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Sanji already doesn't feel good when he gets out of bed. His head is killing him and he feels exhausted, but he brushes it off and starts breakfast preparations. Probably only something temporary.
Except that it only gets worse over the course of the day. He's definitely getting sick, there is no denying it when his head feels like something is pounding against a gigantic drum.
Why does it have to be today of all days? He can't be getting sick, not when he's getting visitors over dinner.
One visitor to be exact.
Sanji is still a little shocked that the seemingly clueless Marimo has actually asked him on a date, and he's been excited for dinner all week.
Sanji's original idea was to go out for a romantic dinner someplace nice, but again the Marimo surprised him when he stated he'd rather have Sanji's food because it tastes better as if it were obvious. Maybe it should be, but the cook never thought Zoro actually had enough taste to notice it.
They have spent a lot of time together lately and it must have boosted the Marimo's confidence enough to make the first move. It has taken them a while to get to this point, even though the tension between them every time they bicker and fight should have been obvious signs.
Since this is their first official date, there is no way Sanji is going to cancel it because of some headache.
It actually gets bearable after Sanji takes some painkillers after lunch and takes a nap, even though there is still so much to do. He cleans his apartment a little bit more and lights up some candles for the dinner table. He even has been thinking about decorating it with some rose petals, but he decided it would be a bit much for the Marimo. He has to ease him into the whole romantic ordeal first.
After making sure the atmosphere is set for a real and authentic candlelight dinner, Sanji starts on the food. The meat has to sit in the marinade for at least an hour so it takes in the flavor properly.
Zoro is late of course. The guy is getting lost in his old man's estate and he claims he grew up in there, and even though Sanji has taken that into account beforehand, he is still in the middle of cooking when the bell rings. Is it this late already? He didn't even have the time to get changed yet!
The cook is pleasantly surprised when he opens the door and Zoro greets him with his favorite wine. "Oh, you do have taste," Sanji says instead of a greeting and the Marimo rolls his eyes.
"No, you're just a priss. I don't get why I have to pay triple the amount for this than for any other good booze."
Sanji steps aside for him to come in, all while still bickering with the guy. "You have no clue what savoring good wine even means, classless mosshead."
"You mean ' thank you '," Zoro comments while shrugging off his coat. Sanji takes it off his hands and hangs it up in a fluid motion. Zoro doesn't wear a suit - Sanji wouldn't expect him to - but he does look a little bit nicer than usual. Just his hair is still a mess of wild green strands.
"Sure." He motions for Zoro to sit at the table. "You are earlier than expected, so food's not ready yet."
Thankfully, Zoro doesn't seem to mind and takes a place at the table where he has a good view of the kitchen. Sanji has noticed it before, for some reason the mosshead seems to like watching him cook. He does it whenever he gets the chance to, and Sanji lets him because there is something soothing about Zoro's presence.
A part of him has been worrying that it might be weird having Zoro here for a date, just the two of them, that they would somehow fall out of their usual routine, but now those worries are gone. Nothing changed between the two of them. The attraction has been there before, the only thing that's different is the fact that it's out in the open now. But Zoro is still Zoro, a moron that is just too fun to tease.
A wave of nausea hits Sanji unexpectedly and he inhales sharply, bracing himself against the counter. He waits for the feeling to pass, willing it away and hoping that Zoro hasn't noticed.
"You okay, cook?" The question comes out with an underlying tone of concern that has Sanji jerking his chin upwards in stubborn pride.
"I'm fine!" As if to prove his point he goes back to slicing the meat expertly and with a steady hand. He's a professional after all.
But even so, his whole body seems to be heavier than usual and he can't help noting that he works a lot slower too. He should already be long finished with the meat and move on to the side dish.
His headache is also getting worse again and he has to resist the urge of rubbing his temple in a desperate attempt of relieving some of the pressure.
Still, he is determined to not let this opportunity slip through his fingers. This is his first date with Zoro and he has been waiting for his chance of proving Zoro exactly how good of a catch he is. Stupid swordsman making fun of Sanji's romantic fantasies, but he'll see!
He's forcing himself to concentrate on the food again when he realizes his hand stopped working. That has never happened before, usually, his body is working on its own but today it seems unable to do anything without Sanji actively making it.
"You don't look so good." The voice next to Sanji makes the cook jump and he whips his head around a little too fast, making him dizzy.
"What is that supposed to mean?! You were just too early and I haven't gotten the chance to get changed." Sanji scowls at the swordsman, attempting his best vicious glare, and receives an eye roll in return.
"That's not what I mean. You're pale." Zoro raises his hand to touch Sanji's cheek but the cook batters his hand away and turns away again.
"I told you, I'm okay. Now, stop bothering me and wait for the food like a good-" He doesn't get to finish his sentence when another wave of exhaustion hits, strong enough for his knees to give in.
He barely feels Zoro catching him but he's suddenly aware of the cool touch to his forehead and leans into it subconsciously.
"Fuck, Cook- You're burning up!"
Sanji can feel himself being lifted off the ground just before he slips into unconsciousness.
It's the heat that is waking him up sometime later. It's unbearable and Sanji lets out a grunt as he moves to kick off the heavy blanket trying to suffocate him.
"Stop it." A hand grips the edge of the blanket and pulls it up once again. Sanji raises his head and realizes Zoro is right there next to him. How did he not notice?
"It's hot," Sanji wants to complain but it sounds more like a whine than anything else. God, he's exhausted and tired, everything is so heavy.
"Yeah, and you need to sweat it out," Zoro replies. The blond makes a face.
"That's disgusting," he comments but stops resisting. There is no point, he'd rather go back to sleep.
Fuck, this isn't at all how today was supposed to go. Now, Zoro is taking care of him while Sanji can't even get up on his own. Damn, he passed out in front of Zoro during dinner prep-
"The food!" Sanji calls out, suddenly surging up again. Bad idea, he realizes a second later, the whole damn room is spinning.
"Goddammit, cook, just- stay down!" Strong but gentle hands push him back onto the mattress. "I can put it in the fridge."
Sanji groans at the Marimo's clueless suggestion. "Nooo, you have to cook it." He definitely doesn't sound like a pouting kid saying that.
"Huh?"
Stupid moss-for-brains doesn't know the first thing about cooking, so Sanji graciously enlightens him: "If you put the marinaded meat back in the fridge it's going to be soggy tomorrow. And besides, you haven't eaten yet."
"I'm not letting you back in the kitchen." The greenhaired crosses his arms over his chest and leans back, his words final. He's not going to let Sanji fight this, the cook knows.
Sanji sighs in frustration. He hates being sick and he's glad it doesn't happen a lot anymore. Usually, he doesn't catch it that bad either.
"Fine," Sanji surrenders but a sly smile makes its way to his lips anyway. "Then you do it."
"What?" Zoro blinks as if Sanji suddenly started speaking French, and the blond once again questions why he even likes that guy.
"You finish cooking dinner for me. Then the food doesn't go to waste and you at least have something to eat," Sanji explains in more detail.
He expects Zoro to deny, to tell him he can't cook and that he has no idea what to do, and then Sanji can patiently explain step by step-
"Sure." Zoro simply shrugs and gets up from the chair, and Sanji watches in horror as the Marimo makes his way over to the door.
"Wait!" he yells, unable to do anything because his body won't listen to him at all. He hates this so much.
Zoro stops, thankfully, to look back at the blond, raising a questioning eyebrow.
"Are you not going to ask me how to do it?"
Again, the idiot responds with a shrug.
"It's gonna work out somehow."
At this point, the blond really craves a cigarette. Or kicking the asshole in the head. Instead, he forces himself to take a deep breath and smile in a way that makes Zoro flinch. Even trapped in the bed, he still holds some power over the guy.
"Ahh, and can you promise me to ruin neither my kitchenware nor my ingredients in your process of 'working it out'?"
The Marimo looks away and rubs his neck. That's definitely a 'no'.
"Give me my phone," Sanji demands now and even though the Mosshead looks like he's about to process, he vanishes for a second only to reappear a moment later with Sanji's phone. Sanji takes it and the greenhaired watches as he looks through his contacts.
He doesn't have to look for long, the Marimo is one of the few contacts in his favorites after all. No specific reason, only that the algae gets lost on a regular basis and Sanji is the one having to find him every time. He should definitely get Zoro a 'Find-My-Friends'-App or something.
Zoro's phone vibrates and when he looks at the screen, he frowns. "What are you doing? I'm right in front of you."
"I know that," Sanji hisses. "I'm not an idiot! But I'm not letting you cook in my kitchen without supervision, so take the call!"
It doesn't sound like this is up for debate, so Zoro accepts the call and raises his phone to look at the camera. "Hello, is this the idiot cook?" he asks with a straight face.
"Fuck you," Sanji mumbles. He doesn't have the energy to deal with this. "Now get your ass in the kitchen."
"So noisy," Zoro complains but he leaves the room anyway. Sanji scoffs and gets a little more comfortable in bed, so he can watch Zoro through facetime. At first, the cook can't see much, then the other phone is set down facing the ceiling.
"Now, what do I do?" he hears the Marimo ask.
"How about prop up the phone so I can even see shit?" Sanji suggests and a moment later the phone shifts again and the cook catches sight of Zoro's annoyed scowl, but then he's able to oversee the counter pretty much entirely, and he nods satisfied.
"Good. First, you have to finish slicing the meat, and heat up a pan to cook it in."
Sanji watches as Zoro takes the knife and continues cutting the ingredient into stripes. It doesn't look half bad, maybe a bit too much force, but the Marimo clearly knows how to handle sharp objects.
It’s hard to look away for some reason, and Sanji thinks he might finally understand why Zoro is watching him cook. It’s not entirely the same, but it’s obvious Zoro is comfortable with cutting the meat, he does so with a certain confidence that is indeed appealing.
But then he puts the slices into the pan and Sanji has to stop himself from screeching. He's not very successful.
"What are you doing ?!"
"You said to cook the meat?" Zoro replies with an irritated frown. "I'm cooking it."
"You have to heat up the pan before you put it in, you absolute airhead!"
"Shut up! It's going to cook once it's hot either way!"
"Urgh!! Take it out again! Just listen to me, god-"
Zoro follows Sanji's orders, not without complaints. Suddenly, the cook seems to be pretty lively again, if only to yell at Zoro and criticize everything he does.
The headache actually fades in the back of Sanji's mind and it distracts him from the fact that he's still really hot, all wrapped up in that thick blanket. Watching Zoro cook is horrifying but he can't pretend like it isn't at least a little bit of fun.
"Have you ever even cooked anything even resembling vegetables?!"
The Cook is noisy and loud, but he's clearly enjoying himself behind that mortified expression of his, and even though the Marimo pretends to be bothered by the interruptions and corrections, he listens to Sanji's instructions - most of the time.
By the end, Sanji has put all of his energy into keeping Zoro from making grand cooking mistakes. He's even more tired than before, but he can't bring himself to be upset about it.
Maybe this isn't so bad after all, Sanji thinks and blames the sleepiness for the smile that slips through. It's not the romantic candle-light dinner he planned to have, but it's exactly the kind of date fitting for the both of them.
He doesn't notice Zoro has entered the room until the Marimo puts down a bowl next to the bed on the side table.
Sanji blinks. "What is that?"
"Soup. It's simple, and you probably should get some fluid into your body. You haven't eaten, either," Zoro reminds him surprisingly gentle, and Sanji's chest fills with another kind of warmth than that of the fever.
He pulls himself up into a sitting position and takes the bowl. Meanwhile, the Marimo sits down at Sanji's desk with his own food. Sanji glances over. It doesn't look half bad for Zoro's first attempt and the cook can't help but smile again, almost proud of the result of Zoro's cooking. They eat in silence for a bit and only when the cook puts away the empty bowl, he says: "Maybe I should let you use my kitchen more often. Who knows, you might have unexpected talents."
He has to think back on Zoro's work with the knife, skilled hands experienced with the blade, and his cheeks heat up. He blames it on the fever.
"I don't know..." Zoro shoves some of the food in his mouth like the neanderthal he is. " 's good, but I like your cooking better."
An embarrassing whine escapes Sanji's lips and he has to look away, his face bright red at this point. "This is the second time you said that!"
"It's true," Zoro insists, unaware of the hole he digs for Sanji.
"Idiot... If you keep talking like that I'll-..." The blond stops himself before finishing the thought, but when he looks up, he's still fighting down the blush. "Fuck. You are so unfair, do you know that?! Who gave you the right to be such a sap!"
Sanji is supposed to be the romantic one, and he was going to prove it to Zoro today. Instead, Zoro made him fall even harder for the idiotic swordsman.
Zoro finishes the last of his food as well before he gets up from the chair and walks over to the bed. It creaks a little when Zoro lowers himself down next to the blond and suddenly grabs his chin.
Sanji freezes when Zoro leans in for a kiss. It's an innocent one, short and almost irrelevant if it weren't for the lingering sweetness on Sanji's lips that had nothing and at the same time everything to do with how the swordsman tasted.
Fuck, and the asshole looks so calm as if this isn't the first kiss they shared. It’s definitely the exhaustion that makes him pout when Zoro ends the kiss so soon.
"I'm gonna stay here overnight," Zoro says and ruffles Sanji's hair affectionately with a look on his face that makes it hard to complain about it. Is... he smiling? And he looks so fond too, it leaves Sanji feeling giddy in a ridiculous way.
"Get well soon, Cook. I'm looking forward to your food."