The past few months had been good, almost unbelievably good for Zoro and Chopper. Zoro had found a new job, one that was paid way better than his old one. It still wasn't a lot, since he didn't have a proper education – he had only been able to get the job thanks to a friend – but it was quite a difference to what he had earned before.
Right now he was on vacation for the first time since he had got the job. For his birthday, Zoro's friends had given him a stay in a hotel. He had wanted to refuse because it was way too expensive, but they had practically forced him to accept the gift. And when he had thought of Chopper, and how much fun he would have if they could go away for a few days, he had eventually accepted.
So Chopper and he were currently sitting in the hot tub of the hotel their friends had chosen, enjoying the hot water surrounding their bodies.
It had taken Zoro quite some time to get Chopper to relax; the boy had been way too excited for spending some quiet time. He couldn't blame him though. This was the first time he saw an actual hot tub, let alone had the chance to use one.
But now, after he had calmed down, Chopper was enjoying it just as much as Zoro was. His eyes were half closed, his features relaxed. Satisfied, Zoro noticed the smile on the boy's face.
He smiled as well, allowing his eyes to close, and letting himself sink a little deeper into the water.
They sat in silence for a while, not even noticing the footsteps approaching. When Zoro felt someone climb into the tub next to him, he decided to ignore them, which usually worked quite well to keep people away from him.
But Chopper suddenly stopping breathing made him reconsider his decision. His eyes snapped open. He was ready to kill whoever had scared Chopper like that.
Unfortunately, whatever he was about to say died in his throat when he took a look at the intruder.
"Look at that, if this isn't the lost marimo," Sanji hummed, easing himself into the hot water.
Zoro only managed a surprised "You?!"
"Wow, you're being incredibly polite today, moss head."
Their unwanted guest turned around to face the still completely shocked Chopper.
"Hey, I'm guessing you're Chopper? Did you like the autograph? Marimo here said he was gonna give it to you for your birthday. He got lost quite a bit on his way to get it," he chuckled.
Not a single sound left Chopper's lips. In fact, he was starting to look worryingly pale now.
Zoro put a hand onto his shoulder. "Chopper? You alright?"
The boy didn't answer; he just continued to stare at Sanji as if he had never seen a human before.
"Chopper, hey, come on, you need to breathe," Zoro reminded him while pulling him onto his lap.
"Wow, is he okay?" Sanji asked, sounding concerned.
"Yeah, it's probably a little too much for him right now. Chopper, breathe, come on."
Instead of breathing, Chopper suddenly went limp against Zoro's chest.
"Whoa!" Sanji exclaimed, and Zoro quickly pulled the boy a little closer to his chest so he wouldn't drown.
"Shit, I think he passed out. Uh, sorry, but I need to take him to our room," Zoro apologized. He got up and climbed out of the tub. He placed Chopper on a deck chair to be able to wrap himself in a towel quickly, then wrapped a second one around Chopper. When he bent down to pick Chopper up again, Sanji spoke up behind him.
"Uh, would you mind if I came with you? This is sort of my fault after all. I wanna apologize to him."
"Do whatever you want, just dry yourself off before," Zoro replied, already heading for the door.
Sanji hurried to dry himself, then he caught up with Zoro again.
"Hey, did he like the autograph?" he asked while trying to keep up with Zoro's fast pace.
Zoro snorted.
"He loved it. He even made me frame the fucking thing. Do you know how difficult it is to find a frame the size of a handkerchief?"
With an amused laugh, Sanji shook his head.
"No, I've never had to frame a handkerchief."
"Oh, let me tell you, it's literally impossible. I ended up making one myself because you can't buy those damn things anywhere." Zoro rolled his eyes. Then he stared at the door of the room they had reached by now. The door he couldn't open with his hands full of Chopper. Damn.
A little helpless, he turned around to face Sanji.
"Okay, this is awkward, but I can't open the door like this. I need you to, uh, get the key from my back pocket. The left one."
A dirty grin spread on Sanji's face.
"With pleasure," he purred, moving closer to Zoro who merely raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, yeah, just get it over with, pervert."
Not fazed by Zoro's unimpressed statement in any way, Sanji moved his hand into Zoro's pocket and started to feel around inside it.
"Marimo?"
"Yeah?"
"There isn't anything inside. Well, except for that ass of course."
Zoro wanted to punch the fucking grin off the smug asshole's face.
"My ass isn't even inside my pockets, genius. Just get the damn key and shut up. Try the other pocket."
Snickering, Sanji moved to the other pocket.
"Your ass is still nice though," he hummed, then pulled his hand back, they key dangling from his finger.
"There is it."
"Great, now open the door. See, I told you it was in my left pocket."
Sanji just stared at him. "You know that it was in your right pocket, right?"
"Are you even listening? I just said it was in the left one, and I told you to open the door. Have you heard anything of what I just told you?"
"I just- you really think that pocket was on the left?" Sanji asked to make sure they were still talking about the same thing. But the guy didn't seem to be joking, apparently he truly believed his right pocket was the left one.
"Yes! Are you stupid?" Zoro was getting impatient. He was a little worried about Chopper, because even though he knew he was obsessed with Sanji, fainting seemed to be a little too much of a reaction. And that arrogant singer asking dumb questions was pretty much the last thing he needed right now.
"No, I just think you aren't very good with directions and such," Sanji shrugged; messing with this guy was fun! And apparently he really sucked when it came to directions, which made it even more fun.
"Open. The. Fucking. Door. And. Shut. Up!" Zoro growled. His sense of direction was something he was sort of sensitive about, and that fucker was provoking him by making fun of it and not opening the damn door.
With a triumphant grin, Sanji finally pushed the key into the lock and opened the door. Without waiting for an invitation, he entered the room and sat down on the bed.
Zoro walked up to the bed as well, placing Chopper on it gently. He disappeared to the bathroom and returned after a minute with a glass of water that he placed on the nightstand.
Sanji shuffled over to give Zoro some space to sit down, then stared at him expectantly.
"Okay, let's talk."
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Talk?"
"Yes, talk. You know, the thing where people tell other people stuff about themselves. Words coming out of their mouth. Talking. Too hard for you?" Sanji challenged.
Zoro wondered how this guy managed to drive him mad within only ten minutes. It really took some skills for that, though in fairness, many people drove him mad. Just… in a different way. This arrogant fucker got under his skin like no one else. Fucking annoying.
"I fucking know how to talk! I just wanted to know what the hell you wanna talk about!"
"Dunno? Small talk? Stuff people usually talk about when they meet for the first time? Well, second time, but that doesn't matter. Don't you ever do conversations?"
Sanji leaned back to make himself more comfortable, his knee ending up resting against Zoro's thigh. Neither of them made a move to get more distance between them, though Sanji wondered if Zoro even noticed. That guy was incredibly hard to read, really.
Zoro shrugged.
"I don't usually do small talk . I don't do much talking in general. Talking is overrated in my opinion."
"I see, you're a difficult one," Sanji sighed. "Okay, let's do it like this: I'll ask you some questions, you answer them. That amount of talking fine with you?"
"I guess," Zoro grumbled, lying flat on the bed and closing his eyes. "Go ahead."
"Great. Okay, let's see. You and Chopper, you're quite close, huh?"
"He's the most important thing in the world. I've been taking care of him ever since our parents died, I think that sort of shit makes people grow close."
Sanji remained quiet. For some reason he felt like pity wouldn't be appreciated at all, so he kept his mouth shut.
"Aren't you a little young to take care of him though? I mean, I'm sure they didn't allow you to take care of him on your own when you were younger, did they?" he eventually asked.
Zoro shook his head. "They didn't. We grew up in an orphanage, but you know, those aren't home. You don't actually feel like you belong there, to them you're just another mouth they have to feed. So in a way I have been taking care of him ever since we ended up there, even though I wasn't his legal guardian yet. But those orphanages are only willing to keep you until you've attained full age. They don't exactly kick you out, but they do wanna get rid of you. I wasn't too keen on staying there anyway, so I did my best to find a job and a home, then I requested guardianship for Chopper because like hell I was gonna leave him there. It wasn't easy to convince them that I was capable to take care of a child, but somehow we made it work. I'm really glad we did. I couldn't imagine life without Chopper," he explained softly.
Sanji smiled. Apparently Zoro was an awesome big brother. As tough as he looked, in reality he was a huge softie, that much he had figured out by now.
"Does Chopper remember your parents?" he asked. He wondered how old they had been when they lost them.
"No, he was too young to remember. In a way, he's better off that way I think. You can't really miss something you don't remember, can you?" Zoro replied thoughtfully and with a hint of sadness in his voice, and Sanji understood that whilst Chopper didn't remember anything, Zoro did remember very well. He was right, not having known them most likely hurt less than remembering and missing them. He himself had lost his parents at a very young age too. And then the old geezer had adopted him, but he didn't remember his parents either.
Apparently, Zoro didn't like his emotions that were showing, since he shook his head as if to chase the dark thoughts away, and sat up a little straighter. He wasn't going to do all the talking here. There was no way Sanji was getting away without sharing his story as well.
"What about you? It's not fair if you get to know about our past, but I don't know anything about yours. Do you have a special story?" he inquired.
Sanji looked a little surprised at the question.
"It's not very special. My parents died when I was a kid too, but I was adopted by a shitty old man. He owns a restaurant and he has taught me everything about cooking. I love cooking, but I've always loved singing a tad more. My old man knew that, so he kicked me out when I told him I wanted to stay and take over the restaurant someday. Any by kicked out, I mean literally kicked out. Old asshole's got one hell of a kicking ability."
Sanji smirked at the memory. His ass had hurt for days afterwards!
"Anyway I didn't understand why he kicked me out at that time. The restaurant was my home and I loved it with all my heart, I still do. But… the old man knew what I didn't realise back then. He knew it wasn't my actual dream. He knew that deep down I wanted to do something else with my life. So I spent some time crashing at friends' places and singing in shitty bars to earn some money, and when I wasn't singing, I worked as a barkeeper. Then some guy turned up, said something about wanting to work with me, produce my own songs and stuff, and before I knew what was happening, I found myself in a recording studio, singing my very first own song. Surprisingly, people liked it, so we did some more. The guy was an asshole, only after the money, but I got myself a new producer, and well, here I am."
"That sounds pretty incredible. Like the plot of a really shitty book," Zoro grinned. He didn't know Sanji well yet, but this really fit him for some reason.
"I know, right? I think it was more luck than anything else. Well, luck, and my old man, for throwing me out. But like hell I'll ever tell him. That shitty geezer's ego is big enough as it is!"
Zoro didn't miss the fond tone in Sanji's voice when he talked about his foster father. It was obvious that none of the insults were to be taken seriously – though he had the feeling that Sanji would rather bite off his own tongue than let his old man know about that.
"Your old man sounds like a great person. He kicked your ass, something that is very tempting to me as well, so he must be great," he mocked, "I bet I'd like him. Maybe we should meet."
Right after the words had left his mouth, he realised just what exactly he had just implied. "Uhm…"
Thankfully, Sanji wasn't mad. He only leaned closer and smirked. "Oh, already getting to the meeting parents thing?"
Zoro looked away in embarrassment. Once again, his mouth had been faster than his brain. But apparently Sanji didn't mind, not at all, so it wasn't too big of a problem. Or so he hoped. Because damn, Sanji was cute. He liked that he could keep up with his own sarcasm and somewhat dark sense of humour, and his physical appearance wasn't half bad either. Would've been a shame if he had just fucked up any chance he possibly had with the guy just because he couldn't keep his mouth shut, really.
Before he could think of anything smart to say, Sanji spoke up again.
"I'll tell you what. How about we talk some more until Chopper wakes up, and then maybe have something to eat and a drink? I'll treat you guys. Those music snobs pay more than enough," he laughed, but Zoro didn't feel like he was trying to brag about his income, or acting out of pity because he knew about Chopper's and his background story. It was more like a nice gesture without much thought behind it. So he figured he should accept the invitation because damn, dinner with a cute guy? He couldn't think of many better things to happen, so why not?
"Sure, why not," he voiced his thoughts. "Do you know any good restaurants? We've never been here before, so I don't really know any." He tried to not let his joy show too much, but he wasn't sure if he was successful.
"I know one that has okay food. In this area, we won't find anything that serves really good food, so okay will have to do, unfortunately… Hey, can I ask you something else?"
"Sure."
"What the hell happened to your hair?"
What the actual fuck? All the fuzzy feelings that had been slowly building up inside Zoro's chest disappeared in an instant. That fucker really dared to question his hair when his eyebrow looked like a literal invitation to throw a dart at?!
"I'm not answering that question until you tell me what you did to your stupid eyebrow, asshole!" Zoro growled. Sanji wasn't going to get away with insulting his hair, damnit!
"Hey! I asked you a normal question, leave my damn eyebrow alone!" Sanji snapped back, looking slightly offended.
Zoro paused, mentally replaying Sanji's words. Sure, it could've been put a little nicer, but he had probably really just meant to ask a question. Maybe he had overreacted a bit.
He sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that. My hair's just always been kind of a touchy subject. I assumed you were making fun of it." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "My hair, uh… It's natural. I have no idea how, but it's always been that way. Nobody knew what to answer when I asked them, so eventually I just accepted it."
At the orphanage, he had been bullied and avoided because of his hair. Of course he didn't care much when they laughed at him, but they also started avoiding Chopper for having a brother with green hair. Chopper hadn't understood why, and seeing him getting rejected by the other children had been more painful for Zoro than being laughed at could ever have been. Of course it wasn't much of an issue now, but it left a bad taste, and he was kind of sensitive when it came to his hair.
Sanji leaned back. "It's okay. Don't make fun of my eyebrow though. It's just as much of a touchy subject as your hair is. And to answer your question, I have no idea why it is like this. Like your hair, it's just always been like this. But doesn't every celebrity need a feature that makes them recognizable? If I fail as a musician, people will at least remember me for my eyebrows," he laughed in a successful attempt to lighten the mood.
Before either of them could say anything else, Chopper stirred. He slowly opened his eyes, blinked a few times, and when he caught sight of Sanji, he froze instantly, his eyes wide open.
"You're still here," he whispered.
"Yes," Sanji smiled, "and it'd be better if you didn't go straight to passing out again, yeah? I'm a normal person, just like you and your moss brother. Though he really is very mossy… I'm not sure if he counts as human- ouch!" Pouting, he rubbed the spot where Zoro had whacked him over the head. "Shitty marimo!"
"Your own fault for making me look uncool in front of my brother," Zoro huffed, but at the moment he was too glad to see Chopper awake and alright to be mad at Sanji.
"Hey, Chopper, how you feeling?" he questioned, ignoring Sanji muttering "not my fault you're uncool!" under his breath.
"Uh-" Chopper stuttered, "I feel fine. Zoro, why is Sanji here?"
"He wanted to make sure you're okay. And he thinks we're super cool, that's why he stayed."
"Correction: You are super cool. Your brother is a nerd. But otherwise, he's right. Are you okay?" Sanji demanded. Insulting Zoro felt natural already, and it was a lot of fun. He just hoped Chopper wasn't going to be mad at him for insulting his beloved brother. The little boy was adorable as fuck, he didn't want him to dislike him.
But there was no need to worry about that, as Chopper didn't really seem to process everything that was happening. He just offered a weak "y-yes" to answer Sanji's question, but continued staring at him as if he was a monster with three heads, or well, his favourite celebrity.
Sanji sighed. "Okay, come on."
In one smooth move, he pulled Chopper onto his lap, ignoring how the boy's breathing stopped again for a few seconds.
"Look, I'm really just an ordinary person who happens to be somewhat successful when it comes to music. I like the same things as everyone else, and I do the same things as you when I get up in the morning. I don't even drive an expensive car. In fact, that thing is more than close to falling apart. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I'm not better than you in any way, and that there's no need to almost pass out when I talk to you, alright? I actually happen to like you, and your brother is kind of tolerable as well, which is why I'll treat you both to dinner tonight. How's that sound?"
His short speech was rewarded by Chopper relaxing a little on his lap and whispering "okay" hesitantly. "I really love your music though," the boy added after a few seconds.
"Oh? That's great! I'm really glad you like it. If I can make people happy with my music, I get all happy too, you know," Sanji explained.
If talking was going to make Chopper less nervous around him, then that he was going to do. He didn't want to make the boy feel as if he was worth less than him or anything. He preferred people talking to him the same way they would talk to anyone else.
Meanwhile, Zoro tried to hide the smile that threatened to spread on his face. Who would have expected Sanji to be this good with children?
Seeing that Sanji and Chopper were going to keep each other busy for a while, he collected his clothes and went to the bathroom to have a shower.
It was evening, and Zoro, Chopper, and Sanji were sitting in a nice little restaurant, waiting for their food. Chopper had loosened up remarkably around Sanji, though Zoro still caught him staring at him with admiration every now and then. But the boy couldn't be blamed, Sanji had been his idol for ages after all. Of course he was excited as fuck when he finally got the chance to meet him. And damn if this wasn't special, even getting to eat dinner with him and all. Lots of people would have killed to be in his place at the moment.
Zoro's attention shifted from his brother to Sanji. He still wasn't completely over how handsome that man was, and obviously he wasn't against some pretty explicit flirting with men either, considering how he had shamelessly grabbed Zoro's ass while looking for the key that afternoon.
What if he actually had a chance with him? He had invited him for dinner, did that mean he liked him? Of course he hadn't invited only him, but Chopper too, but Sanji wasn't just doing this to be nice… was he? God, Zoro really hoped he wasn't. But how was he going to get him to want to see him again? He was a celebrity after all. Who said he would even be interested in a normal person? Though Sanji really didn't seem to be superficial like that, but then again, maybe he just didn't want to act like that in front of Chopper? The entire thing was too complicated for Zoro; this was why he usually stayed away from people. Much less trouble that way.
While they were eating, it was pretty quiet. Chopper was busy enjoying the food – they barely ever ate out, so it was very special to him – and Zoro still felt somewhat awkward around Sanji. But then Sanji broke the silence by criticising the food, commenting on the spices and what he would have used, and how the flavours of the ingredients didn't even match, wow, how could anyone even think putting them together would be a good idea?
It was amusing to watch. Sanji had told Zoro about his childhood at the restaurant, and his old man, the chef, but he hadn't expected him to know this much about cooking. For fuck's sake, the guy recognized every single ingredient including spices in the damn dish. Zoro didn't know much about cooking and food, other than the fact that it was pretty important for, well, not dying, so maybe this was basic knowledge every cook had, but he would still have been lying if he said he wasn't impressed.
"You really are rather passionate about cooking, huh," he laughed; Sanji's outrage was quite funny after all.
"Hell yeah!" Sanji exclaimed. "I've told you about the restaurant and my old man, not being passionate about it after his kind of upbringing is nearly impossible. Kicked my ass for every mistake, even the tiniest ones. Can't say I'm not grateful for it though, that way I can at least impress hot people with my cooking skills. Speaking of which, I think I should totally cook for you at some point, don't you think?" He gave another of his smiles that could have melted even the most stoic being's heart – or Zoro's. Damn. He still barely knew the guy but… shit.
Also…
Had Sanji just indirectly called him hot?!
Zoro choked on his drink and started coughing violently.
"Hey, hey, easy there, don't die on me," Sanji laughed, patting Zoro's back in an attempt to stop his coughing. Chopper had stopped eating as well, giggling at his brother's misery. Zoro tried to glare at both of them but failed miserably as he tried to regain his breathing. Eventually he succeeded and was finally able to breathe again. A nice feeling.
"You guys are assholes," he complained. Sadly, said assholes weren't too bothered by the insult as they shared a glance, then continued to laugh. With a pout, Zoro leaned back in his chair. "Assholes," he repeated.
"Yeah, okay, this asshole here would still like to know if he's allowed to cook for the breathless plant and his adorable brother at some point. He'd like to serve you food in which the ingredients actually match," Sanji suggested, his tone hopeful.
Chopper's face went bright red a being called adorable.
"Asshole, don't call me that! I'm not adorable!" he cried, practically skipping up and down on his chair in a failed attempt to hide his excitement.
Sanji let out a surprised laugh. "Okay, I won't call you adorable anymore, promise," he assured, though he wasn't sure if he would be able to keep that promise.
"Don't worry," Zoro snickered, "He always does that. He doesn't know how to deal with compliments."
"Oh… well then maybe we should make him get used to them? He really is adorable after all," Sanji suggested with a grin, earning a squeal and a kick to his shin from a very flustered Chopper.
"Oh, he secretly enjoys them. Right, Chopper?" Zoro was punished with a glare that was probably supposed to look threatening, but actually just made Chopper look very cute. Zoro knew better than to inform him about that though, poor boy was already embarrassed enough.
"But, to get back to your proposition, I'm sure we'll find an opportunity for you to cook for us. Even though personally I didn't think there was anything wrong with the food we had tonight," he grinned evilly.
"That's because you're a Neanderthal," Sanji hissed as though he had just insulted his mother or something. "Trust me, you will notice a difference after you've tasted my food, fucker!"
"Yeah, yeah. We'll see if you're that great of a cook when we actually get to taste it."
"Chef, not cook! There's a huge difference, you know! And damn, your taste buds will be squealing in delight when I'm done with you!"
Zoro's brain immediately associated "squealing in delight when I'm done with you" with something completely different, that most certainly wasn't food, and he had to work hard to not choke again. Just food. Nothing else. Simply food Sanji wanted to make for Chopper and him. Nothing dirty there, nope.
"Well better don't fuck up then," he said in what he hoped was a casual manner, "we're looking forward to it."
Chopper nodded vigorously, even though his excitement was most likely more about seeing Sanji again than about the food.
"Great! Just wait, I won't disappoint you!" Sanji claimed. This time, there wasn't any trace of cockiness in his voice, just genuine excitement. "Here, take this." He pushed a slip of paper over the table. "This is my number, so we can arrange something. Just call me, well, whenever you like."
Zoro took the piece of paper, only barely refraining from grinning like an idiot. He had just managed to get a really cute guy's phone number, along with a real possibility of seeing him again. He honestly doubted the day could get any better.
"Thanks, I'll definitely call you. Don't think I'll let you get away with bragging like this and won't make you prove it," he managed smoothly, earning another sincere smile from Sanji.
"I'm looking forward to it. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to the hotel. I'd love to spend more time with you guys, but I got up really early this morning, and I'll have to get up early tomorrow as well, so uh, is that okay with you?" he asked, sounding slightly nervous.
A little disappointed, Zoro shook his head.
"Nah, sure, no problem. Need your beauty sleep, huh?" he teased. He would have loved to spend more time with Sanji; even though that guy annoyed him like nobody else, he also was really great to talk to. But Sanji did sound honestly regretful, so Zoro didn't think it was an excuse because he wanted to get away from them. And Chopper was starting to look ready to fall asleep sitting up as well. Plus, he had Sanji's number, so nothing kept him from seeing him again, actually.
After Sanji had paid, they walked back to the hotel in comfortable silence. Zoro was carrying the sleeping Chopper in his arms.
Sanji insisted upon walking Zoro back to their room, claiming it was to make sure he didn't get lost on the way there.
It made Zoro's chest all feel all fuzzy and warm. Of course he didn't need anyone to walk him back to his room, but still, it was kind of nice.
Finally, Sanji stopped in front of Zoro and Chopper's room.
"You'll be able to find your way inside from here, right?" he mocked, squeaking when Zoro shoved his elbow into his ribs.
"Well fuck you too, shitty singer," Zoro grumbled, slightly embarrassed at the hint at his practically non-existent sense of direction.
"Maybe next time," Sanji purred. He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Zoro's cheek. "Good night, marimo."
He turned around and walked towards the lift, leaving Zoro slightly dazed.
Just before entering the lift, he turned again, facing Zoro. "By the way, I know you don't really think my music is shitty. Chopper told me you stole his CDs and put them onto your iPod, thinking he wouldn't notice. I think it's cute," he called, waving to Zoro. Then he entered the lift, the door closing behind him.
A/N: Wow, so after almost 8 months I've finally managed to get this chapter done. I sincerely apologise for the delay, I was really struggling with this chapter for some reason. But now I've done it so yeah, here it is. I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out, but I feel like this is the best I can make this into. I'm also sorry for any ooc-ness. I For some reason I think there might be traces of that here and there and yeah, really sorry about that.
This isn't betaed, so if you spot errors of any kind, tell me and I'll try to fix them.
As for continuing this, I'm not sure if there will be more chapters since I don't have a concrete idea for a continuation at the moment. So I think I will just mark this as complete for now and maybe update if I happen to get an idea.
Thanks a lot for reading, you guys, and also thanks for the faves and the reviews for the first chapter.