He needed the moment to come, either way.

For good or for bad.

The swordsman closed his eyes, not wanting to see the other man's reaction to his action. In the split second before he told himself to let go and release the cook, Zoro felt intense yearning like he hadn't before. It wasn't like wanting to get stronger. It wasn't anything like what he felt on a normal basis, hoping to become the best, wanting to beat Kuina, or Mihawk, which ever way he chose to look at it. For that split second he wanted nothing more or less than that very ashy, spicy, warm wet taste that his tongue was experiencing right now. He wanted to feel that body he was holding onto so tightly at that moment, feel the warmth radiating off the other man, washing over him in waves. He wanted that smell to last forever. Cologne, the smell of the kitchen, the smell of his very skin underneath it all.

These sensations came over him in intense waves, he squeezed his eyes shut tight as he finally forced himself to push Sanji away roughly. His mouth nearly followed Sanji as he was forced in the other direction; instead he forced himself to bend over, feeling as though he was going to expel something from his stomach before this was all over.

He wanted to reconcile how he felt about this other man with what had happened to him so long ago. He didn't want to feel dirty anymore. He just wanted to know that he could get in the damn cook's pants without freaking himself out. He wanted the fucking cook to want him to do the same.

He wanted to go back to a little over a week ago, before the dream, when none of this was a problem. When he was fine with jerking off in the bathroom in the middle of the night while thinking about the blond shit head. Wanted to continue going unnoticed as he watched Sanji move about the ship, getting himself worked up when the cook undid his tie, when his night shirt managed to work it's way up Sanji's lean, muscled belly in his sleep. He wouldn't even mind the raging hard on he suffered from after their fights.

He wondered briefly is Sanji knew about the time he had come in his pants because Sanji had managed to straddle himself across Zoro's hips during one of their harsher arguments. Zoro didn't even remember how they found themselves in that position, but the image of it never, ever left Zoro's mind. He remembered even more vividly how he had prayed to every god who's name he had ever heard uttered that Sanji would think it was a random sword that was digging into his-

What threw Sanji off guard wasn't the kiss, particularly, if you could call it that. More like Zoro had just tried to suck his face off.

It wasn't the fact that he really, really, really enjoyed the taste that lingered. He was a chef, afterall. He knew how to appreciate different flavors.

It wasn't even that Zoro's smell, the one (because Zoro had varying degrees of scent, depending on time of day, mood, and what he was doing at the time) that was warm, slightly musky, and very comfortable (this was closest to his sleeping scent), had caused Sanji to grow a few inches shorter and slouch into his relaxed position without even thinking about it.

What had surprised Sanji, he supposed, was the intense... something he felt just before Zoro pushed him away. (An abrupt and rude way to end a kiss, if he did say so himself.) He had kissed women that set his lips on fire, made his body tingle, and made him, in general, very happy in his pants. He had kissed plenty women that had made him feel many different things at many different levels. A few guys here and there if he was feeling generous. And if he had to be honest, he definitely could say he might have been expecting this sort of reaction from kissing, say, Nami. And he still didn't know if she was capable of evoking that feeling in him or not, because he hadn't kissed her yet. But to think that the swordsman was capable of it at all was... surprising.

To say the least.

It kind of left him feeling like he had just been seen through. A little vulnerable, perhaps. More than a little weak in the knees. He didn't want to use the words "soul shaking" or "powerful" because he wasn't comfortable with those particular terms. He wasn't comfortable with this particular situation.

A lot of things went through Sanji's mind then.

This happens at sea sometimes-

What if this is another latent reaction-

Why would someone who had been through that want a-

Is it okay to believe him?

He didn't say anything. He wasn't capable of communication just then. He watched as Zoro bent over, his eyes still clenched shut, as if he didn't want to see something ugly he knew was about to happen. What concerned Sanji, through the fog of his "afterglow", was Zoro's mental state. Whether he was glad or enraged at what Zoro had just done wasn't his top priority. It was if what Zoro had done was done while sane or in some other strange mental state.

It was then that the two voices battling within Sanji were interrupted by a third voice, coming from somewhere much farther south than his brain and soul (he assumed, because he couldn't really physically locate his soul, after all).

So Sanji stood there obviously conflicted, and Zoro stood hunched over, daring only now to open his eyes slowly.

Zoro was also the first to speak.

"Believe me now, shitty cook?"

Sanji truly pondered this, but his face remained what he hoped was "stony".

"Dunno. How do I know you haven't just gone off the deep end again?"

Zoro's mouth twitched. "Should I elaborate, or would you like me to spell it out for you on paper?"

"Don't think you have the vocabulary or grammar skills for either, marimo."

The swordsman seemed to recover somewhat. He straightened himself back up and crossed his arms again. "Don't know what you want. I told you why, now you know."

Sanji frowned. "I told you that you had to convince me."

Zoro scowled. "I didn't?"

"How am I supposed to judge your mental state right now?" The blonde man argued as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "For god's sake you fucking ape, you just told me two days ago that you were... you were..." Sanji couldn't bring himself to say it. "...And now you're shoving your tongue down my throat, trying to pass off your attitude towards Nami as what, jealousy?! You really are cracked, you idiot seaweed head!"

Zoro stiffened. "Yeah, I was raped. Doesn't mean I'm a lunatic. Though I might be if I, ugh..." The green haired man trailed off lamely. His gaze returned to the wooden paneling on the floor of the galley.

Sanji nervously searched for a cigarette, and wasn't happy to discover the barely there tremble in his hands. He lit the end and inhaled deeply.

"Are you really fucking serious? You're not lying or being weird?" Sanji asked with suspicion.

The dead pan look on Zoro's face would have been funny.

"No, asshole. Doesn't matter anyway. If you weren't lying, it won't change a damn thing. Or is it gonna bother the shit out of you? S'not like I'd force myself on you-"

"Shut up, idiot. I'm just trying to make sure you're ok- you won't go postal on us again." Sanji looked at the floor this time. "Why though?"

Zoro looked at the floor again too. It was a mighty interestin' floor (I assume).

"Why what."

"I mean..." Sanji sighed. It was killing him to know why Zoro preferred men. Was it because he was raped? Did he know before? Was it something he decided after? "Why are you okay with... guys? I don't think I'd be okay with guys if that happened to me. Or did you know before then..."

Zoro snorted. "I didn't know anything until two years ago, when I woke up one morning and the Libido Fairy had come in the night. And I don't know why. It's just what I want. Women are okay I guess. Never enjoyed it much though."

Zoro's gaze drifted carefully to Sanji's face to see where the other man was looking. Apparently Sanji'd had the same idea so they caught each other trying to peek at one another, and hurriedly returned their gazes to that amazing wooden floor.

Sanji coughed and absently rubbed at his throat.

"If things are gonna change, let's just get this over with now." Zoro said suddenly. Sanji looked up.

"Wha-?"

"If you're gonna give me weird looks or somethin', avoid me or act weird or whatever, one of us isn't gonna leave this room tonight. Cuz I'm not leaving but I ain't gonna put up with that bullshit either."

Sanji listened incredulously. ""I love you Sanji", then you try to perform a face transplant with your mouth, now you're threatening to kill me?"

"I never said I love-"

"Yes you did-"

"I did not, shitty cook!"

"Did too, marimo-fuck-head!"

"Shut up!"

"Don't threaten me!"

"I didn't threaten you, I was just saying-"

"Well I'm not gonna act different! I don't care! Just... don't act different and I won't!" Sanji yelled, frustrated.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Good."

Zoro grunted.

That's more like it.
Mono-syllabic replies.
Maybe he's sane after all.

The week following was very strange for Sanji. He did his best to act like nothing had happened, but that turned out to be pretty damn difficult. At any given point in time he was thinking about it.

He was still slightly skeptical that Zoro wasn't nuts. A very small part of him was hoping that he had meant what he said and did.

Check that. A very large part of him hoped Zoro's facilities has been functioning properly that night. The very rational part of himself kept reminding him to feign disinterest for his own sake and Zoro's, incase Zoro had been temporarily off his rocker.

It was frustrating. He was terrified of letting Zoro know that fuck yes he was interested in doing very naughty thing with the swordsman and then finding out that Zoro didn't really want it, but was only mentally unstable. Very, very frustrating. So frustrating that it led the cook the ask for Chopper's advice on the issue.

"Ne, Chopper…"

Chopper looked up from his grinding stone to look at Sanji, who had turned his back on the dishes that were being washed for the third time in a row (just something to keep him distracted, you know.)

"Do you think that baka-marimo is normal again?" He reached for a cigarette. He had been smoking like a chimney lately, mostly going at it when he was thinking about what happened, which was all the time.

"Did something happen?" Chopper said, eyes wide.

"Maa… sort of. The night we left we talked some more, and he said something. But I don't know if I can believe him or not, cuz' you know… he might not have been… completely with it."

Chopper nodded and rubbed his chin with his hoof. "Did he say something that sounded strange for him to be saying?"

"Mm." Sanji nodded.

"Have you asked him about it since then?"

"No. I don't know. You know how when people are drunk, they want to do stupid things? Things they might not normally do, like jump off bridges or swim or I dunno… something that might hurt them? I don't know if that's how it was with Zoro or not."

The reindeer nodded, knowingly. Abruptly he went back to grinding. "You should ask him again. If you don't feel comfortable with now, wait some more. When you feel like he's back to normal you should ask him."

Waiting. More waiting. More time to think. More time to get himself all hot and bothered and frustrated.

Zoro's sleep had been undisturbed for the most part. But normally he was a vivid dreamer. He dreamed about the ocean, about swords, about Mihawk, about the Going Merry, once he dreamt about a goat named Cecilia who granted magical wishes to any green haired swordsman. But he hadn't dreamt at all since they left Atad. He felt fine. Rested. Emotionally he seemed okay. He was weary of Sanji at first. But Sanji seemed to be acting fine. It was all very anti climactic, but he was grateful for that in some ways. Sanji hadn't completely rejected him and obviously still thought of him as nakama.

But he had obviously not returned Zoro's interest. But he wasn't trying to deal with that particular rejection at the moment. He was focusing on training and restoring balance to his energy.

But his lack of dreams disturbed him. His fear of Chopper's needle was overruled by the fear that there still might be something wrong with him. Sanji had said he wasn't going to take any more chances with Zoro, and Zoro wasn't willing to take any more chances with himself.

Zoro stopped outside the kitchen door just in time to hear Sanji mention his name. Well, it wasn't actually his name, but it was as close as Sanji got on most days.

"Do you think that baka-marimo is normal again?"

"Did something happen?"

"Maa… sort of. The night we left we talked some more, and he said something. But I don't know if I can believe him or not, cuz' you know… he might not have been… completely with it."

"Did he say something that sounded strange for him to be saying?"

Zoro's heart pounded. Was the chef going to tell Chopper what he said?

"Mm."

"Have you asked him about it since then?"

"No. I don't know. You know how when people are drunk, they want to do stupid things? Things they might not normally do, like jump off bridges or swim or I dunno… something that might hurt them? I don't know if that's how it was with Zoro or not."

"You should ask him again. If you don't feel comfortable with now, wait some more. When you feel like he's back to normal you should ask him."

So that's how it was. Sanji still hadn't believed him. But Zoro supposed that if he had been in that position, thinking rationally, as love cook obviously had been, he might have felt the same way. And what was he doing right now? Questioning himself on whether or not he was okay yet. Of course the shitty cook shouldn't have believed him, even if Zoro knew that he meant was he said and did.

Zoro waited for Sanji to leave with a tray full of drinks for the girls when he went in to talk to Chopper.

"Zoro! How are you feeling today?" Chopper said, all smiles.

"Good. I guess."

Chopper's smiled turned into a frown. "What is it?"

Zoro shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the door as precaution. If someone was going to interrupt them, he'd know it.

"It's not… physical. I just… I always dream. Sometimes they're nightmares, sometimes they're just crazy dreams. Everyone does that, right?"

"Yes…" Chopper said slowly.

"I stopped dreaming. When we left Atad, I stopped dreaming."

"All week? No dreams? No nightmares?"

"None."

Chopper "hmm"-ed. "It might just be your subconscious expressing exhaustion. It takes a lot of brain energy to dream (I would like to insert a good joke here, but I'm not going to – love, author) and since you've been so mentally taxed lately, it could just be your head taking a break."

Zoro mulled it over. That might be the case, but it was unsettling. He felt as though all the events of the day, week, even month before were sorted out in his dreams. It was good to wake up after a dream. It wasn't bad, the feeling he got after not dreaming, it just wasn't normal. Like he needed to dream be really okay the next day. But he wasn't getting it.

"What if I don't feel right about it?" The swordsman said.

"Do you feel okay otherwise?"

Zoro nodded.

"What's still going on with you and Sanji?"

Zoro looked up, eyes wide. "What?"

"This has something to do with him, ne Zoro?" The poor reindeer looked rather nervous upon broaching the topic. He wrung his hooves together and gave a nervous smile.

Zoro frowned. It probably did have something to do with the stupid love-cook, but he couldn't fix that situation. He didn't want the same thing from Zoro that Zoro wanted from him, and he was gonna have to get over it.

"Maybe you should try talking to him again."

It seemed Chopper's universal remedy to all ailments mental was talking. Zoro hated talking. He'd done too much of it in the past two weeks in his opinion. He wasn't expressive by nature, and just the fact that he may or may not have uttered the words "I love you" to a certain idiot ero-cook made him slightly ill, even if it was true.

He sighed and made to open the door just as Sanji was re-entering. It made for an awkward side to side shuffle where they both moved to get out of the other's way but ended up moving in the same direction, thus remaining in each other's way. This happened at least three times before they both got frustrated and just stood still, waiting for one to make the move. Zoro growled and grabbed Sanji by the shoulders, turning them in a half circle so Zoro was in the doorway and Sanji was in the kitchen. He released the other man and stepped back.

"Talk to you later Chopper. Thanks for the dance, aho-cook." Zoro said before disappearing. Sanji's mouth fell opened and closed, but no sound came out. He heard Chopper's giggles from behind before kicked the door shut with a slam and stomping over to the sink to re-wash the dishes. Again.

Sanji waited another week. He and Zoro were back to their normal selves, arguing, fighting, cursing, etc with or at each other. Sanji was tempted to just forget the whole thing. Bringing it up might screw things up again, or cause Zoro to go back to that unstable place he had been two weeks ago. He knew he was being selfish, but he felt things were unfinished as they were.

That, and Zoro's sleeping lately wasn't the same. Normally he'd snore, or drool, or even talk or yell in his sleep. A few very frustrating times he'd heard Zoro moan in his sleep, obviously enjoying some imaginary activity very much. But recently he'd been dead silent. The only thing that assured Sanji that the other man was still alive was the rise and fall of his chest, which wasn't as deep as it had been before. And his smell was different too. When he was sleeping, at least. It was stale. He'd wanted say something about it, but again, he didn't want to cause the return of Zoro's beserker side.

He had been trying to think of ways to bring it up very casually, in light conversation. But when did he and Zoro have light conversation? When did they talk when they weren't cussing at each other?

It was midnight and he mulled things over in the crows nest, watching idly as his cigarette smoke made weird shapes in the air. He heard a door shut quietly as someone attempted to tip toe across the deck.

Probably Luffy trying to get into his stores. He looked down, prepared to throw his coffee mug at the rubber boy's head, but instead he saw a barefoot Zoro climbing the mast.

Immediately his heart started pumping.

"What are you doing up? Your watch isn't for another two hours, idiot marimo!" His verbal and mental attempts to shoo the man away obviously weren't working, as evidenced by Zoro climbing into the nest next to him. Sanji moved to where he wasn't touching Zoro. But he could still smell him. And it was still the stale smell.

"Oi." The swordsman said, looking at the half raised mug in the chef's hand. "Gonna deck me with that thing or what?"

Sanji hadn't realized he had yet to put the mug down, and blushed, setting it down.

"Afraid of me?"

Sanji's normal reaction to a statement like that would be to kick the swordsman into the ocean, but he didn't like the way the green haired man said it. He could hear the disgust Zoro's voice. Disgust with himself.

"You still caught up about that? I told you, you can kick my ass as much as you want. Not that you can even do that very well. It's the girls I care about."

Zoro laughed, the smile not reaching his eyes at all.

"Are you crazy tonight or something? What's wrong with you?" Sanji said, starting to get anxious.

"Not crazy. Just gotta clear something up."

"Clear what up?"

"I wasn't okay that night. What I said. I wouldn't have said it. I was pretty fucked up."

"Ah." Was all Sanji could say. Compared to the plethora of things he felt at that moment, mainly disappointment and embarrassment, "Ah" seemed a little short.

"But now I'm okay. At least… I'm getting there. I still can't sleep right."

Oh yeah, Sanji was going to ask about that.

"Yeah, what's with that? You don't smell the same-" Sanji stopped too late, the words had slipped out. He slapped his hand over his mouth, and then wanted to kick himself for doing that. It made it obvious he had just expelled something he didn't want Zoro to know, which would make Zoro focus more on what he said.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Come again, cook?"

"Nothing." Sanji blurted, removing his hand and looking away. "Anyway, you don't sleep loudly anymore. It's great for me, you being so quiet. I get a lot more sleep." It was a very blatant lie. "You don't snore or drool or talk in your sleep."

"And apparently I don't smell the same." He said, eyebrow still raised, looking critically at the cook.

"I didn't mean to say that."

"Freudian slip, I suppose?"

"Ooh, big word asshole."

Zoro grinned. "As I was saying-"

"You mean you weren't done? Wow, I'm surprised you know that many words." Sanji sniped, hoping to distract Zoro from the embarrassing slip.

"Will you shut it for a sec?" Zoro snapped. "Shit. Nevermind." He made to get up but Sanji stopped him.

"What, idiot? It obviously took you a long time to memorize what you were gonna say, I'd hate for your effort to go to waste." He said, leaning back arrogantly.

"Che. I wouldn't waste it on you anyway." He turned around, but Sanji kicked the back of his knee so that he tumbled over.

"Oi! What the fuck-"

Still sitting down, Sanji used one foot to pin Zoro's chest against the wall of the crow's nest.

"Don't just come up here to bother me, shit head. You obviously had a reason, now spill. Thought you woulda learned what happens when you keep shit bottled up, dumb fuck."

Zoro could only glare for his part. He had come here with a slight upper hand, but now he was somewhat at Sanji's mercy, at least where his pride was concerned. He was going to re-divulge his confession, just so the shitty cook would know that he made it under his right mind, but now he was being forced to admit it. He sighed, not liking the idea, but thinking that maybe if he did this, and the idiot believed him, he could dream again. He thought at that moment of the dream he'd had on Atad, in the field of yellow grass.

"I was crazy that night. But I'm not crazy now. I meant what I said. I just wouldn't have said it had I not been fucked up. I'm just tellin' ya now so you don't think I go confessing shit like that when things get weird."

Sanji blinked and slowly drew his foot back.

He blinked again.

"What?"

Zoro growled. "Do I gotta spell it out for you both times? You didn't seem deaf the first time! I-" Zoro cut himself off. "Love" was not a word he wanted to repeat to this man.

Yet.

Somewhere, someday he might. But at this particular moment, it wasn't something he could handle saying again. He wanted to convey just how much he wanted to fuck the cook into the mast right now, but he thought Sanji's head might fall off if he said anything along a line so base. What was he supposed to say?

"Why?" Sanji said. Of all the things he could have said, he had to say that. Zoro snorted.

"Doesn't matter. I didn't tell you again hoping you'd change your mind. I just need to sleep right and you-"

"Answer my damn question asshole!" Sanji shouted, pinning Zoro with his foot again.

Zoro was shocked slightly speechless before gathering his senses enough to become indignant. "No! It was bad enough telling you to begin with, why the fuck would I tell you why?!"

Sanji lunged foreword, straddling Zoro's lap and grabbing his white t-shirt with both hands, balling them into fists. "Because if I'm going to kiss your stupid mouth right now, if after that you're going to fuck me into the mast, and if after that we're going to continue doing like activities for as long as we can stand each other, I wanna know why!!" Sanji's eyes bored into Zoro's, who's were wide as saucers, then suddenly smoldering.

"Because, dumb shit, your drive me crazy. Every time we fight I wanna fuck. Every time you undo your tie I wanna fuck, and every time your put those lips around a fucking cigarette instead of my dick I wanna fuck. Clear?" Zoro said, grabbing said tie and pulling Sanji closer to his face. Their lips were barely rubbing against each other. Zoro's scent, his real scent, the one Sanji smelled when they fought, rolled over Sanji in waves.

Zoro made to crush his lips against Sanji but felt a hand push against him.

"Don't." Sanji said, panting.

"What?" Zoro snapped.

"You can't do that. We need-"

"What?"

"Don't fucking kiss me! I won't be able to stop and neither will you and goddamn it you're not going to fuck me without lube!" He said, trying to look pissed but blushing madly instead, looking mussed and so much the aroused sex kitten.

"You're the one that said-"

"I know idiot, let go!" Zoro reluctantly released his hold on the cook's tie and watched as Sanji jumped from the crow's nest and landed soundlessly on the desk. He ran to the kitchen door and disappeared inside.

What if he's just running away-

What the fuck should I do?

He tasted really fucking good-

How the fuck does an ashtray taste good-

Stupid cook-

What kind of lube does he hide in the kitchen anyway?

Zoro looked at the very prominent arousal in his pants. He looked at the kitchen door. He mourned.

Sanji flung open the kitchen door and rushed over to his cabinets.

What the fuck was he going to use? Cooking oil? Butter? Gross. He didn't actually have actual-should-be-used-for-hot-manxman-pirate-sex lube. Damn it! The olive oil would have to suffice. He reached for it then paused.

What the hell am I doing!?

I'm about to have great sex with someone I've wanted to nail me for a long time now.

Nailed? Who says that anymore?!

Brushing anymore rational thoughts aside, Sanji decided to kick his shoes off now, not wanting them in the way of their limited space in the crow's nest. He spared a glance at the blanket and pillow that he kept in the kitchen for late nights, but then immediately thought of how stupid it would look climbing back up the crows nest carrying it.

He rushed back outside and climbed the mast before he could stop himself. Upon reaching the top Zoro grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him in roughly, then pinned the chef to the ground and immediately covered Sanji's mouth with his own. Sanji let himself be handled, putting the bottle of oil down on the other side of the nest before he dropped it.

Zoro's hands suddenly got very busy, intermittently running themselves over Sanji's body-anything he could reach- and undoing buttons-any he could find. Sanji was overwhelmed by the swordsman's attack on his mouth. Zoro completely dominated him with his tongue, making sweeping searches of Sanji's warm, wet depths, leaving him only able to barely breathe and whimper. The swordsman tasted so damn good. He tasted like he smelled. When Zoro pulled back he instinctively tightened his grip on the other man's arms, only to find that Zoro had redirected his attention to Sanji's jaw and lower lip, nibbling and biting.

"Damn cook…" Zoro said, his voice thick and low. Sanji's head was spinning, but the back of his mind kept telling to do something instead of just lying there. He remembered having intentions of blowing Zoro's mind, but he wasn't going to do it by just lying there and taking it.

That, and Zoro kept getting distracted with groping Sanji's ass to finish unbuttoning his damn shirt. At this rate Zoro would probably fuck him with his pants still on.

Oh, but… oh. Oh.

"Ungh!" Zoro had moved his ministrations from Sanji's jaw to his collarbone, his happy spot. At the same time he had taken to thrusting against Sanji's hips with his own, creating a delicious friction that shot lightning through his veins.

"Yessss…." He heard Zoro hiss. "I wanna hear you…"

That alone made Sanji spill another moan from his kiss swollen lips.

Uh, hello?

Sanji?

This is your manly pride speaking.

Gonna… I dunno… do? Something? Maybe?

With a small cry of frustration, because really, he could have laid there and let Zoro ravish him all night, he pushed Zoro away and scrambled to his knees.

"What-"

"Shut up." Sanji said, his voice breathy and lust filled.

Zoro shut up.

Quickly, never taking his eyes off Zoro's, he undid his shirt buttons and slid his shirt off. He reached for his tie, but Zoro stopped him by getting there first.

"Let me…" He pulled Sanji closer to him, claiming his lips in a slow, thorough kiss and slowly undid the tie. The swordsman tossed it next to the shirt then went to work on Sanji's belt. Sanji pulled away in protest.

"Uh uh. You're not gonna fuck me with your clothes on. I wanna see you Zoro." Sanji said, his cheeks flaming brilliantly at his last words, even in the dark.

Zoro grinned. "Whatever you want, Sanji." With a calculated slowness, Zoro pulled his shirt up over his scarred but chiseled abdomen and up over his head, tossing it away. He moved to untie his cloth belt, letting his trousers fall to his knees.

No underwear.

Sanji had never blushed so much during sex. Then again, this was only his third time with another man, and his first time with a man he wanted so much and knew to this extent.

And Zoro was… just as he expected him to be. Well, he was very long, but not intolerably thick (though still satisfactorily so, he noted). And he was very, very hard. Sanji didn't know whether to be scared or flattered, but since neither idea seemed like a good one, he just silently watched as Zoro slipped his pants off the rest of the way. He silently thanked himself for having enough sense to find some lube.

Zoro's clothes cast aside, Zoro turned his hungry gaze on the chef, who looked somewhat… well Zoro couldn't place the look. He looked… nervous. Zoro grinned.

"Happy, cook?" That forced Sanji to stop looking at the other man's cock and instead at Zoro's face, who had a smug look plastered all over it. Sanji "ch"-ed and quickly disposed of his belt and unbuttoned his trousers.

"We'll see who's happy." He threw back, removing his own pants. Sanji wasn't as big as Zoro, but he was definitely larger than normal. Besides, it isn't how big you are, it how you use it.

If it was possible, the look on Zoro's face only got hungrier. Almost wolfish. He licked his lips and pushed Sanji back so he would land on his rear, back against the wall of the crow's nest. He quickly dove his head down to meet Sanji's dripping erection, enveloping it in one gulp, coming back up to swirl his tongue around the head. Sanji stifled a cry, putting his hand over his mouth again. Yes, it was the middle of the night, and yes, it was another three or so hours until someone that wasn't Sanji or Zoro was due to be out on deck, but someone still might hear them, come out for a bathroom trip, or a late night snack. But it was also the first time someone had gone down on him like they were starving for it. Zoro was unrelenting, stroking the base of his erection with his calloused hand, sucking hard on his shaft each time he took in more and more. Sanji panted, trying not to come right there, but Zoro had him seeing fireworks.

Zoro, for his part, was enjoying hearing Sanji's stifled moans and quick breathing. He was engulfed by the taste and smell of the other man, and it was driving him crazy. He knew that if he started pleasuring himself he'd come right there, cutting the evening rather short. He distracted his hands by groping Sanji's ass, picking the other man's hips up and using them to pump Sanji's length in and out of his mouth as far as he could handle.

Sanji was slumped somewhat uncomfortable against the wall; his legs sprawled ungracefully in the air as Zoro sucked him off. Sanji couldn't get any leverage on anything, and his chin was digging into his chest so he couldn't tell Zoro to stop or he was going to come. So when he couldn't take the hot, warm cavern sucking on his ragingly hard cock all he could do was yelp and wrap his legs around Zoro's neck, forcing Zoro to deep throat him as he came hard into the swordsman's mouth.

Zoro nearly gagged, but he forced his throat to relax and take Sanji all the way in. His mouth and throat were filled with hot cum and he swallowed around Sanji's cock, not wanting to waste any of it. He felt Sanji shiver at the action, and continued to tongue the cook's over sensitive manhood until he began whimpering. He released it with a sigh and licked his chops, satisfied. He placed Sanji's ass on his hips and pulled the other man into his embrace. Sanji moaned and languidly pulled himself against Zoro, wrapping his legs around the swordsman's waist. The other man's skin felt so good on him. Zoro pulled him into a kiss, and Sanji was enthralled that he could still taste himself in Zoro's mouth. It was bitter. He wanted to know if Zoro's tasted the same.

Zoro continued caressing and molding Sanji's ass.

"You like that do you?" Sanji muttered, his lips brushing against Zoro's as he spoke. Zoro grinned.

"Yeah, I do. I stare at it all the fucking time. It looks as good as it feels."

"Pervert."

"Look who's talking."

Sanji captured Zoro's lower lip in his mouth, sucking on it. Zoro closed his eyes and moaned.

My turn. Sanji grinned. He made a hot, wet trail down the swordsman's neck to his collarbone, from his collarbone to the tip of his scar. Sanji had a morbid fascination with Zoro's scar. He kissed the tip of it and began licking and kissing and trail downwards, occasionally biting into random pieces of skin, all the while making hungry noises.

Zoro's breath hitched when Sanji reached his scar, and his grip on Sanji's shoulders tightened almost painfully when Sanji bit down for the first time. Sanji would have stopped if it hadn't been accompanied by a very loud, pleased groan. The cook reached down taking Zoro's impressive erection in his grip and stroking very slowly. More groans and pleased sounds from the swordsman, and soon Sanji was just above a patch of curly green hair. Smiling, he inhaled, content that Zoro's smell had finally returned to him. He felt his limp member twitch back to life.

It wasn't fair. Zoro had gone fast. But Sanji was going so slow it was driving Zoro insane. Suddenly Sanji took the very tip of Zoro's weeping erection between his lips, and his hands shot up suddenly, rolling two pink, pert nipples causing Zoro gasp and swallow a cry. He bit his lip and growled. Sanji continued torturing Zoro in this manner, lightly bathing his erection with his tongue and playing with his nipples until Zoro grabbed the back of Sanji's neck and brought him up to face him.

"I get your point, you shit tease. If I get blue balls your ass is going to be sore for two weeks." He growled.

Sanji grinned. "Promise?" He closed the distance in the raunchiest kiss he thought he was capable of giving. Zoro emitted something between a groan and a whimper, grabbing at Sanji's ass and pulled the other man tightly against him.

"Wait-"

"Fuck you."

"Yes, mmph fuck me uungh. But oh oh oh wait!" Sanji shoved Zoro away and frantically reached for the bottle of oil. He stood saying, "Sit on your knees." Zoro got a good idea of what Sanji was doing. Sanji turned away so his rear was eye level with Zoro. He made to lower himself again, but Zoro stopped him. There was a very, very bad grin on his face.

"What?" Sanji said, feeling too vulnerable in this position.

"Spread your legs."

"What? No-"

"Do you trust me?"

Sanji was quiet.

"Just say so if you don't-"

"I do but… I mean… You… want to?"

"Che, I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't want to, idiot!"

"Shut up! I just…"

"You don't have to." Zoro's voice was calm and soothing, suddenly. Sanji found that he was trembling at the prospect of what Zoro had in mind. He had always wanted to try it, but it wasn't something any of his other partners had been interested in.

Slowly he spread his legs. Zoro slid his hands up to the cook's creamy white thighs. "Are you sure?"

Sanji bit his lip and nodded. The butterflies in his stomach were uncontrollable, and he was achingly hard again.

Zoro rubbed his thighs reassuringly, and reaching around with one hand to stroke Sanji's renewed erection. Sanji moaned, hands gripping the mast tightly. Zoro's hand moved from his erection to his ball sac, gentle massaging and playing with them. Sanji's stomach hitched and he remembered that he needed to breathe. He whimpered into his forearm. Zoro's hand retreated and joined his other massaging and molding Sanji's pert ass. Zoro kissed one creamy globe then the other before sliding his tongue over the top of Sanji's cleft. As he made his way down with his tongue he spread Sanji's ass with his hands, giving him better access to his goal.

Sanji was nearly hiccupping now, gasping for breath as tears formed in his eyes.

Oh god oh god oh god oh god-

Unngh oh god so hot mmm oh oh shit oh god oh fuck yes-

He was glad he couldn't speak at the moment. He wasn't sure he could handle Zoro hearing that.

Zoro moaned, listening to Sanji's whimpers and hitched breaths. He leaned back, admiring the view, the tight rosy entrance he was about to violate.

"Sanji…" He whispered before biting hard down on Sanji's left check, then bathing Sanji's orifice with his tongue. The blonde man cried out, first at the sudden bite and then at Zoro's prodding tongue. The swordsman moaned loudly, Sanji thought his knees were going to give out. Without warning, Zoro's tongue gave a hard thrust and entered him. He spread Sanji as far as he could and forced his tongue in as deep as he could go. Sanji sobbed and clawed at the mast, tears falling down his flaming red cheeks.

"Z-zoro! Ungh! Please!"

Zoro rubbed his thigh in a placating manner and thrust his tongue in harder and faster. Sanji cried out again, pushing his rear back in return to Zoro's thrust. Zoro's tongue bathed the walls of Sanji's entrance, not long enough to reach his prostate, but enough to cause amazing sensation. He cupped Sanji's balls again, feeling them tighten and relax. The chef's cock was dripping with pre-cum.

Satisfied, Zoro retreated, trailing wet kisses all over Sanji's ass.

Sanji whined in disappointment, but took the moment to compose himself, if that was possible. He hiccupped and sniffed, wiping away the moisture on his face. Zoro gently pulled him down into his lap, rubbing the other man's belly now.

"Are you okay?" He murmured in Sanji's ear.

Sanji nodded.

"Sure?"

"Yes asshole!" Sanji snapped.

Zoro chuckled.

"Shut up!"

"You liked it."

"Shut the fuck up! Are you going to fuck me or what?" Sanji said impatiently. He was still hard and only a moment ago had been on the brink of orgasm, only to be brutally yanked back.

Which was nothing compared to how Zoro felt, who hadn't come yet at all.

"Oh yes. I plan to." Zoro snatched the oil and hastily undid the lid with one hand, then poured a liberal amount into his palm, sitting Sanji on his knees so he could coat his very neglected and flaming arousal with it. He groaned and bit into Sanji's shoulder at the sensation. It wasn't going to take much to get him off, it seemed. Satisfied that he was properly lubed, he coated two fingers with the stuff and spread his knees, causing Sanji to spread his in turned.

Zoro stopped to enjoy the view. Sanji leaning naked against the mast, his ass displayed for Zoro, tear streaked and fully aroused. Zoro moaned before placed the two fingers at Sanji's entrance.

"Ready?"

"Yes!" Sanji said, impatiently. Zoro grinned and pushed both fingers in, a little rougher than necessary. Sanji gasped and let out a strangled cry. Zoro used his other hand to still Sanji's hip. He let Sanji get used to the feeling before he started moving them in and out. The site was so erotic he could barely stand it. He could feel Sanji's muscles clenching around his fingers. Oh god he wanted to bury his cock inside of him.

When he was sure Sanji could handle two, he added another, this time reaching for that spot inside of him. Sanji's fit hit the mast and his right leg kicked out behind him. Zoro stopped his exploration.

"Sanji-"

"Oh fuck do it again I swear to god if you don't do it again I'll- OH YES fuck that more Zoro! More again YES-"

Sanji had enough sense to cover his mouth at that point but didn't cease the loud moans that rumbled from him. He actually turned around and gave Zoro a "wtf?!" look when Zoro removed his fingers, but realized Zoro was about to replace them with something bigger and better.

Zoro placed his throbbing cock at Sanji's entrance and took a deep breath. There was a sizeable difference between three fingers and Zoro's cock, but he planned to go slow. Planned.

Sanji took a deep breath as Zoro's cock invaded him. It hurt. The tongue had stung a little, the fingers had hurt a little too, but this hurt, His erection was wilting as he ground his teeth and closed his eyes.

"Relax. You're too tight." Zoro said, his voice strained.

"Easy for you to say-"

"Push out. Just listen to me. Push out and try to relax." Zoro uttered.

Sanji tried to calm down and did as he was told. He felt Zoro slide in a bit easier, and it didn't hurt so badly. It still hurt, but it didn't feel like he was being ripped apart either.

Zoro buried himself to the hilt then stopped. Sanji was so damn tight. Excellent for him, but it was probably, no pun intended, a pain in the ass for Sanji. He had to be careful and pay attention to Sanji's reactions, or this could turn out to be a very bad experience.

Sanji focused on breathing, and the fullness he felt instead of the pain. He felt Zoro breathing against him, the warm breath washing over his shoulder. Zoro's hands were twitching slightly as they rested against Sanji's hips. His right thumb was rubbing soothing circles on his hip bone. He felt his shoulder and back muscles relax. The tension melted away from his body as he calmed down. Zoro moved one hand to trail lazily down Sanji's stomach and kissed his shoulder.

"Don't you dare ask me if I'm okay." He warned. Or he tried to, but it came out as more of a sigh.

"Mkay." Zoro said into his shoulder. He sighed and Sanji felt the movement through his entire body and shivered.

"Mmm." He wanted to move. He wanted to feel Zoro moving inside of him. He lifted his hips up slightly and felt Zoro's cock leaving him, and immediately sat back down, feeling the cock fill him up again. It was such a strange feeling. He wanted more of it. Now.

"Zoro-"

"You don't have to tell me twice." The swordsman said, his voice husky. He lifted Sanji's hips with his hands and brought him back down, starting with a slow pace. Sanji's head fell forward and he moaned loudly. Soon Sanji was controlling the movement as he impaled himself up and down Zoro's long cock

Zoro couldn't take it anymore. Seeing that Sanji was ready, he sat up off his haunches and pushed Sanji forward, causing him to hug the mast. He dug his fingers into the other man's hips and slammed into him with a satisfied moan. Sanji cried out as Zoro repeated the process, the sound of moans and flesh slapping together filled the otherwise quiet night air. Then Zoro managed to hit that spot inside the cook and Sanji was suddenly meeting Zoro's intense thrusts, his muscles clamping down on the swordsman's cock. Both men were moaning each other's names, Zoro gripped every part of Sanji he could, Sanji pulling on his own cock as Zoro slammed into him over and over again.

Zoro joined Sanji's hand in yanking on the chef's cock. Zoro bit again into Sanji's shoulder and the sensation went straight to Sanji's groin. He yelled Zoro's name and came hard, spilling his cum onto the mast all over his and Zoro's hand. Every muscle in his body tightened.

Zoro felt Sanji's walls clamp down impossibly tight on him and he gripped Sanji's hip to slam into him as hard as he could, once, twice, three times and he came deep inside the other man, moaning and repeating Sanji's name.

The collapsed against each other, falling over to the floor, still connected. Sanji couldn't breathe at the moment, and Zoro swore he went blind for a moment. Neither could move.

It was Robin who'd had enough sense not to wake Sanji, but Zoro instead by gently rubbing his forearm. The swordsman came to and looked up to see Robin poking her head above the crow's nest.

"Ah, Swordsman-san. I believe it's my watch now. You should know that Nami has gotten up and is working in her room. Everyone else is asleep. I'll be waiting in my room until you two have gone to bed." With that she retreated with a smile.

Zoro had only registered half of what she said, but he disattached himself from Sanji and grabbed for his clothes. Sanji had not woken up in the jostling, so he tried poking him awake.

That didn't work, so he decided (in his very groggy state, I might remind you) that kissing the other man awake was a good idea.

And it was. Sanji opened his eyes and smiled. Then his eyes went wide. He sat up suddenly, pushing a grumpy Zoro out of the way.

"What time is it!?"

"Shhhhhh. S'almost time for Robin to start her shift. Got 10 minutes."

Sanji sighed in relief. He grabbed for his clothes and started dressing himself. He settled for an undone tie, unbuttoned shirt and no jacket, with button pants and he thought he might have accidentally thrown his belt overboard. As a result, his pants hung low on his hips, revealing a delicious looking hip bone.

Zoro pinned Sanji to the mast and kissed him thoroughly, bodies pressed tightly together. Sanji moaned and ran his hands through Zoro's short hair.

"Gonna leave the ladies alone now?" Sanji said, smirking. "Still jealous?"

Zoro grinned. "I dunno. Gonna start bringing me fruity drinks and cake all day?"

Sanji punched him playfully in the gut. "Gonna give me head whenever I ask for it?"

"Che…" Zoro snorted. "I suppose I'd like that better than fruity drinks and cake, ero-cook."

"You would marimo head."

Another kiss and they made their way down the mast.

They had to sleep in seperate hammocks, still not sure of how things were going to work out. But Sanji could smell from across the room the next morning that Zoro had dreamt while he slept. He was drooling too, and snoring loudly.

"Baka."

In his dreams, Zoro dreamt of a field of yellow grass where he was sleeping next to Sanji.

Owari.