Sanji can perhaps understand why Zoro hadn't wanted to leave him at the Baratie before. He manages to last all of fifteen minutes at the restaurant before the incompetence of the others forces him to intervene and start cooking. It helps to take his mind off of the danger that Zoro could well be in, he doesn't like that he's chasing that psycho alone and unarmed, if he had even the first clue as to where he might be then he'd go to his side in a heartbeat. But as it was he had no idea.
He admittedly spends most of the night glancing up from his work through the windows that show the restaurant hoping to see Zoro coming through the doors safe and sound. But Zoro never appears.
Even come closing time at eleven Zoro still is absent, and by half eleven when the Baratie is clean and ready for the next day Zoro is still a no show.
"What's up eggplant? You look like hell." Zeff says twitching his braided moustache.
"I was expecting Zoro is all. He's chasing after some psycho, the idiot." Sanji mutters distastefully as he flings a damp washcloth into the sink.
"That's what he does. Go home, he's not gonna come looking for you here when we're closed is he?" Zeff snorts as if he's being dumb. Sanji grunts in agreement and heads to the main doors to the Baratie, he'll lock the door after him.
"You're still getting your memories back?" Zeff calls after him in a way that sounds more like a statement than a question, as if the bastard knows. Sanji freezes at the door, his hand stilled at the handle.
"Bits and pieces." he answers quietly.
"And you still haven't told him." Zeff says with a dark edge to his voice. Sanji turns and leans against the locked front door while giving the old man a level look.
"We talked about this." he states simply.
"Yeah, you weren't sure it was going to keep happening, but it has. So why haven't you told him?" The older cook presses him.
"Because I don't know how much I'm going to get back, I wouldn't want to get his hopes up!" Sanji replies exasperatedly, hadn't he and the old man discussed this just days ago? Who was the one here with memory problems again?
"Bullshit! You're just scared, you're acting like a coward. I don't know why but when it comes to Zoro you're a pathetic coward, you always have been! That's why you kept screwing up with him, 'cause you were too scared of getting hurt!" Zeff snaps fiercely, his blue eyes blazing.
"I'm not a coward! I'm trying to protect him!" Sanji retorts defensively.
"You're protecting yourself!" the old man shoots back.
"I am not!" he protests.
"Then tell me, what exactly do you feel for Zoro?" Zeff demands and fixes Sanji a challenging look.
"I- It's... we... it's complicated." Sanji answers, squirming like a worm on a hook under Zeff's unblinking stare.
"Shit like this is as complicated at you make it, stupid brat. Go home and use your brain for once." Zeff mutters with a sigh as he unlocks the door and hustles Sanji protesting out into the cool night air.
Sanji scuffs his boots on the ground outside the restaurant feeling every bit like a misbehaving pet that's been tossed out for the night. He grudgingly walks home with Zeff's words ringing in his ears. His feelings towards Zoro are complicated. The strongest feelings are the old ones, the ones he's always had to both Zoro's, irritation, grudging respect for his fighting prowess, trust and a mutual habit of pissing each other off. The strongest feeling of all is their bond as nakama, he's not sure that anything could break that at all. But… there are newer feelings, feelings that feel both new and old because the memories are dated. He's attracted to this Zoro, there's not really any denying that now, not after that kiss. And he feels… protective of the man, which is crazy because Zoro is more than capable of protecting himself. But when he learnt about what his other self here had done to Zoro… well, he wanted to hunt down his double and break his face for daring to be so cruel. He also had this tangled mix of affectionate feelings for Zoro, ones that would surface at odd times, he feels a surge of affection when he catches a glimpse of Zoro half asleep in the soft morning light, he feels a happy kind of exasperation when Zoro does something that's so completely Zoro – like dropping that box on his head this morning.
So what exactly does he feel for the man? He's not sure there's a name for 'a little bit more than nakama, with a massive helping of lust and a worryingly strong affection in odd moments'. He knows what Zeff is getting at, he's insisting that Sanji loves Zoro. But he's fairly sure no one's ever written sonnets or songs over the bizarre kind of relationship that he and Zoro have; "Gee sometimes you make me want to kick you until your skull caves in, but I'd murder anyone who tried to hurt you in a heartbeat. I've no idea how anyone alive can get as lost as you, but you're selfless and gentle to a fault sometimes. Oh, and also I'd like you to screw me until I scream." Hardly the stuff of classic love stories there.
So how exactly is he being a coward? If this is what love is then sure, he's got no problem admitting what he's feeling although he might go and lodge a complaint against romance novelists for massively misleading him. That's not cowardice.
He stills with his key half in the lock to his and Zoro's place, he managed to walk here on auto-pilot. It scares him a little how easy some of these memories are coming to him. He lets that thought roll around in his head like red wine breathing in a glass as he walks through the front door. Perhaps… perhaps Zeff was calling him a coward because of his inability to let go of the supposedly "wrong" memories that he held. Maybe Zeff was under the impression that this was some sort of escapism for him, like his other self's stupid affairs. If that were true it would be cowardice. But, he knows in his bones that his world is real, that his old memories are real. So Zeff, for all his old man wisdom, is wrong.
Sanji stretches his body out in the middle of the living room, standing on his bare tiptoes and stretching as high as he can, stretching one leg behind him and bending it until he can get his toes to touch the back of his shoulder. When he finally feels stretched and limber he clicks the main light off and pads in the dark to the bedroom. He shucks off his clothes and slips on pyjama pants and settles into bed with the idea of waiting for Zoro to get home.
To pass the time he plays with his newfound gadgety phone, it's really not that hard to use and he's remembering it as he goes. He's got tonnes of photos of his friends and his nakama. He spies a considerably more human looking Franky without the metal nose or jagged chin, and whilst his arms are still giant Sanji will bet that there are no cannons in them. There's also a very amusing video of a VERY drunk Usopp telling the tail end of a very bad story before tripping and falling backwards into a ditch. Eventually he curls up in the dark in bed, not quite sleeping but not quite awake either. It's one in the morning when Sanji stirs back into wakefulness at the sound of the front door closing.
Sanji perks his ears and listens. The sound of boots being shucked off, the sound of something being dropped on something soft (the sofa perhaps?) and quiet bare footsteps coming closer. The door to the room wasn't shut so Sanji hears Zoro quietly step around the bed and towards the shower room that's connected to their bedroom. The door squeaks as it closes and Sanji hears the click of the light inside and sees the slim sliver of light spread across the floor. Cautiously Sanji gets out of bed and sneaks towards the shower room. He can hear the squeak of a tap as it turns on and flowing water, it sounds more like the sink than the shower so he figures that it's probably safe to go in. Although, in all honesty he's not sure if he would have refrained from going into the shower room if it had been the shower.
Zoro looks up at him with a startled expression on his face, not the gentle surprised kind of startled either, the kind of startled that usually would lead to Zoro's swords flying loose. But thankfully this Zoro doesn't carry swords with him, he does spot that Zoro's hand is halfway to a rather menacing looking straight razor though. The man's body visibly relaxes though when he recognises Sanji for who he is.
"Didn't mean to wake you." He mumbles and stares back down into the sink which is filling slowly with cold water.
"I didn't go to sleep, I was waiting up for you." Sanji replies and, since this isn't the Zoro that constantly mocks him at every show of weakness, adds: "I was worried. I didn't expect you to be so late, I thought something bad might have happened."
"Something did." Zoro grumbles grimly and shuts off the tap with a little more force than is strictly necessary.
"What-" Sanji starts to say but then spots the gash in Zoro's upper arm, just above his bicep.
"You're bleeding!" He exclaims and tarts forward, pulling ruined t-shirt off of the wound which earns him a hiss from Zoro.
"Oh. I got stabbed a little, I'm fine." Zoro says dismissively and half-heartedly tries to bat him away. Sanji doesn't lessen his grip on Zoro's arm though. With a scowl he inspects the wound, it's a clean cut, fairly shallow, unlikely to have done any muscle damage, slow bleeding now. This wound is probably a few hours old, perhaps older.
"Did you see Chopper for it?" He questions, knowing the answer already. Chopper would never have let Zoro leave his hospital with a wound open and un-bandaged like that. Zoro at least has the decency to look meek at that, it seems that no Zoro likes disappointing or stressing out the little doctor, however reindeer-like he may or may not be.
"Sit down, shut up, I'm cleaning that wound." He orders snappishly and points Zoro in the direction of the shut toilet. It only takes a few seconds of rifling through the medicine cabinet on the wall to acquire his tools. He peels the shirt off of the sullen looking Zoro and chucks it to the side. He inspects the wound again closely, he's brought tweezers to remove any debris in the wound but surprisingly there is none. Instead he switches to dousing a cotton ball in antiseptic and gently washing the wound, Zoro barely winces and instead just stares deadly into the middle-distance. A little coil of worry curls in Sanji's gut.
"This wasn't the bad thing that happened tonight was it?" He asks quietly and tosses the cotton ball in the bin. He dabs at the wound with a sterile piece of cotton bandage while Zoro shakes his head silently.
"So, tell me what happened." He presses further.
"I thought I was supposed to be shutting up." Zoro grumbles. It's a weak attempt to distract him and Sanji isn't falling for it, it's not like Zoro's putting much effort into it anyway.
"Stop being evasive." He chides the green-haired idiot and presses a little too firmly with the bandage as punishment.
"I followed Doflamingo for a while. I don't know when he spotted me, I was being so careful. But he didn't take me anywhere useful. He did however lead me into an ambush he'd somehow set up for me. Nine guys with knives half crazy from drugs and half crazy from fear of Doflamingo." Zoro explains with less of an air of reluctance than Sanji had expected.
"You won of course." Sanji adds with a nod as he unravels clean bandage.
"Mmm. I got cut though, I was distracted by Doflamingo and his fucking creepy smile. He told me that there were consequences for trying to stop him, then he disappeared before I could put all of the guys who attacked me down." The swordsman frowns. Sanji feels his lips quirk in a smile at that, Zoro has always been so self critical. A guy nearly cuts you with a sword? Extra weight training for a week! Someone manages to stab you in a fight? Ignore medical advice and do hours of sword stances and routines on deck in the cold! Stupid marimo.
"Everyone makes mistakes. What did the psychopath have to say?" he asks and starts wrapping the bandage around Zoro's arm. Tight but not too tight, he wants to put pressure on the wound but not cut off circulation.
"He said that trying to stop him would be punished, he said I'd regret following him." Zoro explains in a cold tone of voice. Sanji sits back on his haunches and looks up at Zoro, the man looks wrung out and tired, he's even starting to develop a shiner on his left eye. One of those thugs must have clocked him.
"The ambush. He underestimated you." Sanji grins a little. People tend to underestimate Zoro, if only because they expect him to be human, but Zoro is stronger than humans should have any right to be. As such, Zoro tends to win his fights with ease, much like him and Luffy do.
"That's what I thought, but no. The ambush was just so he could talk to me without me being able to catch him." The other man says shaking his head slightly.
Sanji finishes tightening the bandage and sits back to give Zoro a little space so he can look at him properly. There's a muscle dancing with tension in Zoro's cheek and he takes a few steadying breaths before speaking again.
"That kid I was looking for? The one that went missing. I found him." Zoro says slowly.
"Oh!" Sanji exclaims happily and then he clocks Zoro's expression and puts two and two together.
"Oh. Oh..." Sanji winces. Not good news about the kid.
"The kid came from a poor family and there's a drug cartel around there that have a habit of getting kids like him hooked on things and then denying them their supply until they agree to become pretty much slaves of the cartel, making deliveries, transporting, even smuggling. That's what happened to this kid. I've been trying to track him down in the hope that I could get him out and get him off of the stuff and back to his family." Zoro explains quietly.
"I knew that Doflamingo controlled that gang, he does most of them. That's why I tailed him today, if I could shut him down then the rest would fall without him. Doflamingo doesn't appreciate being threatened like that. So he killed the kid I was looking for, left his body outside the police station with one of my buisness cards stuck to him and a warning written on it." Zoro grimaces and scrubs a hand through his hair tensely.
"Holy shit! You were right, this guy is a complete psycho. What're you gonna do about him now?" Sanji breathes in wide eyed shock, he can't imagine what Zoro must have felt when he found this kid, or when he was told about him. All he can think is that he's fucking glad that he's not Doflamingo right now, a vengeful Zoro is an incredibly rare but terrfying thing.
"Nothing. I'm not going to do anything." Zoro answers cutting through Sanji's thoughts like a hot knife through butter.
Sanji actually sits in stunned silence for a few moments, staring at Zoro with his head in his hands in despair. Did… did Zoro just say what he thinks he said?
"What?" he asks numbly.
"I'm not going to do anything, I can't put more people at risk like that. I had to tell that kid's family that their son was dead, knowing the whole time that it was my fault. If it weren't for me the kid would still be alive now. I did this." Zoro says shakily, touching the forming bruise on his cheekbone. Sanji realises quickly that this bruise wasn't from the ambush it was from a family member of this kid, outraged and grief stricken for the poor dead kid that they decided to swing for Zoro, someone they could blame, and Zoro let them. Zoro would.
"This isn't your fault, you didn't kill that kid. Doflamingo did. Doflamingo would have killed him when he became usless to him anyway, or just because he felt like it. You tried your best to save this kid when no one else could, don't let that bastard make you feel like this is your fault, that's what he wants. Don't beat yourself up over this, get mad, get even! Go and make Doflamingo's life hell in whatever way you can!" Sanji snaps, grabbing Zoro's forearms and shaking him sharply.
Zoro's dark amber eyes lock with his but the other man doesn't waver or look away so Sanji doesn't either. He squares his jaw and stares Zoro down, the Zoro he knows is so used to dealing with shit like this that it's easy to forget that this Zoro isn't as hard on the outside. It's a good thing a lot of the time, it's what's helped him actually get to know the man since he's been here, but now he can see that Zoro's on the fence between letting Doflamingo win because it's less violent and fighting for what's right. He can't let Zoro make the wrong choice here.
"Get mad." He repeats firmly.
"How is that going to help? The kid will still be dead whether I'm mad or not." Zoro mutters looking away.
"It'll help because if you keep this inside you and don't get mad then this'll kill you. Then you'll be no help to anyone, much less in taking down Doflamingo." Sanji snaps.
Zoro scowls but doesn't move. Sanji rolls his eyes, the Zoro that he remembers wouldn't even have had this conversation with him, they'd already be brawling. It's stupid but it's stress relief, it's getting the anger and hurt out on someone you can count on to be there. If this had happened to Zoro back on the Sunny he'd have deliberately provoked Zoro already to fight, that was if Zoro hadn't already attacked him for just daring to be alive near him. It was dumb but it was the only emotional connection he and Zoro really shared. This Zoro however seemed to need a little more of a push. Speaking of…
Sanji reaches out and shoves Zoro hard in the chest. The stunned swordsman stumbles back in surprise before catching himself with his elbow on a towel rail. He gets shot a 'what the hell asshole?' look from Zoro.
"Come on, fight me. Let it out. Or are you scared that you'll lose three fights in one day? Are you really done already?" Sanji goads shoving him again.
"Cut it out." Zoro snaps swatting Sanji's arm away hard. Sanji shakes his wrist out, that was pretty hard, time to stop fighting with his hands if he knows what's good for him.
"Hey, I'm half asleep here and I could kick your ass six ways to Sunday. What good are you to anyone if you can't even fight me? How the hell are you going to protect anyone like this?" he presses loudly.
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Zoro yells clenching his fist and shoving Sanji backwards towards the door. Sanji twists one foot to ground himself and shoves Zoro back hard with his other foot.
"Pathetic, helpless, useless marimo." Sanji sneers and twists his bare toes painfully in Zoro's solar plexus.
He can see the moment when Zoro snaps almost in slow motion. His eyes darken and he looks like a picture perfect copy of the Zoro that Sanji has fought a hundred times before. Sanji darts right well in time to duck the fist coming his way, he's always been quicker on his feet than Zoro. He darts out of the bathroom into the bedroom where there's more space. He twists on his feet to face Zoro again who is framed like a demon in the doorway.
He tilts his balance to the balls of his feet, light and bouncy with his muscles ready to kick. He watches Zoro's movements, his feet especially, the man's never been great at hiding his movements with his feet, he thinks too much of his swords. But since Zoro is unarmed this fight should be a relative cakewalk, even if he is barefoot as well.
Zoro lunges for him with a feral snarl and Sanji spins to the side and kicks Zoro hard in the back of the thigh. Zoro stumbles slightly, the nerve going momentarily numb, he quickly compensates though and lashes backwards with an elbow that catches Sanji in the shoulder slightly. It knocks him backwards and gives him the range he needs to truly go on the offensive. He gets a quick kick into Zoro's ribs, hard enough to bruise but not hard enough to break or fracture. He wants to hurt Zoro but he doesn't want to hurt him.
Zoro grunts at the kick and lashes for Sanji with a fist that goes wide, Sanji thinks it's a punch gone wide until it's too late. Zoro's arm is around his throat and suddenly Zoro's behind him with a sharp knee in Sanji's kidneys. He lets go of him and kicks him across the room. Sanji skids across the room stunned. He spins to a halt crouched low as he presses a palm to his kidneys and fights the brief urge to vomit that always comes with a hit like that.
"Where the fuck did you learn to do that?" He gasps straightening up. He's never seen Zoro fight like that, unarmed Zoro is more of the 'punch you in the face' school of thought than clotheslining a man and kneeing him.
"From you. I do it better." Zoro grins darkly.
"We'll see about that." Sanji laughs impressed and flings the bedsheet from the bed behind him at Zoro and kicks the man hard in the side of the knee whilst he's distracted. He dodges the blind right and drives a kick into Zoro's sternum, he softens his foot to dissapate the blow, again he wants to stun Zoro not send his ribs through his heart. Zoro manages to grab his leg however and swing him into the wardrobe door with a crash. He's dazed for a second and Zoro jabs a fist quickly into his side before Sanji has a chance to dance back away from him.
Zoro throws himself at Sanji before he manages to retreat enough and throws the pair of them to the ground. Sanji cracks his elbow painfully as he lands with Zoro's weight on top of him. He tries to squirm back away from Zoro but the man's hands are pinned on either side of Sanji's head. Vainly he buries his knee in Zoro's side and twists it painfully. Zoro moves quickly and gets his left knee pressed into Sanji's other leg, effectively holding him down as his right hand snags Sanji's knee and pulls it out of his side.
There's a beat when their eyes meet and they both stop moving. They're both breathing hard and Zoro is right above him throwing off heat like a furnace. He's thrumming with adrenaline from the fight and he can't quite decide whether he wants to try to attack Zoro again by jabbing an elbow in his side or to grab him and kiss him. Zoro makes the decision for him though when his hand on Sanji's knee slackens and his eyes darken. Zoro's hand slides up Sanji's thigh from his knee in a way that makes the cook's stomach flutter, he arches his back appreciatively when the swordsman's large warm hand moves higher to span his hip with his fingers curling around to Sanji's bare back. Zoro pauses suddenly though and glances down at Sanji with worried eyes.
"Are you... okay? I mean, I know things have been a little more normal the last few days but I don't want to..." Zoro says in a rush. Sanji rolls his eyes and digs his heel into Zoro sciatic nerve threateningly.
"Shut up and fucking touch me before I kick your dumb ass." he insists and knocks one of Zoro's supporting arms away, dropping Zoro's warm expansive skin closer to him.
"That sounds more like the Sanji I know." Zoro chuckles in his ear. Sanji groans in frustration and digs his heel into Zoro's nerve a little more to encourage Zoro to GET ON WITH IT.
Zoro starts surprisingly softly. If Sanji had spent much time considering how Zoro would start this sort of thing he would have supposed that Zoro would just leap into it in the sort of all or nothing way that he was prone to start arguments. However Sanji had only really thought about this in brief fantasies in the shower alone and he'd both never needed foreplay in his mind in that situation and avoided it anyway because that might involve Zoro talking or being, well, Zoro. And up until now Sanji hadn't been especially enamoured with Zoro as a person.
Zoro wasn't rushing into anything though, he was being steady and careful, running his hands along Sanji's skin with the same attention and care that he's seen Zoro use when maintaining his swords. Zoro's left hand strokes up Sanji's side, his fingers almost dancing up Sanji's ribcage before they slide to the juncture of Sanji's neck and shoulder where the marimo's lips and tongue are busy setting Sanji's nerves on fire. Sanji takes the opportunity to do what he's always been tempted to do and run his hands along Zoro's body. The swordsman's body is hard with the defined slabs of muscle on the plane of his back that speaks of a lifetime of swordsmanship. His front too feels glorious, hard muscle covered with golden polished skin that feels smooth to the touch. The only flaw is the ever present scar down Zoro's chest from collar bone to hip, a permanent visual reminder to Sanji about how Mihawk and Zoro's dream cut through Zoro's life separating Sanji from the parts of Zoro that he's allowed and those that he can't have. But in this world he does have Zoro, every inch of him apparently. And right now Sanji is not going to say no to that offer.
He runs his hands up to Zoro's neck and shoulders and locks his arms behind the marimo's head to pull him down into a kiss. And god, can Zoro ever kiss. Their tongues dance competitively and whilst Zoro seems infinitely familiar with Sanji's mouth Zoro is all new to him. Sanji whines in the back of his throat when Zoro's hand curls into the hair at the back of Sanji's head and tilts his head to deepen the angle of the kiss.
If it didn't feel to damn good Sanji might be more annoyed at the fact that Zoro is three fucking steps ahead of him the whole time, Zoro knows exactly where to stroke and touch to make him feel desperate with need. He supposes Zoro and he have been lovers for years, Zoro does know all of this stuff, it's like he's some sort of black belt in the art of making Sanji so hard he could scream. But Zoro is all new to him and he wants to touch the man everywhere he can!
With a streak of boldness overcoming him Sanji lets his hands stray lower on Zoro's body, turning what was previously just fantasy into memory. Zoro's hips jerk instinctively when Sanji squeezes a couple of fingers below Zoro's belt and into his trousers. The swordsman's breath stutters and Sanji smirks in glee, now things are getting a little more even. He tries to get his hands properly into Zoro's trousers to get his hands on his prize, he wants to feel what Zoro's cock feels likes in his hands, he wants to know if Zoro's skin is as hot everywhere or if it's hotter there, he wants to know if Zoro's hair is green all over. However Zoro's belt and tight waistband are thwarting him in his pursuit of this vital knowledge.
As he's struggling to open Zoro's difficult belt Zoro snags his wrists and in a movement so quick that if Sanji had blinked he might have missed it Zoro whips Sanji's hands above his head and pins them to the floor by his wrists. Zoro's touch quickly turns gentle though, his fingers intertwining with Sanji's, holding him but not hurting his precious hands. He's about to snap at Zoro anyway for stopping him when he's silenced by the swordsman's achingly hot tongue on his nipple. He cries out when Zoro's teeth come into the equation and he feels the swordsman's triumphant smirk against his skin.
"H-hey, that's not fair! You're practically fully dressed and I'm almost naked!" Sanji protests breathlessly.
With a wet sound Zoro detaches himself from Sanji's oversensitive skin and looks up at Sanji with incredibly dark eyes, making something tighten pleasantly in Sanji's stomach.
"Hm, I suppose you're right. There should definitely be less clothes." Zoro rumbles in a voice deepened from arousal.
Zoro kneels up, but instead of removing his own belt and trousers he yanks Sanji's pyjama trousers off in one swift movement. Sanji yelps a protest but Zoro has already descended on him and before Sanji knows what is what his vision goes white as Zoro's hot mouth closes around his dick. Sanji's hips try to jerk forward of their own accord but Zoro's hand is already on his hip hard enough to bruise. He brushes the back of Zoro's throat and when Zoro swallows around him creating brilliant oh-god-yes pressure he's reduced to writhing and cursing incoherently.
He doesn't even have a moment to worry about the fact that he's never done this before with another man because Zoro is giving him what is already the best blowjob of his life and he's barely even started yet. Zoro moves like a dream, his tongue finds every nerve that sets Sanji's skin alight and his hands are leaving white hot trails of pleasure along his thighs and hips as his hands roam freely with an air of familiarity. Sanji actually feels like he might scream and he's never done that or even felt like that before.
"Oh god, Zoro, Zoro, Zoro." he breathes almost like a prayer. He arches and squirms under Zoro desperate for something, anything, he doesn't even know what. Zoro is managing to take him apart so easily that he can't even think straight anymore.
He feels that familiar heat start to burn brightly in his belly and a small part of his brain reminds him that he should really warn Zoro.
"Oh, I'm gonna-" he manages to choke out, but Zoro has already detached his wonderful mouth from him and has his hand instead wrapped unbelievably tightly around Sanji's dick.
He whines and squirms because he's about two quick strokes from a mind blowing orgasm and Zoro's not fucking moving! He swings between begging Zoro to touch him, to stroke him to completion and cursing him for ever being alive and doing this to him.
He tries vainly to finish himself off but Zoro bats away his hands and bites his hip in punishment. Sanji whines because the pain is almost ALMOST enough to finish him but not quite. After what feels like forever but is probably only a few moments the urgency abates a little and Zoro pulls back. There's a clink of Zoro's belt coming open and a hiss of a zip sliding apart.
Despite himself Sanji cranes his neck to see and Zoro is not a disappointing sight at all. He's lived with Zoro for over half a year now so he's seen the man naked before, it's inevitable, but he's never seen him like this. He's never seen Zoro thick and full with flushed red skin contrasting against coarse green hair. Sanji whines needily because he WANTS. Zoro could do anything to him right now and he'd want it, as long as he can feel that part of Zoro on him, against him, in him, anything. He's not fussy he just WANTS it.
Zoro lines his dick up against Sanji's and presses them together. Sanji lets his head fall back and groans in pleasure at that because Zoro's skin is even hotter there and it feels like he's setting Sanji's nerves on fire all over again. Zoro's left hand wraps around them both and slides smoothly down them both. His feet and hands scrabble against the carpet trying to push him up harder against Zoro to get more of that delicious friction.
He hears himself begging, whining and pleading with Zoro to go faster, to let him come now, but Zoro resolutely stays at his slow but firm pace. He feels as if he's going to die from this or drown in need.
He claws his hands into his hair and clenches them he's so SO close and he thinks that if Zoro stops him from coming again he's either going to die or kill Zoro himself. But Zoro doesn't stop him, he instead strokes him into what is unquestionably the strongest orgasm of Sanji's life so far.
Sanji screams in bliss when his orgasm hits him like a tidal wave, Zoro follows seconds after with a curse and Sanji's name on his lips. He shudders with exhaustion and pleasure as Zoro pants against his collar bone and strokes his ribs soothingly. No one's ever made him feel like that before. Sex has always been good for him before but he's never realised that anyone could be made to feel like that, much less that Zoro could do it to him.
"You know," Zoro chuckles breathily, "I'm sure you screaming in my ear on a regular basis isn't good for my hearing."
"You complaining, asshole?" Sanji challenges weakly.
"Hm, no." Zoro grins lopsidedly and pushes himself off of Sanji.
Sanji thinks that he really should make the effort to find out where Zoro has gone, but he's far too tired and happy to care much. He closes his eyes and grins to himself dopily. He only startles when something warm and wet is dropped against his stomach, he yelps in surprise and looks down at the thing that's been thrown on him. It's a clean washcloth, Zoro smirks at his slightly annoyed expression from having stuff dropped on him but he starts to clean his chest and stomach off all the same.
When he glances up at Zoro the man is paused mid stretch, as if an idea has occurred to him and he's forgotten what he was doing. He looks… sad almost.
"You're thinking about it again aren't you? That kid?" Sanji asks quietly as he sits up. Zoro shoots him a guilty look and tries to shrug it off, but Sanji can still see the weight pressed on his mind.
"I'll stop thinking about it, there's nothing I can do to fix what's done. All I can change is what's not happened yet." Zoro answers simply, although Sanji would bet money that Zoro's still going to dwell on this from time to time.
"That's right." He agrees anyway.
"Hey, promise me something?" Zoro asks suddenly as he walks over to Sanji and pulls him to his feet.
"Depends what it is." Sanji replies suspiciously. Zoro has one of those looks on his face, the determined kind that are often followed by him charging off into a fight against all odds because he's decided it's the right thing to do, Sanji doesn't like it.
"Promise me that if you ever, ever, see Doflamingo you'll just run away. No matter what he says or what he claims, just leave. Even if he says that he's got me or one of the others, he lies to manipulate people, you can't trust him. Just… just walk away. I couldn't bear it if he got to you, and if I am going to try to take him down then I wouldn't put it past him to try. So promise me." Zoro insists as he squeezes Sanji's hand tightly.
Sanji considers this. From what Zoro's told him about this psycho he probably would lie about something like that to trick him into trying to exchange his life for one of the others. And if he isn't lying then he doesn't have to promise Zoro that he won't hunt him down if he finds out that he does have someone he cares about, that's not part of the bargain. All he has to promise is that he won't fall for any bait if Doflamingo does try to entice him into following him, which seems reasonable.
"Okay." He agrees with a nod. Zoro's face breaks into a picture of relief and with a grin he tugs Sanji naked and into bed with him.
Sanji curls up in Zoro's arms and relaxes, he waits for sleep to come and claim him. Even in his tired and post-coital state he can't just fall into unconsiousness as easy as Zoro who is already snoring softly behind him. His eyes feel heavy and in his half asleep state he almost feels as if he's falling backwards into nothingness.
He's aware vaugely of feeling uncomfortable and slightly cold and damp, his mouth tastes like salt water enough to make him want to retch a little. He hears… Zoro's voice, shouting something. There's a sensation of movement and then a shoulder in his stomach. Zoro's walking, carrying him even. He really tries to open his eyes but he's so tired. His hand thunks against three sword hilts with each step that Zoro takes.
"I found him." He hears Zoro say before he falls into unconsiousness again.