A/N: Thought of this because I rewatched the clip of Usopp's return to the ship today, and was quite touched by Sanji cheering madly in the background when Usopp is yanked on board the Sunny.
Usopp hadn't been able to sleep much, so when it was almost time for his watch, he just swung out of his bunk and padded up to the deck. He still had to get used to this ship. The loss of Merry was still a massive, ragged hole inside him, even if he was back now, safe with his nakama... the new sounds of this ship, the way it moved under his feet, even just the planks of the deck... it was all so different.
The weepy relief from Luffy pulling him back on board was smoothed now to deep-running grateful relief, and that helped, but he still felt bruised inside, raw. Thinking too hard about recent events stung those tender areas.
He hauled himself up and up to the new crow's nest, and he was less apprehensive than he might have been. Sanji had the watch before his, so he didn't have to worry about awkward silence with Zoro, guilt-inducing glee from Chopper, tense politeness with Franky... Sanji would just go adoringly on about how glad he was that Robin was back, and everything would be nice and normal.
And so it was. Sanji looked up with mild surprise to see him arriving early. "So far, it's been calm," he greeted, and jerked his head at a covered plate he'd brought up with him. Usopp peered under the lid and found a selection of snack cakes and little pastries. He took one, a flaky pastry with sweet-smelling filling, and sat down, glad of the excuse of a full mouth so he wouldn't have to speak.
"Robin-chan looks so happy now, don't you think?" Sanji sighed, "I mixed a new drink for her this evening, and her smile was more beautiful than I'd ever seen it before." Sanji's cigarette made vaguely heart-shaped trails in the air as Sanji gestured in his effusive praises. Usopp took another cake and smiled, enjoying Sanji's familiar tones and cadences as he waxed rhapsodic about Robin.
Sanji eventually trailed off into a yawn, and he shook himself. "Alright, it's all yours," Sanji waved his hand at the crow's nest, and moved to leave.
"Oh, wait, don't you want to bring these down and store them?" They were too pretty to leave up here. Usopp reached for the plate and replaced the cover, holding it ready to pass down to Sanji as he descended through the hatch.
Sanji shrugged one shoulder, rolling his cigarette from one corner of his mouth to the other, and seemed to avoid Usopp's gaze, looking down at the covered plate. "Those're for you," he said, the words just a mutter, and Usopp blinked down at the plate as well.
"Oh." He wanted to smile, but like Chopper's joyous glee, the gesture caused pain as much as it warmed him, even though in both cases it was happiness. "Thanks." He turned to put the plate back down, noticing for the first time the bucket of ice with a bottle of lemonade in it and a clean mug upside down on a dish next to it. "Thank you," he repeated himself, unable to come up with anything else to say. Except...
He made himself turn back to Sanji, who had his hands in his pockets and was looking fixedly to one side, and forced the words out past the tightness in his throat. He'd said this to them all already, but screaming it across the water was not enough. They each deserved an apology to their faces. "I'm sorry," he said.
Sanji's shoulders twitched, and his eyes went to the floor, and Usopp fidgeted, wondering suddenly if his need to get the shame off his chest wasn't actually just selfish.
Sanji put his hand to his mouth to remove his cigarette. He stood poised for a moment, then strode forward, his long legs closing the gap between them too quickly for Usopp to do anything but tense up. Sanji grabbed him in a hug. Usopp startled as he was embraced. Sanji's grip was firm and emphatic, but, mercifully, not tight enough to make any of Usopp's healing injuries do more than lightly twinge. In delayed reflex, Usopp raised his arms to hug back, Sanji's lean body warm and solid under his shirt.
"Glad you're back," Sanji's said, almost right in his ear.
"Me too," Usopp managed, struggling with keeping the tears in his eyes out of his voice. He wasn't entirely successful, but realized, with some surprise, that the comfort of this contact, much like Luffy's warm, outstretched hand, didn't hurt at all.
Sanji let him go, put his cigarette back in his mouth, and hurried over to the hatch. He looked up once before ducking out, and Usopp saw suspicious wetness in his controlled expression. "Goodnight, Usopp," he said.
"Goodnight." Then Sanji was gone. Usopp stood for a few seconds, then went to the plate and removed the cover, taking another of the delicious little cakes. It was, actually, a good night.
END