This is my first AU, as it is my first multi-chapter story. I'd like to thank my friends Vergina-spva and Thérèse (who doesn't have an account here) for pre reading. Thanks you guys ^^

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, but I doubt any of you thought that ^^;

Please enjoy :)

Hot as Fire

Chapter 1

Rain was pouring down on him. People walked hastily by, wanting to go home as fast as possible. Just like him.

Sanji sighed. He was sitting on a bus bench, completely drenched by now. A bus had come by, but he had motioned the driver to drive on. He didn't have any money. His wallet got stolen, a perfect ending for a perfect day. He hid his face in his hands. Water dripped out of his blond locks. Everyone had bad days, but his seemed to be the worst. He might as well stay here. It wasn't like he could get wetter. He bit his lip, trying to keep it together. Only when he came home he could break down, though he couldn't bring himself to get up and begin the long walk to his house.

But all of a sudden the thick drops of water stopped landing on him, though he could still see them fall down on the street. Slowly he looked up. Before him stood a pair of heavy boots. His gaze slit up to the strong looking legs standing in them, and up the muscular body. Two dark piercing eyes gazed down on him and he had to lower his gaze. His throat went dry and he couldn't say anything. A hand reached out and without thinking he grabbed it, feeling the calloused skin on his own. Without saying anything the man started walking and he followed, trying to stay under the green umbrella.

He lived on the other side of town and he didn't know this part of the city too well, but still he got the feeling they went around in a circle for a while before they stopped in front of an old building. The man gave him the umbrella to hold, while he opened the door.

It was warm inside the house. The muscular man walked in front of him to the small living room. He sat down on his knees and started to make a fire in the fireplace. After that he ran upstairs. Within a few seconds he was back down again and threw dry clothes at him, a T-shirt and sweatpants. Then he walked over to the kitchen. Before he went in he turned around. "I don't mind if you take off your underwear," he said in a surprisingly deep voice.

Sanji nodded, still not able to say a word. He wasn't sure what had happened. One moment he was sitting in the rain feeling sorry for himself and the next he was standing in a stranger's house about to take his clothes off. To putt on dry ones of course – he was soaked – but still. Why had he come with this strange man? Because he was the only one to show him some kindness when it felt like the worst day of his life? Because he was cold and wet?

Slowly he started to unbutton his shirt and loosened his tie. One by one his clothes were discarded to the floor. His suit was ruined by the rain anyway. The other man hadn't come back yet, probably to give him some privacy. He hesitated for a bit, but then he let his underpants drop on the floor. For a moment he enjoyed the heat of the fire on his naked skin. But then he realised he was in a stranger's apartment, naked, and there wasn't a naked woman beside him.

He heard some noise from the kitchen. Hastily he grabbed the sweatpants and put them on, just when the other man came walking in holding two mugs. Sanji picked up the T-shirt, the pants almost slipping of his slim hips. The sweet scent of chocolate filled his nostrils as one of the mugs was pressed in his hands. The stranger sat down on the worn-out couch while he stared into the fire.

Sanji took a small sip. The sweet chocolate was dominated by the burning sensation of rum. Actually, there was more rum in the hot chocolate than chocolate, but the beverage did warm him up from the inside.

"Thanks," Sanji said softly. He kept silent for a moment. "For everything," he added.

He got a grunt as answer. Both of the men sipped from their hot chocolate in silence. Despite the burning feeling of the rum, the beverage and the warmth of the fire made Sanji sleepy. He hadn't had much sleep last night, but he refused to fall asleep in a stranger's house. He had to think of a way to stay awake. Talking should do the trick. "I'm Sanji."

"Zoro." It sounded more like a grunt.

Another silence filled the room. Sanji took the time to look around. The furniture was simple, only the basic things were there. The couch was old and worn and the table looked as if it could collapse at any moment. The rest of the room was pretty much empty. The only things that seemed to be placed with care were the three swords that hung above the mantelpiece.

Sanji forced himself to break the silence, as he was feeling a little uncomfortable. "Er, thank you for getting me out of the rain."

"Sure."

The blond man got the urge to kick the man. All his answers sounded as grunts. He wasn't even trying to make conversation.

"So why did you?" he pressed with clenched jaws.

Zoro shrugged. "You looked like you needed a friendly gesture."

"Don't take it the wrong way. I'm not helpless or anything. I just had a bad day."

The other man snorted. "Oh yeah? And what can bring a tough guy like you down, then?"

It was the first thing he said that sounded remotely interested, so Sanji decided to take the bait. He wanted to get it off his chest anyway, and now the guy asked for it! And maybe it was better to talk to a stranger, as he wouldn't see him after tonight.

"Fine, you want to know? First of all, yesterday my girlfriend broke up with me, without giving me as much as a reason why. Then last night I got called in the middle of the night. My restaurant was on fire. Well, it's not my restaurant, I am… was head chef. But the owner is on vacation, so I have to take care of everything. My car broke down, so a friend had to drive me. By the time I got to the restaurant, it was already almost burned to the ground. They told me to go home.

Then this morning I got called by an arson inspector, if I could come to the restaurant. As I live on the other side of town and didn't want to disturb my friends, I decided to take the bus. In all haste, I forgot my phone. When I arrived, the arson inspector was already waiting. He explained to me what had happened. Because it was arson. Arson! Can you believe it? Someone set my restaurant deliberately on fire!" Brusquely he went with his hand through his still damp hair, wishing his cigarettes weren't ruined by the rain. "On top of that, my wallet got stolen, so I couldn't go home. And now I'm sitting with a guy I don't know drinking something that can only be described as hot rum with chocolate flavour!" He felt a little bad for insulting the man on the couch. Though he had wanted to get everything of his chest, but he had been rambling on for minutes now. It must be the rum loosening his tongue.

Zoro stayed quiet for a moment. He let his head fall back to the backrest of the couch. "That sounds like a pretty shitty day."

"Yeah…" Sanji looked at the floor. "Sorry about that last bit. I didn't mean – Is your hair green?" He sat down on the couch and stared at the short, spiky hair.

The other man seemed to be a bit thrown off guard by the sudden change of topic. Embarrassed, he covered his hair with his hand. "Stop staring at me, curly brow."

The blonde grinned. For some reason he was feeling a little better, despite the fact he had just been insulted. "Well, whatever. I'm getting hungry. You want me to make something?"

The green haired man shrugged. "Kitchen is over there."

Sanji walked in the direction the man pointed. In the kitchen his mouth fell open. He had never seen such a mess in one kitchen. The counter was full of wrappers from take-out food and the counter itself looked like it hadn't seen sunlight in a while. Despite the fact that the stove could not have been used very often, it looked like the things that had been there were exploded. When he opened the fridge, he only saw some beer bottles and some leftovers of the take-out. On the whole, just looking at the kitchen pained his heart. Sighing he opened some of the cabinets and found some cans of food, with a thick layer of dust on them.

A while later he walked into the room with two plates in his hands and two bottles of beer under his arm. "You really have to do some grocery shopping," he said while handing Zoro one of the plates.

"What's the matter? I thought you were some amazing chef?" the other man said teasing.

"I am, but even I need more than beer to cook with."

They ate in silence. Every once in a while, Sanji glared at Zoro. Even though he had little to work with, this food had to be better than greasy take-out. But if he was enjoying the food, the green haired man didn't show it. It bugged him a little.

When they almost finished dinner, the phone rang. Zoro made no attempt to pick up, so the machine took it.

"Hey Zoro, it's Ace," a male voice said. "I thought you said you would be home tonight… O wait, I get it, you've got a date over." Now the voice sounded teasing. "Is he…"

Sanji had never seen someone jump up so fast. Like a cat jumps it prey, Zoro dove to the phone and grabbed it before the guy at the end of the line could say anything else.

Zoro took the phone to the hallway. "What the hell, Ace!"

"So you are at home," his friend grinned. "And hearing how annoyed you are, you do have a date over."

"It's not a date!" Zoro sighed and tried to explain as best as he could. Actually, he didn't understand it quite himself. When he had seen the blonde sitting at the bus station, he had genuinely wanted to make a nice gesture. To buy him a cup of coffee in a restaurant nearby and give him his umbrella. That would be it. But when the man had looked up with his beautiful blue eyes, Zoro just wanted to take him home. He hadn't expected the man to follow him, let alone undress himself in Zoro's living room. It had been really hard not to peek. But all of it had given him the idea this could be a very interesting evening. When the man had talked about his girlfriend, even if it was his ex-girlfriend now, Zoro's stomach twisted. He told himself it didn't have to mean anything, that the beautiful blonde could be bi.

Of course he didn't tell Ace about all this. He only mentioned he had helped someone out, and that it was in fact not a date. His friend tried to fish what Sanji looked like. Zoro answered as shortly as possible and left out many adjectives he wanted to add. He kept the description at blond guy with blue eyes, instead of a gorgeous blond with beautiful blue eyes and legs to die for. He cut off Ace's series of questions and after a short goodbye he hung up, ignoring the teasing remarks of his friend. When he entered the room, Sanji looked up.

"Sorry about that." He put the phone back.

The blonde snickered. "It's your house. By the way, what's with all the take-out food?"

"I'm usually back late and I don't like to cook," he shrugged.

Sanji shook his head in mock disappointment. But then he said: "That still is no excuse to have no other food. And to live like a pig. I've taken the liberty to clean up somewhat, because the fridge started to smell like something died in there. And you should eat something healthy every once in a while."

Zoro stared at the man who was currently scolding him. "Your food's good," he mumbled.

That stopped Sanji's ranting. "Thanks," he said. "It was a challenge. But if you like this, you should taste it when I got ingredients to work with."

Zoro nodded vaguely and took the last bite of his food. Did Sanji just invite him to taste his cooking? Did that mean a date? Or was he half forgotten about his restaurant and encouraging him to stop by? He opened his mouth, to ask what this was and whether he was bi or not, but he didn't want to offend the guy, or scare him away.

Sanji raised an eyebrow seeing he wanted to say something, when the phone rang once more. A bit relieved he didn't have to explain himself, but also afraid Ace had decided to harass him again, he ran to the phone and picked up with: "What?" He sighed deep when he recognized the female voice.

Sanji made himself comfortable in front of the fire and listened to Zoro's half of the conversation. The green haired man sounded annoyed. When he hung up, he went with his hand through his hair irritated. "It looks like I have to go."

"Why?" Sanji frowned.

"That stupid witch wants me to help move stuff around. And since I owe her some money, I can't refuse or she will raise my debt."

The blonde raised a curly eyebrow. "You shouldn't talk about a woman like that." It almost sounded threatening. "You should feel privileged she invites you to her house."

Zoro didn't really know what to think anymore. The chef sent him mixed signals, purposely or not. "If you knew her, you would talk the same about her."

Sanji straightened. "I would never talk about a woman like that!"

"Whatever. I have to go. Feel free to use my shower." He was just putting his jacket on when something came to mind. "Or do you want to go home?"

The chef looked at the clock on the wall. "Well, the busses don't go anymore in this shitty town and it's still pouring outside. So I would like to take you up on your offer."

"Bathroom is upstairs, first door on the left." The other man grabbed an umbrella and left.

Sanji strolled upstairs and opened the door Zoro pointed out, only to find the man's bedroom. Shaking his head, he closed the door and looked for the bathroom. When he found the right room, he took a deep breath, afraid of what he might find.

Fortunately, the bathroom was a lot cleaner than the kitchen. He turned on the shower and took off the borrowed clothes he had on. The hot spray felt good against his skin. He wasn't very cold anymore thanks to the dry clothes and the warm food, but the idea of washing away this day was comforting.

After he felt clean enough, he turned off the shower. Dripping with water he searched for a towel. Under the sink was a drawer where indeed lay towels, but when he lifted one he took a step back.

In the drawer lay a magazine. He had one in his own bathroom. He didn't really like them, but sometimes he needed it after a stressful day.

But the one laying here wasn't filled with beautiful women. Instead of that, it was full of naked men. Immediately he closed the drawer. Zoro was gay.

He had nothing against gay men, he just didn't understand how a man could not like women. With their soft curves and sweet laughs… But now he started to doubt Zoro's motive. Sanji knew he was handsome, when he had to fill in for a waiter at the restaurant girls swooned over him. And when men flirted with him, he flirted right back. That was mostly because that shitty old man had threatened to fire him if he kept ignoring the male costumers, but also because flirting was in his blood.

But that didn't mean he was gay or even bi. He was straight. Did Zoro think this was a date, like his friend said? The guy, Ace, had asked if "he" was something. Sanji just assumed he had misheard. Apparently he hadn't.

Slowly he began to dry himself off. He just needed to make clear that he wasn't interested, without hurting the man's feelings. After all, he had been very hospitable.

When Zoro came back an hour or so later, Sanji was sitting on the couch reading a book, the only cookbook he owned. The blonde's hair was still damp from the shower. Quickly he repressed the imaging of a naked cook that bubbled up in his brain. When the man looked up, Zoro saw he was wearing reading glasses, which made him look smart and even hotter. One of the glasses was concealed by a curtain of blond hair. His mouth went dry.

The blonde took off his glasses. "I was surprised to find a cookbook in your collection. A good one, at that. Not very much used though, there was a lot of dust on it." The man snickered. "You've got a lot of martial arts books."

"I like to keep in shape," Zoro grunted, taking off his jacket.

"So, how did it go with your friend?" Sanji sucked on one of the arms of his glasses, looking rather seductive. Zoro couldn't take his eyes off the blonde's mouth. He had probably no idea how sexy he looked.

He forced himself to speak and tore his eyes away. "She's not exactly my friend. But she just wanted me to move a bookcase, so it wasn't that much work."

"I should hope so, seeing how muscular you are." Sanji bit his lip. He didn't want to look like he was flirting. Then he stopped biting his lip, realizing it looked even more flirtatious. He needed to make clear he wasn't interested in anything more than friendship. Sighing, he asked: "Zoro, can I ask you something?"

The green haired man threw his jacket on a chair and sat down next to the chef. "What?"

After taking a deep breath he started: "When I was in your bathroom – which is on the right by the way, not the left – I wasn't snooping around or something, I was just looking for a towel…"

Zoro raised his eyebrows. "You're babbling."

Hesitating for a moment, Sanji closed his eyes. "I found your magazine."

The other man's eyes slightly widened. He swallowed hard. "That's not a question," he finally said.

"Well," Sanji resumed uncomfortable, "do you think this is a date?"

"Do your dates usually go like this?" Zoro avoided the question.

The blonde looked at the floor. "Well, no. But I usually don't date men."

"Usually?"

"Well, never. And to be honest, I don't feel any need to start now." Carefully he looked at the other man.

Zoro sighed. He knew it. The cook was as straight as they get. So he just laughed it off. "You think I pick up random strangers off the street to date them?"

Sanji shifted uncomfortable in his seat. "Well, not random…"

"Oh? Don't we have a high opinion of ourselves?"

The chef flushed. "I've been told I'm handsome…"

"Did someone also tell you you have a freakish eyebrow?"

The other man's cheeks were still red, now with anger. "What's that, marimo?"

"What did you call me, dart brow?"

Threatening they looked at each other. The yelling of insults became a physical fight. Sanji avoided Zoro's fist by bending backwards. Then he lifted his leg, barely stopped in time by Zoro's strong hands. A smile played across his face. "That's some nice kick you've got there, curly brow."

"There aren't many men who can stop me, so I guess you're not bad either, moss head." Slowly he put his foot down and they both sank on the couch again. "Sorry, about just now. I thought you were hitting on me."

Zoro shrugged and grinned. "Well, you couldn't know I have taste."

Sanji scowled at him, but then he stood up. "I'm thirsty. You want something?"

"I'm glad you feel at home here," Zoro said sarcastically.

The cook shrugged and walked to the kitchen. Zoro stared after him and sighed. Not only had the blonde the nicest ass he had ever seen, he was strong as well. And not into guys.

Sanji pocked his head around the corner. "Hey, I found a bottle of wine. Mind if I open it?"

Zoro frowned. "Wine?"

The blonde walked back with a bottle and two lemonade glasses, as his host didn't own any wine glasses. "Yeah, a nice one too. And here you have me thinking you didn't have any taste."

With furrowed eyebrows the green haired man looked at the bottle. "Oh right. I got it from someone for my birthday."

"That explains a lot," the blonde said grinning. "But I'll put it back if you…"

"Nah, it's fine. I don't drink this shit often anyway."

The cook looked at him offended. "This isn't 'shit'. It's a great wine. I can't believe a barbarian like you even has it." Still he poured the liquid in the two glasses and handed the other man one.

A few glasses later Sanji could feel the alcohol starting to take effect. It made him feel a bit drowsy. He probably shouldn't have opened the wine. He had a very low tolerance of alcohol and he already had had some rum and a bottle of beer. But this was damn fine wine and he wasn't going to let Zoro drown it like beer. This kind of wine should by drunk by people who appreciated it. His eyes flicked to the other man, but he didn't seem effected be the alcohol at all. It pissed him off a bit, so he tried to behave as normal as possible.

He took another sip from his half empty glass. "So, why is your hair really green? Do you dye it or is it natural?"

Zoro grinned. "Would you like to find out?"

The blonde gave him a questioning look. "How would you…" His expression became shocked and brusquely he shook his head. "No way I'm looking there!" To emphasize his words he gestured to Zoro's crotch with the hand he held his glass in. Wine poured over the edge and on the other man's white T-shirt.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry! We should pour some white wine on it. Oh wait, you don't have that. Would beer work?"

The green haired man couldn't help but grin. He had noticed Sanji's red cheeks. "You babble when you're drunk, too."

The chef wanted to gesture with his hand again, but hastily put the glass in the other. "I'm not drunk. Maybe a bit tipsy. Besides, shouldn't you put on a clean shirt?"

The other man scratched the back of his head. "I'm also a bit behind with my laundry. You're wearing my last clean one."

"Then take it." Sanji started to pull the shirt over his head before Zoro could stop him. And once the blonde started stripping, he didn't want to stop him. The material revealed a creamy white skin covering a slightly muscular chest. The man stared at the hot body in front of him. And he could, since Sanji was struggling with his clumsy drunk hands to get the shirt over his head. The cook offered him the shirt and he took it hesitating. He probably should tell the man to put it back on, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. The material was still warm from the blonde's body.

The chef emptied his glass and lay down on the carpet in front of the fire. He stretched himself, reminding Zoro somewhat of a cat. A very sexy cat, that is. The sweatpants he was wearing slid down a little because of the movements, uncovering a few blond curls.

Zoro grunted. The blonde probably had no idea how sexy he looked right now. His cheeks were slightly flushed from the wine and his hair was ruffled. Unable to hold himself back, the green haired man slid off the couch and sat down next to Sanji, throwing some wood on the fire to hide his motive.

"Life sucks," the chef said suddenly.

"C'me on, it's not that bad, is it? You've had a rough day, but it's not the end of the world. You're just stressed out." Everybody got stressed every once in a while. What did Zoro do when he got anxious? Drinking, sure, but that seemed to make things worse for the cook. What else then? "You just need to be… relieved." He couldn't believe he just said that. Was he taking advantage of the drunk man in front of his fire?

The cook shot up. "What are you implying?"

"I can help you with that." Zoro's voice sounded deep and husky.

Sanji stared at him, but not shocked as the green haired man had expected. The alcohol had made his eyes a bit cloudy. Slowly he lay back and closed his eyes.

Zoro ran his hand over his leg, carefully watching the man. The blonde didn't protest, even when the hand slowly began to pull down the sweatpants. More blond curls were revealed.

Zoro's breath became ragged, his mouth was completely dry. Thank God for alcohol. He continued to pull down the pants, until the cook lay naked on the carpet. He let his eyes linger over the hot body beneath him. He stretched out his arm, stopping himself just in time. He had promised to relieve Sanji, not to touch him everywhere. Or lick him. He pushed away those thoughts.

He swallowed hard as he reached out and slowly started to stroke the cook's cock.

Sanji moaned as he got hard in Zoro's hand. His eyes flung open when the hand removed itself after some pleasurable strokes and was replaced with something hot and wet. Was that his –

A moan escaped his mouth. There was no way a girl could take him that deep. Not that he would ever allow a woman to so something that filthy. But Zoro was a guy…

He knew he should care more about that fact, but at this moment he couldn't bring himself to it. His mind went blanc and he buckled his hips.

The green haired man whipped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked down on the naked blonde on the carpet. He had his eyes closed and was panting, covered with a thin layer of sweat. Zoro swallowed hard. Taking a deep breath he threw another log on the fire and silently he left the room.

~To be continued ~