for a fight?" the swordsman snarled.

"No, I'll get it!"

In an instant, the two men jumped on each other furiously, but they exchanged only a few blows before the navigator turned up, livid.

"I've had enough of the both of you!" she screamed, exploding their heads against each other. "We have just offered you a place to be quiet, but you still found a way to disturb everyone! You're not alone on this ship so you're going to learn to be more discreet!"

The two rivals glared at each other, and Nami continued on.

"I want you in ten minutes on the deck and if I hear the slightest noise by then, I'll hand you two over the first patrol that comes by to get a vacation!"

She then slammed the door behind her, leaving Sanji and Zoro to assess the possibility of starting the fight again despite the young woman's wrath not far from them. After long seconds, the swordsman finally put his blades away.

"I told you I'll think about it", he said in a low voice.

"I don't give a fuck. Get the hell outta here."

Zoro didn't need to be told twice and he rushed out of the kitchen, leaving the blond to his anger.

When Sanji turned up on the deck a few minutes later, the entire crew was already around the navigator and listening to her instructions.

"We have already made some stock yesterday and the island seems rather quiet so we'll be able to take our time. All I ask you is not to be spotted and to be back at the Sunny before tonight."

Everyone happily agreed and was about to disembark but Nami spoke firmly again.

"We still need one of us to watch the ship so we'll draw straws."

A tense silence welcomed her proposal. Nobody wanted to stay behind while a visit free from all chores was in front of them.

"I'm going to stay, I don't mind", the cook then offered.

"How nice, Sanji!" Chopper thanked him, delighted.

"You're the best!" Luffy agreed with excitement.

"Are you sure?" the redhead wondered.

"Yes, don't worry. I'll enjoy cooking quietly for once."

The young woman nodded and she had hardly given the signal to start that everyone had made off. She sighed and followed in Robin's footsteps after giving a little sign to the cook who watched them go away until they had completely disappeared from his field of vision.

The crew met again as agreed on the Sunny at the end of the afternoon. Everyone was delighted and told everybody what they had done for the day.

"We brought back lots of varieties of flowers!" the little reindeer showed his friends while the skeleton was putting wide planters down on the deck.

"They smell really nice", Robin appreciated.

"They're also resistant to Grand Line weather changes!" Brook showed her.

"We went in the big garden and we saw lots of weird insects!" Luffy exclaimed. "Beetles, giant caterpillars, purple ladybugs!"

"It was really disturbing", Ussop grumbled.

"I counted, the millipede had only a hundred paws!" the captain told them.

"Yes, it was a centipede," his friend explained to the others.

"Fascinating", the navigator quipped with a disgusted smile. "What about you?" she asked the last two.

"We drank a super local herbal drink, a real delight!" Franky got enthused.

"Yeah, an alcoholic plant", Zoro added. "It really wasn't that bad."

"An alcoholic plant? I've never heard of that", the sniper muttered.

Nami interrupted him with a hand gesture.

"Well, for our part, Robin and I enjoyed a nice day outside of a great little café and we found ancient books at an old bookseller."

"It's lame", Luffy whispered to Ussop.

"Because you think you're so clever with your millipede having hundred paws?!" the navigator barked, threatening him with her fist.

"Round of cocktails!"

Sanji gallantly offered a drink to the two young women of the crew before handing out the boys'. Under his casual looks, he was trying to keep his anger and frustration in check somehow. Keeping himself busy with the kitchen by cutting pieces of meat and vegetables for future soups had at least allowed him to suppress some but he was far from feeling relaxed.

"I didn't do anything stupid!" Luffy then reminded them with utmost seriousness. "Ussop can testify!"

The latter nodded gravely and the captain turned to his navigator with a huge smile.

"I can have my special meal then?!"

"Well, since you have kept your words", she agreed. "Sanji-kun..."

"Yes, Nami-san, what can I do for you?" the blond immediately inquired, flitting.

"I wonder if a crêpe party wouldn't please everyone", she suggested.

"It's a good ide-"

"Crêpes?!" Luffy shouted at his side. "Awesome!"

"Crêpes?" Ussop repeated, eyes illuminated.

"Crêpes! Crêpes! Crêpes!" Chopper and Brook chanted as they were dancing.

"That's a super idea!" Franky added.

"It seems that this proposal is unanimous", Robin noted, smiling.

"Let's go for a crêpe party then!" the cook hurled.

"Hooray!"

"Take it easy", the cook explained to him. "Just a little flick of the wrist is enough."

Ussop focused and tried to flip the crêpe, which turned, but only half dropped in the pan.

"It's not too bad."

The blond repositioned the crêpe and put it on the fire again while Luffy grabbed the second pan.

"Look, Sanji!"

He gave a strong impetus to his utensil and the crêpe took off forward. Sanji, Chopper, Ussop, and Luffy followed it with their eyes with horror until it landed on the cyborg's head who had just opened the door. He peeled it off his face with a wince.

"This is burning hot."

"Luffy, how many times I've told you not to flip it so hard!" the cook reprimanded him. "You're wasting food!"

"I didn't mean to, sorry!"

Sanji sighed and gave the next pan to Chopper.

"I'm not sure I can do it", the little reindeer worried.

"Of course you can, it's not that complicated. If you follow my instructions and you don't put excessive strength on it, everything will be fine."

The doctor nodded in concentration and was about to flip his crêpe when he was pushed by the captain who was throwing flour at Ussop, laughing, and his utensils slipped out of his hands. Sanji caught hold of the pan and the crêpe expertly before slamming them down. He then turned to the culprits, red with anger, while Franky was trying to drink his cola between two handfuls of flour.

"Both of you, out!" he shouted at the troublemakers.

Luffy cautiously stepped back, not without taking the pack of flour, and hurried across the deck in search of Ussop who had already made off. This one panicked for a moment when he saw his captain spotting him and he rushed to the mast to protect himself.

"Gum-gum Bullet!"

Luffy's long arm catapulted the pack of flour to the sniper who screamed as he was throwing himself on the ground.

When he got up, the straw hat boy was shrieking with laughter, pointing to something behind him and he turned around. The fencer previously asleep against the mast had taken all the flour in the face and in the middle of the white powder which was covering him from head to toe, his eyes were on fire.

"Oh, s-sorry, Zoro", Ussop stammered, stepping back in front of his murderer's face.

"You're like a snowman!" Luffy exclaimed with delight, running his finger on the fencer's shoulders.

"Where's my flour, you douche bags, I need it!" Sanji's voice suddenly sounded from the kitchen railing.

Distraught, Luffy and Ussop disappeared like a shot, letting the swordsman trying to get rid of the flour that made him cough.

"What the..."

Sanji leaned forward on the railing and felt all his anger comes back to him in an instant. He propelled himself down in front of the swordsman and walked towards him with angry footsteps.

"What the hell did you do, bastard?" he got upset, stopping at his height. "What do you think you're doing with my flour? You think this is a toy?!"

"Cos you think I'm having fun spilling some flour on myself, you idiot?!" the swordsman replied aggressively.

"Meanwhile, you're covered in it! Don't you dare using my ingredients for you stupid games, you hear me?!"

"You moron, are you blind or somethin'?! I don't give a damn about your shitty crêpes!"

Sanji was boiling again and he gave him a kick that Zoro warded off with one of his swords. All his anger was only asking to send the fencer flying overboard and now, it was too good an opportunity. He bent and gave his opponent a powerful blow to the chest who protected himself with two blades. Zoro replied in his turn and forced the cook to retreat under the speed of his attacks during which his swords were slicing the air around them.

In the midst of this rampage, they didn't notice Ussop and Luffy had come closer noiselessly.

"It-It's not Zoro's fault, Sanji", the sniper intervened in a small voice.

The young man didn't want to be sliced by the cook but he couldn't stand the idea that the fencer was paying for him either.

"That's right", Luffy added. "Zoro looks like a flourman, but it's not him who spilled it."

The cook stopped his blows, but his gaze overflowing with animosity didn't leave the eyes of the swordsman who was returning the favor. He had long forgotten the reason of their fight. Only his fury was consuming him entirely at this moment.

"Whatever", he snarled eventually. "He's a jerk anyway."

"These crêpes are absolutely delicious!" Brook gushed.

"More, Sanchi, more!"

The cook put two new crêpes in front of his captain whose eyes sparkled brilliantly.

"I'm gonna make a meat one!"

The table set on the deck lawn was bursting with crêpes and various ingredients so that everyone could fill them with his favorite. Nami had moved closer to her salted butter and sugar in particular, which she shared with Chopper, laughing. Luffy plunged his hand toward the dish and stuffed his crêpe with a huge chicken breast while Franky was watering his with cola. As for him, Ussop was swallowing an umpteenth mouthful of chocolate crêpe despite his rounded belly while the swordsman was shoving a huge portion at once into his mouth.

"This evening is a real success", Robin noted. "The weather is superb and the meal is exquisite."

"Oh, thank you, Robin-chan!" the blond swooned.

"Cook, we're out of cider", Zoro pointed out.

Losing his smile immediately, the cook glared at him.

"In that case, move it and go get it yourself", he hissed.

Sighing, the swordsman stood up and Sanji wanted to go back to his service for the two young women of the crew before he froze. He then stretched his leg up to the fencer to prevent him from passing.

"What do you think you're doing, marimo?" he barked at him.

"Well, I'm gonna get the bottle!"

"No way you're going to my kitchen, oaf!"

"Are you this dumb, cook?" the swordsman got annoyed. "You just told me to go!"

"I changed my mind, you moron, so don't even think about moving!"

The two men aggressively looked at each other defiantly before Zoro imperceptibly clenched his fists. In response, Sanji was about to seize the opportunity of a new fight until Nami intervened.

"Don't ruin our evening", she threatened them with her knife. "If you want to fight, go to the other side of the ship!"

Zoro shrugged and sat back down, grumbling. For his part, Sanji tightened his jaw around his cigarette butt before heading to the kitchen to bring back a new bottle he dropped carelessly on the table when he got back.

No matter how much he could contain himself, seeing Zoro behave as usual was driving him crazy. He had held back thinking the swordsman would keep his word to "think" about it and that he would talk to him quickly but his illusions were dwindling over the hours. Was this idiot not aware of the conversation they had had or he just didn't care?

Thanks to the holidays, here is another chapter!

Yes, Zoro is slow. Very slow. But I imagine him being so out of touch with feelings I didn't know how to write it in another way!

You can support Sanji with little words of encouragement, he needs it!