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“Sanji? Over here!” Usopp’s voice rang through the cook's ears as he entered the coffee shop. The blonde perked up, letting his eyes trail to see a man awkwardly standing to greet him. He was… perfect.
Sanji had met Usopp through a friend of a friend, someone who told him that this dork was the one for him. He was skeptical at first, but after texting the engineering major for more than a week, he decided he wanted to officially meet him. Fuck, he was so glad he had.
Usopp was cute, in every way that could be cute. The way his smile took a whole part of his face, the way his eyes crinkled, the way his cheeks flushed in a deep red against his dark skin tone. The way his hair was braided against his scalp, pulled back into a half up half down style with a hair tie, that framed his face with loose braids across his chin. And his voice. His voice matched his person, matched everything about him.
“Usopp?” Sanji whispered, approaching the table with his hands clasping around his stomach, “...Hi.” He didn’t get a chance to respond, as his body became enveloped in a tight yet hesitant hug. It was warm and comforting, the kind of thing he hadn’t felt since he was a child. Since he was in the embrace of his mother all those years ago.
“Sanji! It’s so good to meet you!” His voice was strained and hiding an obvious smile, “Oh- I’m sorry!” Usopp pulled back from the hug with two hands planted atop the other's shoulders, “I should have asked. Um… Can I hug you?”
Sanji’s face was stained pink, a small blush glittering atop his cheekbones and dusting across his nose. It was a tight kind of tingling underneath his skin as he attempted not to grin and giggle like a little schoolgirl. Usopp was utterly adorable. He was cute and considerate, maybe even a little airheaded. Someone that he wanted to caress with both hands, feeling his warm skin underneath calloused fingertips.
“Yeah, you can hug me,” the blonde replied, trying to hide the flustered tone building in his voice. He was brought back into a hug. The kind of hug where a hand snaked to cradle the back of his head. The kind of hug where he could feel Usopp pressing his face into the crook of his neck and trying not to obviously inhale his scent, a mixture of cigarettes and cheap cologne.
They pulled back from the hug after what felt like an eternity, even though it was so clear none of them wanted to. Even if they had just met, it was as if they had known each other forever. A lifetime and a half of pining and yearning bubbled at the surface of Sanji’s mind, and he couldn’t push it away. Why was it so hard to look the other man in the eye and clear his throat to speak? They had just met; he couldn’t have developed feelings all that fast.
“Oh! I ordered you a drink. I’m not sure if you’ll like it…” Usopp pulled Sanji along to their table, motioning to the iced drink lying on the top of the wood as he sat down, “It’s just an iced coffee. You look like you like ice coffee. Was I wrong?” He then pressed his lips together, to stop himself from nervously rambling on without an end in sight.
Sanji tightened his lips to stop the smile, but he couldn’t. How considerate. And how cute. Cute. That was Usopp. Every bit of his body was cute, down to the way he anxiously looked around like a dog in the car for the first time. Every part of him was adorable and cute, and something that the blonde wanted to take into his hands and squeeze until he couldn’t anymore.
“I like iced coffee,” the cook nodded, sitting down and grabbing the drink. It was cold to the touch and didn’t have a very strong flavor, but it was something good to sip on, “What did you get for yourself?” He quirked a curly brow.
“Oh! I got a matcha latte. It’s just something basic- I like the flavor. It kind of tastes like leaves, though,” Usopp looked away to the window on his left, trying to keep his eyes off the man before him. But his eyes kept trailing back to Sanji. His hands, his eyes, his lips, his hair- God his hair looked so soft. He wanted to run his nimble fingers through strand after strand and marvel at how silk like he knew it was, how delicate and fragile it was.
Sanji nodded his head, letting out a soft hum, “I agree. I prefer just basic iced coffee, so you definitely got me right. It’s like you know me already,” a lazy smile spilled across his lips, and he couldn’t help but laugh when Usopp’s face grew increasingly red at the sight.
“A-ah... uh-huh,” the brunette swallowed and nodded as well, “Well, I mean, everyone likes iced coffee,” he let out a somewhat nervous laugh.
“But I mean, you even asked for sugar free syrup. I didn’t tell you I liked the taste of sugar free better than regular,” he teased, raising his eyebrows and pursing his lips together, “Did you ask Zoro my coffee order?”
Usopp almost melted into a puddle of pure embarrassment at his words, but God, at that look too. It was everything; hot, sultry, adorable, cute, conniving, attractive, cute!!! Something that made his insides turn to his outsides and twist into a large knot, pulling apart at the seams to start all over again. He had been caught, and it hadn’t even been a minute into their date, or well, hangout. It was worse, though.
“No,” he let out a shaky breath and averted his gaze to the other side, “I went to your Instagram and found a photo of your coffee order from two years ago,” he scrunched his face up and pressed his right hand to his cheek, attempting to cool the heat rising in his face, “Hahaha… That’s really weird… huh?” Usopp’s brown eyes trailed to the other mans, wide and somewhat nervous for an answer.
…
“Cute…” Sanji didn’t mean to let slip aloud, but he couldn’t help it. His smile widened and he let out a laugh, covering his mouth to attempt and muffle out any kind of sound, “That’s really… You’re really… You’re cute, Usopp.”
“What.”
“You’re cute, long-nose,” he ran his hand across the table and flicked Usopp’s arm, biting his lip at the slight contact, “No one’s ever thought to check my Instagram to find my coffee order.” His cheeks felt sore from the grin he sported, but Sanji wasn’t able to stop it. Was this joy? Was this some kind of comforting warmth building in his chest affection and admiration for the man before him? They had just met, he had to continue to remind himself, but he couldn’t stop thinking about his face.
Usopp’s face.
It was cute, all scrunched up and embarrassed, trying to turn away to hide the red blush and the flustered scowl. It was cute, every single part of him.