Zoro sits on the bed with his older sister at his side and listens to the door latch click shut as Sanji leaves. He's allowed to be hurt and angry, huh? He was angry earlier, and he still can be if he focuses on it, but it's like the problem is too big to be furious at all at once. For the most part, he just feels… numb.
"Fuck all the way off!" Sanji yells from out in the hallway. So much for privacy from his friends, huh? There's no one else Sanji would be screeching at out there.
"That boy of yours is something." Kuina sighs.
"I love him." Zoro says simply. What else is there to say.
"The capital L kind of love? The 'we need to research if you can take a demon to church to marry him' kind of love?" Kuina asks and Zoro laughs, Kuina is grinning back but he can tell she's curious too.
"What do you think they'd have a problem with first? That we're both men or that he's an unholy servant of hell?" Zoro asks with a laugh and Kuina makes an exaggerated thoughtful hum.
Zoro leans back against the wall and closes his eyes.
"It's not possible but if it was, well, I wouldn't say no. It sounds quick, but you could say I cheated with magic and worked out how I really felt." Zoro says.
"Tch, magic." Kuina says, tutting disapprovingly. She's never fully approved of the magic thing.
"Don't start." He warns her.
"And your friends tried to murder him. I'm surprised you're letting them around him without you there after that." She notes.
"They can't hurt him without breaking the deal they made with him. Sanji has way more destructive power than they do, they're not that eager to die." Zoro says with a snort of derision.
The deal they made with Sanji didn't fix the problem that Zoro created when he threw himself in the circle, it just delayed it and mostly removed him from the equation. Now Sanji is just a time bomb, only halted as long as the deal is still standing.
"Okay, so why are you here?" Kuina asks him, and Zoro looks at her in confusion.
"They brought me here." Zoro says, they'd already covered that.
"I know, but why are you still here? You didn't ask me to come pick you up, you asked me to come talk to you. You haven't asked to leave. If I had friends who kidnapped me, drugged me, interrogated me and tried to murder someone I love I'd be out of there so fast." She says with a frown.
Zoro feels his instinctive protectiveness over his friends well up. He hates people speaking badly of them and defending them from people is just habit by now, so he opens his mouth without thinking to say something, anything, to get her to back off.
"You don't have any friends." He says immediately and regrets it almost as soon after.
"True, but I don't think you do either." Kuina says back, and Zoro shuts his mouth.
Yeah, she may be right.
He rubs the mark on his arm where one of Choppers needles went in to take his blood. Blood that they stole from him to use to trap and kill Sanji. He squeezes his eyes shut. He's always said that he would do anything for his friends, but would he really? Would he do this? If he had found out that Usopp was dating a demon would he kidnap him, drug him, interrogate him, try to murder that demon and also steal Usopp's blood to do it?
He wants to say yes, but he's not sure.
"They think I'm mind controlled. And it's an impossible argument for me to win." Zoro says, even though Kuina didn't ask.
"Because… I might not know if I was and even if I did I likely wouldn't be able to say so. And if they caught Sanji and asked him about it then it's not like he'd…" Zoro sighs.
"Real Scooby-Doo investigators that lot, like he'd just shake his fist and go 'I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling kids!'" Kuina says, parroting the voice from the Saturday morning cartoons they used to watch. Zoro snorts in amusement.
"We've been taught about mind control. People make mind control traps in rooms, and lots of magical animals have the basic 'walk into my mouth and be eaten' kind. They tell us to get the person away from the thing causing the mind control and either work out how to break it or let it wear off. So I don't… I don't mind the kidnapping." Zoro says uneasily.
Kuina stares judgementally at him, and her silence feels every bit like a smack to the back of the head.
"I mostly don't mind the kidnapping. If they'd said that they wanted to observe me and keep me away from him for a while to be sure I was clean I'd understand that. I'd probably do the same. I would have agreed to that." Zoro amends.
"From what you said they didn't ask at all, though." Kuina points out, and Zoro nods.
"I could forgive that, though. People panic." Zoro tells her, and he can see the way she starts to frown.
"And the rest of what they did, can you forgive that?" Kuina presses him.
Zoro curls in on himself. He doesn't know. They're his friends, they have been for years, he loves them. But…
"Oh, Zoro." Kuina says softly and reaches over, wrapping her arms around him. Her movements jolt him, and it's only then that he realises that he'd been silently crying without realising it. It's been a long time since his sister held him when he cried, not since before he was a teenager.
"You don't have to go back to your place, not right away. You can come home with me." She tells him softly.
"I can't leave Sanji with them." Zoro answers, his voice going all stupidly tight from crying. He feels foolish for it.
"He can come too." She says kindly.
"No he can't, he's not allowed to be away from them without their permission or supervision. It's part of the deal that he made with them. It's the same deal that stops them telling people about what he is. If he comes with and breaks the deal, then they'll tell one of the teachers at school, and I could get kicked out if not arrested and Sanji could get murdered." Zoro says, shaking his head and rubbing at his eyes.
"Well, they told me what he is." Kuina points out as she sits back.
Zoro blinks at her dumbly for a moment. He didn't consider that. He runs the text of the world's most loosely worded deal through his head again and figures out the loophole.
"That's… probably because you already knew lots about him. The thing is so badly written that it's an easy interpretation. I guess they were trying to test it for flaws, but I don't think they'll be able to use that on other people." Zoro guesses.
"This sounds pretty suspect, Zoro." Kuina says disapprovingly. She might not like magic much but even more than that she dislikes people doing a poor job.
"Well, Sanji made it to be like the magical equivalent of trick handcuffs. Convincing but he can escape whenever he really needs to." Zoro explains.
"Then why doesn't he do that, then?" she asks, and Zoro slides down on the bed despairingly.
"Because then they can rat him out and we're back to the problem of expulsion, jail and death from before. I think he had it planned in a 'you killed Zoro, prepare to die' kind of way." He says and rubs at his eyes. He's pretty sure he's just making them redder now.
"What an ego on that boy, he should know he's behind me in line if something like that happens!" Kuina says, her voice deadly serious.
"Good to see you focusing on the important things, sis." Zoro sighs.
"So, let me get this straight then. He can't go because if he does they'll blab and try to ruin or end your lives, you're not going because I'm guessing you don't trust them not to welch around this deal in some way and hurt him. Which means that you're both stuck here?" Kuina says, running through the entire mess in one go. How did everything end up like this?
"And I can't go to school and leave him alone either, they could come back in secret when I'm in class." Zoro adds.
"I'll make the school send your work home." His sister says firmly.
"I'm an adult now, remember? You can't make the school do anything." Zoro points out.
Kuina stares at him flatly and unimpressed. The Arch-Mage of Zoro's school and the university is a huge bear of a man who was the first mage to discover the Canadian Ice Dragon, which he did by chasing it across an icy tundra and punching it into submission. His philosophy on hostile forces sits somewhere between the Steve Irwin 'wrestle it for its own good and my learning' and the Wolverine method of 'murder with great prejudice'. Zoro looks at his sister, the woman who has never let anyone or anything stand in her way. Kuina looks at obstacles in her life like a game of chicken that she never backs down from, everything gets out of her way. So between her and the Arch-Mage, well, Zoro would probably have his money on his sister, but he wouldn't like to be nearby at the time.
"Well, I'm going to go. If you need me, then call me. I'm just going to talk to the others on the way out." Kuina says, standing up and straightening out her clothes.
"Okay, I'm sorry about all of this." Zoro says as he gets up to follow her, he doesn't want her around everyone else without him there to see.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Zoro." She tells him, hugging him tightly for a second and then opening the bedroom door.
They find Sanji halfway down the stairs, glaring down the hallway below him. His tail is flicking angrily from one side to the other, and Zoro can't help but be reminded of a pissed off house cat. The demon looks up at the sound of their approaching footsteps and seems to lighten up.
"I wasn't listening, I'm just guarding to make sure they don't sneak back up here to listen again. They tried more than- have you been crying?" Sanji suddenly asks, his speech derailing at the end.
"I'm fine." Zoro says, looking away.
"I can smell the salt on your skin from here. So unless you broke out in a cold sweat just on your cheeks, that's what it is. Argh, I keep thinking I can't hate them more and yet here we are!" Sanji snarls furiously.
"Sanji, I need you to do something for me." Kuina says, walking towards the man.
"I- sure, I'll try. What is it?" Sanji says, his anger suddenly dropping as he looks at Kuina in surprise.
"It was your phone that Zoro called me from, yes?" Kuina asks, and Sanji nods.
"Well now you have my number, I want you to update me on everything that happens in this house and with Zoro. I'll be around when I can, but I need you to be my eyes and ears and tell me if I need to drop what I'm doing and get over here now." Kuina tells him.
"Absolutely! You can count on me!" Sanji beams.
"I am right here. I can look after myself, this recent thing was an exception." Zoro protests indignantly. He's not some fairy-tale damsel that needs to be saved.
"What about the thing with Usopp?" Sanji asks, the treacherous bastard.
"Or that time you got bit by a dragon? Or the time you thought that sitting under an icy waterfall was training and you got pneumonia?" Kuina asks.
"The dragon thing wasn't my fault, and the waterfall was training!" Zoro argues.
"You know that's not how you get frost resistance, right?" Sanji says, squinting his eyes at Zoro.
"Or when you first met Brook he startled you so much that you fell off a cliff and got attacked by a bear." Kuina adds.
"Hey, hey! I defended myself from that bear and wasn't hurt, and I got back up the cliff by making a makeshift broom. Nothing was wrong with that!" Zoro argues back.
"You turned it into a bunny and then lost it and never saw it again. I'm not sure if I hope that spell wore off or not. And you got a point on your licence for that flying stunt!" she says smugly.
"Or that time you nearly burnt your room down practising? I could still see the scorch marks!" She adds, gesturing to the room they just left.
"It was a small fire, don't make a big deal of it." Zoro groans.
"Holy fuck, Zoro can you at least try to reach thirty years old? Is that… is that too much to ask?" Sanji whines, clearly he's worried about their mutual lifespan.
"Oh, don't worry. If he dies, I'm hunting his soul down from wherever it's gone and dragging him back here and then you'll really be in trouble." Kuina warns him.
"I get that impression. Weren't you leaving?" Zoro asks her pointedly and shoves her shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah." Kuina waves at him dismissively and heads down the stairs.
Sanji and Zoro follow her, but when Kuina walks into the main room Zoro hangs back with Sanji lingering at his side curiously.
"Kuina, is he okay?" Zoro can hear Luffy ask.
"What do you care?" Kuina asks flatly.
"He's my friend!" Luffy argues, and Zoro feels something sick coil in his gut. He backs up a little and bumps into Sanji's chest.
"Well, you're bad at it then. Listen up, all of you. I have a class to teach in an hour, and at 9 am tomorrow morning I'm going to Zoro's place to pick things up for him to bring here. When I get there I had better not find any evidence of what you all did to him, I don't want him going back there for something at any point and being reminded of it. You made this mess, you fix it." Kuina says sternly.
"We were trying to save him Kuina. He's still in danger, I know you don't understand magic so-" Robin begins to explain.
"I don't care. You hurt my brother again, and I will end all of you. I have a lot of sharp swords and a good deal of free time." Kuina snarls.
"Yeah, but… Kuina. Think about it. We have magic, and you don't and there's seven of us and just one of- OW!" Usopp's voice is cut off by a meaty thud and him yelping like a startled seal.
"Next time I'll have a sword." Kuina says meanly, and Zoro hears the front door open and shut.
"I like your sister." Sanji whispers playfully in Zoro's ear. Zoro sighs and walks off back to his room, he doesn't want to talk to the others or hear Usopp's whining about his face or about how his sister has some supernaturally quick punch that he could have blocked if he really wanted to, honest.
He goes back up to his old room and falls face down on the bed. He is still tired and drained in more ways than one, and he just wants to sleep. Sanji follows him silently and settles comfortably on a rug and starts reading a book that he pulled out of thin air. He's pleased at least that Sanji knows him well enough to know when he doesn't want to talk.
His peace lasts for all of five minutes before a sharp-knuckled rapping sounds on his door. Zoro doesn't even look up from his position of being face down on the bed, but he hears Sanji hiss.
"Go away, he doesn't want you here, and neither do I." Sanji says.
"Leave me alone, Brook." Zoro agrees. He can always tell when it's Brook, all that bare bone makes distinctive sounds.
"I come in peace, or I suppose pieces if you were really dedicated. Yohohohoho!" Brook laughs, Zoro can't help but think that it sounds forced. He rolls over and props himself up on one elbow to look at Brook.
"I just wanted to talk to both of you, ask some questions." Brook adds hopefully.
"Like he said, I don't want to talk to you." Zoro repeats and Brook nods.
"Then, I guess I shall go." Brook says solemnly and actually turns to walk away.
"Wait, are you seriously leaving?" Zoro asks, sitting all the way up and looking at the doorway in surprise until Brook takes a couple of steps back into it.
"You wanted me to, right?" Brook says.
"Well, yeah, but it's not like any of you have listened to what I want, or to me saying no lately." Zoro points out. Brook nods and rubs at the back of his neck awkwardly, it sounds like someone assaulting a xylophone with a comb.
"That's true, and it was why I wanted to talk to you." Brook tells him, and Zoro feels himself weaken.
"Well, okay then. Talk." Zoro says.
"Seriously? He did nothing when you were laid there dying in that circle!" Sanji says in disapproving horror.
"Not my finest moment, but I didn't know what else to do. The last thing I wanted to do was make it worse." Brook replies and comes into the room and leans against the wall.
"I wanted to ask you a couple of weird questions." Brook says, tapping his boney finger on his arm.
"All of your questions are weird questions." Zoro snorts. Brook is one of the weirdest people that he knows.
"Where's your favourite place in the world?" Brook asks suddenly.
Zoro thinks for a while. His home is nice, but it's just the place he lives. The library is nice, but it feels a little tainted from being kidnapped there. He thinks of Kuina's home, of sharing drinks together there, the smell of sweat in the dojo, the feeling of plucking splinters from his hand after shattering a practice sword in a fight with her. That's home, that's somewhere he loves.
"My sister's house and the dojo." Zoro answers confidently.
"I'd like to see one of these matches of yours with her." Sanji says with a cheeky grin.
"You mean you want to see me lose." Zoro replies somewhat bitterly.
"Next question, ice cream: chocolate or green tea?" Brook asks, holding up a finger.
"Blech, green tea." Zoro answers with a wince.
"You monster, chocolate is the best thing ever!" Sanji gasps in outrage.
"All the more for you then." Zoro points out, and Sanji still looks sulky.
"Hmm… interesting. I believe that I owe you an apology, Zoro." Brook says gravely.
"Why? For starting an argument about ice cream that I may well never hear the end of?" Zoro asks, raising an eyebrow at the lich.
"No, I wish to apologise about all that I did. We genuinely thought that you were under mind control. It was so strange to think of an incubus being romantically involved with a human, let alone one who doesn't have sex, that we feared the worst. The fact that you tried to run away to talk to him screamed mind control to me." Brook says regretfully.
"You see, I have used mind control on people before. To ward them away or to bring them closer. Sometimes to get people to unlock the layers of my cage from the outside in, this was before you all found me of course. And I can say that true mind control is difficult, especially when the victim is away from the person controlling." Brook explains.
"You thought he was getting further instructions from me or something." Sanji guesses and Brook nods.
"The only obvious course of action, besides calling an authority figure was to remove you from his influence. We tried but couldn't find any obvious mental strings on you, so the only place we could think to go from there was to summon him directly, we were prepared for him to not let us live if we let him escape. I suppose we thought that we would rather Sanji die than you." Brook continues.
"All the steps seemed to be reasonable, like walking into the sea but at the end, I was in over my head. I don't think you're being controlled, Zoro. No control is this good and just because I don't understand what's going on doesn't mean I was right. I'm… I'm sorry." Brook says sadly, hanging his head in shame.
Zoro's eyes widen. He hadn't expected this. Were the questions to cover topics that whatever theoretical mind control would never have thought to have covered? He seems so sincere. Zoro can understand how he got into this situation, panic and love can do strange things to people.
"It's o-" Zoro cuts himself off. It's not okay what they did to him. But still…
"I forgive you." Zoro amends and Brook's head snaps up.
"Really?" Brook asks in surprise.
"REALLY?!" Sanji squawks in alarm.
"Really." Zoro says with a nod.
Brook's eye sockets well over with tears, running and dripping down his skull with great vigour. It used to really weird Zoro out, because there's nowhere those tears have come from. They're magic. But since however long it's been since Brook was alive he's forgotten how much is a normal amount of tears, and so he cries in volumes that are entirely unrealistic.
"Thank you Zoro, I hope I can try to make amends in the future. Starting with this, you're supposed to be under watch with us, and at least for my watch I'll give you two your own space. You don't want me sat in here with you all night, and I'm only down the hall, if someone comes to check I'll just say that I was getting something from my room." Brook says.
"Are they seriously intending on keeping us under constant watch?" Sanji asks in disbelief.
"Very serious. I'll do my part to try to talk them out of it in future and try to get the others to see your… relationship for what it is." Brook answers.
"This is a mess." Zoro groans and rubs his face with his hands.
"Sanji, I owe you a personal apology too. You were right, I do know what it is like to be judged for what you are. I never meant to do it to someone else. I apologise for my part in what we did to Zoro and you." Brook apologises again, bowing slightly at Sanji.
"I'm not going to forgive you just because you said sorry, anyone can say that, it's just words. I want to see what you do after. But, all the same, I appreciate it." Sanji says grudgingly and then pointedly goes back to reading.
"Well then, I shall take my leave. Zoro, I hope you feel better." Brook tells him with a nod and, though his face doesn't change, Zoro gets the impression of a smile. Brook leaves and closes the door behind him.
Zoro feels a small hopeful smile crawl onto his face. Maybe he wasn't totally wrong about his friends, they did a terrible thing, but if Brook has changed his mind, then the rest may do too. A small fire of hope kindles in his chest.
"You're too nice." Sanji sighs and turns a page.
"You don't complain when I'm nice to you." Zoro points out.
"Why would I ever do that?" Sanji grins wickedly.
They kill the rest of the evening in a calm fashion. Zoro reads one of his old abandoned textbooks for fun and Sanji reads him something from his book which turns out to be some hilarious bodice ripper of a novel. Eventually, though Zoro has to call time on the improbable eight pack of the fictional Lorenzo because he fears that he'll fall asleep.
Zoro thankfully keeps a set of pyjamas and clean underwear at Kaya's house in case he ever stays over, he hadn't ever had the forethought of leaving clean jeans and a shirt, so he's out of luck there. He changes awkwardly in the corner of his room but Sanji is entirely unphased and simply continue reading the part of the book that he had got up to on his own. Zoro supposes that if you see as many naked people as Sanji has, then it stops being interesting.
It is in fact only when he climbs under the covers of his bed that Sanji looks uneasy.
"Do you want me to go?" Sanji asks warily.
Zoro shifts onto his side, his hand halfway to the lamp at his bedside and looks at the demon. He's hesitant and unsure all over again.
"Don't you need to sleep too? You were drifting off earlier on the roof." Zoro says quietly.
"Yeah, but-" Sanji mumbles and rapidly starts to turn red. "I didn't mean to, and it's not like you'd necessarily want me to-"
"Just get up here, dumbass." Zoro sighs.
Sanji looks at him with wide eyes for a few seconds and then leaps straight from the floor onto Zoro's bed, landing on all fours almost like a cat. He squirms under the sheets and practically laminates himself to Zoro's side. He laughs and turns off the light, pulling his arms around Sanji securely and feeling himself relax into sleep.
He's not really used to sleeping with other people, so he finds his sleep a little restless. Every time Sanji moves more than a little Zoro is roused to the edge of wakefulness and has to get to sleep all over again. Eventually, though, when it's properly dark outside, Sanji is moving enough for Zoro to be properly awoken.
He blinks hazily as he makes out Sanji's figure on the bed, illuminated by nothing but starlight and a glow of red on his eyelids. He is crouched on the edge of the bed, looking down at the floor and his tail is flicking rapidly from one side to another. It reminds Zoro vaguely of a cat watching birds.
"Sanji? What's wrong?" He croaks, his voice still thick from sleep.
Sanji turns his head slightly in Zoro's direction but doesn't break his gaze from the floor. Zoro leans over the edge of the bed and sees nothing but floor and rug.
"Sanji?" Zoro asks again.
"Your friends are making me hungry." Sanji says slowly, his tail still swishing.
Zoro's brain rolls the word hungry around in confusion. At least until he hears a muffled squeaking of springs from downstairs and a quiet moan. Oh yeah, his room here is above Robin's, and she and Franky are- yeah.
"Can you see through the floor to them or something?" Zoro asks.
"Not see exactly. It's hard to describe." Sanji answers in a clipped tone, this is really getting to him. Zoro supposes that Sanji has never been near two humans having sex without him being involved and getting fed at the end.
"Is it bothering you?" he asks warily, unsure about if he should reach out and touch Sanji or not.
"How about you don't eat for five days and then watch two people have a food fight in the next room over and tell me how you feel about it." Sanji snaps and Zoro winces.
Evidently, something of Zoro's reaction must seep through to Sanji, or else he thinks about what he just says and regrets it.
"I didn't mean that." Sanji says urgently, actually looking at Zoro now.
"It's been five days since you ate?" Zoro asks, ignoring Sanji's unneeded apology.
"I've gone longer, I'm fine Zoro. It's just distracting is all." Sanji answers calmly, and Zoro sees his head tilt slightly to look through the floor at Robin and Franky again.
"Would human food help? No one will be in the kitchen at this time I don't think." Zoro offers, pulling the blankets off of himself. Sanji moves over to him and pushes him back down, pinning the blankets on top of him.
"No, you need to sleep. Besides, human food doesn't really have what I need. It might take the edge off, and I'll probably eat when you do, but it's not enough help to warrant you getting up right now. When I was a kid I survived for months without any food, I can handle this." Sanji assures him.
"But surely you didn't know as much magic then, you've been doing loads of magic here. Fighting that circle, making deals, protecting me; not to mention your glamour and any healing you might have done to me when I was out. Isn't that going to cut down the time that you can last? How much time do you really have left?" Zoro questions him.
Zoro hears a muffled cry from the room below him and hears the tearing of cotton near his ear as at least one of Sanji's razor sharp nails cuts through the fabric. Sanji inhales shakily and says nothing, Zoro wishes that he could see more of his face, but it's too dark in here.
"Sanji?" Zoro prompts and tugs on the magical threads of Sanji's true name, a jerk of the thread to the man's soul to make him pay attention.
"I'm not in danger, I'd say if I was." Sanji assures him.
Zoro shimmies up under the blankets that Sanji his him pinned under, enough so that he can lean up on his elbows.
"Isn't there anything I can do? Like before when you were trapped up here, and I sold you a kiss?" Zoro whispers and the tip of his nose brushes Sanji's.
"That's different, I just needed some of your life force to get home. I'm not stuck here because of that, I'm stuck here because of a deal I made and not a job gone wrong." Sanji tells him.
"But isn't life force what you eat? Won't it still feed you?" Zoro presses, he's getting a distinct impression here that Sanji is evading him.
"I thought you were good at this deals thing, don't you think that taking time off your life counts as harm?" Sanji tuts and presses his forehead to Zoro's.
"Not if I consent, which I do." Zoro insists and leans up to kiss Sanji full on the lips. Maybe he can tempt Sanji into what he really needs. How ironic, the human tempting the shy incubus.
"The deal isn't about what you agree to, it's what the rest of us think is harm. I would have included your voice in the deal if you'd been awake, but you were passed out and on the verge of death. I made do with what I had." Sanji says apologetically.
"What if they don't find out?" Zoro says hopefully, though he can already sense that it's a lost cause.
"Yeah, they have real respect for the sanctity of your mind. They wouldn't weasel that information out of you faster than a fire imp in a bucket of ice." Sanji snorts derisively. Zoro wonders for a second how Sanji gets ice in hell, is that just an expression or do they import it from somewhere. He imagines the potential that it's not climate change destroying the ice caps but demons running bars and stealing the ice.
"Besides, it's not exactly in the form that I need to sustain me." Sanji purrs in Zoro's ear, cutting him off from his stupid thoughts.
It takes a second or two for Zoro to catch Sanji's meaning. He means that he needs to have Zoro's life force in the form of sex for it to count as food. Zoro supposes that it makes sense, Zoro needs to put food in his mouth to eat and having contact with it in other ways doesn't work. Maybe Zoro's kiss from before was like Sanji just holding that energy.
He could… he could have sex with Sanji if they agreed that it'd be a nonfatal amount of life force taken. Sanji is starving, and it's Zoro's fault, so it's his responsibility to help him out, right? He could… He's getting a tight, anxious feel in his insides, and not the good excited kind. It's more like the feeling that he might throw up.
"Exactly." Sanji says gently and kisses Zoro's cheek. He's supposed to be able to sense how into him people are, right? That's why he so confused Sanji when they first met. So perhaps he can sense negative numbers on that scale, because that's what Zoro is feeling right now.
"I'll be fine Zoro, your concern is sweet, but for now I can stay on Earth just fine. I'd never ask that of you, even if it kills me." Sanji swears and leans back. Zoro can see the dim glow of his eyes in the darkness.
"That's what I'm worried about." Zoro says quietly.
"I'm far tougher than you think, I could just do without those two taunting me." Sanji laughs softly and settles down at Zoro's side again.
Zoro tries to sleep, and he does eventually manage it, but his worries about Sanji's health make it hard for any of that sleep to be truly restful.