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It was a calm day and those didn’t usually come for the Strawhat Pirates, least of all now that they were officially an Emperor’s crew, not with the lives they lead, not with the risks they took over and over.
So when the situation arose where they could just chill and relax, they were going to take it.
At least Sanji would take advantage of that.
And the island they had docked was small, calm and seemingly welcoming to pirates, so really, they would be fools if they let this chance to take a break go away.
That’s how, with the log pose needing 3 days to set and the freedom to do whatever they wanted as long as they didn’t cause any trouble, Sanji decided he wanted to do something ordinary and that contrary to popular believe he didn’t get to do as much when they were sailing because he spent the majority of his time in the kitchen.
He decided to go fishing.
And alright, you can call him boring for that, but he already stocked up the kitchen and made an inventory of all he had and how to divide it so it can last until they reach the next island, so now that he is free from that responsibility if he wants to rent a boat and go fishing in the big ass lake this town has, he damn well is going to do it.
With that in mind, Sanji did make his way to the lake, he heard from some locals that the lake had quite the variety of fishes and his mind is already doing turns coming up with different recipes he can do with them.
He was so caught up in his thoughts, that he failed to notice a presence appearing right beside him.
“Sanji! Where are you going?”
Sanji would deny until his dying day about the screech that left his mouth at being surprised so brusquely.
He glared at the culprit, who had the gall to be laughing at him. “What are you doing here Luffy?”
“ Shishishi , I saw you leaving The Sunny.” He said. “And I was bored so I followed you!”
Sanji sighed, he will never change. “Well, I don’t know how much I’m gonna be able to kill your boredom, I was planning to go fishing.”
Luffy’s eyes lit up. “Ohhh, I’ll join you!”
Sanji cracked a smile, figuring that he was going to say that already. “You’re gonna have to be careful Luff, we’re going to be on a boat for a while.”
His captain shrugged his shoulders, the smile never leaving his face. “It’s alright! I have you to rescue me, don’t I?”
Sanji flushed at his boldness. “Pretty sure of yourself, huh?”
“I got the best boyfriend ever, so yeah.” Luffy said simply before jumping and draping himself around Sanji’s back. “Let’s go!”
Sanji, knowing when he was beaten, did just that, if a small smile graced his face all the way down to the lake, well, nobody needed to know that but him.
Luffy, for all his restlessness, was awfully lucky when it came to fishing, if the way he kept getting fish after fish out of the water was anything to go by.
“I got another one!” He exclaimed happily, the poor fish hanging on his road.
Sanji growled, because Luffy was beating him by a large margin and he knew it wasn’t a competition, but his brain didn’t seem to get the memo.
“Put it in the cooler with the others.” He instructed, waiting until Luffy did just that before returning to his own rod.
“You’re gonna cook all those fish tonight for dinner, right Sanji, right?” he asked, delightment in his eyes.
“Of course I am, Lord knows that our catch is not enough to keep you satisfied, so I’ll be doing some complementary dishes.”
Luffy hollered, excited. “You’re the best.”
“Stop it.” Sanji pleaded, face red.
Luffy didn’t. “You’re the best cook.”
“Stop.”
“You’re a wonderful friend.”
“Luffy.”
“And you’re the best boyfriend ever!” He draped his arm around Sanji, pulling him close. “And I love you very very much.”
Sanji put a hand on his face, his whole face and even down to his torso colored in red. “Why are you so fucking embarrassing!” when Luffy didn’t say anything, he sighed. “I love you too.”
“Shishishi, I know!” He gave him a little kiss on the cheek. “Hey Sanji, tell me about fishes!”
Now that , made Sanji take his hand off his face, turning to look at Luffy with a raised eyebrow
“Huh?”
“You love to talk about fishes.” He said simply as if that was an explanation and knowing Luffy, he probably thought it was.
Sanji still looked confused. “I mean, these fishes we’ve been catching, there’s nothing much to them, so I don’t have a lot to say.”
“Hmm, well, tell me about the fishes you like! Or the water creatures!”
Sanji bit his lip, knowing that if Luffy gave him free reign, he would probably never shut up.
“Are you sure?”
Luffy nodded. “Yup, I saw you with that book in the galley the other day, the one with a lot of pictures, you were smiling.”
Now that makes sense, he indeed was reading a book he got a while ago, it had information of all kinds of fish on the grand line and even a section on fish native from the four blues.
Luffy must have noticed the uncertainty in his face, because he started to talk again. “I saw you looking at a picture of a big fish, it was chubby and it had spikes I think?”
“That’s a pufferfish.” Sanji corrected him. “It’s actually more common to find it in the West Blue, and it’s known for being a very poisonous fish.”
“Oh.” Luffy said, almost dejectedly at the notion of a venomous fish. “So you can’t eat it?”
“You can actually, the liver of a pufferfish can be edible but you have to do a thorough cleaning of the fish and also when cutting into it, it must be done with precision so you take only the edible part, which usually is tiny.”
“And can you do it?”
Sanji bristled and if the question came from anybody else he may have been offended. “Of course I can, remember who you’re talking to.”
Luffy laughed. “Someday you gonna have to cook it for me then.”
Sanji smiled. “We would have to come across one first, so don’t get your hopes up Captain.”
That earned him a pout and his boyfriend had no right to look that cute while pouting, thank you very much.
After a few more seconds, Luffy spoke again. “Any other rare fish in your book?”
“Luffy.” Sanji said seriously. “If you allow me to talk about the things in my book we probably won't get any more fishing done today.”
Luffy’s grin was answer enough. “Go on, Sanji.”
Sanji let out a shaky breath while at the same time feeling the corners of his mouth quirk up.
“Well, the book had this fish, I have never seen it before, but it was big and red and it was called angelfish , it said it’s native from the South Blue and it’s very rich in flavor, you can fry it or make it sushi and still it would be delicious, very easy to cook.”
“There was also an octopus look-alike but it had 6 legs rather than 8, I don’t remember the name right now so I would have to look through my book again, but the description did say that takoyaki done with that animal tastes 10 times better than a regular octopus.”
“There was also this little creature, I don’t really think is fit to eat based on the description, the book called it luvfish and is very tiny and even heart shaped! Can you believe that!? I really want to see one, even if it’s only once in my life.”
And so Sanji went on, talking non - stop about every single form of aquatic life that he remembered reading from his book, the more he talked the more his eyes got this shine in them and the more his smile grew. Luffy didn’t stop him, not even once and just stood there looking at him with a smile and hearing him talk his heart out.
After what must have been an hour later, Sanji realized that Luffy was quiet, very quiet and that was unusual from his boyfriend, so he focused his gaze on him, blushing at what he saw.
Luffy was looking at him, eyes soft and his smile big, his chin resting in his hand.
Sanji felt his heart jolt. “What?” He asked weakly.
Luffy didn’t miss a beat. “You look happy when you talk about the things you love, it’s beautiful.”
Damn this man and his complete honesty.
Sanji lowered his gaze. “I’m sorry, I know I can talk too much about this.”
“Don’t be.” Luffy assured him, getting closer to him. “I like hearing you talk and I like spending time with you, just the two of us.”
Sanji smiled. “I like spending time with you too, Luffy.” He looked around, noticing how the sky was starting to darken. “I guess we should be heading back, huh?”
“Really?” Luffy whined. “I wanted to spend more time with you!”
Sanji was pretty sure that if his face got any more red it would explode. “Luffy, if we don’t go now, I won’t be able to make dinner on time.”
As expected, that earned a gasp from the other man, as if not having dinner on time was the worst thing that could happen, knowing Luffy, it probably was for him.
“Sanji! We need to go! I’m hungry!”
Sanji laughed. “I hear you Luf, I hear you loud and clear.”
Later at night, back on The Sunny, everyone fed and everyone asleep, Sanji made his way up the Crow’s nest to start his watch, not really expecting anyone to make him company given that he took the first shift.
But well, Monkey D. Luffy always has a way to surprise him.
Because when he finally made it up there, Luffy was waiting for him, sitting on the bench and was that a book in his hand?
“Are you getting sick?” He asked automatically, Luffy blinked at him, tilting his head, confusion in his eyes.
“No?”
“Then why do you have a book? You don’t like to read the newspaper, least of all, a book.”
Luffy made an ‘oh’ with his mouth before starting to giggle.
“Silly Sanji, I’m not reading this book.”
“Alright? Then why do you have it?” Sanji asked, the confusion now being transferred to him.
“So you can read it to me!” Luffy replied enthusiastically.
“ Pardon me?”
“Is your book! The one about the fishes and octopuses and any other animal in the ocean!”
Oh , Sanji’s heart did skip a beat, it seems like Luffy wanted to spend more time together, not that he can’t blame him, he was the same and times where it could just be the two of them alone were rare.
He would be an idiot to let this opportunity pass.
“Make way Luff.” He finally said, Luffy whooping at that, making space on the bench, once he was seated right beside his boyfriend, he took the book from his hands.
“What do you want me to read you first?”
Luffy shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever Sanji wants, if it makes you happy it makes me happy too.”
Sanji felt his cheeks redden, this man really was going to be the death of him one day.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I love you very much, Sanji!” And then Luffy leaned forward, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
Sanji smiled, his heart fluttering. “I love you very much too, Luffy.” And then, being a little more daring, he planted a kiss right on the other man’s lips, feeling Luffy melt into it, his hands going to his waist while Sanji’s own moved to his shoulders.
Just them, in their little world.
He really was a very lucky man.