I fail at writing on topic.

[chibi_trillian]

I was trying to write something for bumpgrrl's list. "Trying" being the operative word. This showed up instead. There's not even any yaoi in this unless you squint and turn your head sideways with your UST goggles on.

Title: Sanguine
Series: One Piece.
One Piece: Not mine.
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Right after Arlong Park, Sanji and Zoro get marginally better acquainted with each other.


The doctor in Cocoyashi Village had replaced the staples that Zoro had torn out fighting with that octopus fishman, but the insane swordsman had still shredded himself into a few extra weeks of healing up. And his new bandages were big enough and awkward enough that he couldn’t change them very well on his own, despite his protests to the contrary.

Usopp didn’t want to do it. He said that the sight of blood made him faint. When Luffy had pointed out that it hadn’t been a problem when Usopp was on his home island, he declared that it must be the sea air making his soul more sensitive to the pain of others.

Nami-san didn’t want to do it. Her wish was the only explanation that Sanji needed.

And nobody really trusted Luffy to do it without going overboard and turning Zoro into a mummy.

So that left Sanji as the one assigned to prevent Zoro’s guts from falling out all over the deck. The swordsman wasn’t pleased, but Nami-san punching him in the head and telling him to quit whining about stupid things had shut him up fairly quickly. Ah, Nami-san was so forceful when she was angry!

Sanji growled at the sullen swordsman as he unwrapped the bloodstained bandages, trying to defuse some of his own discomfort. He hadn’t gotten a really close look at the wound on Zoro’s chest since it had been inflicted. His cheeks flushed as he remembered his less-than-noble conduct that day. He’d thought the swordsman was going to die for his dream, and he’d told him to give it up.

Cowardly and disrespectful of him, and part of the reason he fought with the swordsman so much—to prove that he was strong enough to match up with a man who had stared Death in the face and told it to go fuck itself.

Death’s reply was written all over Zoro’s chest. The ink was still wet.

“Dumbass, you tore another staple. You rip yourself up much more, and I’m tying you to a chair until this heals. Even you have to run out of blood eventually, and you’re going to do it if you keep reopening this wound.”

Zoro snorted. “Didn’t know you cared.”

Sanji flushed and declined to dignify that comment with an answer. Besides, he had to focus on wiping the disinfectant the old village doctor had given them across the swordsman’s mess of a chest.

It was still a masterpiece of a body, even cut nearly in half as it was. A beautifully made and honed machine, and Zoro had no respect for it. Sanji knew better than to disrespect his own flesh—he’d come too close to losing it. Sanji felt the familiar spark of rage in his chest and grabbed at it. Being pissed at Zoro was better than feeling uncomfortable and inferior.

Sanji worked himself up into a towering temper as he worked his way down the injury, from shoulder to hip. He’d done this before, for smaller wounds, for his own injuries, for those of the other chefs after an ugly fight. The swordsman’s stoic silence seemed like a further insult to the needs of his body, and the thin trickles of blood that sprang up as fast as Sanji wiped them away were like a cry for help.

Bastard. There were men out there who would kill to have his body.

And Sanji knew of one man who deserved Zoro’s leg far more than he did.

“What the hell are you making that face for, shitty chef?”

Sanji’s temper flared, and he grabbed Zoro’s chin with one blood-and-disinfectant smeared hand. “I’m making that face because I’m in the same room as a jackass who doesn’t give a shit about his body except as something to throw in front of a goddamn sword.”

Zoro grabbed Sanji’s shirt with a hand, yanked him up roughly. Zoro’s powerful muscles flexed, and Sanji saw the wound tear open, right in the middle of the man’s chest.

The hand that had been holding Zoro’s chin swiped down and pressed hard against the fresh injury. Pain flickered in Zoro’s eyes, almost hidden, but not quite.

“Stupid sack of shit,” Sanji hissed, holding up his blood-slicked hand. “You can’t be the greatest swordsman in the world if you’re dead.”

Zoro dropped him. Sanji landed heavily on his knees in front of the swordsman, glaring up at him.

Sanji supposed they were even now, as far as stupid, disrespectful conduct went.

There was thick, angry silence as Sanji bandaged the other man’s chest back up. Sanji picked up the soiled bandages, trying to decide which pot to use to boil them clean, as Zoro pulled on his shirt. Sanji was halfway out the storeroom door when Zoro’s voice stopped him.

“Oi…chef.”

Sanji turned. “Yes, asshole?”

“…Thanks.”

Sanji kicked him in the head.

Comments

[ptps.livejournal.com]

...Kaja's going to love you for this. You know that, right? XD;;

Either way, beautifully written, I loved the part where Zoro's wound tore open and how Sanji reacted... so argh T__T

Also, "Cowardly and disrespectful of him, and part of the reason he fought with the swordsman so much—to prove that he was strong enough to match up with a man who had stared Death in the face and told it to go fuck itself." - I always wondered about how Sanji would look Zoro in the face after he got accepted into the crew - it's like, one of the most defining moments of their relationship. Zoro getting slashed by Mihawk, that is. The way you phrased this was just so... argh. I have such limited vocabulary. T__T

♥ ♥ ♥

[chibi-trillian.livejournal.com]

...Kaja's going to love you for this. You know that, right?

Had a bit of an inkling, yes. XD

I accept "argh" as a compliment, unless it's an "argh" of pain. I hope those weren't arghs of pain. O_o;

[ptps.livejournal.com]

Anything that has Zoro and Sanji and Zoro bleeding or hurt sends her to heaven, or so I assume, so... yes. XD

Arghs of both. Such a delightful story but it's got Zoro bleeding and ripping cuts open so yeah. T__T bb ♥

[kotszok.livejournal.com]

lol WHAT'S THIS, IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE TO READ ME LIKE A BOOK?! B: JFDGALKFDL;AJG RIPPING CUTS. ARGH!

[kotszok.livejournal.com]

ARGH OF WORSHIP WORKS THEN I GUESS?!

ARGH

[kotszok.livejournal.com]

Y-YES. T^T

I'm so predictable.

[creamy-twilight.livejournal.com]

Gotta love the hidden ZoSan love ^-^ His may hide it, but Sanji's very concerned for Zoro (and his perfect body). Ending was perfect and made me go "awww" a little bit.

[chibi-trillian.livejournal.com]

Headkicking = affection for Sanji, apparently. Must've learned it from Zeff. XD

[vampire-otaku.livejournal.com]

...to prove that he was strong enough to match up with a man who had stared Death in the face and told it to go fuck itself.

Death’s reply was written all over Zoro’s chest. The ink was still wet. Hell yeah. That is just so perfectly poetic.

I found this one refreshing. Go you. :D

[chibi-trillian.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Even if I fail at writing on topic, at least I don't fail at writing altogether.

[angstymcgoth.livejournal.com]

Ah, you captured the perfect snipery between the two of them right from the start! And I loved the insights of Sanji's--I really hadn't thought about many of those, but they're very well-placed and characterized. This is a great piece to the start of that friendship.

And I love how Zoro's totally the tank to throw in front of the enemy half the time XD Hey, he's got the highest HP!

[chibi-trillian.livejournal.com]

Hee hee, thank you.

[angstymcgoth.livejournal.com]

...now I really want to make character sheets for the entire cast.

[chibi-trillian.livejournal.com]

YOU SO TOTALLY SHOULD. Throw in his Devil Fruit bonuses, and Luffy's hardcore overclocked:

Monkey D. Luffy
STR: 17
DEX: 19
CON: 17
INT: 3
WIS: 6
CHA: 20

I'm not sure about that Wisdom score though. As far as common sense goes, Luffy's got none. His Will Save, though, argues for a higher score.

Part of me also says that Intelligence score is a little high. XD

[angstymcgoth.livejournal.com]

His Will Save, though, argues for a higher score.

Oh pssh, he just took Iron Will as one of his feats!

[chibi-trillian.livejournal.com]

There is that. Oh, Luffy is SO minmaxed. Usopp, on the other hand, is more in the middle of things. Dexterity and his crazy Constitution score are the only really high scores he's got. He's really working on raising that Charisma score, though. XD

Great Captain Usopp
STR: 7
DEX: 17
CON: 19
INT: 12
WIS: 13
CHA: 9

[angstymcgoth.livejournal.com]

He'd make a good Rogue with those, but I think his Cha should be higher: Bard. Totally. HAH.

[chibi-trillian.livejournal.com]

I'd argue for a higher Charisma score too (since Usopp relies so heavily on it), but Usopp's lies tend to fall apart if met with the slightest bit of skepticism and he does fail a lot of his Charisma-based rolls. He's getting better as the series goes on, though. I figure he's got a lot of ranks in "Perform (Storytelling)" to make up for the slight disadvantage his Charisma score puts him at.

He is totally a Bard, though.

[raven2909.livejournal.com]

I sincerely hope you mean an intelligence of 13 or something, because with an intelligence of 3 Luffy would have trouble with basic speech. xD;

[chibi-trillian.livejournal.com]

I may have gone a bit overboard with the 3 (unless he's in Gomu Gomu no Baka form, in which case 3 INT is being generous), but Luffy with higher-than-average INT? No way. Oda himself said Luffy's nowhere near the brightest crayon in the box. Maybe a 7 or 8 INT under normal operating conditions--Luffy's never shown himself to be real good with long words or difficult abstract concepts. That's what Robin's for, and besides, if it's bad, he'll just break it.

[(Anonymous)]

yeah I realise now 13 is WAY to high :P. I was thinking based on his combat ability it would be higher, but overall probably 7-8

[shiome.livejournal.com]

Aw, that was painfully good. X3
I agree, the part about Death's reply is magnificent. Such a strong image, and so true! Plus, the fact that Zoro's thanks gets rewarded with kick amused me to no end. Apart from when he's pissed, Sanji kicks people when he doesn't want to think of 1)feelings 2)a difficult reply.

[chibi-trillian.livejournal.com]

I think headkicking is Sanji's main form of affection, because he could crush someone's skull--and he doesn't. XD

[shiome.livejournal.com]

Ahah, self-restraint is much more honourable and considerate than random displays of affection. Or, just more Sanji-like.

[kotszok.livejournal.com]

I THINK PTPS IS MORE THAN CORRECT INS AYING THAT, SINCE RIGHT ABOUT NOW I WORSHIP YOU.

1) ZORO DENTING/BLOOD - CHECK
2) ZOROSANJI - CHECK
3) HESITANT THANKS - CHECK
4) INSULTS - CHECK

AND THE LIST GOES ON. *ADDS TO MEMORIES AND REREADS*

[chibi-trillian.livejournal.com]

CAPSLOCK POST!

The First International Church of Chibificus accepts tithings in art. ^_______________^

[orange-smaug.livejournal.com]

If kicking = affection, then that means Sanji duzn't like teh gurlz :O! Aha, just kidding ^^.

Much love for Sanji unconsciously perving over Zoro's masterpiece of a body (XD) and the whole "what the hell of course I don't care about you hey don't do stupid shit like that you moron" thing they have going.

[chibi-trillian.livejournal.com]

Sanji is merely admiring Zoro's body from the standpoint of a martial artist looking at another warrior. He swears. XD

The best thing about Luffy's crew is that, no matter how much they fight, they all really do care about each other. ^_^