Simple Affection

He wonders if Sanji's skin is this cold, this smooth, or if it blazes as warm as the stove-top fire and riddled with dips and crannies. Zoro sees his own face within the gleaming metal and his reflection stares back, warped and inhuman. The image takes the swordsman by surprise, filling his heart with an irrational sensation that felt too close to disappointment. If the knife was a part of Sanji, and Zoro's reflection was ruined with the blade's surface, was that how the chef saw Zoro? As something less than human, less than equal? Blemished and undesirable? It fills the teen with unwelcome panic.