Birthday Drabble; part 1

It was just past midnight on the Sunny. Brook was on watch and as always when that was the case, the soft sound of violin lulled the crew to a soft sleep. Everyone but the cook and swordsman, who were laying on the couch of the aquarium room.

Sometimes when it as Brook's shift, they would steal away from the crew in the night and hole up in some unmanned part of the ship for some alone time. Sometimes they had sex, slow and languid love making that took hours and stamina, soft songs played in the background.

Other times they just listened to music, neither of them admitting to feeling starved for each other's company after two years apart. Even sitting together in silence and listening to lonely songs, tinged with hope was company enough. All the fights and arguments of the day forgotten and forgiven as soon as the rest of the crew fell asleep.

Zoro was sitting by the aquarium with Sanji's bare feet in his lap and working his hands over the muscles, the blond lay stretched out along the couch and watched the catch of the day swim lazily past. Cigarette smoke lingered in the air and Sanji's skin was still wet from the evening shower.

Two years ago Zoro would have scoffed if anyone would tell him he'd be spending time with the cook like this. Rubbing his feet without being asked and listening to the soft sound of violin lingering in the air. A fish swam past and cast a shadow on Sanji's face, the glow of his cigarette casting a soft shadow on the cook's features.

Sanji glanced up at Zoro and grinned brightly against his cigarette, shuffling slightly in place and poking Zoro's chin with his foot. Zoro grumbled and forced the foot down on his lap again, running his calloused hands over the strong muscles of Sanji's main weapons. The blond sighed appreciatively around his cigarette, eyes closing slowly as Zoro ran a thumb along the side.

Sanji fought with his legs. Zoro could feel the edges of scars and long healed once-broken bones under his fingers, earned through various battles and superhuman achievements. It was fascinating, being allowed to touch these feet that could shatter rock in a single swipe. Zoro worked a rub into the underside of Sanji's foot, earning a soft moan from the blond.

This was nice. Zoro enjoyed taking care of Sanji's weapons almost as much as he enjoyed taking care of his own. Making the blond produce these soft sounds and knowing no one else probably had was just as enjoyable as fighting and arguing under the sun.

The blond was always putting others first and never asked for anything in return, he earned this much at least for his cooking. Curly browed idiot.

Sanji let out a long stretch with an almost sinful arch of his back as he sat up, withdrawing his feet from Zoro's grip and pulling off his shirt. Zoro watched the pale skin glow almost ethereally in the absurd light of the aquarium, the shirt was folded and neatly discarded before the blond leant over to Zoro.

"Ma-ri-mo." Sanji said softly, giving Zoro a chaste kiss before collapsing onto his lap like an oversized cat, giving a lazy yawn for effect. The swordsman grumbled under his breath, bringing his hands down to the exposed back of the blond and running his hands over the knotted muscles and sore aches he knew were concealed within.

Zoro knew enough about muscles and the human anatomy to figure out where Sanji's aches were, running his hands at the precisely right spots to make the blond hiss in pained pleasure and his toes curl. Shoulders and lower back from doing the dishes. Neck from looking down at the frying pan.

The song ended and after a short pause filled with nothing but the sound of water and Sanji's groans of relief, another song started and Zoro's hands fell into rhythm. Kneading Sanji's back with the precise amount of pressure until it was soft and the skin was slightly flushed from Zoro's rough fingers.

The others would probably be surprised if they saw them being so intimate. They knew that the two of them were a little more than nakama now, but they would probably never imagine just how much of their alone time the two of them spent just touching and trading half hearted insults.

"Oi, Zoro." Sanji's voice was relaxed and a little hazed with pleasure, similar to how it sounded in the afterglow of sex. Giving a questioning grunt to encourage Sanji to keep talking, Zoro ran his fingers against the hair at the back of Sanji's head, enjoying the slightly damp feel of silken strands between his fingers.

"Your birthday is coming up." Sanji said casually, lighting himself a fresh cigarette and reaching out for a new bottle of booze for Zoro. Reward, Zoro assumed. The stupid cook didn't need to bribe him to get him to touch him all over and work him raw and relaxed. He took the bottle anyway, thinking about the question as he uncorked the bottle with his teeth.

"I think so." Zoro hummed before he took a large sip, feeling Sanji roll over and shimmy down so the blond was laying with his head in Zoro's lap and looking up at him. Zoro absent mindedly let his hand travel up and down Sanji's chest, pausing for a second to trace the outline of a love-bite he left the night before.

"Think? I know it's soon. It's two days away." Sanji demanded, breathing through grit teeth as Zoro slid his hand down and ran a finger along the hem of Sanji's pants teasingly. Sanji shifted slightly, face half buried in Zoro's haramaki for warmth "What do you want me to get you?"

Zoro laughed at that, bright awkward laughter that almost caused him to cough up some of his alcohol. He reached to place the bottle on the floor, but Sanji took it from his hand and placed it securely on the table, looking up at Zoro with an annoyed expression.

"You don't have to get me anything." Zoro said with an amused grin, brushing the bangs away from Sanji's forehead to look at his symmetrical eyebrows. "seeing your stupid curly face is enough."

"come on! don't give me that sentimental shit." Sanji huffed, pulling at Zoro's cheek with a flushed grimace as he brushed his hair over his eye in annoyance. "There has to be something?"

"Nope. I'm perfectly happy." Zoro said, reaching over the blond to grab his bottle of booze. If they were going to start fighting, he'd want to make sure he at least drank most of the bottle before the cook attempted to lock it away in that damn fridge.

Sanji frowned at that, stretching out and looking at the fish swimming past behind Zoro's head. The subject seemed to have died and Zoro was contemplating invading the front of Sanji's pants to attempt to get him into the mood for some late night fun, when the blonde's face suddenly flushed and the cook turned so his face was practically buried in Zoro's stomach.

"Do you have any kinks?" Sanji's voice was slightly muffled through Zoro's clothes. Zoro almost did a spit-take at that, looking down at the man on his lap, the blonde's ears burning red with embarrassment.

"Kinks? What?" Zoro's brow rose in confusion as Sanji turning again to glare at him, his face was almost completely red and he looked good enough to eat.

"Like, when we have sex, is there something you'd like to do you think would scare me off?" Sanji said with a slight wave of his hand, almost enough to cause the blond to roll onto the floor. "Like... I don't know... Knives or bondage?"

Zoro's eye widened slightly at that, bottle frozen on his lips as he stared at his lover who looked halfway ready to run away screaming in embarrassment. It was possibly the competitive streak Zoro loved so much that kept the blond stubbornly glaring on his lap.

"Not really, It might be fun to try it someday, but I haven't thought about it until now." Zoro took a small sip of his drink, watching the wheels turn in Sanji's head as the blond contemplated the answer.

"How about dressing up?" Sanji asked casually, grabbing Zoro's bottle and wisely holding it away for the next suggestion. "Want me to dress up like Mihawk and call you Roronoa?"

Zoro did do a spit take at that, gasping for air as the alcohol burned on its way down to his lungs. His face was red and Sanji was looking up at him like the very picture of innocence, and Zoro could barely manage to catch his breath before he feverishly shook his head in horror at the idea.

"I guess that's a no then?" Sanji said with slightly embarrassed amusement, pouting in thought as he kept thinking. Zoro finally managed to catch his breath, not sure if he wanted to cling onto the mental image of Sanji in Mihawk's clothes forever, or erase it for good.

"How about other kind of outfits? Like leather or-" Sanji turned away as he spoke, his voice breaking in slight embarrassment as the volume dropped. "-women's?"

Zoro stared at Sanji, mouth slightly agape. "Why would I want to wear women's clothing for my birthday?"

Sanji turned and punched Zoro in the gut at that, forcing the swordsman to lean over in pain, his face an inch away from Sanji's that was practically glowing in embarrassment. "Not YOU, you stupid moss brained asshole. ME."

Zoro rose back up to his seat slowly, eyes narrowed as he watched Sanji's flushed face. "You'd do that; for me?" Zoro's voice was tinted with suspicion and the blond huffed with a roll of his eyes.

"No. Stupid Marimo." Sanji was getting ready to sit up again, seeming to give up on the subject. Zoro's hands moved on their own as the pushed down on his bare chest to keep the blond in place.

"I prefer you in male clothes." Zoro said softly, feeling Sanji's heart beating madly in his chest and do a little flutter. This whole thing, whatever THIS was, couldn't be healthy for neither of them. "You look good in a suit."

Sanji relaxed back into Zoro's lap, fingers reaching out to brush Zoro's jaw and play with his earrings.

"so you don't have any kinks?" Sanji sounded a little disappointed and Zoro started considering it seriously. Sanji seemed to notice, since his tone got a little more hopeful. "It doesn't matter what it is, just tell me what you'd want to do and I'll say yes or no. Even if you think I'd get angry, I might be fine with it."

Zoro leant back, the blond on his lap tugged down his haramaki and ran perfectly unharmed and soft fingers over the skin hidden underneath. Zoro's eyes fell on the neatly folded shirt on the table, and his breath did a little hitch when he realized what his kink was.

"You promise not to get angry?" Zoro said slowly, feeling Sanji tense up with anticipation. He looked down at the blond that was staring up at him with practically shimmering eyes. Zoro rubbed the back of his head awkwardly "You also have no obligation to do it."

"Just tell me already." Sanji urged with an annoyed groan, sitting halfway up to get closer to eye level with the swordsman. "as long as it doesn't involve rolling around in any sort of vile fluids or dismemberment of some kind, I think I can handle it."

Zoro rolled his eyes, feeling the faint blush creep up his cheeks when he licked his lips and spoke.

"I want to cut off your clothes."

Sanji paused at that, looking up at Zoro in shock and blinking a few times. "what?"

"Your suit. Your shirt. Your belt. I want to cut them off you. With my swords." Zoro blurted out awkwardly, feeling himself getting hard at the idea alone. Sanji could probably feel it through the fabric.

"You want to cut off my perfectly fine suit?!" Sanji rose up in annoyance, glaring at Zoro.

"You said you wouldn't get angry." Zoro growled back, frowning at the other man and crossing his arms across his chest. "I said you didn't have to do it."

Sanji sat up at that, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and sigh into the cigarette smoke. For a moment, Zoro was sure that Sanji would have been more open to public sex than his suits getting damaged.

"Is it a specific suit you want to mutilate or-?" Sanji asked with a sigh as he looked up at Zoro, who stared back.

"No, no. Any suit, as long as it looks like one of yours. A nice suit, and a shirt, and a tie and a leather belt-" Zoro started rambling, and Sanji gave him a look that was halfway between lust and annoyance. The blond silenced him with a kick to the shin, taking a long drag of his cigarette.

"Maybe something can be arranged." Sanji said with a sigh of defeat, wrapping an arm around Zoro's neck to give him a deep reassuring kiss. "But why suits? Has this always been a kink of yours or?" Sanji sounded a little uncertain, biting his lower lip slightly.

"Do you think I like you because you wear a suit?" Zoro huffed with an annoyed grunt, pulling the cook back in for another kiss, this time he was the one doing the reassuring. "You're the one who started this damn kink, pervert-cook."

Sanji pulled back from the kiss with a slightly aroused blush and a soft smile on his lips. After a moment of silence the cook gave his cigarette a long suck as he ran his hand under Zoro's robe, fingers tracing the inseam of his pants.

"I'll have to see what I can do." Sanji hummed happily into Zoro's ear, hand sliding further up. "but right now, we have something to take care of."

Part two will be up later today! Happy birthday Zoro!