So, it took me longer than expected to update, but after receiving all your kind reviews (thank you all!) I was a bit embarrased to continue, as I'm afraid I can't live up to your expectations. But here it is, part 2.

I like to thank my friends again for pre-reading. This is the second version, with some (but I doubt all ^^; ) mistakes taken out.

Please enjoy ^^

Hot as Fire

Chapter 2

Sanji woke up the next morning, immediately aware of a throbbing headache. Without opening his eyes he yawned and stretched his arms, to find that one of his hands smacked against something soft. Something that shouldn't be in his bed.

His eyes flung open and he straightened. He was definitely not in his own room. Slowly the events of last night came back to him. So it hadn't been a dream after all. But he couldn't remember falling asleep on the couch…

He let his eyes wander around Zoro's living room. He saw his own cloths lying on the ground before the fire place to dry. The fire had gone out a while ago. The last thing he remembered he had been lying there. Beside his suit lay the sweatpants he had been wearing last night. Shouldn't he still have that on?

Sanji gasped. Even that part had been real?!

Well, he had known that for a while, but he blamed the relaxed state of his body to a good night sleep. But he was still naked, lying under a sheet he knew for sure hadn't been there before.

He tried to get his breath under control. This wasn't the time to panic. So, Zoro had sucked him off. No, he had let the man suck him off. A man had pleasured him. A shiver went down his spine. Taking slow and deep breaths he put on his own clothes. His suit was ruined by the rain, but he hardly noticed.

Heavy footsteps came down the stairs. Sanji stiffened while fixing his tie. Keep it cool. It had been a drunken mistake, from him anyway. Maybe Zoro felt the same…

"Morning," the green haired man said, entering the living room. His hair was damp from the shower.

"M-morning." The cook swallowed hard. "L-look Zoro, about last night…" He cursed himself for stuttering. "I was really drunk and depressed and stuff… I'm not gay."

"I know." Zoro looked in the fridge and frowned seeing it almost empty.

Sanji raised a curly eyebrow. "And I'm not bi either."

"Yes, you mentioned that."

"Then what the hell was that last night?" Sanji shrieked. In a very manly way of course.

The other man shrugged. "Just doing you a favour, I guess."

"F–" Sanji almost choked on the word. "Doing me a favour? You violated me!"

"I didn't hear you complain."

"I was drunk!"

"Then sue me."

The cook stood stunned. How could Zoro be so casual about this? "Maybe I will. After all, you took advantage of me!"

"Yeah, 'cause I like having a stranger's dick in my mouth," Zoro said sarcastically.

"Don't make it sound like I forced you. It was all your idea! I never asked you to touch me!"

"Are you sure?"

Sanji opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again. He hadn't, had he? He knew he could become very affectionate when he was drunk, but he wouldn't go as far as to ask a man to please him?

But when he saw the smirk on Zoro's face, something inside him snapped. "Don't make me doubt my memory, you bastard!" He lifted his leg and attacked the green haired man.

Zoro could barely avoid his angry kick. He had poked the bear, and now he had to face it. Sanji's fierce attacks didn't stop. The other man stumbled backwards, trying to avoid the deadly kicks. His eyes flashed to the mantelpiece. There was only one way he stood a chance against the furious cook…

As the chef planned a new attack, Zoro used the split second he had to push the man backwards. It was more the surprise then the force which made Sanji stumble. While the chef regained his balance, the green haired man grabbed the swords – which were not just for decoration. In a blink of the eye he had one in each hand and the third in his mouth. Sanji raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. For a second they just stared at each other, but then the fight started all over again – though this time more fair.

Zoro had expected the chef to be more careful this time, as he was holding razor-sharp swords, but the blonde just avoided his slashes, limber as he was.

The fight could have go on for hours, had not Zoro's stomach made a growling noise. Sanji's leg stopped mid-air. The swordsman looked at him suspiciously and slowly, but highly alert, they both lowered their weapons.

The chef had been taught – well, it was beaten into him – never to let go anyone hungry. Not even an annoying, arrogant marimo. So he sighed. "Okay, maybe I'm overreacting. I just…" He stopped. "Never mind. I'll go make breakfast."

Zoro looked at him surprised, but then he shrugged. While Sanji started to scrape the leftovers together to make a meal, the green haired man turned to the fireplace. It was cold already, but he couldn't help but smile. The events of last night had given him some fun things to think about in the shower… The sound of the doorbell startled him. He frowned and opened the door.

A bright freckled face greeted him with a wide grin. Raven black hair framed his face. "Hi Zoro."

"Ace! What the hell?" The green haired man quickly looked over his shoulder and took a step outside, closing the door a bit behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you were so mysterious on the phone, I thought you might wanted to talk now."

Something fell in the kitchen. Zoro closed his eyes, but his friend had heard it as well. Ace's grin became even wider. "So the hot blonde is still here. Zoro, you dirty boy!" He pushed the green haired man out of the way and ran inside, closely followed by the swordsman. "I never called him ho–!"

He stopped mid sentence when he arrived in the kitchen. Sanji just rose after picking up the bowl he had dropped. Ace was shameless checking out the man's ass.

"Hello," the blonde said surprised.

"Hi, I'm Ace." The black haired man grinned at him. He was muscular, though not as much as Zoro. Also his skin was more pale.

"You're the guy from the phone."

Ace turned around and smirked at Zoro. "He remembers me."

"It was last night," the man answered with clenched teeth.

Sanji looked from Ace to Zoro, his eyebrows cocked. "I'm Sanji, by the way. I was just making breakfast, but since Moss-head over there barely had enough food to feed one, I can't really offer you something, Ace."

"Don't call me that, Curly-brow!"

Some more insults were thrown back and forth, but their fight was interrupted by Ace's uncontrollable laughing. Surprised the two men looked at him. "Moss-head? Curly-brow? You guys sure are something," Ace said between laughs.

"Don't make us sound like a couple!" Sanji's cheeks were red with anger. With a bang he placed a plate with food on the table. "Eat, Marimo."

"What's a marimo?" Ace asked curiously, when he saw that Zoro was obviously insulted.

"A ball of seaweed." The blonde smirked. "I learned that when I was studying Japanese cooking."

That explanation caused Ace to laugh again. "That's a new one!"

Clenching his teeth Zoro sat down. It annoyed him that Sanji's new nickname for him amused Ace so much. Biting back his anger he took a mouthful. And then froze. That damn cook could even make leftovers of leftovers taste good!

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Ace say: "That's like two blocks from my house. I can take you if you like."

"No way!" His fist slammed into the table.

Ace snickered. "Possessive much?"

Zoro ignored him. "I can give you money for the bus."

But Sanji shook his head. "No thanks. You really have done too much for me." He gave the green haired man a piercing look. "If Ace lives close by, I rather take that offer."

Franticly Zoro thought of ways to convince the blonde to take the bus home, or better, stay with him. But Ace's proposal was too reasonable. He sighed deeply.

His friend was already at the door. "We wanna get going then. I left my brother at home alone with a full fridge."

Zoro snickered. It wouldn't be full anymore when Ace got back.

"I hope you're not afraid of riding a motorcycle?"

Sanji tilted his head in a cocky way. "Do I look like I'm scared of anything?"

Ace just grinned.

The blonde turned to Zoro. "Listen, thanks for… everything." He hesitated for a moment, but then he grabbed a pen and scribbled something down on a piece of paper, which he handed to Zoro. "I hate owing people. So, if you think of something I can do to repay you, please call. But I will not do the exact same, you understand?" Then he followed Ace into the hall. By the door he stopped and turned around. "Oh, and Marimo? Buy some damn food."

Outside Ace gave the blonde a spare helmet. A bit jealous Zoro watched how Sanji wrapped his arms around his friend's waist. But then a thought struck him. If Ace brought the cook home, that meant his friend knew where he lived. Zoro looked at the note in his hand. Yeah, he would definitely see the blonde again.

Sanji clung to Ace, as the man accelerated. They went from zero to the maximum speed – or maybe even faster, the cook wasn't sure – within a few seconds. Ace was obviously very accustomed at riding the motorcycle and without much effort they zigzagged between cars. Sanji peered over the black haired man's shoulder and froze when he saw a traffic light in front of them turn red. Ace didn't seem to notice and the chef closed his eyes, mumbling a quick prayer. But at the last second the other man hit the breaks and just in time they came to a stop.

"Do you always drive like this?" Sanji asked panting.

Ace smirked. "Why? Ya scared?"

"As if. But I prefer not to die."

The other man grinned at him and at that moment the traffic light turned green. Sanji wrapped his arms around Ace again, just in time as he accelerated.

When they came to a stop in front of his house, Sanji got off the motorcycle as quickly as he could and took off his helmet. Fixing his hair, he said: "Thanks for the ride."

As Ace showed no intention of leaving, the blonde turned around to him, looking puzzled. "Shouldn't you stop your brother from eating everything?"

"I did just bring you home. And I'm really in the mood for some coffee. You wouldn't want my nice gesture to go unreturned?" Ace blinked his eyelashes innocently in a way Sanji had thought only girls could. He sighed. No doubt the man had overheard his conversation with Zoro, but as he called upon Sanji's honour, the blonde couldn't ignore him.

"Would you like some coffee then?"

Ace jumped of his motorcycle and after pulling the keys from the engine, he followed the chef inside the house.

As expected, the blonde found everything in the same way as he left it yesterday morning. "Make yourself at home," he said to Ace before going into the kitchen to make coffee.

When he returned the other man had taken a seat at the dinner table and smiled at him. Sanji smiled back hesitantly and poured the coffee into two mugs.

Ace added three spoons of sugar and took a sip, seemingly not effected by the high temperature. He sighed contently. "That's just what I needed."

The smile on Sanji's face became genuine now that once again his cooking skills had made someone happy, even if it was just coffee.

"This is really good. Much better than the stuff out off the machine at work."

The cook frowned. "I should hope so. This is real Italian coffee."

A comfortable silence fell as both sipped from their beverage. Then Ace asked: "So why were you at Zoro's place? As you both were firmly of the opinion that it wasn't a date."

"It wasn't!" Sanji sighed and started to tell his story. Of course he left out the bit after he had his first glass of wine. He just hoped Zoro would be as discrete as well.

Ace seemed to muse for a bit. "I heard about that fire, but I wasn't on duty that night. I'm a fireman," he explained after seeing Sanji's puzzled face. "I heard it was really bad, they had been trying to put it out for hours."

The blonde nodded. "And there wasn't much left," he said in a sad tone. "Apparently it was caused by arson. I'm not looking forward to tell the owner."

As if on cue, his phone, which lay on the couch, started to ring. Sanji checked the screen for the caller ID and cursed softly. "Sorry, I've got to take this," he apologized to Ace. The man smiled and nodded.

The chef took a deep breath and answered. "Hey."

"What the hell have you done to my restaurant?! I can't leave you in charge for two weeks?" a familiar and very angry voice shouted in his ear.

Sanji did his best not to get worked up. "Calm down, you shitty old fart! How did you even hear?"

"The newspaper. Where the hell have you been, lil' eggplant? I've been trying to call you all morning!"

"I was out and forgot my phone," Sanji answered truthfully. He looked at Ace. He had expected the man to leave after he finished his coffee, but the man just poured himself another cup and smiled at the chef with his innocent smile.

"You would even forget your own head if it wasn't stuck to you neck, string bean! Honestly, what did you do? Let one of those shitty cigarettes burn the place down?"

Now the blonde got angry as well. He walked into the kitchen and closed the door, though he doubted that would prevent Ace from overhearing. "Why do you naturally assume it is my fault? I'm not as stupid as the rest of those people that call themselves chefs!"

"So what then, hm? Did one of you idiots leave the stove on? Was it Patty? Or was Carne toying with a crème-brulée burner again? Who of those shitheads do I have to kick to the other side of the globe?"

Sanji waited until Zeff was finished ranting. The man tried to hide it, but he sounded very emotional. That was hardly strange. The Baratie had been the life's work of the old man. He had put everything into it. The restaurant had already been there when he adopted Sanji when he was still a young boy. When he was ten he started helping out doing the dishes. Despite Zeff being his adoptive father, the man had never gone easy on him. He started out as busboy, working his way up to head chef, but without any help from his old man, besides what he had been taught about cooking at home. His best memories were from the Baratie, filled with laughter and fighting.

And now everything they worked so hard for was gone. It as hard for him to hold himself together and he knew Zeff felt the same. The old man tried to hide it by ranting on and blaming the incompetent chefs. When he paused his angry outburst to breathe, Sanji took his chance. "It wasn't anybody's fault, old man, not ours at least. It was arson. Someone deliberately burned down the Baratie."

When it stayed silent at the other end of the line, the blonde continued: "I've talked to the arson inspector. I'm sure he will be happy to explain everything to you when you get back. But please, try to enjoy the rest of your vacation. I'll handle things here. As the fire wasn't our fault, our insurance should cover everything. Just don't worry, old man." Before Zeff could protest, he continued: "Trust me. I'll come to pick you up when you arrive at the airport."

When he got back to the living room Ace was just pouring himself his third – or perhaps fourth – cup of coffee. "You okay?" he asked while grabbing the sugar bowl.

"Yeah. That was the owner, my adoptive father." Sanji sank on a chair. "He's taking it hard, but he'll live. I tried to convince him to stay, as this is his first vacation in years. But I doubt he will go on holiday anytime soon after this."

Sanji walked to a drawer and grabbed his emergency pack of cigarettes. He couldn't smoke at all last night, just at the time when he had needed it the most. That was the reason he had resolved in drinking, and boy, had that been a mistake. He flinched when a few scenes from last night played in front of his eyes. He also grabbed a lighter and went back to the table. "Do you mind if I smoke?"

"It's your house, knock yourself out."

The chef lighted a cigarette and sighed happily when the nicotine hit his lungs. "Do you want one?"

"No thanks, I'm good. You know, there have been multiple buildings been catching on fire lately. It's probably some pyromaniac," Ace mused. "So I don't think it's personal."

Sanji was about to ask which other buildings had burned down – he had been working hard lately and hardly had the time to watch the news – when his phone started ringing again. Checking who was calling, his face went pale.

"Are you all right?" Ace asked worried.

"Yeah… It's my ex. She broke up with me the day before yesterday. I'm not sure I want to talk to her." Though Ace nodded understandingly, Sanji's own words got through to him. What was he thinking? It was rude to make a lady wait, let alone ignore her. So he answered. "Hello Conis, my dear."

"Sanji, I just heard about your restaurant. I'm so sorry."

The cook smiled. Despite the fact that she trampled his heart hardly a day ago, he was falling back in his old routines, treating her like a princess. "Unless you started the fire, you have nothing to apologize for, my angel." He got up and walked into the kitchen again, leaving Ace to finish the last coffee. His own beverage had already cooled off anyway.

"But still. My timing was very unfortunate. If I had known…"

"Sweety, please stop. You couldn't have known and if you did, it was no reason for you to continue dating me if you didn't want to. Really, I'm lucky you even stayed with me as long as you did."

It was quiet for a moment on the other end of the line. "Please don't stay stuff like that," Conis then said in her sweet voice. He took another drag from his cigarette as she continued: "You are an amazing man, really. You're always sweet and considerate, though sometimes you're a bit goofy, but that's okay. And I didn't broke it off because you sometimes flirted with other girls. I know that's innocent and you were always fateful. It's just…" Her voice sounded like she held back her tears. "It's just that you are too sweet. It's hard not to take advantage off, even if I don't want it." She started to sob.

"Please don't cry, princess," Sanji said softly. "There is no need for that. Yes, it has been a rough couple of days for me, but I can handle it. Please don't worry over me."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" she sniffled.

"Of course I will, darling. Thank you for calling. And my dove?"

"Yes?" the girl whispered.

The cook smiled watery. "Please smile again."

He heard her chuckle softly when she said: "I will. I hope you will too."

After she had hung up, the blonde swallowed hard a few times before he felt ready to face Ace again. He didn't want to look weak. But in the few weeks he and Conis had dated, he had started to care a lot for her. It had taken him by surprise when she had told him they couldn't see each other anymore. It was hard for her too, he had seen that, but he had wished she would explain why. But now that she had, he hardly felt any better. Mostly because he didn't quite understand the explanation.

"What does 'being to sweet' mean?" he asked half to himself when he sat down with Ace again.

The other man, who had been playing with Sanji's lighter, shrugged. "That was her reason for breaking it off?"

The chef nodded. "Something about easy to take advantage of. But that's not really a reason, is it?"

Ace shrugged again, this time smiling. "That's why I prefer men. Much less cryptic."

"Oh God, not you too," Sanji groaned, but then slammed immediately a hand in front of his mouth. "I didn't mean it like that! I have nothing against gay people. It's just, Zoro is gay and, well, I kinda hoped to talk to someone that would understand and…"

Ace, who had just raised his eyebrow at Sanji's comment, snickered. "It's always fun watching people trip over their words to find a politically correct answer."

"You're not mad?" Sanji asked carefully.

"Of course not. If you were some homophobe, Zoro probably wouldn't have let you stay. Or beat it out of you. Besides, I'm not gay. Let's just say that I never say no to a blonde with a nice ass." He winked at the cook.

"I didn't offer you one," he answered dryly. He grabbed another cigarette, as his first one had gone out, and let Ace lit it.

"But did Zoro tell you he was gay? Normally he's not so open about it. Or did he hit on you?" The black haired man grinned, probably imagining the gruff man flirting.

"No, I er… I found a magazine in his bathroom, which didn't leave much to the imagination." Sanji felt his cheeks slightly turn red as he remembered some of the pictures in it.

Ace burst into laughter once more. "Oh, that's precious. If only I could have seen your face. Or his face, when you confronted him! Or didn't you say anything?"

"Well, I had to make sure he knew I wasn't interested." The blonde was now certain his ears were bright red. "So there would be no confusion."

"So you're not interested in him?" Ace asked.

"No, I'm straight."

"Then, do I have a shot?"

Sanji was debating whether to repeat himself once more or just to give the guy a kick in the head. Honestly, was the man deliberately ignoring him? He took a deep breath and said with clenched teeth: "No, you do not."

"That's too bad. But anyway, what did Zoro say?" The other man hardly seemed regretful that Sanji just turned him down.

"He said he wasn't interested in me anyway." It was no use to lie, since Ace would be hearing the truth probably soon enough. To be honest, he had been a little offended when Zoro had told him that he would have had no taste to date him, even though he had no interest in men anyway.

Ace started to laugh once again. This time, it didn't seem like he would stop any time soon. Sanji wondered if he should be offended or if he should just join the man. He had quite a contagious laugh.

After Ace was done hiccupping, Sanji looked in the coffeepot to find it empty. He frowned. "How many cups have you had?"

"Dunno, five or six. But I need it to stay awake." The black haired man pouted.

The blonde cocked an eyebrow, but decided not to ask. "Do you want more?"

"I probably shouldn't, unless I want to become a hyperactive rubber ball like my brother. But I do have to pee."

"Upstairs, second door on your left." While Ace raced to the bathroom, Sanji collected the mugs and the coffeepot and brought them to the kitchen. When the other man came down, he was snickering again. "You have also a dirty magazine in your bathroom."

The blonde flushed. "Don't go through my private stuff!"

"You did it at Zoro's."

"I was looking for a towel after I had showered there! I wasn't snooping."

"So you were naked in his house?" Ace seemed to be lost in thought.

"Don't picture that!" Sanji's cheeks became even more crimson.

The black haired man grinned again. "Well anyways, thanks for the coffee. I should be going now. You should stop by at my place if you have the time. My brother probably would want to meet you." He scribbled down his address. In the hallway he grabbed his helmet. "See ya around."

Sanji sighed deep when he heard the door close. Despite the fact that Ace had intruded his house, his personality was very likeable and his company was a much welcomed distraction from his problems. There were so many things he had to do. But, he decided, first he had to put on some clean clothes. After he had changed and had prepared his old clothes to go to the drycleaner – if they weren't completely ruined by the rain of last night – he checked to see if he had missed any calls besides Zeff's. He had in fact, Patty and Carne had called, though he had no idea how they got his number. Only then it hit him. He and Zeff weren't the only ones suffering from the burning down of the restaurant, the rest of the staff did as well. And they probably had only found out this morning in the paper.

He decided to call an emergency meeting at his house that evening, so they could talk what had happened and what was going to happen next. He had called Zeff back to discuss a few details about what to say. It wasn't easy to convince the grumpy restaurant owner that Sanji could handle it and there was no reason to take the first plane back.

That night the cook's house was quite filled with people. Sanji had whipped up some hors d'oeuvres and now waited until everyone had arrived. When most were present, he stepped onto a chair and cleared his throat. "May I have your attention please?"

When ignored, he decided on a different approach. "Oi, shitheads! And lovely ladies," he added, for the waitresses and female chefs. "I know you are all shocked about what happened to the Baratie. I am as well."

"Does Zeff know?" Patty asked.

"Yes, he has heard the news. Though this doesn't mean he is going to cut his vacation short. I'm sure you will all agree that he deserves this break after what he has done for you all." Most of the staff were all people that had committed a petty crime or had otherwise been in trouble, Sanji himself being no exception. But Zeff had taken them all under his wing and given them a job.

A murmur of approval filled the room. "Until he comes back, I will handle all things. None of you is going to disturb him, is that clear?" When the staff nodded, the blonde continued: "Now, don't worry. The Baratie is going to be rebuild. First thing in the morning I will go look for a new location. Our insurance should cover everything, so we should have enough money, but if not, we will make sure we get a loan. And we will keep you informed of course. But until then, I'm afraid you are going to have to find another job. Just for in the meantime. But as we are a family, we will be together again at the new restaurant!"

Applause filled the room and Sanji stepped down the chair. Patty and Carne came up to him. "Nice speech, eggplant," the first said grinning.

The blonde gave him a kick in the head. "Only the shitty old man can call me that." Then he sighed. "You think they all will be okay?"

"Sure they will. At the very worst they are out of a job for a few months," Carne said shrugging.

Sanji nodded, when an idea hit him. His face brightened. "Wait, now that we are temporarily not on the same staff anymore, I can ask out our waitresses!" And he danced away, followed by a trail of hearts.

~ To be continued

Sorry, no smut this time. But remember, Sanji owes Zoro a favour. What will our swordsman ask for? Stay tuned~ (or at least bear with me ^^; )