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Truth or dare…the most boring game in the universe. Until someone dares to ask a weird and uncomfortable question, that is.
The Strawhats have been stuck on a deserted giant mushroom island waiting for their log pose to reset for the past three weeks or so, and quite frankly, things are getting a little boring and Luffy’s already gotten sick twice from trying to eat the mysterious tree shaped mushrooms, someone needs to keep him onboard somehow.
So Brook, as the tease he’s always been, figured a good ol’ round of truth or dare could stir up some drama within the crew, which would—in turn—cure his boredom for at least a couple of hours, yohoho!
This leads us to the current scenery, everyone gathered around in a circle on the humid wooden planks of their ship’s deck, except for Luffy, who’s gracefully sat atop of The Sunny’s figurehead wearing his signature smile.
The weather remains clear for now, though Nami says this might change in a few hours, hopefully they’ll be asleep by then, Zoro thinks.
They start out with boring questions, stuff like “What’s your favourite dish?” And “I dare you to eat a spoonful of spices.”, then Sanji stands up, Zoro doesn’t look up as he does, but anyone would recognise the sound of Curly’s movements. “I’m gonna go get some beers,” he says, before continuing “anyone want one?”
Zoro and a couple of others raise their hands, Sanji makes his way to the kitchen, his steps dissolving in the distance.
The swordsman’s probably had around two beers when things begin to get interesting.
“So, Nami, truth or dare?” Asks Chopper, a smug look slapped across his face.
Nami looks at him with suspicion, “Well I suppose I’ll pick truth” she says, now rocking a carefree smile.
The sky begins to darken, threatening with rain in about fifteen to twenty minutes, Chopper chuckling maliciously;
“Who was your first crush?” He asks, Zoro notices a droplet of sweat dripping down their navigator’s neck.
Things truly getting interesting when she replies-
“Princess Vivi.”
The crew goes silent, but not a bad kind of silent, a shocked one. Chopper’s sudden celebration being the one to shatter it like glass; “I knew it! I was right!” He exclaims, everyone—save for Sanji, who appears to be oddly quiet, maybe even a little zoned out—dropping their awkwardness and cheering alongside him, Nami’s face bright red.
It’s not until he feels a drop of water land right on his nose that Zoro notices just how drunk he is. Turns out muscles don’t always protect you from being a lightweight.
The crew heads inside, gathering around the kitchen table before resuming the fun.
Now it’s Zoro’s turn to ask someone, he picks Luffy, who just so happens to pick dare.
“Luffy, I dare you to…” everyone but Sanji listening to him closely, especially Franky and Luffy who are even leaning forward like little kids during story time, “…only eat vegetables and fish for the rest of the day.” Luffy whines, everyone laughing at him as he protests.
Except there’s one thing Zoro didn’t really think of as he ruined his captain’s afternoon and night, and it’s that Luffy is a vengeful lad, and it’s his turn to ask a crew member something.
It seems Zoro is safe when Luffy picks Robin as his victim, but oh how wrong he is.
“Robin, I dare you to give the next person the most out of pocket dare you can come up with.” Robin chuckling with an evil grace.
Thunder and lightning begin to brew up outside, The Strawhats occasionally taking turns to go do their jobs as crew members, making sure everything’s in check on their ship
“Mmm right~” Robin hums with delight, “Zoro!-” she points. the man’s head jerking up to look at her upon hearing his name, “I dare you to sit next to the crew member you’d be most likely to kiss!”
Zoro’s drunken mind—not really having the lucidity to think about potential regrets—stands up only to sit right next to the cook. The crew once again goes silent, Sanji being the only one to speak;
“No fair mosshead, you’ve gotta be honest, you can’t just sit next to me and call it a day.”
Zoro, in a state of perplexity, replies.
“I’m being honest, why else would I have sat next to you?”
Everyone perceiving the awkwardness, Chopper’s tiny voice stepping in to divert attention from it.
“H-how about we keep playing!” he offers, and everyone agrees.
It’s been around twenty minutes since Zoro sat next to Sanji, the tension growing with each round, everyone strategically avoiding any questions or dares related to the two of them, except for Brook, Sanji’s picked dare to avoid any danger, but the talking skeleton’s got a trick under his sleeve.
“Well Sanji, I dare you to tell us, and you must tell us, would you kiss the swordsman?”
Everyone who was not brave enough to ask eagerly awaits a response, both Zoro and Sanji going as red as tomatoes.
“Of course not,” he says “plus, Zoro over here just so happens to have lied to get an easy way out of an awkward dare, so stop acting like it means anything.”
Zoro frowns at this, why would Sanji think he’s lying? I mean, it’s not like he likes men or anything, and especially not Sanji, but it’d feel somewhat invasive to kiss anyone else from the crew, even with consent. For some reason he’s just more comfortable with Sanji in that aspect. Plus, he is quite a handsome guy.
The room remains drowned in silence, a sloppy voice breaking it, but this time it’s not addressed to just anyone.
“Why are you so insistent that I’m lying? It’s not like I’m gay for you or anything, you just seem like the best option out of everyone else here.”
Sanji ignores this comment, continuing the game with something unexpected.
“Zoro, I dare you to prove it” the lot more intrigued than ever before, and Zoro doesn’t even hesitate;
His hands entangled with Sanji’s blonde hair, foreheads pressed against one another, and with only a small gap between them, Sanji’s sure the other will soon pull away, except they instead make eye contact and suddenly it feels as if the world around them’s disappeared, taking everyone else alongside it.
So it’s just Zoro and Sanji, soft lips pressed against rough ones, movements that suggest something more than just friendship and Sanji being ‘the best option out of them.’
Sanji pushes Zoro away, arm covering his face as a flustered attempt to disguise what just happened and the way love is written all over his face.
The rest of the crew watches closely, as if this wasn’t something they should be present for.
“Zoro you’re drunk, you don’t mean that.” Says Sanji, Zoro shaking his head in disagreement, pouting with a furrowed brow before someone else finds the courage to speak.
“Well…I think that’s enough truth or dare for tonight! Don’t you guys think so?” Usopp’s voice nervously echoing through the room before everyone agrees to go to bed.
And when morning arrives, chaos ensues, as Zoro is nowhere to be seen!
They’ve searched everywhere on the ship and even in the area around them, but it’s as if the man had vanished.
“I’m gonna go out to look for him, he’s probably lost, plus, it’s my fault he’s gone off on his own.” Everyone else seems to be okay with it, so Sanji heads out into the mushrooms, expecting not to find the swordsman too quickly, proven wrong by the head of green hair poking from behind the very tip of one of the mushrooms.
He finds his way up through a sort of time consuming path of mushroom stairs only for Zoro to be laying with his hands behind his neck, as usual, enjoying a nice nap.
Sanji looms over him, the other one opening just one eye in response, perking up a matching eyebrow in curiosity before his face goes completely red.
“Cook…didn’t expect to see you here, uh,” he clears his throat “what’s up?” He says, a little less chill headed than usual.
“We were all looking for you, everyone’s worried you idiot.”
The other closes his eyes once again, falling into an unfamiliar kind of silence for a couple of minutes, Sanji sits in front of him in protest.
“So…” Sanji starts “about last night.”
Zoro interrupts.
“Don’t wanna talk about it.”
But Sanji’s not having it.
“Well I do, so get your ass up and talk to me mosshead.”
Oddly enough he obliges, sitting up to face the other.
“Well what is there to talk about? I kissed you because I was drunk, that’s all there is to it.”
Sanji’s expression darkens. “Zoro we both know that’s not true,” he pauses for a second, both of them avoiding eye contact as the wind blows, slightly swaying the mushroom they’re atop of, which catches them both off guard.
“I felt it too, last night I mean.” He continues, Zoro blushes yet remains quiet, averting his vision, instead noticing the way the mushroom creases underneath him just like a mattress.
These creases becoming irrelevant as the cook’s index and thumb take hold of Zoro’s chin, drawing him closer, breathing in the swordsman’s breath, hot and shaky before their now sober lips intertwine once more.
Pulling away only when it feels right, Zoro’s speechless, unable to admit how much he’d been craving that, convinced this is a dream he’ll wake up from any second now, yet he doesn’t. Instead Sanji takes his hand and leads him back to The Sunny where the rest of the crew is, everyone strategically ignoring the obvious as they arrive, discussion kept within whispers and small notes written in torn book corners that Robin keeps scolding them for, stating that books are to be cared for.
And after a week of this Zoro’s grown beyond tired of it all, so as they’re gathered for breakfast, about to head out to the next island now that their log pose has finally reset, he announces to Sanji in front of them all:
“I love you”
The cook, far too perplexed to articulate a proper reply, instead answers with a quiet and shy “me too”.