Sanji had learnt a bit about what foods Zoro liked and disliked now that he was spending more time with him. The otter, since injuring his leg yesterday, had spent the majority of the time in the kitchen with the cook where he was able to keep out of trouble and out of the way of Luffy and any more accidents. Sanji had ran a bowl of lukewarm water and had put Zoro inside with a little plastic sandwich bag wrapped around his injured limb to keep the bandages and splint dry. Zoro had chirped happily and swished his tail around, sloshing water over and onto the sides, prompting the blond to put a towel down.
The marimo otter was currently resting in the water, head over the side of the bowl and his one eye watching Sanji as he cut up the vegetables for dinner. The cook looked at the little animal then back at the cucumber he was slicing. He picked a piece up.
"Do otters even eat cucumber?" He asked, directing it at Zoro even though he knew he wouldn't get a reply he could understand. Zoro moved in the bowl and chattered his teeth, making grunting noises until Sanji relented and passed him the slice.
Stubby toes clutched at his thumb, the fur there wet but warm, and tugged his hand closer until Zoro was able to get his teeth into the vegetable and hold it himself. Sanji watched as the once swordsman gnawed at it, taking chunks out and chewing quickly, his little cheeks puffing up, and smiled at the otter and laughed. Zoro stopped chewing momentarily to glare at him and flicked his tail up, splashing water up the cook's face and over his still two shockingly bruised eyes and nose. It was Sanji's turn to scowl and mutter, "Fucking mossrat."
He used the long skirt of his apron to dab the water away from his sensitive skin and when he pulled it away he saw the otter scrabbling to get out of the bowl, Zoro's belly preventing him from climbing over the rim. Sanji frowned, "What are you doing?"
Zoro made an awkward grunt and scrambled with his back legs, trying to find some purchase on the bowl's slippery sides. The cook sighed and hooked a hand under the animal, the length of the lithe body feeling strange to hold, and, despite Zoro's more than clear distaste at being picked up, lifted him over the bowl and onto the towel. The swordsman otter tottered a moment, trying to regain balance, and then plopped into a sit, his belly bunching up and coming over his back legs a little.
"You'd better keep your ass there, rat- I don't want you spreading your fleas everywhere." Sanji warned, washing his hands at the sink after handling his furry nakama. Zoro bared his front teeth, his whiskers pricking up. Sanji snorted, "Shut up."
He dried his hands off and returned to slicing and dicing, Zoro sitting off to the side further away from the chopping board and watching with some interest as the water dripped off his little ears and his nose. Sanji hummed to himself as he usually did when he cooked, enjoying the strange but entirely welcome atmosphere that had settled between them. Then he noticed the little otter shuffling closer.
"No." The cook said, giving Zoro a stern look.
The swordsman otter inched a little closer.
"Damn it, you shitty rat. No." Sanji snapped.
Zoro made a displeased sound in the back of his throat and turned around, scuttling off back to his towel and Sanji watched him a moment to make sure the little shit wasn't up to anything else to annoy him. Somehow, even in his otter body, Zoro was able to piss him off. Sanji had been whacked with that surprisingly painful tail, bit numerous times, and had his sleeves ripped and there was currently a shoe missing from his wardrobe that he had yet to find, but he had his suspicions on its whereabouts.
Suddenly his eyes caught movement and he spotted the marimo rat sat in front of him by the side of the chopping board with a look in his eye that the cook couldn't place. He narrowed his eyes, "What?"
Zoro lay down and Sanji couldn't help but be on edge because this was the shitty marimo who practically lived to annoy the hell out of him. So why was he suddenly behaving?
The otter place his head on top of his unwrapped leg and just stared expectantly. Sanji felt awkward under the animal's gaze and returned back to his chopping, determined to ignore Zoro and whatever it was he was planning to do, when he saw the way the other was looking with acute interest at the way his hands moved with the knife he was holding. Zoro's ears were pricked up and his tail slid side to side as he lay there in contentment, and Sanji realised that Zoro was watching him cook. The swordsman was actually taking an interest in something he was doing. He felt his ears flush hotly with the new attention on him, flattered and embarrassed at the same time. He pulled a face, "What're you looking at, shit face?"
Zoro chattered his teeth, squinting his eye and Sanji knew from one of Chopper's explanations on body language that that meant happiness and feeling relaxed. Sanji coughed awkwardly and picked up a piece of cucumber again, placing it in front of Zoro much to the otter's surprise, and looked to the side, "Shitty mossrat..."
Zoro bit into the slice and chirped.