I don't own anything but my ideas.

Bite Hard, Bite Deep

Somehow he'd ended up in the sleaziest part of the backrooms. His shirt was gone and he could feel (sort of) distinctly (not at all, actually) that he was pressed up against another sweaty, writhing body. He reached up to slide his hand around the gyrating grab hips to grab the ass that was connected and winced as he cracked his hand against the wall behind them, shaking out his fingers unconsciously more for the motion than the pain. How did he get here? But the wall he could definitely use, and wedged his hands between the lithe hips and the now hot plaster, yanking the smaller body into him and grinding them up against the wall.

Zoro grinned as the man groaned throatily and repeated the moment, twisting his own hips as he flattened the man up against the wall, sliding his tongue through the abused lips. Oh god, he smoked too. Zoro had the sudden urge to wind his fingers into the wispy blond hair and took one hand from the cut hips to do so, gripping the back of the man's neck as he rocked against him. He was pretty sure the guy had already come in his pants, but the fact that he was still willing to continue with him made the room even hotter.

This was too much; it was incredible how similar they were. The hips; the defined shoulders; the muscles he could feel in the sharp neck; the blond hair; the ashy, smoky smell—it was actually pretty impressive that his drunken mind was still even remembering that this guy wasn't Sanji.

What the hell was his name anyways? Whatever, didn't really matter. Sanji's face kept flickering in and out of his mind, slowly but surely replacing the doppelgänger in front of him until the cook was squirming up against him, groaning into his mouth, pressing closer and closer into his body, pleading silently for more. Zoro groaned heavily, swallowing Sanji's name before he said it out loud and grabbed the hips again, thrusting hard into them and making the man grunt.

Oh yeah, he could definitely go for this right now.

The door slammed open with a crack that echoed throughout the room even around the sound of the reverberating bass and Zoro jumped damn near through the roof, slamming the guy dancing with him into the wall so hard that he hacked and doubled over on Zoro's shoulder. Zoro whipped around, dragging the guy along with him to growl at the asshole—

"ZORO! You fucking marimo asshole motherfucking douchebag piece of shit!"

Zoro ducked as the heel of a well-known and expensive shoe came flying at his face, yanking the man he was holding around again and making him shriek as he flailed to grab onto Zoro's shoulders for something to ground himself.

"WHAT THE FUCK, COOK?!"

"YOU WENT RUNNING OFF LIKE AN ASSHOLE AND LEFT ME AT THE BAR WITH THOSE FUCKING WOMEN—WHAT IF SOMETHING—YOU SELFISH, UNCONCERNED JERK—WHAT IF I'D GONE HOME WITH SOMEONE?!"

Zoro snarled through his teeth, dumping the man unceremoniously on the floor. He clenched his fists, not stupid enough to miss the tightness in Sanji's hips and the way he looked pretty ready bury Zoro six feet under. How fucking drunk was he?!

"What the fuck?!" the man he'd dropped screamed from under him, looking up indignantly. Zoro barely cared enough to hear him.

"Cook—!"

"YOU FUCKING—WHAT THE FUCK WAS THIS NIGHT SUPPOSED TO BE, HUH?! OH YEAH ME NOT BEING ABLE TO DO SHIT HERE WHILE EVERYONE ELSE WENT HOME WITH SOMEONE IS SO RELAXING AFTER A DAY LIKE TODAY!"

"Who the fuck are you anyways?!" the man screamed from the floor in Sanji's general direction, scrambling to find his footing and still keep his dignity.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" Sanji screamed in return, lifting his foot and slamming it down not inches away from the man's nose, making him shriek again. "YOU AND YOUR FUCKING HANDS ALL OVER… GET THE FUCK OUT!"

The man scrambled up, racing around Sanji and to the door where he ran into someone with a nose so long he was almost skewered in the eye in his haste. The man he'd run into grunted, shoving the other one off of him, and then he turned back to eye Zoro and Sanji. He seemed to be thinking, weighing something, and Zoro wondered if he'd been hoping to get Sanji into one of these rooms.

Sanji snarled violently, yanking Zoro's attention back to him and Zoro bared his own teeth when he could see Sanji's fangs poking out over his lips. What the fuck was he so angry about? He'd been the one running off with all those women, and Zoro had been gone for ages for Christ's sake. Now the idiot cared?

"Marimo…" Sanji hissed dangerously, and out of the corner of his eye Zoro could see the man in the door turn and leave, apparently deciding the situation not worth getting involved in. Distractions gone, Zoro raised his fists, ready to take Sanji on. Already his muscles were tingling from the energy he could feel in the room, Sanji's anger leaching out into the air and making Zoro grin in anticipation. Sex would have been nice, but this could be just as good—

Sanji lunged, shooting towards Zoro like a bullet and Zoro barely moved his hands in time to clamp onto the cook's shoulders, holding him back and keeping the cook from being able to use all of his weight. He grounded his feet roughly, using the wall behind him to keep himself upright as he watched for those powerful feet—and Sanji lips slammed into his own, knocking his head back where he cracked his shoulder against the wall.

Zoro's eyes popped, a barrage of Sanji slamming into every single one of his senses and rendering his body useless. The cook's defined shoulders were caught in a death grip where Zoro had yanked the him against his chest in shock, Sanji's hands suddenly finding the back of his neck and holding them tightly together as a slipped his lips against Zoro's.

The man from before had paled in comparison. Sanji didn't taste like spices and smoke, he was like the most incredibly-made mixed drink—smoky in so many senses of the word that Zoro was scared to even try and place them all; spiced with countless herbs that made his taste buds tingle—sesame oil and peanuts and rice and wine and mint and cinnamon and chili pepper and everything else that Zoro suddenly loved caressing his every cell and submerging him in everything he'd hoped Sanji would taste exactly like. His hands were like the wings of a phoenix, sliding majestically like lava up against Zoro's skin and scratching his nails down every place that made Zoro die a little inside from overstimulation and glee. That stunning body was flush against him, melding into every contour and defined bone, creating a wave between them that made Zoro's body undulate uncontrollably against the cook—

"Goddamnit," Sanji growled suddenly around his lips, and Zoro found himself pulling off of the wall to chase Sanji's mouth, tongue lolling uselessly from his mouth. "God damn marimo and your fucking sexy sparring and yelling and pinning me to the ground when Kid is trying to kill me—"

Zoro grunted, some sort of sound falling out of his mouth that probably meant some sort of affirmation, but then his lips were on Sanji's again and the thought was gone, gone, gone.

"I've wanted to do this for so long," Sanji groaned, and Zoro felt something jump almost painfully behind his navel. Good god, when was the last time he'd been this hard?

"I've just got this girl back home, ya know?"

Zoro froze, lips going still and eyes popping back open as Sanji continued to move against him, playing unconsciously with the three earrings dangling from his lobe. Normally, that got him going more than anything else, even getting head, but—

"She's…" Sanji slurred, "beautiful. Nymph-like. An angel, or a seraph, or a goddess… she's like a siren or a selkie or a mermaid or something so gorgeous that she could only be taken straight out of mythology or a storybook—"

There was a cold, gnawing feeling growing in Zoro's stomach, and his grip lessened on Sanji's shoulders with the increasingly less comfortable temperature against the heat of his drunkenness and the room. He pulled back slightly and Sanji latched instantly onto his jawbone, sucking carefully and working an extremely talented tongue over his nerves. Zoro closed his eyes, befuddled brain trying to convince himself that it didn't matter, of course Sanji had someone—he'd had an entire life before—

"She's just so boring."

Zoro blinked at that, such a strange word cutting through his haze and cuing him that he should probably listen to the thing making his cock jump pleasantly. The biting cold was still worming itself deeper and deeper into his core though, and it was making him physically wince against the oblivious cook's body. This isn't what he'd wanted this to feel like.

"She's, like… bland. Not like everyone here at all. She never makes me mad, crazy, or anything other than happy, and I love fighting so much—when I first woke up here I thought I was right back where I started on an exam table but this fucking city has been the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. I want you so bad—"

Zoro shoved hard, sending Sanji stumbling back off of him where he slammed into the far wall and slid to the ground, staring up at Zoro in shock. Zoro growled, barely remembering to grab his shirt off of the ground before he stalked towards the door.

"Tell me when you're not smashed," he snarled and left Sanji gaping on the floor behind him.

Zoro shoved his way out into the crowd undulating with the bass of the music, a red glaze falling over his eyes and blurring his vision.

He had to get out.

"Sword-bro! Where you going?"

Zoro turned to find Franky and Brook wailing away on two microphones on the stage and shoved his way towards them. Franky crouched to hear him, rocking the microphone dangerously to the side where he almost hit a couple people dancing.

"Take Sanji home!" Zoro screamed over the music.

"Why? Where is he?"

Zoro gestured vaguely, growling, the conversation already overstepping its time limit. "I don't fucking know—somewhere in the back! I'm walking now!"

"…You ok? You seem a little—"

Zoro turned and trudged away, yanking his shirt over his head as he swam through the crowd to the front door, stumbling out into the chilled air of the night. Inwardly he could hear whoever's friend it was—the bouncer, he couldn't remember his damn name and wasn't about to try—yelling goodbye, but that barely took up enough of his thought process to even remember that it had happened. The world was still tipping around him—how much did he have anyways?—but the cold was helping to straighten out his mind, so he just checked his pockets for phone and money and stumbled off down the steps. The door clacked behind him as it opened, the quiet night split open by the cacophony from back inside the club, and then the door slammed again, swathing him in silence except for the telltale sound of sandals clapping against the pavement as someone jogged after him.

"You done already?" Luffy asked, bounding up to his side, a huge grin splitting his face. "Wanna come back with me? I found these awesome girls that have been buying me drinks and food all night—they said they won a huge bet on me once and wanted to thank me! This one girl even asked if you were here—you should come back!"

Zoro swallowed heavily, the cold lowering the temperature of that uncomfortable lump sitting in his stomach even more—that was now kind of moving up to his throat and making it hard for him to take even breaths.

"Nah," he rasped, wincing at how unconvincing he sounded. He was going to continue the rejection in a less jack-ass-ish way so it didn't sound like he was mad at Luffy, but his vocal cords didn't seem up for the task.

"…You ok? You sound like you're going to cry."

"I'm fine, Luffy."

"You're walking?"

"Yes." Go. Away.

Luffy shook his head, making a noncommittal noise. "Let's find a cab. I'm not ready to go and you'll never make it. You're silly, Zoro, even drunk you always remember you can't do directions; what's up with you tonight?"

Zoro swallowed again, shoving his hands deep into his pockets and fighting with the heat growing in his throat, making his breath speed up.

Luffy was silent for a moment, and then grabbed Zoro's arm and dragged him to the curb where he stuck his hand into the air despite how silent and deserted the street was, like it would just hail a cab from fucking heaven or something.

"…Did something happen?"

Zoro shook his head, coughing and finally dislodging some of the anger building up. He looked straight back at Luffy and nodded heartily to prove that he was ok, but the younger man didn't seem convinced.

"…It'll be better in the morning. Alcohol always makes things worse."

Zoro nodded, looking up as a pair of lights pulled up next to them and Luffy stepped back, giving him space to get in the cab. Only Luffy would have that kind of luck. And thank god too, the kid was so simple-minded that he might have stood there for hours waiting for a cab if one hadn't come. Luffy grabbed his shoulder right as he opened the door, making him stop.

"Do you want to stay at my place tonight? Will it be easier if you don't see him for a little bit?"

Zoro sighed, shaking his head and forcing a smile. For some reason, it was easier than he thought it would be. "Nah, thanks, Luffy. I'm just… being silly, I guess."

Luffy grinned and let him go. "Zoro is silly a lot of the time. Especially when it comes to Sanji. It's like you just forget that it's not always "maybe" with him."

Zoro blinked, trying to decipher that one. "…What?"

Luffy shook his head, readjusting his hat. "Text me when you're home?"

Zoro chuckled to himself and nodded, climbing into the cab. "Sure."

Not always a maybe?

He exchanged addresses and pleasantries with the cab driver and then hunkered back down into the backseat, fighting not to fall asleep so the guy didn't rob him blind and dump him on the side of the road somewhere in enemy territory. Who knew who the guy worked for or if he was being protected by a boss somewhere.

…Not always a maybe?

Zoro didn't fucking get him. How something like that made sense in Luffy's mind, one could only guess.

Zoro tilted his head so as to watch the passing street lights, mostly to know when they were getting close to the city but also so he could jump from the cab if it looked like he was ending up in some undesired place.

What the fuck was with him tonight? Why was he being so paranoid?

Zoro closed his eyes, wrestling with the sleep already forming in his eyes and shifting uncomfortably around the cold nodule still sitting in his gut. Thank god he wasn't fucking crying though.

-oOo-

Zoro let out a deep breath and stood calmly, his head finally cleared after hours of repetitions right from the moment he'd woken up this morning until—what time was it? He leaned back to glance across the dojo and the living room and into the kitchen where a large clock hung ticking above the sink. 7:30. It had only taken him three hours to get his mind back under control, which was actually pretty good, considering he'd woken up at 4:15 wrought with dreams of an incredibly… um, exuberant Sanji sharing a bed with him, and then immediately remembered that said NSPH major was only the next room over and could have been sharing his real bed very easily.

And so had started the work out at 4:30. You know, after, ahem. Gave him plenty of time to take in the sunrise though, and meditate, and contemplate on last night, and think about what Luffy had said. He still had nothing, no clue whatsoever on what the loon had meant, but he was sure it had sounded sincere in Luffy's head and it was the thought that counted.

Zoro padded over to the small bench he'd set up on the side of the dojo, barely lifting his head when the sound of feet tramping over his head echoed across the apartment, picking up fervor and noise level as Sanji stomped down the stairs. The cook was pissed.

Zoro closed his eyes for a moment as he draped the towel across his shoulders and breathed in deeply. Perfect. Three hours of working out had brought him the exact calm frame of mind he needed to deal with this conversation. Sanji would rant about not being gay and bitch and moan about Zoro letting him first go off with some other guy before he let Sanji dribble himself like honey all down Zoro's front, and, you know, suck on his tongue while they were at it.

The footsteps halted abruptly on the last step and Zoro waited a moment for the screaming to start, but only dead silence filled the air. Which was fine, because he was literally as calm as a sloth. If he were moving any slower right now, he would start to grow moss. Har-har, yes, jokes about his hair, always as funny as the first time he heard them.

Zoro debated taking in another calming breath, but then decided that he was so calm that the extra effort it would take really wasn't worth it right now. He was riding such a calm wave that his heart rate must have been damn near hypotension. And so he just turned. Turned to face the irate cook and whatever was about to be thrown his way.

They stood at opposite sides of the dojo, both men's bodies unconsciously taking fighting stances with feet spread and arms tight at their sides, just in case. Or it was from the forming tension Zoro could feel sparking in the air between them. His calm was beautiful though, and he held his ground without a single ounce of tension and stared straight back into Sanji's one iridescent, captivating eye.

Sanji looked like he'd had the worst night's sleep possible. His hair was dripping like he'd doused himself in the sink before coming down the stairs and his eye looked blood shot and slightly swollen. If it hadn't been for his strong foothold, Zoro would have wondered if the idiot had slept at all. He had no idea what time the rest of the group had gotten in last night; he'd been so dead asleep that nothing could have woken him.

The cook's arms were crossed tightly, and if Zoro looked close enough he could see the whiteness in Sanji's knuckles from gripping his skin so tightly. The fact that his anger was leaching out into his hands meant that the cook was really pissed, and that this would be a really good fight.

Sanji growled to himself, unconsciously taking another step forward and Zoro turned automatically to accommodate the closer range if Sanji decided to lunge.

Sanji gritted his teeth, fighting with himself, and then spat, "Is this sober enough for you? You goddamn, thick-skulled, mother-fucking, brainless, oblivious, blundering, fucking marimo?"

Zoro blinked, grip slipping from the cloth on his shoulders as he fumbled for… anything. Any response to that. There were no words in the English language that… what was the cook… what did…

"…Wha…?"

Sanji groaned, jamming his fingers into his hair and gripping the blond fringe tightly, pulling it out of the way of his useless eye for the first time in what Zoro was pretty sure was months now. …Wow, the cook was more off than he thought.

"No one," Sanji snarled suddenly, "has ever turned me down. Ever. Drunk or not. I've known I'm bi for fucking years now, but she was beautiful and kind and there and she loved me and it was so much easier than trying to keep a tough-guy persona in a fucking world like this! Especially with my fucked up background!"

And Zoro just continued to flounder. What was air? It could have possibly given him the ability to say words, if he had any.

"I hated how easily you held your reputation while—blatantly—not having a single girl around you—not even Robin! She came home and could have been the long lost love but she and Franky spent the whole week fucking and you just sat idly by! You're so obviously fucking gay and you hold the utmost respect from so many people in the highest ranks!"

The small thought that he wasn't really…gay—entirely, at least… his track record was starting to make it look more and more so—popped into his head, but his tongue had yet to reattach itself.

…Wait, was Sanji really…?

Holy shit, he's really—

"But now I'm here! I'm here, I'm sober, and I'm fucking smoldering just looking at you sweating, so are you going to stand there gaping, or—?!"

Zoro was across the room so fast that Sanji actually jumped, reflexes kicking in before he could remind his brain that this was what he wanted.

Oh god Zoro hoped it was what he wanted.

And then his lips were on Sanji's and his brain exploded in his head.

Sanji when he was sober was exponentially better. Zoro could smell everything, taste everything, see everything, hear everything, feel everything. His hands were running up and down the tight muscles of the cook's back, arms, neck, shoulders, hips, grabbing him and grinding and pulling and pushing as Sanji's own hands found his body, working those long and talented fingers into every contour in his body, up every muscle, down every tendon, making sure that none of his skin was left untouched. The cook's fingers found the back of his head where the short, sensitive hairs were and pulled and Zoro lost it.

He had Sanji on the floor in a second, pinning the cook's lithe body to the floor with his own as he undulated, grinding hard between the cook's legs and the cook groaned into his mouth, making an electric shiver shoot up Zoro's spine.

Sanji scrabbled at Zoro's back at the hem of his pants and Zoro pulled back, yanking the cook's shirt up over his head as he went and dropping it on the floor next to them. He wrestled out of his pants and then dropped back to the ground, running his tongue in a long line up Sanji's middle from his naval to the first nipple and took it between his top teeth and bottom lip. Sanji sucked in a harsh breath as Zoro worked his tongue, head dropping back from where he'd been watching the swordsman to loll on the ground, but he only waited a minute before reaching down to push his pants off. Zoro followed suit before moving back up to be parallel to the cook, slipping his tongue between Sanji's willing lips as he ground them together again.

Spots of light burst behind his eyes and a distinct tightness in his toes was rising up, along with a telling buzzing behind his ears. The sensations were drowning out his senses as they were overwhelmed with everything Sanji, and Zoro opened his eyes to take in the cook's beautiful eyes—cloudy, marred eye and all—and sex-laden expression and Sanji reached up to rake his nails over Zoro's scalp.

Zoro pulled back slightly, panting, his lips still brushing along Sanji's. "You done this before?"

Sanji nodded and Zoro pushed their lips back together, closing his eyes again and grinding down harder between the cook's legs. Sanji grunted and raised his legs, locked them around Zoro's hips, and squeezed. Hard.

Zoro groaned, his head dropping down to Sanji's chest as his nether regions were pulled hard into Sanji's, making his sensory receptors hiccup in his brain. Zoro slowed for a moment, taking in the feeling of just moving against Sanji. He slid one arm up from where he was leaning on both elbows to lock his forearm behind the cook's shoulders, and then all at once he pulled forward and thrust.

Sanji let out a feral sound, nails digging deep into Zoro's shoulders and the swordsman shivered and spit into his hand. He reached down and fumbling to slick himself and get himself in place, lining up his cock between Sanji's legs, and then leaned forward, sliding in.

Sanji grunted again and shifted his hips so that Zoro could slip in easier, and the swordsman's mind went blank as he was completely engulfed in the cook's incredible body. He drew back and pushed in again, Sanji letting out a rough breath under him, and he groaned into the cook's mouth, picking up his pace.

He was gasping into Sanji's neck, nothing but Sanji's smell, Sanji's feel, Sanji's taste, Sanji barreling through his head like a freight train. His muscles felt uncontrolled and wild and he could feel Sanji's blazing hot breath against his shoulder as the cook, squirmed under him, nails gouging deep lines into his shoulders. His knees and toes were slipping against the wood and he was scrabbling at the floor with his hands for any purchase, anything to move harder, faster—

He pulled back slightly, ignoring Sanji's feral snarl of protest—a territorial sound that made his insides churn with heat—and worked a hand in between their bodies to grab Sanji's cock. Sanji's body jumped and he tightened around Zoro and Zoro jerked, pushing harder into the cook's body, the tightness in his toes and the buzzing in his ears growing. Sanji's legs locked impossibly tightly around his waist, cutting off his ability to move, and then the cook groaned and an explosion shot through Zoro's every muscle—electricity and freezing cold and searing hot and intense pain and numbing pleasure, and then he was laying on top of the cook, panting in time with Sanji, waiting for his mind to come down off of the high.

The cook shifted, unwrapping his legs from Zoro's waist and Zoro rolled, pulling out of Sanji but taking the cook with him so he ended up on top of Zoro's chest. He could feel Sanji rolling his eyes at the possessiveness, but the cook did move to settle himself more comfortably on top of him. Zoro was more than content to stay there on the floor, which was much less uncomfortable than it should have been with Sanji sprawled out on top of him, breathing heavily in time with him.

The nagging thought wouldn't leave though. Damn it.

"…That girl you have back home…"

Zoro tracked Sanji's movements as the cook flinched slightly, and then tensed as if preparing to run, and then sighed and relaxed again all in the span of a second. Sanji's reflexes always impressed him, whether they were due to the NSPH part of him or not. The cook moved slowly, resigning himself to his fate, and pushed his chest off of Zoro's to reach for his pants. He dug out the pack of cigarettes and the lighter from his pocket and slipped one between his lips, flicking it to life before he tossed all three away. He laid back down, placing his chin on the back of his hands as he smoked quietly. Zoro grimaced slightly, watching the cherry of the cigarette glowing right over his damn chest but Sanji seemed to know what he was doing enough not to care.

"…I met her about five years back. She had a boyfriend at the time so we just got close as friends, but then after they broke up… she was gorgeous. Beautiful, blonde, hotter than a supermodel, the works, but I could have never gone anywhere with her."

Zoro reached up idly to run a couple fingers over the arm lying across his chest. It was crazy how soft Sanji's skin was, and Zoro wondered if it had something to do with his healing ability. "Too dangerous?"

Sanji shook his head. "Nah, not even that. It wasn't like she came from a less dangerous world or anything. It was just… my background plus the situation I'd put myself into, something like you have here with how high in the ranks you are, I didn't think she would have been able to handle it. She seemed a little… I don't know, crazy, I guess. But not in the cool "I can actually handle myself, I just don't take life very seriously" way. More like "I'm angry and I might react poorly because of it." …I don't know. She didn't seem to be able to handle pain, and that could have made it a lot more dangerous for everyone, including her."

Zoro nodded, sort of understanding what the cook was saying. The more Sanji talked about his home, the more it seemed like he was in a very high rank, maybe even higher than Zoro, though he always skirted around the fact. Whatever he did.

Sanji chuckled to himself. "And then one day she came home with these angel wings tattooed on her back. Big ones too. They were badass, totally not something an irrational or weak person would have put themself through willingly. I decided to give it a try, because she'd expressed interest in me and every other girl around me was honest-to-god frail. …It's so weird being here. Shanks' women hold their own so self-assuredly. I think they actually get offended when I try to be chivalrous. It was just normal back home; that was the way Zeff taught me and that was the way it was."

Zoro snorted. "Yeah, that's because they're not weak, and they don't want to be treated like that. Robin doesn't mind asking for help, but Nami doesn't like it, especially from a love-idiot."

He waited for the snippy response, but Sanji just thought quietly to himself for a moment before continuing.

"We're been—er, were together for three years. …Not anymore, I guess."

"…Do you think she's worried?"

Sanji shrugged, lifting the cigarette to his lips to tap the growing ash off of the end onto the top of his cigarette box so as not to burn Zoro. "Probably. She'll be fine. She's tough, and it's not like I'm actually dead."

Now this was a side of Sanji Zoro had never seen. Turning down a woman? He almost reached up to feel Sanji's forehead—only half in jest—but it didn't seem the time.

Sanji shoved off of his chest suddenly and ground out the rest of the cigarette on the box, leaving the stub on top of it as he stood.

"I need a shower," he sniffed, tipping his head away from himself in mock disgust, and then beckoned for Zoro to follow him as he started up the stairs. Zoro grinned and moved to follow.

-oOo-

"And then you did that thing where you, like, sashayed over his head like you had wings and were like—FWACHYAH—and he was just—ARRGHHHHH—"

Zoro snorted to himself around the bottle of water Sanji had passed him, listening to Usopp's relaying of his fight as Chopper worked on a small nick on his shoulder blade. It had been an easy fight honestly, he was barely even sweating, and Sanji looked as relaxed as a fifteen-year-old cat lying in a patch of sun so he hadn't been worried at all about Zoro's opponent. That fact kind of made Zoro's chest puff out unconsciously, which he hoped was catching Sanji's eye—that the cook was pretending he was keeping intent on Usopp but would occasionally glance over—because his shirt was off so Chopper could stitch up his shoulder.

Zoro grinned around the lip of the bottle, taking another sip. The image of Sanji on top of him, dripping sweat and grinding into him with those incredible muscles so hard it was almost painful popped into his head. His grin stretched further and he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand to hide it before he decided to test the waters a bit and leaned back slightly, slowly so Chopper wouldn't freak and just enough so that he could stretch and flex his shoulders. Casual and cool. Sanji's eye flicked back over momentarily, tracing up and down Zoro's front once before looking back as Usopp started relaying how he used to use moves just like Zoro's in his own days of underground fighting before he got so good that they begged him to retire and give others a chance. Zoro grinned again and scratched his sternum inconspicuously, knowing that Sanji was watching out of the corner of that iridescent eye.

"Whatever," Nami huffed, crossing her arms, though a small smile graced her lips. Zoro knew she'd won a lot off the fight so she had nothing to be upset about. "As long as the medical stuff doesn't cost too much. You're lucky you ducked during his last swing, you would have lost your ear otherwise. Do you know how much it costs to just call an ambulance? Let alone sew your ear back on!"

"Nami-swan~! You are so smart, remembering all of those numbers off the top of your head like you have a photographic memory!"

Zoro rolled his eyes and brought the bottle back to his lips, looking around arena where most of the spectators had dispersed now that everyone had fought. He'd barely been able to convince Chopper to wait until after Luffy had fought to fix him up and because it was such a small wound, but now the tiny doctor had threatened him at sedation point to—

Zoro choked slightly on his drink as something caught his eye across the room and shot to his feet, yanking out of Chopper's grip and pushing his way through the remaining people drifting around them.

"ZORO!" Chopper shrieked. Sanji and Usopp jumped at the sudden spike in volume, Nami gasping as she stumbled out of Chopper's way. The three whirled to watch the young doctor swipe at Zoro before the green head disappeared into the crowd and Chopper scrambled off of the table he'd been sitting on, racing after him.

"THE FUCKING NEEDLE IS STILL IN YOUR BACK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Sanji blinked, trying to find some sort of danger that Zoro had seen, looking confusedly back at Usopp and Nami before they moved to follow the two. After excusing himself around a couple of people, Sanji finally caught sight of Shanks on the other side of the arena's seating, a gorgeous, majestic woman with green-tinged hair on his arm, but that couldn't have been—

Sanji eyes popped when Zoro walked straight past Shanks to wrap the tiny woman up in his huge arms and she laughed, throwing her own arms around him and patting him on the back… like she was an aunt or something.

"…Uh—" Sanji started stupidly, not exactly sure how to continue. There was a strange something bubbling up in his chest, or down in his stomach—it felt more primal than discomfort—and he was disgusted at himself that he was feeling this towards a woman—and a beautiful, goddess-like, magnificent angel too—

"Makino!" Nami called happily, trotting over to Shanks and the woman, Makino, who gave her the biggest grin Sanji had ever seen.

"That's Makino," Usopp supplied, no doubt at his stupid face, and Sanji closed his mouth with a sharp click of his teeth.

"Oh yeah?" he finally managed to make his tongue say. Usopp nodded. Chopper had finally managed to get a good enough grip on Zoro's shoulder to yank him down to his height and cut the stitching, but then he immediately jumped to see Makino too and she swept him up happily, spinning him like he was a small child while Zoro and Shanks grinned. Nami was already babbling away, asking Makino about her time away from the city and what she'd been doing and what she'd seen.

Usopp scratched his head. "She can disappear for months at a time, kind of like Robin used to do before she moved out of the city for good, but then she'll turn up with Shanks like nothing ever happened. I don't even know… she may have moved in with Shanks when the city was in the first stages of being rebuilt, but I don't really know. She was kind of Ace and Luffy's mother when they were younger and lived with Shanks and I think she watched them when he was away, but these are all rumors and Ace and Luffy never say anything about it. I do know that Ace lived with Whitebeard for a while, but I honestly have no idea where he is now and I don't even know if Luffy knows."

Sanji had heard plenty about Luffy's illusive older brother and his nomadic tendencies after the city was destroyed. Zoro seemed very fond of him, and at first that bubbling thing in Sanji's chest had grown like a particularly bad case of heartburn, but the more he heard about Ace, the more he'd been able to understand that their closeness really came from friendship. Ace seemed pretty damn straight too, if the long list of girls Zoro had mentioned meant anything.

Sanji watched the five of them interact, just like Usopp had said, everyone grinning ear to ear and Makino placing her hand on Chopper and Zoro's shoulders every time she talked to them. If it weren't for the fact that she seemed so close to them and Sanji knew nothing about her existence, he would have thought she'd been here the entire time.

"…So Makino is…"

Usopp shrugged. "Shanks' wife? Lover? Personal secretary? Sister? Who knows."

Sanji grimaced when he mentioned sister. "That's gross."

"They're just rumors. I'd put my money on lover but she hasn't been here in close to three months now. I've known her for years and I really can't say for sure."

Sanji blinked, taking in how close she and Shanks were standing, how their bodies turned in on each other automatically, like they had a homing beacon for each other. She left him constantly? It didn't make sense.

"Why does she leave?"

"…Maybe Shanks is protecting her, maybe she doesn't feel safe, I really don't know. Shanks isn't big on sharing his secrets. If you find out, he won't care, but he won't tell you willingly."

Makino rounded on them, finally at a break in the conversation, and gave Usopp the biggest, most contagious grin that Sanji had ever seen. Instantly he was ashamed that he'd ever felt anything less than entirely welcoming to this saint of a woman.

"Usopp!" she walked over to the long-nose, now alit with his own grin, and pulled him into a hug, launching into a series of questions about his life and his work at his shop. Usopp thumped on his chest once she'd let him go, off on another story with Makino listening just as intently as Chopper and Luffy did, though Sanji was sure she was smart enough not to fall for them.

She was just… the epitome of a kind human being. Every part of her bled happiness and generosity, and again Sanji found himself jealous of the family Zoro had grown up with, even if he'd had no family of his own. It was impossible to miss how happy and comfortable Zoro looked with her. Sanji remembered rumors of Mihawk's prizefighter nephew jumping homes before he finally settled down in Shanks' territory, but he had no idea how long it had taken, and asking Zoro would be dangerous. If he let something slip that Zoro hadn't told him, it could give away where he was from and the moss-head hadn't really offered much about his past here. Only someone from the underground would know as much as he did about something from another territory, but he couldn't remember Zeff talking about Makino.

Her bright eyes turned to find him and Sanji felt himself grinning before she'd even spoken. "And who are you?"

Sanji swept into a deep bow, taking her hand tenderly, and she giggled. "Sanji Blackleg, lovely lady. And may I say what an honor it is to be here today to witness such a reunion, it is clear that you command a lot of respect and admiration simply through your kindness."

Makino giggled again, hiding behind her free hand, and Sanji swooned slightly, his vision twisting at her sheer grace. If she got any brighter, he wouldn't be able to look straight at her.

"A pleasure to meet you, Sanji. What did you say your name was, again?"

"Blackleg, and I assure you, the pleasure is entirely mine."

"Ah, I see."

Sanji's eye popped open and his heart dropped into his stomach, a cold pain shooting up through his spine. That tone of voice… she couldn't have… did she recognize…? There no way she could have—

Sanji started again, realizing finally that she'd just finished asking him a question. He floundered up, fumbling over his own feet and trying to ignore the weird look Zoro was giving him. There's no way she could…

"What—I-I'm sorry, lovely lady, w-what?" he choked out.

"MAKINO!"

Luffy came flying in over Sanji's head and landed painfully on his arm, making Sanji yelp before the younger man leapt up again and latched himself onto Makino, making her stumble and spin as she laughed through his arms.

"Luffy!" Sanji and Zoro and Shanks barked at the same time, but getting ahold of the idiot's attention right now would have been a task for Hercules. Luffy was dripping water from his shower and still missing his shirt but at least he'd remembered to put pants on and he wasn't bleeding anymore, so Zoro didn't really have anything to complain about. And it had been too long since Luffy had seen her; they'd let him have this one.

"How are you?! Did you have a nice trip?1 Are you happy to be back?! How long are you staying?! Did you bring me any meat?! Did you—" Luffy pulled back suddenly, holding Makino out at arms length and inspecting her intently from head to toe. She blinked back at him curiously, holding both of his hands on her shoulders like a doting mother. Luffy did this a couple of time, trying to formulate a question in his head before he finally said, completely unabashedly, "Makino, you got fat. When did that happen?"

Zoro's eyes popped out of his skull, along with everyone else there, all collectively shrieking and racing to hit Luffy on the head. Shanks got there first.

"Luffy! You idiot! What is wrong with you?!"

"Whaaaaaat?" Luffy whined, holding his head sadly. "I just asked—"

"It's ok, Luffy," Makino cut in suddenly, chuckling to herself. She pulled Luffy out of Shanks' reach and ruffled his hair slightly, and then looked around like she was trying to make sure someone wasn't there before placing a finger over her lips and winking. "It's a secret."

Shanks mouth hit the ground and Zoro's eyes snapped to Makino's stomach, where there was indeed a slight bump protruding from her middle.

…Holy shit.

"Makino!" Luffy threw his hands into the air and laughed happily. "I haven't lost a single fight since you left! Can I tell you about the best ones?!"

"Yes!" Makino clapped happily, following Luffy's lead as he bounced happily away from the group. Shanks choked slightly, finally managing to get his mouth closed.

"Wait a second! Damnit, Makino! Tell me what's going on!"

Sanji blew out a sharp breath of air, slightly exhausted after the exchange, and turned to see if the marimo-head wanted to maybe get something to eat when a beautiful pixie with vibrant blue hair caught his vision, popping out of the crowd like a ray of sunshine. Sanji was across the room in seconds, sliding to his knees in front of her and presenting her with a flower that he pulled from one of the vases he passed along the way. The girl jumped slightly, Sanji appearing almost out of nowhere in front of her.

"My lovely goddess, it was a cold and dreary day here in this place until my eye caught sight of your glorious hair, such a radiant color to grace such a radiant girl—might I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

"Uh…" the girl looked around carefully, measuring the amount of people around them and how safe the situation was before she straightened back up, giving him a strained smile.

"Vi…vi—"

"Vivi!" Sanji sang, plucking her fingers up to place the flower in her hand. "And such a radiant—"

A hand clamped down suddenly on his, grip tight enough to almost break his wrist. If he were human.

Sanji's dark eye snapped up to where a dark-haired man was standing over him, an orange cowboy hat or some other stupid shit on his head, eyes like death and leveling Sanji with a glare hot enough to set fire to his hair. Sanji kept a steady grip on the flower without crushing it, shifting slightly to whip his feet over his head at a moment's notice when two more hands grabbed his wrist and the wrist of the hand holding him, Zoro's voice breaking through the tension.

"Sanji," Zoro said slowly, as if he thought being too loud might set either or them off. "This is Ace. …Ace, this is Sanji. Sanji, this is Vivi, Ace's girlfriend."

Sanji's eyes flicked between the three of them, measuring the static in the air with a deep breath in before he finally drew his hand back, pulling Ace with him and Zoro while he was still holding onto Ace. It was partially a show; Sanji could feel Ace's power dripping off of the strong body above him, but Ace had better know that Sanji was no pushover and could easily overpower him if they were going on strength alone. The way Ace's eyes popped slightly meant that he wasn't expecting Sanji to be that strong in such an awkward position, but Sanji wasn't stupid enough to think strength was all the man had going for him. You didn't gain the nickname "Firefist Ace" by swinging your biceps around like a chimpanzee. The tension spiked suddenly now that Ace knew what Sanji was capable of while just kneeling, waiting to see what he'd do next. Sanji could see Zoro's eyes flicking around him, trying to find how close his swords were. He had Wado on his hip, but against the two of them, he might need more.

Sanji coughed suddenly, making all three of them start, and reached his free hand up to push his bangs back into place. "I apologize for my bluntness, dear lady, as well as the way in which I composed myself. But how ever did you find such an ape of a man?"

Everyone was quiet, and then Ace threw his head back and guffawed loudly, letting go of Sanji's hand and clapping him hard on the back before Sanji could even register that it was coming. Sanji oofed, leaning off slightly to the side with his weight still awkwardly placed on one knee.

"He seems ok," Ace said to Zoro before leaving Vivi with the two of them and walking off to throw an arm around Makino and Luffy's necks, making Luffy scream happily and cling to his brother in a hug that almost knocked all three of them to the ground. Shanks screamed at Luffy again, but Sanji was too busy being confused by the bizarre dynamics of their ridiculous family to care at this point.

"Vivi!" Nami screamed, running to the blue-haired girl and throwing her arms around her, making the two of them spin around. Almost instantly the two were off, babbling about their current clothes and hairstyles and how things had been here in the city and traveling with Ace. Sanji watched quietly, taking in the interactions and how these people were so easily able to be open with each other after so long not seeing them. It was… impressive, almost. Sanji didn't like to think about going home, or how he would react the next time he saw someone from home. It was only so long before he couldn't hide the fact that he was alive anymore, especially with living in the underground. Someone under Zeff was bound to come across him sooner or later, but for the moment, Sanji was fine to let it be later.

Sanji meandered his way over to Zoro's side, watching the way Ace and Luffy beat on each other like a couple of twelve-year-olds while Makino tried to keep them from doing too much harm to each other. Zoro couldn't take his eyes off of Makino's middle, where a slight protrusion was making her dress fall slightly off center. It was crazy to think about it. Everything in this city was crazy to think about, especially after it had been rebuilt literally from ashes. Now… it had a legacy, of sorts, which was about to be passed on to future generations. Idly he wondered if Makino and Shanks would pick either Luffy or Ace to be the godfather, but watching the way Luffy flailed around Ace and how quick Ace was to knock him back to the ground with a punch, he wasn't really sure. Makino was the nicest person he'd ever met though, so it was possible.

Ace found his way back to their side, throwing his arm around Zoro's shoulder while Sanji it up a cigarette casually. Zoro furrowed his brows at the tightness in Sanji's shoulders, trying to find some reason for the cook's tenseness. Unless it was Ace, but he'd made it very clear how straight Ace was and that they hadn't and weren't going to go beyond friendship. So what…?

"So where'd you come from?" Ace asked, grinning over at Sanji. The cook returned the smile, it seemed, mostly out of habit, but he didn't look like he was about to say anything and a moment passed before the awkward silence started to grow uncomfortable.

"He's a poor little foundling we found on the side of the street," Zoro supplied, and Ace blinked in confusion both at the statement and the face Sanji made in response.

"What?" Luffy interjected, leaning over Zoro's other shoulder to join in the conversation. "But that's not what happened! Zoro, did you forget how Sanji—"

"Later," Zoro cut in, leaning into Ace's ear as he clapped a hand over Luffy's mouth. Ace looked slowly between the three of them, taking in the way Sanji's eyes had found the floor uncomfortably and nodded, withdrawing from Zoro before his face lit up again.

"I brought some people!" he cheered happily, turning with his arm outstretched to introduce them to someone and faltering when he realized that there was no one behind him, not that anyone would have been standing there anymore after how long he'd been talking with so many people. "Wait! Where'd they go?" Zoro rolled his eyes and waited for the dimly lit bulb to find his friends in the crowd.

"Oh there!" Ace pointed suddenly to two girls standing off to the side, waiting to be invited back into the group. For how calm they looked, it seemed that this wasn't the first time Ace had done something like this. Vivi and Nami had joined them at some point, and Zoro blinked at the strange assortment of hair colors before realizing that it was Conis, one of Ace's exes and good friends, and the girl Laki from the Pumpkin Café.

"You remember Conis right? And that's Laki, her sister."

Sanji choked suddenly on his cigarette, hacking uncontrollably into his hand and turning away in an attempt to hide it. His eyes were wide and watering and he spluttered uselessly, trying to force out words around his hand. The tenseness in his shoulders had tripled and Zoro found himself unconsciously stiffening and looking around to find whatever danger Sanji had seen. Ace stared down at him blankly before his eyes flicked back up to Zoro, mouthing a question about what had caused such a—

The sound of shattering glass split the air and Sanji's coughing immediately ceased. The cook froze, eyes wide and trained on the group of girls in front of him where Conis had dropped her drink. It had exploded, drenching the shoes of all four girls in liquor and fragments of the ice cubes, but she didn't seem to notice, eyes wide and locked on Sanji.

"…S…Sanji?"

Nothing moved, everyone too confused by what had happened to say anything, and then Conis clapped a hand over her mouth, tears beginning to pour down her face, her knees wobbling slightly. Laki held out her hands, unsure if she should try to stabilize her sister. Ace looked uselessly between her and Sanji before turning to Vivi, who only shrugged in response.

Zoro blinked, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Did Sanji know—oh.

Something cold and hard settled in his stomach, Zoro's eyes going wide as he made the connection.

"And then one day she came home with these angel wings tattooed on her back. Big ones too. They were badass, totally not something an irrational or weak person would have put themself through willingly."

Conis had angel wings tattooed on her back. Big ones. Badass ones.

He was so fucking stupid.

Instantly Zoro's brain snapped to the timeline of what he knew about Conis—when she'd dated Ace, when they'd broken up, when Ace had told him that she'd started seeing someone else… and she lived in another city. She'd only visited them from time to time, meaning she had another entire life. There was plenty of time to get over Ace. Sanji had been dating his girlfriend for three years. The timing worked out perfectly.

Sanji swallowed heavily, making sure that he wouldn't start coughing again, and then straightened up slowly, his eyes wide and wrought with… guilt. Cold, heavy guilt that was weighing down the vibrant colors of his eye. He looked pained, and sorry, and uncomfortable, and like he wanted to be anywhere else but here in this room with Conis.

"…Conis." He said her name slowly, deliberately, weighing the situation to gage what she would do.

Her name was the trigger, and she shot across the room with incredible speed that could only come from the mutations of the NSPH venom and flung herself into Sanji's arms, bawling into his shoulder and clinging to him as tightly as she could. He'd caught her out of reflex when she'd launched herself at him and was holding her carefully now, just letting her cry as the guilt sunk deeper into his eye.

"Where have you been?!" she screamed around his shoulder. "Why the hell didn't you bother telling anyone that you're alive?! We thought…! We thought…!"

Sanji didn't say anything, he just stood quietly with his arms around her, forgotten cigarette still smoking where he'd dropped it on the floor.

"We were all heartbroken! You're father didn't accept it for weeks, you jerk! You couldn't have called?! Even once?! Just to say that, oh, by the way, you actually weren't taken back to the facility—he almost went in again to find you! We had to stop him from storming the place to try and break you back out!"

Zoro couldn't make himself move. Luffy was still on his shoulder and it had been uncomfortable previously, but now he barely even noticed the younger man's presence. The cold thing was still sitting like a rock in his gut, pulling at him and growing colder and colder the longer he watched the two of them standing together.

It was to be expected. Sanji had disappeared suddenly and never contacted anyone from home. Of course she'd be freaking out. Of course she'd be upset. Of course she'd want to hold him and make sure he was ok.

But that thing in Zoro's stomach wasn't moving, and watching the two of them together wasn't helping.

Zoro swallowed heavily as Conis pulled away suddenly to kiss Sanji frantically, pecking him on both cheeks and his jaw bone and nose—she kissed him hard on the lips and Sanji returned it out of reflex before turning away and moving his arms to hold her slightly out of range. The thing in Zoro's stomach was growing colder, and had taken on a painful heaviness.

"We'll talk," Sanji murmured finally, his eyes drifting to the floor. "I promise, I'll explain everything. Later."

Conis nodded, a spastic movement of her neck before she buried herself back in Sanji's shoulder, holding him as tightly as she possibly could.

Zoro couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe, or move, or look away, and then the cook's eyes flicked up to meet his and the thing in Zoro's stomach burst into flame. Painful, gut wrenching, spurring, screaming flame, and Zoro wrenched out of Luffy's hold and headed for the door as fast as he could without actually running. If it wouldn't have looked so weird, he would have been sprinting. Anything to get him away from this.

Ace followed him with his eyes, measuring Luffy's confusion and Sanji's expression as he held Conis, and then reached up and readjusted the hat on his head. Vivi drifted over to his side, giving him a confused look, but he shook his head, nodding towards the door. She nodded again and stepped back to go stand with Laki and ease her and Nami's confusion as Ace followed Zoro back up the stairs and out of the arena.

-oOo-