Zoro comes into full wakefulness already leaping half out of bed, pulse racing and hands scrabbling for a weapon as he lands crouching on the floor.
"GAH!" The startled guy at the door yelps, apparently scared by his sudden movement.
Zoro blinks and looks at the guy, he must have woken him when he came into the room, he can't have been sleeping very deeply if he was able to react like that straight away. The guy is younger than Zoro and skinny, not in that secretly powerful type of skinny either, no, this guy was just plain skinny. He's unarmed too, or appears to be from what Zoro can see of him. He has thick curly black hair and the longest nose that Zoro has ever seen, along with one of the most unreasonably terrified responses to him. Figuring that he's more or less safe and can probably take this guy in a fight he stands up and glares at him.
"Who the hell are you?" He demands, levelling a scowl at the skinny guy. He looks a little younger than him, perhaps Luffy's age.
"U-Usopp." The guy says with a shaking voice.
That triggers something in Zoro's brain, didn't Franky mention someone by that name to him last night?
"I work here." Usopp volunteers as clarification and confirmation of his internal monologue. He relaxes a little more, for a minute there when the guy had come in he had almost thought that the guy was Kaku, they have the same nose. But this guy is nicer looking, a little more innocent and a little less evil lackey.
"Right. Ah, I'm-" Zoro starts, feeling a little bad about scaring the smaller guy.
"Zoro, I know. The whole house has been buzzing about you all week, Sanji especially. You were a bit of a surprise to say the least." Usopp smile relaxing too now that Zoro doesn't look like he's about to vault the bed and attack him.
"A surprise?" Zoro frowns in confusion at the long nosed guy.
"Yeah, it was Sanji's father Lord Spandam who decided that Sanji had to have a… god, is there a word for what you are that doesn't sound weird?" Usopp asks with a frown as he comes into the room.
Zoro sighs, a lot of people have this problem. They search for a term like "boyfriend" or "husband", something that felt nice to say and conveyed nice things. But Zoro's position isn't nice and sensitive people feel uncomfortable with slave or whore.
"Most people go with mate." Zoro answers instead.
"That still sounds weird. Ah, anyway, Lord Spandam declared last week that he'd put in an application for Sanji to have a mate. To be honest we were worried that you were gonna be some psychopath or something." Usopp laughs nervously, looking at Zoro warily as if he's just realised that he doesn't know him all that well and he could easily be a psychopath.
"Why would I be? Unless that's your master's thing?" Zoro says feeling confused, how could he be a punishment?
"Sanji's not my master!" Usopp balks, almost choking on his own tongue.
"But… you said that you work here." Zoro points out, confusion mounting up in his brain.
"Well, I do. I guess you could call Sanji my boss I suppose…. I mean, he pays me. But he's my friend, and definitely not my master!" Usopp answers, sounding scandalised.
Zoro stares at the weird guy. He's never seen a servant who talks about his master so flippantly, and that is what Sir Sanji is to him, he's the master of this house and all who live and work in it. He's certainly above being friends with mere servants. Is this Usopp guy trying to trick him? To make him think that the master is really relaxed only to get him attacked for his insolence?
"Hah! I guess a lot of this isn't what you were expecting, huh? Anyway, we figured that you were supposed to be some kind of punishment. Sanji and his father hate each other and I think that Sanji's been pissing him off at work. So we thought that you were punishment." Usopp answers with a shrug, oblivious to Zoro's suspicions about him.
A thought slowly occurs to Zoro. He had figured that Sanji had put the application in himself and didn't want to see him until the day of the ceremony – that wasn't unusual, some people liked a surprise but usually had a friend or relative make sure everything was okay. That's who he'd figured Robin was, especially since she seemed to be one of Sanji's friends. But that didn't explain her shifty behaviour, especially if it was Sanji's father who put in the application…
"How does Robin feel about Lord Spandam?" Zoro asks curiously.
"Let's just say that she wouldn't shed a tear if an asteroid splattered him off of the face of the earth." Usopp says flatly.
Zoro smiles to himself. No wonder Robin had been both so nice to him and so sneaky yesterday, she'd been trying to upset Lord Spandam's plans. And he'd bet that she'd not been chosen to be the one to pick him from the shortlist created by Lord Spandam's application. Judging by the rest of her behaviour so far she'd probably snuck in and tricked people into thinking she was supposed to.
That was why she'd been the one to pick up the forms, a job which was usually done by the person who selected you from the shortlist on behalf of the person who put the application in. Zoro recalls the day that he met her, she disappeared just before Lord Spandam's lackeys had shown up. The fact that she was then almost certainly responsible for picking him, and probably interfering with someone more suitable not being selected, makes him less inclined to like her. Still, there was nothing that he could do about that now.
"Why do you ask?" Usopp asks in a confused voice, clearly not having pieced together what Zoro had.
"Nothing." He lies with a shrug. Usopp looks at him suspiciously before seeming to remember what he'd come in here for. He unslings the large purse-shaped bag from his shoulder, dropping it onto the edge of the large bed before pulling out an array of clothes.
"I hope that these will be the right size for you, Franky wasn't very clear when he told me what you looked like. I didn't realise that he wasn't exaggerating when he told me that you were really muscled." Usopp laughs nervously, looking at Zoro like he might decide to bench press the much smaller man just for fun. He glances down at his own arms and sees that the tight shirt that he'd found in the bed last night is indeed straining against his biceps and his shoulder muscles.
"This stuff is just temporary mind you, I know that Sanji plans on taking you out for shopping for your own stuff later today." The long nose reassures him.
The two of them start picking through the clothes trying to find things that look like they might fit. Zoro quickly discards several of them as way too small. Usopp continues talking, he's clearly one of those people who feels the need to fill silences with conversation, no matter how inane. Zoro's not going to stop him though, it will give him more information about his situation and knowledge is definitely power.
"Sanji should be back from his run for breakfast soon, he's trying to outrun the hangover." Usopp snickers as he leaves the bed and pulls the curtains open, revealing wide windows to a balcony that Zoro hadn't noticed last night in his panic. Usopp opens the door and steps outside.
"Oh, hey, there he is." Usopp remarks, looking down and leaning on the railings casually.
Curiously Zoro sidles over onto the balcony and spies Sanji, he sees the gleaming gold of his hair first as he runs towards the house. He's wearing long sweatpants and a white and blue shirt that make him stand out vividly from the lawn below.
"Here, run this under the cold tap would ya? Don't squeeze the water out of it." Usopp says with a sneaky grin, handing him what appears to be a spherical sponge.
Curious but not willing to disobey such a harmless request, however weird, he heads to the bathroom. He holds the spongy ball under the cold tap, the water is almost icy cold and it chills his fingers as he soaks the sponge. Dripping water onto the floor he returns to Usopp. He hands it over which brings an expression of sneaky glee to the long nose's face. Quickly he whips an oversized slingshot out of the bag on the bed and scampers back to the balcony. He pulls the elastic back with the ball inside of it and aims.
Zoro pales and backs well up back into the safety of the room. Surely the crazy long nosed guy isn't going to shoot Sanji with that thing! Is he mad?! Or is he trying to get him into trouble?
"Oi! Sanji!" Usopp shouts and releases the soaked projectile with a twang. Zoro can distinctly hear the wet splat and the shocked yelp. Somehow though the sponge flies back up to Usopp and hits the balcony door with a damp splat by Usopp's head.
"USOPP! You bastard!" Sanji's furious voice yells, sending the clearly suicidal Usopp into hysterics.
"That was FREEZING! I'm soaked!" Sanji adds loudly, making Usopp only laugh harder.
"Oh hey… that's Zoro's room. Oi! Is Zoro up?" Sanji shouts up to Usopp. Zoro flinches, this is where Usopp's deed gets him into trouble. Is this what the long nosed guy planned all along?
"Yeah he is." Usopp manages between giggles. Zoro's blood freezes, Usopp does intend to blame it on him! That bastard!
"Well tell him to come down for breakfast. You, however, can starve!" Sanji yells up at the balcony.
"Ha ha! Like you'd let me!" Usopp laughs and steps away from the balcony and back into the room with Zoro.
Zoro is aware that he's staring at Usopp bug eyed. Not only does the long nose not address his master by his proper title but he'll even go so far as to attack him! Admittedly said attack was only with a slingshot and some freezing water, but still! He tries to school his face into a less surprised expression as Usopp looks at him.
"Kitchen's that-a-way, down the stairs and on your right, see ya down there!" Usopp laughs, patting him on the shoulder and leaving, shutting the door behind him.
Zoro stares at the shut door, that Usopp guy is nuts. He sighs and returns his attention to the clothes piled before him. He wishes that he'd been able to keep his institute uniform, but Kalifa and Kaku have probably burned it by now for being too common. Still, it fitted him though, which is more than he can say for half of this stuff.
Eventually he's able to leave the room once again wearing underwear, this time under a loose pair of jeans secured onto him only with a very tight belt. He's also managed to throw on an open shirt over the tight t-shirt that he slept in as none of the others fit, he couldn't do the shirt buttons up if you asked him as it's too small but it looks okay.
He wanders down the hallway wondering what's behind each of the big thick wooden doors. Sanji seems to have a distinctive taste, the whole place has hardwood flooring polished and stained to a deep glossy finish. The walls are mostly blue and white and the occasional painting sits in simple frames, they're mostly landscapes although a few of them are odd enough to make Zoro stop in his tracks. The one to his right for example shows a giant koi shipwrecking a large ship by slapping its tail straight through it. Another one shows a fantastical forest painted in mystical colours with twisty vines and trees. He wants to stay and look at it more but he shouldn't be late.
He hurries through the house and down the large staircase that he remembers coming up with Franky last night which leads him out into a large foyer type area. He glances around hopelessly, he remembers both Usopp and Franky telling him that the kitchen was around here but he can't remember where. Normally he would be completely lost, his feet have a terrible sense of direction, but thankfully his nose and his stomach have far better senses. He follows the delicious frying smell in the air to a dark wooden door that's ajar. He pushes it open and is greeted by a brilliantly light kitchen that's absolutely massive. There's clean black marble everywhere and Zoro is stunned to see Franky and Usopp sitting casually at the dining table, chatting happily with relaxed looks on their faces, whilst Sanji is at the stove cooking and juggling several different jobs.
Surely this is backwards?
He doesn't have time to question the oddity of the master cooking for his servants as Sanji spies his entrance and flashes him a smile so warm and sunny that Zoro's lips twitch into a small involuntary smile. He warily steps further into the room, his fingers itching at seeing the wrongness of someone of Sanji's status working whilst his servants do nothing.
"Don't even bother offering to help bro, he doesn't let any of us in the kitchen." Franky calls out to him with a grin, evidently some of his unease was showing on his face. Reminded of his mistake Zoro schools his face back into neutral, he can't let anyone read him too easily here.
"It's my kitchen." Sanji replies somewhat sternly, earning him an eye-roll out of Usopp. Sanji turns to him fully now, sliding an omelette off of the pan and onto a plate and handing it to Usopp who receives it with an excited squeak. It smells incredible, and if the enthusiasm with which Usopp starts scarfing it is any indication, it tastes it too.
He glances back at Sanji to see that the blonde is already watching him, leaning on the granite countertop and smiling slightly at him. It… unnerves Zoro a little. He doesn't know how to read that smile, is that a smile of satisfaction at owning him or is it something else?
"What can I get you to eat?" Sanji asks naturally, as if it's the easiest thing in the world. Zoro blinks at Sanji in surprise, he's never been asked what he wants to eat before. It's always just been whatever he's been given, or when he was with Luffy and Ace it was whatever had been left and not yet gone mouldy.
"Uh… I don't mind, whatever you're having." He manages, cringing inside because that sounded a little bold, as if it was Sanji's job to serve him instead of the other way around. He doesn't think that the blonde is better than him, on the contrary, he thinks that Sanji is scum – anyone who buys another living human being is, but he doesn't think that it's wise for him to act like he can give orders. He might have hated the institute but a lot of what they taught him was things that he needs to do if he wants to survive.
Clearly Sanji thinks the same thing because his… rather odd eyebrows are pinched in a little frown at him.
"No, I asked you what you want. What're you in the mood for?" Sanji asks a little more firmly.
"Anything, I'm not picky." Zoro replies, why does it matter? Sanji could give him more or less anything without him complaining.
"But what do you feel like?" Sanji presses, clearly not pleased with this conversation. Zoro doesn't know the right answer though, this was never part of any class because Sanji shouldn't ever be cooking for him so he shouldn't know how to tell him what he wants.
"I don't know!" Zoro replies feeling exasperated and tense.
"Oh boy." Usopp mutters from the table, his head in his hand.
"The French toast is great!" Franky pipes up helpfully, waving a piece of it in the air.
"French toast!" Zoro says quickly, looking back to Sanji. That's an answer, and it looks like he's already made some for Franky so it shouldn't trouble the man.
"I'll make more then, sit down." Sanji sighs, rolling his eyes at Zoro and turning back to the stove whilst shooing him away with his hand.
Hesitantly Zoro makes his way over to the table and sits next to Franky. The blue haired man grins at him awkwardly.
"Don't mind Sanji, he wants to cook people whatever they want to eat. Ambivalence about food irks him." Franky explains helpfully. Zoro just frowns though, it's such an odd answer. He glances over at Sanji who is humming and dunking bread into a mixture, weird.
"But… shouldn't we be cooking?" Zoro says quietly, so that Sanji can't hear.
"Be my guest, I'll help you pick your teeth up off of the floor when Sanji catches you trying to touch his cooking equipment." Usopp smirks at him.
Worry runs its cold fingers up Zoro's spine, yet another mention to Sanji's violent streak.
"Usopp." Sanji growls warningly from the kitchen, making the long nose wince and Zoro feel more concerned deep down.
Zoro sits quietly, splitting his attention between acutely observing Sanji in case the man suddenly needs him for anything and listening into Franky and Usopp's conversation. Most of the two servants conversation seems to revolve around the ceremony yesterday, around who was there that Sanji hates. Franky mentions running into Robin when he picked Sanji up, with a slightly sly smile on his face that makes Zoro wonder if the blue haired man's thoughts about Robin aren't a little above his station. Someone like Franky wouldn't stand a chance with someone who was actually titled Lady.
The conversation then turns to dissecting with amusement just how drunk Sanji was last night, a topic that Zoro chooses not to comment on. One of the cardinal rules of being a mate is to keep your master's secrets and never embarrass them.
"Well, he was drunk enough to lose his jacket, I've looked all downstairs and in his room and I can't find it." Usopp pouts and scarfs down another huge bite of his omelette.
"Well he definitely was fully dressed when I brought him back." Franky points out, waving a fork at Usopp who seems to be trying to set a new record for eating.
"I don't know where it is, I told you. Last night is… patchy." Sanji chips in as he makes his way over to the table with two plates in one hand and two mugs in the other.
"How do you take your coffee? Unless you want me to get you something else?" Sanji says, diverting from the current topic.
"Black?" Zoro says, though his voice almost makes it sound more like a question. He just doesn't want Sanji getting up for him again, and he's really not that fussy.
"Enjoy." Sanji nods, sitting down opposite him and sliding Zoro's plate and mug of coffee in front of him.
"I can't think where it could be." Sanji says, looking back to Usopp and returning to the previous thread of conversation.
"I love that jacket." Sanji mopes, pouting a little.
"I know where it is. It's in my wardrobe." Zoro blurts out without thinking. He curses himself, he can't explain how it got there without embarrassing Sanji!
The other all look at him with interest, expecting an explanation but Zoro isn't going to worsen his mistake so stays silent and awkwardly stares down at his plate. He answered and helped Sanji out, that's all. He manages to see the slightly horrified look of remembrance cross Sanji's face though.
"Oh god, I remember now." Sanji exclaims, his face twisting with mortification. Franky and Usopp turn their interested expressions to Sanji now.
"I went to talk to Zoro last night, then I tried to go back to my room to go to bed and… I got turned around and ended up in Zoro's wardrobe. I think I took my jacket off and was halfway through my shirt before I realised." Sanji answers with a groan. Usopp and Franky burst into hysterics, finding the image of the dazed and drunk Sanji stripping in the wrong place side-splittingly funny.
Zoro remains quiet and keeps his head down, he focuses his attention on his food, hoping to get through the rest of the meal without committing any further faux-pas. The French toast on his plate smells great. He picks up a piece and eats it, having to hastily restrain himself from groaning aloud in pleasure. It is unequivocally the best thing that he's ever eaten. Robin's words about last night's food being the second best food that he'd ever eat rings in his mind, she wasn't kidding! He feels eyes on him and looks up to see Sanji giving him a slow lazy grin whilst Usopp and Franky chatter on obliviously. Zoro freezes under that lazy and slightly secretive smile.
"Good?" The blonde asks him, he clearly knows that it is, it must be written all over his face. He nods with enthusiasm, unwilling to use his mouth for anything other than eating when there is more of this unrivalled taste to be had. It's perfect of course, ever so slightly sweet with a gorgeous crunch to it from being fried.
He's never really understood Luffy's obsession with food, to him food has always been about fuel and if it was good then that was a bonus, but if Luffy feels like this about all food then Zoro can see where he's coming from. He realises all too quickly that all his food is gone as the last bit disappears down his throat and the rest of the world filters back into being for him. Usopp and Franky are discussing something about the car but Sanji isn't talking with them, the blonde is instead smoking and watching him with that same small smile.
Zoro's years of training kick him, reminding him that one of the best things that he can do is to compliment his master. The psychology lecturer always drummed it into them that a happy master was miles better and safer to be around, so compliments – especially sincere ones- were vital.
"That was excellent." He says earnestly. No! Crap! That was the sort of compliment that you gave to a waiter or someone you expected to feed you, not your master. If Sanji is fazed by his ineptitude it doesn't show though, he just grins in a self-satisfied way around his smoke.
"Yer welcome." He says making Zoro relax a little.
An awkward kind of quietness settles between them and Usopp and Franky's conversation seems to become much louder by comparison. Zoro thinks that he should say something but his mind is blank, and even Sanji is looking away from him at Usopp and Franky.
"Uh… hey! I'll show you the car now yeah?" Franky blurts out suddenly to Usopp, standing up so fast that he nearly knocks his chair over.
"But, I'm still-" Usopp protests gesturing to his still unfinished juice and fruit before him.
"Take it with you!" Franky hisses, shoving the man's glass into his hand and dragging him away.
"Honestly bro, you gotta be subtle about these things, pick up on the vibe you know? Sanji wants to be alone with Zoro, don't you notice anything?" Franky says to Usopp in a clearly unintentionally loud whisper as he drags him down into the garage.
"Morons." Sanji mutters rolling his eyes and rubbing his temples. Zoro wonders how his master's hangover is coming, it can't be all that bad by the looks of him.
"Soo… I remember that I came in your room to talk to you last night before I got lost and started getting undressed in your wardrobe. But I don't really remember what I said before that, so I'll just start again, yeah? And we can forget that happened." Sanji says with a slight flush to his cheeks. Zoro nods, it's understandable that his master wants him to forget that, and Zoro for his part is happy to banish that odd and slightly terrifying memory from his mind.
"First things first," Sanji starts slowly, tapping the ash from his cigarette into the glass ashtray on the table. He then raises the smoke to his lips and takes a long pull on it before letting out a steady stream of smoke.
"I don't own you. I don't care what the institute says, what anyone else says or what this says." Sanji declares tugging on the golden key on the chain around his neck, the key that fits the padlock at Zoro's throat.
Zoro's eyes widen in surprise and he opens his mouth to protest but Sanji cuts him off with a raised hand.
"No, no. I don't care what you signed, you can't sign away your personhood. Now, a job contract on the other hand…" Sanji shrugs. Zoro's eyes narrow. Sanji is just trying to make himself feel better about owning another person by saying that he's just employed him, not that he owns him. It makes no difference to Zoro and it makes it no less abhorrent. Sanji continues on anyway, either unaware or uncaring of Zoro's scepticism.
"Secondly you're free to do what you want in your own time, go see who you want, go do what you want, just ask Franky and he'll take you wherever you want to go. You'll have access to my bank account too, so don't worry about that." Sanji continues on casually. Zoro gawps at this, unable to contain his surprise and not let it show. This kind of thing was beyond what even the most obedient mates might expect after years of good behaviour and it certainly wasn't something that you were just given right away! Sanji surely couldn't mean it, could he?
"Thirdly, I'm not some sadist. I don't intend to harm you at all. Your room and your bed are your own and the company that you choose to keep in there is your own too. I definitely am not expecting you to invite me in out of obligation, I'm not going to lay so much as a finger on you without your permission." Sanji finishes and takes another breath of smoke, making the tip of his cigarette flare cherry red.
Zoro stares openly at Sanji in the widening silence. He can't quite comprehend what he's just heard. There must be some explanation, maybe this guy likes to think of himself as a "nice guy" but he'll probably tire of this gentlemanly behaviour in a few weeks and expect Zoro to drag him to bed out of gratitude for his kindness. Even so, it sounds too good to be true.
"What's the catch?" He asks boldly, raising a suspicious eyebrow at the blonde.
"Ha ha! I like you!" Sanji laughs in a puff of smoke and grins brightly at him.
Zoro waits suspiciously, there has to be some catch. Under his gaze Sanji seems to straighten a little and looks away uncomfortably.
"There's no catch. But… I do have two conditions." He says flicking the ash from the end of his cigarette in a bid for more time. Zoro narrows his eyes, of course there is a catch, it just remains to see what it is.
"You can see that I'm pretty particular about my food and how people eat. So I ask that if you're not going to be at a meal you let me know, otherwise show up and eat all of what you're served. And if you do miss a meal, especially without telling me then you'd better have a damn good reason, sound fair?" Sanji questions firmly. Zoro considers that condition, it's not too onerous, there were set meal times at the institute and missing them meant missing a meal or stealing food off of Luffy. He could abide by that.
"Okay." He agrees with a nod.
"The second condition…" Sanji hesitates looking even more uncomfortable. He takes another pull of his cigarette and nervously flicks more ash even though the cigarette doesn't need it, he's stalling. Suspicion and worry prickle at the back of Zoro's neck.
"I wasn't the one who applied to get you here, you see? Like I said I don't believe in owning people. But now that you're here certain people are going to expect me to behave a certain way towards you and you towards me in public." Sanji says with an unhappy tone to his voice.
Zoro's eyes widen, so he was right, he's not safe at all from Sanji. So much for not laying a finger on him without his permission! Sanji seems to catch his expression though, whatever it is, horror, revulsion, anger, and leaps back in to explain in a panicky tone.
"I don't mean anything terrible at all! Nothing like that skeevy photographer wanted! The most that I'd ever do is kiss you, and I'm uncomfortable doing even that without your permission. But if I don't appear to be… making use of you as it were, we could be separated and that'd be understandably unpleasant for the both of us." Sanji explains wide eyed and waving his hands as if to waft away Zoro's fears.
He nods mutely. He knows what happens to slaves, sorry, "mates", that get returned for not obeying their duties. It's the same horror that awaits escapees that survive being caught. Sanji is almost certainly alluding to that as a threat, what else could he possibly mean? It's not like anything bad would happen to Sanji if someone thought that they weren't doing it behind closed doors, he's too ultra rich for anyone else to have any power over him at all. Even the law struggles to contain the power and influence of people like Sanji, not that the law protects Zoro in any way.
"So, we have an agreement?" Sanji asks holding out his hand and smiling sunnily at him. Zoro thinks that this is madness, it's not like he has any choice but to do what Sanji says, but it seems like the blonde has fetishised the notion of consent, so he may as well humour him.
He leans forward, grasps Sanji's palm in his own and shakes it. Sanji beams at him and rests his chin on his palm, discarding the cigarette in the ashtray on the table.
"Great! So, Zoro… tell me about yourself." Sanji smiles at him. Zoro looks away. He feels a moment of something that isn't panic but it's something close, a frantic and almost claustrophobic denial that he has to do whatever Sanji says. It's not a demanding question, it's not an unreasonable question, he normally wouldn't mind answering that to someone he didn't know, but because he has to he doesn't want to. Nami used to say that he always was deliberately contrary out of spite and that it'd get him in trouble someday. Still, his mouth is quicker at the draw than his brain is, as always.
"Don't you get sent a file that tells you everything about me so that you don't have to ask me this?" He mutters in a surly voice. A flare of "fuck you" attitude fires inside him, if Sanji wants to hit him for being disobedient over something so petty then he can, he can take it. At the same time though he realises that it'd be no trouble at all to tell him about how he likes to read, how he likes to train and why, how he likes to get drunk with his friends. But he doesn't want to, he doesn't own any physical things (except for possibly his earrings) so all he has are his memories and his identity, so he doesn't just want to surrender it so easily.
"You're right. They sent Robin to me with a file on you yesterday, along with all the legal papers. I haven't read it, and I don't plan to either. You don't get to know things about people by reading a cheat sheet like that." Sanji answers smoothly.
Zoro eyes him suspiciously and wonders if that's really the case of if this is all part of Sanji's "nice guy" act. He'd bet on the latter. He doesn't look at Sanji though or speak and instead fiddles with the handle on his mug. Eventually Sanji sighs and stands up.
"Suit yourself moss-head. I'm going to shower and get dressed, then I need to take you to get some clothes that fit." Sanji announces, putting their plates in the sink and leaving.
Zoro groans and bangs his head on the table. Why is he such a moron? Every day at the institute they reminded him that the first week of being together with his master set the tone for the rest of the relationship, day one especially. And here he is acting like he was bi-polar or something, half defiant asshole and half meek slave. What is he playing at? He needs to shut up his stupid rebellious pride and be the good slave that he was supposed to be or else he'd find himself in hot water.
He'll be good from now on. He'll answer questions properly, he'll say "yes master" and follow the appropriate number of steps behind Sanji when he walks, and he won't speak unless he's spoken to. His skin crawls at the thought. He berates himself silently that he's got no right to complain, he signed himself over to the institute, no one did it for him. He made his bed and now he has to lie in it.
It's not very long at all before Sanji is back down in a blue shirt and with a black tie and trousers, he looks smart but relaxed. His slightly damp hair is curling ever so slightly in the warm air. He leads the way out of the garage and Zoro follows behind him silently and obediently. They arrive in the garage to find Usopp and Franky elbow deep in the bonnet of one of the flying cars as well as a vigorous discussion about what they can do with it. When Franky spies them he ushers them into the back of one of the other flying cars and speeds off into the sky.
They sit in the back silently with Zoro mentally repeating his new pledge to be good and obedient to himself. Sanji's interest in finding out anything about him seems to have waned as the blonde sits in silence, looking out the window at the passing buildings, or perhaps he just doesn't want to try to talk over Franky's god-awful off key singing along with the radio.
Franky drops them off on a fancy street and speeds off again into the distance at an inadvisably safe speed. He repeats his mental mantra of obedience and proper behaviour again.
"This way." Sanji announces, turning down the street and leading the way.
Zoro grits his teeth and counts six paces of Sanji's before following him, making sure not to accidentally catch up to the blonde. They don't get far before Sanji turns around as if looking for him. He spots Zoro and flashes him a puzzled look as Zoro has stopped as well, maintaining the distance between them.
"Come on then." Sanji frowns at him and starts walking again. Zoro resumes his following, keeping a keen eye on the proper distance between them.
They barely get five steps before Sanji stops again and turns back to Zoro with the same perplexed and slightly irritated expression on his face.
"What's the big idea? Why're you lagging behind back there? Come and walk up here with me." Sanji orders, tapping his foot on the ground impatiently.
Zoro nods, he can accept that. Not everyone likes the respectful distance thing, some masters are worried that their mate will use the space to run off, or they could be stolen. Zoro has heard about slaves that were stolen, and he's new enough that they could prove that Zoro hasn't had any real contact with Sanji. None that would invalidate his "untouched warrantee" anyway. He could be re-sold at a high price if he was stolen. Perhaps that's what Sanji is paranoid of.
"Yes master." He nods, the words tasting awful in his mouth.
Sanji reaction to that is… not what Zoro had expected. Instead of looking pleased at his obedience and respect he instead looks like someone's thrown an ice cube down the back of his shirt.
"Zoro! Seriously, don't call me that. I'm not your master." Sanji intones slowly, as if speaking to someone stupid. But it's not him that's stupid, it's Sanji. If the rich little blonde thinks that playing nice and telling him not to call him master will change their relationship then he's a fool. His kneejerk reaction is to argue or to say "yes master" again just to piss him off. But he bites his tongue instead.
"Okay." He nods obligingly. Sanji gives him a searching look before nodding approvingly and catching Zoro by the crook of his arm and pulling him to walk alongside him. Zoro is reminded instantly of Sanji's father Spandam pulling him along, digging his claws into Zoro's arm as he yanked him off to be sold to his son.
Sanji is technically pulling him alongside him in a similar way but his touch feels different, gentler somehow. The blonde's fingers slide gently and almost absentmindedly across Zoro's skin as he talks animatedly about the age of the street that they're on. Most of all though Zoro is surprised to feel that Sanji seems to have calluses on his hands, now where did a pretty rich boy like Sanji – who's certainly never worked a day in his life get calluses?
"Oh, here we go, we ought to be able to find something that you like here, they're the people who do my suits. They've been going for over four hundred years you know." Sanji informs him as he pulls him through the door to the shop.
Zoro looks around as Sanji babbles excitedly to the shopkeeper, tuning him out already. He's going on about something like how whatever he gets should fit Zoro's natural style or some crap like that.
The shop around them is rich, clearly from clientele like Sanji visiting often and lining their pockets. The plush furnishings of the shop speak of leisure and luxury, with soft velvet chaise lounges and even a goddamn chandelier in the ceiling. The walls too have very few suits on them, mostly pictures and swathes of fabric. Everything here must be bespoke made and nothing has a price tag, clearly telling anyone who might care to know that if you have to ask how much something costs you probably can't afford it. Rich bastards.
He and Sanji are taken into a private room with the snooty looking guy who seems to own the shop. The room is lined with mirrors and has a raised platform which Zoro is lead onto. The snooty guy first peels off the overshirt that Zoro is wearing with an expression of distaste and then throws it over a chair with an expression like an owner of a cat might have when the pet has brought in a dead mouse. He then starts measuring him for suits whilst talking to Sanji about the kind of suit in words that mean nothing to Zoro, it's all lapels and hemlines and confusion. The shirt that he's wearing underneath is thankfully tight enough that the guy doesn't seem to feel the need to remove it to measure him.
As the snooty old guy measures him he jots down notes and talks to Sanji who's busy looking at fabrics. He talks about him to Sanji as if he isn't even there. It's too much like yesterday when everyone spoke about him as if he either wasn't there or was too stupid to understand speech. He feels his temper rising.
"Did it take you long to pick him out?" The suit guy asks to Sanji as he flicks through several fabrics which, to Zoro, all look like identical shades of black and grey.
"I didn't really have much to do with the process." Sanji answers offhandedly as he selects one and puts it on a chair arm.
"The ceremony was yesterday wasn't it? Lady Robin picked up a tonne of suits from here in all sizes and cuts yesterday. It was most odd, but she said it was for your ceremony." The suit guy says measuring around Zoro's neck.
Interesting. Zoro thinks to himself.
"Hm? Yes, it all happened pretty quickly really." Sanji responds, plucking a green shirt fabric from a stack of similar ones.
"Ah, that first night is great. I remember my first night with my mate. Hah, I'm surprised that this one can walk properly today! Ha ha!" The man laughs slapping Zoro on the shoulder. Zoro glowers, he's getting really fucking sick of people laughing and slapping him on the shoulder. It must be said though that he's pretty surprised that he's walking properly today too.
"Do you have something a little more off white than this? Not so cream coloured?" Sanji asks, pulling out a creamy fabric. He's pretending like he hasn't heard but there's no way that could be the case, he's just ignoring the question.
"Oh yes, I think we have something out the back in more of an oyster." The guy answers, distracted from his previous lecherous topic.
"That'd be good." Sanji nods, turning back to the fabric.
The man continues measuring him, wrapping the tape around his lean waist and then around his broad chest. The guy whistles approvingly and jots down the numbers.
"You got pretty lucky with this one Sir, although with your position I doubt that luck had much to do with it! He's got an excelled physique, very healthy, a real stallion." The suit maker nods, running his hand up Zoro's abs.
"I'm not a fucking horse!" Zoro snarls and smacks the man's hand away without thinking. The jaw of the suit maker drops in horror at Zoro's words and he distinctly catches Sanji's loud laugh which quickly turns into an unconvincing coughing fit.
"Ahem, sorry about that, too much smoking I bet. Did you say something?" Sanji asks innocently, with a look so angelic on his face that you'd never dream of repeating Zoro's words to him.
"Ah, no." The suit guy stammers, clearly thrown off balance.
"Wonderful. Are we done here? I'd like six suits in a variety of cuts, I trust your judgement, in these fabrics. And twelve shirts in those, two each. I trust that we can come back to you with any alterations. Well, you have my details, bye!" Sanji says in one long stream in a tight voice.
He is dragged out of there by the arm as Sanji pulls him out of the room, out of the shop and into an alleyway. He suspects that the blonde is angry at him despite his initial amusement, it would explain why his voice suddenly got tight, until he collapses into hysterics against Zoro's shoulder in the alleyway. The blonde's shoulders are shaking with brilliantly bright laughter that Zoro can feel reverberating through his chest as much as he can hear it.
"Oh man, 'not a fucking horse!' that's GREAT! His face!" Sanji howls with laughter falling back against the opposite wall and laughing harder. A grin starts to tug at the edges of Zoro's mouth because, yeah, the snooty shop guy's face was pretty priceless and Sanji doesn't seem mad at him. The blonde's amusement is infectious and Zoro's can't stop the grin spreading over his face.
Eventually Sanji's laughter subsides into occasional snickers as he pulls out a cigarette from his jacket, his one visible blue eye still sparkling with mirth.
"You know, you're pretty shitty at this whole being a polite obedient mate thing you know." Sanji comments cupping the cigarette from the wind as he lights it. Zoro feels the grin that had crept onto his face fall off instantly.
"You're trying to do things like say 'yes master' and walking all meekly. You manage it for like five minutes before you crack and curse out my suit maker!" Sanji laughs loudly.
He feels himself start to panic, Sanji wasn't laughing with him, he was laughing at him! He's in trouble!
"Ah, no. Don't look at me like that. I like it." The blonde says with a smile, having caught his worried expression.
The blonde pushes away from the wall and steps closer to Zoro who stays warily still, he's still not managed to work out how to read this guy.
"How about this, unless I tell you that we're in company that we both have to behave in, you just relax, okay?" Sanji suggests, his cigarette held between his teeth as he grins.
Zoro nods mutely, still unsure of the situation.
"I suppose at least I learned something new about you, and I didn't have to read your file to learn it either." The blonde adds smugly as he dusts his suit down from the dusty alleyway wall.
"What? That I talk first and think later?" Zoro says doing just that and kicking himself mentally for it. Nami always used to accuse him of doing that, but with how conniving she could be he'd never thought that it was bad not to be like her. She would never speak so stupidly like him around someone like Sanji.
"That and you've got quite a mouth on you." Sanji agrees with a laugh.
Zoro allows himself to relax a little and a thought quietly occurs to him, every time he's been anxious about Sanji it's seemed to be unfounded. The blonde hasn't hurt him yet or been angry at him yet. But perhaps it was just part of the "nice guy" game that the rich man was playing with him.
"Hey, follow me. I wanna take you somewhere. After all, I've learnt something about you, you should learn something about me." He announces jogging down the alleyway without checking to see if Zoro is following him.
He has no choice but to follow the blonde, he couldn't get back to the manor house on his own, he didn't know Franky's number to call him and no idea what direction Sanji's home was even in. So he follows, not that he can see where his master is going to go, the alleyway ends in a seven foot chain link fence.
In one smooth move Sanji jumps the fence and lands in a jog on the other side. He stops and stares openly at the blonde, when did he learn to do something like that? Sanji seems to realise that he's not following anymore and turns to face the fence. He saunters over all cockily and leans on the fence, threading his fingers through it and leaning into Zoro's face.
"What's the matter moss-brain? Can't keep up?" Sanji taunts him with smoky breath, that damn cigarette still clenched between his grinning teeth.
"I could out run and out climb you any day." He retorts without thinking, his pride and his mouth speaking without consulting his brain.
"Hah, let's see it then." Sanji laughs and steps back from the fence invitingly.
Zoro leaps at the fence, his arms pulling him up the top half easily with a kick of his foot to assist. He perches nimbly on the top for a moment before dropping to the floor before Sanji and standing up smugly. A brilliant laugh bubbles out of the blonde who turns and runs off without saying anything else, the unspoken "follow this then" is enough to make Zoro grin and chase after him.
The two of them sprint over and above the city, running down alleyways, jumping walls and climbing fences, leaping off of rooftops and dodging angry residents and shopkeepers. Zoro can't believe this, Sanji is running like he stole something and is avoiding the cops. Where on earth did the blonde learn to run like him? He, Luffy and Ace used to run through the city like this together but that usually was because they had stolen something or someone bigger and meaner than them was trying to catch them. So where on earth did a pretty rich boy like Sanji get the experience to do this?
They eventually skid to a breathless halt outside of a restaurant not too far from Luffy's neighbourhood. Sanji grins and his eyes sparkle happily, Zoro had of course kept up with him the whole way.
"Come on in, I want you to meet my family." Sanji pants opening the door to the restaurant.
"I've already met your family yesterday, remember?" Zoro frowns wrinkling his nose in distaste at the idea of having to spend any more time with Sanji's vile family.
"No, you met the people that I unfortunately share DNA with. This is my family." Sanji grins pulling him inside the restaurant.