Work Text:
The apartment is quiet.
If Zoro listens hard enough, he could hear the creak of the floorboards upstairs where that creepy med student must be pacing again, the could hear the mechanical hum of the AC, and the wind chimes over the kitchen window, small, nonsensical noises that don't bother him as long as he doesn't actively look for it. It was the kind of quiet that was perfect for the weekend, an atmosphere made for napping, which was Zoro's to do list as far as he was concerned.
But there's a point when that quiet becomes unsettling, when that creaking above him disappears as Law heads out and the wind dies down until the chimes stop moving. It's in that silence that something cold creeps up Zoro's arms, a cold that's not caused by the AC, but somewhere deep inside Zoro's heart, creeping up his skin until he bursts out of his blanket cocoon on the couch.
He snatches the AC remote off the table and turns it up, until the room is stuffing with heat and though that makes the cold go away, it's replaced by an even worse feeling.
Emptiness. Like a void exists where his heart should be.
Zoro stands up, stretches his arms, his legs, tries to get his body moving and shake that feeling off of him. He tries not to thinks about that emptiness, tries to find something, anything to occupy his mind with.
He could go out, hang out with his crew, but they're all busy if the group chat is anything to go by. He could train, but his mentor gave him an earful about not taking breaks on the weekends (nevermind that Mihawk was infamous for having to be forced out of the dojo.)
And so he was stuck here in this cold empty apartment with nothing but the plants for company and that unshakeable emptiness.
Zoro hugs his arms to himself, ambling towards the shelf. It was stocked full of sports magazines, cookbooks, and photo albums, shoved against each other with no rhyme or reason.
"If you can't occupy your body, occupy your mind," he can almost hear his mentor's voice in his head, "With how empty it is, I've no doubt you have space to learn something new."
His hand finds a manga volume, this one still shiny and new, purchased recently, but not read until now. The new manga volume that Zoro makes a habit to buy regularly, mostly because he got hooked on this new pirate series and partly because it annoys Sanji.
His mouth curls up a little at the thought. You'd expect someone like Sanji to prefer his books physical, but the guy insists on reading the weekly releases.
Zoro sits back down on the couch and for the next few minutes loses himself in a world of pirates and adventures on a vast open sea.
The emptiness is still there, abated only by Zoro's imagination filling his mind. He's made it to the middle of the volume, where the crew is about to go confront the arc's villain and Zoro excitedly turns to the next page...
... only for his phone to start ringing.
Zoro sneers, looking between the manga and the vibrating phone. He's just getting to the good part!
With a huff, he digs out his AirPods from his hoodie and connects it to his phone. He pops them in the ears as he accepts the call, before turning back to his manga.
"What?!"
"Hah? What's with the rude opening, jackass?!"
Zoro's ears perk up at the sound of Sanji's voice filling his ears. Try as he might, he's suddenly unable to focus on the manga in his hands as Sanji berates him on the phone.
"-ungrateful shitty mosshead, why I-"
"Why are you calling?" Zoro cuts in. Sanji falls silent. He grins. "Aww did you miss-"
"I'm getting groceries before I head back," Sanji interrupts, an odd lilt to his voice. It sounds like he's chewing around a cig. "Check the fridge and tell me what we're running low on, would you?"
Zoro rolls his eyes, but stands up. He lays the manga down on the coffee table and uses his phone as a bookmark before striding to the kitchen. Ramen cups and sandwich packets litter the counter and he makes a note to throw them all out before Sanji gets back and geta a conniption.
A rush of cold air greets him as he opens the fridge and Zoro frowns.
"Nothing."
"What do you mean nothing?"
"I mean there's nothing in the fridge, dumbass."
Zoro closes the fridge and winces as Sanji's voice fills his ears.
"I restocked the fridge before I left! How could it be empty?!"
Zoro remembers a few weeks ago, the day before Sanji went back to his hometown for spring break. He'd filled their fridge with premade packed food, meant to last until he got back, and grumbled this and that about making sure Zoro didn't starve to death. Unfortunately for him, he'd underestimated Zoro's appetite.
He can pinpoint the exact moment Sanji's thoughts line up with his. "Don't tell me you ate all the food I made you? What have you been eating all this time?"
Figures that he'd get concerned about that the most.
"Let me tell you about a wonderful thing called konbinis," Zoro says.
"That counter better be clean when I get home, dumbass!" Sanji says. Zoro eyes the trash all over the counters and wonders when did Sanji develop mind reading abilities.
"And when would that be?"
"An hour or two. What'd you want for dinner?"
Zoro makes his way back to the living room, picking up his manga and phone. He eyes the stickers on the case, a gift from Chopper.
"Onigiri "
Even without his camera on, Zoro can feel Sanji's smile on the other end. "Figures. Skip jack tuna with flakes?"
Zoro wonders if Sanji feels the way he does as his own smile fills his face. "Yeah. See you soon, cook."
Zoro meant to clean the counters really. He told himself he would after finishing the volume, but then an author made a callback to a previous volume and Zoro wanted to recheck it so he reread that volume. But then it ended on a cliffhanger so he had to read the next volume, and then the one after that, then the one after that...
...and the next thing he knows it's evening and there's three stacks of manga in front of him. His reading only broken by his phone ringing.
He's barely got a word in when Sanji talks first.
"I'm downstairs. Come help me with the groceries."
Zoro whips his head to the counter with all the trash he's accumulated the past few days. They stare at him, mocking him with guilt over dirtying Sanji's kitchen (because even if they share the apartment they both know the kitchen is Sanji's domain.)
"Be right with you," Zoro says, cutting the call before Sanji can talk.
Zoro lays an arm down on the counter and with one sweep, slides all the trash towards the bin. There. It looks as clean as Sanji left it. Zoro runs the dishtowel over the surface twice just as Sanji's voice rises through the 2nd floor window.
"Marimoooooo!"
Zoro sticks his head out of the veranda doors and looks down below.
With the setting sun as his backdrop, Sanji looked downright heavenly to Zoro's tired eyes. His arms are weighed down by several bags of groceries, but he raises a hand in greeting, along with a grin on his face.
"Oi! You gonna stare at me or are you coming down to help! I've got luggage in the car!"
Zoro would deny it to his very last breathe that he rushed out to reunite with his roommate.
The apartment is loud again. The kitchen fills up with the sound and smell of sizzling fish, the rice cooker beeps a merry tune to indicate it's done, utensils and appliances clattering as its rightful master has finally returned. Zoro watches from the counter as Sanji cooks and unloads groceries routinely, with barely any hesitation in each movement.
He's gotten tanner than Zoro saw him last. The Baratie operates on a beach and knowing Sanji he worked every single day of his spring break instead of relaxing like the rest of them.
Sanji eyes the overflowing trash bin disdainfully. Zoro snorts. "You've got no right to judge my eating habits, Cook. Plus, I at least made sure to finish all the food in the fridge first."
That gets Sanji to relax and a teasing grin fills his face. "Aren't you happy I'm back to make you eat tasty food again?"
"Yeah, I'm happy," Zoro mutters.
"What was that?"
"I said I'm hungry, shitty cook," Zoro retorts. "Is that done yet?"
"No finesse and no patience. Why do I even put up with you?" Even as he says this, Zoro sees him begin to shape the onigiri. Careful hands pick up the tuna, pressing it inside a rice before Sanji shapes the rice into triangles with familiar motions. Zoro has seen him do this countless times before, has eaten so much of the Cook's onigiri that Sanji always keeps stock of the ingredients in the fridge. Still, he doesn't tire of watching the Cook prepare onigiri for him, the most simplest recipe in his expansive repertoire yet one he never denies to give to Zoro when asked for.
"How's the old man doing?" Zoro finds himself asking, watching Sanji coat the rice with seaweed flakes like he likes it.
"Grouchy as always," Sanji replies, his tone coming out fond. "The guys talked him into visiting sometime in the summer so don't be surprised if he suddenly stops by."
Which means Zoro has to prepare himself for stink eyes over the dining table and subtle threats on his nether regions, in Zeff's own brand of paternal protectiveness.
"What'd you do all break? Besides eat junk food and train?"
"That's not all I do," Zoro grouses, rising from his seat. The onigiri looks almost done and he's starving. "Finally caught up to the new volume of One Piece."
Sanji whirls around, a grin on his face. "Hey, did you know in the chapter last week, they - "
Zoro slams his hand on the counter, on either side of Sanji's waist, effectively caging him. Sanji's mouth parts in surprise and Zoro smirks down at him.
"No spoilers Weekly Jump person," Zoro says, before snatching the finished onigiri in his hands.
"Can't you wait five minutes, you brute?!"
The fish was perfectly salted and tender, a contrast to the fluffy rice. A burst of pickled plum coats Zoro's tongue and he hums as the sourness mixes with the saltiness of the seaweed.
After days of sustaining himself on ramen and sandwiches, his first bite of a homecooked meal has Zoro outright groaning. He finishes the meal in a few bites.
A twinkle in Sanji's eyes has him looking down. "Good?"
Zoro nods, mouth full of food.
"Alright. If you let me go, I can make you some more." Sanji leans back, trying to throw Zoro off of him. Zoro catches a whiff of a familiar scent, apple shampoo and musky cologne and feels a pang of longing. It's been too long since he's last smelled those scents.
His arms come up to wrap around Sanji's waist. He hears his breathe hitch, his hands falter in their movements.
"...Marimo?"
Zoro tucks his head in the crook of Sanji's neck. His cheeks feel warm all of a sudden.
Finally, a released breathe. Sanji relaxes against him, leaning into Zoro's touch instead of pulling away. Zoro feels him turn his head, feels soft lips against his cheek.
"Yeah, I missed you too." A beat, Sanji gathering his thoughts before his hands find Zoro's hair and he ruffles it. "Next time, just come with me, yeah?"
Zoro tightens his grip around Sanji's waist as the emptiness before fills up with the sound of Sanji's heartbeat and his scent. "Yeah, okay."