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Sanji slumped in his seat as the crew started digging into their dinner, choosing to do a buffet style tonight to save him the work of doing personalised plating for each person.
An ensemble of hands was descending on the dishes like a flock of birds to seeds, eagerly scooping a little bit of this and that into their plates, crossing over each other as they attempted to fulfil their specific cravings.
There would be the occasional slap as someone defended their plate from Luffy, Robin's hands sprouted up like a barrier around her, Nami, and Franky's plates.
Dinner time tended to be a bit chaotic for them, to say the least.
He looked down at his own plate in detached disinterest, even if it was constructed by his own hands to suit his tastes. When all his thoughts were occupied on how much of a lifeless corpse he felt, how his energy was drained out of him to leave him feeling like a jellied husk, food was the last thing on his mind. Even the back-breaking labour of working his jaw was enough to make him want to weep.
It was his own fault for even staying up late, causing destruction on his already tumultuous sleep schedule. But the lure of trying out a new recipe was all too great; his brain latched tightly on to it before he could help it and caused him to fall right into its beautiful trap. It was one of his many downfalls.
So, by all means, he accepted the consequences of his actions, even as they kept on taunting him through the burns lighting up his fingers.
He wasn't really one to be so careless, but his reflexes were slower that day.
Sanji massaged them absentmindedly as he watched the others eat, his plate officially abandoned in its pursuit. He'll eat it later or give in to Luffy's insatiable appetite, no food went to waste in his kitchen, and his dear captain was the perfect remedy for it. Their fated meeting felt even more meant to be.
All he wanted at that point was to go to bed, his warm blankets and clean sheets and soft pillows calling to him like a siren in the sea. But he had to stay up long enough to satiate his need for a clean kitchen, for its call was even stronger.
He's made the mistake of leaving dishes for later only a handful of times in his life, however coming back in the morning to congealed food on his treasured pots and pans made his job twice as difficult and quickly corrected his terrible habit.
So, he had to stay awake.
Yet his mind did everything in its possession to rebel against this. Sanji's eyes fluttered open and shut as he attempted to stay alert, trying to keep track of the subsequent conversations to aid him in his quest.
He rested his head on his hand and picked one point on the wall to focus on, the point slowly fragmenting into multiple copies as he swayed slightly.
"-nji. Sanji, are you okay?"
Sanji came to with a jolt once he realized they were calling for him, several pairs of eyes on him as he flushed in embarrassment.
He wasn't even sure whose voice it was.
"Yeah I'm okay.", he mumbled as he sat straight up again, rubbing his eyes slightly to keep him lucid, "I'm okay."
"Okay, just checking because you weren't eating."
"Not very hungry, I'll finish it in a bit though. Don't worry."
Sanji settled back into position, already feeling the torture of waiting out the long dinner they would inevitably churn out, complete with shanties and music on Brook's account.
Not that he didn't enjoy the festivities, it was not even the first time he joined in on them himself, for they made dinner a merrier affair. However, that night he had no patience for it when his bed was eagerly awaiting him and the dishes were treacherously standing in the way of it, almost as if to mock him.
The minutes felt like they blended into hours as Sanji's brain was eating itself crazy trying to entertain him enough to keep him awake.
All he could focus on was the heaviness of his head that kept threatening to droop, the drowsiness of his brain as it slowly shut down, the fluttering of his eyelids as they attempted to remain open, the tiredness of his joints.
All he wanted was a comfy place to rest his bones, to not keep his muscles in such a tensed state, keeping them sharp and at the ready for motion that may never come.
Sanji's consciousness flickered once more as the scenes in front of him drifted in and out of focus, feeling as if he was stuck in sludge as his vision kept darkening and brightening.
He gave up his inhibitions and laid his head in his arms, sliding his eyes half-shut to finally lift off their burden from having to keep a clear vision. The blurriness enough to give him comfort whilst also restoring his energy bit by bit.
Then once he rested up, he would be up and at it again to restore the kitchen to its original state and head off for bed, thankful that he already had his bath for the day.
It was fine.
He was fine.
Sanji's breath had long since evened out by the time dinner had finished, the man out cold to the world around him no matter how loud it became.
It hardly came at a surprise to anyone with eyes and a solid pattern recognition. His sluggish reactions, his lack of an appetite, his lowered attention span, and the way he was starting to sway into the people next to him.
Thankfully, Franky had no qualms in acting like a human pillow that night, with Robin's arms sprouting to keep the cook upright and comfortable as can be.
The man barely had a functioning sleep schedule to begin with, running around and burning up more energy during the day than he was gaining at night. It was inevitable that he would crash down eventually.
"And that folks-", Usopp gestured theatrically towards him like he was presenting an attraction, "-Is why we sleep eight hours every night. And more, if we can help it. Our lifestyle is high-energy as it is."
Robin rubbed her chin, "If I recall correctly, Cook-san slept even later than his usual bed-time last night. He was still turning in when I went to take my post for the night watch."
Usopp made his way to the sink to deposit his plate and glass, "Splendid, if you're going to use up a certain amount of energy each day, you need to be ready to balance it with rest. Am I right or am I right, Doctor Chopper?"
He playfully mimed a fake microphone and pointed it towards said reindeer.
"You're right!", Chopper eagerly cheered into it, giggling as Usopp scooped him up onto his shoulders.
"You heard it here, folks, an exclusive piece straight from the doctor himself-"
"So, do we wake him? I can't imagine his back will thank him for sleeping like that, but he's also pretty knocked out.", Nami interrupted, already starting to soap up a sponge to start the dishes, "Someone help me dry these?"
"I can.", Brooke volunteered, "Thank you for washing them, I wouldn't want my skin to get wrinkly from all that water. That is if I had any skin yohohoho~"
"I can take him up to bed if you want.", Franky piped up.
"That would be great!", Nami responded, "Thanks, Franky."
He mock-saluted her.
"Don't sweat it, Nami-sis, I'm on the case!"
Nami stifled a laugh as chaos broke out in the background once more.