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Just a few weeks after Sanji joined the Straw-hats, Zoro was already getting used to hearing his yaps in the Merry galley.
On Sanji's first days on the crew, he was, apparently, shy. Always trying to act nonchalant — obviously failing to do so when Nami was around — spending the day cooking and doing chores.
Then, Zoro started helping him with the dishes after almost every meal. It used to be a quiet, calm moment for them.
And it really bored Zoro.
Because they hated each other. They weren't friends. Sanji didn't like him, and he didn't like Sanji. They rarely talked, and when they did, they were probably arguing or sparring.
It was, partially, his own fault. He was the one that started messing with Sanji, always picking on him whenever he talked about women and his stupid cooking techniques or whenever Zoro sees those weirdly pretty eyebrows.
But Sanji did it too! How come he had the audacity to call him a "marimo"? Such a nuisance.
The truth is, he didn't really hate Sanji. He just wanted to talk to him like a normal person would and be closer to him and touch his hand and his hair and— And maybe Zoro had a little, really tiny, insignificant crush on Sanji.
So then, he started trying to casually pick up conversations with the blond cook while he was there, wiping every dish he was handed. He avoided saying anything that could turn into a fight — only into small arguments, but that was inevitable.
And turns out, after gaining his confidence, Sanji was a really talkative person. He even laughed at something Zoro said, which made the swordsman stomach feel weird, seeing the way the boy covers his mouth with his hand when laughing.
He started spending his free time on the small kitchen of their ship. He would sit there at the table, listening the blond's yaps and even him murmuring some tunes he didn't recognize being from the East Blue. Sometimes he would sit on the floor while cleaning his swords, as the prissy cook would scold at him because "the table where they eat it's not a place for his dirty swords".
Then there was this one time, late at night. The greenhead was the one on watch, and Sanji, still awake, decided to join him on the crow's nest, bringing him a night snack too. Zoro had a booze bottle on his hands, accompanying Sanji with his cigars.
"You drink too much" The cook pointed hypocritically, puffing out the smoke. "Women hate the taste of alcohol when kissing, you know?"
"How would I know that? Like I even care."
"What? Never had any lady bragging about it to you?"
"Never kissed one."
"Wait, really?" He sounded genuinely surprised. "I thought you were kinda popular with the girls" He murmured, not thinking properly before speaking, but there was already a grin on the swordsman's face.
"Wow, curly, didn't think you would find me that handsome."
"Don't put words in my mouth, dumb marimo!" He felt his face warming a little. "It's just, you used to be a famous pirate hunter, you probably already traveled to a lot of places on the East. And you're always getting your ass drunk, thought you were the type of spending the nights on bars."
"Don't think so low of me." He took another sip directly from the bottle, making Sanji roll his eyes at him. "Yeah, I went to a lot of bars, but I didn't have the time for that, wanted to train more. Plus, I don't even like woman."
"Wha- Wait, really?"
"Yep. But never kissed a man, too. And don't talk about the alcohol taste when you're the one who must taste like pure nicotine! I bet woman brag about it too, huh?"
They went both silent for a while, hearing only the wind hitting their jolly roger a few meters above them.
"I…" The cook started talking again, tooking a deep inhale at his cigarette. "I never kissed anyone too."
"Now, that took me by surprise. The love cook himself never had a girlfriend?"
"I never had time, okay?" It wasn't a lie. Having spent part of his childhood and adolescence on the shitty restaurant, surrounded by only male grown ups, it wasn't like he could get a girlfriend or anything. He would only sometimes travel with Zeff to nearby islands to buy ingredients and stuff. Hell, he didn't even had any friends around his age.
They were both just two teenagers who had barely reached the adulthood and never had the chance to experience some things in life.
Silence again. Zoro chugged again at the bottle. The breeze didn't allow the smell of the smoke to stay in the air.
This time, it was Zoro who broke the silence after gaining the courage to say it.
"Wanna try it?"
"No, thanks, I don't really enjoy drinking. I like wine, tho-"
"No, dumb shit. Kissing."
They stared at each other for what felt really long seconds, both faces slowing turning red. Zoro really didn't know from where he took the guts to ask the cook such a thing.
"I would never kiss you! And I don't even like men!"
"Then it won't mean anything to you."
"And what's the point of kissing if it doesn't means anything?"
"Well, if you wanna have your first kiss with the so called "love of your life" and she finds it terrible…"
Then Sanji considered it, because for once, Zoro had a good point. What if he was a bad kisser? Maybe his brain wasn't all consumed by moss.
"O…Okay, fine. But only because I don't want my official first kiss to be bad, so don't let it go over your head!"
"Sure, Curly." His hand went to the cigarette on the blond's lips, taking it from him and pressing it on the floor to put it out. Then, suddenly, remembering what he was about to do, he felt his heart skipping a beat with hesitation. "So, uh, can I…"
"What, you propose this to me and then you chicken out? Classic marim-" Before he could even finish the word, Sanji felt an arm wrapping around his waist, Zoro pulling him closer and grabbing his wrist with his other hand. He could see very clearly all of the features on the swordsman face, the way his cheeks were darkening with a crimson tone, the way his eyebrows frowned.
"You're really fucking annoying sometimes, cook."
Both went silent for a second, only staring at each other nervous eyes, before Zoro finally closed the gap between them, only touching their lips.
It was… Awkward. They were only touching their lips, both with tense shoulders. Then Sanji remembered how people kissed on some novels he read — those which nobody could know he liked reading — and decided to try it. Hesitantly, he opened his mouth, making Zoro shiver as he felt the cook's tongue touching his lips. But it only felt right to open his own mouth too, copying Sanji's movements.
Both of them didn't expected for their first kiss to be such a mess, even sloppy, thought it was kind of gross to think about.
They just kept on doing whatever they thought was right, and before they could notice, they had their bodies tangled, Zoro's hugging unintentionally hard the cook's waist, as Sanji kept moving closer and closer on his lap, his slim fingers holding the mosshead's shoulder and upper arm.
The whole situation lasted till both of them parted, letting air finally fill their lungs. They could only hear their own breath and heart-skips.
Then reality hits them.
"D-don't hold me like this, stupid marimo!"
"You- You're the one holding me, dart brows!"
Sanji got off his lap, dragging himself to sit at the swordsman's side, their backs resting against the wood wall of the nest.
"Did you…" They couldn't find the courage to look at each other faces as Zoro begin speaking. "Uh, do you think I did it right?"
"How could I know? I just told you I've never kissed before!"
"I heard it, you idiot, but did you like it?!"
"S-stop asking me these things! Shut up!"
"You shut up!"
They went silent again. A suddenly, cold breeze hit them, making both shiver, and, just this once, Sanji let his body rest against the greenhead's, searching for some heat. Zoro, even thought tensing up a little, wrapped his arm around the other, pulling him closer.
"…It was good." The blond said in such a low voice that Zoro couldn't understand it.
"What?"
"I did like the kiss. And… We can do it again. To practice!" Sanji could swear he never felt so embarrassed before as this moment. "But only to practice! It doesn't mean I like you!"
Zoro could do a lot of things now. He could laugh at the cook, he could brag about it, he could just walk away. But, instead, he turned to the other man by his side, gently touching his cheek with his hand.
"Wanna do it again? To practice."
"…Okay, yeah. To practice."
And it happened again, and again and again.
They only stopped when, suddenly, a loud and restless captain made them snap out of their own bubble.
"Sanji! Are you up there? I'm hungry and couldn't unlock the fridge, can you make me a midnight snack? Pleeease?"
Sanji quickly moved away from the swordsman, that who cursed their captain under his breath. He didn't want to, but he let go of Sanji so he could get up and start to rush down the ratlines.
"Damn it, Luffy, couldn't you just wait till morning?"
"OH, Sanji, where you with Zoro at his watch? You're friends now, yeah? And wow, you're really red, are you okay?"
"Luffy! Just- It doesn't matter, just please shut up. I'll fix you a snack and we'll go to sleep, okay? Not a word about this."
He really tried not to think about any of what just happened. Not about Zoro's grip on his body. Not about Zoro's lips against his owns. Not about Zoro's sulking but still shy expression. Not about Zoro, at all.
Because it was only practicing.
Right?