Notes: Originally posted on LJ, Mar. 2007.
Archive: NO
Bed Companions
By Miki
Sanji's stomach rumbled as he tramped through the darkness of the kitchen and headed towards the cupboards.
He'd woken up, tired and cranky and wet – Luffy was never ever again allowed to share his bed no matter what his excuse, he'd decided – and most of all, hungry.
It was Luffy's fault that he was hungry too, and as Sanji tried not to make too much noise on the wooden floor, he cursed the fact that he hadn't brought a light with him.
He'd been so busy extracting himself from Luffy's grip that by the time he reached the door of the cabin where he slept, he hadn't even given a thought to the fact that the galley was actually dark at night.
As his foot collided with something hard, he swore, hurriedly swinging his arms out in an effort to find his balance.
He stumbled forwards a little and cursed some more, even though there was no one around to hear him and swearing like a sailor didn't exactly make his foot feel any less painful.
He ran a hand through his hair as he stood still, trying to take small steps and wondering exactly where he was in the darkness.
Then there was a creak somewhere behind him and he spun around, eyes wide in the darkness as his heart thumped heavily in his chest.
He considered calling out to ask who was there, but he knew Luffy would still be asleep and no one else would actually bother getting out of bed at this hour for food.
Dawn was still a few hours away and Usopp was supposed to have the night watch, so he wouldn't bother coming in here either, especially since Nami would probably give him a good tongue lashing if she actually happened to find out he'd been wandering around the ship looking after his stomach instead of keeping a look out for pirates.
Sanji held his breath as he heard the unmistakeable sound of the door swinging open.
Then there was light and Zoro stepped in, looking half-dead and slouching a little uncharacteristically.
"What are you doing here?" Sanji demanded quickly, watching as Zoro snapped to attention; face going from a sleepy, half-lidded look to a look of wariness.
"What are you doing here?" Zoro asked, returning the question.
Sanji fumbled in his pocket, annoyed at the fact that he'd left his cigarettes in his bed.
Luffy was probably drooling on them too, damn him.
It turned out that Zoro was just as hungry as Sanji, and even if Sanji wanted to boot him out of the kitchen to eat in peace and quiet, he didn't really have the strength to do so.
And besides, Zoro had the light.
There were left overs from dinner – not because none of them had been hungry, but because Sanji had set them aside for Nami, before she'd come back onto the ship and informed them she'd already eaten at the wharf they were leaving that evening.
A chef could never be a fan of left overs, but it was dark and the air in the ship was cold and Sanji wasn't about to cook something just so Merino head could have a hot meal in the middle of the night.
Sanji had almost expected Zoro to complain about the meal, but it turned out he was just as exhausted as Sanji, and minus a few grumbles and a half-hearted threat to boot Zoro out the door, they managed to ration out what was left of dinner and eat it in relative peace.
"So why can't you sleep?" Zoro asked after a while.
"Luffy," Sanji replied.
Zoro seemed to understand the meaning behind Sanji's one-word answer, and didn't ask anything else until they'd cleaned their dishes and were heading back to their cabins.
"I'm relieving Usopp now," he said.
Sanji didn't appreciate the small talk and couldn't really have cared less who was on shift up on deck, so he snatched the light from Zoro irritably, wanting to get back to bed before the sun came up.
"I'll have this then," he grumbled.
Zoro looked for a moment as though he was about to snatch the light back, but didn't.
He disappeared up to the deck and Sanji made his way back to his bed, only to find Luffy sprawled and taking up all the space.
He snatched his cigarettes from the bed, wiped the wetness on the packet off onto Luffy's shirt and was about to go up on deck to get away from him when Zoro's words clicked in his head and he realised he could do better than a whole lot of cold air and hard wooden planks under his backside.
(S)
When Zoro woke up in the middle of the next night, he was hungry.
Hungry, and sweaty and warm.
He couldn't feel the itchiness of his blanket on top of him, and the heavy lump at his side definitely hadn't been there when he'd gone to bed.
It took him a few moments to realise who it was – at first he'd thought it was Luffy – and when he did, only the fact that he was tired and being warm was marginally better to being cold stopped him from booting the idiot out of his bed.
When Luffy woke them both up in the morning, grinning widely, hands on hips and looking entirely too amused for his own good – apparently he found Sanji's bed more comfortable than his own – Sanji and Zoro managed half an argument before Sanji hauled himself off to the kitchen and Zoro tried to pretend he hadn't just slept in the same breathing space as that shitty love cook.
Zoro was raiding one of the kitchen cupboards two nights later when Sanji hauled himself from his bed, kicked Luffy for good measure though he didn't so much as blink an eyelid, and stumbled blearily into the kitchen.
They ate in silence; both men too uncomfortable to consider breaking the silence, but when Sanji looked cranky about returning to a bed which was already three-quarters taken by a boy with his mouth open, Zoro pretended he couldn't feel the extra weight in his own bed and simply put up with the slight squashiness.
Besides, he'd had Luffy for a bed companion before, and at least Sanji didn't sleep with his mouth open.
.fin.