Sanji startled awake at the frantic knocking on the infirmary door, he felt a cold wash of guilt flow through him, he'd fallen asleep! He was supposed to be watching Zoro, not sleeping! He glanced at Zoro who was peacefully asleep under the duvet. Hurriedly he went to unlock the door and saw a desperate looking Chopper on the other side, his hoof still raised from banging on the door.
"Sorry, I didn't want him escaping." Sanji whispered as Chopper came in the infirmary.
"Probably a good idea. How was he?" Chopper asked curiously as he walked over to his sleeping patient.
"He wasn't a problem really, I see what you meant about him talking though." The cook replied remembering Zoro's strange words last night.
"Well, his skin looks a lot better." Chopper said sounding pleased. Sanji craned his neck to see the face of the sleeping swordsman. It was true, he was an awful lot less patchy than he had been last night, and the places that he was red looked an awful lot less angry than before. He looked a lot more like Zoro should do.
Chopper slipped the buds of his stethoscope in his ears and after huffing on the end to warm it up, he placed it on Zoro's back. Zoro mumbled in his sleep but didn't wake up. Chopper continued to move the stethoscope around in what Sanji could only assume was a scientific fashion. So, Zoro was fine after all. Sanji felt tension in his shoulders relax, he didn't even realise that he'd been so tense.
"Hmm." Chopper murmured disapprovingly. Sanji felt a muscle in between his shoulder blades twang uncomfortably at that.
"What do you mean 'hmm'? That's not a good sound." Sanji asked in a voice that came out a little sharper than he'd meant it to.
"Well, I just would have expected his breathing to sound a lot better by now. It seems that his lungs are still inflamed." The little doctor commented, listening closer to the swordsman's breathing. Zoro apparently decided that now was the time to interrupt Chopper's medical attentions by yawning loudly, and by Chopper's wince and sudden removal of the stethoscope from his ears, Sanji would bet that that loud obnoxious yawn was even louder for Chopper.
"I'm going to have to give him more medicine now." Chopper said with a frown on his small face.
"Is that bad?" Sanji asked after a moment or two, surely medicine was good? It made Zoro get better.
"Well, he needs it, so no. But I wanted him to be off of it by now, and I'm not too comfortable with his reaction to it." The little doctor replied worriedly.
"Him being stoned out of his brain you mean?" Sanji asked dryly. At that moment the lump underneath the duvet that was Zoro stirred into the waking world, with some apparent regret.
"My head." Zoro moaned clutching at his temples in pain.
"Does it hurt?" Chopper asked leaning over his patient. Zoro swatted at him and missed by a mile.
"Course i hur's. Stop shoutin'." Zoro slurred curling up into a ball. Sanji winced in sympathy, Zoro looked like every hangover Sanji had experienced in his life all rolled into one horrible painful moment.
Sanji watched as Chopper quickly turned and mixed the contents of a few vials into a glass and returned to his patient.
"Zoro take this." Chopper commanded in his authoritative doctor voice.
"No!" Zoro snapped shoving the reindeer away.
"Stop givin' me stuff tha' makes me fuzzy." Zoro slurred angrily as he attempted to glare at Chopper, if only he could focus his vision first.
"I thought it would have worn off by now." Sanji murmured voicing his thoughts. Zoro seemed drunk almost, rather than the quick but somewhat brainless Zoro of last night, or the stoned five-second attention span of the afternoon before.
"This is what I mean." The little doctor replied with a frown. Zoro swayed on the bed, his hand to his temple.
"It's just a painkiller Zoro, it'll make your head feel better, that's all." Chopper said soothingly as he approached the swordsman again, as one would a dangerous and wounded animal.
"Painkiller?" Zoro grunted scrunching his eyes shut and clutching one handed at his temple.
"Just a painkiller." Chopper hushed him as he pressed the glass into Zoro's palm. The marimo regarded it for a moment before tossing back the contents in one large gulp. He grunted and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Sanji quelled the irritated voice in the back of his head screaming about the moss-head's continuing lack of manners.
Zoro swayed violently suddenly, and his head snapped up as he fiercely glared at Chopper.
"Li'l bastard! Lied to me!" Zoro half snarled and half slurred as he launched himself off of the bed at Chopper. Zoro missed by a wide margin and landed instead face-first on the floor with an ungraceful thud. Sanji stared wide-eyed at the felled swordsman. Something that was a cross between a snort and a snore emanated from the boneless pile on the ground that was Zoro.
"You lied?" Sanji blinked in shock.
"I took an oath to do what was best for my patients, telling the truth is… good but not necessary." Chopper sighed as he changed form and manhandled the thoroughly unconscious Zoro back into the bed.
Sanji blinked in shock at the little doctor's words, he wasn't sure that he'd be able to quite trust any medicine that Chopper gave him to be what he said it was ever again. Not that Chopper would ever give him something harmful of course, but still.
No, a nasty voice in his head remarked, you're the only one around here that poisons people.
He winced at that. When was his conscience planning on giving him a break for that? It was one mistake and he'd tried to make amends, what more could he do?
"I'd better go cook breakfast." Sanji muttered turning to the door.
"You don't have to, Robin cooked for us this morning. I tried knocking on the door earlier but you didn't answer, I could hear two people snoring though so I decided to wait until after. Robin made pancakes." Chopper said distractedly as he manoeuvred Zoro into laying comfortably.
"Robin… cooked?" Sanji breathed in horror. He'd neglected his job, nay, his calling and forced one of his lovely ladies to have to do his job for him?
It took him an unbelievably short time to run to the kitchen, inside he found Robin and Franky washing up. Or rather, Franky washing and Robin's assorted hands drying, stacking and putting away plates.
"Oi, there you are Sanji!" Franky grinned at him as he finished the last plate.
"Ah, cook-san." Robin smiled at him, her disembodied hands still drying and tidying away.
"I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of cooking breakfast for the crew after your late night looking after Zoro. You really seem to have taken to looking after him. Perhaps our ship might have two doctors and a cook soon, hm?" Robin said with a small smile on her face as the last of the dishes were put away and her hands disappeared in a flurry of petals.
"No, I- I'm so sorry you had to cook in my absence! I didn't realise I'd slept so long, please forgive me Robin!" Sanji begged kneeling before the archaeologist.
"Nonsense Sanji, it was fun to cook for a change." She laughed and slinked out of the room.
"Thank you for helping me clean up Franky." Robin said pausing at the door with a small smile and shut the door behind her. Franky stood with a fixed smile at the door for a few seconds before slowly reaching out a giant hand and grabbing Sanji by the lapels of his suit.
"Please, don't ever let that woman cook again!" Franky sobbed, tears running rapidly down his face.
"I'm really sorry that I- wait… why?" Sanji blinked in confusion. He found himself lifted off of the ground until he was face to face with the blue-haired shipwright.
"Those pancakes were more rubbery than Luffy! THAN. LUFFY." Franky said shaking Sanji with every word. Sanji managed to pry himself free of Franky's grip and glared at the shipwright for manhandling him like that. But Franky's eyes were tightly shut, one hand resting on his stomach and the other pressed dramatically to his forehead.
"I'm gonna go lay down for an hour… or six. Just to let my stomach settle." Franky groaned and shuffled out of his kitchen.
Sanji watched Franky go and wondered what could possibly be so bad about Robin's pancakes, there unfortunately weren't any left around after the two had cleared up so it seemed that he'd never know. He looked around the kitchen unhappily, since he hadn't cooked breakfast he felt at a loose end. And it wasn't like he could clean up after the others now either, Robin and Franky had taken care of that.
He blew his hair out of his eyes and stood in his own kitchen feeling lost. He didn't feel like going to bed because he'd apparently slept enough when he was supposed to be looking after the marimo. His stomach growled slightly. Of course, just because the others had eaten didn't mean that he didn't still need feeding! Sanji opened his cupboards and looked inside, he couldn't remember the last time he'd ever cooked just for himself. There was no such thing as a solitary meal on the Sunny, or even the Merry for that matter, and you never ate alone on the Baratie. Sanji stilled at that, actually… he didn't think he'd ever cooked just for himself. The idea seemed wrong somehow, food was something to share with people you loved and cared about, or at least people who were paying you.
His mind suddenly settled on the swordsman, he'd not eaten either. Perhaps he could cook for just the two of them? But no… Zoro was completely out of it if Chopper's medication was any indication. Sanji decided that he'd just cook for himself. Brioche perhaps? They were lovely fresh and warm and still tasty cold as well. He smiled and got started. Half and hour later Sanji was looking down at a serving plate filled with more brioche than he'd intended, twice as much at least in fact. And the coffee pot to the side was filled with far more coffee than needed.
He tutted at himself and took his plate of food and cup of coffee over to the empty galley table and sat down. He smiled, it was peaceful, there was no shouting or insults, no grabbing of food, no mess. It was peaceful. Calm. He looked down at his hot brioche and purposefully raised it up to his lips. He was going to enjoy his breakfast.
The silence was deafening.
He couldn't stand it.
Sanji growled in frustration and sulkily dropped the uneaten brioche back onto his plate. Eating alone was just unnatural. It was wrong. But everyone else had eaten. Well, everyone else who was capable of conscious thought at the moment has anyway. It wasn't like Zoro would even be in a state to eat now anyway. Sanji's eyes travelled over to the serving plate, easily enough there for another… and they were good cold too…
He growled at himself and made up another plate and poured coffee for Zoro too, and with some afterthought decided to add more than a little splash of whiskey to it as well, the alcohol starved marimo would probably appreciate that.
Carefully balancing the plates and mugs Sanji walked down to the infirmary. He expected to see Chopper in there but the little doctor was missing, probably seeing to Franky's stomach ache if his whinging about it earlier was any indication. He set his own plate and mug down on the side and then slowly and carefully set out Zoro's on the small side table at the head of the bed.
He sat down on the chair by Zoro's bed, smoothed out the wrinkles in his trousers and carefully set into cutting into his brioche and delicately buttering it. He inhaled the fresh scent of food happily and then let out a blissful sigh. This felt much better, eating in the presence of someone else was far preferable to eating alone, even if your company happened to be an unconscious Zoro.
He smiled and blew on his hot coffee, it smelt divine if he had to say so. And with a sip he agreed that it tasted pretty damn good too. The wonderful smell of coffee filled the room.
Sanji didn't even notice Zoro roll over and open his eyes until he heard the pleased hum from Zoro's throat. The swordsman was propped up on one elbow sniffing at the plate of food and the coffee before him. Apparently whatever it was Chopper had given Zoro indeed had a lot of painkiller in it, Zoro didn't look nearly as awful as he'd done a while ago, he no longer looked like hangovers personified. Still, he knew it wasn't just painkiller in there. Sanji looked carefully at Zoro's eyes, yep, they were still huge. It seemed that the marimo was still stoned, so perhaps some caution was advisable.
"That's hot." Sanji warned the sleepy marimo, remembering all too well Zoro's inadvisable mouthful of boiling soup before. Zoro looked at him and snorted before looking back to his breakfast.
"Tch. Ero-cook." Zoro muttered as he tried to co-ordinate his hand into grabbing his breakfast. Sanji's spine snapped straight at that and he nearly spilled his own coffee down his suit.
"I didn't mean you asshole, I meant the coffee!" Sanji snapped red-faced and angry. Zoro snickered at that and started eating. Sanji's eyes widened, had… had the marimo been messing with him? Deliberately winding him up? What was going on here? How was he even coherent enough to do that?
"'s good." Zoro commented, spraying crumbs in Sanji's general direction. Had Sanji been paying attention he would perhaps have been irked at Zoro talking with his mouth full. But instead Sanji was staring at Zoro. He was naked from the waist up and propped up in bed eating Sanji's food, his hair was mussed from sleep still and with the soft light from the small lamp in the room it almost looked like… well. If Zoro had been a lady Sanji would have thought that this looked like how a lover would look, freshly awake and eating a specially prepared breakfast, just the two of them, it seemed… intimate almost. But, Zoro was not a lady. And really, that whole line of thought was beyond dumb. Sanji took a large gulp of coffee not caring if he burnt his tongue, he couldn't possibly be properly awake yet to be thinking things like that.
Actually, that coffee was REALLY hot.
"Gah." Sanji yelped sticking out his burning tongue and fanning it with his hand.
"That's hot." Zoro parroted back teasingly, a mischievous grin playing on his lips. Sanji quickly snapped his mouth shut, only barely managing to avoid biting his tongue off. This was getting weird.
As if to show that he was tougher than Sanji, Zoro decided to drink his own equally hot coffee at that point. It took a moment but Zoro's eyebrows raised at the taste and he had another sip. A feral grin slipped across the swordsman's face and he looked up at Sanji.
"You spikin' my coffee now cook?" He grinned.
"Thought you'd appreciate it, you ungrateful ass." Sanji snapped feeling irritated. Really, why had he thought that it was a good idea to come down here? Eating alone had to be better than sitting around with this Neanderthal.
"I'm grateful." Zoro shrugged and continued drinking.
So… still no brain-filter huh? Interesting.
"What did you mean last night about the girls?" Sanji asked suddenly.
"They're not girls. Robin's nearly like… a decade older than you." Zoro said rolling his eyes at Sanji.
"Ladies then." Sanji corrected huffily. If he were dealing with someone with even a shadow of some manners Sanji might have pointed out that it was rude to comment on a lady's age, but Zoro didn't even have that, so it was pointless chiding him.
Zoro just shook his head and ignored Sanji as he continued having breakfast.
"Oi! I'm talking to you asshole!" Sanji shouted, irritated at being ignored. He kicked the frame of Zoro's bed for good measure. Zoro swore back at Sanji vaguely for nearly making him spill his coffee.
"Well?" Sanji repeated, glaring at the swordsman.
"Tch, forget it." Zoro shrugged putting the now empty mug on his empty plate by his bed.
"No, tell me." Sanji insisted.
"Whatever. Green isn't my colour anyway." Zoro huffed rolling over so his back was facing Sanji.
"I coulda told you that Moss-head." He snorted. Sanji was just about to open his mouth again to demand a real answer when an almighty crash came from somewhere up the hallway. Sanji pricked his ears, there was shouting and banging now too, if he had to guess he'd say it was from the deck of the Sunny.
"What the?" Sanji murmured standing up, putting his plate to the side. It sounded louder than Luffy and Usopp's usual racket.
"I'll be right back, we're not done talking… about… this…" Sanji trailed off. He stared at Zoro, he was curled up in bed, his eyes shut and his breathing slow. Was he really asleep after that much coffee? He wanted to investigate but another bang and a yell made him leave.
He made his way out onto the deck of the Sunny, completely ready to shout at the crew for making so much damn noise when a sword flew through the air past his ear and embedded itself in the wood next to his head with a sound like a ruler being twanged on a table. His eyes followed it, there were people on deck. People who weren't his nakama. Said people were currently in the process of attacking his nakama. They were under attack!
Sanji leapt forward and kicked one unsuspecting pirate clean off of the ship and into the ocean with an almighty splash. A nasty part of Sanji hoped that he had a devil's fruit power and that the bastard would drown. The brawl was going on in earnest now, and although the crew were strong it did hamper everyone's fighting ability to be fighting in such a small space. Luffy couldn't punch with all his usual enthusiasm for fear of hitting friend and foe alike, similarly Franky couldn't use his guns in his arm and Nami couldn't summon a giant thundercloud for fear of damaging the mast or her own crew. Because of this the attackers were doing better than they should have done.
He kicked a man in the stomach and felt ribs crack, another would be unlikely to be walking right for a while after Sanji's adjustment to the man's groin via his steel toed shoes. Suddenly tiny hooves gripped his sleeve, he looked down at Chopper in surprise.
"Sanji! Protect Zoro, he's in no state to protect himself and if someone gets past us…" Chopper said urgently. The rest didn't need to be said, Zoro was in no way capable of fighting and if someone were to slip into the ship they needed someone who could defend him. And apparently Chopper didn't consider himself capable of that. Sanji gritted his teeth and ran back down into the ship towards Zoro. There was already a man down the hallway that Zoro's room was in.
Rage slid down his back like ice water. He yelled and kicked hard at the man, the invader dropped in one ungraceful motion and was out cold, or dead, Sanji didn't care. Why had he even left Zoro? The man was unarmed and drugged up, and despite all that coffee, asleep. That thought niggled in his mind. Zoro shouldn't have been asleep. It wasn't like he was passed out from being drunk after all, the man could drink barrels of sake and still be sober enough to fight.
A nasty thought slunk uninvited into Sanji's brain. Didn't some medication multiply the potency of alcohol? Okay, so he'd given Zoro only a measure of whiskey, a generous measure mind but… well… what if Zoro was now unarmed, unconscious, drugged and inebriated? And… he'd left him alone. Some nakama he was.
Sanji had been previously unaware that he could run this fast. But the only thought running through his brain as he sprinted towards Zoro's room was his new mantra.
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
What if Zoro wasn't okay?