Work Text:
The sun was high on the Grandline with a calm atmosphere, unlike the Thousand Sunny.
In here, Luffy, Ussop and Chopper are doing, well, the Idiot Trio™ stuff. Franky is in the deck recharging his coke supply as Brook was showing him a tune he made and Jinbe is at the helm. Nami and Robin are at the galley, reading and well Zoro is at the crow's nest, training, as usual.
Suddenly the door to the kitchen slammed open, as Sanji entered with a handful of treats for everyone. The Idiot Trio™ swung to him, which he defended against with 3 smacks to each of their heads, except Chopper as he did nothing wrong, he still gave them their snacks though. He approached Brook, Franky and Jinbe and delivered the snacks to them, making small talk. They took it from him and thanked him.
Now, it was time for him to go to the ladies.
He reached Nami and Robin, swooning and with heart eyes. He presented his dish to them and in his chefly voice said, "Here is today's special dish, for the most special people in this whole ship." The ladies remained unimpressed but took the dish from him nonetheless.
The first scoop and they both let out noise of satisfaction and earned a "This is really good, Sanji!" from Nami and "This is delicious, Cook san" from Robin. At which Sanji's smile got bigger, if that was even possible. He then started to flirt with them, though they were both rather uninterested, but to reward him for his delicious cooking they played along.
All these interactions, from the time Sanji entered the galley to him flirting with the navigator and the archeologist, were observed by Zoro. His eyes never left the cook even for once, though it was unnoticeable.
You see, Zoro has been in love with this "Stupid Love Cook", according to him, since the first time he had laid his eyes on him. The way the Cook moves with so much grace in the kitchen, the dedication he has for cooking, his discipline, his fighting style, his strength, his cooking, his face, his hair, his lips, his body, his eyes. Those eyes which look like the brush strokes of an artist's color brush, who was painting his lover on his deathbed. So, if you ever asked Zoro where he would love to live, then his answer would be, "The Cook's eyes", not that he would ever outright confess that.
After the events of Dressrosa and Wano, he tried to let go of his feelings for him. But it was easier said than done. And he hated himself for that. For loving him, when it will just make things harder.
After the ladies were done with Sanji, he went to the crows nest. To deliver the last of his cooking, to the Marimo.
"Oi Marimo!" He shouted to Zoro, who was pretending to not have noticed him.
"Ma-ri-mo~", the Cook said in a sing-song voice to get the Swordsman's attention.
Zoro let out an exaggerated huff and turned towards Sanji to show him that he got his attention.
And oh boy oh, what a mistake it is. Now that he looked at him from closer, he noticed that the Cook looked different today. And in a good way. His hair looked more well groomed than normal. His hair was already long but today he let some of his locks fall over his face. Not only that he was wearing cologne too. He was wearing eyeshadow. The color made his already beautiful eyes more hypnotic. There was also lipstick on his lips, making them look even plumper than normal. And oh, would you look at that, the Cook was smiling, not smirking or snarling, smiling, at Zoro.
As if that wasn't enough the Cook had the audacity to say, "Here is yours, I made onigiri, I know you have been craving them for a few days now. No need to thank me." As he offered him the plate as his eyes looked downwards.
Now, no matter how strong of a man Zoro is, he is still just a man. And right at this moment he was completely defeated.
He stood in front of Sanji completely frozen, like a statue. And poor oblivious Sanji, who had no clue about the mess he had created of the Swordsman's mind, looked at him with those eyes again. But this time, there was no more of that smile, there was only confusion.
“Are you going to take this plate or do I take it back?”,he said with annoyance.
Which worked like a charm to bring Zoro out of that trance. He snatched the plate out of Sanji’s hand, which accidentally led to him touching the cook’s hand. And oh, how sinful he feels.
The cook’s sacred hands, which he uses to sustain life, come into contact with his blooded ones, the ones he uses to destroy the very thing the cook protects.
The cook let out a huff of annoyance at Zoro’s rude behaviour and taunted, “So much for a thank you”.
“Thanks”, Zoro let out in a small but gentle voice without really noticing himself. And moved away to sit at the bottom of the mast, in an absent minded way.
Now if this was with someone else. It wouldn't have been much of an issue. But this is Zoro and Sanji we are talking about.
The duo which have the same type of interaction as fire and matchstick.
This time it was time for Sanji to be left frozen. He might have expected such a response from anyone, even his father, but never from the marimo. On second thought, maybe not from him. But the point is, Sanji is just not meant to see such a soft side of the Swordsman.
With his body on autopilot and his mind filled with all the “What if’s” that he left behind after Dressrosa, he went towards the kitchen.
Everything appeared normal, except something in the air had shifted, between their Captain’s wings’.
An old fire which was thought to be extinguished, was re-kindled.