A LITTLE BIT MORE
Chapter Two
That night, Sanji slept like a baby. Uninterrupted by worries, disturbances, or even dreams, only to wake up the next morning with a smile on his face. He was early for lunch, and no one was pestering him for breakfast. With a sigh of contentment, he let the comfort of the empty cabin and the lightness of his mood fill the first few minutes of the morning. He tucked his hands behind his head and smoked his first cigarette of the day, thoughts meditating inescapably on the beauty of possibility.
Roronoa Zoro. His lover. Even now, Sanji's cheeks blushed slightly to think about it, and his mind wanted to deny the thought. But his memories were vivid, as they always were, and yesterday's events played fresh in his mind, still doing their job of convincing him that nothing in the world could be farther from wrong. Zoro's voice, still whispering low and rough in his ear, still making his skin break out into goose-bumps. Zoro's lips still burning his skin, from his mouth to his neck, to the tender spot on his throat that had made him cry out.
Smoke circled in the weakly ventilated air above him as Sanji lifted his fingers to touch that spot again. He knew exactly how to kiss me. He was aggressive and forceful, and he did it all without hesitating for a moment. A shuddering breath escaped Sanji's throat and he wondered where the next few days, weeks, months would take them.
The halcyon morning led to a languid afternoon, which allowed his wandering mind to work at its own pace. Only in the kitchen did he force his thoughts to focus. Other times he was still dreaming and fantasizing, wondering if he could ever make Zoro scream. The thought alone made him giggle evilly, in his own little world. He didn't even need to wonder if he would be the one screaming – Zoro had practically achieved that with only a kiss. Sanji couldn't imagine what sounds would want to escape his mouth when they finally—
The daydreaming possibilities always ended there. He couldn't dare himself to consider it just yet.
Every cigarette that day felt post-coital, and it wasn't until lunch that he actually saw Zoro again. They tried hard to be themselves, haughty and unkind, but just looking at each other they could tell that the nervousness was getting in the way of any decent cover. At one point it actually took outside interference to urge them into behaving normally.
"Zoro," Luffy cooed from across the table after downing his fourth bowl of soup, "are you feeling all right?"
"I'm fine." Zoro shot back gruffly.
"I was just wondering because you haven't said anything about the soup."
Sanji raised an eyebrow and eyed Luffy suspiciously. "Oi? What's wrong with it?" He asked challengingly.
Luffy blinked at him innocently. "You left the mushrooms in....Zoro hates those...last time you left mushrooms in the soup he—"
It didn't take long to remember. There had been high tensions, dishes broken, a yelling match for no good reason, and finally a flippant agreement that all mushrooms would be left out of all soup to follow.
"He's right," Zoro's face tightened in realization. He bared his teeth and glared at Sanji from across the table, "is this some sort of test?"
Luffy wasn't even listening, "If you don't want it, can I finish it?"
Zoro stood up and yelled down at Sanji, who was chastising himself like mad on the inside. He could barely focus on Zoro's words as he barked them. "Didn't I tell you what would happen if you ever did this again? Didn't I?"
Cigarette gnawed to a slit between his teeth, Sanji growled and leapt to his feet as well. "You wouldn't have even noticed if he hadn't said anything!" he pointed down at Luffy, who was already reaching across the table for Zoro's bowl. Sanji silently thanked him—it would have probably been broken otherwise, "learn to expand your tastes once in a while, asshole!"
"It's very good, Sanji. I think it would taste bland without the mushrooms." Nami's voice was like a birdsong in the middle of a growling wolf pack. Sanji's heart softened a little and he looked down at her, bowing his eyebrows in admiration.
"Thank you so much, Nami-san!" He chirped in his usual manner, until he was throttled back to reality by Zoro's hand at his collar.
"You're trying to see if I changed because of everything! Well guess what—I haven't!" Zoro declared, obviously not caring if anyone questioned what he meant by "everything." Sanji's expression blanched only slightly, as he noticed that Zoro's eyes were sharper than before, his tone a little more serious.
In the next few moments Zoro wrenched the bowl of soup from Luffy's greedy hands and pitched it against the wall of the galley. It exploded into a storm of porcelain and broth, vegetables and spice. Everyone fell silent for a moment, and a sting hit Sanji's heart without a very good reason.
Then, Luffy exploded into laughter. "Well, he did warn you, Sanji!" Ussop and Nami followed quickly, guffawing between breaths as Zoro resumed his seat, a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Actually I told him I'd slice his hand off if it happened again, but I also mentioned something about throwing the bowl against the wall." He was so pleased with himself.
Sanji couldn't care less about the broken dish or the petty misunderstanding. It was Zoro's tone that kept coming back to his mind. Until then, they had been arguing for the sake of appearances. They were being themselves. Playing up to what was expected. But what had happened? What had changed his tone so drastically?
I talked to Nami...
He knew the others were wondering why he was simply standing there, swaying.
Oh my god...
He knew they were questioning him between their laughter, the levity bleeding slowly into real concern, but he just couldn't snap back to things. The day had been so perfect, such uninterrupted tranquility, afterglow and anticipation blending perfectly...
It was Nami's voice that finally jostled him back into the real world. "Eh, Zoro, Luffy's right! You get to clean up, then, nyeah!" She stuck her tongue out and giggled. After that moment, while Zoro was cursing silently at his empty plate, she glanced up at Sanji and stuck her tongue out mischievously as if to silently communicate some service rendered. There was no way he couldn't wonder if she was protecting his feelings, or if she really knew everything. Women were like that, after all. Keen, perceptive. And no one could deny the weight of Sanji's expression after Zoro had thrown that dish.
"Sanji Sanji Sanji Sanji Sanji—"
Except Luffy. He tugged hard and insistently on Sanji's sleeve until he got a response. "WHAT?" Sanji bellowed, the everyday annoyances returning to the forefront. He gave Zoro a glance, knowing they would talk about this eventually, and very soon at that.
"More." Luffy flashed him that inhumanly broad grin of his, and Sanji was powerless to resist.
"Fine enough, there'll be more leftovers thanks to Finicky." He mumbled, grabbing Luffy's bowl and walking to the stove.
"You all right, Sanji?" Ussop asked hesitantly as Sanji stalked past.
"Oi." Was all Sanji could manage as a response, wishing he could speed time forward, simply end lunch and be alone with Zoro, broken porcelain and confrontation and probably another shouting match. But at least they would be alone.
The time came quickly enough, after he finally stopped Luffy at five bowls of soup and practically ran the rest out of his kitchen like an angry bull. Nami actually felt bold enough to remark on her way out, "Careful Sanji, don't break anything else," which almost made him smile. At times like this it was only her well-timed jabs that didn't hurt.
"I'll try not to, Nami-san," he endeavored to sound airy and unconcerned with the problem at hand as he closed the door to the galley and turned around to face the only person left.
Zoro glared up at him, simply asking for a fight. Sanji didn't know whether to be the mature one or not. He let the options marinate in the moment, and reached back to untie his apron. As he lifted it over his head, he saw Zoro's shoulders sag with a small sigh.
The silence continued. This was the way it usually was, anytime they were at odds, even before there had been any stolen kisses and heated touches. Zoro refused to apologize, Sanji refused to ask for it, and he always was the one left cleaning up the mess. He fell to his knees on the floor of the galley and calmly went about the task without a word. The swish of a broom and the soft clink of porcelain shards piling together occasionally augmented the quiet time, but he knew they were both screaming thoughts in their own heads. Even if Zoro never would have admitted it.
And for that reason, he left it alone. He let Zoro boil in his childishness like a lobster in the pot, determined not to break the silence, a palpably uncomfortable one this time.
Finally, the chores were complete. The kitchen was spotless and ready for dinner, which Sanji was not entirely sure he felt like making. His muscles were all tensing with every thought in his head, not at all ready to focus on anything but Zoro's malcontent. The swordsman hadn't moved for the duration of their time, like a student forced into detention, careful not to give them anything to call him on.
All of Sanji's determination faded. He lit a cigarette and fell gracefully into the chair next to Zoro, which was still warm from Nami. He couldn't even think about her in that moment, frowning and sulking into the chair as he felt Zoro's body heat radiate so close by.
"Jealous." Sanji grunted.
Zoro had broken their first silence; Sanji felt obligated to take his turn.
"What makes you say that?" Zoro shot back immediately, his response a little too defensive to be taken seriously.
"You're jealous of my feelings for her."
"Listen!" Zoro turned around suddenly and lodged a pointing finger between Sanji's eyes, "she. Doesn't. Care. You're her nakama—that's what you are, that's what you've always been! You dote on her like a schoolboy and it's disgusting! She couldn't care less about returning that affection and there's no way this constant attention of yours is going to lead to anything better for you! She'll either get tired of it or she'll just keep using you—like she's doing now!"
It wounded him. The words settled like a lead weight at the bottom of Sanji's heart but he couldn't let that show. He had thought of the same things before. He had tried to convince himself so often. Just as he had tried to convince himself that he was not attracted to Zoro. Both endeavors had failed, and now both feelings simply rose to the surface of his insecurities like oil. Even if the truth was standing in the way, his emotions were the only definite thing that gave him comfort.
"I know that. It doesn't mean I shouldn't be a gentleman," he let Zoro's finger stay right where it was. The moment was making his heart beat faster, his skin feel hotter. Was he scared? It wasn't easy to tell around Zoro anymore, "and for the record, I'm sorry about the soup."
Zoro sat back and mumbled, obviously hoping Sanji wouldn't hear him. "I know, and you're right, I wouldn't have even noticed."
"So you're jealous." Sanji pressed again.
He glanced over to watch the moment of consideration pass through Zoro's eyes. It was too lengthy to be as simple as what he finally said. "I don't think so. I don't....think of you that way."
"I see," Sanji dragged on his cigarette with a suddenly violent breath, his subconscious turning the words into an excuse to be nettled, "so it is just physical."
"No, I told you, it's...." Zoro sighed in frustration, and glared. Sanji returned his gaze and their eyes matched in sheer uncertainty, masked by a mutual facade of disregard, "I'm not in love, okay? I'm just not that type of person."
Zoro crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair, straightening his posture, puffing out like a man trying to reaffirm his dominance over the rest of the world in general. Sanji was unimpressed, and refused to give him the satisfaction of an answer.
"I guess I just don't want you to come crawling to me every time some girl breaks your heart from now on. So I'm trying to be a friend."
"...so you'd rather I come to you before I go and get my heart broken?"
A breath caught in Zoro's throat, wrenched with outrage. "I didn't mean it like that! Stop twisting my words around!"
Sanji reached over and patted Zoro on the thigh placatingly. "I know, I know. You're far too sensitive to my insults today." He smiled and rolled the cigarette between his lips, "and I think you don't give my heart enough credit. It's pretty strong, you know."
"Sheh," Zoro kept his arms crossed, and glanced down at Sanji's hand as if to ask what it was doing anywhere near his body, "at least something about you is."
"Oh, you can try to get to me with that sort of talk, but it won't work today," Sanji was quick to return to his memories, quick to rewind a little farther than the incident over lunch. He leaned closer to Zoro, feeling him tense in anticipation as he held his cigarette well aside to whisper, "after all, you weren't so unkind yesterday."
Zoro's tanned skin pinked with a sudden wash of embarrassment, and out of the corner of his eye Sanji saw his face go blank, shocked.
"Mmm, you think I'd forgotten?" Sanji whispered roughly, leaning forward this time enough to lick Zoro's ear. He caught the lobe between his lips and let it slide out before he added, "I didn't just remember your words, after all. I remember a lot about yesterday."
But Zoro was quick. Before Sanji could react, and in fact his entire body wanted to, the unexpected had occurred. One of Zoro's hands encircled his wrist easily, the other plucked the cigarette from his fingers, and in the flash of a second Sanji found himself staring at the ceiling, pinned furiously to the table, as Zoro's face pinched in righteous anger. "Don't do that!" He shouted, and for less than a moment Sanji was worried that one of the others would hear. Then Zoro crushed his cigarette onto the table, right next to his face and so close to his ear that he heard every nuance of noise.
Sanji opened his eyes wide, his breath suddenly shallow and pitched. Zoro was not looking at him, and in fact was keeping his eyes anywhere but on the cook. It was a terrifying moment. Sanji wanted to move, knew he probably could have, but knew that the still life was simply too momentous to interrupt with an escape.
"I'm not playing games with you anymore," Zoro panted, his voice hoarse and unstable, so serious that Sanji wasn't able to read his meaning at all, "I think.....I think yesterday was a mistake."
He let go of Sanji as if attempting to shove him further into the table. He still wouldn't look at him, as he stalked away toward the door. "I'll be training, and don't you dare interrupt me. I'm through talking about this."
The door slammed, and Zoro was gone.
His back ached at the way he was bent, but for the longest time, Sanji didn't move. He took breath after breath, trying to find one that was calming, deep. But nothing. Nothing helped his mood, nothing quelled the unmistakable feeling of betrayal and anger. Bile was rising in his throat. He wouldn't cry, though. There was no way he was crying again over that senseless man.
~*~*~
Anger ruled the rest of his day, and like every other emotion, it made its way into the food. There were a few complaints about the spiciness at dinner, but only from Luffy, who wanted a meal he could wolf down without hesitation, and Zoro, who was hell-bent on complaining regardless. Sanji was mostly silent, uncomfortable, a completely different image of what he had been just a few hours ago. Again, he ached for the meal to be over, but this time he only wanted to be alone. He needed to think on his own again.
He began to wash the dishes before anyone had even left. Though he could feel the curious eyes on his back, he went about his self-appointed task, determined not to be gotten to.
"Sanji, is everything all right?" Nami asked gently, speaking for the group as she tended to do.
Sanji turned around and smiled, immediately putting up his best affectation of cheeriness. "Yes, Nami-san! Just trying to finish up early so I can enjoy my evening sooner!"
"Oh," she was entirely unconvinced, but polite enough not to press the issue. He thanked her on the inside, "all right, I was going to ask if you needed any help."
"I'll help," Zoro suddenly grunted, standing up and practically knocking his chair over with the sweeping motion. Everyone, Sanji included, looked at him suspiciously, but he, too, managed to keep his cool, "I still feel a little obligated for acting out this afternoon." He said brightly, stretching his arms over his head as he came closer. Sanji's teeth ground together beneath an otherwise serene expression, and he wanted to do nothing more than lay a righteous palm across Zoro's face.
Don't even try to turn around and be nice to me, you bastard, Sanji thought to himself as they stood side-by-side at the sink, wrist-deep in hot water and soap, never acknowledging each others' presence aside from the occasional muttered instruction.
A silent instinct gripped the other three members of the crew, and somehow they felt the tension descending in the room. "Rematch?" Nami leaned over the table and stuck her tongue out at Luffy challengingly.
"Hey! I beat you the last time!" Luffy yelled.
"No you didn't," Ussop interrupted, "I won that game!"
"Only because I let you." Nami said smugly, crossing her arms and smiling.
Easy to rile, easy to distract, Luffy and Ussop growled at the injurious implication. They rose to their feet in near-synchronization, and Luffy only took the time to yell, "You're on!" at Nami happily before they went tearing back on deck.
Nami walked calmly after them, and Sanji heard every footstep she took. "Hey," she suddenly called. She had already been waiting at the door for almost a minute, hesitating to say anything.
Sanji and Zoro both turned around. She was one foot in and one foot out of the galley, her expression genuinely one of concern. Zoro tilted his head the subtlest bit at her peculiar face, but Sanji knew immediately what she was thinking.
"You guys work things out, okay?" She said quickly, and hurried to leave before they could respond.
Though he was getting used to that shocked expression on Zoro's face, Sanji still wanted to laugh a little every time he saw it. "I think she means she'll distract them for a while."
"What?" Zoro snarled.
Sanji left the plate he was rinsing in the sink with a plop. "She knows." He moved away from Zoro and took to the comfortable distance of the table, where he simply leaned, not quite ready to sit.
"She knows what?"
A deep sigh, and he knew there was no polite way to force the topic on Zoro again. "Listen, you can end this right here and now if you want to, but the fact is, things have been happening between us. Nami seems to have the presence of mind to figure it out, and she also knows now that we're in trouble." In the pause, he lit up a cigarette as if on cue.
Zoro gave a tiny scoff. "Not me. I don't have anything to be troubled by."
"Listen, I don't have time to listen to you be a petulant brat anymore." Sanji's voice was suddenly heavy, commanding. Zoro turned around on instinct. That was the voice he only heard from Sanji in the heat of battle, and it obviously threw his mind into a different state. Sanji was pleased. As long as it took to keep his attention. "I want you to stand there and tell me that you feel absolutely nothing for me. If you need to think for even a moment please think a little harder and give me a very clear, very pointed answer. Tell me what you're feeling for me. If it's lust then we're right back where we started yesterday. If it's shame then I'll apologize for violating whatever trust we had, but I'll expect an apology in return," after all, Sanji thought in a flash between breaths, I didn't press *your* face into my crotch, "and if it's something you can't quite put your finger on, then....well....that would explain everything just fine. But we DO need to talk about it. You don't have the option of leaving this kitchen, not where my respect for you is concerned."
He finished his sentence and sucked in the calming, familiar taste of tobacco and nicotine. His heart was racing so heavily after speaking those words. He felt winded. He felt a little dizzy. But damn did it feel good. Vindication had been his in that assertive moment, vindication for the humiliation of being thrown against the table and made to feel like a piece of trash in Zoro's eyes.
When he didn't hear an answer immediately, and when Zoro's face softened in reluctant surrender, Sanji felt some relief. He hadn't wanted to fight Zoro for the clarification he required, but if it had come down to that, he would have.
"You've trapped me." Zoro finally said, eyes downcast, managing to strike a calm, thinking pose against the sink. They faced each other, but neither would advance. Not until everything was clear. And at the moment they weren't even looking at each other.
"That's right," Sanji muttered, "I'll lose every shred of admiration I ever had for you if you walk out on me now."
"No," the harder, rougher voice interrupted, "I mean that's how I feel. It's like...you've trapped me."
There was no smooth reply or derisive comeback Sanji could think of for that. Suddenly he knew that the world had just shifted again, that now they were back in the same little place that they had inhabited yesterday. This was Zoro attempting to be mature about things. This may have very well been the closest approximation of Zoro bearing his soul.
"......oh?" Sanji prompted him, careful not to sound too challenging or too hopeful.
"Yeah," he shifted a little, moving his weight onto one foot, tucking the other against the cabinet, behind his knee. His voice had that loose, rambling tone, and Sanji knew it hadn't just been a fanciful possibility that Zoro was explaining himself to his fullest, "I've had this feeling before, though. Ever since I was a kid. Things trap me and I want to run away from them—my instinct is to always run away from them. I just want something definite, stable. Kuina, our promise, even Luffy and his dream....there was always the hesitation, the moment of wondering whether I was following the right path. But then something always happened, and it just made me....I don't know, exactly." He paused, and somehow knew he wouldn't be interrupted. When he finally finished his thought, it was with a firm, definite tone, "I don't like to lose things once I have them, Sanji."
He glared at Sanji and held it. Whether Zoro knew how imposing he looked at that moment, Sanji wasn't completely sure, but he was almost absolutely certain that he did. And no matter what he did, Sanji couldn't bring himself to look away, captured as he was.
"Yesterday I wasn't expecting to let things go the way they did. But I forced them. I wanted them. Of course you did, too, that's never been a question," he paused for effect, "I just want to end things before they go too far. Before you move on. Because I don't think I'd be willing to let you go."
"I see." Sanji whispered, eager to stop his hand from quivering the way that it was. Why was he trembling? Were Zoro's words affecting his emotions so deeply? "Well," he added weakly, "who....who says I'll want to move on?"
Zoro scoffed, louder and more heartfelt, letting Sanji know he had taken aim at his heart. "Are you kidding?" He stared him down, his eyes almost sad, though a smirk danced teasingly on his lips, "you need a woman."
"I--!" Sanji began, wanting badly to protest, but knowing there was no right way. Everything Zoro was saying seemed so true, so hurtful yet real. He clenched his fists angrily, rooted in place and still trembling. His face clenched in desperation, Sanji felt tears coming on instead of words. You're going to make me cry, aren't you? You bastard...
A woman. Of course that's what you'd say. But right now, I want YOU....
"Look at it this way," Zoro was on his way to the door, "at least things didn't get far enough for either of us to become very serious about it. At least we were only experimenting."
He raised his hand, waving goodbye, but Sanji wasn't watching. He was already launching himself in long, smooth steps. Zoro's hand reached for the doorknob, but never made it.
Sanji tackled him from behind, throwing his arms around Zoro's chest and flattening them both into the door. "Don't say that!" he cried. His eyes were pinched shut and trying not to let the tears escape, but it wasn't helping much, "I can't do it! I won't let you!"
Shocked by his sudden rush of emotion, Zoro stayed in that spot, Sanji's arms the only thing separating him from the door. He listened to the frantic, intense words being yelled into his ear, and guilt washed all over him. "Sanji!" He responded, hoping that his anger would end the moment that was weakening his resolve, "let go of me! This isn't going to happen. Not the way you want."
"And SO?" He flipped Zoro around to face him with a mighty swing, and they banged against the door again. His hands reached into the fabric of Zoro's shirt, grabbing twin handfuls to pull at as he gritted his teeth and growled, "it's the way YOU want it, too! It is, I can see it! We can't live here, and be around each other, and do this!" His voice tapered off, and he let his shallow breath take the volume away as he finished up, "I won't promise anything. But....but I know it will be worse if we do things the way you're suggesting."
Zoro lifted his hands and enveloped Sanji's fists, his face drawn with that same resolute blankness that everyone onboard knew all too well. "Let go of me."
Sanji's eyebrows slanted in, and he only tightened his grip. "I won't."
The way those green eyes fixed on him, as Zoro memorized his words and filed them away, was unquestionably disquieting. But Sanji was determined to show that his ability to get what he wanted was just as strong as Zoro's ability to walk away from it.
The swordsman slumped, and glanced up at the ceiling for a moment, a sigh chasing his movement that suggested nothing Sanji could readily identify. When he looked back down at Sanji, his eyes were lazy, his expression, as always, unreadable.
"Then kiss me."
Those words were so stunning, so perfect, and still he couldn't quite grasp their meaning until he felt Zoro's hand raise to lock behind his neck. As he was pulled slightly forward, Sanji stammered, "If I do, you won't go?"
As close as he was now, he could see the subtle movement as Zoro's face tightened with emotion. "Shut up."
Sanji closed his eyes and leaned back into Zoro's hand, letting it guide him the rest of the short way until their lips met, strangely softer than yesterday's memories. His fingers lost their grip on the fabric little by little, until he knew they needed a new place to be. As the kiss went on, neither man giving way, allowing it or wanting it to end, he brushed his hand over Zoro's cheek. Past the soft hair of his sideburns, back until his fingers made tiny music as they passed over his earrings.
The noise, gentle as it was, made them both gasp a bit, breathing in from one another's mouths and only deepening the kiss after the quickly shared moment. Sanji let his hand explore the feeling at the back of Zoro's neck, the hard movement of his muscle blended with the baby-softness of his hair. He gripped harder, and felt Zoro reciprocate the action. They breathed, came back together again, and repeated the action. With each kiss they lost a little clarity, but the very obvious had never been in doubt.
It didn't seem to have been as long as it was, probably. Sanji knew exactly how those time-warping kisses felt, but it had been so long since someone had actually captivated him enough to manage one. He shrank away from Zoro and averted his eyes shyly, not sure whether he wanted to speak, even as the words slipped from his lips, "I liked that."
"Yeah."
He would have considered the response cold, meaningless, so typically Zoro. But there was still that warm hand on the back of his neck, which even as he looked away stayed right where it was. Zoro's thumb stroked absently up and down, brushing the parts at the base of his head where electricity was made. Something told him there wasn't much more he could ask for than that, and again, he smiled.
"Hey," he let out a little half-hearted scoff, and leaned forward slowly until their foreheads touched together, "thanks."
There was something about the lack of hesitation in Zoro's voice when he replied, "Anytime."
Sanji's smile deepened, and he realized for the first time that Zoro's other arm was clutching him around the waist, holding him loosely but definitely. As he allowed himself to melt against the swordsman, their cheeks brushing together as they lost themselves in their own little contemplations, thoughts of the real world tried to interfere.
Nah, I'm not going to think about that, Sanji reprimanded himself, not right now. I'm not going to think about what he said, what he did, what he tried to do. I'm just going to enjoy him. He breathed in deeply, familiarizing himself with Zoro's perpetually musky, manly, strangely alluring scent.
"Nami won't be able to keep the others distracted much longer." Zoro mumbled. Sanji could feel the vibrations of his words, and tried not to sigh at how wonderful that felt.
"True," Sanji paused, "or maybe she's found a way to tell them."
Zoro wanted to laugh, Sanji could tell, but held it back. Instead he held him a little tighter, and there were certainly no complaints about that. "I don't think we'd be able to enjoy another quiet moment like this if that ever happened."
Heart fluttering a little bit at those words in Zoro's voice, Sanji whimpered a little bit. "I don't want to move."
"Stop whining, you really do sound like a woman," he sneered playfully. Sanji pulled back and met his eyes challengingly.
"Sorry to taint the testosterone," he smirked right back, and then rolled his eyes and added, "I need a cigarette."
"Yeah, I'll bet you do," Zoro replied, patently self-satisfied, "but before that..."
Sanji lifted one eyebrow, and was caught off-guard just as before when Zoro's lips closed around his, forcing them open. Within a few seconds he stole Sanji's breath, and made up for every moment of sweetness that had come before with one dirty, hard, rapacious kiss.
"Just the way I know you like it," he murmured as he pulled away, lifting his thumb to wipe Sanji's bottom lip, "now you need a cigarette."
"Yes, now I do." Sanji wanted to snap, but had lost all the capacity to do so. He stepped back from Zoro and the door, his glare steady though not quite angry. Necessity begged him to reach down for a moment and adjust himself between his legs, "fucking tease."
Zoro laughed victoriously, and was about to prolong the torture when a swift, deafening knock came on the door. As Sanji's head spun with the sudden interruption, Zoro nearly keeled over in shock.
"Hey! This is so cool, you guys have to come see!" Luffy's voice somehow sounded like it was screaming in close proximity, even from outside.
Zoro glanced at Sanji, and shrugged with a little smile. As he lit a cigarette, Sanji couldn't help but chuckle in return. After all, Luffy's ill-timed interruption had ended whatever pain Zoro was intent on leaving him in. As Zoro held the door open and Sanji breezed past, he found the moment perfect to mutter, "You owe me."
"Then we're even." Zoro replied smoothly, an evil grin actually showing up on his face before they were whisked to the upper deck by Luffy and the others.
"Look!" Nami pointed East, her eyes twinkling with wonder, "it started a couple of minutes ago."
The men glanced over, expecting anything but the wondrous sight they found.
Sanji gasped audibly, while Zoro could only stare. "What...what in the world...?"
"It's a meteor shower!" Nami explained airily, absolutely spellbound, "the conditions are perfect, we're very fortunate to see this," she sighed and added, "every one of those is a falling star."
"No!" Ussop exclaimed, leaning close to Nami, eyes wide, "where will they fall!?"
Sanji slapped him on the back of the head. "It's a figure of speech, idiot!"
There was laughter only for a moment. Levity simply couldn't sustain itself. Not then. The sky was so alive, so gorgeous, like nothing Sanji or the others had ever witnessed before.
"A thousand falling stars." He suddenly heard Zoro's voice, soft enough for the others not to notice as they continued to ask Nami hushed questions.
"Make a wish." Sanji replied, not even glancing back. He didn't need to. He knew Zoro was there.
And his wish, unexpected even as his mind decisively thought it, was to have it remain that way.