Chapter Text
Another morning. Zoro watched the streaks of high clouds glow pink and orange as the sun rose, greeting it with an enormous yawn. He stretched his arms up over his head, earning a few pops from his joints, and then began his climb down from the crowsnest.
He shouldered open the galley door, brightening at the smell of coffee and bacon. Sanji stood at the stove, tending multiple pans, wearing his favored pink Doskoi Panda apron.
“Morning, Mosshead,” he tossed over his shoulder, but didn't look up from his work.
Zoro wandered over, placing the night's dirty bento box in the sink, then stepped in behind the cook and wrapped his arms around his waist. Sanji huffed in amusement as Zoro pressed his face into his neck, still surprising himself with how affectionate he was towards the cook. It was easier than he’d expected to show his feelings through touch, and he found himself pulling the cook close at every opportunity.
“Sleep well?” he mumbled, voice muffled.
“I did, in fact. Were you bored without me?” teased the cook, expertly flipping an egg.
The swordsman grunted in the affirmative and took a deep inhale of the mix of cologne, shampoo, and faint tobacco sweetness emanating from Sanji. “You smell good.”
“It's called showering. I'm begging you to try it,” replied the cook drily.
“Hmm. I'm not sold,” muttered Zoro, watching carefully for his chance as Sanji began transferring bacon from a pan to a plate. The cook turned slightly to set down the pan, and Zoro snatched a piece of bacon from the pile, narrowly avoiding a crack on the knuckles from Sanji's tongs.
“Oi! You're as bad as Luffy, honestly,” scolded the cook.
“Boyfriend tax,” gloated Zoro, fanning his mouth from the hot bacon grease.
“Don't talk with your mouth full,” said Sanji automatically, then blushed to his ears. “Wait, what did you say?”
Zoro swallowed his bacon and smirked at the cook, who had turned to face him. “You're all flustered.”
“Am not,” he retorted weakly.
“You are. You're the color of your apron,” grinned Zoro. He nodded at the stove. “The eggs.”
Sanji cursed, whipping around and yanking the eggs off the burner just in time. He poked the yolks with a spatula. “At least Luffy likes them over hard,” he sighed, then rounded on Zoro, face still pink. “You distracted me, ass!”
Zoro raised a teasing eyebrow. “Did I? How so?”
“You said…you said…” The cook's expression softened into something hopeful, and the now-familiar warm feeling bloomed in Zoro's chest. “Boyfriend? Is that– are we…?”
Zoro reached for the jar of seawater that was sitting on the kitchen windowsill. “I gave you this because I'm yours, cook. Whatever you want to call me.”
Sanji took the jar from him and gazed at the faint glow, then gave him a smile that put the rising sun to shame. “Sap,” he murmured fondly, then tugged Zoro into a kiss by his haramaki.
The creak of the galley door broke them apart, and Zoro caught a sliver of Usopp's face as he turned and bellowed, “OUT!!!”
“Yep,” squeaked the sniper, slamming the door shut again.
“Oh my god,” groaned Sanji, and Zoro grinned at him.
“You're so red.”
The cook aimed a half-hearted kick in his direction but couldn't keep the smile off his face. “This is all your fault. My idiot boyfriend.”
“I like the sound of that.” Zoro leaned in and planted a kiss on Sanji's burning cheek. “Ready?”
The cook straightened his tie and nodded, turning back to his breakfast prep. Zoro crossed the galley and opened the door to a sheepish Usopp, who wilted under the swordsman’s glare.
“Oh, hey Zoro, what a coincidence, I was just about to, uh, open the door, um, for the first time. I definitely didn't– didn't open it earlier. In fact, I've never opened a door in my life. Is this what they call a door? I don't know anything about anything,” stammered the sniper.
“What else is new,” growled Zoro, flopping down at the table.
Sanji came over to pour coffee, face pink but expression neutral. “Morning, Usopp.”
“It certainly is morning! And such a normal morning, too. Just normal, regular stuff happening. I can't remember the last time a morning was so normal,” babbled Usopp, smiling awkwardly at the cook. Zoro feigned a yawn, covering his mouth to hide his smirk.
The cook shot him a warning look. “Something to add, moss-for-brains?”
He shook his head and sipped his coffee, staring at the table, knowing he'd laugh if he made eye contact.
“BAAAAAACONNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!” The unmistakable sound of flip-flops sprinting across the deck rang out.
“Oh, thank god,” sighed Usopp as Luffy tore into the galley.
Sanji was ready, keeping the captain at bay with one powerful leg as he grappled with the rubber arms reaching for the bacon. “Sit down, you maniac, there's lots!”
“I'm so hungryyyyyyyy! You never make bacon!!” Luffy clung to the cook’s torso as he attempted to shake him off into a seat at the table.
“Because you're such a pain in my ass when I do!” Despite his words, Sanji was laughing.
Zoro watched the cook bustle around the kitchen, taking care of his crew with a spring in his step. He was almost radiant to Zoro, eyes shining and hair gleaming in the morning light as he joked and laughed with Luffy and Nami. Zoro wondered if his stomach would ever stop swooping at the sight of the cook's smile. His boyfriend’s smile.
“Sanji, you're happy!” announced Luffy, beaming at the cook, and Zoro couldn't keep a smirk from creeping onto his own face as Sanji's eyes flicked over to him. “Zoro, you're happy too!”
Nami glanced between the two of them, gaze calculating, then took in the grimace that Usopp was trying to pass off as a normal facial expression. “Usopp, are you happy?”
“Oh sure! I mean, a normal amount. Because it's a normal morning. Like, all my limbs are attached, and none of my bones are broken, so I'm happy about that,” said Usopp, eyes darting from Zoro to Sanji and back.
“Why would your limbs not be attached?” asked Nami casually.
There was a threatening click as Zoro slid Wado an inch or so out of her sheath.
Usopp swallowed hard. “Oh…just…if I were to mention anything about anything that I, um, shouldn't…which of course I couldn't do, because I don't know anything about anything!”
“Good man,” grunted Zoro.
Nami glared at him. “You know I'll get it out of him anyway.”
Zoro shrugged. “Sounds like a him problem.”
Usopp whimpered, and Sanji exploded in a bout of strangled coughing. And if it sounded a lot like laughing, no one saw fit to mention it.