ZoSan: The Flower

Chapter 45 - Zoro

He'd be a cabbage if it meant being Sanji's. He'd be any damn vegetable Sanji wanted. And he'd be as patient as Sanji needed, too, especially when Sanji hadn't thought their earlier...activity was meaningless, after all. There was a big difference between 'There's some feeling there' and 'I wanted to make you feel good.'

Sanji pushed him away lightly to finish the last few rotations of the washer. Once it was done, he pushed hard on the lever that squeezed the extra water out. Then he seemed to realize something. "Shit."

"What?"

"We usually hang clothes on the deck to dry.... If we hang just these, that the crew saw us wearing earlier, along with your sheets... they're gonna suspect what we were doing. Actually, they'll probably suspect worse than what we were actually doing...."

"Well, shit." Zoro echoed. He knew that the crew was well aware of their relationship, such as it was so far, and that there was probably a betting pool run by Nami on when it'd go further. And that going further would give them more ammunition to tease with, once they decided that Zoro and Sanji had had enough time to 'figure it out'. Neither of which he particularly wanted to subject Sanji to. Or himself, for that matter. "Could we hang them in the kitchen? Lock the door, warm it up with the stove or something to speed up the drying time?"

Sanji seemed to be debating the merits of that plan. They'd done similar things before, when clothes really needed to be washed but the weather was suboptimal for drying. "If we can figure out a subtle way to get them up there without anyone seeing them, that might work."

"So grab one of those bins that you use to bring up the extra potatoes and whatever from the 'cellar'? We put the clothes at the bottom, throw some potatoes on top to hide them, and transport it to the kitchen. Then just wash the potatoes before you cook, like you do anyways."

"That would probably work. Might even work without the potatoes." Sanji paused for a minute, thinking. "Are we being silly about this, though? I mean, we're grown adults. We both consented. Should we really be ashamed of what our crewmates, our friends, might think of the latest development in our relationship?"

"Well, that depends. When Nami or Franky or, heaven help us, USOPP, accuse us of having sex, do you want to be the one who has to explain to Luffy what that means? Because I'm not entirely sure the kid knows what that is, and it is definitely not the first mate's job to give that talk."

"So we make whoever brought it up explain it. Though, personally, I don't think he's quite as naive as he acts."

"Oh, pushing the burden onto your 'sweet, beautiful Nami-swan'?" Zoro smirked teasingly at the blond, to make sure he knew that he didn't mind Sanji's lingering affection for their navigator. Or their archaeologist. "You know if she asks you'll end up doing it anyways."

"Maybe not if I'm protecting the sanity of my handsome boyfriend." Sanji went red and his eyes went wide in horror as he slammed a hand over his mouth almost instantly, turning away.

"Boyfriend?" Zoro would think about the handsome part later. This word was the one that mattered now. He pulled the hand down and turned Sanji's chin back to him, needing to see those eyes. "Is that really okay? Is that what you want?"

Sanji nodded after a long moment. "... I, I, um...I mean, why not? We've been doing all this couple-y stuff, right? We hold hands and kiss and ...cuddle and... spend most of our time together.... The question is, do you want it... if I can't say or do the other stuff involved yet?"

Zoro thought about it. He wanted it, absolutely, and so much more. The word lit him up inside like a carnival game. But would Sanji feel more pressure to rush into things if it had an official title attached? That would be something he couldn't stand. The whole point of the surgery had been to give Sanji the time needed to work through whatever he needed to work through.