presumably, it was meant to give some sort of landmark or identifying feature to help sanji figure out a way to the ship, but sanji should know by now that any question containing βwhereβ has no business being anywhere near zoro.
which is to say the photo is blurry, and crooked, and zoroβs finger is in the way. thereβs something pale in the background that could be sand? but it could just as easily be a sun glare.
nothing about this is usuable, but zoro still has the audacity to add: )
here
donβt waste my time by being late
forced to write a tag 2x longer than it needs to be bc zoro sucks!!!
[ ..... what the fuck is he supposed to do with this??
no doubt the picture is completely useless, which, really, sanji expected to begin with (though he had hoped there'd at least be a little more to go on, even if he knew exact directions were never going to be a possibility). there's no point in asking for another or for zoro to provide a little more insight on his location, because there's no chance for any new enlightening clues to pop up from that. ]
Shut up. I'll be there.
[ one way or another because at least, unlike zoro, sanji's fairly good at using context clues to make his way around a city and find his way to where he needs to go. the fact that it's a ship is already enough to narrow down that he'll be at the docks, which eliminates everything inland and gives him somewhere to go to begin his search. the travel to the naval quarter isn't too much trouble to start, but narrowing it down from there will require some investigation.
too bad he's already running dangerously low on cigarettes, aware that this hunt could take him all night because of fucking course the marimo would make him work for a damn fight. fortunately, that'll just help to fuel his desire to kick the shit out of him.
sanji makes polite conversation with the locals in the area, slipping into the trident to ask around if anyone's seen a green-haired idiot with a scarred eye and whether they might know where he lives, because chances are zoro's made his presence frequent at the local taverns. he might not get a description of a ship, but he does get a waitress who says she usually sees him heading off in a certain direction whenever he leaves. once he thanks her (and ogles for a minute), he begins to walk in the opposite direction of where she pointed, since he doubts zoro would have ever had good instincts on which way to actually return to.
more questions are asked, more locals are spoken to, gradually gaining pinches of hints here and there, thanks to the way the idiot tends to stand out, and though it takes much longer than zoro might have hoped, sanji eventually comes across a sailor who's seen him appear a few times on a specific ship, even pointing out the exact one, finally granting an end to this scavenger hunt.
at long last, sanji stands on the dock, a nearly burnt out cigarette between his lips, curly brow furrowed with ever heightening frustration, certainly looking like a man who came looking for a fight. ]
( the ship itself isn't anywhere near the size of the sunny, or even merry. it's not a pirating ship, but some kind of battleship made tame. compact, dangerous, full of rooms in need of TLC. and sanji sure is taking his sweet time to get here and check them all out, which means zoro has time to ponder things he generally doesn't like to waste time thinking about. sitting on the deck of the ship, he contemplates drinking beforehand, but decides it's better to be clear-headed if this ends up being the day he actually, finally, really-truly kills sanji.
...
as if he really wants that.
for one, luffy would never forgive him for killing their cook. he'd be beside himself, and zoro can't be responsible for a thing like that. that's the only [only!!] reason he hasn't cut sanji down before: because his captain needs him. everything zoro does, he does for luffy. it's not like zoro needs him. zoro will eat anything; it doesn't have to come from that chef's hands.
while he waits, he flicks his swords from their sheathes and replaces them. over and over, lost in his own thoughts, until he catches a glaring, swirly-browed eye in the reflection of one. it's all the warning he gets before a purple-booted foot comes sailing his way, and he barely has time to block it with the flat of shusui as he leaps to his feet. with the way her leg extends to kick at zoro again and again, her maid's dress should be flying all over and giving people eyefuls, but magically it stays modestly in place. her long hair covers half of her face, but the half that isn't shaded in blonde looks furious. )
You've got a shitty caller down on the deck waiting for you! What the hell are you doing, wasting your time like this?! Be a good host for once and accept his call, moron!
Shut up! I've had enough out of you already!
Is that any way to talk to a lady, stupid marimo?! Accept his call and receive him properly! Do you think you're in any position to turn down a proposal?!
I said shut up! I'm not putting up with any more of this stupid courtingβ!
( the flurry of blades, and kicks, and whipping blonde hair gets disrupted when a fucking anchor comes flying towards zoro. he deflects it by batting it towards the dock, right at sanji, either accidentally or on purpose. )
Receive him, shithead!
Fine!
( he peers over the ledge of the ship, where sanji hopefully has been flattened to a pancake. )
COME GET TEA, ASSHOLE!
What kind of shitty reception was that?! How do you expect to be wed with that sort of shitty attitude?!
[ sanji hopes he isn't here. maybe by some luck, the idiot wandered off the side of the ship and sunk down in the water, pulled down by some heavy chains. it seems such a satisfying thought for a few brief seconds before he realizes the disappointment he'd feel in not getting to bash his heel in his face himself. between that clumsy incident at the ball, the entire living situation with tsukuyo-chan, and the weight of their conversation over his abandonment, sanji has more than enough excuses to want to knock zoro around, and the promise of facing those blades with his boots is the only thing that keeps him devoted to this hunt to find him.
( there's no underlying concern in it, nothing about the subtle worry he'd expressed to tsukuyo about whether zoro had become malnutritioned without him around knowing he'd be doing nothing but drinking booze and ingesting anything without too much care, nothing about seeking the comforting reassurance of having one of his nakama with him in this place, nothing about wanting to look zoro in the eye to make sure he knows that the trust they'd held for one another had never been a lie even if he'd screwed things up β
no, he just wants a fight to fuel his anxious frustration through something and be rewarded with the idiot's bloody face beneath his heel. )
when he hears a pair of screaming voices, he briefly wonders if it's tsukuyo on board, before he sees a flashing blonde blur over the side that strikes him with a different kind of familiarity that he can't immediately put his finger, not before he's immediately sidetracked by the suddenly flying anchor that shoots right in his direction. ]
That fuckingβ!
[ he swiftly hops up, long legs spinning through the air as his body swirls with power, just in time for his foot to meet the anchor right before it collides into him, batting it back out across the water, far enough into the distance to not see where it lands.
heaving from the surprise when he lands back on the dock, sanji looks up just in time to see zoro peering over, his own teeth gritting hard as he loudly groans his annoyance. ]
WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!? [ he hops again, cheating with his skywalk, pressure beneath the bottom of his toes as he climbs to hop on the ledge of the ship. ] Are you trying to fucking killβ!?
[ β ah! he stops, visible eye widening as his sight sets upon the other present company, cheeks turning a rosy shade looking over her (the resemblance not quite becoming apparent). ]
A ladyβ!? [ just how many does this idiot have on board with him???????? ]
( the 'lady' in question changes so quickly, it's inhuman. probably because she isn't human, or maybe because she's modelled after someone who experiences mood shifts just as violent when it comes to how they treat men and women. case in point, the maid goes from tearing zoro a new one to whipping around and smoldering sanji with a love-struck, heart-eyed gaze. she's the model maid, bowing at the waist, smiling with her whole body, preparing to cater to sanji's every need. )
Pray you excuse my brute of a charge, My Lord. His manners evade him at times. He lacks the grace and charm that you clearly exude. May I take your coat?
( whatever magic that makes her tick doesn't allow her to realize that she's looking at a mirror image of herself. more beard, less boob, same curled brow, same willingness to do anything for the opposite sex. she's too loveblind by seeing a handsome man to take in the fact that she's seeing a version of her from another dimension.
zoro groans, because now there's two of them when one was already more than enough, and his maid's demeanor changes again: )
What the hell are you huffing and puffing for?! You should be honored that someone so beautiful would want to spend time with your shitty ass!
Get out of here already!!
And leave your ass unchaperoned?! Like hell!
( if it wasn't clear before that they can't fight here, it's more apparent than ever. zoro was worried about the logistics, how small his temporary home is compared to the largeness of his need to battle. when they fight, they fight with their whole souls. a boat like this would be collateral damage, and he can't have that. more pressingly, he can't stay on this boat without his dumb, stupid retainer insisting that they eat crumpets and hold hands, so they need to leave. zoro needs to leave, at least. if sanji wants to hang back and flirt with his reflection, that's on him. )
Don't follow me, ( he says to his heated retainer before leaping down onto the dock. there's other stuff around here. there's a whole fight club, from what he's heard. he can find a place that hasn't been co-opted by his crazy maid, and he can break sanji into a million pieces. )
[ just as she seems to transform, so does sanji, a natural, instinctive response that never seems to take much thought at all, as if simply a reaction of muscle memory or well trained impulse, as his annoyed demeanor transforms into an excitable one, all warm cheeks and smiles as he admires the woman in front of him β too caught up in the sheer presence of a woman that he doesn't consider the reflective qualities she seems to bear. ]
I take no offense, my lady. I'm very familiar with this uneducated oaf's rude behavior and I know it bears no reflection on how lovely you seem to be.
[ natural. habitual. where not even the anger he holds for zoro seems to prevent his usual behaviors, even if all it really takes is a mere glance back in the swordsman's direction to feel the scorching fire in his soul again, especially as he's forced to listen to him talk with that attitude. ]
Oi, oiβ! [ before he even has a chance to criticize him on his etiquette in a woman's company, the other man already seems to be off, leaping back off the ship right from where sanji had just come from. ] Wait a damned minute, you bastard!
[ back to the maid β ]
Please excuse me, sweet miss. [ even in a hurry, he'll sneak in a forward bend to press a gentle kiss to her hand. ] I'll be sure to make him beg on his knees for forgiveness later for his ugly manners.
[ which has him immediately spinning on his heel to take off after zoro, hopping quickly back onto the dock and darting after him, knowing if he loses a second, the idiot will just get himself lost. ]
Shithead! Slow down! You realize the damn hunt you put me through to find you because you're too stupid to give one simple direction!? Where the hell do you plan on going now?
( he only slows down when can't hear the sounds of two sanjis schmoozing at once. it's enough to make him sick. it's shitty cook overload, and he has to leave before he loses his lunch over it.
it's true that he'd managed to get absurdly far. the way he wanders, it's something worth studying. in the blink of an eye, he can be halfway across an island in the wrong direction, and no one would be the wiser. )
What the hell are you talking about? You took forever because you can't follow simple landmarks. Don't put that on me.
( he took a perfectly acceptable photo of the ship and he won't be told otherwise.
when he looks around, he frowns. in truth, he was simply looking for a place to fight, a place with lots of room to struggle, and strain, and scream, but this being a city and all, places like that are in short order. it's all the more reason to get back home as soon as possible: he's not built for posh, big dress, wig-wearing city life.
but this place should be good enough. beyond the docks, the grassy area between the beach and the city, it works for him. he can see his ship in the near distance and he can see sand over his opposite shoulder. best of all, there are no people here on this path, so he doesn't need to worry about others getting in his way. )
[ it doesn't take much for sanji to catch up, long legs and all, especially when he's got the experience of chasing after zoro enough times to know the routine, to the point that he briefly gets caught up in just trying to catch him before remembering he's supposed to be preparing for a fight with him. ]
Are you still that much of an idiot? Nothing about that picture was simple. You might as well just have sent me a picture of your middle finger and it'd have been the same message.
[ why the hell does he put up with this? and more importantly, why does he still care?
they're in this city without their crew, without their captain, so really, sanji has no obligation to play babysitter to whatever stupidity zoro wants to get up to, whether he's off getting lost or drinking booze until he passes out or moving in with other women. he shouldn't give such a damn if he's not eating well enough or whether he stays out of trouble enough to not get himself killed or whether the man is still simmering in quiet hatred towards him.
sanji shouldn't care, but that's always been the problem with him. the fact that he can never help but care, and even with every insult he can spit and swear in zoro's direction, he cares about that damn bastard as his nakama and being separated from the rest of their crew doesn't change that. if anything, it makes the feeling more prevalent in his mind, an awareness that keeps the anger heated and swelling in his chest once zoro stops and they seem to have settled on a proper enough spot for their battle.
he stands a decent distance away, enough to look him in the eye with a sternness that quietly evokes the seriousness of what he intends, the curl of his brow furrowing tightly.
without a word, he tugs off his jacket, giving it a fairly careful fold before laying it on the ground beside him. hopefully it won't get dirt on it, but he'll be cleaning it again later anyway. when he straightens, his fingers go up to his tie, loosening it just slightly before he plucks the remaining nub of his cigarette from his lips and drops it to the ground, his heel crushing the faint embers left in it. ]
If we have to keep it going until I finally send you to hell, that's fine by me.
( generally speaking, zoro would define himself is a man without much to say. he isn't overly forthcoming with his words when there's no reason for it. he isn't boisterous and he isn't open, not like his captain. that isn't his role in things. there's enough of that already. even in their ragtag crew, everything has its place. if it doesn't seem that way from the outside, you're not looking closely enough.
that's why sharing his thoughts so freely before is something of an anomaly for him. he can name off the people on his crew who have a right to be so emotional, so reckless with their thoughts, and he isn't among them. zoro is discipline... yet he can't bring himself to regret his words. he only doesn't like how impassioned they were. it makes it seems as if he cares about the cook and whether he stays or goes.
he doesn't. and if he does, it's not for personal reasons. it's not because he cares; it's because luffy cares.
when you join a crew, you make an oath. the fact that sanji went back on that isn't the problem; it's the fact that he disobeyed luffy. there's no room for anything else. there's no room in his mind. there's no room in his heart. there's no place for feeling anything that isn't his goals and the goals of his captain. that's it.
that's it. that'sβ )
I lost my faith in you.
( ...it's going to come out from some other place, then. )
You're not the man I thought you were.
( he didn't agree for those words to pass into the air. )
I'm going to cut away every part until I find a man I can trust beneath the surface.
( it's happening of its own accord, apparently. if he shoves a hilt between his teeth, will that stop the sound? ...no. this loud part of him is just going to talk around it. three swords feel like home, [a bit like sanji may have at one point], one in each hand, one on his tongue, easy and controlled. as it should be. he'll survive this. )
Until then, don't even think about offering me your food. I won't eat it!
( as zoro rushes him, he's sure he means it. he thinks of every great meal made by sanji's hands, and he slashes their image in half against the very real figure of sanji here in the present. there's structure. there's always structure when zoro fights, but there's no relief. he's not letting up, not giving sanji a chance to back out [again] and run away [again] and abandon him [again] to defend a crew all on his own. sanji is going to face him, look the consequences of his actions in the eye, and bleed for them. )
[ sanji already faced luffy on the battlefield, confronted by the other man's insistence to not put up his own fight, stubbornness triumphing in the face of sanji's insistence to come through with his own sacrifice. his own pursuit to avoid being a burden to his crew had instead opposed the reality, one where the bottom of his heel had slammed against his own captain's teeth and all of his intentions had proven to be a reflection on more of what he had tried to grow away from β the fate of his own uselessness.
he knows where luffy stands, knows that despite the weight of his own flaws, his captain would smile brightly, showing off that newly missing tooth and say "that's just how you are", as if everything sanji had wanted to bury in the ground had been exactly what he needed to grip tightly to all along.
and that had been that β except it wasn't.
because proving himself to luffy isn't proving himself to zoro. for all that zoro follows every bit of luffy's beliefs and faith, there's the sliver of an exception where zoro simply doesn't forgive, because even with every vow of "anything for my captain", sanji's aware that beneath the loyal pride of a first mate is also a man who stands on his own values. with zoro, everything is for luffy, but not everything is luffy, and it's that part that stands before him now on the field, the part that speaks out a rare honesty, the part that tests him in this fight, the part that's all raw strength and skin and sharp metal.
because sanji already knows luffy's words. these aren't his. he already knows the rest of their crew has accepted him back. this isn't their test.
this fight isn't about their crew, about their captain, about their nakama. this is about them.
this is about zoro and sanji. ]
Then I'll show you exactly who I am.
[ because sanji is no longer buried under the weight of his past, drowning himself in the flood of his own excuses, pitying himself for his lack of worth, but he hasn't yet shown zoro. he isn't forgiven for his doubt, for his betrayal, but apologies don't come from words. they come from the way his own feet begin to race against the dirt as zoro charges forward, his own body rushing to meet him halfway. it's spoken in the burning flame that bursts around his legs before he pushes his weight through the air, letting the focused pressure of haki at his knee clash against the strong, exerted force of metal, the impact stretching out from their collision across the field of grass around them like a storm. ]
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no subject
presumably, it was meant to give some sort of landmark or identifying feature to help sanji figure out a way to the ship, but sanji should know by now that any question containing βwhereβ has no business being anywhere near zoro.
which is to say the photo is blurry, and crooked, and zoroβs finger is in the way. thereβs something pale in the background that could be sand? but it could just as easily be a sun glare.
nothing about this is usuable, but zoro still has the audacity to add: )
here
donβt waste my time by being late
forced to write a tag 2x longer than it needs to be bc zoro sucks!!!
no doubt the picture is completely useless, which, really, sanji expected to begin with (though he had hoped there'd at least be a little more to go on, even if he knew exact directions were never going to be a possibility). there's no point in asking for another or for zoro to provide a little more insight on his location, because there's no chance for any new enlightening clues to pop up from that. ]
Shut up.
I'll be there.
[ one way or another because at least, unlike zoro, sanji's fairly good at using context clues to make his way around a city and find his way to where he needs to go. the fact that it's a ship is already enough to narrow down that he'll be at the docks, which eliminates everything inland and gives him somewhere to go to begin his search. the travel to the naval quarter isn't too much trouble to start, but narrowing it down from there will require some investigation.
too bad he's already running dangerously low on cigarettes, aware that this hunt could take him all night because of fucking course the marimo would make him work for a damn fight. fortunately, that'll just help to fuel his desire to kick the shit out of him.
sanji makes polite conversation with the locals in the area, slipping into the trident to ask around if anyone's seen a green-haired idiot with a scarred eye and whether they might know where he lives, because chances are zoro's made his presence frequent at the local taverns. he might not get a description of a ship, but he does get a waitress who says she usually sees him heading off in a certain direction whenever he leaves. once he thanks her (and ogles for a minute), he begins to walk in the opposite direction of where she pointed, since he doubts zoro would have ever had good instincts on which way to actually return to.
more questions are asked, more locals are spoken to, gradually gaining pinches of hints here and there, thanks to the way the idiot tends to stand out, and though it takes much longer than zoro might have hoped, sanji eventually comes across a sailor who's seen him appear a few times on a specific ship, even pointing out the exact one, finally granting an end to this scavenger hunt.
at long last, sanji stands on the dock, a nearly burnt out cigarette between his lips, curly brow furrowed with ever heightening frustration, certainly looking like a man who came looking for a fight. ]
OI, MOSSY SHITHEAD! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!
no subject
...
as if he really wants that.
for one, luffy would never forgive him for killing their cook. he'd be beside himself, and zoro can't be responsible for a thing like that. that's the only [only!!] reason he hasn't cut sanji down before: because his captain needs him. everything zoro does, he does for luffy. it's not like zoro needs him. zoro will eat anything; it doesn't have to come from that chef's hands.
while he waits, he flicks his swords from their sheathes and replaces them. over and over, lost in his own thoughts, until he catches a glaring, swirly-browed eye in the reflection of one. it's all the warning he gets before a purple-booted foot comes sailing his way, and he barely has time to block it with the flat of shusui as he leaps to his feet. with the way her leg extends to kick at zoro again and again, her maid's dress should be flying all over and giving people eyefuls, but magically it stays modestly in place. her long hair covers half of her face, but the half that isn't shaded in blonde looks furious. )
Shut up! I've had enough out of you already!
I said shut up! I'm not putting up with any more of this stupid courtingβ!
( the flurry of blades, and kicks, and whipping blonde hair gets disrupted when a fucking anchor comes flying towards zoro. he deflects it by batting it towards the dock, right at sanji, either accidentally or on purpose. )
Fine!
( he peers over the ledge of the ship, where sanji hopefully has been flattened to a pancake. )
no subject
( there's no underlying concern in it, nothing about the subtle worry he'd expressed to tsukuyo about whether zoro had become malnutritioned without him around knowing he'd be doing nothing but drinking booze and ingesting anything without too much care, nothing about seeking the comforting reassurance of having one of his nakama with him in this place, nothing about wanting to look zoro in the eye to make sure he knows that the trust they'd held for one another had never been a lie even if he'd screwed things up β
no, he just wants a fight to fuel his anxious frustration through something and be rewarded with the idiot's bloody face beneath his heel. )
when he hears a pair of screaming voices, he briefly wonders if it's tsukuyo on board, before he sees a flashing blonde blur over the side that strikes him with a different kind of familiarity that he can't immediately put his finger, not before he's immediately sidetracked by the suddenly flying anchor that shoots right in his direction. ]
That fuckingβ!
[ he swiftly hops up, long legs spinning through the air as his body swirls with power, just in time for his foot to meet the anchor right before it collides into him, batting it back out across the water, far enough into the distance to not see where it lands.
heaving from the surprise when he lands back on the dock, sanji looks up just in time to see zoro peering over, his own teeth gritting hard as he loudly groans his annoyance. ]
WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!? [ he hops again, cheating with his skywalk, pressure beneath the bottom of his toes as he climbs to hop on the ledge of the ship. ] Are you trying to fucking killβ!?
[ β ah! he stops, visible eye widening as his sight sets upon the other present company, cheeks turning a rosy shade looking over her (the resemblance not quite becoming apparent). ]
A ladyβ!? [ just how many does this idiot have on board with him???????? ]
no subject
( whatever magic that makes her tick doesn't allow her to realize that she's looking at a mirror image of herself. more beard, less boob, same curled brow, same willingness to do anything for the opposite sex. she's too loveblind by seeing a handsome man to take in the fact that she's seeing a version of her from another dimension.
zoro groans, because now there's two of them when one was already more than enough, and his maid's demeanor changes again: )
Get out of here already!!
( if it wasn't clear before that they can't fight here, it's more apparent than ever. zoro was worried about the logistics, how small his temporary home is compared to the largeness of his need to battle. when they fight, they fight with their whole souls. a boat like this would be collateral damage, and he can't have that. more pressingly, he can't stay on this boat without his dumb, stupid retainer insisting that they eat crumpets and hold hands, so they need to leave. zoro needs to leave, at least. if sanji wants to hang back and flirt with his reflection, that's on him. )
Don't follow me, ( he says to his heated retainer before leaping down onto the dock. there's other stuff around here. there's a whole fight club, from what he's heard. he can find a place that hasn't been co-opted by his crazy maid, and he can break sanji into a million pieces. )
no subject
I take no offense, my lady. I'm very familiar with this uneducated oaf's rude behavior and I know it bears no reflection on how lovely you seem to be.
[ natural. habitual. where not even the anger he holds for zoro seems to prevent his usual behaviors, even if all it really takes is a mere glance back in the swordsman's direction to feel the scorching fire in his soul again, especially as he's forced to listen to him talk with that attitude. ]
Oi, oiβ! [ before he even has a chance to criticize him on his etiquette in a woman's company, the other man already seems to be off, leaping back off the ship right from where sanji had just come from. ] Wait a damned minute, you bastard!
[ back to the maid β ]
Please excuse me, sweet miss. [ even in a hurry, he'll sneak in a forward bend to press a gentle kiss to her hand. ] I'll be sure to make him beg on his knees for forgiveness later for his ugly manners.
[ which has him immediately spinning on his heel to take off after zoro, hopping quickly back onto the dock and darting after him, knowing if he loses a second, the idiot will just get himself lost. ]
Shithead! Slow down! You realize the damn hunt you put me through to find you because you're too stupid to give one simple direction!? Where the hell do you plan on going now?
no subject
it's true that he'd managed to get absurdly far. the way he wanders, it's something worth studying. in the blink of an eye, he can be halfway across an island in the wrong direction, and no one would be the wiser. )
What the hell are you talking about? You took forever because you can't follow simple landmarks. Don't put that on me.
( he took a perfectly acceptable photo of the ship and he won't be told otherwise.
when he looks around, he frowns. in truth, he was simply looking for a place to fight, a place with lots of room to struggle, and strain, and scream, but this being a city and all, places like that are in short order. it's all the more reason to get back home as soon as possible: he's not built for posh, big dress, wig-wearing city life.
but this place should be good enough. beyond the docks, the grassy area between the beach and the city, it works for him. he can see his ship in the near distance and he can see sand over his opposite shoulder. best of all, there are no people here on this path, so he doesn't need to worry about others getting in his way. )
...Once we start this, it won't end easily.
( 'you can still back out,' is what he means. )
no subject
Are you still that much of an idiot? Nothing about that picture was simple. You might as well just have sent me a picture of your middle finger and it'd have been the same message.
[ why the hell does he put up with this? and more importantly, why does he still care?
they're in this city without their crew, without their captain, so really, sanji has no obligation to play babysitter to whatever stupidity zoro wants to get up to, whether he's off getting lost or drinking booze until he passes out or moving in with other women. he shouldn't give such a damn if he's not eating well enough or whether he stays out of trouble enough to not get himself killed or whether the man is still simmering in quiet hatred towards him.
sanji shouldn't care, but that's always been the problem with him. the fact that he can never help but care, and even with every insult he can spit and swear in zoro's direction, he cares about that damn bastard as his nakama and being separated from the rest of their crew doesn't change that. if anything, it makes the feeling more prevalent in his mind, an awareness that keeps the anger heated and swelling in his chest once zoro stops and they seem to have settled on a proper enough spot for their battle.
he stands a decent distance away, enough to look him in the eye with a sternness that quietly evokes the seriousness of what he intends, the curl of his brow furrowing tightly.
without a word, he tugs off his jacket, giving it a fairly careful fold before laying it on the ground beside him. hopefully it won't get dirt on it, but he'll be cleaning it again later anyway. when he straightens, his fingers go up to his tie, loosening it just slightly before he plucks the remaining nub of his cigarette from his lips and drops it to the ground, his heel crushing the faint embers left in it. ]
If we have to keep it going until I finally send you to hell, that's fine by me.
no subject
that's why sharing his thoughts so freely before is something of an anomaly for him. he can name off the people on his crew who have a right to be so emotional, so reckless with their thoughts, and he isn't among them. zoro is discipline... yet he can't bring himself to regret his words. he only doesn't like how impassioned they were. it makes it seems as if he cares about the cook and whether he stays or goes.
he doesn't.
and if he does, it's not for personal reasons.
it's not because he cares; it's because luffy cares.
when you join a crew, you make an oath. the fact that sanji went back on that isn't the problem; it's the fact that he disobeyed luffy. there's no room for anything else. there's no room in his mind. there's no room in his heart. there's no place for feeling anything that isn't his goals and the goals of his captain. that's it.
that's it. that'sβ )
I lost my faith in you.
( ...it's going to come out from some other place, then. )
You're not the man I thought you were.
( he didn't agree for those words to pass into the air. )
I'm going to cut away every part until I find a man I can trust beneath the surface.
( it's happening of its own accord, apparently. if he shoves a hilt between his teeth, will that stop the sound? ...no. this loud part of him is just going to talk around it. three swords feel like home, [a bit like sanji may have at one point], one in each hand, one on his tongue, easy and controlled. as it should be. he'll survive this. )
Until then, don't even think about offering me your food. I won't eat it!
( as zoro rushes him, he's sure he means it. he thinks of every great meal made by sanji's hands, and he slashes their image in half against the very real figure of sanji here in the present. there's structure. there's always structure when zoro fights, but there's no relief. he's not letting up, not giving sanji a chance to back out [again] and run away [again] and abandon him [again] to defend a crew all on his own. sanji is going to face him, look the consequences of his actions in the eye, and bleed for them. )
no subject
he knows where luffy stands, knows that despite the weight of his own flaws, his captain would smile brightly, showing off that newly missing tooth and say "that's just how you are", as if everything sanji had wanted to bury in the ground had been exactly what he needed to grip tightly to all along.
and that had been that β except it wasn't.
because proving himself to luffy isn't proving himself to zoro. for all that zoro follows every bit of luffy's beliefs and faith, there's the sliver of an exception where zoro simply doesn't forgive, because even with every vow of "anything for my captain", sanji's aware that beneath the loyal pride of a first mate is also a man who stands on his own values. with zoro, everything is for luffy, but not everything is luffy, and it's that part that stands before him now on the field, the part that speaks out a rare honesty, the part that tests him in this fight, the part that's all raw strength and skin and sharp metal.
because sanji already knows luffy's words. these aren't his. he already knows the rest of their crew has accepted him back. this isn't their test.
this fight isn't about their crew, about their captain, about their nakama. this is about them.
this is about zoro and sanji. ]
Then I'll show you exactly who I am.
[ because sanji is no longer buried under the weight of his past, drowning himself in the flood of his own excuses, pitying himself for his lack of worth, but he hasn't yet shown zoro. he isn't forgiven for his doubt, for his betrayal, but apologies don't come from words. they come from the way his own feet begin to race against the dirt as zoro charges forward, his own body rushing to meet him halfway. it's spoken in the burning flame that bursts around his legs before he pushes his weight through the air, letting the focused pressure of haki at his knee clash against the strong, exerted force of metal, the impact stretching out from their collision across the field of grass around them like a storm. ]