The temperature changed abruptly as the Thousand Sunny sailed from Wano Country to their next destination. It had gone from pleasant to freezing in the span of five minutes. Everyone except Chopper had complained. Even Zoro had, when he felt his balls trying to climb back into his body during that first shock of winter climate. But secretly, Zoro loved it when it was freezing outside.
“Budge over.”
Because Sanji turned into a snuggle bug.
The men’s quarters were located beneath the ladies’ quarters, forward off the main deck of the Thousand Sunny. The large room built from Adam wood had low sofas, a sunken table, lockers for each of them, and a ladder that led up to storage. A fire burned in the stove for warmth, vented outside. Franky had added two more hanging bunks, double stacked, giving space to sleep eight.
Seven of the bunks were currently filled, as Brook was on watch. The men had turned in at different times. Franky bubbled in his lower bunk, while Luffy snored from above him. Chopper and Usopp had been asleep for a while. Jinbe was silent where he lay. Zoro had been in his lower bunk for about twenty-minutes, dozing, until Sanji wandered in.
Zoro scooted, lifting the blanket in invitation as he did. The bunks had been built wide enough to fit Franky’s frame, which meant they could fit two people if they tried. Luffy, Chopper, Usopp, and Brook had all bunked together at one time or another, sometimes from the cold, sometimes from late-night shenanigans. Zoro’s bunk space was reserved for a crabby-assed cook who worked late every night and got up way too early every morning to work some more.
Dressed in blue and black striped pajamas, Sanji kicked off his shoes, climbed beneath the covers, and immediately shoved his hands under Zoro’s shirt. “Gah!” Zoro’s belly concaved as Sanji put his frigid hands against Zoro’s bare skin. “Your hands are ice.”
“Hn.” Sanji entangled their feet. “And you’re like a big, stupid furnace. How can you be so warm?”
Zoro’s body shivered as it fought off the cold. At least Sanji’s feet weren’t freezing, too; just mildly cool. Zoro cocooned them under the blanket, heads and all, to conserve heat. Facing Sanji, he took advantage to slide his warm palm under the back edge of Sanji’s pajama bottoms and cop a feel. His other arm was pillowed under his head.
As fun as it would be to have a romp with Sanji, Zoro would never do it with everyone else in the room. He had more morals than that. Still, a grope or two never hurt anything, and Sanji never protested, so Zoro squeezed with content.
It had been a while since it had been cold enough to do this. Sanji hadn’t been with him in the snow country in Wano territory. They really hadn’t seen much of each other in a while, actually. One adventure had been lapped on top of another, and Sanji went off to deal with his family and wedding nonsense. Zoro hadn’t asked about it, because he didn’t really care. Sanji had come back, unmarried and in one piece, and that’s all that mattered. If Sanji wanted to talk about it, he would bring it up. Zoro was just happy to have him back.
Their relationship wasn’t a complicated one. They fought, they fucked, sometimes they talked. Zoro trusted Sanji implicitly. They didn’t need flowery words or gestures. Zoro was there for Sanji if Sanji needed him, and Sanji was there for him. Their love story was as simple as it could get. It suited Zoro perfectly.
“Enough pawing at me. Go to sleep.”
Zoro grinned and kissed the tip of Sanji’s nose, which earned him a kick in the ankle. He shifted around to his other side, and Sanji wrapped himself around Zoro like a long piece of seaweed: arm draped over his waist, knees bumped up under his, their feet still entangled. One of Sanji’s hands was still up under Zoro’s nightshirt, resting on his stomach. He could feel Sanji’s warm breath against the back of his neck. “Night, snuggle bug.”
“Shut up.”
Zoro grinned again, let his eyes close, and drifted off securely to sleep.
End