Primal Instinct (Zosan)

three

Sanji sat there in silence for what seemed like hours, patting Luffy's head gently. When his limbs started to get numb, he carefully untangled himself from Luffy and slowly stood up. He supported himself against the wall and made his way towards the door, silently walking out.

"Funny, I thought you were the injured one, yet for some reason, Luffy is sleeping inside the infirmary."

He jolted, letting out a surprised sound and turned his head down, noticing that Zoro was sitting against the wall just next to the infirmary, his three swords on his lap.

"I'm, uh, feeling better now..." he replied, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

"And where exactly are you going?"

"What's it to y—" he cut himself off, averting his eyes when Zoro raised an eyebrow at him.

Apologize. You have to apologize.

"I have been asleep for a week, right? I think it's time for me to get back to my post and actually do my job, as I have been slacking." He joked, forcing a smile on his face.

Not an apology, but it's a start.

"Well, then, I'll just...get going." He pushed off the door and only managed to take a few steps before his legs gave out on him. Instead of the floor, he felt a muscular arm wrap around his waist, a warm body pressed up against his side as he was held upright.

Without realizing it, he had squeezed his eyes shut as he expected the hard collision with the ground. Now, slowly opening his eyes again, his breath hitched in his throat as he locked eyes with Zoro's, their faces inches apart. Sanji felt his face heat up and turned his head away.

"T-Thanks..." his face sizzled from embarrassment as his voice cracked.

"No problem."

And right now was the moment where Sanji would step away and make his way to the stairs, pass them and reach for the galley, but in his current state, he was not sure if he would be able to make it without falling on his ass and making a fool out of himself.

Oh, and that would also be bad for his injuries. Probably. So, he could either save himself the possible embarrassment and ask for...Zoro's help or attempt to go on his own. His face scrunched up at the thought, eyebrows furrowing.

"Are you okay? You're making this really weird face, curly-brow."

"I'm fine! I just need to..." he sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat.

Here goes nothing, I guess.

"Actually, I was wondering if you...if you could, um, h-help me get to the...galley," he mumbled.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Sanji snapped. "I can practically hear you smirking! Just shut up and get me to the galley, damn marimo!"

Zoro chuckled and shifted, securing his hold around Sanji's waist, "That must have been so hard for you to admit, huh." He held onto Zoro's shoulder as they started moving.

"Shut it," he grumbled, feeling Zoro's smug smirk widen, even though Sanji had his head turned in the other direction, making his blood boil.

When they finally walked inside the galley, Zoro pushed him down to sit on the dinner table, ignoring his protests about wanting to cook. Zoro propped his swords next to Sanji against the dinner table and moved around the island to the kitchen.

"So, what do you want to make?" Zoro asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, muscles bulging as he unconsciously flexed.

Sanji blinked, snapping his eyes up to Zoro's face, "What I want to make— I, uh, I was thinking of making something easy; maybe rump steak with mushroom and red wine, but I fail to see how I'm going to cook that if I'm just sitting over here." He gestured wildly with his hands.