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Sanji was nervous. He had known Zoro for years, they practically grew up together. Zeff had known Mihawk, Zoro's adoptive father, for years and the man would bring his two children to The Baratie all the time. That didn’t mean the man was any less of a mystery as time passed. While they had been friends and rivals for years now, tonight was to be their first date. Sanji had all of his clothes strewn across his room, unable to pick his outfit. Zoro insisted on planning the date and the bastard hadn't told him anything.
"Damn it, Zoro!" Sanji cursed, tugging at his hair in frustration. He had smoked an entire pack of cigarettes and didn't have the time to run and get more.
"Oooh, cursing your boyfriend already?" Patty's voice teased him from the now open door.
"A little early for relationship drama, don't ya think?" Carne had to put his two cents in. "At least wait until the second date."
"Shut up!" Sanji hissed, glaring at the pair. As much as they teased him, Sanji would reluctantly consider the pair like uncles to him.
"What's got you so worked up? You two already bicker like an old married couple, you’re just making things official is all."
"The problem is I don't know where the damn Marimo is taking me," Sanji huffed. "Damn bastard said it was a surprise." He looked around at all of his clothes. "Which means it could be anything and I have no idea how to dress for it."
"Why not call the pretty girl with orange hair?" Carne suggested.
"Where the bloody hell are all my chefs!" Zeff's angry shout had the pair hurrying off." Luckily, it was Sanji’s day off so he wouldn't be feeling Zeff’s boot up his ass, but he supposed they did have a good idea.
Sanji quickly dialed his darling Nami’s number in hopes that she would have some insight into where Zoro was taking him.
"Sanji, what do you want?" Nami's sweet voice was music to his ears even if she sounded annoyed with him. "Get to the point, and quickly. I'm busy packing right now."
Sanji had also known Nami for many years; her adoptive mother supplied the Baratie from their orchard. She would bring her daughter along with her each time for delivery, letting her play with them when they were younger. Now, he considered her as one of his closest friends. Right now, she was getting ready to visit her long distance girlfriend.
"I'm sorry, Nami, my sweet, but I need your help desperately. I have no idea where Zoro is taking me on our date and no idea how to dress." Sanji waited as she sighed.
"Give me a second because I don't know either, but Robin might."
Sanji nodded despite knowing she couldn't see him. Robin knew everything and Luffy knew everyone, thus their introduction.
Sanji began pacing his room as he waited for Nami.
"Okay, I still don't know, but she said dress casually, maybe wear one of your colorful shirts. How about the purple-striped one with the dark blue clam digger pants? Try that! Have fun on your date." Nami hung up and Sanji finally felt a small amount of relief.
He may not know where they were going, but at least he had the clothes problem figured out.
_____________________
Zoro stepped inside the Baratie and heads for the kitchen. He could hear Zeff shouting at the staff as per usual. Zoro was just there to pick up the picnic basket he already arranged with the old chef.
Only a handful of people knew of his plans, considering he couldn't let it get back to curly. Zoro didn't want the surprise being ruined. This whole thing had been partly Luffy's idea.
"Cabbage, it's about damn time you made it," Zeff glared at him as he stepped through the kitchen doors. "Picnic basket is on the counter. I'm sure I don't need to remind you that if you hurt my eggplant, I'll turn you into Yamitsuki." Zoro resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He didn't have the time to get his ass handed to him by the old chef.
"I think curly would beat you to it, old man." Zoro grabbed the picnic basket.
"Hmph, now get out of here, you're in the way." Zeff shoved him out the door and went back to shouting orders at the chefs.
Zoro managed to find his way upstairs after a few wrong turns—Zeff must have rearranged everything again. Sanji's door had a silly, badly painted green fish on the door, Zoro had a matching blue one that was now packed up. Zoro smiled at it and brushed his fingers against it before knocking on the door. Zoro had been in love with the blonde since he first laid eyes on him all those years ago. Being here now, where he’s taking him out on a date, almost feels unreal to him.
Sanji opened the door. Even dressed casually, he stole Zoro's breath away.
"A picnic basket?" Sanji asked, one curled eyebrow raised in confusion.
"Yup, and one more thing," Zoro dug into his pocket for his black bandana. "It's a surprise, so you'll need to wear this. I promise we aren't going far." Sanji stared at the bandana before looking at him with suspicion. In an attempt to soothe his worries, Zoro repeated, "We’re not going far."
"Fine. But if you get us lost I'll kick your ass," Sanji grumbled, snatching the bandana from his hands.
"I don't get lost," Zoro retorted, "and like you could." Zoro took Sanji's arm in his own as after Sanji wrapped the bandana around his head, covering his eyes.
Zoro led Sanji down the stairs and out the door. After only a few twists and turns, Zoro made his way down the dock towards the surprise. Zoro knew Sanji was big into romantic gestures—it's why he waited to ask him out until the moment was just right. If Zoro was gonna be romantic, he would do so in his own way.
~~~~~~
"We're here," Zoro stopped them. Sanji knew they were on the dock, but that was about it.
Zoro removed the bandana from around his eyes. Sanji stared in shock at the boat, a catamaran, sitting in the water in front of him. While it looked as if it had some work done, it still needed more to look like one of those he’d usually see in magazines. But it had good bones despite the paint peeling in places, the sails looked recently replaced, and the two hull looked to be in good condition.
"What do you think?" Zoro asked, stepping into the boat. He offered his free hand out for him to take.
"You rented a boat?" Sanji asked, taking Zoro's hand. He didn't need the help, but the gesture was sweet. If this wasn't a date, Sanji would have assumed Zoro was messing with him.
“How about we eat before we talk about the boat? I don't know what your old man packed for us, but I don't want his foot up my ass for wasting it.”
“All right, fine, you have a point,” Sanji conceded. Together, they spread out a blanket on the deck of the boat.
Sanji began to unpack the basket, revealing a spread of food that Zoro knew they’d enjoy. There was, of course, wine and sake, what looked to be a good portion of Zeff's spicy tortellini pasta salad, and a pair of Crane's sandos—a prawn aglio e olio sando for him and a katsu with wasabi mayo and cabbage sando for Zoro. Surprisingly, the mosshead must have packed the chips since there was a bag of fried crab and a bag of spicy crawfish chips. Finally, Sanji uncovered a neatly packaged platter of, Patty's macarons. Zoro only liked the matcha flavor, and going by the color and smell, Patty must have made Sanji his favorite tea-flavored ones.
“Looks like quite the spread,” Zoro remarked, picking up his sando. “You know, if this wasn't a date, I would be worried that Luffy would pop up outta nowhere and eat everything.”
Sanji snorted a laugh, considering the very same thing had happened before. He had brought food for the two of them while they were working on a group project, and Luffy showed up out of nowhere and ate everything.
“You know, he texted me a photo of a fish he found online today.” Sanji began taking a bite of the pasta salad.
“Let me guess, you have a recipe idea for it.” Zoro, that bastard, knew him too well. “Well, go on, wow me, cook.”
“I'm a chef, not a cook,” Sanji automatically snapped before launching into his idea.
Before long, the food and alcohol had been consumed. They sat in comfortable silence, listening to the world around them. Zoro had wrapped an arm around Sanji's shoulders. The sun had made its way across the sky, just beginning to dip below the horizon, when Sanji decided it was time to bring up the boat.
“How long did you rent the boat for?” He asked.
"Nope, no rental needed, this is ours now."
"What!? You bought a boat?" Sanji turned to look at Zoro in shock. What the hell was Zoro thinking?
"Yup. Franky has already done the majority of the work; I figured since it’s ours, we could do the rest." Sanji let Zoro lead him around the boat, still dazed. What did this mean? "Curls, say something you're freaking me out here."
"Why?" Sanji asked, running his hands along the white kitchen counters after they stopped in the galley. It was surprisingly spacious and he longed to cook something up.
"You and I both know you long for the sea—you talk about it all the damn time," Zoro took his hand in his own. "Fuck, Zeff has tried countless times to get you to go." Sanji winced, wasn't that the truth, he swore the whole damn restaurant was determined to get him to leave. "I want to go with you, I want to see you happy. I know about the notebook you write all the recipes down, filled with different fish and sea creatures we can't get here."
Sanji stared at his boyfriend in shock. It still amazed him how observant Zoro could be. He still wasn't used to it.
"Zoro… I…" Sanji looked around the galley. He could easily envision himself cooking here at the stove while Zoro chopped veggies or kneaded the dough Sanji gave him. Or even sitting and watching him. Sanji's heart did yearn for more, even if he was hesitant to leave. But going by the looks of the boat, it needed work, which would give him enough time to stick around and make sure everything’s in order before they left.
"Sanji—" Zoro started to speak. Zoro was a brute, ill-mannered, and drove him crazy. While all that was true, Zoro was also sweet, and no one understood him better than the man standing in front of him right now.
Sanji took Zoro's face in his hands and kissed him. The other man made a noise of surprise, but quickly kissed him back.
The kiss was clumsy—all teeth and no technique, and yet it was the best kiss Sanji had ever had as Zoro poured all of his passion and need into the kiss. His large hands came to rest at Sanji's waist. Sanji guided Zoro along as they continued to kiss.
When Sanji came up for air, he grinned at the green-haired man, "Yes, I will go with you. I mean if I don't, who knows where you'll end up."