Archive of Our Own

Zoro never thought streaming would be his career when he started after school one day. How his life would alter, once he realized the career he could make from streaming. Because as most content creators and streamers, Zoro follows and looks up to, he was just doing it for fun.

Zoro was 18, and Luffy was 16, when he suggested they stream purely because they were so good, the people “needed to see how awesome we are!” They were already playing Overwatch after school everyday, so Zoro didn’t see the harm in the extra step of creating a Twitch account, and go live. At first it was only their friends, and people from school watching.

Once he graduated, Zoro looked for job opportunities, and possible post-secondary options. During this time, he continued to stream, solo. Then when Luffy came home from school, they would team up again. With Zoro streaming almost everyday his viewership began to grow, and he even gained a few followers.

It wasn’t until he hit 10 000 followers that Luffy said; “What if you did this… as a job? It’s fun right? That’s the most important part of having a job! And you’re so good at it!” Fair enough.

Once Nami finished high school, she took on being Zoro’s manager, and despite his hesitance at first, she hasn’t failed him yet. Zoro asked Nami one time if she would ever go back to school for business or finance just to further her knowledge and she replied with;

“It would be a terrible investment since there’s nothing they could tell me that I don’t already know. So I would be losing money in the long run, and I’m trying to be smart with my money, so thanks for the unsolicited advice. I won’t be taking any more from you.”

Once Luffy graduated high school, he joined Zoro in the streaming world, and Nami began to build their brand. While they both had their own streams, Nami made Strawhat Streams, where Zoro and Luffy’s collab VODs were uploaded. She made a Youtube channel where she would comp best plays, and started an upload schedule where viewers could see Luffy’s edited VODs Tuesday, Thursday, and Zoro’s Wednesday, Friday and collabs on Saturday.

Both Luffy and Zoro quickly gained popularity and they began to get sponsorships and gaming opportunities that Zoro didn’t know were possible. Such as being invited to join Overwatch esports league. That really helped them gain traction and grow even more in subs and followers.

Usopp and Sanji continued to post-secondary schooling, their callings being graphic design and cooking, respectively. Usopp almost immediately started streaming once he was done school and took care of the brand’s thumbnails for YouTube and all channel branding. Usopp streams a lot of co-op games with Luffy, but he also streams minecraft builds and chill streams of just him drawing/designing. He opened up commissions for art or channel designs as well.

Luffy was pretty persistent about Sanji starting his own streaming channel. Sanji would join them in games such as Overwatch, any co-op Mario game and minecraft, however their viewers didn’t have a face and the only name they had was ‘LoveCook.’ Sanji focused on getting a job as a prep-chef first and didn’t even entertain the idea of streaming.

But once Luffy has an idea, it’s hard to change his mind. He was streaming one day and was asking his chat how they would feel about a fourth content creator for the Strawhat Streamers. He explained that this fourth person wouldn’t be gaming 90% of the time, but instead cooking, and teaching people how to make delicious meals. His chat was very receptive and soon the crossover viewers were asking Usopp and Zoro in their chats who this secret 4th person was and when they would be joining.

Eventually, Nami had to get involved and she was the final (and only) person to convince Sanji to start streaming. He did focus on cooking, doing lessons, or meal prep and occasionally he would stream a cooking game, minecraft or a co-op game with the others. His in-person job, and main source of income took priority of course, but he preferred being able to do anything with his streams, since it was for him, for fun.

Thus, Strawhat Streams began full production. The five of them lived together, but avoided calling it a content house, since they were all friends and living together before this grew to what it was. Zoro and Luffy practically stream daily, and Usopp is streaming more often than not, and Sanji would whenever he had time.

The content schedule on their YouTube channel was: Cookingw/Sanji Monday, Luffy’s Tuesday, Thursday, Zoro’s Wednesday, Friday, all or a variant of the four of them on Saturday, and Usopp on Sunday. Nami was quite pleased and proud of the success of their brand and made sure to be on top of everything, analytics, finances, sponsorships, partners, editing, uploading and moderating. She had her work cut out for her, but always insisted it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.

Nami did hire online moderators for Luffy and Zoro’s streams since she can’t always be present and their streams were the most popular. One of them was Tony Tony Chopper, who became a close online friend to them. He was a medical student, and would be for a while, but enjoyed all of their content very much, the extra income was bonus.

Life wasn’t typical for the Strawhat Streamers, but it was one they began and grew together and couldn’t be more thrilled with their lives and success.

-

Galacta calls victory as another match finishes in Marvel Rivals. Zoro glances at the chat, as his MVP screen plays, finishing 40/5/0. Lots of ggs and emojis moving faster than he can read. He’s only been playing Marvel Rivals for a few months, not there at the time of the original release, despite much hype built up. He was more focused on Overwatch 2 and the final esports tournament he would be participating in.

Once that was all over, he pivoted his daily streams to Marvel Rivals instead, as his chat was also asking him about it. Zoro can see how similar Rivals and Overwatch 2 were, but could also appreciate both separately. He’s not as much of a nerd as Usopp is, so some characters Zoro’s never heard of, but he doesn’t think it takes away from his gameplay.

Zoro’s been enjoying the most recently added hero, Blade, who according to his chat, is a vampire slayer. Blade’s duel wielding of both shotgun and sword are the best of both worlds in Zoro’s eyes. Usopp also has told Zoro that he and Blade share similar characteristics of determination and moral code, whatever that’s supposed to mean.

“I’m not sure if we want to play one more, I don’t think I have any more geo-guesser in me.” Zoro says bluntly to chat. Since there aren’t many players in high Eternity rank in Marvel Rivals, queue times for a competitive match can take up to an hour. Nami has pushed Zoro to play geo-guesser with his chat to build a bond, but Zoro is just plain bad, and barely gets a streak of 2. The chat scrolls by with various answers, telling Zoro what time it is where they are, how they should be sleeping, various no’s and claims to help, and a few sending emojis reassuring him to do what is best for him.

“What am I doing once we hit 1 million? Well, that’s for me to know, and you to get us there.” Zoro replies. He smirks at all the replies he’s getting, but quickly drops into a scowl when he sees XXcatburglurXX telling him to be nice. “Yeah, I know, Witch. We will be doing something, and honestly, I am grateful for everyone’s support. I want to do something for you guys since I wouldn’t be here without you. So don’t worry, we will be celebrating.” More emojis and varying celebrating responses flood in.

“But for now, I’ll be signing off, and I’ll see you next time.” Zoro gives a final nod, and turns off the stream. He stops recording the VOD, and finishes up before exiting from his browsers, and leaning back does a satisfying stretch. He gets up and walks out of his room, grabbing his gym bag, ready for a post-stream workout. Just as he’s putting on his shoes Nami stops him.

“Hey! You better not be avoiding me!” She shrieks. “You know I told you, we have to discuss what we’re actually doing for your a million follower special.” Zoro sighs, and turns around to face Nami.

“And you know I hate sitting that long, I need to go work it out.” Zoro sighs. “We can talk about when I get back, after dinner.” Nami crosses her arms.

“I am not above calling a full Strawhat meeting for this.” She threatens, Zoro rolls his eyes. “I’m serious, Zoro. This is a really big moment, I don’t think you realize how many people a million is. It means a million people took the time to stop by, see what you post, and decided to stick around. You've been at this for 8 years, we’ve been at this for 8 years, and now the work has finally paid off and you have a million people to show for it.”

Zoro understands how big a deal it is, he’s honestly worried about how big this has become. He feels a little in over his head, like he was just streaming with Luffy after school yesterday. Now, he’s a brand, nearly a million followers, and has no idea what to do with that information. But no way he’s going to confess all that to Nami.

“Yeah, yeah, Witch, I get it.” Zoro promptly leaves before Nami can get another word in.

When Zoro comes back an hour later, sweaty, limber and relaxed, he opens the door to see everyone at the table, all in a discussion, which is then cut immediately upon his arrival. Zoro raises an eyebrow, but walks toward them. Luffy gives him a big smile and gestures to the table.

“ZORO! Welcome back! We were just talking about you!” Luffy exclaims, Usopp and Nami both cutting him a look. “And Sanji made charcouchie for supper!” Zoro is amazed, though he should really come to expect no less, to see various serving trays filling the table, each with one presenting a variety of crackers, cheese, meats, and vegetables.

“It’s charcuterie, Luffy.” Sanji automatically corrects. He turns to Zoro and wrinkles his nose. “You couldn’t have showered before coming home, musclehead?” Sanji asks. Zoro rolls his eyes, and continues walking past, toward his room. “You better shower before thinking about sitting at this table, especially with Nami present.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Zoro calls over his shoulder. “Just save me some charpooterie board.” He doesn’t really have the energy to say it right, and it’s just so easy to piss-

“IT’S CHARCUTERIE, DUMBASS!” Sanji yells.

“Sanji, he knows he’s just messing with you, why even react?” Usopp asks.

“Because it’s not that hard! I go to the trouble of making these elaborate meals, the least you could do is pronounce it right.” Sanji huffs, and Zoro doesn’t hear the rest of his rant, as he gets ready for his shower. Sanji always makes it so easy to tease him, it’s hard to resist.

When Zoro returns to the table, damp hair, a different pair of sweatpants and a workout top, he starts eating immediately , before Luffy can swoop in and clear out the rest. (Because God forbid they have leftovers. “But Sanji doesn’t like food waste?” “It’s not food waste, if I have it for lunch tomorrow, dumbass.”)

The group is oddly silent again, watching Zoro eat. He doesn’t mind, he rather they didn’t dance around whatever it is they want to talk about, but right now, he’s going to eat all the fancy cheeses. After another couple of minutes, Zoro looks up and eyes the group, waiting, daring someone to speak their mind.

Of course, it’s Usopp who cracks under the pressure. “Well… As Luffy said, we were discussing you… Not like you specifically, but Nami brought up that you’re close to hitting a million followers, definitely in a month, and she was just asking if we had any ideas on what to do to celebrate.” Usopp rambles. Zoro can’t help but let out a sigh, this same topic being dragged out to the rest of the group.

“I told you I would hold a meeting.” Nami explains.

“Yeah, but I thought I would be included in said meeting.” Zoro grumbles, reaching for some more meat. There’s another pause, and once he’s mostly done his bite he asks; “so what did you come up with?”

“I suggested that you do a million pushups to celebrate! Or play until you K.O a million people! Do something a million times so that everyone feels represented! Luffy suggests.

“I was thinking maybe you could do a 24hr stream? Me and Nami could each take a 12hr shift modding and make sure everything runs smoothly, and you can have your followers vote on which games they want to see you play.” Usopp offers.

“I thought of making you a cake, one that suits your delicate taste buds.” Sanji smirks. “Of course, it would mostly be for show, and a shoutout to my much humbler channel.”

“Cake! I like that idea!” Luffy exclaims. Nami, who has been quiet, clears her throat, getting everyone’s attention.

“While most of these ideas are doable, and could even be good. It’s not much different than anything Zoro hasn’t already done.” Nami explains. She addresses Luffy. “While I think it’s cute to incorporate a million into this celebration somehow. I think Zoro would die before he reaches a million pushups.” Zoro scoffs.

“Is that a challenge, Witch? Who are you to say I can’t do it? Have you seen me at the gym?” Zoro taunts. Sanji kicks him under the table, and he flinches, hitting his knee on the table.

“No one is challenging you, idiot. Anyone would die, don’t even think of attempting such a ridiculous feat.” Sanji snaps. He smiles at Nami. “Do, go on my dear, I would love to hear what else you have to say.”

“Right… Anyway…” Nami continues. “He’s done 12 hr streams, how much is 12 more hours going to bring? It seems like a cool, fun, clickbait idea on paper but I can’t see it actually translating well. As for the cake, it seems a little cruel considering it’s not like your followers are going to get to eat it.” She concludes. Nami props her elbows on the table, and before Zoro can stop it, her scheming face is in place.

“No… What we’re going to do is…” The boys all subconsciously lean closer, waiting in anticipation. “All of the above!” Nami declares, throwing her hands out, whacking Usopp in the nose. He cries in pain, Luffy whoops and hollers, Sanji immediately starts praising Nami for such a good idea, and Zoro is… confused?

“I thought you just said they were all terrible ideas?” Zoro questions.

“I never said that, I just think we need to go bigger than that, so here’s how we’re going to do this.” Nami gets up, and grabs the closest notepad and pen, handing it to Usopp who is still dramatically cradling his nose. “For the next month, we’re going to totally flip the script on your twitch channel. Right now, you’re basically streaming everyday, and lately it’s been Marvel Rivals. Despite my suggestion of playing geo-guesser, chat can clearly see you’re not having fun. Do you know why I told you to play it in the first place?”

“To show the world my lack of geography knowledge?”

“As hilariously bad you are, no, dummy. I know you know. So you can start to build a bond with your audience.” Nami does a placating motion. “Without going too parasocial, or disclosing anything you’re not comfortable with, it feels like there is a wall between you and your audience. Geo-guesser was supposed to be a way to break it down.” Nami crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. “What do your followers actually know about you, Zoro?”

Zoro hates that he hesitates when answering, because he feels like he’s coming up empty handed. “Um. My name, my Overwatch 2 rank, my Marvel Rivals rank, that I am part of a brand with the rest of my friends-”

“I’m going to cut you off right there.” Nami says, holding up a hand, as if she were physically stopping him from going on. “These are all things that can easily be found on your channel. Your channel name is your name! You haven’t opened up about your personal life. They might not even think you’re actually friends with us, since you have such a funny way of showing it.” Zoro avoids eye contact. He’s certainly not Luffy, but without a doubt he knows they’re all his friends.

“It’s taken you 8 years to get here, because your viewers don’t have much of a connection to you, because they don’t know you. As you say, you’re just here to play games, and that’s fine, but there is nothing aside from above average gameplay for them to stick around for. That’s why for the next month, we’re going to make those connections, give people a reason to stick around for even beyond a million followers.”

Zoro hates that Nami is probably right. While it was never about getting this big when he started, now that he’s here, with a fanbase bigger than he ever imagined, it wouldn’t be terrible for Zoro to open up about some of this personal life…

“Okay… I see your point. How do you suggest I do that without doxing myself and giving up my social security number?” Zoro grumbles. He’s private by nature, and would really rather not have close to a million people know about his family, childhood or personal life.

“Oh you big baby, nothing like that. Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to collaborate more openly, and explicitly with Luffy, Usopp and Sanji. This way here, people will also get to see a different side to you, one that is more laid-back and not always fuming at his game.

“One where you joke with Luffy, create with Usopp and bicker with Sanji. You engage in conversation and questions, and no they won’t know where you live or your SSN but they will see how you are as a person, and that is what’s going to get people to stick around for even longer past a million.”

Huh. Once Nami explains it… It doesn’t sound so terrible. Zoro’s not sure how he’s going to act in front of a camera and an audience without a game to distract him, but he can see the thought that Nami put into this plan, so Zoro doesn’t see the harm in doing what she says. Not like he’s got a choice, really, but he likes the illusion of choice, and this doesn’t sound like the worst idea.

“Don’t you think he’ll start losing followers once they discover how crap his personality is, Nami-swan?” Sanji goads. Of course, he just had to open his big mouth. Zoro doesn’t fall for the bait, instead choosing to give Nami his thoughts.

“Well, I don’t know if my usual viewership will tune into these kinds of non game streams, but I don’t see the harm in trying.” Zoro admits. “Do I get any say in these collabs, or do you already have them all planned?”

“I have a few in mind, but we can have a conversation about it. I think one-two collabs a week, along with your regular scheduled programming. I also want to do some community polls, if there are other games that they would like to see you play, and non-game content they would like to see from you.

“Also, I would love for you to pick out a charity to support. I know that you support charities, and I know how you feel about monetizing it, but the other three all have charities that they are active and loud about supporting. Don’t think of it as broadcasting your good deed. But instead, bringing attention to a cause you care about, and encouraging your viewers to donate through you or personally, that can really support a good cause.”

Zoro lets out a big sigh, realizing just how chaotic this next month is going to be. If Zoro can just focus on doing this for himself, his community and friends, who have all worked so hard to get to where they are today, it might all be worth it.

-

“Hiiii, Zoro’s chat!!” Luffy waves at the camera. “Today, me and Zoro are going to play a horror game, which we don’t normally do, but it’s not ‘cause we’re scared or anything. It was requested! Nami is just going to finish getting it ready, but in the meantime we can talk! What do you call your chat, Zoro?”

Zoro suddenly feels like he’s sitting too close to Luffy, big brown eyes crowding his vision. Their face cam is also full screen, as Nami continues to ready up the game, and Zoro isn’t used to seeing himself so large on his screen but tries to ignore it, instead leaning out of Luffy crowding his space, and glances at this chat.

“I… Don’t really call them anything… I think just chat… If I need to address everyone at large.” Zoro admits, lamely. Luffy gasps dramatically, leaning back in his chair.

“Well, we can’t have that! We have to think of something…Hmm… Let’s see. I call my chat Strawhats.”

“Yeah, and I think that’s just confusing because aren’t the five us the strawhats?” Zoro asks.

“Nah. Anyone can be a Strawhat! You just have to be a good person! Sometimes I’ll call them pirates too.” Luffy smiles big.

“Right… Very on brand for the King of the Pirates. Does Usopp have a name for his chat?”

“He calls them his loyal subjects, because yanno, he’s the Soge King!” Luffy explains. Right, that’s weird too. “And Sanji calls his viewers different sweet names, like darlings, or little chefs.” Zoro makes a fake gagging sound, and Luffy laughs. “Yeah, neither of those really fit your viewers… Hmmmm… Let’s see… let’s think…” Luffy looks around Zoro’s room for inspiration and Zoro chances a glance at the chat.

Since they just started streaming, there aren't a ton of people and the chat is moving at a pace he can read, mostly they’re laughing at Luffy’s antics, saying hi, and offering suggestions for what Zoro can call them. He reads suggestions like; gamers, crew, chatters, rival-ers.

“Hmmm… What about swords? Or swordsmen?” Luffy suggests as he pivots in his chair looking around the room. Zoro turns to glance at his swords on the wall that are seen in the background of every stream.

“No, that doesn’t make any sense. My streams are about fps video games.” Zoro states the obvious. His chat is now asking about the swords since they’ve been brought up.

“Oh! Yeah, those are real swords, they’re katanas! Zoro is from Shimotsuki Village, and when he was young, in high school he was a swordsman! Right, Zoro?” Luffy asks, turning to Zoro. He sees what Luffy is doing, and supposes that this is relatively safe information to share.

“I did kendo when I was younger. I didn’t use those swords, obviously, you use shinai. Those swords are passed through generations.” He feels as though that is enough to qualify as opening up, without going into great detail about the one sword with more meaning than anything else in his room. “I still practice the kata, with a bokken, which are the techniques of attacking and counter-attacking.” Zoro concludes. He watches chat, they seem impressed, never knowing that the swords were real, or that Zoro did kendo.

“Nami, says we’re good to go! We’ll think of something to call your chat, hey maybe you can call them Strawhats!” Luffy suggests.

“No, Luffy, that would be even more confusing.” Zoro sighs. He can see how impersonal it must look, and he decides he’ll think of something. “What game did you and Nami decide we’re playing?”

“We’re playing Mortuary's Assistant! Nami just said we get to prep dead bodies for viewing, but jumpscares happen while we’re working! So it should be fun! It’s only a solo player game, do you want to take turns, or do you want to play? I don’t mind just watching and doing commentary!” Luffy smiles, and Zoro smiles in return. He doesn’t usually play solo player games, but if there was one that interested Luffy, that was how they played back in high school.

“Sure, let me know if you want a turn at playing.” And with that, they jumped into the game. The stream ended up being close to 5 hours, which was usual for Zoro, but not usually in a game like this. He had the thought to see if there were less viewers or chatters than usual, however, the game and Luffy demanded so much of his attention, he didn’t really get time to notice. Honestly, he was having more fun than he usually did, from the sometimes mindless feel of Marvel Rivals.

Luffy mostly tried to be helpful in game, reading chat, and occasionally shrieking or laughing when there was a jumpscare. More often than not, Zoro was jumping not at the scare itself but because of Luffy’s reaction. He didn’t see much appeal, personally, for horror games. He rarely found them scary, and didn’t see much of the point to them.

He did genuinely enjoy playing Mortuary’s Assistant. Unsure if it was the change in game or simply having Luffy’s big personality with him. Either way it was a fun stream, and when they were saying goodbye to chat, Zoro saw lots of messages saying they also enjoyed the stream as well.

Afterwards, Zoro notices how tense he actually is from playing that game.

“You have to admit, the game got you a couple times, eh, Zoro?” Luffy asks, giggling behind his hands. Zoro grins wacking Luffy on the back of the head.

“That was all you! I was just trying to do my job, but you and the paranormal seemed to have other plans!” They go into the kitchen to grab some water and a snack. Nami opens her door, and gives them a smile and thumbs up.

“Great work you two! Seems like you had fun also.”

“Yeah! It was loads of fun!! We should do it again!” Luffy exclaims.

“Right, it was fun. Just maybe not a horror game next time.”

“Awwee” Nami and Luffy shout in unison. “Was Zoro scared?!”

“What? NO! For the last time, I wasn’t scared! It’s just hard to play, when I’m trying to concentrate on the goal of the game, and I have demons, including Luffy, constantly interrupting me.” Zoro explains.

“Uh huh. In case you missed it, that was the whole point of the game. But nevertheless, I will find a different game. Maybe you guys can play something from when we were in high school! Get a sense of nostalgia.” Nami suggests. The stream did remind Zoro of high school, he can imagine how nostalgic he’d actually feel if he played something from high school.

“Yeah, maybe.” Nami praises them once more and goes back into her room. The stream doesn’t make Zoro want to workout, so much as get a massage, so he instead opts to go back to his room and do his katas.

Later in the evening, after a shower and a pre-made dinner by Sanji, Zoro finds himself in the living room, watching a movie with Usopp and letting him show different screen grabs from his stream earlier that are going around Twitter. A lot of them are when Zoro and/or Luffy are mid-jumpscare with a funny caption underneath it.

“I watched a little bit of it when I was working on a comm, it was really scary- I mean funny, your reactions and stuff. I couldn’t watch long, you know, with me working, but it looked like you were having fun.” Usopp comments. He is the last person that would play a horror game, and Zoro thinks it would kinda be funny to play one with Usopp, and make him even more scared.

“Yeah, it was fun. We could also play a horror game.” Zoro suggests.

“No. Nope, nope not gonna happen. Not because I’m scared or anything, but it’s just not my niche you know… I was thinking we could play minecraft. I think it would be funny to watch you struggle, since you have very little knowledge on the game.” Usopp snickers.

“You think it would be funny to watch me struggle?” Zoro asks, posturing slightly.

“Ye-ees?” Usopp squeaks out. Zoro grins, and nudges him with his shoulder.

“I’m just messing, yes I think it would be funny, and probably be a hit with our audiences.” Usopp smiles in return, and they focus back on their movie. Once it’s over, Usopp heads to bed, and Zoro lets the next movie play, deciding to wait up for Sanji, working the night shift.

It’s closer to 11pm, when Zoro is stifled awake by the sound of Sanji unlocking the door. The tv is asking if Zoro is still watching and he’s far too tired to think about why he waited up in the first place.

“Moss?” Sanji whispers. He walks up to Zoro, he rolls his head so he can look up at Sanji sleepily. “What are you still doing up?” Zoro closes his eyes and yawns.

“Dunno… I was waiting for you… or something…” He mumbles in response. Sanji clicks his tongue, and unexpectedly, runs a hand through Zoro’s hair.

“You’re delirious. Go to bed.” Sanji states, and walks back to the kitchen. Zoro grunts in response, and drags himself up. He wipes a hand down his face, and follows after Sanji. “Did you want a midnight snack, since you’re still up?” Sanji asks. He’s currently eating a cheese string, and Zoro wonders when was the last time he ate. He looks exhausted in the light of the fridge.

“No, I’m good but maybe you should. More than a cheese string.” Zoro suggests, without trying to be pushy. Sanji waves him off, putting a to-go container into the fridge and closing it.

“I’m just going to meal prep something easy, then I’m going to bed, I’m exhausted.” Sanji states, going to the dishwasher to empty it. Zoro furrows his brows.

“Why are you going to meal prep so late?” Zoro asks.

“Uh… Because it’s my job? And I open tomorrow so I won’t be here until after the dinner rush tomorrow?” Sanji responds, like it’s the most obvious thing ever. Lately, it feels like whenever Zoro sees Sanji, he’s either coming, going or cooking, probably overworking himself.

“You open? How much sleep are you going to get?” Zoro is more confused and being tired is not helping him keep up.

“Well, we open the restaurant at 11am, so I’ll have at least 5 hours by the time this meal prep is done.” Sanji says, as he continues to put the dishes away. “It’s the usual amount I get, don’t go worrying your Mosshead for nothing. It saves me having to do it in the morning when I have even less energy.” He starts loading the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

“Do you have so little faith in our abilities to feed ourselves? We can go one morning and afternoon without you.” Zoro states, Sanji has enough work, he shouldn’t have to feel obligated to feed all of them too. Sanji sighs, and looks at Zoro.

“Look, I can only hope this is coming from a place of concern, you just have no way to express that nicely, so I’m not getting into this with you. But the easy answer is, Luffy won’t have to rearrange my whole kitchen trying to feed himself.” Sanji moves to the cupboard, grabbing a stack of the same container and laying them all out on the counter.

“Well… Can I… I don’t know, is there anything I can do for you?” Zoro asks. Sanji looks over his shoulder, and gives him a fond smile.

“You can keep me awake, if you like. But if you’re tired, you should go to bed. I know it’s way past your bedtime.” Sanji teases. It’s not an immediate dismissal, so Zoro takes a seat at the kitchen island to be close, but not in the way. Sanji frowns. “Are you sure I can’t make you anything?” Zoro shakes his head, and holds his head up, it feels too heavy to hold with his shoulders. Sanji shrugs as if to say suit yourself, and continues rummaging in the fridge, pulling out various veggies, and chicken. “It looked like you and Luffy had fun on stream today.” Sanji comments. Zoro perks up a bit.

“You watched the stream?”

“Little bit, while I was on break. You know, some of us have real jobs.” Sanji snarks. Zoro is too tired to take the bait. Sanji’s smile turns genuine. “It reminded me of simpler times. When we all played for fun, and not for work.” Zoro frowns, and decides to revisit that later, and just answer honestly.

“Yeah, it was fun, actually. It’s still fun when me and Luffy play Overwatch or Rivals, but this was… I don’t know, more relaxed? I felt like I could focus on the bigger picture, and not on winning the match.” Sanji laughs.

“Only you would say playing a horror game is relaxing. Don’t think I didn’t see you jumping at certain points…” Sanji teases. Zoro grumbles, and rolls his eyes.

“It was Luffy that kept making me jump, way more than the game.” He explains, for the third time today. Sanji laughs again, and it sounds like tiny bells. “I’m kinda worried about how big the channel has gotten…” Zoro trails off, he realizes he hasn’t opened his eyes from the last time he blinked. “It’s a lot of pressure….”

“Zoro… If you’re tired, you should really go to bed. I wouldn’t want you messing up your sleep schedule. We can talk about this in the morning….” Sanji reassures.

“Mmmm… I’m just resting my eyes…” Zoro isn’t sure if he can be that open about his feelings if he is 100% present in the moment. “Don’t want you to be alone…” He slides his head down to rest in his arms, getting more comfortable. He hears Sanji sigh, coming closer. He pulls at Zoro’s shoulders to get him to stand up, but Zoro shrugs him off burying further into his arms.

“As cute as you think you’re being, I don’t want mold to grow on the counters. C’mon… let’s get you to bed, don’t want to fuck up your back more than you already do.” The next few minutes Zoro fades in, out and the next thing he registers is laying in his bed, comfortable. He lets out a deep sigh, as he gets even more comfortable.

-

Zoro suddenly processes everything that occurred last night, while brushing his teeth the next morning, and he realizes he should’ve gone to bed a lot sooner. He was a little too vulnerable last night, he might as well have confessed that he’s concerned about Sanji overworking himself.

Predictably, Sanji was gone when Zoro came out of his room, and opened the fridge to see a breakfast burrito with an angry green fuzz ball, he can only assume is supposed to be him. He debates whether or not to text Sanji, but decides against it, takes the burrito and goes back to his room. Today is a non-collab day, so Zoro’s plan is to just stream Marvel Rivals.

He eats, plays a couple of quick matches, before Nami is awake and knocks on his door, to signify five minutes until live. Zoro makes sure everything is looking good from his end and starts streaming.

“Hey, guys. Welcome to the stream. Today, we’re doing Rivals, and Nami suggested I answer any questions while we queue. It’s not normally what I do, but she’s going to help me answer as many as possible. I don’t know what kind of questions you might have… But hopefully I’ll have the answers.” Chat seems pretty excited about the prospect of him answering questions, which is surprising to Zoro. He’s never done this before because he didn’t think people would actually be interested in his life. But he guesses his chat has been hiding their curiosities.

“What are you doing for a million? Well, I kind of talked about it the other day, but expect to see different streams over the next month, I’ll be doing more collabs with the other Strawhats, like I did yesterday with Luffy, and Nami has/will be posting more polls to see what you guys want to watch/do to celebrate. The Witch has big plans, so she told me to say “now would be the time to follow if you’re not already.””

The chat reacts positively, expressing how those who tuned in, really liked the stream yesterday, and can’t wait to see what other games and collabs he has on the horizon.

“Which Rivals character is my favourite design and which is my favourite to play? As you may know, I’m not super familiar with Marvel comics, movies or anything really. I know who Spider-man, Ironman, and Hulk are, and I understand them very basically, and I’ve heard of some of the others but I really like playing Blade, I know he’s still new, but his abilities are great. I really like duel wielding.”

There’s lots of shocked reactions about his lack of knowledge and unsurprised reactions at his Blade answer. Chat starts dropping Blade lore, Zoro silently reads along with it, and others agree that Blade is fun to play, and also annoying to play against. People are also commenting how nice it is to talk to Zoro, since he rarely addresses them directly.

“I always thought to pretend that there aren’t thousands of people watching me, so it’s not so much pressure, but I can see how impersonal that comes across, and has been for the last 8 years. I’ll try to be more engaged and show my worth.” There are more positive responses, hearts, and support in chat for him. Zoro feels himself smiling, amazed at what he’s been missing out on.

“What is your relationship with the rest of the Strawhats? I’m sure the others have explained on their channels, but we’re all friends from high school. I’ve known Luffy the longest, and he definitely feels like a brother, my best friend. This whole thing started because of him. But the five of us became friends in high school, somehow. Luffy just has this ability to make friends with anyone, and so he kinda brought us all together.

“Usopp is really talented, if you haven’t seen his work, it’s amazing. All the channel art is by him, across everything, but he also does wood and metal work, and is super talented. If I have a question, I usually ask him, since he somehow knows a lot, but don’t tell him I said that because he’ll get a big head.

“The Witch, or Nami, or Catburglar, though she nags, and bosses, this whole operation would go under without her. I honestly don’t know how she does everything, but she manages all of us, and doesn’t go crazy from it.” Nami types in chat that they all drive her crazy, and Zoro laughs. “Yeah, I believe you. I don’t understand a lot of the business side of things, but she’s there to take care of all of that for us. She also does give some pretty good advice… sometimes.” Of course, Nami is defending herself, priding herself on what great advice she gives.

“And for the Love Cook… he’s…” Hardworking, caring, kind, an asshole, driven, dedicated, stubborn, beautiful- “... Annoying.” He ends lamely, dispelling all other thoughts of Sanji from his mind. “Who’s Love Cook, he’s Cookingw/Sanji on twitch, yeah no, he doesn’t really play games, he mostly streams cooking. Yes, we will also be collabing.” Then he gets queued up for the game. The game loads in and the other team bans Blade, and Zoro curses, but glances at chat. “Well, I guess we have to go old school, and play Magik.”

-

Once Zoro’s done streaming, he goes to the gym, comes back home, to see Sanji streaming in the kitchen. Nami is sitting at the island off camera, keeping an eye on everything. Zoro makes brief eye contact with Sanji before making a beeline for his room, not wanting to interrupt.

“Oh, Marimo, welcome home, want to come try what I just made?” Sanji calls. Zoro freezes and slowly turns around, Sanji is motioning him to come over. His eyes dart to Nami who has her scheming face on, which Zoro knows can’t be good, cautiously walking toward the kitchen. He stays off camera, not really wanting to be seen right after the gym, and looks to see the bowls in front of Sanji. “We made Japanese curry, try it and tell me how amazing it tastes.” Sanji explains, sliding the bowl closer.

“Do I have to be on camera?” Zoro asks, quietly.

“No, if the Mosshead is too good for my stream, just take a bite and tell me what you think.” Zoro eyes Sanji, Nami and the bowl before grabbing it and taking a bite. He’s not too sure what’s going on here, but he certainly won’t say no to food right after the gym. Of course, it’s delicious, not the first time Zoro is eating Sanji’s Japanese curry, and Zoro is already going for a second bite when Sanji clears his throat.

“Soooo… What do you think?”

“S’good.” Zoro replies with his mouth full. Sanji rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling slightly.

“Should’ve known I would get a one word answer. This is why I have Luffy try my things, he’s not shy with the compliments.” Sanji grabs a different bowl, taking a bite for himself, nodding along. “It’s pretty good, remember if you want it to be less spicy, don’t put any spice in or alternatively, add more if you want it really spicy. Personally, I feel like it could do with a bit more, but it is still really good as a base, a great balanced meal, you can freeze for later, or eat right away. Which is precisely what I’m going to do.” Sanji puts his bowl down, and smiles at the camera. Zoro wonders how Sanji doesn’t have more viewers from his charms alone.

“And that, my darlings, was Japanese Curry, if you were following along I hope it turns out great, Apollo, I hope despite the slightly overcooked rice, it still tastes good, and I will now go feed everyone, I hope everyone has a wonderful meal. Until next time, Bon Appetit!” Nami cuts to the end card so people can finish chatting. Zoro reads a lot of ‘bone apple teeth,’ which amusingly does kinda sound like what Sanji is saying.

Zoro takes his bowl and goes to sit at the table.

“If you even think I’m going to let you eat without showering first, you are sorely mistaken.” Sanji reprimands. Zoro groans, but leaves his bowl and goes down the hall without a fight. After a quick shower, everyone is eating when he returns, and finally finishes eating his meal.

“Zoro, still up for minecraft for tomorrow’s stream?” Usopp asks. Zoro nods his head, and starts picking up the dishes.

“Yeah, as long as you don’t lie to me like last time.”

“What did he lie to you about last time?” Sanji asks.

“He told me that there was no sleeping in the game and I had to defend our home all night, and all I had was a wood sword, and died to a skeleton and our house got blown up.” Zoro deadpans, staring straight at Usopp who is snickering, but stops when he notices Zoro staring. “I mean it, I won’t play next time if we aren’t going to work together.” Usopp holds up his hand.

“I swear I will not lie or lead you to death’s doorway.” Luffy laughs heartily, pointing at Usopp’s other hand below the table.

“He’s crossing his fingers!!” Usopp clicks his tongue and complains about Luffy ratting him out. Zoro just rolls his eyes, and starts loading up the dishwasher with the dirty dishes. Sanji is always super diligent about keeping his cooking space clean while he works, so all the used dishes have been rinsed and neatly stacked by the dishwasher, waiting to be loaded. If Zoro didn’t know better, he would say the dishes already look like they’ve been washed. He doesn’t understand what the use of the dishwasher is, if Sanji is just going to clean them spotless beforehand anyway.

The dining room clears out and Sanji comes in with the rest of the dishes, handing them off to Zoro.

“Hey, did you want to watch something tonight?” Sanji asks. Zoro hums. He has nothing else planned, and maybe if they watch a movie, he won’t have to address last night. “I was thinking we could keep watching Chopped? You seemed kind of interested last time we watched it…” Sanji loves to give his opinion, about anything, but especially cooking shows, which means they’ll wind up talking through the show, thus Zoro’s dilemma of flying too close to the sun.

“Of course, you probably rather watch something else, more geared toward your interests, so we don’t have to. I know I tend to ramble about what I would do, which I know can be too much commentary, I just thought, I’m off at the restaurant tomorrow, and that show is also a great de-stresser despite the stressful situation the chefs are put under, but it’s not my stress so it’s different, but I-”

“Woah, woah, Cook. It’s alright. We can watch whatever you want, it's fine.” Zoro reassures. Sanji seems to relax slightly at that, unhunching his shoulders, and taking a step back.

“Right, well. I’ll go change and meet you in the living room.” Sanji nods his head, and goes to do that very thing. For some reason he streams in these suits, and somehow doesn’t manage to get them dirty. Zoro finishes up in the kitchen, then goes to the living room and queues up the show. Sanji comes back in more comfortable clothing sitting at the opposite end of the couch, pulling up his feet. Zoro wordlessly plays the next episode.

They watch the beginning of the episode silently, introducing the chefs briefly, and the first round and mystery items. Zoro can’t imagine being so creative to come up with all these ideas with seemingly the most obscure, and sometimes, inedible sounding ingredients.

“You would do really well, if you were on this show.” Zoro tries to comment causally. He’s met with immediate silence, so he takes a glance at the other end of the couch where Sanji is looking at him.

“Are you serious?” Sanji whispers. Is he serious?

“What kind of question is that? Of course, I’m serious. You love working with different and unique ingredients, you love the challenge. I think you could actually win this sort of thing.” Zoro explains, because this should be obvious to Sanji. Zoro decides to go on. “You often ask Luffy to pick something random from the grocery store so you can make a meal out of it and stream it. That is literally the premise of this show. Every one of those streams, the end result is always so good. C’mon, Cook. You don’t need me to tell you that.” But apparently he does because Sanji continues to look at Zoro in bewilderment.

“Can I be honest about something?” Sanji suddenly asks, seriously. Zoro looks between him and the tv, pausing it so he can have Zoro’s full attention. Is this about last night? Is this about years of whatever this is building up? “I… I’ve actually applied. To be on this show. Multiple times. I just haven’t gotten the call back. Nami knows, since she’s been the middle woman, but I just… I wasn't sure since I kept getting rejected…” Oh. Well, Zoro was not expecting that.

“Curls, if they can’t see how hardworking and dedicated you are to your craft, that's on them. It’s probably not even your fault, I’m sure they get hundreds of applications, I’m sure one day they’ll pick you. And if not, the streaming thing seems to be working alright for you.”

“You really think that, Mossy?” Sanji sincerely asks.

“Of course! I don’t lie, and I don’t bullshit. You know that. Is this why you would've been pushing yourself for the last month? Are you trying to get recognized by the Food Network?” Zoro asks, finally putting it together. Sanji looks away.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about. Besides, if they do ever decide to pick me, I need to be ready, and it would be great to have a bigger social media presence.”

“Yeah, that’s fine, whatever, but you shouldn’t be losing sleep over this.”

“Awe, are you worried about me?” Sanji probes, smiling, teasing. It’s Zoro’s turn to look away.

“I’m just saying. If they can’t see how much you’re doing to be on that show, it’s their fucking loss, not yours.”

“I thought I was annoying.” Sanji teases. Zoro feels his face heat, and looks away. Sanji laughs. “It’s okay, it takes one to know one, right?” Zoro grumbles, but doesn’t dispute it. “I’m trying to not overthink it, but it would be such a lifetime experience, and it would be great exposure for Strawhat Streams.” Zoro frowns.

“You’re not doing all of this for the Witch, are you?” Zoro asks. That seems exactly how Nami would pitch an idea, great exposure. “Strawhat Streams isn’t doing too terrible, you know.” Sanji kicks Zoro.

“Don’t call Nami that. Yes, I know that. It would just be an extra bonus to being on television. It would be great publicity for the restaurant, the channels, me, it would benefit everyone.” Sanji explains. Zoro scoffs, and looks down.

“Yeah, but being popular isn’t always a good thing.” Zoro mutters. Sanji sits up more, his foot coming into view, nudging Zoro’s thigh.

“What do you mean?” Sanji asks. He probes with his foot hard. “What’s wrong with gaining viewership and popularity? Isn’t that the goal?”

“Yeah… But it didn’t always start out that way…” He looks up at Sanji to see his eyebrows furrowed, staring attentively at Zoro. “Streaming. Gaming. I didn’t start out doing that to get popular. Now, I have almost a million followers. Bigger than I ever expected to be. This was never supposed to be my job. Now, I treat streaming seriously instead of something to look forward to.” Sanji has gotten closer while Zoro was talking, and he puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Zoro… You know you can change that right? This big countdown to a million, don’t think of it as a goal, just a milestone, one that is happening soon.” Sanji explains, rubbing slow circles on Zoro’s back. “Stream what you want to stream, engage with your audience, stream with Luffy. You two have the most shared audience; if you both have more fun together, then do it. I understand it is your job, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t also be fun. You play video games, for fucks sake, that’s supposed to be fun!” Sanji laughs, and Zoro also chuckles a little.

“This is what burnout looks like. Doing the same thing, every day, and not getting any fulfillment from it. It’s been long drawn out, but now you know, and you can change things. After you hit a million, you don’t have to go back to playing Rivals everyday, you can continue to play with Luffy and build a connection with your audience. It’s your channel, you can take it any direction you want. Well… Nami might have something to say, but ultimately it is your decision.”

Zoro looks up at Sanji, and can see the genuineness in his expression, and he feels so seen. He looks back down again, worried he’ll do something crazy like kiss him. Sanji wraps his arm more solidly around Zoro, and gives him a side hug. Zoro leans into it and closes his eyes, relishing in Sanji’s care. Sanji is the first to lean back and Zoro looks up at him.

“I’ll continue to support you.” Sanji says, and moves back to his previous spot, with his feet pressed against Zoro’s thigh. He unpauses the show, and within minutes, Sanji is providing his own commentary.

-

“No, Zoro, you have to tame the dog.” Usopp states very plainly.

“I’m trying! Why is it attacking me now?!” Zoro exclaims.

“BECAUSE YOU HIT IT!” Usopp shouts. “Now, you either have to kill it, or it kills you.”

“WHAT?! NO! I can’t kill the dog!” Zoro shouts back, trying and failing to run away from the rabid dog.

“Well, me and my subjects will certainly not condone dog murder on the stream.”

“Oh, fuck off. There’s no difference between killing a dog or a cow in minecraft.” Zoro proclaims, as he runs out of sprint and is still being attacked by the dog. Usopp gasps dramatically.

“I can’t believe you would say something so blasphemous!” Zoro groans as he dies, his inventory scattering.

“Well, don’t worry it won’t come down to that. It killed me. Can you go get my stuff?” Zoro asks as he respawns back at their base.

“Hmmm… You dropped wood tools, 4 bones, dirt and seeds. I think you’ll live without it.”

“Probably not, since everything in this game seems to want to kill me.” Zoro grumbles. Despite his less than pleasurable experience, his chat has been very active and vocal about finding his gameplay hilarious and a great example of how not to play minecraft.

His chat has betrayed him a few times, no doubt Usopp’s viewers, gaslighting him about how things work in minecraft. He knows at least to sleep at night. But he would also be lying to himself if he wasn’t also enjoying the game too, even if only a little bit.

-

“So… Minecraft’s not really your game, huh?” Sanji snarks.

“Fuck off, Curlybrows.”

“I mean really, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone die so much in 2 hours.” Sanji is laughing at Zoro now, and Zoro is so embarrassed. “Aren’t you supposed to be a gamer?”

“Yes, well Minecraft doesn’t take any actual skill.” Zoro retorts.

“Well, apparently it does.” Zoro scoffs.

“Oh, yeah? Well let’s see how you do in a Rivals match, that’s a game that requires real skill.”

“Pfffft, yeah, alright. Let's see what all those hours of gaming have to show for!” Zoro grins wickedly.

“Bring it on, Love Cook.”

“Mmmm… Maybe next week. This week, you’re coming onto my channel, and we’re going to make something.” Sanji smirks and walks away.

“Huh? Did you and the Witch scheme this up together?” Zoro demands.

“Don’t call our beautiful manager that! Nami-swan had the brilliant idea to have you on my channel first, so your viewers can see you outside of the gaming context, see that you’re a real person with a torso and legs.” Sanji explains. Zoro thinks that isn’t a terrible idea, but he isn’t exactly sure how the two of them in the kitchen are going to be. Sanji is smirking once more. “You’ll be playing my game.”

Zoro can’t tell if he wants to punch or kiss Sanji.

-

“Hello, all my beautiful chefs!! I hope you’re all well!! I can’t wait to get started today, but we’ll wait a little bit before we start.” Sanji greets his viewers. Zoro feels so awkward, standing beside Sanji in a pink apron, brooding, waiting for more viewers to tune in. Zoro looks at Nami behind the camera, and she mimics him, pouting with her arms crossed. Zoro clicks his tongue, and relaxes his arms, watching the viewers and chatters roll in.

“Hi, Chopper, Sapphire, Apollo, Desiree, Brittney, Skylar, Gemma, CBailey… Wow, so many of you right away! Did you see the title and get excited?” Despite being in the stream, Zoro has somehow not been told what they’re actually doing today. At this point, Zoro is expecting the worst, a very elaborate meal, one that Zoro will be more of a hindrance than help.

“Okay, I see a lot of familiar names, hello darlings! Right, I feel as though we should get right to it. So, you’re probably wondering about the new decor in this stream, but I can assure you, this isn’t a houseplant, but the one and only Roronoa Zoro! Famous twitch streamer, pro gamer, and unfortunately, my roommate with terrible hair.” Sanji introduces, making flourishing gestures to Zoro.

“Are you just going to insult my hair all stream?” Zoro asks defensively. Sanji smirks at him.

“No. I’ll insult your cooking.” Zoro groans. “Say hi to everyone! I’m sure some of your… What do you call your audience?” Zoro shifts awkwardly, this being brought up a second time this week.

“Um, I don’t have a specific name I call them. I just refer to them as them, chat, you guys… I don’t have anything clever like the rest of you.” Zoro admits. Sanji laughs abruptly.

“Seriously? There’s the most obvious answer.” Sanji flicks Zoro’s hair. “Mossheads.” Zoro frowns, and Sanji laughs more. “Or little Marimos?” He continues to laugh, and it’s hard to stay mad, with all those tiny bells tinkling. Momentarily distracted, Zoro hopes he didn’t look like an idiot, staring and redirects Sanji’s attention.

“What are we making today, anyway, Love Cook?” Sanji’s laugh fades, as he composes himself.

“Well, Mosshead, since you’re our oh so special guest, we’re making Onigiri! Your favourite snack!” Sanji exclaims, turning back to the camera. “We’re using sea king meat, but I also have salmon, and tuna. You can also use edamame or Japanese pickled plum, as a vegetarian option.” Sanji pulls the rice cooker into frame.

“Get yourselves a rice cooker, especially if you and/or your household eat a lot of rice. It saves me so much time and it’s great to just set, and forget, because once it’s done it keeps it warm. Now, this recipe is going to yield 9 rice balls. The first thing is to measure and wash 2¼ cups short grain white rice, or 3 rice cooker cups. So I’ll have my Mossball go ahead and do that for me.” Needing no further instruction, Zoro goes to grab the rice to measure and wash out of frame.

“After that, we’re going to soak our short grain rice for about 20-30 minutes, then let the rice cooker work its magic. And as always I have the recipe on screen and in the description for those just joining, or if you want to join in on your own time. While Mossy gets our rice ready and in our rice maker, I’ll start with preparing our fillings.

“So our sea king and salmon will be cooked the same way, in the oven. So I have one big sea king fillet and 2 salmon filets. They’re already prepped on lined baking sheets, and all we’re going to do is salt them on both sides and stick them in our ovens and bake or broil at 425ºF, 218ºC for about 10-20 minutes. We’re gonna cook these until they are well-done, dry and flaky.”

Zoro finishes with the rice and realizes it’s going to take an hour, and the fillings aren’t going to take that long. Suddenly, Zoro is very aware that this is live right now. Sanji tends to make him forget about everything around him, but this would be a catastrophe. He doesn’t need everyone watching to watch Zoro make a fool of himself in front of Sanji.

“Now that that’s done, I’m just going to pop these in the oven.” Sanji steps off camera to do just that, glancing at the other side of the kitchen where Zoro awkwardly stands off camera. Sanji raises an eyebrow. “All good over there Mossy?” Zoro throws him a thumbs up and they both walk back in frame. “Now, tuna mayo filling is very straight forward, we’re going to take our canned tuna, which I’ve already drained and mix with some kewpie mayo and soy sauce.” Sanji mixes all that together, and wraps it in cling wrap.

“Now, as we wait for things to cook, what is everyone else doing right now.” Sanji takes a moment to read the chat, as does Zoro. A lot of people make their own meals, a few following along, and some here for fun. “If you do make this recipe, or anything by me, be sure to tag me with #Cookingw/Sanji so I can see all your wonderful creations.”

“‘Who’s the green haired guy, and why is he-’” Zoro reads, then feels his face heat up, not having read the chat before reading it aloud. Sanji sees the chat and starts laughing, Zoro’s sure he’s sporting a flush now.

“He’s built like a wall because he works out and eats well.” Sanji raises a brow at Zoro. “I fear you’re subverting the expectations of the typical gamer.” Zoro rolls his eyes, and decides to not read any more chats out loud. Sanji can take control of the interactions. It is his channel after all.

They carry on, Sanji answers questions about the recipe, for future reference or guidance in the moment. Once the fillings and rice are ready, now begins the tricky part. Sanji demonstrates getting his hands wet to ensure no rice sticks to his hands. Zoro’s in a trance as he watches Sanji mold and fill the perfect onigiris. Zoro thinks Sanji’s hands are a miracle in their own right. Zoro is a little clumsier, so opts for a ball shape over a triangle shape.

They wrap up the stream, cleaning up before taking their onigiri to the living room. Zoro opens up Netflix and chooses the first interesting movie to watch while they can eat and share what they’ve made, watching Bullet Train.

“See? Not so bad, even if they’re a little misshapen.” Sanji comments, picking up an onigiri from the plate. “You’re a good example to my audience it’s okay to not get it exactly right.” Zoro grunts and shoves the rest of his current onigiri in his mouth. Making the onigiri wasn’t as bad as the chatters making commentary on his physical appearance, and his relationship with Sanji. He didn’t think he was that obvious… but now ‘Zosan’ is their ship name and Nami hasn’t shut up about it.

This isn’t the kind of movie Sanji usually watches, but maybe Brad Pitt is helping. Zoro has been enjoying the movie so far, and Sanji hasn’t complained. The movie is a good distraction from Zoro’s spiraling thoughts. Sanji didn’t say much about their ship name, mostly laughing it off, and moving on. Live on twitch is not really the place to have that kind of conversation.

“Moooosss…? Are you paying attention?” That all too familiar foot is prodding at his thigh again. Zoro clamps down on Sanji’s ankle, effectively stopping the jabbing.

“Yes, I am.” Sanji doesn’t respond, and they’re silent again. Zoro doesn’t remove his hand. (and neither of them comment on it for the rest of the movie.)

-

Zoro can’t help but feel like he’s under a microscope when Nami and him have a business meeting. Especially the nature of this meeting, with the success of this past week, Zoro can only assume it will only be positive… But Nami has her scheming face on that makes him beyond nervous.

“So…Zosan… I like it.” Zoro groans loudly, burying his face in his hands. Thankful, no one else is home for this meeting. “I feel kind of like an idiot for not seeing it sooner but…You’re in lov-” Zoro’s chair scrapes aggressively as he stands up.

“NO! Stop! Do NOT finish that sentence, Witch!” Zoro shouts, pointing at Nami. “Don’t act like you know what’s going on, because you don’t.”

“Okay, no no. We’re not doing any of that.” Nami stands up in response. “Do not yell at me. Get that finger out of my face before I break it, and shut up.” Zoro takes a breath. He’s definitely way out of line, and takes a seat.

“Sorry.” Zoro tries to infuse sincerity, but suddenly it feels like all the air is sucked out of the room. “I don’t… really want to talk about it.” Nami sighs, and takes a seat herself.

“Does he know?” Nami asks, and Zoro can’t help but scoff.

“No. Of course not. As if I stand a chance.”

“Hey, don’t talk about yourself like that. Sure, your shower habits probably aren’t his favourite, but you’re a catch!” Nami puts a hand over Zoro’s, compelling him to look up, she’s smiling sympathetically. “I’ve known you both for over 10 years. I know for a fact, that the two of you would be good together. As your friend, know you can talk to me about this, but only if you want to of course.”

“Well…” Zoro sighs. “I don’t know when it started but… I can’t remember a time it wasn’t him. It’s always been him. He’s an oblivious idiot, if I’m really as obvious as you and the fans say, then I stand no chance.”

“Has it ever crossed your mind you might actually get somewhere, if you two had a conversation about this?” Nami asks. Pfft. Yeah, right. As if it was that easy.

“It doesn’t matter, what we have works, I don’t need anything else.” Zoro insists. At least that’s what he tells himself. He isn’t overly affectionate to begin with, but maybe, Sanji would see Zoro a little bit differently. “Plus, he doesn’t need the distraction. He’s working harder now and going after the things he wants. If there ever comes a time… It’ll be on his terms. So I would rather people not figure it out before him.” Nami nods along in agreement.

“While I can respect the approach and space you’re giving him, I don’t think he would turn you down, or see you as a distraction, but I’ll leave it alone… For now. Just know you can come talk to me about your feelings okay?” Nami gives Zoro’s hand a squeeze and stands up. “And as your manager, please tell me if/when you ever want to go public.”

“In other business,” Nami moving right along. “This past week has had great reception. To put it bluntly, you’ve really come across as a real person, not just this gaming robot who logs in, and logs out. How do you feel about this past week?” Zoro thinks about the streams, and his conversation with Sanji.

“I feel good about it. I honestly thought they were just here for the gameplay, but it felt nice to open up about some personal things, but nothing too personal or overshared. And I don’t feel like I’m keeping up a specific persona while playing. I definitely felt more relaxed. Tense as all shit streaming with Curly, but that’s for other reasons.” Nami smiles.

“Great! This is the best outcome! Everyone is happy, everyone is gaining something. We’ve seen a 30% increase in viewers, across all channels, based on your engagement and collaborations. Now, I have the rest of your schedule, you can stream what you want for the next two weeks with the boys, but you’ll have a mandatory cake baking stream with Sanji and a 12hr stream for when we’re closer to that million follower count. We’ll have a live counter and collabs all stream long, as well as double it as a charity stream.

“I hope you’ve given some thought to which charity you would like to donate to. Again, don’t think of it as an ego boost, but as exposure to a cause you care about, that will inspire others to donate to as well. I want to reach out to the organization beforehand, to let them know we’re doing this. Ideally, they’ll be on board, and we can look to form a partnership, and we can continue to support them through the rest of your career. So… Have you given it any thought?”

Truthfully, Zoro has given it lots of thought, and research. He wants to support a charity that is in his values, but also makes sense for the ‘brand,’ as shitty as it sounds. Sanji supports food charities, provides food to the less fortunate locally, and globally, as well as LGBTQ+ organizations, being openly out as bisexual on his channel. Usopp donates to local art communities and supports Black rights movements. Luffy has donated to so many different places, through his channel, it’s hard to keep up.

One of Zoro’s values is supporting young people, when they have no support system. Growing up in foster homes, through the ages of 7-15 was hard. It didn’t feel like he had anyone he could count on aside from his friends, but they were all in similar predicaments. Mihawk adopted him, who was an extremely unexpected individual, to father him and his older adopted sister, Perona. While the three of them make a very unconventional family, he’s not sure where he would be without them.

“I want to support Foster the Future.” Nami didn’t look surprised at all, and nodded her head decidedly.

“Excellent. I'll reach out to them and establish a line of communication for this opportunity. If they are agreeable, the only thing you’ll have to do is read a scripted speech about the charity, just speaking for them and what they stand for, to encourage others to donate as well. While not manditory… It would be good if you share a little bit about your own reasoning for choosing this charity.

“Creating that even deeper connection with your audience, and explaining why you chose them will also help with donations. I’m not asking you to share personal details you aren’t comfortable sharing, or information that would connect you to your family and your background. People will have even more heart, and charity to give.”

Zoro nodded along, making mental notes on what Nami was saying. He feels good about his decision, and feels less slimy about publicly posting his good deeds online. Especially if this 12hr stream is doubling as a charity stream, then the whole point is to give attention to a cause he cares about. Their meeting goes on for a little longer, and by the end of it, Zoro is feeling good about reaching a million followers.

He’s not feeling so good about Zosan, and isn’t sure how to act or proceed with streaming with Sanji. Maybe Nami has a point, and actually, talking to Sanji about it might help. But he is no way ready for a confession he’s been keeping to himself for God knows how long. He’s a professional streamer, he should be able to act innocuous and business like when on stream with Sanji. He’s not that obvious.

-

“Why ban a strategist? Right now, the game is centered around who can build support ults fastest, they are what win or lose a match. Luna’s ult is 12s long, which grants invulnerability to whoever is in range. It is the most overpowered ult in the game, so while that means we can’t have Luna on our team, I rather not deal with it on the enemy team more.”

After the banning phase ends, crazy enough, Blade isn’t banned, and Zoro locks him in. He hears Luffy snicker as he locks in Spider-Man.

“Shihihihi, I can’t wait to pull someone off the map.” Zoro smirks, knowing that he and Luffy are going to be an annoying as hell comp to play against. “We’re currently in celestial 1, trying to make it back to eternity.” They’re both streaming on their separate channels together, and Zoro hadn’t realized how long it’s been since they last did this. The last time they streamed Marvel Rivals together was back in season 2.

“Why don’t I have streamer mode on? Because if you wanna ban my hero then go ahead and be my guest, it’s not going to put me at any disadvantage. I understand it is supposed to be helpful, but people have the codes and nameplates memorized so there is virtually no point. Plus, I don’t have an ego.” Luffy laughs as they both arrive at the capture area and the fight begins. Zoro sees Luffy swing away, to flank their backline.

Their team wins the fight and captures the point, positioning themselves for the next fight. Zoro doesn’t hear, but there’s a knock at his door, and then someone walks in. Zoro only flinches slightly when he notices Sanji hovering over his shoulder.

“Jesus, Cook. What the hell are you doing here? I’m in the middle of a game.” Zoro glances over his shoulder a couple of times, but focuses back on his game. He off-sets his headset so he can hear Sanji better

“Sanji’s visiting you? Tell him I say hiii!!” Luffy yells through his headset, and mimics web shooting noises. Sanji chuckles fondly.

“I can hear you through the walls, Luffy. Hi. Are you two having fun?” Zoro can feel Sanji put weight on his chair, while he is in the middle of a 1v1 with the enemy Blade and doesn’t have time to entertain Sanji. “Hello chat, Mosshead tells me he doesn’t have a name for you all, very rude. Is this gamer doing any kind of winning?” The perfectly timed question is asked right as Zoro dies to the Blade who definitely has 1 hp.

“Blade is 1.” Zoro says into the team chat. He glances at his other monitor, where he can see his chat going crazy, saying hi to Sanji, asking who this is, and laughing at Zoro for losing the 1v1. Sanji leans out of frame and reveals a plate of chicken wings.

“Thought you might be hungry, you’ve been streaming longer than usual.” Sanji explains, setting the plate and a wet cloth off to the side. “You’ve both missed dinner, so you must be having fun.” Zoro looks up at Sanji, who isn’t concerned or upset about the missed meal, but smiling softly. “Don’t forget to eat, we still have movie night with everyone.” Zoro wonders what they ever did to deserve Sanji, his kindness seems to know, no end.

“Right… I’ll eat in between games, the queue time is still really long.” Zoro confirms, eyeing the wings, mouth watering. “I promise.”

“I believe you.” Sanji whispers, low enough he’s sure the chat didn’t catch what he said, and with that Sanji walks out of the room, and Zoro turns back to his game, glancing at chat to see a few hearts, and comments about how good his food looks.

“Sanji brought you food?? Awe, man! What about- HEY, SANJI! Are you here to give me food?” Luffy exclaims. Zoro can see the moment Luffy goes AFK and his death shows up in the feed. The enemy team captures the point and Zoro waits a little out of spawn for the rest of his team to group up.

“Alright, let’s push in with CND ult and I’ll flank around to ult on them.” Zoro says in team chat. Cloak and Dagger acknowledge with an in-game pin, and their team starts walking toward the point, while Zoro goes around to flank.

“Woah, is that the Roronoa Zoro?” Their Groot asks. Zoro is always a little weirded out that people recognize his voice, but also think it’s weird they wouldn’t immediately clock his gamer tag.

“The one and only.” He replies. His team pushes with Cloak and Dagger’s ult, and Zoro can see the enemy Invisible Woman about to use her own ult, but he is quicker, dashes forward and uses his ultimate. The initial ult kills both their supports and he takes out the enemy Blade and Moon Knight.

“Woo! Good ult Zoro!” Luffy cheers in team chat, as he swings in on the point, helping claim it and take out the remaining tanks, getting a team wipe.

“Thanks, good push guys. We’ll save Rocket and Groot ult for the next fight.” They win the round, lose the second, forcing them to go into the third round and ultimately winning. “GG guys.” Zoro says in team chat, also typing it in team and match chat. They get out of the game, and queue for the next one, and Zoro brings his food in front of him and switches off his face cam so people don’t have to watch him eat.

“Are you eating Sanji’s food now?” Luffy asks, with a mouthful. Zoro waits until he’s done chewing to respond, he is on stream afterall.

“Yeah, I didn’t have a chance when he brought it in, we were literally in a match.”

“Mmhmmm… And see, that’s what separates us, Zoro.”

“What?”

“I’m the better gamer, because I got MVP while eating Sanji’s food. Shihihihihi!” Luffy cackles. Zoro shudders at the thought of how gross his keyboard and mouse must be. He glances at chat, laughing at Luffy or being disgusted by his eating habits. Some are talking about the last match and asking if Zoro’s wings are tasty.

“Yes, the wings are very tasty. All of his food is unbelievable, and some of it seems easy to make. Not to give that guy more of an ego boost, but you should check out his content, he streams as well, Cookingw/Sanji. Don’t tell him I sent you…” Luffy laughs in the background.

“Sanji deserves all the love! Go check out a fellow Strawhat’s channel!” Luffy adds. “You want to play two more games, Zoro?”

“Yup, that sounds good, since we have plans tonight.” Zoro goes back to eating, talking to his chat in between bites.

Zoro and Luffy stream for two more hours. Once it’s over, Zoro stretches out. It’s only 8pm, which means Luffy is definitely going to argue that it isn’t too late for pizza. He won’t get to do his post-stream workout, but opts to shower instead, trying to release some of the built up tension from sitting for the last 6hrs. Once he’s out of the shower, and changed, he walks to the living room to see everyone set up for movie night.

Netflix is open, Nami is carefully scrolling through the comedy row, Usopp and Luffy are on the floor in front of the couch giving suggestions, while Usopp occasionally swats at Luffy’s hand trying to eat popcorn and snacks in front of him. He glances back to see Sanji still fussing in the kitchen. He walks toward him, noticing a pizza pan of nachos ready to go into the oven.

“Do you need any help in here, Love Cook?” He asks, foolishly, knowing Sanji is most likely going to say no. Sanji turns around to face Zoro, bowl and whisk in hand, no doubt making his hot nacho sauce to accompany the nachos.

“Nope, I’m good. I’m just waiting for the oven to get to temperature and throw the nachos in, that’s it. Pizza should be arriving in 10 minutes.” Once Sanji finishes explaining, the oven beeps to signify it’s reached temperature, and puts down the bowl, to then put the nachos in the oven. Zoro frowns a little, but Sanji seems to be sincere. Sanji laughs lightly, seeing Zoro’s face, and walks over to him.

“I’m serious, Moss. Go get comfortable, I’ll join you all soon.” Sanji smiles, and pats Zoro's arm once for good measure, then goes back to his sauce. Satiated, Zoro walks into the living room, and makes to lay across the whole couch. It only lasts two seconds, when Luffy turns to look at him and yanks him off, rolling him over Usopp and Luffy’s heads to land in their laps. Usopp makes a dramatic cry of pain and Luffy just giggles incessantly.

“My legs-” Usopp wheezes. “I can’t feel my legs!” He pitches forward, trying to uncurl his legs from beneath Zoro’s. Luffy continues to laugh.

“I want Zoro to sit with us!” Luffy cheers. He’s got Zoro in a headlock, rubbing their heads together affectionately. Except, Zoro wasn’t feeling the love so much as he was feeling like his head was going to pop off. He taps out against Luffy’s arm, and he takes it as a sign to loosen his grip. They arrange themselves, so Usopp isn’t squished at all and Luffy provides a pillow so Zoro can lay in his lap. He can’t really see the TV with the coffee table in the way, but he’s probably going to fall asleep anyway.

10 minutes later, Nami has found a movie for them, and Sanji comes with nachos and pizzas. The movie is Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Zoro sits up, just so he isn’t in the crossfire of Luffy and food. The movie begins, and everyone is paying attention. At least it seems to be somewhat of an action movie, so Zoro feels entertained enough.

Halfway through the movie, Luffy is in a food coma, now laying in Zoro’s lap, and Usopp is slouched on the other side of him. He can’t tell if he fell asleep. Nami is curled up and quiet on the armchair, but still awake. Zoro glances behind him to see Sanji lying across the couch, but not watching the movie instead on his phone, looking at it with furrowed brows.

Zoro wants to ask, but chooses to pivot back toward the movie. By the end of it, Netflix is suggesting more movies and everyone seems to be asleep, their snoring echoing around the room. Careful not to disturb Luffy or Usopp, Zoro turns properly, to look at Sanji, who has his eyes closed, but is definitely not asleep.

“Hey, Curls.” Zoro whispers. Sanji’s eyes open slowly, giving Zoro a sleepy glare. Zoro smiles. “The movie is done, not that you were paying attention.” Sanji tries to glare harder, but it’s very ineffective. He rolls onto his side facing Zoro, and pulls out his phone. After a few seconds, he turns it toward Zoro. It’s too close to his face, so he takes the phone out of Sanji’s hand to look at it properly.

It’s an email, from someone who is claiming to be a representative from the show Chopped, reaching out saying Sanji has been selected to be on the show, and what next steps will be if he’s still interested in being on the show. Zoro’s eyes widened, not at all surprised that Sanji finally got contacted to do this show. He’s suddenly really upset about the timing, because he’s physically trapped between two of his friends who are sleeping and he can’t properly celebrate this news. Zoro looks back at Sanji, to see him averting his gaze, looking almost bashful.

“Cook, this is amazing! I told you this would happen eventually!” Zoro exclaims in a hushed tone. “How do you feel? You’re going to be on Chopped!” Expecting Sanji to light up, and ramble excitedly about this opportunity. But instead, Sanji looks at Zoro with these pleading eyes.

“What if it’s not real? What if this is just a prank?” Sanji murmurs back. Zoro furrows his brows.

“I’m sorry, do you hear yourself right now? This looks about as real as any email. You can show Nami in the morning, and she can check it out, but that is the stupidest thing your brain has ever told you. Of course it’s real, why wouldn't it be?” Zoro demands, upset that Sanji would even suggest otherwise. Sanji shrugs his shoulders.

“I’ve just been so used to no response, and rejection. The first explanation for this email was that it isn't real.” Sanji whispers. Zoro sighs, frustrated at his current predicament, but takes one of Sanji’s hands.

“Curly. This is real. You have to believe that. You’ve been working tirelessly for this opportunity, and you deserve this. Get excited, because Nami is going to be, and she’s going to need you to be too.” He squeezes Sanji’s hand, and it gets him a sheepish looking smile, that turns more confident.

“Well… I’ve heard my food is pretty unbelievable.” Zoro rolls his eyes playful, caught yet again.

“Oh, yeah? Where did you hear that?” Zoro teases. Sanji’s twinkling laugh makes an appearance.

“Oh, just some famous streamer. You might’ve heard of him, he has almost a million followers, kind of a big shout out to get.” Sanji teases right back.

“Really? Sounds like a real loser.” Sanji laughs again, and then neither of them say anything, Zoro lost in Sanji’s presence. He moves his hand to brush back Sanji’s bangs, to look at both of his beautiful blue eyes and swirly eyebrows. Zoro tucks Sanji’s hair behind his ear, and strokes his cheek reverently.

A particular choking snore from Usopp brings Zoro back to the moment, and he pulls his hand away, leaving it to rest beside Sanji’s. As if just noticing Zoro’s predicament, Sanji laughs lightly, sitting up. He stretches before standing up from the couch.

“Let’s get them to bed, or you’ll all be complaining about sore bodies tomorrow.” Sanji says. He gives Usopp a slight shake, and he startles, but follows through the motions of Sanji helping him stand up and walk to his room.

Knowing Luffy would sleep through anything, Zoro carefully picks him up, who reacts no better than a ragdoll. Luffy attempts to drag Zoro down with him into his bed but he manages to wrestle out his limbs.

Once out of Luffy’s room, he sees Sanji carrying Nami to her room, and he waits for Sanji to come back to say goodnight. Sanji closes her door softly, and walks over to Zoro.

“I’ll tell her in the morning, and have her handle the rest.” Sanji looks down for a second before looking back up, that bashfulness returning. “Will you fly out with me? For the shoot?”

“I would’ve come whether you liked it or not. I wouldn’t miss this for the world, Love Cook. I mean it, this is a big deal. Way bigger deal than hitting 1 million followers.” They both chuckle softly. He’s not sure who moves first, but the next second, Sanji’s arms are around Zoro’s neck, and his around Sanji’s waist, in a tight embrace.

Maybe it’s the late hour, once again, making Zoro let his guard down, but he holds Sanji tight, not overthinking this action or what it means. He is so proud of Sanji and wants to support him in any way possible. He could probably fall asleep standing up.

-

Zoro has gone about his usual routine, stream, gym, supper, when Sanji asks him if he wants to play a game.

“Like on stream tomorrow?” Zoro asks, handing Sanji the last of the dirty dishes for him to rinse.

“No, dummy. Right now, instead of watching something.” He meticulously rinses each dish until shiny, before loading up the dishwasher. Come to think of it, Sanji has been a part of Zoro’s usual routine for a while. Easily since they’ve all moved in together. In light of recent events, Zoro is just now realizing how prevalent their nights together are. If neither has work, they seem to naturally gravitate toward one another. Lost in the methodical dance of Sanji doing a mundane task, he looks up at Sanji with a blank face.

“I swear that mold is seeping into your brain.” Sanji mutters, rolling his eyes with a sigh. “I said, what about Mario Kart? I am not really in the mood for shooting people, and if I remember correctly, I wiped the floor with you last time we played.” Zoro tries to remember the last time they played the game together.

“If you’re talking about Usopp’s birthday party, when we all decided to play it, all in various drunk states, then you must be misremembering.” If Zoro recalls correctly, Nami took advantage of everyone’s state of inebriation and took first place. Multiple times in a row.

“Sure, Swirly, whatever you say.” They finish up in the kitchen and make their way to the living room. Zoro boots up the game, and passes Sanji a controller.

“I want the + side, it gives me better luck.” Sanji says, holding out his hand waiting for Zoro to switch their controllers. He rolls his eyes but obliges. They select their characters, of course Sanji chooses Princess Peach and Zoro decides on Bowser. After building their cars, he sets up the rules, best two out of three and random map selection.

First they get Moo Moo Meadows, which is a very easy course that Zoro has no problem winning. Sanji comes in 4th and is fuming the whole time, blaming everything for the cause of his loss. Zoro decides to play with Sanji a little bit, and plans to do poorly on purpose to make Sanji feel like he has a winning chance. Of course, now that he’s winning the classic smack talk makes an appearance.

“Oh yeah, Mosshead? Bet you thought you were tough shit, look who’s leading now! The last race was just a fluke, everyone was sabotaging me, well look who’s laughing now!” Zoro doesn’t say anything. Sanji only notices after the race is over and jostles their shoulders together. “Why are you smirking? In case you missed it, you lost!”

“Well, I’m still in 1st place, in case you missed it, Princess. You have to win the next race to win it all.” Sanji flushes at the name calling.

“Watch and learn, musclehead. I’ll show you who comes in first.” Sanji taunts. The last course, Coconut Mall, loads in and Zoro knows it’s over for Sanji. He decides to give Sanji an even bigger false sense of security, by keeping pace so they’re neck in neck the whole time. Surprisingly, Sanji is able to keep up with him, and as they make it to the last lap, Zoro is feeling less and less confident letting himself win. So at the last turn, Zoro purposefully runs into a banana to give Sanji enough time to speed ahead and claim first place.

“HA! I WIN! I told you, Mosshead!” Sanji stands up and does an embarrassing sort of victory dance, but Zoro can’t be mad or hurt at all when Sanji’s excitement is so genuine. “Prepare to get absolutely run over, on your own stream!” Sanji cackles. “It’ll be absolute gold content!” He’s caused enough commotion, Usopp and Luffy come to the living room to see what all the fuss is about.

“Hey, you guys are playing Mario Kart? Can we join?” Usopp asks. Sanji manages to compose himself, wiping away crocodile tears.

“If you think you can handle losing, be my guest.” Sanji provokes. Luffy cheers, and grabs two more remotes for them. Usopp looks at the score, and gives Zoro a scrutinizing look, clearly unsure how that score came to be, but refrains from saying anything aloud.

Out of the four of them, Usopp is undoubtedly the best at Mario Kart, with Zoro in second, with Luffy and Sanji any spot below them. Luffy tends to take “shortcuts” that never end up working for him in the long run. Sanji’s ego deflates a little, but not so much that he questions why Zoro is doing better, or rage quits completely. Nami comes home, and takes a seat to watch them unleash chaos, switching with Sanji when he says he should get started on dinner.

Nami confirms that Zoro’s charity would be more than happy to partner up for his 12hr stream, and any future streams. Nami also lets everyone know that Sanji has been invited onto Chopped, filming will be in three months from now. Sanji, Zoro and herself will be flying out to location. They’re all excited, and the other two congratulate Sanji over chicken curry dinner. Sanji’s about as good at taking a compliment as Zoro is, but is grateful for their support regardless.

The five of them play more Mario Kart and Switch to Mario Party, taking turns, and having fun playing together. Zoro is reminded once again of his conversation with Sanji, and now that they’re actually all together, he didn’t realize how needed it was to play video games without the camera or chat rolling. Based on the amount of noise and squawking coming from everyone, it wasn’t exactly stress free, but Zoro for once didn’t have this need to strategize or win, it was all for the love of the game and his friends.

The next day, Sanji and Zoro start streaming, in Zoro’s room side by side. Nami explained it wouldn’t make sense to have Sanji play in another room, when Sanji himself wouldn’t be streaming. Zoro can’t help but feel it’s sabotage, especially with her scheming expression but he tells himself to be calm, cool and collected.

“Hello, little Marimos!” Sanji greets, as the stream starts. “I hope you’ve had a good week… Who’s this? Hello, DemonDamin69, I’m Sanji, also known as Cookingw/Sanji, I’m part of Strawhat Streamers, and I am here to destroy Mr. Pro Mossy Gamer over here.” Sanji chuckles, as he continues to read and engage with chat. Zoro hardly feels like it’s his stream anymore, but he’s not offended. Sanji will always be more charismatic than Zoro, and it works for him, since he still struggles on how to better interact with his fan base.

“We played a little off stream yesterday, and Curlybrow here, thinks he can beat me on stream, so we’ll see how that goes.” Zoro explains. “As you can see, we’ll be playing Mario Kart. We’ll probably do three random races at a time, a few times over. We’ll keep track of the overall score in the corner here.” He says gesturing to the scoreboard Nami is managing. “I think with that, we should just jump into it, before Curly loses all his bravado.”

Zoro hasn’t really decided his strategy this time around. It would look bad for him to lose on his own stream, but he’s also been replaying Sanji winning a couple of times over in his head. Maybe he can let Sanji win the first two and the following races, Zoro can put some effort in. Sanji is the guest, after all, no other reason to let him win…

They load into the first race Cheep Cheep Beach, and Zoro purposely gears up too early, resulting in spinning out as everyone else gets a head start. He tries not to make it too obvious, using speed abilities to make it to third, and focusing on throwing shells and banana peels backwards. The end results with Sanji in first, and Zoro in third, which he could’ve made second if he hadn't been legitimately hit by a shell. Of course, Sanji jumps right into celebrating.

“WOOO! I don’t know why I ever thought you were good at the game, Mosshead. I’m just crushing you.” Sanji cackles. “I warned you all, I am going to destroy your favourite gamer, on his own stream!” They both glance at chat, and to Zoro’s horror, people are calling him out for losing on purpose. Zoro feels panicked, he didn’t expect this to happen. He glances at Sanji, hoping he isn’t seeing that, but Sanji’s brows are furrowed as he clearly sees what they are saying.

“Moss, why the hell is your chat saying you’re losing on purpose?” Sanji asks, surprisingly calmly, but Zoro chalks that up to be on stream, he’s no doubt fucked up.

“Uh, I don’t-”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Marimo! Are you not taking me seriously? Do I honestly need the help? Are you pitying me?” Sanji questions. Zoro feels his ears heat, knowing the real reason, being unable to say it, especially on stream. He decides to double down, and play the best he can next race.

“No, it was just a bad race, Cook. As if I would give you any kind of chance.” Zoro insists. Sanji gives a skeptical look, and Zoro once again has to fight the urge to either punch or kiss him. He diverts his attention, and queues up the next race. He glances at his chat, who are laughing at Zoro, fawning over the both of them, and a few who just want to see them play.

The following two hours are a lot of bickering, and back and forth on winning. For the most part, Zoro remains the undefeated champion, Sanji coming close a couple times, but in the end Zoro wins, and Sanji is in second place. Zoro isn’t sure what to say, since it seems wrong to gloat, but he knows the last thing Sanji wants to hear is GG.

“Well, you didn’t totally destroy me, but I know when to quit while I’m ahead.” Sanji reconciles. “Good racing, Marimo.” Sanji reads chat, while Zoro exits out of the game, making the camera full screen as they sign off. “Zoro looks like a kicked puppy and he’s the one who won. I know realgamer42, I am at a loss on what to do with him.” The chat is quick to offer up suggestions, that has Zoro blushing, so he quickly blocks Sanji’s view of the chat.

“And with that, the stream is done for today. You can go watch the Cook on his channel, we’ll be making a million followers celebration cake soon. For now, later gamers.” He ends the live, closes all his tabs, and buries his face in his hands. He can’t believe his life. Sanji is still sitting beside him, and he isn’t sure what to say or if Sanji saw the chat. Of course, Sanji always seems to know what to say and places a hand on the center of Zoro’s back.

“Hey, don’t let the chatters get to you. We know what’s real, and who we are. They only get a glimpse, they don’t know what’s going on. Don’t let it stress you out. I think they have good intentions, but if anything is out of line, just let Nami and Chopper take care of it. Or just don’t acknowledge or engage with those comments. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Sanji speaks in such an even, soothing tone, leaving no room for argument.

Zoro knows he’s right for once, but he also knows his chat is right. He feels the pressure building to say something to Sanji, like Nami suggested. Zoro forgets how honest he is, without trying, it’s written all over his face. He needs to come up with a plan before their next stream, or Sanji is going to catch on.

-

After another successful streaming week, Nami is projecting that Zoro will hit a million this week. She schedules the cake baking stream on Sanji’s channel for this week. Zoro decides to take Nami up on her offer and tells her about his growing dilemma.

“You already know what I’m going to say, Zoro. Just talk to him. You talk about how oblivious he is, but you’re no better! You really think you’ve got no chance? Really?” Nami questions. They’re all set up for the stream, just waiting on Sanji to finish getting ready. It’s risky to be asking this with Sanji just in the other room, but they are about to go live, and Zoro is slightly panicked.

“I just feel like now is not the time. I’m about to hit a million followers, he has the show coming up, I should just wait… Once everything is done, maybe then I’ll say something.” Nami scoffs.

“Don’t do this to yourself, Zoro. If you keep making up excuses, then there’s never going to be the right time. If you keep looking for the perfect moment, nothing will ever be good enough. Me and mods can filter some invasive questions or statements, but I think it’ll be a great load off your shoulders. I still think sooner, rather than later is better.” Zoro hates that Nami is right. Before Zoro has a chance to respond, Sanji enters the room, and Zoro, very subtly, clicks his mouth shut. Sanji raises an eyebrow.

“Am I intruding on anything?” He asks. Nami shakes her head, and waves her hand, dismissing the very idea, and Zoro just moves to be in frame of the camera. “Ooookaay… Ready to make some cake, Mosshead?” Zoro nods his head, looking at the counter, at all the ingredients.

“Do I want to know why there’s avocado in this line up?” Zoro asks, picking up one of the avocados.

“That’s because, dear Mossy, it’s going in the cake!” Sanji explains, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“We’re making chocolate… Avocado cake?” Zoro deduces.

“Wow! So smart, maybe there is a brain beneath all that moss.” Sanji exclaims, ruffling Zoro’s hair. He rolls his eyes at the patronization. “Now, if there are no more questions, I think we can get started.” He nods at Nami, and she counts down until they are live.

“Hello, my darling chefs! Welcome to another stream! We’ll get started soon, just going to wait for some more people. Today, we’re doing a double feature, using food that is going bad in your kitchen right now; baking addition! You know how I feel about food waste, and today we’ll make some really tasty treats to save your food.” Zoro watches the chatters roll in, all greeting Sanji, questioning Zoro’s appearance, and excited for the stream.

“Hi, Desiree, Chopper, Sapphire, Apollo! Welcome, welcome!! We’re going to get started soon, I see some of you are curious as to why we have rotten cabbage, and what we’re going to do with that. Reminder, this is in fact Zoro, world class gamer, and for the first part of the stream, we’re going to be making his million followers celebration cake.” Sanji puts his hand up to his mouth. “He’s also here to get me more views, but don’t tell him that.” Sanji stage whispers. Zoro rolls his eyes, but can’t hold back a smirk.

“Hello… chefs.” Zoro greets with no prompting. It takes a whole second, before there’s green hearts, and what could only be virtual screaming at his presence. “Curly’s got some weird stuff on the counter today, I’m a little worried about my cake…”

“Oh hush. You’ve never spent more than an hour in the kitchen. When have I ever made anything bad?” Sanji defends.

“I’ve never needed to, you’ve been around most of my life.” Zoro replies, deciding not to answer Sanji’s rhetorical question. Sanji seems caught off guard by that answer and gives Zoro a soft smile. God, he’s so beautiful.

“Yes, and thank goodness for that because all of you would’ve contracted scurvy no doubt.” Sanji replies back. He turns back to the stream, gesturing at the counter. “Now, on today’s menu, we have some almost overripe avocados and bananas. We’ll be making chocolate avocado cake and banana bread and muffins. So, if you’ve got either of those laying around about to go to waste, here’s how to save them and make something tasty.

“Now, you’ll need to preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. We’ll start with the cake, so we don’t marginalize our superstar’s precious time. I am going to use a bundt pan, I find it yields the best results, but you also have the option to use a loaf pan, or whichever pan you have available. Just know cooking times may vary. We’re going to grease our pan and set aside for later.

“First, we’re going to measure and whisk all dry ingredients in a bowl. 3 cups of flour, 6 tbsp cocoa powder, 2 tsp baking powder and soda and ½ tsp of salt.” Zoro needs no other prompting, and grabs the measuring cup and opens the flour to scoop out three cups. Sanji’s hand comes out of nowhere clamping on his wrist. “What do you think you’re doing, Mosshead?”

“Uh…” Zoro looks at Sanji quizzically. “Measuring out three cups of flour?” Sanji sighs, and takes the cup out of his hand and dumps the flour back in the container.

“Not like that you’re not. My little chefs, tell me, how do you measure flour?” Sanji asks chat. He waits for them to answer, and soon enough the same answer keeps rolling in. “Yup, that’s exactly right.” Sanji turns back to Zoro. “That’s why I took out a spoon and knife. The proper way to measure flour is by scooping with a spoon into the cup and then leveling it off with a knife. This will give the most accurate measurement, scooping with the cup itself will cause there to be air. Weighing your ingredients is the most accurate, but home baking sake, this is the best” Sanji demonstrates the first cup, then handing off the spoon and cup to Zoro to try again.

“Now you’re just dirtying extra dishes for nothing.” Zoro comments, as he measures the proper way. Sanji clears his throat.

“Well, it’s a good thing we have a dishwasher.” Sanji replies, not rising to the bait. “And to minimize clumps later, we’re sifting the dry ingredients into the bowl.” Once all the dry ingredients have been added, he hands the bowl off to Zoro to whisk. “Now, in another bowl, we’re going to combine ¼ cup vegetable oil, if you have canola or avocado oil, it all works the same, one ripe mashed avocado, 2 cups water, 2 tbsp white vinegar and 2 tsp vanilla. Marimo, I’ll let you mash the avocado.” Zoro diligently cuts the avocado and scoops it out into a bowl to mash, while Sanji combines the rest of the ingredients.

“Now, that’s all mixed, we’re going to whisk in 2 cups white sugar into our wet mixture.” Sanji adds the sugar and hands Zoro the whisk. “Darlings, do get yourselves a strong pro gamer to do all that tedious mixing for you.” Zoro rolls his eyes but says nothing, and stops mixing once everything is combined. “Things get heavier now, we’re going to add our dry ingredients to our wet, and whisk by hand until smooth. You can add ⅓ in at a time or do it all at once. Since I have my aforementioned strong pro gamer, I’ll add it all.” Zoro obediently mixes all the ingredients together.

“Alright, now that that’s smooth, we’re going to pour this into our prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes. Remember to always start at the lower suggested time, and add more if needed. You want your toothpick to come out relatively crumbless. Now there’s also a frosting to go with this cake, which we’ll make later, but for now, while that cake bakes, we’ll get started on the banana bread. How are you doing, chefs?”

Sanji takes time to read the chat, and answer any questions, while Zoro starts on mashing the bananas. Zoro really didn’t know how baking would go for him, but at least there are less variables compared to cooking. Cooking can be done a dozen different ways, with no determinate amount of anything. But with baking, it needs to be very precise. Too little or too much of something could easily ruin the whole recipe. It’s nice to follow exact instructions and yield expected results.

Much like gaming, Zoro wouldn’t mind baking with Sanji off stream. He never even considered the possibility, because when Sanji is in the kitchen, it’s a sure enough statement as any: do not disturb and stay out of the way. He doesn’t seem to mind Zoro watching, but he feels the energy and how it would be a step too far to step in. But on stream, Sanji is in teaching mode, showing way more patience than he would ever have.

Zoro wonders if he could get that same Sanji off stream. Just enjoying the act of baking or cooking together, in pleasant company, though that might just be on Zoro’s part. It’s something to ask if the occasion arises. Afterall, they’ve gamed together, it couldn’t be that bad to want to engage in Sanji’s hobby and livelihood.

-

Finally, the predicted day arrived, two days after the cake stream. Nami did the math and Zoro could hit a million followers within the next 24hrs. The plan is still the same, do a 12 hrs stream, while raising money for his charity, and reaching 1 million followers. The idea is that Zoro will be streaming until he hits a million, which on an accelerated timeline could be 12 hrs. Nami is hoping the hype and content of the stream will cause more people to tune in and reach their goal faster.

The schedule is to start off with some Overwatch 2, join Luffy and Usopp for Repo on all their channels, take a break to eat, engage with viewers, promote the charity, Nami has some ragebait games, another break, and streaming rivals with everyone for the last four hours. Zoro is kind of looking forward to that part because he can’t remember the last time all six of them were free at the same time to queue all together.

The first half goes well, the chat seems more active than usual, and they are excited that Zoro is doing a charity stream. There is a lot of hype about Zoro reaching a million, and the games he’s playing. He actually has so much fun playing repo with Luffy and Usopp, and is laughing out loud at their antics.

At the first break, he turns off his face cam to eat, responding to chatters, and once he’s done eating, talks about his charity.

“I’m actually very proud to be doing a partnership with Foster the Future. I am very passionate about this cause, it’s personal to me. While it seems niche, and unrelatable, it affects a lot of children. They provide money to hire more social workers, food, clothing, and shelter so that all children under the age of 18 are cared for until they find their forever home.

“It would mean a lot if you could donate, but I understand not everyone can. I will be matching the total donations, by the end of the stream. I would like to thank you for being a part of that, because without you I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

The ragebait games were predictably frustrating, and Nami even came in the stream via her voice to commentate and try to help but it didn’t feel very helpful. The stream peaks during this part, and Zoro isn’t sure if it’s the time of day, or this is prime content but there’s 10k people watching. Zoro promises this isn’t his usual content, to new viewers, not wanting to give false hope.

Eventually, the height of the hour came in the form of all of them playing Marvel Rivals. Viewership is at 4k, but Zoro doesn’t mind, because the follower count is getting very close to a million and he’s hit with the realization that it’s going to happen, and on stream. Sanji, Nami, Usopp and Chopper don’t play the game often, so they stick to quick matches to keep it entertaining.

Zoro and Luffy are trying to outshine one another, both trying to get the MVP, while Chopper is offering healing from afar, as Jeff the Land Shark, freaking out when they’re out of range. Usopp is sniping from afar as Hawkeye, with Nami playing Phoenix, a relatively new character to the game. Sanji is frontlining as Emma Frost, of course insisting on only playing women.

“CAN YOU GUYS STOP GOING SO FAR FORWARD! I CAN SEE YOU DYING AND I CAN’T HEAL YOU” Chopper shrieks. Luffy just laughs maniacally.

“We’re not dying! I have over-shield!” Luffy responds. He’s playing Mr. Fantastic and being an absolute menace about it. Zoro is playing Blade, of course, and with his many abilities he’s managing not to die either with his lifesteal, anti-heal, and damage reduction.

“You guys are stealing all my final hits! The only reason you’re not dying is because The Great Soge King is sniping from afar, taking down more than half the enemy's health!” Usopp retorts. They’re on Kytar control map, and they have the enemies right at their spawn practically.

“FAAANNTASTIC!” Luffy shouts, as he uses his ultimate. It seems almost pointless since the enemy team just backs up into the spawn, to stay alive.

“Guys, is this mean? This feels like bullying.” Chopper asks, despondently.

“Seems like a skill issue.” Nami comments. Suddenly, there’s pinging from the objective point.

“There’s someone on point, there’s 10 seconds left. Go, go!” Zoro orders. Of course, now the enemy chooses this moment to attack while their backs are turned. “Can someone get to the point? Me and Luffy will keep the rest of them occupied.”

“BAWAH! It's Spider-man! He’s moving too much and I can't get him!” Chopper cries.

“I’ll get that smarmy bastard!” Usopp exclaims.

“You never win in a 1v1 against Spider-man!” Nami retorts.

“Don’t worry, I’m here.” Sanji reassures. “I’ll choke him. Annnnnd… dead. We win!”Zoro types gg in the match chat. The enemy Hawkeye types ‘Hawkeye diff’ which Usopp takes as praise, and replies less than magnanimously.

“Hey, hey, Zoro. You’re almost at a million! Only fifty away!” Luffy points out. Zoro glances at the counter, and sure enough, it’s fifty- now forty-eight, until a million. “I want to see it happen, don’t queue up for the next game yet!” Luffy leaves the discord server, and the next thing Zoro knows, Luffy’s busting into his room. “This is so exciting!” Luffy exclaims, throwing his arms around Zoro and his chair. “Do you have a speech prepared?”

“Uh, not really…?” Zoro admits. He glances at chat to see lots of celebrating emojis, and people counting down. Usopp starts to chant speech, speech, speech, which the others quickly join in, including clapping. “Alright! Alright! I got it!” He takes a deep breath, glancing at the counter, (thirty away,) and looks into his camera.

“To refrain from sounding too cliche, I’ll keep this brief. I started streaming 8 years ago, with this idiot, and I never expected to make a career out of this. I’m really grateful to my friends, the Witch who manages and makes sure everything runs smoothly, the moderators, and of course all of you guys. Whether you’ve subbed or just follow the channel. If you’ve been here since the beginning or the start of this stream, I really appreciate it. I plan to make even better content, with more collabs and charity streams. So, thank you.”

As Zoro finished his impromptu speech, and reading a few chatters leaving hearts, support, congrats, Luffy starts cheering, and sure enough Zoro has reached a million followers. Nami, Usopp and Sanji come into his room. He’s smiling at all of them, not really paying attention if they’re all in frame. Sanji is carrying the cake, with the candles 1M lit on top.

“Congrats, pro gamer. Blow out your candles, wish for a million more.” Sanji taunts. Zoro rolls his eyes, but he knows he’s too elated to look annoyed. He wishes for the success and joy for Strawhat Streams and blows out the candles. There’s a whole other round of cheering, including Chopper through the discord call.

“I’m so happy for you Zoro!! Congrats!!” Chopper says.

“I’m going to reach a million next, and we’ll have an even bigger party!” Luffy exclaims.

“Try not to let it get to your head, Marimo. Don’t forget about the little guys”

“I’ll expect a pay increase, now that you’re a hot shot.”

“Don’t forget, with a big channel, doesn’t mean you’re the best gamer. You still suck at Minecraft.” Usopp deadpans.

Zoro was intimidated by such a large following, but in the last month, he’s realized that it’s not really any different. He’s going to play games with his friends, be engaging with his audience, loosen up, and play Minecraft sometimes.

-

The next two months go by fast, and the next thing Zoro knows, he’s packing to get ready to fly out with Sanji and Nami for his Chopped episode. Zoro has been prioritizing putting out quality over quantity on his twitch channel, which sometimes looks like shorter streams.

Zoro’s stream amassed 10 000 berries for his charity, which doubled to 20 000 berries. Foster the Future was more than grateful, and so was Zoro. Happy to see everyone pitch in what they could, he felt his community grow stronger.

He’s delved into the world of adventure games, still with a little bit of shooting, such as the Uncharted series and The Last of Us. Everyone on the channel has been tuning in daily to see them.

Things with Sanji… Have been in this weird limbo, of close friends… But Zoro can’t help but feel they’re riding that line of something more. The causal touches have only increased, appearances in each other's streams, and intentional time spent together off stream.

Zosan.Their fans have never used a word more. Sanji brings Zoro a snack during his stream? Zosan moment. Zoro crashes Sanji’s stream for a beer? Zosan caught in 4k. Their voices heard in the background? We’re being fed Zosan crumbs.

Ever since the Mario Kart stream, Sanji’s words play in Zoro’s head every time he sees a Zosan comment. We know what’s real and who we are. But Zoro is questioning that more and more. He’s getting mixed signals, but it’s also giving him courage to actually talk to Sanji…

After filming of The Chopped episode, is what he told himself. Nami has called him a coward, and egged him on a few other occasions, but hasn’t said anything to Sanji so far. However, yesterday, the day before the flight, Sanji seemed extra distant during their movie night. He went to bed early very abruptly and almost didn’t say goodnight to Nami.

But now, the morning of their flight, they’re all packed and Usopp is driving them to the airport. They are going to be in Loguetown for four days. Two days of flying in and out, one for filming and another for standby if anything else is needed from the contestants. Tomorrow will be a 12hr filming day, but for some reason that sounds way more intense than Zoro’s stream.

They say goodbye to Usopp and head for security. Nami has made sure they have plenty of time to get to their gate. Sanji still hasn’t said much all morning, but the three of them aren’t morning people, so that could also be why Sanji is silent. An hour later, after checking in, security, finding their gate, they are boarding the plane.

Zoro hasn’t flown all that much, but it doesn’t seem so bad. Nami somehow managed a free upgrade for herself, so Zoro and Sanji are stuck with a crying baby, and complimentary peanuts. He’s hardly paying any attention to turbulence or spectacular views when Sanji’s been bouncing his leg and grinding his teeth for the last 1hr.

“Hey, you’re not going to have any teeth left by the time we land.” Zoro chastises. Sanji scowls, giving Zoro a stink eye, before opening his bag of peanuts and eating them pointedly.

“I just need a smoke.” Sanji grits out.

“You had one an 1hr ago.” Zoro points out.

“Shut up, Marimo.”

“Is this about filming? You can’t seriously be stressed-” This turns out to be the wrong thing to say.

“Of course, I’m stressed! This is only what I've been working for, for the last 8 months and if I don’t perform well, it’ll all be for nothing!” Sanji shouts. Zoro frowns. This is why Sanji’s been distant the last few days? Why hasn’t he told Zoro any of this?

“Cook, you’re going to do just fine-” This is also the wrong thing to say.

“FINE? I need to do better than fine! The point is to WIN!” The peanut bag is being crushed, and is at risk of being spilled on the floor. Zoro feels like he’s on unequal footing, this is the worst place to be having this kind of conversation.

“Careful, of the-”

“Is everything alright, gentlemen?” A flight attendant asks, appearing out of nowhere. Zoro wonders if they’ll give them an extra bag of peanuts. Sanji is quick to turn his attention to her, and does a 180.

“Yes, my dear. Everything is wonderful, thank you. These peanuts are just delightful.” Sanji gushes. He eats one to prove the point. The flight attendant is smiling, but Zoro thinks it’s just because she has to.

“Well, I’ll just ask you to lower your voices, as it’s disrupting our passengers. Please be mindful. I won’t be asking again.” She warns, very menacingly, even with a smile and polite tone.

“Of course, love. You won’t hear a peep from us!” Sanji reassures, laughing awkwardly. She nods her head, and walks away. Sanji swings his head around and sneers at Zoro, before rummaging through his bag and takes out his headphones. He connects them to his phone and starts listening to a podcast.

“Okay, I can take a hint.” Zoro mutters. He stares out the window, for some peace. It’s been awhile since they’ve seriously butt heads like that. Zoro knows Sanji is clearly stressed about the show, so it’s probably best not to purposefully instigate him.

3 hours later, the rest of the flight is uneventful. Zoro mostly napped, and Sanji stayed silent. They meet-up with Nami at baggage claim. Sanji is avoiding eye-contact, really any recognition, but is as always pleasant with Nami. Once they’ve got all their luggage, they get an Uber to their hotel, get checked in and promptly make it up to their room.

It’s only once Nami unlocks the door there’s a problem. Two queen beds.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Zoro mutters. This has to be a part of Nami’s scheming. If only she knew the argument they had on the plane.

“Um, Nami-swan, are you sure this is the right room?” Sanji sputters. “That is of course, if we’re sharing a bed, then this room looks splendid!” Nami cuts them both a look.

“Well, this room was on sale on a third party website. Normally I would prefer to spring for my own room, but this bargain was too good to pass up.” She smirks. “Are you boys going to play nice, and share a bed? I do need my beauty sleep, since I’m the only female, and the manager I do reserve my right to my own bed.” Zoro glares at her. She suddenly seems to forget all the times they’ve slept in the same bed, floor, couch together, but Zoro doesn’t mention it.

Any other day, Zoro wouldn’t mind, it really wasn’t a big deal (embarrassing crush aside,) but he knows he’s the last person Sanji wants to spend any time or space with.

“No problem, Nami-swan!” Sanji replies, because of course he wouldn’t push back on anything Nami says. “I am ready to grab some dinner, do we want to check out the restaurant downstairs?”

“I ate pretty well on the plane, but I can keep you company, have a cocktail or two. Zoro? Are you coming?” Nami prompts. Zoro shakes his head, not wanting Sanji to be uncomfortable at dinner.

“I’ll unpack, stay here. Luffy’s still streaming, so I’ll watch the rest of his Stardew Valley stream, and order room service.” Zoro reassures. Nami gives him a suspicious look, and Sanji looks defeated but looks away quickly.

“Hmm, suit yourself. Don’t wait up for us!” Nami calls over her shoulder, and they both file out of the room leaving Zoro alone. The room wasn’t anything big, with a small entry way, a bathroom off that, a kitchen nook, the beds, one desk and chair, an arm chair and a tv on the dresser.

Zoro honestly wasn’t feeling very hungry, feeling more restless about Sanji. He quickly unpacks his toiletries, and takes the bed closest to the window, also choosing that side to sleep on. He changes from his plane clothes, and gets comfortable on the armchair, joining Luffy’s stream. Luffy notices immediately.

“Zooooorooo!!! Welcome! You must be wanting to sleep because this game can never keep your attention!” Luffy says. Zoro comments a yawning emoji and Luffy laughs. He wasn’t trying to fall asleep, but all the ingredients were there. He didn’t notice it when he did, he just woke up to someone shaking him awake.

“Hey, Mossy. Wake up, you’re going to be sore if you sleep in the chair." Sanji whispers. Zoro slowly opens his eyes, his phone on the ground, and Sanji hovering over him. He looks sheepish, but it’s better than being upset. “You didn’t eat, did you?”

“Ah, no.” Zoro sits up and stretches. “I’ll order something now, don’t worry about me.” He starts to get up, but Sanji holds out a hand to stop him, and takes a seat on the ottoman in front of him. Sanji reaches over to the desk and passes Zoro a take out box.

“The kitchen is closed now. I had a feeling you wouldn’t, so I bought this from the restaurant downstairs.” Sanji explains. Zoro opens the takeout container to reveal a deluxe looking burger complete with a brioche bun. (He knows that because they’re the buns Sanji uses.) Zoro feels a little out of his depth, still on uneven footing.

“Um… Thanks, Curly.” Sanji stands up and makes his way to his luggage.

“I’m just going to shower and get ready for bed… Can you wait up for me?” Sanji asks, so earnestly, and Zoro knows he wants to talk, which he is more than available for.

“Of course, Curls. Take your time.” Zoro reassures. Sanji nods his head, grabs his bag and heads to the bathroom. He picks up his phone, and sees a text from Nami. Talk with Sanji, it will be good for both of you. I’m giving you an hour then I’m coming up. Zoro responds with a thumbs up, and digs into his burger.

The burger is delicious. (Of course, never as good as Sanji’s) Zoro cleans up, and stands awkwardly in the room, trying to decide if he should continue to wait in the chair, or on the bed. He glances back and forth between both options, trying to decide when Sanji emerges from the bathroom.

“Zoro.” He can’t help but flinch, not expecting Sanji’s voice, nor the use of his given name. He turns around slowly to see Sanji in more comfortable clothes, and slightly damp hair. He hasn’t styled it to cover one of his eyes, the ends are curling slightly. Zoro is once again faced with the dilemma of wanting to wrap Sanji up in his arms and kiss himi.

“Tell me what’s going on in your head, Love Cook.” Zoro pleads. He doesn’t care if he sounds desperate, he just wants to be there for Sanji. He seems to deflate more, letting out a sigh, and walking over to his side of the bed, curling up at the head of the bed.

“What if I’m not good enough?” Sanji whispers, hoarse, and Zoro has a feeling he’s been crying. “I know I’ve gotten this far, but what if they realize they’ve made a mistake? What if I get eliminated in the first round? What if they think I’m a joke? What if the other contestants laugh at me because I’m a streamer? What if-”

“Sanji! Please!” Zoro shouts. He can’t take it. He can only imagine how that thought cycle feels on repeat. Sanji being trapped in his own head, Zoro can’t bear to hear him doubt himself. Sanji looks up at Zoro with watery eyes, and Zoro closes the distance, sitting on the side of the bed, close but not touching.

“I can’t turn it off. I’ve been fighting my whole life, and I’ve fought to be on this show, but what if it’s not enough? What if I’m never enough?” Sanji demands, looking at Zoro with desperation, he can’t bear to see, but he doesn’t look away.

“You are right. You’ve been fighting for everything. Your friends, your education, your job, your passion, your freedom.” Sanji hiccups, tears spilling from his eyes. “You’re a fighter, and you’re right, you’ve fought for this opportunity. Even when people try to sow doubt or trouble, you’ve overcome it. Because you are strong, Sanji. The strongest person I know.” That’s why I love you.

“There may be a chance you don’t win. That you even get eliminated in the first round. You’ll give yourself time to mourn that chance, but I know for a fact, in less than a week, you’ll pick yourself back up, and strive for the next big thing. And if you ever need a hand to help pick yourself back up. An ear to listen to you. Someone to eat all your stress cooked meals. I know no better group of people than the ones you’ve got in your corner.

“Rely on us, rely on me when your brain is your enemy. Tell us, your success, your struggles, your hopes. Because we’re not going anywhere even if you fall.” Zoro concludes. Sanji is crying more steadily now, and Zoro reaches over to the bedside table to grab the tissue box. He gives Sanji a moment to blow his nose and wipe his tears, despite them continuing to pour down.

Zoro brings a garbage bin for Sanji to throw out his used tissues. He goes to the bathroom to wet a cool face cloth for Sanji’s flushed face. He hands it to Sanji who looks at him strangely, but blots his face with the cloth nevertheless. Zoro replaces everything when Sanji’s done with them, coming back into the room.

Sanji is leaning against the headboard, with his eyes closed. Zoro takes it as his cue to climb into his side of the bed. Once settled he looks over at Sanji, to see him already looking at him.

“Thank you, Mossy. For the reminder. For listening. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner, and for blowing up at you on the plane.” He whispers, and gets more comfortable under the blankets. He knows Sanji isn’t the best at apologizing so the motion is very kind.

“Don’t mention it, Cook. You’ve got enough to worry about, don’t worry about me.” Zoro reassures. Sanji snorts in response. They lay down facing the same direction with distance separating them. That is until Zoro feels Sanji’s foot bridge the gap, tucking in between Zoro's. He smiles, and adjusts so they’re both comfortable. Sanji is going to be just alright.

In the morning, they’re a flurry of movement. They have to get onsite for 7am. Thankfully, breakfast will be provided, which is the only thing motivating them. Even Nami is less of a tyrant for timing because they all don’t have the energy. They take a cab, and get there on time.

Once they arrive, Ted Allen, and other staff members greet them and the other contestants. Sanji seems to be giving off more excited energy than nervous, which Zoro is relieved about. They show them to a meeting room, where breakfast is laid out buffet style. Everyone takes a turn loading up a plate and taking a seat.

The director and staff walk the contestants through their day, how long the filming session will take, when lunch is, how the judges will be deliberating in real time, and the ‘diary room’ scenes will be filmed when they are not cooking. Once they wrap up breakfast, they will give the contestants a tour, then get them to wardrobe to get ready for the real deal.

“How are you feeling, Curls?” Zoro stage whispers once the crew lets them finish their meal.

“Better than last night.” Sanji confirms.

“Well, that’s good to hear. The sooner we get started, the sooner filming will be done. If you ever want to leave, we can always come back tomorrow for your intro, or thoughts throughout the show, but they do prefer to get all the material they need today. Just let us know if you need anything, Sanji. That’s why we’re here!” Nami reaffirms.

The whole group is ushered out onto the set where the main filming will take place. The non contestants are brought to a seating section condoned off away from the set and crew. The chefs get debriefed on where they can find what they might need, and each of their assigned stations. It only takes twenty minutes, before all the contestants are ushered to wardrobe, hair and makeup.

“What do you think of the competition?” Nami asks, once the two of them are out of earshot from the rest of the supporters.

“You know my answer. No one is better than our Love Cook. This is barely a contest.” Zoro replies. There haven’t really been proper introductions made yet, but the other three don’t look like much. Nami rolls her eyes.

“Don’t let anyone catch you saying that.” Nami scolds.

“Or what? They’re gonna kick me out for playing favourites? Rooting for the person we came here with?” Zoro questions.

“I’m not saying that, I’m just saying let’s not ruin Sanji’s chances by running our mouths. Just stay in line.” Nami insists. Zoro scoffs but doesn’t retort. The last thing he wants is to be the reason Sanji gets disqualified.

All the contestants come back, Sanji looks the best. (Not that Zoro is biased or anything.) He’s wearing his same non-slip dress shoes, black slacks, chef whites with blue trim and a short blue scarf around his neck.

“You guys still haven’t kissed? If you don’t make a move, someone else is bound to snatch him up.” Nami comments. Zoro growls under his breath and shoves her.

“I’m working on it.” Zoro grits out. “Once all this is done, and there is nothing else life-changing, then I’ll tell him. The contestants all film their two minute intros. There’s a mother from West Blue, who runs her own small restaurant. A woman from East Blue, who works at a Michelin star restaurant. A man from Lougetown, who is an influencer and has written a cookbook.

And, of course, Sanji. Grew up with nothing, adopted by Zeff, who he works with at Baratie, and streams on the side. Whose love for food is greater than others, because he knows what being on the brink of starvation feels like. When the whole world feels like it’s against you and against all odds, still come up on top.

Zoro once again feels there's no competition. Sanji stands apart from the rest. After they take a few more shots of the set, the chefs all go to their stations. Ted Allen introduces himself, the judges, and first round: appetizers. The theme is virality, due to their two “influencer” contestants. The chefs are signaled to open their baskets and reveal their first four mystery ingredients.

The first round the ingredients are lemon, pickles, parmesan and hot honey. It suddenly feels surreal to Zoro, this is when, if they were at home on the couch, Sanji would delve into great detail about what he would make with these ingredients. But now, Sanji can actually execute the meal. Ted Allen signals the twenty minute timer starting now, and all chefs are quick to get to work.

Where they are sitting, Zoro doesn’t really have a clear angle to see what Sanji is doing. Twenty minutes have never felt longer but Zoro’s sure Sanji is thinking the exact opposite. Once Ted Allen calls for time, everyone stops, and seems to be done with their dishes.

One by one they bring their dishes over to the judges. Zoro doesn’t really listen to what the other contestants have to say. The judges thank all the chefs, and dismiss them so they may deliberate. Zoro wishes he could go over to Sanji to talk to him, but he knows he can’t.

An abhorrent twenty minutes later, the judges bring the contestants back for the decision. Ted Allen reveals the man’s plate under the cloche. He is sent home, due to his overcooked and ‘safe’ dish. He says a few words, then walks off stage. The cycle begins again for the second round: entree, this time with thirty minutes to complete it.

This round they have sweet potato, octopus, soya sauce, and capers. The chefs get cooking all over again. These thirty minutes seem to go by faster, Zoro caught up in the show that is Sanji in his element. Ted Allen calls time and they bring their dishes to the judges. After they’ve tasted all of them, the judges dismiss the contestants to deliberate, and the director calls cut, and signals lunch break.

The contestants cannot deliberate with anyone, so they are brought to a separate room to eat lunch, and Zoro and Nami graze the table for the staff. Lunch is short, because within another thirty minutes, the chefs and judges come back and they begin rolling again.

Ted Allen reveals the mom’s dish and she is chopped as well. She thanks them for their time, and walks off stage. It barely crosses Zoro’s mind that Sanji made it to the last round, since he always knew he was going to win. The final round: dessert.

The final two chefs open their baskets to reveal their last four mystery ingredients. Strawberries, matcha, pistachios, and lavender. Much like the other rounds, a weird viral assortment. They get another 30 minutes for the final round and they both leave no time to waste.

Zoro hopes Sanji’s not self-sabotaging himself. He can only hope that his and Nami’s presence is enough. Zoro can see near the end of the timer, Sanji swearing to himself, shaking his head. But he never stops moving or cooking. Ted Allen calls time, and the final two chefs bring their final creations. After tasting both, the final two, once again make their way off stage while the judges deliberate.

After what feels like more than twenty minutes, the judges finally call them back for the final verdict. The chefs come to stand in front of them, and Ted Allen reveals… Sanji’s dish. The judges explain that it was a tough decision but the Michelin Star Chef had a better performance overall, thus making her the winner.

Zoro’s heart sinks, Nami’s hand clamps on his wrist, both frozen. He didn’t even consider the possibility of this outcome. He has no idea what to say to Sanji, what Sanji’s going to say. Zoro will only act according to how Sanji reacts.

“Thank you, so much. This has been an incredible opportunity, for me, and I will take your critiques and praise seriously, and continue to push my limits. I couldn’t have done it without my friends and mentor, they helped me get here, and I thank them as well.”

“It’s been an honor to have you on our show, Sanji. Thank you.” Ted Allen replies. Sanji turns around and begins to walk off stage. Zoro starts moving before even realizing he is, making sure to stay out of the way but to be close by for Sanji.

Sanji makes eye contact with Zoro, and he maintains it, never wanting to look at anyone else. Sanji begins to speed walk, when he sees Zoro and once he’s far enough off stage, takes off in more of a jog. Zoro’s hit with the reality that Sanji is barreling right toward him with no stopping in sight.

Instinctually, Zoro spreads out his arms, and braces for impact. Two seconds later, Sanji throws himself at Zoro wrapping his arms around his neck. Zoro responds in turn, immediately wrapping his arms around Sanji. Zoro is anticipating it, and barely moves a muscle.

“I’m so proud of you, Love Cook.” Zoro murmurs.

Zoro closes his eyes, all of his focus on holding Sanji in his arms. A few seconds later, he suddenly feels the heat of a light pointing right at him. He squints his eyes open and sees one of the lights and cameras, pointing directly at them. He’s about to tell Sanji they’re still rolling, when Sanji whispers:

“Zoro, I like you, have this whole time, I’m sorry my care wasn’t as loud as yours.” He holds him tighter, astonished at the confession. Zoro wants to tell him everything, but the cameras are still rolling, and Zoro has had enough of them, they’re not about to capture such an anticipated moment.

He carefully, slowly lets go of Sanji, who steps back, confused expression, before Zoro nods his head in the direction of the cameras. Understanding, Sanji turns back, waving to the camera, and walks properly off set, dragging Zoro behind him by his hand.

Sanji leads them to his dressing room, where it is empty, and quiet. Zoro lets go of Sanji’s hand to wipe them on his pants, sweaty, and suddenly nervous that the moment has finally arrived. He paces for a second before Sanji grabs his wrist gently, turning Zoro to face him.

“Hi.” Sanji smiles so wonderfully. Zoro still hasn’t kissed him, and it’s killing him that he hasn’t, but he needs to say what’s been weighing on his mind for the last couple months.

“Hey.” Zoro inhales deeply. He can do this, he practiced this. “Sanji… I don’t know how to be romantic, in the way you are, but… I love you. I have loved you for longer than I care to admit. I never thought I ever stood a chance, so I never said anything. But, I guess I’m a little obvious, because I started getting paranoid, our audience was going to rat me out before I ever got to say it myself. I’m using it as motivation to finally say what I should’ve said a while ago.” Zoro takes Sanji’s other hand, holding both gently.

“I love watching you cook. I love playing games with you, watching shows with you. I love that I’ve been able to see you succeed, over and over again. I hope you’re not disappointed in not winning this competition, because this is still a major achievement. You set out to be on this show, and it has come true. You are such a complete person, with big dreams and great determination, and I don’t want to get in the way of any of that.

“I want to continue to support you, in any way that looks. I want to be there for every win and loss, especially if that loss is against me. I want to learn to be a better person, with you by my side. I want to show you kindness that you so easily give to everyone else. Because you deserve the world, Love Cook, and I am willing to do everything in my power to ensure that you get it.

“Let me love you, please. I feel I know nothing else at this point. I want it to be known by you, that I am doing it, because I love you.” Zoro’s voice gets quieter as he admits this, staring deeply into Sanji’s eyes, which are a little watery. Zoro, ever so carefully, uses the side of his finger to dab the wetness away. Sanji's smile is wobbly and chokes a little, bringing both his hands to cup Zoro’s face.

“If I say yes, are you finally going to kiss me?” Sanji asks, voice hushed. Zoro nods his head quickly, and Sanji laughs, he’s so beautiful like this, Zoro feels like he can’t take it all in. “Yes.” Sanji whispers. They both move at the same time unhurriedly meeting in the middle for a kiss they both seem to have been waiting a long time for.

Sanji’s lips are soft, and where Zoro feels lost and inexperienced, Sanji guides him to the best (and only,) kiss Zoro’s ever had. They part slowly, reluctantly. Zoro looks into Sanji’s eyes, and he wants to kiss him again, and again, and again. To make up for all those missed opportunities. The bells are ringing, as Sanji laughs again.

“We are such fools. We could’ve been doing this for ages, if we weren’t such cowards.” Sanji states. Zoro doesn’t want to think about that, he just wants to focus on Sanji now that he’s got him, and kisses him again. He presses kisses in quick succession, on Sanji’s lips, nose, cheeks, eyelid, chin, and corner of his mouth. Sanji giggles, but submits to the burst of affection.

“I'd rather just think about our future now.” Zoro admits. He must’ve said the right thing because Sanji’s smile grows, and he kisses Zoro again.

“You know, for someone who claims not to be romantic, you certainly have a way with words.” Sanji replies, leaning to kiss Zoro again, when suddenly the door slams open. They both look up to see Nami, shocked at first before reading the situation and smirking, crosses her arms.

“Oi! Ever learn to knock, Witch?” Zoro barks, face red, hiding his face behind his arm. Sanji admonishes him under his breath to not call Nami that.

“Well, excuse me for coming to check on my friends after they so suddenly and mysteriously wandered off.” She points at Sanji. “They need a self-reflection from you, then we’ll be free to go for today. Check in with make-up on set, wouldn’t want anyone to think you just came from a makeout session.” Nami directs. Sanji has the decency to look embarrassed too, but he nods, and walks out of the room.

“Ugh. Men. Always no talk and no action.” Nami complains, but it’s all acting when she smiles at Zoro. “I won’t say I told you so, but I will say I am so happy for the both of you…Now we have at least 4 months to figure out public statements and coming outs, for your channels!” Zoro knows she’s right, and probably has had a plan since Zoro initially talked to Nami all those months ago.

Right now, Zoro is looking forward to a relaxing day tomorrow. Nami already has her afternoon planned out, lounging at the hotel spa, and Zoro has no plans whatsoever. Sanji has no doubt sightseeing he wants to do, restaurants he wants to visit, and Zoro is perfectly content with that. As long as he can sleep in and spend it with Sanji.

They get back to the hotel at 9pm, and everyone agrees to order room service, too exhausted to do anything else. They take their turns showering, and changing into something more comfortable. Nami allows them to splurge on the room service, which Zoro takes her up on, and orders everything that sounds good, including the most expensive wine.

They facetime Usopp and Luffy, catching them up to speed on their day and Zoro and Sanji’s confession. (Nami divulges all details on that.) Soon after eating, they’re too exhausted to do anything else except sleep. Nami is out almost as soon as the lights turn off, but Zoro suddenly feels awake, now at the idea of sharing a bed with Sanji in different circumstances. He’s still in the bathroom, not willing to skip his routine despite the late hour while Zoro lays restless in bed.

He’s laying on his back staring up at the patterns on the ceiling, and subconsciously tenses when the bathroom light turns off and Sanji tiptoes his way to their bed. He climbs in, and lays on his side facing Zoro. He feels frozen, unsure what to do or say.

It feels ridiculous considering they were making out in Sanji’s dressing room, not even 6hrs ago. The sound of a twinkling bell captures Zoro’s attention, and he turns toward Sanji who has his head propped up with one hand, smiling gleefully.

“Where’s all that talk from the dressing room gone, huh Marimo?” Sanji teases, and reaches out with his other hand to smooth down Zoro’s shoulders, forcing him to relax, which he does gradually. “What happened to not wasting any more time?” Zoro considers the events of the day, and just feels as though they’ve rushed things, but this really has been something between them for years. He’s thought about what he would do if they were in a relationship, but now that they are Zoro can act on it.

“I guess it still feels unreal…” Zoro admits, rolling on to his side to face Sanji. Sanji moves his hand to cup Zoro’s face, smiling so sincerely. He leans down and presses a quick kiss to Zoro’s lips and gets comfortable, lying down and tangling their legs together.

“Well, this is real. I would say we’ve officially started dating, and that means I can do all the things I thought of together.” Sanji whispers. Zoro smiles, elated to hear Sanji shares the same sentiments as him. “Since you’ve been pining for so long, you must’ve thought about what you would do if we ever dated. Tell me, what did you imagine?” And if that’s not a deep question.

“Us. The way we are just… You know, that everything you do, you have my undying support and love. I don’t want you to go any more days without knowing how much you mean to me. I couldn’t ask for anything more, I don’t want us to change. I want to keep pushing each other to be the best, and spend time together, whether it’s cooking, gaming, watching a Brad Pitt movie, or just… laying together, enjoying each other's company.” Sanji's smile only grows bigger the more Zoro confesses. It earns him another kiss, which he gladly returns.

“You are such a sap.” Sanji states, but gives him another kiss, and Zoro doesn’t think it’s an insult. “You are so thoughtful, of course you don’t want anything to change. I don’t want anything to change either, I love what we have. But now that I know that we’re on the same page, feelings wise, I want to be able to shower you with all my love and show you how much you mean to me. But I know you don’t like that kind of attention.”

“There’s nothing you can throw at me that I can’t handle, Love Cook.”

“Oh? So if I wanted to cuddle on the couch during movie night, you wouldn’t protest? Or holding hands out in public? Dropping by your stream to give you a snack and kiss?” Zoro tries not to react but his face must betray him, because Sanji giggles. “That’s what I thought.”

“Okay, well… I don’t know where to find a compromise, but I definitely don’t want to make it a big deal. Holding hands is fine with me, probably preferred for you since you complain about me wandering off-”

“And then we have no idea where you go! It would be one thing if you told us where you were going, but most of the time you just wander off, and it takes us even longer to figure out where you are!”

“I get it! So, hand holding is fine. I guess everything you mentioned is okay… If there’s anything I think is too much, then I’ll let you know.” Zoro concludes, he kisses Sanji to seal the deal.

“Works for me.” Sanji replies.

“Don’t get me wrong, happy for you both, but can you idiots go to sleep?” Nami’s muffled voice echoes through the room. Zoro scoffs, and Sanji apologizes. Sanji smiles at Zoro and opens his arms, and Zoro accepts the silent invitation, snuggling under Sanji’s arms leaning against his chest, wrapping an arm around his torso. Sanji’s arms come to rest around Zoro’s shoulders, holding him secure against him. He combs his fingers through Zoro’s hair, and he melts even further into the embrace.

This is not exactly how Zoro expected his confession to go, but he’s beyond happy that they got there. He feels even more confident in his career, and is excited to continue to support Sanji in everything he decides to do. Even though he didn’t win the overall Chopped competition, Zoro knows this will still give Sanji great exposure, and open so many other doors to other opportunities.

The best part, without a doubt, is the fact that nothing changes. Everything they’ve built is the foundation for all the new exciting things they get to experience as a couple. Zoro wouldn’t have it any other way. Some things may prove to be difficult, such as their online personas, sponsorships, and the fan reception, but Zoro knows their bond is stronger than those obstacles.

-

Epilogue

Chopper would’ve never expected in his wildest dreams, he would be working for Strawhat Streaming. He’d been watching them for years, before finally feeling brave enough to comment and interact directly with the fandom. When Nami invited him on to be a moderator, Chopper felt incredibly honoured. He is a fan of all of their streams, his favourite being the gaming streams. Something he can always put on in the background, while studying.

While Chopper technically worked and has even played Marvel Rivals with the Strawhats, he doesn’t know them all super well. Unfortunately, his calling has always been in medicine, and gaming, watching streams, is just his hobby. Therefore, he was very surprised to hear Zoro answer a question he thought he knew the answer to.

“Am I in a relationship? Are me and Cookingw/Sanji together? Are you gay? While I think we’re entitled to our privacy, to put simply; yes. I am in a relationship with Love Cook, and I do identify as gay. Don’t know if this doubles as me coming out, but I am gay, and the Cook is openly bi, if you didn’t know. The Witch says I don’t have to say anything else beyond that, so no more questions.”

Chopper had seen the fanbase shipping the two together, and he thought it was a little weird since they are real people, who can read these comments, and have real feelings. He hopes Zoro didn’t feel pressured by the fanbase to come out, as gay, and/or in a relationship with Sanji. Chopper hopes for nothing but the best for the both of them.

For the rest of that stream, Chopper did his job to mitigate people who were being homophobic or asking insistent questions. For the most part, chat respected Zoro’s request, and mostly engaged with his gameplay over the announcement of his relationship status. He couldn’t stay to watch/moderate the whole time, but said goodbye when he was signing off, which Nami, some chatters, and Zoro acknowledged.

The next day, Chopper was home for the weekend at his guardian’s, and with access to an actual kitchen, he was hoping to catch Sanji’s stream so he could cook alongside him. Chopper had taken his fair share of nutrition courses, and given his studies, knew what makes a balanced meal. But it’s one thing to know, and another to know how to eat spinach, chickpeas, and rice in one meal and make it taste good.

However, as Chopper waited for the stream to start, he noticed that the title of the stream was ‘Q&A’s with my boyfriend <3’ and now Chopper wasn’t sure if Sanji would also be cooking. To his dismay, when Sanji appears on his screen, he appears to be in his bedroom, where he usually does his gaming streams, sitting on the bed with Zoro beside him. Chopper decides to let it play in the background, and takes a recipe off the fridge, for Sanji’s Super Stirfry, and he gets to work pulling out ingredients.

Once everything is gathered, Chopper types a quick hello, and sets his phone back down to watch and chop.

“Hello, my wonderful darlings! Hi! We’re in a different set up as you can see, we’re doing a different sort of video. Yes, hi Chopper, Sapphire, Apollo, hi everyone! Say hi, Marimo.”

“Hi.” Chopper cringes, Zoro looks incredibly awkward, and sounds it too. Hopefully, he’ll get better as the livestream continues. Sanji places a hand over Zoro’s, where it’s resting in his lap, just enough off camera to not fully see it.

“Yes, so hello everyone, as you’ve gathered from the title, me and Zoro are going to be answering questions that we’ve been getting, I want to say since the Chopped episode released, which was, God… It just aired recently, but it was filmed almost 4 months ago now. But since that episode, and other recent events, you’ve all been wanting to know ‘is Zosan real?’ and every other detail that goes with that.

So, our dearest Manager, Nami, has gathered a list of questions from you guys, as well as who’s most likely to questions for couples, and we’ll also answer any other questions, you might have live, near the end. This VOD will be posted, so fear not if you can’t stay for the whole thing, all will be revealed and most likely clipped to death for everyone to see.

“So, to get the obvious out of the way, I am Sanji, I stream when I can, mostly cooking/food related videos, with gaming on Sundays. I am bisexual, and I’ve officially been dating this Green bean for 4 months.” Sanji gestures with his free hand toward Zoro.

“Um. I’m Zoro, Roronoa_Zoro3 on twitch. I stream video games, right now primarily Marvel Rivals. I guess I came out yesterday? I didn’t keep it a secret necessarily I just didn’t see how that was relevant to my streams, never really came up. But yeah, I’m gay and I guess I’ve been dating Swirly here for 6 months.”

“If you can’t tell, Mossy here is very nervous, so let’s be nice to him in chat okay? I know he’s very cute. Only when he wants to be, don’t let this act fool you. Try living with him, that’s a different story.” Sanji jokes, but Chopper can practically see the hearts in Sanji’s eyes. “So, Nami wants us to address the Chopped episode first. In case you missed it, I was invited to be on Chopped, which is something I've been applying for, for a while. Filming of the episode took place 4 months ago, but my episode just aired recently as part of this season.

“The episode is up on my channel, in case you want to watch it, spoiler warning now, I guess. I made it to the second last round, but I did not end up winning the whole thing unfortunately. Truthfully, I was a big ball of nerves, the whole day, and I made a mistake that ended up costing me the win. It was such an adrenaline rush, the whole time. They tell who won before filming, so I wasn’t totally devastated on live television, but once I shook hands with Jessica, who by the way, a phenomenal woman, all the chefs were very nice, and she deserved that win.

“Anyway, so after shaking hands, I walked off camera, and once I thought I was off camera, I ran to Zoro, leapt into his arms, and confessed my feelings for him. Of course, Zoro then pointed out they caught all that on camera, and decided to use it for the show since it was so romantic.” Sanji sighs. “It was very romantic.”

“I’m going to puke, Curls. I’m not sure if I can do this.” Zoro protests. Sanji pouts, and slaps the hand he’s holding.

“Nonsense. Get over yourself, you did then, and you can now.” Sanji turns back to the camera. “Zoro is a quiet romantic, and doesn’t really appreciate PDA or grand gestures, he shows his love in a hundred small actions and words. In any case, I couldn’t help myself, I was so overcome with emotion, and the fact that you were there, supporting me, I was just overcome with the need to confess it all.” The two stare quite longingly into each other’s eyes, both smiling softly. It makes Chopper feel like he’s intruding and averts his eyes, scraping his chopped veggies into a pan.

“And the rest is for us. But we officially became a couple, by the end of the day.” Sanji concludes. “Now, we’ll do ‘who’s most likely to’ questions.” He looks at Zoro. “So I’m going to read these scenarios and you just have to point to the person it applies to more.” Sanji explains. “Now, who’s most likely to forget an anniversary?” Zoro thinks about it for a second, but points at himself, as does Sanji.

“It’s not that I forget, I know all the important dates, I just never know what day it is. My routine is so cyclical that the day of the month or week makes no difference. You have an actual job that requires you to pay attention to the date. So I think just because I wouldn’t know what day it is, me.” Zoro defends.

“I will give you that, I know you know. I just can’t get over the fact you have no idea what day it is, like ever. What’s today?” Sanji quizzes. Zoro scrunches his face, and tries to remember what it said on his phone.

“Wednesday the 16th?”

“Close, it’s Thursday the 17th.” Zoro rolls his eyes.

“It’s fine, I know you don’t take any offence, and will remind me before the actual day itself so I’m not totally under-prepared.”

“Okay, moving on. Who’s most likely to sleep through their alarm? That’s you again, you don’t even set alarms because they don’t wake you up.” Sanji points out, Zoro nods, also pointing a finger at himself.

“Yeah, I mean when you get up I know it’s too early, and go back to sleep.” Sanji laughs at Zoro.

“Alright, who’s the most romantic partner?” They both point at each other, and Sanji laughs again. “I think you seriously underestimate how romantic you can be! Sometimes you still surprise me.” Zoro shrugs.

“But I’m not really trying, I just do what I want because I want to. You’re intentional, you make time and plan things out. Plus you’re the one who loves romance, so of course you’re more romantic.” Zoro explains. Sanji sighs and kisses Zoro’s cheek.

“And that my dear, is precisely what I’m talking about, you’re not even trying and you are, but I won’t argue with you about it any further. Who’s most likely to get lost while going somewhere new?” Sanji immediately points at Zoro.

“Oi, what the hell kind of questions are these?” Zoro demands, looking over Sanji’s shoulder to read the list.

“Just to move along quickly, Zoro is the most likely to get lost driving, on foot, even in his own house.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad! I’ve never gotten lost in our own house.” Sanji giggles.

“When we first moved in-”

“That hardly counts! It was still new!” Chopper knows this to be true, because Zoro often forgets where he’s supposed to go in the newer games he’s been playing like Uncharted. It’s pretty funny.

“Which is exactly what the question was asking. Anyway, moving right along, who’s most likely to get angry over a minor inconvenience?” This time, Zoro is quick to point at Sanji.

“Curly has the shortest fuse, and will get angry or yell at just about anything.” Zoro explains.

“Hey! Don’t make it sound like I’m upset all the time!”

“Well, you’re not. You get upset really easily, but you don’t stay upset. There’s just a lot that gets on your nerves. Like annoying customers, or a messy entryway. Or when I don’t shower immediately after coming home from the gym.” Zoro elaborates. Sanji pouts but nods his head.

“I guess that is a fair explanation. But in my defence those are some very frustrating things.” Sanji defends. “Okay, next question. Who said I love you first?” Sanji smiles and points at Zoro. “I don’t think we need to explain that one further.” Zoro returns the smile, and for a second Chopper thinks they’re going to kiss live, but Sanji breaks eye contact and asks the next question. “Who’s most likely to start an argument for no reason?” Predictably they point at each other.

“I feel like this is set up. The Witch is definitely trying to cause drama off camera.” Chopper sees Nami’s tag pop up in chat with an innocent looking picture of her saying Who me? Never! Zoro sees it as well and calls her out on it. “What’s the next question?”

“Who’s more stubborn?” They both deadpan, look at the camera and once again point at the other. “Nami, dearest, I don’t wish to fight this brute on stream. I’m moving on to the next question, I fear our answers are telling enough. Who snores the loudest? Well, much like not waking up for an alarm, Zoro definitely snores the loudest. Don’t even try to deny it, Mosshead. You once woke yourself up from how loud you were snoring.” Zoro looks a little embarrassed, but slowly nods his head.

“Yeah, I won’t argue with you there.” Zoro admits.

“I can’t believe you’re letting me win so easily! But it’s hard to deny. Our last question, who gives the best hugs?” Zoro points at Sanji.

“I feel so safe, and, well, held. I feel like the day’s stress just melts away once I’m in your arms.” Zoro confesses. Sanji looks so endeared by that answer.

“I can accept that answer, I try my very best. But just to answer what I’m sure everyone is dying to know, yes, Zoro is a great hugger. I also feel safe. His muscles are definitely an added plus, he’s actually very squishy.” Sanji laughs at Zoro’s face, who’s pouting.

“I am not squishy. I’m all hard muscle.” Zoro defends.

“Sureeee. If that’s what you want to believe.” Sanji taunts. “Now, Nami saved us some frequently asked questions from when she did a poll. Again we’ll answer some questions live as well, so be sure to stick around. So first question, do you watch each other's streams?”

“Well, I’m usually busy streaming myself, or working out.”

“Hmm, those sound like excuses. You can just say you don’t watch.”

“Well, it’s not like you watch my streams.” Sanji gasps.

“I know you didn’t just say that.”

“What? You don’t game, you don’t enjoy gaming content.”

“As if I wouldn’t watch you. You’re my boyfriend, and before that you were my friend. Of course I’m going to watch.” There’s a pause, and Chopper glances over to see the two of them staring at each other. “You seriously had no idea?”

“Well… I guess I had an idea… You reference what happens in that day's stream, but I just figured you saw Nami post a short or reel about it. You work 50% of the time, when do you have time to watch?” Zoro questions.

“On my lunch breaks, at home in my room. It’s not the whole stream, but I do try to pop in at some point. Stop looking at me like that! Fine, you’re not special, I watch the other’s streams too.” There’s another pause, Chopper wonders if Zoro is broken by this new information. “Anyway! Next question! When did you know you were queer, and when did you come out?”

“I don’t think there was ever a moment, I just remember having a crush on you in high school, and only later occurred to me that I like guys. I did come out as gay, but I don’t know if I am, because it’s only ever been you… I haven’t had romantic feelings for anyone else. Wow. That’s embarrassing to say.”

“Aweee! You had a crush on me in high school! That’s how I know this love is real, I was a little shit in high school.”

“Yes, you were. A real douche. When did you figure it out?”

“Probably, college? You know I love women, they are gorgeous and deserve the world and more. Men…? Well, let’s just say you have to dig a little deeper to find the diamond in the rough.” Sanji jokes. “I came out… I also don’t know? Once I came back from college everyone assumed? Which, rude.”

“That’s because it was the same time Ace, Luffy’s older brother, came to visit and you two wouldn’t stop flirting with each other. It was revolting to watch.”

“Now, now. I’m with you, so you don’t need to take it out on Ace.” Sanji reassures. “Moving right along, next question, Where was our first date? Oh, what a great question, tell them, Moss for brains. Where was our first date?” Sanji sneers. Chopper glances over, hoping they’re not about to fight on stream. Zoro sighs.

“I already said, I’m not very romantic. Cook was busy with work, and everything right after filming, so it was hard to organize something. So… With help from the staff, I set up a romantic dinner at the restaurant where he works. We were secluded from everyone, and Curly cried-"

“I did NOT cry!”

“Tears of stress and happiness. But once everything was said and done, Love Cook leaned into me, and told me to never take him on a date at his own place of work again.” Zoro concludes.

“I spend 40hrs, sometimes more, at that restaurant. The food is good, don’t get me wrong, I make sure it is, but I don’t really want to spend any free time there. I don’t know how to describe it, it’s just, anyway- We’ve spoken about it, and I’ve planned most of the following dates, but Zoro has had many good ideas since the first one.”

“Thanks for that vote of confidence, Curls.” Zoro rolls his eyes. “Ha, that’s a good question. Do we enjoy cooking together, on and off stream?”

“For the most part, I do all the cooking in the house for everyone, and generally don’t like outside help.”

“Cook is very controlling. I don’t want to lose my head.” Zoro admits.

“I am not so bad!” Sanji protests. “When streaming, it's a different mindset: I’m teaching and cooking with all of you. It’s fun with Mosshead.”

“I enjoy spending time with you, doing the activity you are most passionate about.” Zoro confesses. “But, off camera, I enjoy baking with you more, despite rarely eating what we make, because it’s more methodical than cooking. You take too many creative liberties with cooking, baking is a science, and that I can understand.” Chopper nods his head along with what Zoro’s saying as he measures his spices with his heart.

“That is such a Marimo answer, wow.” Sanji laughs. “But I agree, I do like that freedom when cooking, but we’ve made cookies, and more health conscious treats and we’ve both come out unharmed. It is fun when there’s no pressure, to bake together.” Chopper turns off the stove and plates his stir fry.

“Any upcoming projects/content/plans?” Sanji reads the next question. “For me, without giving too much away, I will be collaborating with someone outside of my own channel. It’s still in the works, but my time on Chopped has definitely opened some doors, I am beyond grateful for.”

“You deserve it, Curly. As for my less than fancy gaming life, I will be hosting a Marvel Rivals tournament, which I’ve announced on my channel. You can sign up your team of 6, if you think you have what it takes to win. We’re also going to be taking a break, which has now been announced across Strawhat Streams channels.” Zoro explains.

“We’re going on vacation!” Sanji cheers. “Our beautiful Nami has booked us a cottage in All Blue, and we can’t wait. So there will be pre-recorded videos going up on our YouTube channel, and I do believe we’ll somewhat vlogging our trip, but I am really excited!”

“We all deserve a break, this year has been crazy, and then we’ll be back with new exciting content.” Zoro reassures.

The stream continues, giving the floor to the viewers, to ask any questions they might have. Chopper is eating his stir fry as he can’t help but keep an eye on the comments for anything unsavoury, but thankfully everyone is very receptive to the stream and announcement. A lot of chatters claim to have known from the beginning, which Chopper doesn’t really understand if they’ve just started dating four months ago.

It’s a little upsetting to see the difference between Zoro and Sanji’s chat, but maybe because Sanji talks more openly about LGBTQ+ topics and prides his space to be welcoming for everyone of all backgrounds, they would be more positive about such an announcement. Chopper can only hope that Zoro’s fanbase will keep their chats to themselves or change their opinion.

Either way, Chopper can’t wait to see what other content they might post together now that none of that awkwardness remains. He wishes them both nothing but the best, and types as much in chat.

“Awe, thank you Chopper!! We appreciate your support, and all the work you do for Strawhat Streams, we’re so lucky to have you!” Sanji gushes. Chopper feels his face heat up, his smile grow and subconsciously starts wiggling in his seat.

“He’s probably doing his little embarrassed dance, hiding his face and wiggling.” Zoro teases. Chopper gasps, as if Zoro knew that! He denies it in chat, but it makes Zoro laugh instead, which makes Chopper feel he was unconvincing. Chopper giggles at the situation too. Zoro and Sanji carry on answering questions. Chopper really is lucky to be a part of such an amazing community.