Warnings for this chapter: Lots of fluff and cussing
Chapter 3: Sanji wakes up
Sanji bustled around the restaurant in a hurried but joyful manner. The lunchtime rush was more crowded than usual, and he could see that there were several groups waiting for a seat. The chef glanced out the large floor to ceiling windows at the sea crashing against the rocks outside. The All Blue was a beautiful deep azure bordering on indigo with large marimo moss balls floating happily around the shore. The greens of the moss were matched by the color scheme of the carpet, table linens and draperies around the dining area. It was perfect. Everything was perfect!
The chef walked by several tables, stopping at each to inquire as to how his customers' meals were, if they needed anything further, would they care to enjoy a small sampler of the specials that would be served later that evening, and so on. Watching people enjoy his food was one of his favorite parts of owning The Pirate's Rest.
He paid careful attention to complimenting every beautiful lady, whether young or aging, on her clothes, her eyes, her hair, her smile. Every woman had something beautiful about her, and Sanji was going to make sure each one was recognized for it.
He wandered back into the kitchen and began putting together a large tray of amuse-bouche that would highlight today's lunch specials as well as another tray to focus on the evening's specials.
"Get your fucking act together, Carlton!" he shouted over to the chef at the grill station with a grin on his face. "You're going to burn the swordfish steaks! You know our policy on wasting food!"
"Yes, Chef!" Carlton piped back with a mirroring grin and turned his eyes back to the steaks cooking in front of him.
Everything in the kitchen was moving like a courtly dance, every turn of foot, every placement of hand in perfect execution. It was all so perfect, and he could feel warmth bubbling inside of him and around him. He couldn't possibly be any happier!
Sanji checked himself over in the full-length mirror that was at the entrance to the kitchen. The light blue tie and dark blue button-up were doing their job highlighting the vivid blue of his eyes. Pulling on the hem of the black jacket to straighten it and brushing some lint of the matching slacks, he turned to check over his backside. Professional but sexy if he did say so himself. He tugged on his bangs and gave himself a wink then headed back to his work station.
Taking each of the amuse-bouche trays into his hands, he twirled out of the kitchen and headed over to the host's station and all the nearby patrons waiting for a seat.
"My lovely ladies and monsters," he exclaimed cheerfully to the people sitting patiently in the alcove benches or milling near the entranceway. "I bring you something special from our kitchen to enjoy while you wait to be seated." He then began serving out the lunch special amuse-bouche, making small talk and throwing out idle compliments.
Once the tray was empty, he threw out a charming smile and passed it to his lovely hostess, "Would you be a dear, Keiko, and see that this gets back to the kitchen?"
She smiled back and nodded her assent. She was perfect, his diners were perfect, the day was Perfect!
Sanji sauntered back into the dining area with the other tray. While passing out the dinner special amuse-bouche to the seated diners, he noticed that three of his nakama had just been seated near one of the large aquariums in which small marimo moss balls floated and bobbed cheerfully among the fishes and other creatures. His face changed from his standard warm hospitality smile into one of genuine pleasure. He felt like his whole body was being gently squeezed with warmth and happiness, and he reveled in it.
"Hello! My beautiful melorines, Nami-swaaaaan and Robin-chwaaaan! How lovely to see you! Anything you want to eat is yours, anything at all, even if it's off menu. I am completely at your service!" he rambled, gazing lovingly at the buxom redhead wearing the most adorable fox costume, her brandy brown eyes flashing with glee, and the equally buxom raven dressed as a black cat whose smile was hidden behind an elegant well-manicured hand. Then turning to the little reindeer at the table, who was wearing a set of bear footie pajamas made out of bright green fur complete with ears attached to the hood, he said, "Chopper, how can I serve you?"
He heard Nami chuckle deeply as she glanced over the menu and said, "This is the best thing I've ever seen. If you let me get a photo of this, I'll cut your debt in half."
Suddenly a very warm and surprisingly comfortable earthquake shook Sanji as a deep voice boomed through the venue, "Fuck you, witch. I won't let you blackmail him, or me."
"Oh, Zoro! You are absolutely no fun, who said anything about blackmail? For that I'm going to increase your interest rate by point 5 percent."
"Nami-swan is so beautiful when she is ordering from the menu!" Sanji murmured and took down her order.
Since the earthquake didn't seem to affect any of the diners, Sanji dismissed it from his mind, but he was going to kick that shitty voice's ass for insulting his precious Nami-swan. Do voices have asses? Sanji could feel that whole-body happy squeezing again, and it felt of warmth and safety and home like one of his amazing sea king stews with freshly baked bread bowls and he wanted to snuggle deeper into it.
"So adorable!" Robin chimed in, with a crystal giggle, pointing at one of the wines on the wine list. "How much did you let him drink?"
"Zoro, I've left some pain killers and a large glass of water over on the counter for him to take when he wakes up. Make sure he drinks the whole glass. I've put a bucket nearby as well, just in case." Chopper said, as the ears of his pajama hood twitched around in the direction of the restaurant entrance seeming to take in the sounds of diners and a distantly shouting Luffy.
That deeply marvelous earthquake shook Sanji again as the shit voice rumbled through the venue, "Sure, Chopper. I'll make sure to take care of him. Fucking shit cook better not puke on me. And stop noodling around in your sleep, swirly brows."
"Shut the fuck up, deliciously warm earthquake!" the chef retorted.
"We're going to head to the market before we have to weigh anchor. Do you know if chef-san left a shopping list anywhere before he went to sleep?" Robin said with a charming snicker, her honeyed voice dripping with sweet affection and her eyes crinkling with laughter. Oh, his beautiful ladies! They were so lovely and deserved an amazing lunch! He wrote "Chocolate Lava cakes on the house" on his waiter's pad.
"My sweet doves, how would you like your sea king steaks cooked?" Sanji inquired, wanting to serve them the most perfect meal on this most perfect day in this most perfect restaurant of his own design.
"SAAAANJIIIIIII! BREAKFAAAAAAAST!" he could hear Luffy screaming, closer than before but was unable to see him outside the restaurant windows.
"I think there might be one on the counter near the freezer," the earthquake spoke again, and Sanji tried to burrow further into that comfortable warmth that wrapped around him and smelled of steel shavings and hot cocoa with a hint of cinnamon, clove and chili pepper. "And could you grab Luffy and get breakfast in town, so he doesn't wake up idiot dartbrow?"
"Sure, Zoro," Nami said as she, Robin and Chopper rose from the table. "Heh. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Sanji is such a cuddler. Well, we'll be back later in the afternoon. Take care."
He watched as his angels and Chopper left the restaurant, certain that their meals had been perfect, and let himself sink deeper back into delightful contentment.
Sanji woke to all of Ussop's fireworks launching inside his skull and a bag of angry cats clamoring around his guts. He let out a slow groan and tried to lift his aching head up off his mattress.
"Oi," his mattress said softly. "You finally awake, eyebrows?" Why the fuck did his mattress sound like that shit swordsman?
He sat up slowly, feeling all of the thousand needles that came piercing in when he opened his eyes. "My mattress needs to shut the fuck up. Sounds are full of knives. And the world can just fuck off and stop spinning so hard."
The bag of cats in his guts seemed to be staging an escape. Sanji felt his mattress grab him and wrestle him off the bed, and the next thing he knew he was face down on the floor leaning over a steel bucket. In the galley? Since when was his mattress in the galley? There was no time to consider this as his stomach launched itself out of his body and straight into the bucket, several times.
"I'm going to head up to the washroom for a few minutes. I'll be right back," the marimo fucker's voice reverberated from everywhere.
"Stop being so loud and omnipresent, swamp shit, and just let me…..HURK!" Sanji said as his stomach continued its revolutionary war against his person. The chef heard the click of the galley door shutting and flopped down next to the bucket. It actually felt very cool and soothing pressed against his forehead. He was still lying there several minutes later, cooing and complimenting the nice cold bucket, when he heard the galley door open.
"Che, switching it out for buckets now, love cook?" he heard Zoro ask.
"Shut up, marimo skull, it just so happens this is an affair of epic proportions. I'll kick your ass for disparaging my dearest one," Sanji retorted, wrapping his arms around the bucket and raising one of his legs threateningly in the swordsman's direction.
"I'll take a rain check on the ass kicking, oh mighty Mayor of Hangovertown, you're not in any state to be a challenge right now," Zoro said, and handed the chef a small glass of water. "Rinse and spit, then drink the rest and see if you can keep it down." Sanji sent the swordsman a withering glance, but sat up, grabbed the glass and did what the moss ball had asked all the same. The chef wasn't sure his stomach would allow for an all-out brawl this morning, but other than a small belch, it seemed to have calmed down.
"All right, that's good," the green haired menace said, and handed Sanji a couple medicine tablets and a larger glass of water. "Chopper left these and said you're to take them and drink the whole glass."
"Ah Chopper, my savior!" Sanji exclaimed and popped the pills in his mouth. "Santé!" he raised the glass to his lips and gulped down the whole glass.
A plate of onigiri was shoved into his hands. "Here. Eat." Sanji grabbed one and took a small bite, chewing and swallowing slowly. Since that onigiri didn't appear to have any desire to come back out of his stomach, he ate a couple more.
"Why are you helping me, marimo?" he asked, finishing off the last onigiri. He stood up and placed the plate on the counter.
"I have my reasons, curly cue. Now, go take a cool shower, you look like shit and don't smell much better," grumbled the swordsman as he pushed Sanji out of the galley. "I'll clean up in here."
"Don't you dare break anything in there or I'll kick your head off and dance on it!" the chef shouted to the closed galley door, then made his way to the men's bunkroom to get a change of clothes.
Why was the moss head acting so weird? Something just wasn't right here, and he needed to figure out what it was before he went crazy. Since he knew they were weighing anchor later that afternoon, he grabbed a loose tropical patterned shirt and some cargo shorts, then made his way to the washroom. He needed to think.
Sanji turned on the shower to let it heat up a little, then disrobed and sat down on the shower bench to let the tepid water roll over him. He walked himself through the events of last evening to see if he could pinpoint what might have happened to make the shit swordsman behave so strange today.
As the water washed over him, he ticked off in his head the things he could remember. Cleaning the galley. Marimo asking for sake. Watching Zoro's forms to honor his dead friend. Making some onigiri. Joining Zoro's forms. Going back into the galley with Zoro. Watching the swordsman have a panic attack. Drinking sake and listening to tales of the swordsman's friend. And then going to bed. But he didn't quite remember going to bed, he woke up in the galley. So, he must have slept on the couch in the galley. But if that's the case, why was Zoro so close to him when he woke up?
His sweet Nami's voice drifted through his memory, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Sanji is such a cuddler." Followed by Robin's lovely giggle, "So adorable! How much did you let him drink?" Then the moron moss head's gentle voice right next to his ear, "You finally awake, eyebrows?" And that deliciously comfortable warmth that smelled of steel and spiced chocolate…..oh FUCK! He had fallen asleep on the couch in the galley WITH ZORO! And his beautiful melorines had seen him CUDDLING THE SWORDSMAN!
Sanji slumped over putting his elbows on his knees and his face into his hands. What should he do about this? If the shit swordsman was trying to bait him by embarrassing him into a fight, then the last thing he should do was concede. He needed to be the better man about this. On the flip side, Sanji had drunkenness as an excuse. But since Zoro never actually got drunk, no matter how much the moron marimo consumed, the swordsman didn't have anything near the same excuse. On the other flip side, Zoro was acting like all of this was a normal everyday occurrence and didn't that just chafe the chef's pride.
However, when he thought about all the things that night which lead up to what Sanji had decided to call "The Situation", it had been…. weirdly nice. Several hours of drinking and listening to Zoro talk about something very private. Sanji felt like he had connected for the first time with the swordsman in a way that was more than the adversarial method they'd grown used to. Like an extra layer was added to their nakamaship that hadn't been there before. But a layer of what? Compassion? Maybe. Consideration? Unlikely. Friendship? Sanji chuckled to himself at the irony of that last one.
The water in the shower began to get a little colder, and he needed to stop thinking about this and come to a decision. Sanji turned the shower off and stood up, grabbing a towel to dry off. He supposed that he didn't need to get it all figured out in one day. The chef was an adult, and he was going to damned well act like one. He was going to ignore "The Situation" entirely and behave like it had never happened.
As he dressed, he could feel the headache finally starting to fade. Mmm, Chopper was amazing! But he was still feeling a bit hungry in spite of the onigiri earlier. Important things first, though. Smoke then food.
Sanji made his way out of the washroom only to find Zoro standing directly outside the door with a scowl on his face and a plate of something in his hand, which he thrust at the chef.
"Eat." grumbled the green haired moron.
The chef took the plate and shouted, "What the hell is this, shit swordsman? Who said you could make food in my kitchen?"
"It's a fried egg sandwich, and while I know it's not up to your prissy standards, just fucking eat the damned thing. You don't waste food, remember shit head?" Zoro snarled, and stormed off heading towards the library, then huffed and turned to the crow's nest.
Sanji's eyes went wide. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? He walked down to the deck and sat on the foremast bench, placing the plate alongside him. Pulling out a cigarette and lighting up, he took a few deep drags before considering what just happened. Zoro had made him a sandwich. Zoro, the aggravating idiot of the ocean, the most massively irritating moron of the sea, had made him a sandwich. And not just any sandwich, but one that had required some cooking. It was a kind gesture, and the swordsman didn't do kind gestures, not any directed toward the chef in any case.
"Oi! Are you going to eat that shitty sandwich?" the irritating swordsman shouted from the crow's nest.
"I'm having a smoke, shitty asshole!" the chef shouted back.
"Eat the damned sandwich, moron!"
"Go back to your barbells and stop mother henning me or I'll kick your ass!" Sanji said as he stubbed out the cigarette.
"Che." the swordsman said but closed the crow's nest window.
Sighing heavily, Sanji took a look at the shitty sandwich. The bread appeared to be toasted and buttered, a little dark to his taste, but not burned. The egg seemed to be well fried, maybe a little too much oil in the pan, but not ruined. And there were a couple strips of nicely cooked bacon. Simple, but well executed, for a swordsman.
He took a bite. It wasn't terrible. Could have used a touch more pepper, and a touch less butter on the toast, but it was adequate, and it didn't appear that it would poison him. He finished it off and headed into the galley with his plate.
The galley was clean. Really clean. Almost as clean as when Sanji had walked into it after Franky had first let them on board. The chef whistled low, this was….he didn't quite know what this was. Miraculous? He checked in his pantry and cupboards, and everything appeared to be put away in its proper place.
Stunned, he leaned back against the counter. Did the marimo do all this? Nope, he wasn't going to think about it right now. He'd made his decision to ignore "The Situation" and if this was aftermath of that, then… then what? This was getting to be a bit more than his tired brain could take. Since it appeared that there was nothing left to do in the galley before the crew came back from the village, Sanji decided that he was going to go take a nap and he'd consider all of this further once his mind wasn't so addled with hangover.
Sanji woke to being tipped out of his bed onto the floor of the men's bunkroom as the Sunny lurched over on its side.
"EVERYONE TO STATIONS!" he heard Ussop shouting over the intercom, "THUNDER BLIZZARD APPROACHING!"
The chef scrambled over to his locker and put on some boots and his winter coat. No point in taking a risk with snow on deck. He ran out the door straight into chaos.
The Sunny was being tossed back and forth over tows and breakers. Wind was whipping around the deck and angry greenish gray clouds were roiling overhead. He could see Nami in front of the helm, climatact shooting little cloud balls into the storm front. Jinbe was manning the wheel, struggling to keep a heading straight in toward the waves, lest the ship overturn.
Everyone else was at stations. Luffy and Brook were on the foremast working swiftly to furl and tie the sail. Ussop up in the crow's nest, keeping an eye out and letting the crew know of any unexpected danger while they were preparing the ship. Robin and Chopper were rushing quickly over the deck, battening any doors, portholes, and hatches. He assumed Franky was down in the ship's bowels, ready for any action that needed to be taken. He could see Zoro beginning to climb the main mast, and followed him up, icy wind pulling at his hair and jacket.
Heavy snow was starting to fall in icing sheets. Lightning was flashing with thunder booming directly behind, signaling that they were close to the center of the storm. How did it come up so quickly? He and Zoro worked in tandem to get the sail furled and began to tie it down to the spar. At that moment, the Sunny was violently tipped by a wave and Sanji slipped on the icy spar. He heard Zoro shouting his name and Sanji reached up to try to grab one of the securing ropes, but the ship then tossed the other way. As the world dropped out beneath him, and he attempted to skywalk, his body was slammed from behind against something hard and then there was nothing but blackness.
A/N: This story kind of started out as a bit of a hair brained idea, but I'm really happy that it keeps evolving and growing. What do you think so far?
