The marimo was pissing him off.

Sanji didn't know what it was that rubbed him so incredibly wrong that day, but he just had to see that moss head and he felt a vein popping on his forehead.

The man in question was currently on the deck, swinging a weight heavier than should be humanly possible around like it was nothing. His dark green coat lay long since forgotten in the grass, leaving his upper body bare and shining with sweat in the smouldering heat. The last island had been a summer one and although it had been days since they left it, the humidity in the air was still high enough to make their clothes cling to their skin.

Even their captain lay in the shadow of the sunny's mast, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, every once and again cursing the heat for keeping him from causing havoc on his own ship.

The rest of the crew spent the day somewhere in the depths of the ship to find some of the cooler spots to pursue activities that came with their respective jobs. Only Zoro and Brook didn't try to escape the heat. The latter one had even volunteered to be on watch that day, saying that he had spent too long without sunlight to care and he didn't have any skin to be burned or sweat glands to sweat, anyway ("Yohohoho! Skull joke!").

Sanji tossed his cigarette stump into the ocean and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, his eyes never leaving the marimo's training form. If he knew he was being watched from the balcony, then he gave no indication of it. How the idiot managed to stand the heat and even exercise without protection and right under the sun, was beyond Sanji. Anyone else would long since sport a scorching sunburn, he thought, but the marimo probably had absolved some ridiculous training in the past, keeping even the sun itself from touching him.

The chef snorted at the thought. That would be so like him.

"Oi, marimo! Trying to get your brain fried?" Sanji asked, smirking at the sudden tensing of muscles on his rival's back that he knew had nothing to do with the weight in his hands. He was the only one who could manage to piss the swordsman off with words alone. He only had to throw the smallest of insults in his direction to get the other man's blood boiling... and Sanji loved to have that kind of power over him.

"Bite me, love cook. Not all of us are sissies like you," Zoro answered without turning around.

Sanji's smile widened. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, least of all Zoro himself, but there was always something comforting in their daily fights. It eased his nerves more than his cigarettes ever could.

"Having the brains not to stand in the sunlight in the middle of the day when a perfectly fine tree is available just a few feet away or even the gym that's made for training, doesn't make me a sissy, shithead."

Sanji heard Zoro huff at that, never once missing to swing the weight in his hands. "I won't go and hide from the sun. What's wrong, love cook? Worried about me?"

"In your dreams, marimo," Sanji answered and turned around to lit another cigarette.

He sucked in the soothing smoke, a small smile playing around his lips.

Yeah, their fights did have a certain quality to them... and if he was completely honest to himself: they were what he had missed most in the last two years. Right after his lovely ladies, of course.

A comparable quiet dinner later (everyone was still tired from the heat), Sanji stood in his usual place again, watching the marimo swing around his weights as if he had never left them.

"You gonna do that all day?"

"Leave me alone, shitty cook."

Sanji grinned as he watched Zoro's muscles flex at every move. He swore, the idiot had found new ones over the past years... probably in places that didn't usually had muscles. He looked like a well working machine, a body made of cogs, each of them moving another one and all together building this perfect machine.

Sanji frowned. That metapher would work better on Franky, wouldn't it?

Still, the bastard shaping his body was to be expected. What had surprised him more, was that Zoro still managed to look that... well, attractive if he had to admit it. His muscles were big, sure, but not overly so. They had just the right size to make him more handsome than bulky.

Sanji had met some muscleheads in his time who, like Zoro, never thought about other things than training their bodies. All of them looked more like gorillas than humans and neither was quite as strong as his nakama.

Not that he would ever admit any of that to him, of course.

He kept watching Zoro train, taking in every little move he made. Sweat ran down his back and Sanji followed a drop's path with his eyes. It moved between Zoro's shoulder blades, over his spine and vanished on the line of his pants.

Sanji licked his lips as his eyes stayed in that place, admiring the strength the back omitted and the perfectly formed butt, covered only by the thin piece of fabric that clung to Zoro's sweating body. Sanji knew, he was staring but that thought alone didn't manage to make him tear his eyes away.

And that was exactly what had pissed him off all day... whenever Zoro was in view, he could neither keep his eyes from following him, nor his mouth from watering or the distinctive kind of heat from gathering in his groin.

And that wasn't even a new development. Even before the events in Sabaody that divided the crew, he had caught himself stealing glances at the swordsman. He had tried to fight it at first, but Zoro only had to enter the room and Sanji's body began to react faster than his brain.

Sanji had never been attracted to men before, so he mused there had to be something about the swordsman that attracted him... something he couldn't quite grasp. Maybe it was this unbelievable power and strength or the unbending will that made Zoro so alluring to him.

And of course, that muscular body had to be a factor as well. The strong arms which could surely crush him if they ever were to embrace his body... the tight muscles covered with soft skin (as he knew from their endless fights)...

If those arms were to hold him tightly, but not too tight, the large hands running down his back, right to his ass, cupping it with just the right amount of strength. Hot breath against his cheek, whispering soft promises into his ear... hands leaving his behind and wandering to his fro- Sanji shuddered.

That pissed him off. While Sanji could make the bastard angry with only a few words, all the marimo had to do was enter his thoughts and Sanji was done for.

Damn stupid bastard... Damn sexy bastard, bending down like that to pick up another weight, sticking out a body part, Sanji was dying to touch. It was just plain wrong of him to feel that way about the idiot... to stare at his rival as if he was a piece of meat he was ready to devour instead of an enemy he had sworn to defeat. They had been at each other's throats since day one and yet, here he was, staring at the bastard's tight ass, strong thighs and incredibly alluring back, having thoughts that leave him half hard in the middle of the day. It wasn't fair, was it?

"Quite a sight to behold," a voice said beside him and Sanji nodded absent-mindedly.

"Yeah, if only he wouldn't-," he started, before doing a double-take. Robin stood beside him, a big smile on her face. "R-Robin-chan! I... I was just..."

"Watching the sunset?" she asked helpfully, looking at him with knowing eyes.

"Yes! Yes, the sunset, of course! Beautiful, isn't it?" Sanji said laughing, the panic of being found out not yet leaving his body. The thought that one of his lovely ladies could catch him staring at the marimo of all people was unthinkable.

Robin took a sip of the cup in her hand, seemingly enjoying the hot liquid running down her throat. Sanji's eyes widened. When the hell did she pass him on her way to the kitchen?

"Robin-chan, why didn't you say something? I... I would've brewed you a fresh cup immediately!" he said, wondering how she could even drink something hot in this heat.

"While this is nowhere near as good as your coffee, cook-san, it's good enough for now. I really didn't want to disturb you. You seemed... preoccupied." There was a certain glint in Robin's eyes that made Sanji swallow. Did she know?

"R-Robin-chan... about... ehm..." he began to stutter, trying to think of something, anything, he could say to make her think otherwise.

"It's alright, cook-san. Enjoy the view," she said smiling, turning around and leaving him alone on the balcony.

Well, shit..., Sanji thought. First he began to watch the marimo's damn body and liking the sight of it enough for his mind to vanish in the gutter and now he had made a fool out of himself in front of one of his favourite ladies.

Shaking his head, he turned around and went back into his kitchen. The last two years must have messed more with his head than he had expected.

Robin smiled as she entered the girls' quarters. Their navigator sat at the table, reading a book that most likely contained either information about navigating through the Grand Line or tales about long lost treasures they could discover.

"How did it go?" Nami asked, without looking up.

"As expected," Robin answered. "Cook-san panicked when he thought, I found out."

Shutting the book with a loud bang and taking off her reading glasses, Nami pinched the top of her nose and turned to Robin. "I still don't get it... Why is Sanji suddenly showing interest in Zoro of all people? He has been all over women before..."

"Well, it has either to do with those two years, he refuses to tell us about or he simply developed feelings for swordsman-san," Robin replied, sitting down next to Nami. "I personally think it's the latter one... ever since the events of Thriller Bark, things between them seemed to... change."

"You mean, because Zoro was so badly hurt that time?"

Robin smiled. "Something like that, yeah."

Of course, she was thinking about the sacrifice both of them wanted to make and how Zoro knocked Sanji out to save his life, but she didn't intend to tell Nami any of that. If they ever wanted the rest of the crew to know, they would tell them in their own time.

"Well, that makes sense in a way... those injuries were the reason, Zoro was nearly killed in Sabaody, and Sanji seemed just as worried, if not more, as the rest of us. Still, to think that he likes men..." Nami said, frowning as if the thought couldn't quite get in her head.

"Oh, I don't think it's men, navigator-san. Just him." Robin said, emptied her cup and placed it on the table.

"Just Zoro? Is that even possible?"

"Love knows no boundaries. Developing feelings for another is the easy part, though. Admitting them on the other hand..." Robin sighed as she thought of the panicked expression on Sanji's face.

Nami groaned beside her. "They would never do that. Zoro will think it's a sign of weakness, while Sanji would rather cut off his leg before admitting to like another man. I think if anything should happen between them, they'll need a bit of... help..." Nami's voice trailed off at the end of the sentence. Her eyes glazed over and Robin could practically see a plan forming in the other woman's head. "Yeah, help! We should help them, Robin!"

Robin smirked at her. She knew exactly where this was going. "Why, I never thought of you being the type to pair somebody up. Or... could you have an ulterior motive, navigator-san?"

"I've no idea what you're talking about. I'm only thinking of their happiness," Nami answered quickly and Robin wondered briefly if the navigator knew that her eyes had turned into beli signs.

Leaning back in her chair, Robin thought about all the things that could happen if they interfered in the men's relationship and smiled. The days on the Sunny sure promised to become more interesting.

More? I didn't write anything for quite some time, so I hope this was alright XD

It will turn mature in the future (I'm a pervert, I can't help it) and most likely be more ZoSan than SanZo... While I don't mind either way, I can't quite imagine writing Zoro being uke... o.o

Anyway, I would love to hear what you think! :D