Edited 6-21-13

Light night, Dark day

It was Wednesday. Two in the morning and neither Zoro nor Sanji were ready for sleep. Luffy had gone out with his brother, and taking advantage of this rare opportunity the two did everything they could to each other. An hour after the love making, instead of rest Sanji began to ask questions. He was full of questions. Zoro didn't mind so much, especially considering the topic.

"So how long was it until you realized you were a freak of nature?" Sanji asked.

It was one he had become accustomed to hearing, but it was something he loved answering.

Zoro held on tightly to his pillow as he recalled the day before exams during freshman year in high school. Although he hardly studied it was easy for him to remember particular words, those that appealed to him with their spectacular arrays of colors. Words could be messy and random, with orange and pink right in-between purple and gray, but once in a while there were words that produced a sort of matching rainbow, bringing forth memorable images that he couldn't possible forget.

"I had just turned fifteen," he answered.

Sanji chuckled affectionately. "What happened?"

"I was staring out the window during a lecture. I was tired." Zoro could feel Sanji's hand trail over his lower back. A flicker of blue appeared in the backdrop of his mind, like candlelight in a dark room, and then disappeared in the physical exhaustion his body held. "The teacher-I forget the name-saw me and decided to call me out in front of everyone. He asked me what a word meant-partisanship.

"I answered almost immediately after hearing the word. The look on his face was priceless," he continued. "But it wasn't until after class that I realized I was different." He could feel Sanji staring, listening to the words he was saying. It was different from before. He had laughed when he had mentioned this before. now suddenly Sanji felt an interest in learning about his strange abilities. But Zoro knew better than to award Sanji for this. Sanji didn't want to share with Mihawk, that was the underlying topic neither would bring up. but Zoro played along, still enjoying Sanji's willingness to learn and listen.

"Luffy and Usopp asked how I knew, seeing that the three of us barely studied the night before. I told them about the image I saw when he said the word-and I remembered it." Zoro could see a spark of interest appear on Sanji's face. A small smile appearing where his lips met.

"What?" Sanji asked.

"The word made a pattern," he answered.

"You see patterns too?"

"Only if the colors coordinate well enough," Zoro said. "Most are just random colors, but some have enough of the same shade or matching colors to create something."

"So I'm a mess?"

"You're not that bad," Zoro yawned. "S is blue, A would be yellow, then-"

"I like orange," Sanji said. "Is there orange in my name?"

"No, thank god...it would ruin everything."

He heard Sanji produce a tired laugh. He could feel the bed shake as the blonde moved about in the bed, his body moving closer to his.

"I always thought it was normal," he said. Zoro paused, lifting his face from the pillow. "I still think it is…"

"You think the way I see things is weird?" Sanji asked.

"No, not really. But I think the way I see things makes more sense."

"Explain," Sanji said.

"The way I see people," Zoro said. He flipped himself over on his back and faced Sanji. "It's like an aura. Another way for me to see a person, but different. When I connect with people, it's on another level. I really know who they are."

"And what am I?"

Zoro stared into Sanji's blue eyes. His mind strayed as he thought about the first time Mihawk asked the question, way back when the man had taken interest in his unusual condition. His expression was stoic as usual, but Zoro could remember the look of curiosity within his yellow eyes. It was a look that had since dwindled. Mihawk didn't care anymore, his reasoning that it would be pointless to care when he could never fully understand or experience it. And now Sanji had the same look in his eyes, but rather than wear a straight face, Sanji's expression matched the spark in his eyes. Zoro wasn't sure whether to feel excited or depressed.

"You're blue."

"Yeah, and?"

"You're confident. You know what you want." Zoro answered. "Also, you're more likely to take a more mature, steady approach to problems."

"A little vague," Sanji said.

"You're also a screw-up," Zoro added. "For the most part, you're more stable. People can rely on you, and you can rely on them. You're more honest with yourself. Better than me."

"Still a little vague. Feels like I'm reading a horoscope or something," Sanji said. He rested himself next to Zoro and smiled. "Surely there's more to this than some magazine description."

"I'm just giving you a description of everything I've gathered from other people with the color," Zoro said. "Besides, everyone's unique. I've never met someone with the exact same shade."

"There are shades?"

"And everyone isn't quite the same as the next," Zoro said. "It's like…you know how scientists say there are colors we haven't yet named or discovered? I've seen them."

"And with me? What's great about my color?"

Zoro could see the color in his mind and easily found the source of where this color belonged. He had seen this shade of blue before; in movies, pictures, paintings, and his dreams. It was the ocean. Not the shade he had seen the other day when he was at the harbor, but the color one would imagine when cast way out. Water that hadn't been contaminated by pollution, but the deep blue water that was far out and away from human contact. That crisp, solid, deep blue that was so full of mystery and life.

"It's the sea," Zoro answered. He watched as Sanji's expression grew more excited. "Pretty good comparison if you ask me."

Sanji lifted himself and hovered over Zoro. He lowered his head, his lightly touching Zoro's, and causing both men to smile with energy and delight.

"And yet I'm competing for your attention," he muttered to the man.

Zoro frowned. "There is no competition," he said. "I already told you I'm taken. Nothing's going to change that."

"I don't know," Sanji said. "I have you up and about, blushing and begging for attention."

"Stop."

"And you're happy," Sanji added. He produced a cocky smirk, and Zoro felt himself shudder as he felt a hand gently grasp his heated erection. "Very happy."

"There is nothing serious going on," Zoro gasped as he felt Sanji's hand tighten his grip a bit, sliding up and sending sweet sensations to pool inside him. "You can't ever change that."

"I think I can," Sanji said.

"You seem too confident."

"You should have seen your face when you talked about your colors. Like a child talking about Christmas," Sanji replied. "You lit up when you spoke about the sea." He grinned. "I'm the sea, you see."

"I'm not going to fall for it."

Sanji moved in closer. Both men were touching each other, hot skin rubbing and sending strong signals to their frantic minds. Zoro continued to stare up at Sanji, trying his best not keep himself from smashing his lips against Sanji's. It was hard. His body was aching for more contact, and Sanji's soft hand was making it difficult as it continues to stroke his sensitive manhood.

"What am I competing against?" Sanji asked again.

"Something you can never hope to defeat," Zoro answered.

"I think the overconfident one here is you." Sanji moved his leg over Zoro, and pulled the bed cover aside.

"Says the guy hung up over a summer fling," Zoro answered.

"Careful, Mosshead," Sanji warned.

"Selfish."

"What?"

"Blue. You can be very selfish. Especially the darker shades."

Sanji broke into a laugh, enough to have to cover his face and wipe away some tears.

"Everyone selfish sometimes," Sanji coughed, calming himself down. "You think you're a saint?"

Zoro snickered. He rested himself on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling while he felt Sanji hands rest on his chest. The cold air on his erection brought the slight sensation of pain and loneliness, but it was quickly overlapped when he felt Sanji's soft flesh press against it. He closed his eyes and let out a soft groan, his arms reaching out and grabbing the blonde's hips, helping aid in entering him. His body shivered as he heard Sanji utter a sigh, his mind disappearing as pleasure took control. He forced Sanji all the way down, earning a hiss from him, but didn't care. It was hot, tight, too hard to ignore. Sanji's hands moved up and down his chest, his hips shaking as Zoro proceeded to thrust into him, earning loud moans from the from both of them. Zoro stare up at the blonde. He could see Sanji, and he could see that faded blue backlight, though it was getting murkier the closer he was to climax. But underneath what he saw was something else, that shade of pure white that he couldn't ignore, not even in his current state. It was eating at him.

VvvrrrrVvvrrr….

"Mosshead…"

The sound of the phone shaking rapidly on the shelf wasn't enough to wake Zoro. His exhausted body was curled, facing the wall, unaware that it was nearly ten in the morning. Sanji, on the other hand, wasn't accustomed to waking past eight, and despite his body being worn and his mind weary, he was up. He had showered and gotten himself dressed in his wrinkled clothes, and was about to cook a late breakfast before noticing the faint sound coming from the room.

"Hey, Zoro."

Sanji knelt down and shook the man's shoulder. Zoro didn't even stir from his sleep. The phone went off again, going off and dancing on the shelf before finally falling to the floor.

"Your phone. Hey, idiot, wake up."

It was apparent the man wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. Sanji groaned and walked over to the floor and picked the phone up. Just as he was about to put the phone back he stopped and turned the screen on. He wasn't sure why, but he watched the bright screen and stared at the top left corner.

2 missed calls.

Sanji looked over at Zoro's sleeping form and decided to continue to see who had called, not out of curiosity, but out of was no password stopping him from looking. It wasn't hard for him to find the list of missed calls. He stared up at the top two recent calls and saw they were the same name.

"Hawkeye?" Sanji said. It was a name he didn't recognize, but then it wasn't really a name to begin with. It was a nickname…and it could belong to anyone.

Sanji frowned. This wasn't going to help him at all: he certainly couldn't call this person and call him by that name. He placed the phone back on the shelf and then sat himself on the edge of the bed. He turned and watched Zoro slowly breathe. His chest moving up and down at a calm pace, and his body curled in that adorable position. He looked at peace.

He felt jealous. Sanji knew to Zoro this was nothing more than a summer fuck. It didn't matter what he did for the man, as long as he was in love with someone else there was nothing he could do. It was frustrating. After spending years of trying to figure things out and finally opening up to who he was, everything he was going through now made it feel like a waste.

Vvvrrr!

Sanji looked down and saw the screen of the phone light up for a few seconds before going blank. A text message.

He knew he shouldn't, but it was almost impossible to ignore. Sanji picked up the phone and immediately went to messages. He clicked on the only unread message without even bothering to check on whether Zoro was still asleep.

Meet in front of the gated commun at 7. We'll have a few hours to talk about anything you want. Don't miss future calls.

-Mihawk

Sanji had no idea what it meant other than it was important. The second sentence raised enough suspicion to have him convinced it involved something more than a normal chat. But it was the name at the end that had Sanji on the verge of crushing the phone in his hands. The message had come from Hawkeye, but the name on the bottom was Mihawk.

He had heard this name somewhere, but couldn't remember for the life of him. But this person was real, and chances were this was the person that Zoro had his eyes on. This was the person he was supposed to disappear for. Sanji squeezed the phone and continued to stare into the screen before finally letting out a long sigh. Zoro was still sleeping, and the phone was set on vibrate so he wouldn't hear a thing.

This Mihawk ought to have known better. Zoro was obsessed with someone who was hardly there for him. That wasn't right. Sanji told himself over and over again that what he was about to do would be right. He went back to the message board and then to the options menu and deleted the message. He placed the phone back on the shelf and walked out of the room.

As he made his way into the kitchen Sanji could feel a burst of amazement and awe of what he had just did. He could hear an audience of imaginary fans applauding his actions, cheering and whistling for taking action against this Mihawk fellow. But by the time Sanji was in front of the coffee maker he could feel his heart shaking so hard he was sure his lungs were getting bruised from the impact. What did he just do? Did he really just delete a private message intended for Zoro? What if it was the wrong person? What if Zoro got into trouble?

Sanji swallowed some excess saliva and frantically shook his head, reassuring himself such a thing would not happen. He grabbed the can of ground coffee and let himself inhale the scent, relaxing himself and putting a smile on his face.

Zoro would never know. He wouldn't even have a reason to know. Sanji quickly readied the coffee maker and hurried back into Zoro's room. He made a quick glance at Zoro's sleeping form, smiled, and then grabbed Zoro's phone. He removed the missed calls from Zoro's contact history and then pressed the power button and slide the phone off. It was a risky move, but if Zoro did ask why it wasn't on Sanji could easily come up with an excuse. Your phone probably died. Maybe it was a glitch of some sort. Apple products aren't very reliable.

This was terrible. What was he doing? Was he really doing this for someone he only knew for a few weeks?

Sanji placed the phone back on Zoro's shelf. He stared down at the man beneath him, completely unaware of what was about to unfold. How patient was Mihawk? Hopefully not too patient.

"Mmm..."

Sanji's body jerked in terror when he heard Zoro stir. He hurried out of the room, back into the kitchen, and after a few deep breathes, managed to bring himself back to usual self. He open the fridge and began to pull out a few eggs and a package of bacon. He could hear Zoro waking up to the smell of coffee, his yawn filling the entire apartment. In a few moments he would have a chance to change the young man's mind about him. He would be a summer love story...not after working so hard to start all over again. Things would be different this time.

Comments of any kind are appreciated.