"Will you get up already?" Sanji scowls, tossing a shirt onto his naked husband, who is still in bed. It was nearly nine and the staff would be setting up for their own dinner, after clearing out the dining room of customers for the evening. "We're going to be late."

Zoro groans, but moves, so Sanji takes that as an improvement. "You know how long it's been since I've slept in a proper bed?"

"A few months give or take?" Sanji guesses, buttoning up his shirt. "What did you sleep in a coffin while at Mihawks?" It had been a joke, but the glare Zoro sends him has Sanji holding his hands up in defense.

"It has been a few months, yes." Zoro scowls, as he rolls himself off the bed and throws on a t-shirt. "But it was mostly sleeping on a boat. I had your virve card so I didn't get lost but getting here took longer than I thought it would." He finds his pants and puts them on. "Also, remind me again why I have to join you for dinner?"

"You want to eat, correct?" Sanji retorts.

"Of course I do, but you realize you're sticking me in a room with people who are probably going to be pretty pissed at me for pissing you off?"

"You pissed me off on purpose to punish yourself." Sanji reminds him and sighs deeply. "Look, they're not going to tear into you, not when I'm not angry at you anymore. If anything, they'll be happy I have someone else to yell at."

Zoro laughs at that. "Yes, I'm sure you're a nightmare to have in the kitchen, seeing as you had your own for years."

Sanji can't argue with that, but still shoves him back onto the bed. Zoro grabs his arm and brings him down with him. Zoro practically throws Sanji on top of him and though annoyed, Sanji can't help the slight grin on his face. "This isn't helping bastard."

"You're the one who shoved me back into bed asshole." Zoro grins against Sanji's lips.

Sanji indulges him for a moment before forcing himself to stand back up. "Come on, seriously we're going to be late." He holds out a hand in offering. "And don't worry too much about everyone. We're already married. There isn't much any of them can do."

"Your old man could make my life a living hell though." Zoro accepts Sanji's hand and gets out of bed.

"We've already lived through hell." Sanji argues and sighs again. "Zeff can and will be a giant pain in our asses, but he's never truly argued with any of my decisions." He moves to grab his gloves off his bedside table out of habit and pauses. He may have just lied to Zoro. If there was one thing Zeff was probably furious about it was the death tattoo on his hand.

As if reading his thoughts Zoro comes up behind him. "What did you tell them? I know your old man saw mine."

At that Sanji laughs and drops the gloves. It's already known now anyways. "Don't worry too much about that. I'm going to tell Zeff the truth eventually, but for right now we're going to tell them our whole crew has the tattoo."

Zoro looks at him in confusion. "And why are we doing that?"

Sanji turns to face him grinning, "Because it's the truth." A flash of panic crosses Zoro's features, but Sanji kisses him. "Luffy thought, that after you left, it would be fun to get matching tattoos and be known as the crew of death."

"Was being the Pirate King's crew not enough for him?" Zoro jokes, but they both knew their captain was just trying to protect them. "Who came up with the name?"

"Brook." Sanji smiles at the memory. "I think Brook came up with the idea and pitched it to Luffy. He figured that if the entire crew had the same tattoo, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. If anything, it would just be another story added to the Straw hat's reputation."

"A crew destined to fight together dies together huh?" Zoro laughs. "What did you do for Brook?" He asks curiously, moving around the bed to grab his swords.

Sanji is about to argue that he didn't need them for dinner, but the words die on his lips. After all those swords were as much a part of him as anything else. "In the end we decided not to do anything." Sanji finally answers the question. "Luffy wanted to paint his hand black, but in the end we all decided against it. There really isn't a point to a death mark if you're already dead." Zoro gives him a look that Sanji knows they're thinking the same thing. When everyone in their crew were dead what was Brook going to do?

"Who did the tattoos?"

"Usopp did all of them but his own and Franky's.

"Kind of hard to put a tattoo on yourself."

"Especially one so intricate as this." Sanji holds up his hand. The black snake was so detailed and looked so real it was unnerving to look at. He remembers that day on deck when Usopp did the tattoos and had worried about not getting them right. Really, he had worried over nothing. As soon as he had finished with Luffy's it was nearly an exact replica. Yes, anyone who truly knew what the mark looked like would be able to tell they were fake, but for their purpose it worked.

"You know-"Zoro says breaking Sanji out of his thoughts, "when Mihawk saw the mark he was pissed."

"Of course he was." Sanji scowls. Why was it that all the old geezers in their lives knew what the mark was? "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing."

Sanji looks at him in surprise, but then remembers that, at the time, Zoro hadn't really known what the mark was either. "And what did he say?"

Zoro shrugs, "same thing your old man said I expect."

"What the hell did you do and how long do you have?"

"Something like that yeah." Zoro grins and reaches over as if to kiss him, but only loosens Sanji's tie. "Even when you're back here you still go all out with this fancy getup?"

He meant it as a quip, and a way to change the subject. Knowing all of that, Sanji smirks and forces Zoro closer to meet his lips, "I've always worn this 'getup,' even around all of you."

"No." Zoro grins into the kiss, "as I recall you wore very different outfits throughout our journey."

"As per the circumstance yes." Sanji laughs. "Didn't have much of a choice in Alabasta, the heat would've killed me. Wano we had to trust Kinemon, and the others-"he shrugs remembering his other outfits, "I don't regret my choices." He pushes Zoro back slightly. "Besides, I didn't think you were paying attention."

Zoro smirks, "of course I was."

Sanji reaches up and removes the tie before handing it to Zoro. "You want to wear it? It would be funny and might help ease the tension a bit at dinner by you wearing something of mine."

"You don't think it'll make your old man, I don't know, more pissed off at me?"

Sanji is about to make a joke when he sees a flash on panic cross Zoro's features. Was he actually nervous? Sanji can count on one hand the amount of times Zoro had been nervous. "Zoro, you've never once cared about what people thought of you."

"There's a difference between people I don't know and your father cook." Zoro argues. "Whether you admit it or not you care about his opinion."

Sanji turns away, not being able to deny that, but he had made his choice. Hell, he had agreed to share his life with Zoro in every sense of the word. "Zoro, Zeff is- "he pauses and throws the tie over Zoro's head. "The old geezer is notoriously difficult, but I think that's just towards me." He straightens the tie and pats Zoro's chest. "I do care about his opinion, but not when it comes to you. I mean really, we've been together long enough that he should trust my judgement. He looks up at Zoro's still tensed face and smiles softly. "It also helps that we were nakama first."

"So-"Zoro's jaw finally relaxes. "What's for dinner?"

Sanji kisses him again and takes his husband's hand. "If I remember the menu correctly, something with chicken."

Zoro grunts, but Sanji knows not in disappointment. "Any chef in particular I should be looking out for?"

"I'll point them out to you when I get the chance." Sanji laughs, "but I'm sure you'll figure out who they are rather quickly." He was worried about Patty and Carne, but Zoro can easily take care of himself. "Ready to go?"

Zoro's grip on Sanji's hand tightens, but he nods.

They walk into the dining room together and all eyes turn to face them. Damn it, they were definitely late. Sanji glares at his staff, daring one of them to make a comment. He meets Zeff's gaze near the front.

"Nice of you to join us Eggplant." Zeff's eyes spark with humor then turns to Zoro, "and wayward husband." Sanji tenses at that, but Zoro only inclines his head in acknowledgement. With a tug at Zoro's sleeve Sanji leads him to the two empty seats near Zeff. "I assume the two of you worked out whatever needed to be settled?" He continues, "or you ship would be driftwood by now."

"Yeah," Sanji turns to Zoro, realizing he never actually said it. "Yeah, we're good."

"Good." Zeff nods, as they sit down. "Then let's eat and you can explain to me where the hell you've been."

Zoro meets Zeff's glare and says, "my sister-"Sanji lets out a smirk that he tries to play off as a cough, but Zoro kicks him. "Was in trouble so I needed to go and help her. The trip took a lot longer than I thought it would." Zeff's face changes to one Sanji recognizes and is about to warn Zoro when he continues, "and before you ask Sanji didn't come with me because I didn't want him too."

The tension in the room thickens and Sanji sighs, of course he would say that with no hint of subtlety. "Look, it's fine alright?" Sanji meets Zeff's gaze. "Can we just eat?" Zeff gives him a once over but finally gives a subtle nod. With that the rest of the staff continues their meal. Sanji accepts the bowl of soup from Lee and passes it to Zoro, who digs in.

It was awkward.

The tension around the room was making it hard to breathe.

Why had he made Zoro do this?

He should have just given him a bottle of Zeff's favorite booze later and sent him looking for the old geezer, not have made him have dinner with his whole staff.

A familiar hand settles on his leg and he looks up to see Zoro still eating but he shoots Sanji an almost reassuring smile. "The soup is good." Zoro says a weak attempt to cut through the silence, but a welcomed one.

"But I assume the little Eggplant's is better?"

Zoro sets down his spoon, an empty bowl now in front of him. "Yes, it is. I've spent the better part of six years on his cooking so it's hard not to compare." Zoro had said once that he had almost died of food poisoning in the two years he spent in Mihawk's castle. "You taught him very well." He bows his head towards Zeff. "And thank you for giving him a home to return too."

Sanji had told him once that he wasn't sure how much of his past with Zeff the staff here actually knew. Hell, up until a few years ago when he had sent Zeff that letter, no one knew about his past with his biological family either. He squeezes Zoro's hand in gratitude. Zoro's thanks had been a subtle way of acknowledging what Zeff had done for him without the staff really understanding and Sanji was grateful for it. Zeff only waves him off, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. They move on to the main dish, which was a grilled chicken with a sweet glaze Sanji knew Zoro wouldn't care for but knew he would eat anyways. Sanji reaches over the table for one of the bottles of wine and pours a generous amount into his glass. He offers some to Zoro, but as expected he declines. Sanji had already promised he would sneak into the kitchen later and swipe the good stuff. Sanji downs half his glass in one go and glances around the room.

Usually this would be around the time one of them would ask for a story. Given Zoro's reappearance he knew what they would ask. It was only the matter of one of them getting up the guts. He takes a bite of the food. The chicken hadn't been marinated long enough but was still good. Seriously why no one had bribed Patty or Carne to ask what they were all thinking he had no idea. Zeff of course already knew everything and wouldn't bother even bringing it up.

Zoro leans over and murmurs, "should I just ask if they want to know or-?"

Sanji can't help the laugh that escapes his lips. God's if even Zoro can see it in their faces. "Alright-" Sanji says exasperated. "What is it? You all clearly have something on your mind. Spit it out before I decide I want to have a sparring match with one of you after dinner."

There were collective murmurs down the table before Patty finally says, "we've all read the article. The one about where the ten of you took on the four admirals and won, but the details-"

"Sucked?" Zoro chips in.

Sanji remembers the morning it had come out. They hadn't quite made it to Laughtale yet when Nami had burst into laughter and read the article out loud. Reading about the fights-and their wedding- from the admiral's point of view had been laughable. In the sense that half of what had been said between the two of them and their crew Kizaru and Fujitora couldn't possibly have heard, at least not well.

"You want to know about the battle then or something?" Zoro continues washing down the meal by draining the entirety of his water. He really must've not liked the glaze then. Sanji catches Zeff watching Zoro but says nothing.

"Yes that- "Carne says, "and why the hell the two of you decided to tie the knot then and there. Surely there was a better time to do that?"

"Probably." Sanji grins and elbows Zoro, "but this one asked me to marry him after I saved his head from being cut clean off."

"You shouldn't have been there in the first place!" Zoro growls. "You're the one who let your guard down too soon."

"Yes, I apologize for kicking my opponent into the ocean and then proceeding to distract you from your own." Sanji lets out a laugh. "But you are still the one who asked me to marry you." Zoro nods his head as if agreeing and Sanji continues. "And yes, getting married after we had dealt with the admirals would've saved us a lot of trouble."

"Understatement of the year curly brow." Zoro scoffs, grabbing a wine bottle and downing half its content in one go. "Having to team up with you when Kizaru showed up, with a vengeance mind you, was a pain in the ass."

"Yes, because getting married to me was the worst decision you ever made?" Sanji grabs the bottle out of Zoro's hand and takes a swig.

"It was both the worst and best." Zoro concedes.

"Are you just mad that I won our bet or that we had to work together for a brief time?"

"Both"

Sanji kicks him, but Zoro only grins back. "Love you too shitty cook."

"So, the Admirals-were they as strong as the marines make them out to be?" Baaz, a newer cook asks.

Sanji smiles at him. The kid was no older than Sanji had been before he left, but he had potential. "That battle was one of the longest I've ever had, but it was not the hardest."

"Says the guy who got injured during it and had to have someone else cover your dumb ass." Zoro murmurs.

"Is this your way of asking for a fight?" Sanji asks, turning to face him, humor in his voice. "You know all you have to do is ask Marimo."

"I'm good thanks, but if you want to get your ass beaten let me know Curly-brow." Zoro grins with that look on his face that Sanji never knows whether to kiss or slap. Granted Sanji hadn't had a good fight in months. Zoro might be able to land a good hit if his insane training regime hadn't changed. Gods he would actually have to start up his old training soon.

"Mine stepped up his game after the cook and I got married." Zoro says going back to the question. "But no, it wasn't all that difficult now that I think back on it. Not an easy fight by any means, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

"And Mary Geoise?" Zeff finally speaks up.

Of course, he would be the one to ask

Sanji actually feels Zoro freeze and they share a knowing glance. No, he hadn't told Zeff, or anyone for that matter what exactly happened during that battle. He probably never would except for maybe with his Nakama. Sanji feels Zoro's hand brush his under the table and grasps it tightly. "I told you before old geezer I'm not going to talk about that fight."

"As I recall I wasn't asking you." Zeff retorts.

"I'm afraid I'm with Sanji on this one." Zoro says, his voice dropping to his-right hand man of the pirate king. "All I will say is that battle will forever be the hardest fight I've ever had to endure."

And this was the man who challenged the greatest swordsman and won.

Sanji catches Zeff's eyes flicker to Zoro's tattoo and finds himself hiding his own hand under the table. Zeff seems to catch that too and says, "Suppose you're going to be tight lipped about your matching tattoos as well?"

Sanji opens his mouth to reply, but Zoro cuts him off, "you already know what they are old man." He lets go of Sanji's hand and holds his up for them all to see. In the light of the dining room the snake almost glistens. Sanji finds himself curling his own into a fist. "I will tell you this-"Zoro continues coldly, "all of our crewmates except one have this exact tattoo. That damned battle nearly took all of us."

He said it with such conviction Sanji found himself nearly believing the half lie. Of course, he also knew that if Luffy had died they wouldn't have stood a chance of getting out of that mess alive.

"What do you mean except one?" Carne asks curiously.

It's Sanji's turn to lift his hand, showing off the tattoo. "Surely it doesn't make sense for someone who's already dead to have a death's mark."

"Someone who's already-"Patty's face drops in horror, along with half the table as they all come to the same grim understanding.

Sanji shares a grin with Zoro. It was always fun to see people's reactions when concerning their undead friend.

"Soul King Brook." Zeff murmurs and lets out a long sigh. "So the rumors are true."

"It's not just an act for his music career then?" Carne looks at them. "He's seriously already dead?"

"He was already dead when we found him." Zoro shrugs, "but yes what he is now is the result of a devil fruit." He turns to Sanji then "Why does no one ever seem to believe that at first?"

Sanji laughs, "Just because we've seen the impossible mosshead doesn't mean it's easy for other to accept." Zoro shrugs and he continues, "Remember we also lived with him for years."

Zoro smiles. "I admit I almost miss his annoying skull jokes."

Sanji did too. Hell, he missed the whole crew. Something must've shown on his face because Zoro leans in and murmurs, "You're not alone anymore cook. I'm not going anywhere." With that he kisses Sanji, who easily falls into it.

Sanji breaks first and catches Zeff's eye. He only raises his bottle in a salute and takes a swig. Sanji was used to being openly affectionate with Zoro while on the Sunny and with their crew, but it was nice to know that even here, among a new crew, no one seemed to care.

Everyone else around the table seems to have broken off into their own conversations. Sanji accepts a beignet from the chef next to him and passes it to Zoro, who he knew wouldn't take one, but passes it along. He takes a bite and pauses. It was great. The new pastry chef Zeff had hired really knew what he was doing. He looks around at the staff but doesn't see any new faces. Who had-

"If you all will excuse me." Zeff says suddenly, standing up and leaving the dining room.

Taking that as their cue Sanji tugs on Zoro's hand and gestures for him to follow. With a quick goodbye to the others Sanji leads him through another door.

They step outside into the cool night air and Zoro lets out a sigh of relief, actually it was more than just a sigh, Zoro's body practically sags with relief.

"You good?" Sanji asks, amused. They had faced far worse than a room full of chefs. Hell, Zoro had handled himself well in there for all the worrying he had done beforehand.

"M'fine," he yawns and leans against the rail. "Your old man is sharp."

"Yeah," Sanji laughs, "why do you think it's always so hard for me to hide anything from him?"

Zoro only grunts in agreement. Sanji sits down next to Zoro and pulls out a small key from his pocket. "What are you doing?" Zoro asks in confusion as Sanji shushes him and taps his foot. He obligingly moves out of the way and watches as Sanji sticks the key into a small hole in the deck.

They hear a small click and Sanji lifts the piece of the deck to reveal a small compartment. A moment later he pulls out a large bottle of whiskey and hands it to Zoro. "It's the old geezer's favorite."

"Should I even ask?" Zoro takes the bottle from him.

"I created this compartment a long time ago to hide shit from Zeff." Sanji explains, closing it back up. "Now I just use it to store our favorite drinks in case we run out." He stands back up and glares at the look Zoro is giving him. "What?"

"You really were a crappy kid weren't you?"

"I was raised by a former pirate captain and cooks who enjoy fighting." Sanji grins, "of course I was a little shit."

Zoro lets out a laugh. "Gods I love you."

"Thought you didn't believe in gods?"

"Yeah, until we met two of them. Well, one and a half." Zoro amends. "I still don't know if Enel counts."

"He was simply someone with god-like devil fruit abilities." Sanji scoffs. "I don't think that counts." He lights up a cigarette and lets out a stream of smoke, the stress of the evening easing. "You'll find the old geezer in his room at the top of the ship. If he feels like making it easy for you he'll be out on his balcony. Though, even you shouldn't be able to get lost by simply going straight up."

Zoro follows his gaze to the tallest point of the ship. "Funny-" he shoves Sanji, "and where will you be?"

Sani shoves him back and laughs. "I'll be back on my ship. I've got some paperwork to finish, and I still need to finish a supply order."

"See you later then?"

"Yeah." Sanji kisses him again. "Try not to let the old geezer hurt you huh?"

"If I'm not back by midnight-"

"I'll assume you got lost."

"Two lost jokes in a row? You're getting lazy Cook."

"Then give me more material to work with."

"Love you."

"Love you too shitty Marimo." With that Zoro jumps up to the next balcony and Sanji makes his way back inside.