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Everything started when Zoro got fired. He kept saying it wasn’t his fault, but everyone knew if he had just stayed put after his injury instead of going on the field without clearance this wouldn’t have happened.
Sanji was barely aware of the situation, after all just last month he had finally opened All Blue, his dreamed restaurant. It had taken a few loans and a lot of work since Sanji was very insistent on the distribution and general architecture of the place; he had pissed off more than one construction company with his odd request and inflexibility, but it had paid off. All Blue was perfect, with a huge salon, several tables and a layout that allowed it to serve efficiently but without making the customers feel like they were being pressured to leave. It also had a backstage business where free meals were given after hours all made with any produce that was left over during production. It was the best thing that ever happened in Sanji’s life.
Maybe that’s why he didn’t hesitate when Nami came with a request, but maybe it was just simply because his dearest was the one who asked.
“Please, Sanji, he’s driving everyone crazy,” she pleaded, which was a sign of how terrible the situation was.
“Only because you’re asking my love, I’m sure I can find something so the mosshead would not bother you again.”
And that’s how Roronora Zoro a.k.a mosshead started working at All Blue… as a waiter.
-
Sanji’s alarm woke him up at 3:30 a.m., he dragged his feet around his flat to the bathroom. Once he showered he took his wallet and keys and left. The drive to the market was peaceful, at that hour there was no one on the streets and Sanji enjoyed seeing the city so quiet. Shopping itself was a little bit of a chaos, hundreds of people were already in the market, expecting to get the best and fresher product of the day. Fortunately Sanji had made friends with a lot of the vendors and they normally set aside some produce for him, but he always thanked them as if it was a special occurrence and not a struck deal. He specially showered the female vendors with praises and compliments, gaining eye rolls and soft smiles.
Once the truck was packed with everything he needed he proceeded to drive around aimlessly for around twenty minutes until he spotted a bright green dot. Sanji still couldn’t believe how bad Zoro was with orientation. When he first started working for him the mosshead was constantly late, claiming that the bus routes had changed without a warning, that some roads were suddenly blocked without explanation and he even accused Sanji once of moving the restaurant to another place. Which led to Sanji searching every morning on different routes until he would find Zoro. The chef claimed it was all in the best interest of his restaurant, after all he needed all the personnel on time to be able to work.
Sanji rolled down the window and said, “So… where are you going this time?”
“Some shitty restaurant I work at.” Zoro answered with a smug expression.
“If it’s so shitty you should quit.”
“Nah, I like bothering the owner.”
It was only because he was currently on the truck, otherwise Sanji would have kicked him already. He instead replied, “He could fire you.”
“You couldn’t even if you tried, curly.”
“Yeah, yeah you're ingrained in the place, like the moss you are.”
Zoro smirked, climbed on the truck and proceeded to fall asleep on the passenger side in record time. Sanji just sighed, he felt a little bad for making the other wake up so early. Zoro had never been a morning person and was used to working the night shift, but had not even once complained of being woken up for anything, so Sanji had to believe he deeply didn't mind.
Sanji had to admit that it was nice to have someone to carry all the boxes and bags from the truck to the kitchen. The first month Sanji had done it all by himself just fine, even if it felt kind of lonely. Now he heard the constant complaints of Zoro and even if it irritated him it made him feel less alone in the huge kitchen.
“Seriously cook, what’s all this shit?”
The mosshead was looking at some fruits that Sanji had got to try some new dishes.
“It’s a pitahaya and the other one is durian, try to stay away from that one, I’m still thinking on where to cut it.”
“Does it explode or something?” Zoro asked and sounded genuinely curious.
“It has a very intense smell, it’s very uncommon a lot of people don't get near it because they think it would taste horrible based on that.”
“Don’t tell me you bought this because you felt bad for it?”
Sanji opted to not respond since it had been kind of what had happened, he didn’t like when food got to waste and he had seen the durian stool empty the last few days and he might have bought everything today.
“Shut it mosshead you wouldn’t understand!”
“Are you even making money with this place?” Not really.
“That’s none of your business!”
“Hey if the place is about to go bankrupt I would like a warning. You could even invite the witch to make this thing profitable.”
“Don’t call her that!”
Sanji aimed to kick the other on the stomach, but Zoro blocked the attack with his arm. They trade a few blows without any harming intention behind it, it was like they could understand each other better if there was some physical action between them. The chef aimed to the head but Zoro grabbed his shin and dragged him towards him. They stayed like that for a moment, panting and flushed from the exercise. There was something there, something that none dared to point out. Sanji couldn’t handle for long how intense Zoro’s look became in those moments so he took a rag and threw it at the mosshead’s face.
“Don’t you have to wipe the tables?”
Zoro groaned but let go of him and complained, “we clean them before we close. Why do we have to do it again?”
“It’s basic hygiene!”
“It’s not like they can get dirty in a few hours!”
For all his grumbling, Zoro always ended up going to wipe the tables, leaving Sanji alone to do meal prep. Chopping vegetables and meats to start broths, stirring marinates that were made the night before, preparing the stations, checking incoming deliveries. He tried his hardest to avoid thinking about the Zoro situation but years in the kitchen made him do most things automatically.
All of their group of friends knew that Zoro liked men. It happened in high school when Sanji lamented that Zoro had no taste since he had just rejected one of the most beautiful girls in school. I don’t like girls, he had said so casually and then continued eating like it was nothing and judging by the rest of the group reaction it had actually been nothing, the only one that apparently had thoughts about it had been Sanji. It had taken Zoro to confront him directly and tell him that he didn’t like him (even if that hadn't been the issue) to start shifting their relationship again, to their normal friendly rivalry.
The problem was that had happened years ago, a lot of things changed since that moment, including his own discovery because after he knew there was man that liked man it made him realise he also liked guys as well as girls and he even had a few boyfriends over the years. And even if Zoro had said he didn't like him back then Sanji was sure the mosshead harboured feelings for him, it was obvious. Well maybe it wasn’t but Nami had told him in the passing, one day she was eating at the restaurant. And now Sanji couldn’t help but over analyse every interaction they had.
If it had been someone else, Sanji would just gently turn them down. But this time was different, Zoro was part of his closest group of friends, they saw each other daily and worked together. All Blue was thriving, a critic was supposed to show soon since they had appeared on the paper as one of the must go restaurants in the area. Thinking about anything but All Blue was not on the table.
Around 6 o’clock the rest of the employees arrived, Sanji always made sure to prepare breakfast. He knew a lot of the staff left their homes way too early to have an appetite, himself included, so they ate together before starting everything. After eating, the next hours were dedicated to make sure everything was ready. At 8 the restaurant opened. Service was chaotic as usual, Sanji managed the kitchen, took all the special requests and came with the alterations for each dish when a food allergy note came by. But at times he had to go out because someone wanted to congratulate the chef, when a rude customer thought they were better than the staff and treated them poorly or when some influencer wanted a free meal in exchange for a review and threatened to give a bad one if they were charged for their meals.
After a twelve hour service the restaurant closed their front doors and the third rotation of the staff came by. With their zero waste policy the kitchen took a different vibe. All the produce that was left, visceras, peels, bones, was meticulously analysed by Sanji. He loved that part, creating new dishes since he wanted to use every single item available and that variates from day to day. He directed a few instructions and went to the pantry to fetch some extras to bring the whole dish together. And that’s where the other issue laid.
Sanji kicked the man currently on the floor. “Mosshead, you can’t sleep here!”
“Fuck off cook, I’m not in the way.”
“You know you only have the morning shift, right?”
Zoro looked at him with the most deadpan expression he could. Sanji didn’t understand why the other never left until Sanji did it. It couldn’t be because he would probably get lost on his way home, Zoro was too prideful to admit that. But it must be incredibly boring being there just laying around, it’s not like the other cooks will have time to chitchat with the mosshead in the middle of service.
“What are you making today?” Zoro asked while standing up. .
“There’s a lot of vegetable peels and unused pieces, I was thinking vegetable cream and some durian pastry or flan.”
Sanji went back to the kitchen with everything that he needed and Zoro trailed after him. The kitchen extractor fans were working at maximum speed to contain the smell, the chef didn’t mind it, but he was sure that this time Zoro would not stick around and leave. He was mistaken, once Sanji finished cutting the first fruit he felt Zoro presence beside him copying his movement, he was good with sharp objects after all.
The day ended and Sanji dropped Zoro at his apartment with tuppers he knew their mutual best friend was going to eat like the bottomless pit he was.
That was the routine: waking up, going to the market, picking Zoro, making breakfast, having service, cooking delicious meals, close, rinse and repeat. And Sanji was fine with it, it didn’t matter he hadn’t had a proper date in ages, haven’t been with his friends outside the restaurant since opening day, haven’t slept more than 4 hours for a while, there would be time for it once All Blue was established. For now routine was good, a solid thing, a controlled thing where nothing could go wrong, when he couldn’t fail.
And then everything went to shit.
It started like any other day, except this time Sanji found Zoro outside his apartment, he was clutching a magazine in his hands and appeared to be debating whether to start walking or going back inside.
“Finally accepted you have a broken compass, mosshead?” Sanji teased, like always.
“Not funny, cook.”
Something was wrong, the lack of bite in the response was out of character for Zoro and that raised every alarm in Sanji’s head. They drove in silence to the restaurant and every single moment the chef felt his anxiety rise. He didn’t even realise when they got to All Blue.
He even flinched when Zoro suddenly said “Okay, out with it curly, what’s eating you up?”
“I should ask you the same thing! You didn’t even fall asleep this time!”
Zoro looked away and Sanji swore there was a red tint on the, could it be that he was embarrassed? No, that was not possible, the mosshead had no shame. But what other explanation could it be?
Finally, Zoro inhaled and shoved the magazine open in Sanji’s face. “I was waiting for you to say something first.”
Annoyed but curious, Sanji looked at the article. He felt his blood pressure rise, it was the critic for All Blue! He hadn’t known it was coming today, had he been so distracted to miss the call informing him of it?
He started reading rapidly, anxiously gripping the pages, Zoro’s unusual attitude had him on the edge, because he knew that no matter how much they fight, Zoro knew how important All Blue was to Sanji. Which was why he started to get confused after seeing that all was praises: the ambiance, the menu, the food, the pairings, the wines, the experience of the cooks and sommelier, the creativity and profound understanding of the ingredients Sanji himself has … it even had an entire paragraph addressing the social work All Blue did, so why was Zoro acting so strange?
All Blue even has some unusual entertainment on their side. Have you ever seen a waiter with the food you ordered only for them to go to a different table? Well in All Blue things do not always work that way. A very peculiar waiter seems to get lost walking around the tables and will give your food a tour around the place, before it gets to you. In the end you will be eating something with a very intimate and large knowledge of the restaurant.
He couldn’t help it, he laughed. It was hilarious and so very accurate. Seeing Zoro’s red face warmed his heart, to think that the mosshead was nervous about that part of the article, probably thinking that it had some kind of harm to the reputation of the restaurant or that maybe even Sanji was ashamed of reading it, it was truly endearing.
“Yeah, yeah laugh all you want you shitty cook. Glad to see you don’t care so much about this place after all.”
And that was like a bucket of iced water being dropped over him. Because Zoro hadn’t said it like a joke or a sarcastic remark, Sanji saw how clearly the other looked relieved at his own words. How dare he?
“The fuck did you just said!?”
Zoro seemed startled by the sudden change. “What the hell? Why are you pissed off?”
“You think I don’t care about this place? It’s my dream! everything I could ask for and more!”
“I know.” He tried to explain but it was too late.
Sanji’s mind was running, he was suffocating and he hated himself, a few words and everything that he tried to move past on came back. Thousands of memories of his father and brothers came by, mocking him, saying how being a cook was beneath him, how foolish his dream was and that he would be unable to succeed. But what hurt him the most was that it had come from Zoro, everyone in their group knew how important dreams were.
“How could you say that?” Sanji asked, feeling devastated.
“It’s not like that, cook. You know it.”
“Do I?” Because he was seriously doubting everything he had thought about the stupid mosshead until that moment.
“It’s just you… spend every single moment in this place… and you are miserable.”
That was enough. “You are fired. Get out.”
“Wait, c’mon cur-” Zoro started to say but Sanji didn’t want to hear anything else.
“I said GET OUT!”
Zoro got out of the truck and left. And Sanji had to work really hard to even his breathing and calm himself enough to be able to function. But it felt like being underwater. He carried the boxes inside in a trance and started meal prep without even making the conscious decision to do it. He didn’t understand why it hurt so much, it wasn’t the first time someone looked down on his dream, so why? Why was breathing difficult this time? Why was he unable to concentrate on the thing he loved the most? Why was he even considering that maybe, and just maybe Zoro had been right?
Lunch time came by and with it the bravery of his staff. Sanji was chopping some vegetables when he felt a hand stopping him.
“That’s enough, brat.”
“Zeff? What are you doing here?” It was a tell of his distress state that he hadn’t seen the older man entering.
“Well your staff is worried you are going to hurt yourself so they called me. Seriously little eggplant you are so out of it that it’s a miracle you have managed to get here without injury.”
Sanji felt his face burn, he felt like a child again, being constantly reprimanded by Zeff for not doing things properly. Shame invaded him. “I’m fine.”
“No, you are not. So, let's go.”
“What? Where? I can't, I have to finish service.”
“Didn’t you hand-pick every single person in this room?”
“Yes, but.-”
“But nothing, you have to trust them. I see that there’s still a few things you need to learn in how to manage this business.”
Zeff dragged him out of the kitchen, made him hand his apron and took him to the office. It was a nice space, when Sanji was designing that part he knew he wanted some place comfy to be able to rest or sleep if he ever needed to spend the night and it was also soundproof since he didn’t want the sound of the kitchens distracting him while doing numbers. Once the door was closed Sanji looked at his father expecting a scolding, but all he saw was worry.
“So I’m going to take a wild guess and assume this has something to do with the missing plant?” Zeff started and Sanji grumbled at being read so easily. “I knew that algae was going to bring trouble, he and the idiot straw-hat kid are the same.”
“It’s nothing, he just said something and it hit me wrong, that’s all.”
“What did he say?”
It was stupid, but a part of him didn’t want to tell Zeff because that would make the old geezer think badly of his friend. Were they even friends now?
“Sanji.” Zeff insisted after he remained silent.
He knew that his father would keep pressing until he got an answer. “He said he was glad I didn’t care so much about this place.”
“Well that was pretty stupid of him.”
“I know!” And just like that, being acknowledged that way made saying the rest so much easier. “Then he went and said that I was spending too much time here! Like I’m not the owner of this place and it is my duty to devote to All Blue! He even dared to say that living my dream was making me miserable! How stupid is that?”
Zeff stayed silent for too long, making Sanji second guess everything he just said. Obviously the older chef would be on his side, right? He knew how passionate he was about cooking and food in general. But the silence persisted until Sanji couldn’t take it anymore.
“Say something!” He demanded.
“I don’t know, little eggplant. I think he might have a point.”
“Not you too! I’m fine! Happy! Living my dream!”
“You can have more than one dream boy,” Zeff declared as if it was not shattering every belief Sanji had had until that point. “Resting, enjoying life with your friends, having a partner that challenges you, all that stuff.”
He tried to ignore it, the yearning of everything his father was saying. It would be selfish asking for all that, he already had what he dreamed of. Shouldn’t that be enough? Why couldn’t he be content with what he had? What right does he have to be greedy and ask for more? But deep down he knew that he had been so blinded by achieving his life goal that he hadn’t even realised he had created new dreams along the way.
“I don’t know how…” Sanji admitted, feeling pathetic.
“It’s okay, you will learn, you learned how to make non-poisonous food after all, didn’t you?”
Sanji chuckled and felt his eyes fill with tears.
“Now you should go and talk to that sentient plant of yours. I think he is feeling just as miserable as you were, maybe even more. I’m not saying what he said was right or that you shouldn’t be mad, but I think he is just stupid and doesn’t know how to express his feelings, like someone I know.”
-
After finishing crying and Zeff promising that he would oversee the rest of the service, Sanji got on his truck. He was ready to search the entire city until he found the stupid mosshead but ended up not needing to do that. Just outside of the parking lot he spotted a hunched figure with bright green hair and felt his heart raise at the sight. He molded his face into a blank expression and approached Zoro.
When the other spotted him he immediately got defensive, “I left, alright? I can’t be around in public spaces anymore?”
“Why are you here?”
“None of your business,” Zoro replied immediately.
Sanji sighed, if they wanted this to work they would have to work on their communication. Then he felt his cheeks warm because was he really thinking about a relationship with Zoro? The mosshead noticed his strange reaction and decided to drop the act.
“I sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have said that about you or your restaurant.”
“But you meant it.”
Silence. Sanji knew that was a signal that Zoro agreed with the statement but didn’t want to create more conflict between them. But it sucked to be him, because that wasn’t going to work this time.
Sanji braced himself before asking, “Why?”
“What do you mean why?”
“Why would you believe I’m miserable? And be honest.”
Zoro didn’t seem to like being put on the spot like that, but being a stubborn person that never backed down on challenges helped him. He rose from his hunched position and looked at the cook straight into his visible eye.
“You barely sleep.” Zoro started and Sanji crossed his arms, waiting for more. “You care about everyone being fed except yourself apparently, don’t look at me like that I see you spend twelve hours cooking without getting more than a bite and that’s only because you always taste what you are making.” The cook removed, feeling uncomfortable and ashamed realising he actually did that. “You used to change the menu like every week, innovating and shit, but then you stopped because some idiot said you were inconsistent and now you overcompensate on the nights.”
Sanji had mixed sensations, Zoro kept pointing out things he hadn’t noticed or certain behavior he had hoped noone noticed. Every single thing was true and it kept getting more and more uncomfortable but at the same time Sanji was astonished and moved that Zoro had spent so much time looking at him, observing him and getting to know him.
Zoro kept going, “I don’t think you have seen anyone outside this place. I even heard you once almost turn down the witch when she asked you to accompany her to buy clothes!”
“Okay! Okay! I get it. I got obsessed and forgot to live. Are you happy now?”
“No.”
He was impossible, Sanji had to take all his self control to not kick him at that moment, he was trying to have a civil conversation for once.
“And why not my dearest mosshead? Want me to wallow in my misery?”
“I just want you to be happy!”
Both looked stunted at each other, Sanji not expecting that answer and Zoro probably didn’t expect that slip out of his mouth. And for once Sanji allowed himself to see, to look at the red tint that adorned the other’s cheeks, to stare into the eye that looked at him so intensely, to not make excuses for what was happening between them both.
“You are the shittiest waiter ever!” Sanji exclaimed. Zoro looked a little bit confused and like he wanted to argue but Sanji didn’t let him, it was his turn. “I don’t know if you noticed but after the first week the staff made a plan to only let you carry cold dishes, concerned about the food getting cold. The area isn’t even that large but you still manage to get lost in it! You don’t respect your working hours and stay way past your shift sleeping wherever you want, like you own the place! I’m terrified an inspector will see you and give us a sanitary warning. You can’t find your way after taking an order and honestly it is pretty stressful waiting for you to come back because I know the food will take longer! So you are still pretty fired, but would you go out with me!?”
Wait, what? He had just wanted to get everything out of his chest like Zoro had done, compromise in having a better work-life balance, offering Zoro another position on the staff. He hadn’t intended to ask that question, well at least not yet. He was about to add something else, anything to save himself the embarrassment when Zoro invaded his personal space.
“This better not be a fucking joke, cook.”
“I never joke about love, you idiot.” Sanji felt like his face was on fire, he should really stop talking.
“Aw, so you love me, how embarrassing.” Zoro taunted but it felt dull with the way he kept staring at Sanji’s lips.
“Are you going to kiss me or what? I still can go back there and run service like usual.”
“Don’t you dare.”