Mixed Up (ZoSan)

Take It Easy (Love Nothing)

"So, how was the show? Did you enjoy it?"

Seated opposite of one another at a small window-side table, Nami smiled encouragingly at Sanji. He returned the smile and hoped it didn't look as forced as he felt it was.

At Nami's insistence, they'd gone to a small, locally owned café that Sanji was relatively familiar with. Originally, he'd wanted to take her somewhere a bit more upscale and popular; a place where he could vouch for the quality of the food they served, but she had refused and expressed an unwillingness to support any sort of non-local chain establishment.

And while Sanji knew the owner of the Mermaid Café, he didn't know much about the menu or what they served. Nami had seemed delighted, though, when he'd brought her there after picking her up from the downtown area's community parking lot.

"It was interesting, to say the least," he said, passing their waitress a charming smile as she dropped off their drinks. He drew his coffee closer towards him as Nami went to take a sip of her tea. He traced a finger around the saucer dish of his cup absentmindedly before reaching for a sugar packet nestled in a ceramic container in the middle of the table.

As he opened it and began to pour it into his coffee, Nami set her cup down and offered him another smile.

"Oh yeah?"

There was something wrong about this, Sanji thought. Something had happened to him the other day that he hadn't been able to figure out, but had affected him so greatly that he could no longer find the energy to flirt as effectively as he knew Nami deserved. He still found her to be irresistible and absolutely darling in every aspect, but something was blocking his will to express his adoration to her.

He felt awkward, stiff, and found, ultimately, that he didn't really want to be there with her. In the back of his mind, there was another person he found he wanted to be spending his time with.

"How was it putting up with Zoro that whole time? I bet that was rough, huh?"

Sanji's heart palpitated at the mention of his name and he had to advert his eyes as soon as she'd spoken it.

"It wasn't that bad, actually," Sanji replied, swallowing the feeling down with a quick drink of coffee. "The worst part was not being able to smoke throughout the whole thing."

Nami nodded solemnly and held her cup between her hands, sipping at her drink whilst pretending that the awkwardness between them wasn't there. She didn't want to try and force the conversation if he didn't want to participate in it, but she would've been lying if she'd said she was having a nice time.

"Zoro told me you met Robin," she said, trying to give the conversation some kindling to work off of. "How'd that go?"

As she spoke, she saw again the same reaction breach Sanji's face that he'd expressed before at the mention of Zoro's name. It was a sour look accompanied with a deep frown that left him looking incredibly uncomfortable.

Sighing, he nodded almost reluctantly.

"He warned me about her," he said melodramatically, slouching over the table. "I had every intention of avoiding her, but, alas, her beauty sought me out."

As he spoke, he reached a hand into his coat pocket that was draped across the back of his chair, intending on taking out his cigarettes, and paused.

"Do you mind if I do?" he asked, glancing at Nami before he withdrew his pack.

"Nope! Go ahead," she said pleasantly, amused by the start of his story.

He smiled thankfully and pulled out his pack, taking out a single cigarette and pulling the ashtray closer towards himself.