LOG POST: Zoro and Sanji
Who: Zoro and Sanji
What: Talking and...things.
Where: The Aquarium Bar on Thousand Sunny.
When: New Year's Eve at midnight!
Rating: PG
Leaning against the wall next to the door, Zoro tipped his glass of champagne from side to side, swirling it slowly. He didn't really like the stuff much himself, but apparently it was a tradition on New Year's Eve, and the Aquarium Bar was packed with Straw Hats and new arrivals and pets all watching the clock, waiting for the countdown to begin.
Weird tradition. He still maintained that sunrise was the thing. Zoro held his champagne under his nose and sniffed gingerly.
Sanji glanced around the room again, making sure everyone had a glass and was good to go before the countdown started. Looked like things were all set. He grabbed one for himself, then started shoving his way through the crowd - seriously, it was like the number of people they had on board was multiplying, he wasn’t sure how they were even all fitting in this room - ah, there. Green hair, by the door. He headed in that direction, half stumbling into the wall beside Zoro when he finally managed to break free from the mob that was his nakama.
“Oof- Shit, what the hell.” Quickly straightening himself out, he turned and gave Zoro a casual, too-innocent grin. “Hey, marimo.”
“Hey, ero-cook.” Zoro raised an eyebrow as Sanji stumbled into place next to him. “...So what do we do when the clock strikes, toast?” The swordsman briefly remembered the last time they'd tried that and glanced away.
“...Yep, guess so.” Sanji lowered his eyes, too, twirling his glass absently. “And cheer and shit. Totally normal.” He looked back up, checking the time. “Only a couple more minutes now.”
“Hmm. Yeah.” Zoro's eyes were half-lidded as he watched his gathered nakama shush Luffy, who'd excitedly started bellowing a countdown of ten at least a minute early. His small grin was briefly subsumed in a yawn. “Then I can finally go to bed, right?”
Somewhere in the crowd, a champagne glass hit the floor. Sanji grimaced at the sound, adding it to his mental tally of broken glasses that would need to be replaced. Three so far in the last hour. He sighed. “Yeah, yeah. Still got plenty of time to sleep before sunrise,” he said. He fell quiet for a moment, then: “Hey, Zoro?”
Anticipation was weirdly infectious, and in spite of himself Zoro found his attention zeroing in on the clock with everyone else, though he flicked his eyes sideways when the cook spoke. “What?”
“I was thinking about what you said-” Sanji cut off as the clock hit one minute and the noise level around them immediately went up. He raised his own voice to match it. “...About resolving-um. Oh...nevermind.” ...Right, well, that was brilliant. Sanji frowned at himself, and resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall.
“...Oookay.” Zoro gave the cook a weird look, but got distracted by a mass of voices starting a twenty second countdown-wait, twenty seconds? What happened to ten?...Those morons. He leaned forward slightly and started to lift his champagne anyway.
Sanji ignored the look and stayed quiet, too busy having a mental argument of sorts with himself until they hit ten seconds. Shit. Well, now or never... He pushed off the wall a bit, saying one more time: “Hey, Zoro...”
Zoro turned to the cook again, frowning a little. “What?” Three seconds.
Sanji turned toward him and grinned. “Happy New Year,” he said cheerfully, and then, as the clock hit midnight, he swiftly curled a hand behind Zoro's neck and leaned in to give him a quick but firm kiss.
The cheering and celebrations of the rest of the crew went unnoticed as Zoro completely blanked the moment Sanji's lips pressed to his. He stayed frozen that way for a few long moments after the cook pulled back, staring at the other man with his mouth hanging open slightly. Then his wits abruptly returned with about the force of a sledgehammer; he jerked back with a strangled, incoherent noise before he finally managed to yell, “What was THAT for?!”
He wasn't hiding behind his champagne glass. No, seriously. Really. He wasn't. Sanji chanced another look at Zoro as he finished off his drink, but he still had the same gobsmacked look on his face. He wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or not and - oh, there it was. Yelling, awesome. Sanji fidgeted, going a bit shifty-eyed. “...No reason. Um. Caught up in the moment, you know.”
“...Caught in the-!” Zoro glanced at the rest of the room and before turning his incredulous glare back on Sanji with a drastically lowered voice. “What part of the countdown to New Year's means you should just-!” The swordsman growled in frustration, digging a hand into his hair. This kind of thing wasn't fair, it'd barely been a week.
Sanji inched backwards, looking at anything that wasn't Zoro. “You're supposed to! It's another tradition. George told me. So-ah, look, Nami-san needs more champagne, I should-” He took another step back, and no, this was not running away, it was merely a...tactful retreat - okay fine, it was running away. Dammit.
“...No she doesn't. And you didn't say anything about a tradition like that.” Zoro's hands clenched as Sanji backed away, but he didn't follow, just leaning warily against the wall again and lowering his voice even further, until it was practically a mutter. “You can't just pull whims like that for no reason, cook, don't you-I'm trying to act normal with you.”
“Of course I didn't say anything, you might've guessed I was going to do it.” Sanji stopped backing up when he figured he was a safe distance away, and shoved one hand in his pocket, the other clenching his glass. It wasn't until Zoro spoke again, though, that he finally snapped his gaze back to look at him. “It wasn't a whim, you moron,” he said sharply. “You're supposed to kiss someone you...care about.” He shrugged, carefully leaving out the rest. “So I did. It's not that big a deal, you can keep being normal or whatever.”
Someone you care about. Zoro knew that already, but it was still irritatingly effective at knocking the wind out of his sails, even though it shouldn't be, considering what the cook had done when it was already supposedly true. After a moment Zoro ran a hand over his face, blowing out a frustrated sigh. “That simple, huh. Kissing isn't. Normal. I thought you were gonna let me take my time with this?” And what a crappy place this was to be talking about this, a fairly wide distance between them now and someone else liable to wander over at any time.
Sanji barely refrained from rolling his eyes, and instead just hunched his shoulders slightly, his face going pink as he looked away. Of course it wasn't that simple. “Does it look like I'm demanding answers? Take your damn time, take as long as you need - I only did it because it's Near Year's.”
“...Because it's a tradition.” Zoro frowned. He was definitely asking George about whatever this was later. And it was fucking terrible idea, even and especially if the cook was being ridiculously confusing and unfair-'take your time' and whimsical kisses that weren't whims, che-but. “Hn.” After a moment he gestured sharply. “C'mere.”
His eyes snapped back to Zoro's, brow furrowing in confusion. “...Why?” he asked, but rather than waiting for an answer, Sanji took a quick, wary look around and then stepped forward toward the other man.
Zoro waited until Sanji had drawn closer and then leaned abruptly forward, snagging the cook's tie and pulling him in to kiss him exactly as quick and firm as he'd been kissed at the stroke of midnight. He kept his eyes open and focused on the other man, though narrowly, before pushing him back, hand still fisted in his tie.
Sanji choked back the indignant squawk he'd been about to make - watch it, that was one of his good ties, dammit! - and instead made a muffled sound of surprise against Zoro's mouth, eyes shooting wide open as Zoro matched his earlier gesture. He stared at him for a long, startled moment after he pulled back, not saying anything. Another beat passed, then Sanji let his suddenly tense muscles relax again and his lips quirked upward in a tiny grin.
Zoro immediately glanced up and away at Sanji's grin, releasing his tie at the same moment and murmuring, “Che. Tradition, right?” Then he cut another sideways look at the cook, frowning a little. “Don't be too smug. Like you said, that doesn't mean we're not-normal.” He'd forgotten to step back, of course, so they were still a bit too close.
He couldn't help it - the corners of his mouth tugged up even higher and before Sanji could stop himself, he was sporting a full blown grin. “Yeah, yeah. Normal. Tradition. Got it,” he said with a careless shrug of his shoulders. No point getting too hopeful just yet. He let his grin fade slightly, soften, and then said again, “Happy New Year, marimo.”
That idiot-big grin and nonchalant shrug deserved only an irritated snort, so Zoro gave one, crossing his arms. Then he coughed and muttered quietly, “Uh, yeah, Happy New Year.” The next moment he turned away abruptly and waved in a random direction, saying much louder: “Hey look, Nami needs another glass. Again. Better go before she starts screeching.”
“...Heh, of course.” Sanji shook his head to clear it, and took a step back. Normal, huh. He could do that. “And don't talk about Nami-san like that, asshole - her delicate voice is as lovely as an angel singing~!”
“Whatever. Harpy song, maybe.” Zoro went so far as to take a gulp of champagne, making a face as he leaned back against the wall and deliberately started party-watching again.
“She's not a-” The sound of yet another glass breaking interrupted him. Sanji looked over his shoulder, scowling. “...Dammit,” he grumbled. “I'm gonna go kick Luffy's ass.” He turned to leave, but paused and glanced back at Zoro once more. “Enjoy your sunrise,” he said, and then quickly disappeared into the crowd.
END
What: Talking and...things.
Where: The Aquarium Bar on Thousand Sunny.
When: New Year's Eve at midnight!
Rating: PG
Leaning against the wall next to the door, Zoro tipped his glass of champagne from side to side, swirling it slowly. He didn't really like the stuff much himself, but apparently it was a tradition on New Year's Eve, and the Aquarium Bar was packed with Straw Hats and new arrivals and pets all watching the clock, waiting for the countdown to begin.
Weird tradition. He still maintained that sunrise was the thing. Zoro held his champagne under his nose and sniffed gingerly.
Sanji glanced around the room again, making sure everyone had a glass and was good to go before the countdown started. Looked like things were all set. He grabbed one for himself, then started shoving his way through the crowd - seriously, it was like the number of people they had on board was multiplying, he wasn’t sure how they were even all fitting in this room - ah, there. Green hair, by the door. He headed in that direction, half stumbling into the wall beside Zoro when he finally managed to break free from the mob that was his nakama.
“Oof- Shit, what the hell.” Quickly straightening himself out, he turned and gave Zoro a casual, too-innocent grin. “Hey, marimo.”
“Hey, ero-cook.” Zoro raised an eyebrow as Sanji stumbled into place next to him. “...So what do we do when the clock strikes, toast?” The swordsman briefly remembered the last time they'd tried that and glanced away.
“...Yep, guess so.” Sanji lowered his eyes, too, twirling his glass absently. “And cheer and shit. Totally normal.” He looked back up, checking the time. “Only a couple more minutes now.”
“Hmm. Yeah.” Zoro's eyes were half-lidded as he watched his gathered nakama shush Luffy, who'd excitedly started bellowing a countdown of ten at least a minute early. His small grin was briefly subsumed in a yawn. “Then I can finally go to bed, right?”
Somewhere in the crowd, a champagne glass hit the floor. Sanji grimaced at the sound, adding it to his mental tally of broken glasses that would need to be replaced. Three so far in the last hour. He sighed. “Yeah, yeah. Still got plenty of time to sleep before sunrise,” he said. He fell quiet for a moment, then: “Hey, Zoro?”
Anticipation was weirdly infectious, and in spite of himself Zoro found his attention zeroing in on the clock with everyone else, though he flicked his eyes sideways when the cook spoke. “What?”
“I was thinking about what you said-” Sanji cut off as the clock hit one minute and the noise level around them immediately went up. He raised his own voice to match it. “...About resolving-um. Oh...nevermind.” ...Right, well, that was brilliant. Sanji frowned at himself, and resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall.
“...Oookay.” Zoro gave the cook a weird look, but got distracted by a mass of voices starting a twenty second countdown-wait, twenty seconds? What happened to ten?...Those morons. He leaned forward slightly and started to lift his champagne anyway.
Sanji ignored the look and stayed quiet, too busy having a mental argument of sorts with himself until they hit ten seconds. Shit. Well, now or never... He pushed off the wall a bit, saying one more time: “Hey, Zoro...”
Zoro turned to the cook again, frowning a little. “What?” Three seconds.
Sanji turned toward him and grinned. “Happy New Year,” he said cheerfully, and then, as the clock hit midnight, he swiftly curled a hand behind Zoro's neck and leaned in to give him a quick but firm kiss.
The cheering and celebrations of the rest of the crew went unnoticed as Zoro completely blanked the moment Sanji's lips pressed to his. He stayed frozen that way for a few long moments after the cook pulled back, staring at the other man with his mouth hanging open slightly. Then his wits abruptly returned with about the force of a sledgehammer; he jerked back with a strangled, incoherent noise before he finally managed to yell, “What was THAT for?!”
He wasn't hiding behind his champagne glass. No, seriously. Really. He wasn't. Sanji chanced another look at Zoro as he finished off his drink, but he still had the same gobsmacked look on his face. He wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or not and - oh, there it was. Yelling, awesome. Sanji fidgeted, going a bit shifty-eyed. “...No reason. Um. Caught up in the moment, you know.”
“...Caught in the-!” Zoro glanced at the rest of the room and before turning his incredulous glare back on Sanji with a drastically lowered voice. “What part of the countdown to New Year's means you should just-!” The swordsman growled in frustration, digging a hand into his hair. This kind of thing wasn't fair, it'd barely been a week.
Sanji inched backwards, looking at anything that wasn't Zoro. “You're supposed to! It's another tradition. George told me. So-ah, look, Nami-san needs more champagne, I should-” He took another step back, and no, this was not running away, it was merely a...tactful retreat - okay fine, it was running away. Dammit.
“...No she doesn't. And you didn't say anything about a tradition like that.” Zoro's hands clenched as Sanji backed away, but he didn't follow, just leaning warily against the wall again and lowering his voice even further, until it was practically a mutter. “You can't just pull whims like that for no reason, cook, don't you-I'm trying to act normal with you.”
“Of course I didn't say anything, you might've guessed I was going to do it.” Sanji stopped backing up when he figured he was a safe distance away, and shoved one hand in his pocket, the other clenching his glass. It wasn't until Zoro spoke again, though, that he finally snapped his gaze back to look at him. “It wasn't a whim, you moron,” he said sharply. “You're supposed to kiss someone you...care about.” He shrugged, carefully leaving out the rest. “So I did. It's not that big a deal, you can keep being normal or whatever.”
Someone you care about. Zoro knew that already, but it was still irritatingly effective at knocking the wind out of his sails, even though it shouldn't be, considering what the cook had done when it was already supposedly true. After a moment Zoro ran a hand over his face, blowing out a frustrated sigh. “That simple, huh. Kissing isn't. Normal. I thought you were gonna let me take my time with this?” And what a crappy place this was to be talking about this, a fairly wide distance between them now and someone else liable to wander over at any time.
Sanji barely refrained from rolling his eyes, and instead just hunched his shoulders slightly, his face going pink as he looked away. Of course it wasn't that simple. “Does it look like I'm demanding answers? Take your damn time, take as long as you need - I only did it because it's Near Year's.”
“...Because it's a tradition.” Zoro frowned. He was definitely asking George about whatever this was later. And it was fucking terrible idea, even and especially if the cook was being ridiculously confusing and unfair-'take your time' and whimsical kisses that weren't whims, che-but. “Hn.” After a moment he gestured sharply. “C'mere.”
His eyes snapped back to Zoro's, brow furrowing in confusion. “...Why?” he asked, but rather than waiting for an answer, Sanji took a quick, wary look around and then stepped forward toward the other man.
Zoro waited until Sanji had drawn closer and then leaned abruptly forward, snagging the cook's tie and pulling him in to kiss him exactly as quick and firm as he'd been kissed at the stroke of midnight. He kept his eyes open and focused on the other man, though narrowly, before pushing him back, hand still fisted in his tie.
Sanji choked back the indignant squawk he'd been about to make - watch it, that was one of his good ties, dammit! - and instead made a muffled sound of surprise against Zoro's mouth, eyes shooting wide open as Zoro matched his earlier gesture. He stared at him for a long, startled moment after he pulled back, not saying anything. Another beat passed, then Sanji let his suddenly tense muscles relax again and his lips quirked upward in a tiny grin.
Zoro immediately glanced up and away at Sanji's grin, releasing his tie at the same moment and murmuring, “Che. Tradition, right?” Then he cut another sideways look at the cook, frowning a little. “Don't be too smug. Like you said, that doesn't mean we're not-normal.” He'd forgotten to step back, of course, so they were still a bit too close.
He couldn't help it - the corners of his mouth tugged up even higher and before Sanji could stop himself, he was sporting a full blown grin. “Yeah, yeah. Normal. Tradition. Got it,” he said with a careless shrug of his shoulders. No point getting too hopeful just yet. He let his grin fade slightly, soften, and then said again, “Happy New Year, marimo.”
That idiot-big grin and nonchalant shrug deserved only an irritated snort, so Zoro gave one, crossing his arms. Then he coughed and muttered quietly, “Uh, yeah, Happy New Year.” The next moment he turned away abruptly and waved in a random direction, saying much louder: “Hey look, Nami needs another glass. Again. Better go before she starts screeching.”
“...Heh, of course.” Sanji shook his head to clear it, and took a step back. Normal, huh. He could do that. “And don't talk about Nami-san like that, asshole - her delicate voice is as lovely as an angel singing~!”
“Whatever. Harpy song, maybe.” Zoro went so far as to take a gulp of champagne, making a face as he leaned back against the wall and deliberately started party-watching again.
“She's not a-” The sound of yet another glass breaking interrupted him. Sanji looked over his shoulder, scowling. “...Dammit,” he grumbled. “I'm gonna go kick Luffy's ass.” He turned to leave, but paused and glanced back at Zoro once more. “Enjoy your sunrise,” he said, and then quickly disappeared into the crowd.
END