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“My mom asked when you’re coming to eat dinner at my place.“
Zoro’s head shot up from the table surface to look at Sanji. He stared at him, sure that he must’ve hallucinated him asking about dinner.
“So? When are you coming to dinner?”
He asked again now with his eyes off his phone and on Zoro.
“Why would I come eat dinner at your place?“, he said, finally having found his voice again.
“I just told you, my mom wants you to.”
“Maybe I don’t want to.”
That was a lie. He really wanted to. If he could spend every waking hour with Sanji he would, but he would never admit that to the blond.
“Dude, you can’t defy my mom, she wants you to come to dinner so you come to dinner.“
Zoro stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. Sanji sighed and added a bit quieter, “She thinks we’re besties-”
“Oh that’s what we are?“, he grinned wide, dimples forming on his cheeks.
“-and she’s mad that she never got an opportunity to properly meet you.“
“Your mom knows me though.“
“And yet you’ve never come to dinner.“
He straightened up and put his chin on his hand, his eyes watching Sanji’s face grow more unsure by the second. Sanji didn’t close his eyes, returning his stare with the same intensity. In a moment of weakness his gaze fell to the blond’s lips, a blush appearing on Zoro’s face as the result of his action.
He looked away and scratched the back of his neck, “I guess I can come by this Friday. Have to ask my dad though.“
“Okay, I’ll tell her“, and then he turned his attention to his phone again, not sparing Zoro any of it. Zoro looked at the blond‘s face locked on his screen and was immediately mesmerized by the way his hair brushed the side of his head.
He had touched it once. They had met up after last year’s final day of school to celebrate having only one year left of high school. They went to the lake, which in hindsight might’ve not been such a good idea because Luffy couldn’t swim and almost drowned ten times. But he did see Sanji in swimming trunks so he could forgive Luffy.
When it got dark they had made a fire and sat around it. Sanji was next to him and as soon as he was starting to get tired, he had laid himself on Zoro’s lap, sleep stealing him away from reality. He had guided his hand to his head then and asked him to brush through it.
“I sleep better that way”, he said, not caring one bit about Zoro’s dying heart. He brushed through it after some internal pep talk, his fingers gliding through the soft hair, a smile on his face while Sanji gave content sounds from himself.
It was a bit longer now, the curls almost reaching his shoulders. He wore it open today, the strands of his golden hair nearly covering up his whole face when he looked down.
Sometimes Sanji wore his hair in a bun, his left eye almost always covered by his bangs. Sometimes he wore clips in his hair, decorating his head with colors and making the sharp tongued man look almost cute.
Zoro loved it when he used the clips to clip away the bangs from his left eye, making the blue orb visible for the entire world. The first time he saw both of Sanji’s eyes, he finally understood why he covered it most of the time. It was just too much for the world. And he would probably kill Zoro if he’d always showed both of them.
He forced himself to look out of the window then, knowing that Sanji could feel him admiring him. There were some students running laps outside, the sun probably burning their skin.
Him and Sanji had a free period right now and decided to spend it in one of the free classrooms, having initially planned to study but that plan had been discarded pretty quickly. Zoro had tried taking a nap before Sanji interrupted him to invite him to dinner.
Dinner. Dinner at his crush’s house. With his family. With his brothers who definitely know about his crush. With his mom. What a great idea. This wouldn’t go bad at all.
~
“Hey Zoro, you have to help me this Friday. I’m going shopping and I don’t want to hold all my stuff”, he heard Nami from behind him. He saw her pushing some students out of the way so she could reach him. The other students flipped her off but Nami didn’t pay them any attention.
“Sorry, can’t. I‘m apparently invited for dinner at Sanji’s.“
She stopped walking and gawked at him, the books in her arms almost falling to the ground.
“Okay tell me why you’re invited to his house right now! You finally confessed and are meeting his family now?“
“Shut up“, he groaned, “His mom wants me to eat dinner at their place.“
“Oh“, she muttered, her face looking way too evil for a friend of his, “Mrs. Vinsmoke is a genius.“
“Don’t bring her into this.“
Nami patted his shoulder and started walking again, “You’re going to the lion‘s den. I wish you good luck. I mean a dinner with Sanji’s brothers? Oof, they will bully you so hard. I have to ask them to take a picture of your misery there.“
She put one finger to her chin, ”They probably have video cameras everywhere. Maybe I can get my hands on it and use it as blackmail material against you.“
“You’re not stealing their video material.“
”I don’t have to steal anything, I’m pretty sure if I ask Niji he would give me them for free. He really doesn’t like you.“
”It’s not my fault I have a crush on his brother!“, Zoro could feel a headache forming, ”The last time he saw me and Sanji hang out, I swear he almost punched me.“
”To his credit, you have a very punchable face.“
”You think he would kill me if I ever kissed Sanji?“
Nami laughed, „We both know you don’t have the guts. If you ever kiss Sanji, it will be because he kissed you.“
”Well that‘s never going to happen“, he pouted.
But Nami was right. He would never ever risk his friendship with Sanji for something more. He couldn’t bear not being part of his life. He wanted to see him grow into the amazing chef he’d been talking about becoming since they were children. He wanted to watch him be happy. He wanted to be one of the reasons why he was happy and if he was only allowed to do that as a friend, then so be it.
”You know I think you should shoot your shot. You never know what Sanji would say.“
She looked at him, a hint of pity on her face. He probably looked like „a sad dog“ as Luffy liked to say. He felt like a sad dog, that was for sure. Sometimes being near Sanji was overwhelming and the thought that he wasn’t allowed to touch him or tell him just how pretty he was without it being weird, hurt. Sometimes he did want to punch Sanji and tell him ”you’re perfect and I love you“, but the risk was just too big.
“I don’t want to lo-.“
Nami waved her hand in front of her face, a disappointed look in her eyes, “Yeah I know, you don’t want to lose him but like I told you before, he wouldn’t stop being friends with you.”
“And like I told you, you don’t know that”, he retorted, not looking at her, his gaze on the floor.
“Look, I just want you to be happy and I know Sanji could do that and personally I think you’re giving up something amazing by not telling him.”
He brushed his hand through his hair, defeated, “I’ll try, I promise. But if he rejects me, cuts all ties with me and kills me in the process, I will hunt you till the end of your days and beyond.”
“I’ll risk it”, and then she grinned, looking exactly like the evil witch she was,”And if he doesn’t reject you and you get together with him, I want you to steal something from the Vinsmoke manor for me.”
He looked at her, his eyebrows scrunched together from the bullshit she was asking from him.
“I’m not stealing anything.”
“But Zoro, they have this really expensive, old vase and I just know they don’t need it. I asked Sanji and he said they only keep it because it’s his sperm giver’s family heirloom and no one would miss it if it disappeared.”
“What is wrong with you?”, he shook his head and increased the speed of his steps.
“No Zoro wait, I even asked his mom-“
“What the fuck.”
“She doesn’t want it either, so you would actually be doing her a favor if you stole it”, she told him as if he would ever agree to rob Sanji’s family.
“And if everyone is so okay with stealing that damn vase, why don’t you just do it?”
“God did you not listen to me? They have video cameras everywhere in that house. Sperm donor Judge would 100% send me to jail and Zoro, I am too cute for jail!”
“I think I’m gonna cut all ties with you”, he breathed exasperated, knowing for certain that his face was showing just how done he was with Nami.
She held his wrist then so he couldn’t run away, “No wait Zoro, you can have 0.5% of the money when I sell it. And I just know you’d look good in orange. Sanji told me he liked men in uniform.”
“He probably doesn’t mean jail uniforms!”
“Okay, wow, you’re really greedy, I’ll give you 0.55% of the money.”
“Nami”, his voice louder than he initially wanted it to be, “I’m not stealing anything!”
“Fine. But just so you know when I die then I’m gonna hunt you till the end of your days.”
“I’m hunting you first so that doesn’t count.”
“I’m telling you he’s not going to reject you”, her pointy finger poking his chest with each word.
“And I’m telling you you’re delusional and fucking crazy”, he looked down to her and saw her making puppy eyes, “I’m not stealing that damn vase!”
“If I were Sanji, you would’ve stolen that vase yesterday.”
“Well, Sanji didn’t ask me to steal a vase from his home”, he gritted through his teeth.
“Hey guys, what are you talking about?”, Usopp joined their walk through the school hallways and linked his arm into Nami’s.
“Zoro said he would steal the vase for us.”
“Really! Good, Mrs. Vinsmoke told me she would open a window for us.”
“No need, he’s invited to dinner.”
“What? Did you finally confess?”, the curly haired asked, his eyebrows wiggling in a way that made Zoro want to punch him in his face.
“How many times did you guys talk about stealing a vase with Sanji’s mother?”
“Oh all the time”, he heard Sanji laugh beside him, “My mom really hates that vase. If I’m not mistaken it was her idea to get rid of it and then Nami told her we could steal it and sell it for some money.”
“Cook!”, he shrieked, his shoulders jumping up from surprise, “When did you arrive? Did you hear anything else?”
“Why? Were you talking about me?”, his voice playful and his face a bit too close to his own.
“No, just about stealing the vase”, his cheeks very hot and probably burning red.
“Oh that’s why you agreed to come to dinner.”
Luffy suddenly appeared from behind them, “No Zoro just likes Sanji.”
“I’m not cooking though. I have a shift at the Baratie on Friday and I don’t have enough time to cook dinner. Sorry.”
“That’s not what I meant”, Luffy jumped to Sanji's side then, “Can I come to the Baratie on Friday? And can you cook me five plates of meat?”
“Sure”, Sanji smiled and ruffled Luffy’s dark hair.
“Sanji! Don’t spoil that brat. He will never leave you alone again.”
Both the cook and Luffy turned to Nami, their eyes glistening from unshed tears.
“But Nami”, they both whined.
“I can’t not cook for him. He will starve!”
“He will not.”
“No I will.”
“See! As a chef and his friend I have to feed him.”
Nami rolled her eyes and sighed, “I hope you’re fine with Luffy clinging to you for the rest of your life.”
“I’ll manage.”
And he smiled, teeth showing and eyes wrinkling, as if he didn’t know what that did to Zoro.
“Zoro, you look a bit red”, Nami snickered.
“It must be the sun. It’s really hot today”, Usopp retorted, overplaying the worry in his voice.
“I hate you guys. Where’s Chopper? He’s the only one who’s not annoying”, he stomped away, taking the wrong turn but not caring one bit about it. Sanji followed him and pulled him from the back of his shirt to the right direction.
“When will you learn not to walk off alone?”
“You’ll come and get me anyway.”
Sanji slowed down and muffled, “You’re so stupid marimo.”
Zoro smiled, his stomach twisting from the pale fingers touching his neck.
“Hey curls?”
Zoro’s voice was quiet, just above a whisper because the next thing he’d say was just for Sanji’s ears.
“Hmm?”
“You’re stupid too.”
Sanji chuckled, sounding way too angelic for this Earth.
“Thanks mossy.”
~
“You don’t look cute at all!”
“Perona”, he growled, “You’re not helpful at all!”
“Let me style your hair, I swear I’ll make you look acceptable.”
“I’m not letting your fingers touch my hair. I just know you would find a way to make them fall off.”
He covered his hair with his hands and took some steps away from his sister.
“My fingers aren’t toxic.”
She flipped him off with a ring covered middle finger.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Did you at least shower?”, his adoptive father asked, standing by the door, his back straight and a glass of wine in his hand.
“Of course I showered!”
“I hope you know that in your case, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you hadn’t showered. So don’t misuse the proclamation ‘of course’.”
He took a sip from his wine, eyes never letting his children out his sight.
“Mihawk, I’m not an animal.”
“En contraire, I’m fairly sure I raised an animal.”
“I’m leaving the second I’m eighteen”, he groaned, the sound coming from the depth of his stomach.
“Son, you don’t have money.”
“Uh but if he dates Sanji…”, Perona put her finger on her chin.
“I see your point.”
“Just so you know I’m not listening to you two.”
“Fun aside, you look like you just rolled out of bed.”
She waved her hand up and down his body to showcase his supposedly ugly appearance.
“It’s my effortlessly handsome look.”
“I see the effortless”, his father countered, leaving him dumbfounded.
Perona went up to their father, snickering all the way, and high fived him.
“You weren’t this funny when we were children.”
“I’m not trying to be funny.”
“I think that’s what makes you so funny.”
Mihawk looked him up and down.
“Could I suggest a hat?”
“I would rather die than wear one of your hats.”
“How about one of mine?”, Perona snapped her finger excitedly as if she just suggested a fantastic idea.
“Absolutely not”, he grimaced distastefully, “I don’t want to go as a vampire nor a puppet.”
“Being mean to your family is really uncute”, she pouted, her voice wobbly from the fake sadness.
“Perona is right. It’s a very unattractive trait to have in a partner.”
Mihawk agreed with her, his head nodding once.
“I’m going to a family who has quadruplets. I think they’re way worse.”
Perona sighed, her hands on her hip.
“Fine, we can’t magically make you look better but we can work on your attitude. What are you bringing as a gift?”
Zoro paled, “Fuck, I totally forgot about that. What do you think they need? They have everything!”
“It’s about the thought, Zoro”, Mihawk took another sip from his wine.
“And because we both knew you would forget it, we went shopping today and bought you something.”
His sister rushed out of his room and came back with an enormous bouquet of flowers.
“Tada.”
Zoro stared at it and took in its gratitude.
“Where did you find this monstrosity?”
“There’s this florist“, Mihawk began, almost shyly, the glass in his hand rotating slightly.
“He totally has a crush on dad by the way. He always brightens up when he enters the shop.”
“This is not about me and red hair”, Mihawk shushed Perona, “But she’s right. He might have an interest in me and when I asked for the best bouquet in the shop, he gave me this.”
“And his number.”
“And his number.”
“Wait, isn't the florist the guy that Luffy loves so much?”, Zoro's forehead wrinkled while trying to remember the face of their local florist.
“He is. Luffy helps out in the shop sometimes.”
He laughed at the image of Luffy working.
“That’s a lie. He probably eats the flowers.”
“That does sound more like Luffy“, Perona agreed with him, her head nodding, the motion making her pink curls jump up and down.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this but thank you. That bouquet is perfect.”
He gave them a little smile, thinking they deserved it.
“You’re welcome.”
“Now to table etiquette”, Mihawk moved his index finger up and down with each word,” Don’t put your elbows on the table. You start with the outermost cutlery and work yourself to the ones near the plates. Please chew with your mouth closed and thank the chefs and the family for the food.”
Mihawk took a sip from his glass,” I don’t think I can teach you more in this short time.”
“He’s not gonna remember any of that, it’s too much”, she turned to him and spoke as if she was talking to a child, “Just focus on chewing with your mouth closed.”
“Once again I’m not an animal.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
He flipped her off and imitated her with a high pitched voice.
She ignored him, “So are you going to do something about that hair?”
“It looks good!”, he threw his hands in the air angrily.
“Do you need a new mirror? I will provide one.”
“Dad!”, she slapped him on the back, smiling wide, “You’re really on a joke stride today. Shanks must’ve made you really happy for you to be like this.”
“This is about your brother and his bad hair. We can talk about Shanks after the dinner.”
Mihawk stared at him with those creepy eyes of his, his lips pressed together.
“Perona, bring me the hair gel! I will fix your brother.”
“Ai ai sir!”, she ran out of the room and returned with a container in her hand.
„It doesn’t need fixing“, he muttered to himself because no one was listening to him anyway.
He sat down on his chair, arms crossed on his chest, and let Mihawk brush his fingers through his hair. He let him work, watching him take some gel from the container and applying it to his hair.
“Nami thinks I should confess today.”
“Will you?”
“I don’t know. I never planned on doing it.”
They stayed quiet for some time before he whispered his worries to his father, “What if I ruin everything?”
Mihawk looked him in the eye through the mirror in front of them, his features soft in a way they rarely are.
“What if you don’t?”
~
He arrived twenty minutes early. He wanted to wait those minutes outside and ring the bell then so he’d have more time to prepare himself mentally, but Sanji had already seen him and was rushing downstairs. The blond opened the front door and jumped down the steps in front of it. He ran towards him with a smile on his face and a look that Zoro knew too well. Sanji was about to make fun of him.
“Pff what are you wearing? Is that a button up?”
“Shut up. I know how your family is like rich and royal-”
Sanji laughed, his head falling back.
“We’re not royal you doofus”
“Could’ve fooled me with that castle you’re living in. And Yonji said I should wear something a bit fancier.”
“And you believed him?”
Zoro's face was red with embarrassment.
Sanji walked up to him and fixed the collar, “At least you do look presentable but you really didn’t have to. Next time just come with your stupid ugly clothes, you look better in them anyway.”
Zoro got even redder.
“You good? You look a bit flustered.”
“What? I'm totally fine”, Zoro coughed, “Your hands are uhm...”
”Oh yeah, sorry“, having caught himself in the act and slightly embarrassed about it. He took his hands away from Zoro‘s skin, crossed his arms in front of his chest, his fingers touching his elbows, and smiled awkwardly.
”Those are a lot of flowers“, he pointed at the bouquet in Zoro’s hand after standing in silence for a few seconds.
“Is it too much?”, worry thick in his voice. He didn’t want to ruin the dinner before they even ate.
“No”, Sanji waved his hands, “They’re beautiful.”
Sanji bit his lip, “So you wanna come inside?”
This wasn’t the first time Zoro came over to Sanji’s house so he couldn’t understand why this was so awkward. Maybe it was the fact that they were alone and Zoro was holding an enormous bouquet of flowers. Maybe it was the fact that Zoro could still feel Sanji’s fingers on his collarbones, a blush still high on both of their cheeks.
„Sure“, he croaked and followed the blond to the door.
They entered the house, going through doors that really did not need to be that big. Inside he saw Ichiji and Sanji’s mother. They were talking about something but stopped the moment they saw him.
“Zoro sweetie, thank you for coming.”
She smiled brightly and he was reminded of Sanji’s own smile.
“Good evening Mrs. Vinsmoke.”
“Sweetie, you know you can call me Sora.”
“I’ll try”, he told her, not for the first time but knowing full well that he would never do that. He respected her too much.
He straightened the bouquet, brushed through it quickly to make sure it looked good and gave it to her.
“I brought you something. I hope you like it. They’re freshly picked from our local florist.“
“Thank you so much. You’re such a good kid Zoro. I will put them in the living room myself.”
She smelled the flowers and her smile got even brighter, ”They’re lovely.“
“Let me help you”, Ichiji tried to take the bouquet from his mother.
“No need. I can do that myself, thank you”, she turned around so her son couldn’t take away the flowers from her, “Take our guest to the dining room.”
She walked off before she stopped and said, “And Ichiji, if the chair for Zoro has been screwed loose, I will be very mad.”
“I know, that’s what I told Niji too.”
Zoro turned to Sanji behind him who had been standing in silence during the whole exchange.
“Niji really did that?”
He shrugged.
“He would’ve done worse if he didn’t know how much this dinner means to our mother. Yonji would’ve probably helped him too.”
“This dinner is important to your mother? Fuck, should I have brought more flowers?”
“No, I think those were more than enough“, Ichiji spoke as he started walking towards the dining room. Or hall. Zoro didn’t know when something was considered a hall.
The table in the middle of the room, or hall, was already decked with plates, cutlery and water filled glasses. There were some burning candles decorating the table and Zoro gave himself an internal warning not to tip them over and cause the whole house to burn down.
There were seven chairs. One on each head of the table, two on the right side and three on the left. Niji and Yonji were already seated, looking bored out of their minds but immediately straightening up as they saw him.
„You can sit there Zoro, right next to Sanji.“
Niji pointed his finger to one of the empty chairs, his eyes glistening mischievously from behind his glasses. He approached the seat carefully, suddenly not so sure anymore if Niji really hadn’t tinkered with it.
„The chair‘s fine. Just sit“, Ichiji ordered as he seated himself vis-a-vis his youngest brother on the other end of the table.
Zoro looked to his left to the free chair.
“I’m sitting next to your mother?”, he asked Sanji, hoping that his voice didn’t shake from the nervousness he was feeling.
“Yeah, Reiju’s seat is the only one that’s free. The only one that won’t get you killed if you sit on it anyway.”
„I‘m pretty sure father has built in traps in his chair“, Yonji joked from the seat on Sanji’s other side but his voice indicated that he wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.
The door opened and Mrs. Vinsmoke entered with a tray in her hand, a smile plastered on her face.
“I cooked today. I hope you’ll like it. I took some of your books Sanji, sorry for not asking but I wanted it to be a surprise.”
All of the siblings looked at Zoro simultaneously, a death glare on their faces. They all made killing gestures and mouthed something.
He focused on Sanji and tried to decipher what the brothers were trying to tell him.
“My mother can’t cook, so no word.”
As if he would ever start insulting someone’s food. He didn’t need a warning, he would eat the food and smile, even if it did taste like trash.
Unfortunately, it did taste like trash.
Cooking skills must not be genetic.
He chewed fast and swallowed even faster, washing away every bite with three sips of water. His taste buds had been so spoiled by Sanji that bad food tasted even worse now. He remembered days in which Perona had cooked him equally distasteful food but he didn’t remember wanting to puke it out. Which he would obviously never do but the desire was there.
“Hey Sanji, brother dearest, pass me the salt”, Niji had an evil smirk on his face.
“Fuck off brother dearest”, Sanji took the salt next to him and bent forward so his brother could take it from him.
Niji sat in front of Zoro which meant that for Sanji to reach him he had to extend his arm right in front of him. But because the table was so big a simple arm extension was not enough, he had to sit up and almost lay on the wooden surface. Which also meant that Sanji’s ass was right in front of his face.
Zoro visibly stiffened and he was forever grateful that he didn’t have the same nosebleed condition as Sanji. His mother didn’t seem to notice anything weird but the two brothers on the other side of the table sure did. The smirk on Nijis face only grew with each second which was enough proof for Zoro that he had planned this. Ichiji looked a lot more collected but his eyes were shooting him multiple death threats. Yonji was eating next to Sanji as if nothing was happening.
Sanji sat back down and went back to eating the not so delicious food, the inner crisis Zoro was having not acknowledged at all.
“How’s your father? It has been some time since I last saw him.”
Sanji’s mother looked at him, his face beet red, as he tried to form words.
“He’s good”, he cleared his throat, “I mean Perona probably annoys him to death but he’s good.”
Sanji pointed his fork at him, “Don’t talk about Perona that way. She’s an angel.”
“No, what she is is annoying.”
He pointed his own fork at the blond.
“You’re annoying.”
“Says the most annoying person on this planet.”
“Mosshead”, he growled.
“Keep your flirting away from my food”, Ichiji said between his bites.
Both of the boys shut up, their lips pressed into thin lines. They kept their eye contact for a second before turning their heads away from each other.
The rest of dinner was uneventful. All of the other food was pretty bad too but there wasn’t anything else that turned Zoro into a blushing mess.
Sometimes he’d see Sanji and Yonji whispering to each other before they’d turn to him. Sanji would always look away when their eyes met while Yonji smiled innocently. The other brothers stared at him, one very disinterested and the other like he wanted to make fun of him.
It felt like they were waiting for something to happen but Zoro couldn’t think of what.
Mrs. Vinsmoke upheld a friendly conversation. But sometimes she would look at him, analyzing him and he felt like he was doing something wrong. He hoped Mihawk’s gel hair style wasn’t too ugly. If he’d get kicked out because some stupid hair style then he’d never forgive Mihawk.
“Darling, could you bring the dessert?”, she asked Sanji, honey dripping from her voice, “Zoro, go with him.”
“Sure mom”, he pushed himself off the table, “Mosshead, stand up!”
Sanji waved his hand in front of his face. He would have bitten it if they were alone and not surrounded by his family. Instead he just pushed his hand away and followed him to the kitchen.
“Mum, did you make the dessert?”, Niji asked.
"Yeah, why?"
“Nothing, nothing, we’re just really excited to eat your food”, he could hear Ichiji before leaving the room.
On the counter, just above the oven, there was a plate with muffins. Sanji stopped walking right before the counter and stared at the food. He stood next to Sanji and looked at the pastries before them.
“Are those heart shaped muffins?”
Sanji’s cheeks were almost as red as tomatoes, burning prettily.
He took a closer look at them.
“Is that the bi flag?”
“How about we stop talking?”
Sanji’s hands were on his hip as he looked into the distance.
They didn’t say anything after that. They took the dessert to the table and gave everyone one to eat.
And even though the muffins looked good, they still tasted like shit.
~
“That’s the vase.”
“What?”
He found himself once again sitting beside Sanji. This time they sat on the couch in the living room. The couch was so soft that your body sank into it when you sat on it. His and Sanji’s bodies were so close next to each other that they shared one dent, their thighs touching each other in the deepest part of their furrow.
“You’ve been staring at it.”
“Hmm?”
“The vase? You know the vase.”
He wasn’t staring at any vase. He was just staring somewhere in front of him, trying to control his heart beat and convincing himself that their shared body contact wasn’t affecting him at all.
He looked for a vase in front of him and found one old looking one on a table. Who had a table just for a vase? Fucking rich people, buying tables for their vases and then not putting anything in their vases. He saw his gifted bouquet in a simple glass container next to the window. That enormity didn’t need any expensive vase to look good.
“Is it really that expensive?”
He shrugged, “Probably like one hundred.”
“One hundred for a vase? That’s actually less than I thought.”
“One hundred thousand. Please think like someone who cares more about a vase than his children.”
Zoro frowned.
In the numerous years in which he and Sanji had been friends, he only saw his biological father a handful of times. He never really talked to him and he didn’t think that he was missing out on much. Even as a child he knew that something was up with that man. He stared too long, looked too mean, spoke too harsh. Of course, he could have never guessed what had been going down in the Vinsmoke manor at his young age but as he got older he finally put some puzzle pieces together.
Sanji had always been weird. He was loud, explosive and opinionated but he would also quiet down so quickly. He almost never cried. His eyes were red and puffy a lot though. When they were children, he would always hang on one of his brothers when he was nervous. Zoro had called him clingy and a baby which often resulted in some well placed kicks and a bloody nose.
Even now he’d sometimes come to school with bruises, his body covered with bandages. And he smoked. A lot. Sometimes too much. No one said anything though. They probably all knew but they all also knew of Judge Vinsmoke.
“So when we’re stealing it?“
Sanji seemed surprised by this.
“I thought you didn’t want to.“
He shrugged, his arms crossed and his face looking disinterested, “Changed my mind.“
Sanji smiled, “Thanks marimo.“
“For what?“
“For caring.“
He should confess. Right now. Tell Sanji just how much he cared. How long he had been caring. He should tell him so he’d know because sometimes Sanji forgot. That he was loved and important and good. He should tell him and give him the heart that had been beating for him.
“I’ll make tea.”
Sanji stood up and sprinted to the kitchen. His eyes followed him, mourning the golden opportunity he just missed. He let his head fall back on the cushion behind him and closed his eyes.
“This hurts to watch”, Niji groaned beside his brothers.
“Don’t be mean”, his mother lectured him.
Zoro had no idea what they were talking about.
Sanji returned with a tray with steaming cups on it and put it on the table in front of him.
Finally, the first good thing he’d consume this evening.
“Hey Sanji.“
Ichiji looked at him, his face unreadable but Sanji must’ve understood what he was trying to tell him because he froze.
“Now?“
“Now.“
”But-“
“We believe in you”, Yonji gave him a thumbs up.
Sanji bit his lip.
“Just do it”, Niji pressed him, eyes rolling to the farthest corner in his head.
“Oh my god! Fine! I’ll do it.”
Sanji turned to him, his face red from anger, Zoro wouldn’t be surprised if he started spying fire.
“Zoro you fucker, I’m in love with you.”
“Not how I would’ve done it but that works I guess”, Zoro heard Yonji joke but he couldn’t really focus on his surroundings when his brain was falling into chaos.
“Children come with me. There’s this situation in the other room. We’ll leave Sanji with our guest”, someone said. Probably his mother. Definitely his mother.
They waited for them to leave the room before Sanji picked up from where he was interrupted before.
“You don’t have to feel the same but I couldn’t hold it in anymore”, Sanji gritted his teeth, “And I would’ve lost a bet.”
Zoro’s mouth hung open, shocked and very sure he was dreaming.
“Cook, are you brain dead? I’ve been in love with you for so long I forgot what it’s like not to be. I’m pretty sure everyone knows that too. I’m starting to think that’s why your mother invited me.”
He finally said, his eyes on Sanji’s face and not leaving it till this conversation was over.
“Oh. That’s good. I guess.“, the fire in his voice dying down, “I haven’t thought about what to do when you don’t reject me so I’m kinda lost right now.”
He fiddled with his shirt, his fingers rolling over each other nervously.
“You’re better than me then. I was still planning the whole confession thing.”
“So”, he said, stretching the o, his visible eye shining like the stars in the night sky, “does this mean I can kiss you?”
Zoro choked on his own spit.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m sorry. You caught me off guard”, he wheezed, hitting his chest with his fist a few times.
“We literally just confessed. That’s what people do after they confess. Unless you changed your mind and you don’t want to.”
“No”, he yelled, “I want to. My brain just needs some time to catch up with the presence.”
“Okay.”
Sanji sat back next to him, brushed one hair strand off his face and tucked it behind his ear.
“You’re so pretty. Really pretty. That was part of my confession speech by the way.”
“The confession that’s still in planning?”
“Yes, that confession. The ‘you’re really pretty’ part I’m already done with. Actually the whole confession is already done planning, I just didn’t know when and how. But then you confessed and what a confession. Loved the use of my name and the word fucker right after. It’s very you. That’s something I love about you too. Your foul sailor mouth. And your mouth in general. Very rosy. Do you moisturize? Or maybe use lip gloss? Because sometimes they shine and-“
Sanji’s hand took a chunk of Zoro’s shirt and pushed him forward. Their lips came crashing and Zoro might’ve actually died. He could swear there were fireworks behind him and one of them must’ve hit and killed him.
He closed his eyes shut and forced his body to move. He put his hand on Sanji’s neck, his blond curls tangled between his fingers, and pushed him closer. Sanji settled on his lap then, his knees on each side of Zoro’s legs and his ass dangerously close to his crotch.
Sanji’s hands were still on his chest, but his fist had opened and his hands were roaming his skin. Zoro was dying. He was dying, there was no other explanation. His body felt hot in a way it had never felt before, he was sure he was sweating everywhere. It’s not like he could worry about any of this though. The only thing that he understood clearly was that Sanji’s mouth was on his and he had to kiss back.
It didn’t matter if it was messy and inexperienced, if their mixed spit was falling down his chin and their teeth were clanking uncomfortably, this was perfect. It was incredible. His lips tingled from all of the unknown pressure but he couldn’t bring himself to stop. He needed more but he knew if they didn’t stop soon he'd combust. He didn’t care though, it was a good way to go.
He chased after Sanji’s mouth when the other pulled away, hungry for the new treat he got to taste. Starved, even though he just ate.
“You were rambling”, he muttered, his breath warm on his spit wet lips.
“I was”, his heart almost beating out of his chest and he felt like he was breathing incorrectly.
“Okay. That’s enough love birds. We’re opening the door in three seconds.”
Sanji jumped off his lap and sat a meter away from him. Zoro wanted to reach to him, to the warmth that had been on his body just a second ago but then he remembered where he was and he wiped his wet face with the backside of his hand. He saw Sanji trying to fix the mess that was his hair.
“Congratulations!”
Yonji was the first one to enter.
“It didn’t take you guys long at all”, Ichiji held their youngest brother so he wouldn’t run to Sanji and jump into his arms.
“My baby is in a relationship. Come here!”, his mother hugged him tight, Sanji’s face squished by the pressure.
“I’m not in a…I mean, am I?”, he looked at Zoro, “Are we?”
He smiled, “If you want to.”
“I want to.”
“Then we are.”
Sanji looked at his family, his eyes squinting when he noticed something.
“Is that Reiju on the phone?”
“Hey Sanji and Sanji’s new boyfriend”, his sister greeted them, sounding very happy.
”God finally you can stop your pining! It was unbearable every time Sanji forced me to spend time with you”, Niji jumped onto the couch and sprawled his whole body like a starfish.
”Also please do not mistake us for Sanji and“, he gagged, ”kiss us. I will rip your head off.“
„I want to see you try”, Zoro retorted, his voice a lot stronger than it was a minute ago.
„Could you stop?“, Sanji groaned and borrowed his face behind his hands.
„Curly’s way prettier anyway.“
„We literally look the same. That’s the whole definition of being a twin.“
„Well none of you smile like curly and the last time I checked your DNA doesn’t control how you smile.“
He nodded, sure that he just made a very good point.
“Is this how you talk to people behind my back? No wonder everyone knew of your crush.”
“He actually talks like that in front of you too. You’re just really dumb and dense.”
“Fuck off Niji. I think I would’ve noticed.”
“You never noticed him flirting with you”, Ichiji shook his head in disappointment.
“Yeah, remember when he called you, and this is a quote, “pretty boy” during that one soccer game”, Yonji added, jumping next to Niji.
“He was making fun of me!”
“I really wasn’t.”
“I mean Zoro’s not better”, Niji sighed, deep, like he could finally rest after a long battle.
“Yeah, Zoro, have you ever thought about how Sanji was in every single one of your kendo matches and brought you your personal lunch every time?”
“He was just being nice.”
“Nice with an ulterior motive.”
He looked at Sanji who was biting his nails with an angry look on his face.
“You’ve been walking around each other for some time now”, his mother stated, her voice a lot nicer than those of his siblings.
Ichiji rubbed his forehead, “It was fun to watch for some time but at some point it just got sad.”
The other siblings agreed with him.
“Like extremely sad”, Reiju said on the phone.
“Okay everyone shut up”, Sanji threw his arms in the air, “We’re going to my room and I don’t want any of you to even think about disturbing us.”
He stared them down and only turned to the door when every single one of his family members nodded.
“Follow me marimo.”
Sanji stormed up the stairs and entered his room where he jumped onto his bed and covered his face with a pillow.
Zoro closed the door behind him, his heart still beating way too fast. He couldn’t believe that just happened. He leaned on the door, both of his hands still on the door knob.
Sanji’s boyfriend.
That didn’t sound too shabby. That actually sounded really good.
“Why you grinning like an idiot?”
“Oh nothing”, his grin grew in size, “boyfriend.”
Sanji’s ears turned to a pretty color of red.
“Shut up.”
He threw the pillow and Zoro caught it with eaze.
“I don’t think I will, boyfriend.”
He groaned and covered his face with another pillow.
He kicked his legs into the air and let them fall back on the bed where he laid still for a few seconds.
“Wanna watch a movie?”, he asked, the pillow still on his face and muffling his voice.
“Sure.”
“Just sit on my bed.”
He sat on the bed, just like he always did, waiting for Sanji to take his laptop from his table and sit next to him. Which he didn’t do. Sanji took his laptop and sat right between Zoro’s legs, his back leaning on his chest.
“This is okay, right?”
“Hmm”, Zoro creeched, the words he intended to say stuck in his throat.
He logged into his laptop and chose a random movie, all while his back moved against his chest with every breath he took, this simple motion causing a swarm of butterflies to flutter around his body.
Sanji put his head on his shoulder, the blond hair tickling him slightly. He forced his hand to move to his head and let his fingers brush through the strands. He was allowed now, right? He could do this now. And god did he want to.
Sanji looked up to him from his shoulder, his lips still rosy from the kiss.
“Do you think we’re dumb and dense?”
“Probably.”
“But I liked looking at you from afar”, he added when Sanji seemed too quiet,” Probably noticed stuff I would have never noticed if we got together earlier. If that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I liked looking at you from afar too”, he whispered and then kicked him for good measure.
They paid no attention to the movie.
~
After the movie ended and after an intense cuddling session, Zoro announced that he should be getting home soon.
The two walked down the stairs, slowly and quietly, their fingers intertwined.
In the entry hall (Zoro was pretty sure this was a hall) he said goodbye to his mother before she went up to her room.
Sanji watched him put on his shoes and jacket, making a couple of jokes about the dirty state of his foot wear. He opened the door and they both took a step outside, standing before each other, the air suddenly awkward again.
“Thanks for coming mossy.”
“No problem.”
Sanji kissed his cheek, his skin lobster red.
“Bye mossball. I’ll see you in school.”
He ran back inside and slammed the door shut.
“Bye swirls”, he whispered to the wall before him, a smile on his face and touching the place where Sanji’s lips had been.
A few seconds later the door opened again.
“Hey Zoro, just so you know. We will crush your insides if you ever hurt him.”
Ichiji patted his back.
“Bye Zoro.”
He smiled and closed the door again.
~
The next Monday, he waited for Sanji beside the school’s main doors. He saw him and his younger brother approaching the building, Yonji boxing his brother‘s arm and leaning to whisper something to him as he noticed Zoro. Sanji’s head shot up and he smiled.
“Morning curly.”
“Morning mosshead.”
“Morning to me too.”
“Yonji.”
Sanji turned to his brother and gritted his teeth.
“I know, I’m leaving”, he walked away before stopping and yelling, “Don’t forget the thing.”
“I won’t forget the thing.”
“Promise me.”
“Yonji leave.”
“Fine.”
“Shall we?”, his eyes back on Zoro and not his brother. He looked beautiful.
They entered the school. It felt like everyone was watching them, like they knew something was different.
The back of his hand brushed against Sanji’s and he got an idea. He just needed to take his hand. His hand. Grab his hand. It’s right there.
His pinky stretched out, exploring the new waters of their relationship.
“Can I hold your hand?”, he leaned in to ask Sanji.
He didn’t answer but he felt their pinkies curl around each other. Small steps. This was good.
He shook his head and took Sanji’s whole hand in his, the pressure probably too big for normal hand holding. Fuck small steps. Small steps are for babies and he and Sanji did things in extremes.
With his other hand he touched Sanji’s hip and pushed him closer to kiss him. It was a lot shorter than the first one, it was also a lot cleaner and spit less. Just a short touch. A whisper of a promise. The students in the hallway did not need to see a whole performance.
Sanji stepped on his foot.
“Not in the fucking hallway!”
Zoro smirked, ignoring the pain ,“In the classroom then.”
“I will kick your ass marimo. This whole dating thing won’t change that.”
“I sure hope it doesn’t”, he leaned in once more, his lips close to his ear, “Or maybe there’s one thing we can change.”
Sanji pushed his face away with his free hand.
“You are a pervert.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“Shut up!”
“Aww, you guys are disgusting”, Nami appeared in front of them, Luffy right next to her, “How does it feel finally letting those feelings out? I really thought you were gonna explode before you confessed.”
“Give us a week and we’ll be less-”, Sanji waved his hand as if he was explaining something very complicated, “-disgusting.”
“Aha”, Nami clapped her hands, “So about that vase. We need a plan."
“Nami, let them have their week”, Luffy said.
“Fine”, she groaned, “One week.”
Luffy smiled at them, bright and childish, “I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks Luffy”, Zoro spoke while Sanji ruffled his dark hair.
Suddenly, Sanji’s phone beeped. He took it out of his pocket and checked the message he received. He grimaced.
“Hey marimo, Zeff’s asking when you’re coming to dinner.”