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At first, Sanji wouldn’t take notice.
Sanji stood in the ship’s kitchen, a little annoyed at having to prepare a late lunch due to an earlier encounter with an enemy ship. As the fiendish pirates climbed upon the railings of the Sunny, swinging their chipped edged swords in mocking confidence, Sanji was forced to peel away from his cooking temporarily.
He hated having to leave his work in the middle of it, not being able to complete the recipes he’s carefully constructed in suited taste of the early noon hours. But because of the sudden interruption, he had left it on hold, in order to assist his fellow crew mates. He knows that they are capable of taking care of it themselves, but to Sanji, not being there by their side as they face an opposing force was a complicated feeling to him. The encounter would end quicker if he joined in, afterall.
Fast forward to the present, and Sanji is faced with a messy fated kitchen. A few utensils and recipe books have been flown across the room, liquids and sauces spilled. The fighting must have caused a rumble big enough to rock the kitchen. Sanji furrowed his brow and chewed at the inside of his lip as he leaned down to pick up the items around him. Even as the surrounding mess was enough to peeve him, he was more focused on what he was gonna prepare for the (now) afternoon meal of the day. He would have to cook something quick and efficient in feeding the crew their carefully crafted diets, because after the exertion of the fight, it’s necessary to create a nutritional meal that will restore the crew's now depleted energy.
As Sanji continued to ponder about his meal plans, subconsciously cleaning as he goes, there was a creak as the galley door was shoved open. He glanced over his shoulder, peering over the counter to find a straw hat bobbing up and down, coming closer to him.
Luffy clapped his hands down onto the countertop, leaning forward as he stood on his tippy toes. He peered over the kitchen island, spotting Sanji crouching on the floor, searching through spices and such. He grinned, a cheeky look in his eyes as Sanji watched in knowing anticipation.
“Sanji! Food!” Was what came out of the captain’s mouth, a classic line Sanji has heard once over too many times. Sanji stood up, brushing the wrinkles off his apron.
“Yeah, I know, I know, just give me a minute to whip something up,” he quipped, as he started to shoo Luffy away, “Now go, I need to focus.”
But Luffy wasn’t deterred, instead, he situated himself right at the island. He rocked his feet back and forth, his fingers were placed gently on the island's edge, gripping slightly. He looked like a giddy child, a boyish glee shone on his face.
Sanji let out a breath and rubbed at his temple, turning away to put all his focus on his job.
Luffy has been hanging around in the kitchen more often, much to Sanji’s confusion. He tried to discern his reason as to why. Maybe to make a quick snatch of unguarded meat while Sanji wasn’t looking? Were he and Usopp up to something?
It wasn’t clicking in Sanji’s brain, as there was no reason for Luffy to observe him as he worked, if not just to be obnoxious. But as he looked back at him, there was a polite and gentle glint in his expression. He looked content, his eyes slightly lidded, and head now resting in his folded arms on the counter. Luffy flicked his gaze up to meet Sanjis, and a small warm smile formed, just slightly hidden behind his arms. Sanji felt his cheeks heat just a bit, and it was enough for him to whip his head back around and bury himself into slicing a now very interesting loaf of bread.
He wasn’t sure why he felt self conscious all of a sudden, but the soft features on Luffys face gave him a weird feeling in his chest. It felt familiar to when he spoke to a beautiful lady, yet different. Luffy's current expression wasn’t something he saw very often, if not towards him. A stark contrast to his usual wide toothy grin and bubbly self. It was bizarre, like there was something delicate missing for him to understand.
He needed him to leave so he could think more clearly without his gaze burning holes into his back.
“Why are you still here, go bother someone else,” Sanji grumbled, without looking at him. Luffy raised his head slightly, attention peaked.
“I’m bothering you?” His expression formed into surprise, a small glint of confusion and remorse.
Sanji stood for a moment, contemplating his choice of words, before turning slightly to face Luffy once again.
“Well, no, not really actually. It's just…” Sanji’s gaze arose from the floorboards to catch a peak at Luffy, who was watching him contemplatively, eyes slightly wider,
“I don’t know! What's gotten into you? Why are you watching me and not out on the deck hanging out with the others?!”
Sanji threw his hands up in a flabbergasted manner, his eyes darting away as Luffy's gaze was much too tense for him to withhold.
Luffy brought his index finger to his chin, tapping it as if contemplating his answer. He let out a soft hum as he closed his eyes. When he opened them once again, he brought on his kind, gentle, look from earlier towards Sanji. He smiled, and Sanji's gut was filled with butterflies.
“I want to watch you cook.”
A pause.
A simple, straight to the point answer, as expected from Luffy.
Sanji wanted to kick him for his naivety, but in a cruel twist of fate, his response only made his cheeks heat up even more. There wasn’t anything particularly special about what he said, but the way he announced it.
“That’s a dumb reason,” he whispered harshly to himself, yet it got picked up by the joyful pirate.
“I like you, so I wanna watch you cook,” Luffy persisted, a now very small blush starting to form across his cheeks. Now it was Luffy’s turn to turn away, rocking in his seat as he dodged looking at Sanji.
Sanji was sure he was beet red now, because the absurdity of the situation was too much for him to handle. He couldn’t pin why he was feeling so many clashing emotions, especially since it was only Luffy. Either it was from embarrassment, flattery, insanity, or the way Luffy lit up when he entered the room, or the way he smiled so thoughtfully when he sees Sanji, or how excited he looks when he starts rambling about the various species of beetles and his favourite ones.
Sanji wanted to throw up. He knows he’s been having feelings for his captain for awhile, yet every instinct inside him told him to bottle it up, not let it show, ignore it. But Luffy’s consistency in brightening each of Sanji’s day, either purposefully or not, has made it more difficult to keep pretending that those emotions aren’t real.
“Luffy, I—,” Sanji started. His throat felt dry. He wanted to get it out, wanted to say something.
Suddenly, Luffy hopped off of his seat, and was now walking around the island, approaching Sanji with a shy smile. It was a sweet scene, Luffy almost never looked bashful.
He spread his arms open and glanced up to meet Sanji’s eyes. Sanji’s cheeks felt like a hot stove, his breath hitching as he basked in the situation. He almost wanted to laugh, that a few simple words coming out of the crews troublemaking goof would put him in this state.
The absurdity of it was unreal.
“Sanji, I wanna… Can we hug?” The blush on Luffy’s face grew a deeper shade, yet he held his firm deep gaze. Sanji was ready to melt.
Oh. Oh.
“You… Want to hug?”
He gives a big smile, and shakes his head yes enthusiastically.
“Y-yeah, yeah, we could do that, sure.”
Luffy's eyes lit up, the grin plastered on his face growing even larger. He encloses the space between them, giggling slightly as he wraps his hands around Sanji's back, resting his head against his chest. Luffy melted into his touch, tightening his grip just a bit more.
Sanji felt frozen, somewhat in shock from the whole ordeal. The warmth emanating from Luffy was comforting, and he could feel his heartbeat against his own. Sanji was stuck in his firm grasp, but it didn’t take long for Luffy to loosen up a little to allow Sanji to wrap his own arms around him.
They stayed like that for a moment longer, both of them taking comfort in the quiet stillness and warm aura surrounding them.
It was nice, Sanji decided. It was something he needed. He felt like he could relax for a moment, to let go of his god forsaken buzzing thoughts.
Until Luffy broke the still contact by reaching up and placing a small peck on Sanji’s cheek. He giggled as he moved away from Sanji, the comforting hug releasing. He snatched a cubed watermelon from Sanji’s fruit platter he had prepared, tossing it into his mouth as he dashed towards the galley door.
“Thanks, Sanji!” He exclaimed, a quick flash of his cheeky grin and a wave before disappearing behind the door, the sounds of gleeful shouting from the crewmates followed.
Sanji brought a hand up to his flaming blushing cheek, the place where Luffy’s lips ever so softly brushed against. The unexpected event leaves him stunned, gawking at the door he just left through.
“Tell the crew lunch… is almost… ready…” Sanji teetered off, the words heard barely above a whisper.
Sanji wonders if maybe next time Luffy will stick around longer, long enough for Sanji to give him a peck back.