Sanji never sleeps at night. After years working late in Baratie's kitchen he is well accustomed to the nightlife. In fact, Sanji has been trading night for day since he was a child. Formerly it was rather difficult because he had to wake up early for school, so he forced himself to sleep no later than midnight. But as soon as the holidays arrived his schedule would automatically dismantle. It was only a few days before he would start to lie awake all night and go to bed only when the sun came up. It was not as if anything interesting was happening at night, nothing different than by day, but his brain just seemed to like functioning then.
Most nights were even, well, dull. Rather lonely too. But he would make anything up to do, except, of course, go to sleep. Organizing old boxes, spending hours doing absolutely nothing on the internet, fulfilling some list of tasks that he hadn't done during the day. But why would one rather be up on such a tedious hour? Perhaps the silence and the darkness were somehow comforting, by day everything is so bright that sometimes he felt overexposed and vulnerable to the eyes of others. And then there is the sun, with which Sanji never had any problem, but which seems to have some problem with the boy since it turns him into a giant lobster in the blink of an eye. Or perhaps it was all to blame on his internal clock, which worked with horrifying precision.
When Sanji finally began to properly help in his stepfather's restaurant, he immediately knew that he belonged there. And the advantage, of course, was that it allowed him to live fully by night instead of by day. Because, honestly, he had already tried to sleep at night, and failed. Usually when Sanji needs to do something in the morning he stays up all night long until the other day. But there was a time when Zeff was giving him a lot of crap, okay more than the usual amount of crap, and Sanji decided to get another job. A day job. He thought he could adjust his schedule the way he did when he went to school, but he had never been so wrong. The first days were torture, he stayed up all night and waited 'til it was time to go to work. When he came home, exhausted, he could not even pin his eye at night and stayed up again. This lasted a while until Zeff convinced him amid insults, kicks and a real concern for the health of the blond, to return to work at Baratie.
And that's the reason why it's so strange when Zoro goes to his house and they dine, watch tv, talk, kiss, have sex and sleep. And Zoro is a day person, of course, because marimos need photosynthesizing during the day, everyone knows that.
As they started dating, Sanji used to enjoy watching his boyfriend sleep. As it happens he has a big cat for a boyfriend. He himself was never a fan of naps, another playful trick of his internal clock, but Zoro took several naps during a day. Sanji just used to contemplate Zoro while he slept peacefully. Most times they were together he ended up with Zoro's head on his lap and wandered in his thoughts while he slept, his fingers usually running through soft green locks that he learned to love, tracing random patterns on his boyfriend's hair. One day though, Zoro was spread on the couch during a post-lunch nap, as it was expected from a manner less marimo, and Sanji laid onto him. And that's when the magic happened for the first time. It was almost surreal.
When it happened from one day to the next it was so strange waking up with the sun rising instead of going to sleep at the crack of dawn that it almost felt unnatural. Over time, Sanji realized that it was like an inescapable spell: around 10:00 pm Zoro's eyes start turning red and Sanji never fails to notice when the man is sleepy (which frankly he thinks is a joke with the amount of naps that he has everyday). Then he brings Sanji to him and welcomes him into his bare chest. Zoro is naturally warm and brings immense comfort. In a few seconds Sanji is already asleep. Sometimes, though he never admits, even drooling over the other man. During any movie they are watching he always has to remember not to lie down on Zoro, because it is like a trance, and when he realizes he has slept through the entire flick.
This is where he belongs. It feels comfortable and surrounded by a safe, welcoming warmth. The impecable muscles beneath his head work as a sleeping pill. And it comes from the most infuriating man in the world. But it's the same lull he always emanates, the same zen vibe that he seems to have when he stares at him with his functional eye and his arms crossed. When sitting with closed eyes and taking deep breaths, though not sleeping. When he is meditating instead of training. When Sanji has his head on his lap and his guard is completely down and his hands massaging the greenish head.
When everything around Sanji seems to be collapsing and he protects him before he himself collapse as well. When he says, "It's okay, I'm here". This very sensation seems to translate into comfort and is transmitted to him when he lays his head on that skin always warmer than his own.
The sense of peace and belonging.
"You make me sleepy"
He said, almost numb and with half closed eyes. This could easily be misinterpreted by the moss for brains, who had already arched one of his angled eyebrows in response, so he fought another second against sleep to add:
"Sleep with me"
Which came out in a low mumble, barely a whisper. The green haired man seemed to understand the tenderness in the request and relaxed under his head, his large arms pulling him closer to his warmth and his love.