"Fuck…" Zoro groaned as his hand flailed around on his side table. "Where the fuck is it…?!" The ringer on his phone grew louder and louder while Zoro continued to grow more annoyed. If Sanji was calling to wake him up before seven, he would kill that bastard.
The noise of the ringer went up another bar and Zoro shoved his covers off. The room was pitch black except for the small light from his phone. Zoro scooped it up and stuck it to his ear, muttering very sleepily into the phone, "The fuck do you want..?"
"Did I seriously just wake you up? Lazy piece of shit, get your ass over here! It's time for breakfast!" Sanji's voice sounded somewhat rough through the phone and Zoro guessed that he hadn't been up for long either. Zoro looked over at his clock and, Oh fuck no!
"It's six, fucking, am! What the fuck are you waking me up already for you jackass!" Zoro shouted into the phone as he got himself out of bed, throwing on a pair of underpants and stomping over to the bathroom to take the piss he desperately needed. "And you better not be cooking you moron, you'll fuck your hands up and-"
"I'm not doing anything complicated so don't strain what little brain you have left!"
"Law said you weren't allowed to do ANY cooking. Nothing complicated, and nothing easy! Or do you wanna permanently damage yourself?!"
"I'm not making anything new! I'm just reheating some waffles I made and froze last week. I also made some fresh fruit juice before everything happened so just get over here a- ARE YOU TAKING A PISS WHILE I'M ON THE PHONE WITH YOU?!"
"Well you were busy bitching and I needed to piss, so that's what I'm doing." Zoro said and tucked himself back in his underpants as he finished up. "Maybe you should complain less."
"MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T TAKE A LEAK WHILE PEOPLE ARE TALKING TO YOU!" Sanji's voice became even louder and Zoro smirked as he sniffed himself. "AND I'M NOT THAT ONE THAT'S COMPLAINING YOU ASS!" Yeah, deodorant would be a good idea… and a toothbrush. Maybe a shower… "ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!"
"Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch. Is this what I'm waking up to every morning for the next month? Fuck, it would be easier to kill myself now." Zoro could hear Sanji practically seething on the other end and ran a hand through his short green hair. He mussed it around until it looked a little less shitty and yawned. "Hanging up now, or do you wanna listen to me shower too?"
"O-of course not! BASTARD! JUST HURRY UP!" There was a click and the line went dead. Zoro laughed and set the phone down, turning on the hot water in the shower and stripping back down to nothing.
"OI! ASSHAT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING YELLING SO EARLY IN THE MORNING?!" Zoro frowned and stuck his head out the door of the bathroom. Kuina was standing in the hall with her arms crossed over her chest and a sneer plastered on her tired face. She was in her sleepwear, which meant just a t-shirt and underpants. Most people would get freaked out seeing a girl like her dressed the way she is, but Zoro was more than used to it.
"You're the one yelling right now. Leave me alone, I gotta shower." Zoro growled, hiding his body behind the nearly closed door to protect what little secrets the two did have from each other.
"You never get up this early! Hell, it's nearly impossible to get you up before eight! Not only that, you're actually bathing yourself, which is a surprise all on its own." Zoro scowled at her and slammed the door shut, locking it behind him.
"I would love to continue this conversation with you once I'm not naked and once you're a little less bitchy but- oh wait! No I wouldn't! If you're so tired then go back to bed, but don't keep me from getting ready!" Zoro half expected Kuina to knock the door down and put him in another headlock. Force him to apologize or shove her fist in his face if he refuses.
But she didn't, in fact, it sounded like she gave up and either went back to bed or started to get ready for work. Zoro couldn't really tell. Her footsteps went left but he couldn't remember whether that was the direction of the kitchen or her bedroom.
Zoro finished getting himself ready and packed his school supplies in his bag. Kuina had gotten up after all and was making herself breakfast while Zoro was finishing up. It was about twenty after six now and Sanji was probably starting to get impatient, so Zoro slipped on his shoes to head out to Sanji's apartment. Too bad he was stopped by Kuina for the second time that morning.
"Are you stupid or something? School doesn't start for more than an hour." She grumbled through her toast. "Oh wait, I get it. You're preparing for how lost you're gonna get by leaving early. That way you have plenty of time to-"
"SHUT UP! I'm going over to Sanji's to-" Kuina raised her hand in order to silence Zoro before he could say another word.
"I don't need to know what you and your boyfriend are up to so early in the morning, just be safe okay?" Zoro's face went beat red and he turned away, facing the door and throwing his school bag over his shoulder.
"I SAID SHUT UP! HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND AND WE'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING LIKE THAT!" Zoro slammed the door shut behind him as he left and stood outside of the door for a minute, pouting as his face turned an even brighter shade of red. "He's not my boyfriend but… but I wouldn't hate that…" Zoro sucked in a deep breath and walked down the concrete steps.
He hesitated on whether or not he should knock when he got to Sanji's door, but decided to just walk inside. If the bastard hadn't unlocked the door for him by now, he'd just turn around and head home for another hour of sleep.
No such luck. The door creaked open and Zoro was met with the sight of Sanji leaning against the island in his kitchen. He had an unlit cigarette hanging from his lips and was staring angrily in the direction of the door. Zoro guessed that it wouldn't be too bad for him to get the smoke out of the pack, but lighting it up would be too painful for him to do on his own. Sanji had on a loose fitting tee and a pair of sweat pants that he was holding up with the tips of his fingers.
"About time you showed up jackass, food's in the oven." Zoro threw his bag on the floor and walked into the kitchen. He opened the oven to see two plates stacked with waffles, the plating was a little sloppier than usual but they still looked fantastic. "Juice is in the fridge, along with whatever you want to put on your waffles. If you want syrup, you can heat it up in the microwave."
Zoro nodded and pulled the plates out. He dug through Sanji's cupboards until he found where he kept the glasses and stuck two on the counter. He opened the fridge and found all the different toppings Sanji had. There was jam, cool whip, and a couple packs of berries. Zoro was almost expecting an entire spread of different things to put on all the different foods he makes, but it made sense that the fridge was somewhat emptier than most peoples. The guy was paying to run a restaurant after all.
Zoro pulled everything out and set it on the island along with utensils. He searched through the pantry until he found a small glass bottle of syrup and set it next to everything else. Zoro poured the drinks and stared down at the spread.
"So, what do you want on yours?" Zoro asked as he set the syrup in the microwave.
"I can-"
"Do it yourself, right? Just tell me what you want stupid." Sanji frowned and Zoro could see by the way his cigarette bobbed up and down that he was chewing on it. "Oh, and I suppose you can eat by yourself too? Law told me to help you if and when you need it, and right now, you need it. So just tell me what you want on your damn breakfast before I give you whatever I want." Sanji nodded.
"Strawberries, blueberries, raspberry jam, and whipped cream." Zoro dressed them both up, drowning his own waffles in syrup and squirting a pile of cool whip on the side of the plate. Zoro cut Sanji's waffles into bite-sized pieces and jabbed a piece with the fork he'd grabbed for Sanji.
"Here comes the airplane! Neeeeeeer~." Sanji sneered and opened his mouth to complain and Zoro immediately shoved the fork past his lips, pulling the cigarette out with his other hand. The anger in Sanji's face showed and Zoro smirked as he pulled the fork out and stuck it into another piece. Sanji finished the first piece and swallowed.
"YOU JACKASS! JUST BECAUSE I'M LETTING YOU HELP ME DOESN'T MEAN YOU GET TO BE AN ASSHOLE ABOUT IT! THINK ABOUT THAT THE NEXT TIME YOU-" Zoro shoved another piece of waffle into his mouth to shut him up. Sanji chewed for a moment before opening his mouth wide and sticking out his tongue, a pile of chewed waffle, jam, and berry sitting in the center of his tongue. Zoro snorted.
"And you call yourself a gentleman." Sanji shrugged and closed his mouth again. The rest of breakfast went by pretty normally. Zoro didn't make fun of Sanji any further when it came to being fed, and Sanji allowed Zoro to feed him without flailing around or complaining too much. Zoro ate his own food as he fed the cook and stuck the dishes in the sink once he was done.
"So, you're gonna come with me to the stand today and I'm gonna show you how to cook, right?" Zoro nodded. "Okay, and remind me again why we couldn't do it last night?"
"I told you, I go to the dojo every Tuesday and Thursday."
"But you're always at the stand every day when we all meet. How can you do that if you're training?"
"Cause the dojo closes at six-thirty and I join up with the group on the way to the stand." Sanji seemed to accept the answer and walked over to the bathroom. He pushed the door open with his foot and then kicked it shut behind him. Zoro stood in the kitchen for a few minutes before he heard Sanji's voice.
"Oi… Marimo! Could you open the door..?" Zoro chuckled and twisted the nob, allowing the door to swing open. Sanji walked out and glared at Zoro as if he were daring Zoro to say something. Zoro couldn't figure it out at first, but as he saw Sanji walking over to his bedroom and fixing his pants to the best of his abilities, he guessed what Sanji didn't want him to point out.
"Do you piss sitting down now?" Sanji's entire body stiffened and he turned to give Zoro a glare so menacing, it actually scared him a little. Sanji's entire face was so red that it could be compared to a cherry and there was definitely smoke coming from his ears. Zoro couldn't stop himself from laughing if he tried and pretty soon, he was leaning his arm against the wall to keep himself from falling over.
"FUCK OFF!" Sanji screamed and stormed into his room, slamming the door shut with his foot. Zoro continued to laugh for a while, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. Zoro straightened himself up and walked into the bathroom, gathering up the burn cream and bandages Law had given them. He'd have to take Sanji down to the drugstore to pick up more after school and before they go to the stand. He walked across the hall to Sanji's room, opening the door without bothering to knock. Sanji was sitting on his bed, pouting and red faced. He looked up at Zoro and scowled.
"Knock before entering asshat! What if I had been naked?!"
"We're both guys, so it's not like it would have been that big a deal. Anyway, it would have been a little hard for you to get yourself undressed in the condition you're in." Zoro had actually been a little surprised that Sanji had been able to get himself into his sleepwear last night. But that damn cook was so stubborn he probably spent hours pushing himself until he figured it out. He'd come to school that day in the same clothes from yesterday after all. It couldn't have healed all that much in one day.
Now that Zoro thought about it, how had the cook done anything this morning? Over the phone, he'd said that he was only reheating frozen waffles for breakfast. Easy enough until you have to open the freezer, open the bag of waffles, stick it in the toaster, get plates out of the cupboard. Zoro frowned as he thought about what else required using your hands. Nearly everything.
It's not that Sanji's hands were unusable. The blond would probably use said appendages to strangle him if he said as much to his face. But it was probably sinking in just how little Sanji could do right now. Not only could he not run the restaurant for around a month, but he probably couldn't even wipe his own ass after he shits. Not like Zoro would help him that much. Like he'd said to Sanji earlier, he had his limits. Helping Sanji to get dressed would even be stretching those limits. It would also probably shatter his patience with how much Sanji is going to complain.
Zoro wouldn't be so insistent on helping Sanji out if he didn't feel the slightest bit guilty for what happened. He knew there wasn't really much point to making himself feel like shit when he should really be helping Sanji to heal, but if he hadn't pushed the moron as far as he did… maybe…
Zoro's eyes trailed down to Sanji's hands from where they used to be staring at his beat red face. Most people would probably mistake Zoro or taking pity on Sanji with the way he was treating him. Acting like a small child that scraped his knee and needs to be coddled until he feels better. Both he and Sanji know that Zoro doesn't do shit outta pity though.
Zoro dropped the new bandages and cream on Sanji's dresser. He kneeled down in front of Sanji and reached out, taking Sanji's bandaged hands into his own. Sanji looked away and grit his teeth. Zoro slowly began to unwrap the bandages on Sanji's hands and drop them into a pile on his dresser. Zoro wasn't sure what Sanji's hands were supposed to look like at this point, but they probably weren't supposed to look this swollen. It's cause he was using them too much.
Zoro didn't say anything though. No point, Sanji wouldn't listen to him anyway. He silently put a new layer of burn cream over Sanji's palms and re-wrapped them. He heard Sanji's breath catch every once in a while as he worked.
"Zoro?" Sanji's voice broke the silence. "If I… if I asked you to kiss me again…" Zoro swallowed thickly and felt his face heat up. "Would you… would you do it?" Sanji turned and looked at Zoro, deep blue eyes meeting with wide hazel ones. Zoro cleared his throat and felt his hands twitch against Sanji's.
"Of-of course not dumbass!" Zoro looked down at his knees and his shoulders tensed as he waited for whatever Sanji was going to say. Zoro was taken aback when he suddenly heard Sanji laughing like a damn moron. Zoro raised his head and watched as Sanji crossed his arms over his stomach, bending forward on his bed and bangs covering his face.
"Okay, okay!" Sanji rasped out between laughs and gave Zoro a face-splitting grin, his cheeks still red and tears at the corners of his eyes. Zoro's body felt as hot as a furnace. He could probably take a cold shower and steam would actually come off of him. That was the second time that Sanji had brought up the kiss and if he did it again, Zoro was going to explode. At least he wasn't bringing it up in a negative way, was he? Maybe he was taunting Zoro, but he wasn't getting mad. They always made fun of each other so… did that mean everything was still fine between them?
Well, you'd have to be pretty dense not to think that things were gonna be a little different since Zoro did that. But things could be different and fine at the same time… right? Zoro's teeth clenched his teeth and his lips formed into a slight pout as he looked away from the blond. Maybe it wasn't exactly the reaction he was hoping for, but it was better than was he was expecting. Better than being kicked in the teeth and told that they couldn't be… whatever they were anymore.
-"Best. Fucking. Friend."-
Zoro pulled one of his hands away from Sanji's and ran it over his face, feeling his palm practically burn when he made contact with his cheeks. Zoro stood up and stomped over to Sanji's dresser, pulling out drawers and picking out different clothes for Sanji. Forest green shorts and a black and white tank covered in abstract designs for on top. Sanji always looks good in tank tops. He's got a lot more muscle in his arms than most guys of his lanky-ass build. Zoro shook his head as his thoughts began to wander and continued searching through drawers until he pulled out a pair of briefs.
"Briefs? Seriously? How old are you, forty?" Zoro laughed as the blush on his face began to fade. Sanji bristled and short Zoro a glare.
"And I suppose that makes you a boxers person? Briefs keep everything compact and where I want it to be." Sanji stood as he spoke and Zoro scowled down at the offending garments. At least they were boxer briefs and not some damn tighty whities. If Sanji wore shit like that, he'd be forced to stop speaking with him. Zoro dropped all the clothes on the bed next to Sanji and crossed his arms as he stared at the wall.
Zoro took in a deep breath before shutting his eyes as tightly as possible and grabbing ripping Sanji's clothes off his body. Earlier he had said it wouldn't be that big of a deal I he saw Sanji naked since they were both guys, but that was bullshit and he knew it. Sanji made a series of sputtering sounds that sounded close to "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST ZORO!" "I CAN DO IT MYSELF!" and "YOU COULD AT LEAST BE A LITTLE MORE GENTLE YOU ASSHOLE!" Zoro groped around on Sanji's bed until he found the briefs he'd pulled out earlier and stretched them out so Sanji could step inside. He did the same with Sanji's shorts but opened his eyes so that he could put the tank on properly.
Zoro's eyes did not linger or any longer than necessary on Sanji's torso. He did not pay special attention to the thick ropes of muscle packed tightly under Sanji's pale flesh. He did not notice the way that Sanji's body twitched when Zoro's fingers accidentally brushed against the sot skin of Sanji's stomach and chest. And he did not allow his knuckles to accidentally brush against one of the dark, brown nipples on Sanji's slightly flushed chest. Sanji pushed his arms through the tank while Zoro pulled a black, studded belt off a hook and began to thread it through the loops of Sanji's shorts.
"Aww, so thoughtful Marimo." Sanji teased as Zoro threaded the end of the belt through the buckle.
"The seconds your hands have healed…" Zoro muttered under his breath as he stuck his hands in his pockets and headed for Sanji's bedroom door. It probably seemed like Zoro thought that Sanji was weaker now that his hands were all fucked up. If the situation were different, Zoro probably would have gotten into a dozen fights with Sanji by now. But Zoro didn't want to spend any more time than he needed to helping Sanji run the stand.
If Sanji was as serious about their fights that Zoro was, he's probably forget about what he'd done to his hands and try one of those hand-stand kick things he likes to do now. Then the healing would be set back a few days, maybe even a week. Zoro nearly jumped when his phone vibrated in his pocket next to his hand. He pulled it out and checked the ID before hitting accept and placing the phone to his ear.
"Yo, Luffy! What's up? I'm surprised you got your lazy ass up this early." Zoro smirked as he checked his watch. It was only seven-thirty in the morning. "Oh, almost forgot, happy birthday man!"
"Shishishi! Thanks! I would say that we should party but I'm still hungover from last Sunday! Anyway, are you still looking for a job?"
