Title: Early Morning Bliss
Characters: Zoro and Sanji, can be read as nakamaship or pre-slash
Rating: G
Word Count: 495
Summary: Zoro would never admit it out loud, but he loves wandering into the kitchen during the early hours of the morning while Sanji is busy preparing and cooking breakfast.

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Zoro would never admit it out loud, but he loves wandering into the kitchen during the early hours of the morning while Sanji is busy preparing and cooking breakfast. The smells of the food cooking get his saliva glands going, and he can feel his stomach rumbling in appreciation of the meal soon to come. He's certain that Sanji can hear his growling stomach, but he never says anything about it.

The smell of bread baking in the oven permeates the room, only slightly overpowered by the sweet scent of the fresh fruit cut up and artfully arranged on a platter, which is overlaid by the savory smell of the array of meats and eggs cooking atop the stove, but even more powerful is the heady smell of tea and coffee brewing at the counter. The aroma of all the different foods is as close to paradise as he could ever hope for. The cook's meals, snacks, desserts, and specially concocted drinks are the best things to ever grace Zoro's taste buds, though he would never tell the cook that. Sanji already has a big head, no need to make it any bigger.

Sometimes, not very often, the blond will bring a sample of something he's cooking over to the swordsman to get his opinion on it. Of course, the food is always mouthwatering, but he will just grunt at the blond in approval. Sanji always takes the empty plate away with a slight upturn of his lips.

However, even more than the smells of breakfast cooking, the seldom chances to taste test the blonde's food before anyone else can, more than anything… Zoro loves the companionable silence that wraps around them. No Luffy crowing about meat and climbing all over the cook until he's kicked out of the kitchen. No Nami to fawn at and further ensnare Sanji even more into her wicked web. No Robin casting knowing glances over her coffee cup. No Usopp, Chopper, Brook, or Franky. There's no one but the two of them.

The swordsman has thought over it many times: why does he enjoy being alone with the aggravating cook? An even better question: why do these moments of peace even exist? Any other time they're taunting each other into fights, so why is this time in the early stage of the day any different? He can never come up with an answer, but he's not in any real hurry to think of one.

For now, Zoro simply sits at the table watching the blonde's movements as he puts the finishing touches on the meal before the rest of the crew wanders in. When Sanji pauses just long to place a cup of steaming black coffee, always spiked with just a taste of liquor –even though any other time the man would gripe at him about how alcohol shouldn't be consumed until the evening–, the swordsman hides the twitch of his lips behind the rim of the mug.