I.

Sanji swung open the doors and stepped into the kitchen. Making the entire working space as sound-proof as possible had been a great decision in hindsight. Zeff's voice boomed over at him, he yelled right back. The sense of unease still persisted in the back of his mind, but his heart was relieved. Zeff was up and about once again. When he'd been away it had felt as if Baratie had been stripped of its soul.

He grumbled some more while sharpening his knives. But it was time to get to work.

II.

Close to midnight. All customers attended to. The next days preparations done. Kitchen almost Completely cleaned. He gave the soup counter one last swipe and leaned back. He'd put of one task though, and now he'd run out of excuses.

"There's Moss on top," Zeff smacked his head, lightly enough to not hurt yet hard enough to sting.

"Huh?" He snapped.

"It's living rent-free over there."

Sanji's couldn't bring himself to ask Zeff if he'd gone mad; what if he really had?! Head injuries could be serious.

"I can see what you're thinking, eggplant," Zeff wriggled a finger at him. "You're a hundred years too early to be doubting my sanity!"

Sanji deadpanned. "What moss. Who's living where."

"The one who comes for coffee." There were hundreds of people who came for coffee, but it pissed Sanji off that he knew exactlywhich'one' Zeff was talking about.

"None of your business." He mumbled, looking away.

"It is entirely my business when the food's getting affected," Zeff retorted. "Barely affected," he added under his breath.

"Wha-It was not!" Sanji shot back, outraged.

Zeff said nothing. Sanji opened his mouth, but shut it again. Zeff sounded serious (he hadn't caught that "barely") and if he was distracted enough to let it affect his culinary skills then maybe he needed to get it off his chest as soon as possible.

"Fine." He relented."I'll take care of it." He grabbed his phone on his way out and the doors swung noiselessly behind him.

Zeff turned to Patty. "What ya lookin' at?"

Patty grinned cheekily. "Say goodbye to grandkids, Owner."

Zeff sighed, too far away to give Patty a kick.

"Aww shucks, don't sigh like that," Cairn called out to him. "I can see how happy you are. Finally found him someone who messed up his cooking, what!"

"Shuddup," Zeff scowled, "hurry and pack up!"

III.

Outside, Sanji looked up at the stars and counselled himself. It wasn't raining on him, so he'd be fine.

"You are NOT a highschooler and you will call up Zoro and invite him like a responsible adult because that's how adults behave and you've been one for a decade now. It's just a party."

He swiped opened his contact list and scrolled down.

"Just a party."

Tapped on Zoro's name, and put his phone to his ear.

"Just a-"

"Hello?"

"PARTY!" Sanji yelled.

"What?"

The phone slipped and nearly fell; thank God for his reflexes.

"Sanji?" Zoro's voice sounded concerned.

"Yeah so umm there's a party at Nami's house this Saturday. Nothing official, just a hang out. Would you come?"

"Nami?"

"My friend. A designer. You've met her, remember the redhead?" Talking about Nami gave him a grip on his sanity, which he had nearly lost thanks to embarrassment.

"Oh her. Yeah, saw her yesterday. Wouldn't it be odd though? Outsider and all that."

"She asked me to invite you."

"Ok then. So Saturday?"

"5 pm. Be at Baratie, I'll come pick you up."

"Roger."

"See you then." Sanji hung up.

We~ll. Zoro didn't sound amused or annoyed, so maybe his embarrassing antics had been overlooked. Whew.

The breeze blew gently, ruffling his hair.

Maybe he really was a highschooler at heart.

IV.

Zoro stared at his phone for a long time, going over the conversation in his head over and over again. Sanji's incredibly husky voice wasn't helping matters either.

"Falling in love with targets is forbidden."

He nearly jumped out of his skin and whipped around. Perona sat on his bed, resting her chin on her hand and looking supremely bored.

"When will you stop doing that?" He glared at her, trying to fight away his shame and failing miserably.

Perona shrugged. "He must be re~ally hot, since he's making YOU dreamy-eyed and shit."

Zoro bristled. "Enough."

Perona continued, not paying him any attention. "Maybe I should hit on him?"

The air crackled and her Chihuahua whined and ducked behind her legs. Zoro's eye had merely twitched.

"Ok, ok, no need to be so sensitive about your boy~friend," she raised her hands in mock surrender.

"He is NOT my-"

But Perona was already out of the room.