"I feel ridiculous in this." Sanji complains, fussing with the beanie hat covering his horns for at least the millionth time that night.
"Well if you don't want to come out with me you don't have to." Zoro points out.
"No! I... it was my idea. I want to." Sanji tells him, looking urgent. Zoro glances down and notices that he can see Sanji's tail curling around the demon's leg. Sanji doesn't seem to be super aware of what his tail does but it's starting to get easier for Zoro to get a read on him with it.
In all honesty Zoro had hesitated about summoning Sanji again and had hand copied a version of the summoning spell and after making sure that Sanji's name wasn't in it he got Robin to look it over for him. The witch was way better than him at checking out spells. She had confirmed though that there was nothing untoward in the spell and it really was just a stringless summoning spell. Somehow an incubus wanted to see him so much that he risked so much and agreed to come to the human plane just for that. That's certainly one way to get Zoro's attention.
When he had summoned Sanji he was back in his literally sinful outfit, this time some shirt that was entirely pointless as it was made entirely of some kind of see through fabric and then a pair of just as see through trousers with only underwear covering what little modesty Sanji had.
"take the contraaaact? Zoro!" Sanji had trailed off, jumping slightly at the sight of him. Sanji snapped his fingers and changed back into more normal looking jeans and a t-shirt.
So that was how he got to where he is now, walking down the street with a slightly fussy Sanji. The blond had awkwardly asked him if Zoro could take him on one of these 'dates' and yeah, the demon had actually quoted it. Zoro however had pointed out that Sanji stood out a lot in his natural form and so the man was out in a long coat and a hat, pretty bundled up for spring but Sanji did come from a hell dimension so it's not exactly hot for him.
"Come on then, movie and then dinner is the basic starter date but we're not gonna get there if you keep bitching." He tells Sanji and reaches up to tug the hat over the small red horns where they were starting to show through. Incubi can shape shift into anything but they can never lose the horns and tail, it's just one of the rules they seem to have to stick to. Sanji stares at him with wide eyes and Zoro can hear that Sanji has held his breath. Sanji is clearly unbelievably nervous about this.
Zoro steps away from him and starts walking again. He checks the palm of his hand, the navigation spell that his friends put on him years ago is pointing him to where he wants to go.
"Why are you using that?" Sanji asks, apparently having shaken his nerves off. The demon stares down at the arrow on Zoro's hand.
"Oh, it's a spell that my friends made for me, it counteracts the curse I have." He answers with a shrug.
Sanji squints at him and frowns.
"I wasn't looking for it before but yeah, that's a really nasty curse. Generational too, one of your ancestors clearly pissed off some really powerful magic user. Just like you it seems. Did you ever find out who wanted you to get your soul sucked out by me?" Sanji asks curiously.
"Yeah, a fucking witch two years above me in my academy. She's obsessed with one of my friends and I caught her sneaking him a love potion, he's immune to them because he's not all human but it's still a shitty thing to do to someone." Zoro scowls.
"Yeah, even I don't do that to people." Sanji frowns and Zoro hears the smack of his tail lashing against his coat.
"Well I caught her and accused her of it and told her to stay away from him and apparently she took that badly. Didn't you know who she was? She summoned you the first time after all." he points out.
"No, incubi and succubi don't get to see the people who summoned them. We can accidentally take their souls if they decide that they want us and that's against our contract, we just get sent right to the target." Sanji explains casually.
Zoro looks down at his hand and turns left. The arrow spins back around towards him and he realises that he should have turned right.
"That is a REALLY bad curse. Do you want me to take a look at it?" Sanji offers and Zoro stares at the demon.
"You could do something about it? I was told it was unbreakable." He asks in shock.
"For you humans maybe, come on, let me see." Sanji boasts and tugs Zoro into an alleyway.
"This is gonna give a bit of a light show so..." Sanji says, explaining their location.
Sanji's eyes glow red and Zoro sees the curl of hellfire around his form. Zoro has to remind himself over and over inside his head that Sanji cannot harm him, but seeing serious demon magic up close like this makes his hair stand on end and tells him to get the hell out of there. Zoro notices the start of a ward forming in his own hands and clearly Sanji notices too.
"Oh shit, sorry. Reflex, I trust you." he apologises quickly and Sanji ducks his head, muttering some embarrassed insult at him.
Sanji seems to regain his focus though and he presses his hands to Zoro's chest and pulls back, only when he does there's words and symbols circling in the air in a sick and rotted shade of purple. It's his curse.
"This is old shit. Hmn... you can break it but it's super specific. Someone was really strong to make the conditions as near impossible as this." Sanji sighs and lets it go, his appearance returning to normal.
"How?" Zoro asks. If he can break the curse then he really wants to! He doesn't care about it being on him so much, he's used to it even though it's a real pain in his life. But it is generational, he knew that much, and his sister has it too and at this rate her kids will have it. But the thing with generational curses is that if it breaks on one person who has it everyone else affected by it is free too.
"On a full moon you have to walk in a circle, counter clockwise three times..." Sanji starts.
"That sounds easy enough so far." Zoro nods.
"On the moon." Sanji adds flatly.
"Are you shitting me? That's impossible!" Zoro yells and then realises that he shouldn't be shouting when there's a demon still crackling with the afterglow of hellfire, someone could look over and see.
"Not impossible, that's the key, it wouldn't work if it was. You know that. You'd need someone who could get you a portal there AND back, plus a serious protection and breathing spell. If you had that you could do it." Sanji explains and notes that the hellfire has died down. He fusses with his hat again.
"Well, I've got a friend who is a weather witch, she could do the breathing spell for me and another friend could do a protection spell but I have no idea if it would be strong enough to last in space. It doesn't matter though because no one on earth can teleport me there and back." Zoro says with a scowl. Fuck whoever made this curse.
"No one from earth, no." Sanji says quietly and Zoro looks up from angrily glaring at the pavement to Sanji looking at him seriously.
"You could take me?" He asks in wonder.
"Zoro, I could take you anywhere in the universe, if you took my hand I could take you anywhere you wanted. The moon is as easy as that for me." Sanji clicks his fingers and vanishes, he returns a moment later with a rock in his hand and Zoro doesn't have to guess to work out that it's a moon rock. He takes it from Sanji in numb surprise, Usopp would freak out if Zoro gave him this.
"Anywhere in the universe?" Zoro wonders aloud.
"There are worlds out there that you humans haven't even seen through your telescopes or your scrying pools. Worlds where humans could breathe and live just fine. You can't even imagine them Zoro, I could take you there easily. The moon is nothing." Sanji says with a smile.
Zoro stares at him and this time he's pretty sure that it's him blushing now.
"And you've never dated anyone before?" He says, his heart in his chest.
"What does that have to do with anything? And no, I haven't." Sanji scowls, clearly thinking that Zoro is making fun of him.
"A date to an untouched alien world that humans have never seen and apparently can't imagine sounds like a pretty amazing date to me." Zoro points out and Sanji's head jerks up in surprise.
"You'd like that?" Sanji asks, clear hope in his voice.
"Yeah, I would. Dinner and a movie sounds kind of shit in comparison." Zoro admits awkwardly. He figured that he'd just start Sanji in at the shallow end but fuck, that kind of thing sounds amazing.
"No, no it doesn't. I've been to those places before, but this... this is new to me. I'd like to see human romantic things since... since you said you'd take me on a date." Sanji assures him.
Zoro looks at the demon and finds himself amazed for at least the tenth time tonight. He's studied demons in the academy for years but having a real live one here, one that doesn't want to hurt him, it's amazing. What Sanji considers normal is so incredible to him and what Zoro considers normal is apparently wondrous to Sanji. It's exciting.
He gets closer and kisses Sanji, just lightly but Sanji reacts as if Zoro has done something incredible and life altering he melts and clings to Zoro needily and Zoro can't help but kiss him again, it's pretty flattering to be able to affect Sanji that much. When he pulls back Sanji looks thoroughly swept off of his feet. The interesting thing is that he can tell that this isn't a sex thing for Sanji. Sanji is literally a demon of sex and lust, nothing like that would phase him, but this is emotional and Sanji seems utterly overwhelmed by it.
"That would be a pretty amazing second date." he tells Sanji quietly and the blond nods so hard his head might fall off.
"Yes, okay, second date, yes, great, I can- yes." Sanji says in one long stream. Zoro laughs and pulls Sanji out of the alleyway, they're going to miss their movie.
Throughout the night Sanji continues to be amazed by everything that Zoro does. He's already aware of films and popcorn of course but being in an actual movie theatre is new for him, apparently people don't stupidly summon incubi for sex in movie theaters which is good to know.
"Okay, I'm curious. We don't know a lot about demons what with the fact that you usually are trying to kill us or get our souls." Zoro says after the waiter leaves, having given them their food.
"Hey, everyone's gotta do something for a living." Sanji shrugs and Zoro's mind boggles at the apparent mundanity of conning humans out of their souls.
"But answer me this. I know people can become demons if they get corrupted enough or make a big deal, but is that how you're all made? Were you human once?" He asks and eats a forkful of pasta.
"No, I was born a demon. The more humans there are the more demons they are, we have to expand to keep up with you." Sanji answers with a shrug.
"Did you choose to be an incubus or is that like... a species?" He asks and watches Sanji bite into his steak, sharp fangs cutting through it easily.
"No... it's not a job. Well, it is, but I've always had it. After I'd grown up a little I mean, then I had to train and learn the right magic... but yeah. Always have been." Sanji answers with a shrug.
"But did you choose it? Or did you have to be one?" Zoro presses him eagerly. Sanji chews his steak and looks displeased.
"I didn't choose it. It's inherited. A family thing really, not that I know my parents. A demon hunter killed them when I was really young and nearly killed me too. My old man saved me." Sanji tells him and guilt runs down the back of Zoro's neck, thick and uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." he apologises quietly.
"It's fine. It was a very long time ago, anyway, you'd be hard pressed to find any demon who hasn't lost someone to a human. We take your souls when we can and you kill us. I guess it's just how it goes." Sanji tells him but Zoro gets the sense that it bothers Sanji more than he says it does.
"No, making your date talk about how their parents died is a bad thing to do on a date." Zoro tells him and Sanji takes his gaze from the steak and looks at Zoro.
"Is it?" Sanji asks.
"Yeah, it is." he nods.
"How about I trade you. My parents were killed by fae, that's why I trained to be a witch." Zoro tells him.
"Ugh. I hate fae." the demon says bitterly and stabs a potato with a fork.
"Demons are allergic right?" he asks.
"Yeah, they feel awful and their magic hurts like you wouldn't believe." Sanji growls and it reverberates through the room enough that people look around. Humans are hardwired to fear demons when they're not hiding themselves. Sanji jolts and makes himself unreasonably beautiful, he gives himself a rugged jawline, designer stubble and magazine worthy clothes. Sanji presses his palm to the table and the ripple of glamour spreads outwards along with a slow... kind... of...
Everything feels fine. What was he thinking about? Zoro keeps trying to look at the man opposite him but aside from registering that he's incredibly handsome his eyes skip over him and he finds that he can't remember what he was doing. He feels nice.
Fingers snap in front of his face and a man who looks slightly like Sanji appears, the fog in Zoro's brain lifts.
"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to hit you with that too but I needed to get everyone." the man tells him.
"Sanji? You look... really different. That's some pretty hardcore glamour there, I knew that you weren't real when I first met you but this isn't so obvious. I can still see it though, even if you didn't look different from before." Zoro frowns.
"Sorry, let me just..." Sanji looks around and checks that no one is looking before he drops back down to how he was a moment ago. Now that Zoro's looking at him though he can still see something wrong. Zoro frowns as his memory recalls the spell but as he runs it around his fingers he knows that it's right. He holds his hand out near Sanji's face and sees the light blue flicker over the blond's skin.
"You're still glamoured." Zoro says slowly. Sanji stares down at his plate uncomfortably.
"So? It's a date, aren't you supposed to look good?" Sanji mutters and pokes at what remains of his steak.
"Sure, for someone that you're trying to impress or get into bed with, but you already know that how you look doesn't do anything for me, so this isn't for me. So why are you wearing it? What's your true form?" he asks.
Sanji chews his lip uncertainly and looks warily at Zoro. Is Sanji anxious right now?
"Do you really want to see? It's not impressive or anything. I don't have massive wings or anything really demonic looking if that's what you're hoping for." The blond says like it's no big deal.
"I'm just hoping to see what you really look like. Please? You don't have to if you don't want to." Zoro adds at the end, already aware that he's not exactly being polite on this date.
Sanji winces and shuts his eyes but he drops the glamour, the hint of it that his spell revealed dissipates. Sanji still looks more or less the same, only now Zoro can see that his skin isn't what the beauty industry calls perfect. He's got freckles and he's a little on the pale side. His ears are a bit pointed but it doesn't scream demon, if you can't see the horns and tail Sanji could easily be mistaken for a human with some non human parentage. His hair isn't the smooth slick waves that it appeared to be but instead it's unruly curls and waves that go in all sorts of directions, even under the hat that he's wearing it's pretty wild. Interestingly it isn't the brilliant gold blond that it was before, instead it's closer to a shade between blond and brown, something half and half. He's slightly skinnier too and as Sanji uneasily opens his eyes he can see that they're not the tropical ocean blue that they appeared to be, they're more of a pale blue that's almost grey.
Sanji snaps his fingers and slides on the same glasses that he had on before, he blinks once or twice as if adjusting to the change and looks at Zoro warily.
"That's it? You look almost exactly the same." Zoro says in surprise.
"I'd rather look like how I did a moment ago." Sanji mutters.
"I prefer you looking like you." he tells him and looks at Sanji some more. Zoro might not be attracted to people but he's not blind, he can appreciate good looks. Sanji's not model material right now, or not the conventional kind anyway, he's more boy-next-door looking. He's still very pretty and no doubt would still have women and men longing after him, but he looks more normal now and in Zoro's opinion better for it.
"Yeah, well. That makes one of us." Sanji grumbles, leaning back in his chair.
"An insecure incubus, that's something I never thought I would see. You can look however you're comfortable with Sanji, I was just curious. I'm not gonna tell you how to look." He tells him and Sanji makes a small gesture with his fingers and it back to looking how he did with the slightest bit of glamour on. He wonders if this is the demon equivalent of makeup. He keeps the glasses though.
"You're really interesting." He says after a moment and Sanji smiles slightly even though he still looks a little awkward about it.
After that it's Sanji's turn to question him. Sanji asks him about his sister and his friends, all of them witches except for his sister. You don't train at a magic academy without making friends with the other students. Or at least he hasn't. He tells Sanji about his taste in films, giving the other man an idea beyond the two that they've seen together. He answers weird questions that Sanji has about why humans like chocolate and why they like chili and why they sometimes put them together.
By the time that they walk back to where Zoro lives, thanks to the arrow on his hand, they've covered almost all of the normal first date topics, even though Sanji clearly doesn't get that it's what they're doing.
"You know, you're pretty good a this so called human dating thing. I wouldn't know it was a first for you." He tells Sanji as he opens the door to his home.
"Really?" the blond asks in obvious pleasure.
"Yeah." Zoro agrees, shutting the door after Sanji. The blond pauses in the middle of the room and looks around at Zoro.
"From what I understand this would be the point that I'd drag you into the bedroom and fuck your brains out, isn't that how human dates work?" Sanji says thoughtfully.
"Not for me, sorry to disappoint." Zoro sighs and tosses his keys into the tray by the door. If Sanji was hoping that Zoro would suddenly be attracted to him then he's going to be let down.
"No, I'm not disappointed. It's actually good to feel like this is different to what I usually do. Anyway, I like your soul where it is right now." Sanji tells him.
"Gee. Thanks." he says flatly.
"Zoro?" Sanji asks quietly.
"Yeah?" Zoro asks curiously.
"What I do... what I am I mean. The whole incubus thing isn't going to be a problem right? I do fuck lots of people you know." Sanji tells him.
"I already knew that, I know what you are. And no, I don't care. It's not like I'm competing with them am I?" Zoro assures him.
"Not at all!" the incubus says brightly.
"I'm not sure there's a precedent for humans dating incubi or succubi but complaining about them being either seems kind of stupid." he reasons.
Sanji lights up in glee and Zoro's heart flutters a little at the sight of him.
"So I was good enough? We're dating then?" Sanji gasps, clutching his hands together. Jesus, if Sanji keeps being so sweet Zoro's gonna get sick from it like Chopper did at the fair with cotton candy.
"Yeah, I'd like that if you want to as well. But that does imply more dates..." Zoro trails off, hoping that Sanji will offer.
"Do you want me to take you to another planet? I can take you to another planet. I'll pick the best planet, it won't even rain glass or anything!" Sanji tells him excitedly.
"That sounds great." Zoro grins. Sanji beams and Zoro can already see him planning.
"Good night Sanji." Zoro tells him and leans in to kiss him gently. Sanji is almost buzzing with happiness by this point and when Zoro pulls back and smiles at him.
"Good night, I'd better go. I had a really great time Zoro. I'm glad that you summoned me back." Sanji smiles brightly.
"Yeah, me too." Zoro agrees and Sanji flashes him another bright smile before jumping into another portal to hell and vanishing. Zoro's just glad that doesn't affect the varnish on the floor, he'd hate to lose his security deposit.