To Serve at his Command| You're Mine

"That look in your eyes is so familiar."

Flicking her stare up from her small plate of leftovers, Luffy cocked a brow. "Excuse me?" she asked, watching as Sanji slowly shook his head before smiling softly.

"Nothing," he answered. He took a pile of dirty plates and dumped them into the watery suds inside the sink. His hands quickly dipped in and began washing them. With his back to her, he said, "He's one intimidating guy."

Crocodile…

Frowning, Luffy nodded to that in agreement. "He has a way to him that…" Trailing off, she lowered her stare back down upon the food, unsure of how to finish her sentence. How does one exactly describe a man like that? "I would say he was scary," she mumbled while glancing back up to Sanji, "but there's more to it than just that."

Sanji nodded. "I was like that when I first started working here," he explained, pulling out the now clean dishes all the while. "He has little patience—and I found that out the hard way."

Luffy cocked a brow. "What do you—"

"It's nothing," the chef said with a dismissive wave and a soft smile. "Don't need to worry about it; I'm sure you'll do fine if you stick to his good side."

I hope so…

Shaking her head, she decided to change the subject. "The food is absolutely delicious!" She brought a bite of roast beef to her mouth and smiled at the rich taste. "I don't believe I've ever eaten something this good."

Sanji smiled before casting his gaze back to the sink. "Thanks," he mumbled, voice soft. "I enjoy cooking—it's a passion of mine, and if it weren't for Crocodile employing me here, I don't think I'd ever get as advanced as I am now." Pausing, he slowly placed a new pile of clean dishes upon the counter. "Sometimes the benefits out way the cons."

When Luffy went to respond to his strange comment, he quickly twirled around to cut her off. "Have you met the others here yet, huh?"

"Oh, no, but—"

He took her hand, pulling her forward from her seat. "You should," he said then, leading her out of the kitchen. "And since you don't have a long lunch break, you should at least try to meet one of them."

While Luffy wasn't against meeting the others, she—at that particular moment—was more interested in his earlier comments. But the blonde was determined in introducing her, so she decided to let the lingering questions die down until another time. Besides, it's probably just nothing…

Reaching the end of the kitchen hallway—a servant's pathway—they came to one of many doors leading to the back gardens and stables. "The gardener is a friendly fellow," Sanji explained as he held the door open for Luffy. "He can tell you everything there is to plants."

Outside, a cool summer breeze drew by, air brushing behind her neck. Fragrances from the flowers embedding the ground all around her filled her nostrils, and chirping could be heard somewhere out back. "If you continue past here, you'll eventually find the stables and even farther out, the hunting grounds."

Luffy cocked her head back. "Hunting grounds?"

Sanji nodded. "Whenever there are guests, the master will offer to take them out to hunt for game—typically just quails and other smaller birds, but sometimes we get in larger shipments for special guests." He shrugged. "And then for supper, I'll cook whatever was shot down."

Grimacing, Luffy glanced back to the acres of lush green land before her. Small dots of trees and pathways could be seen if she squinted. "Oh," she mumbled when Sanji moved past her.

"Come," he bided, drawing her attention over to a brown shack. "The gardener…" Trailing off, he knocked gently upon the door. "You in there?"

With a loud creak, the door opened, one long nose poking out before the rest of the owner's face. "What do want, I'm working here?" Blinking, the young man glanced over to Luffy, to which she offered him a friendly smile. "Oh?"

"Introducing the new help," Sanji answered after pointing to Luffy. "Her name is Luffy and the master hired her as of today."

Tilting his head, the man nodded once before grinning. "Welcome, welcome," he greeted as he took a step back into the shack. "Watch your step as you enter—the steps are cracked in a few of the floor boards."

Hesitantly, Luffy followed Sanji in, the smell of dirt and manure taking over the sweet smells of flowers. She didn't care too much for said smell and found it difficult to breathe without gagging. "It's nice to meet you," she managed to spit up.

The boy turned towards her and nodded. "The same," he said before adding, "and it's Usopp." His hand quickly took her elbow, pulling her back and halting her movement. "Be careful," he huffed, pointing down to a rather large crack in the floor. "Don't want you falling through with just getting here."

She offered him an appreciative smile before tiptoeing around the crack. "Sanji showed me your work outside—it's beautiful, really." Sitting down, she flicked her gaze over to Usopp, smiling when a soft shade of pink broke out across his face.

"It's nothing," he mumbled before casting his gaze outside. Pausing, he threw his gaze over to the chef, sighing loudly. "Today's been tough, you know?"

"How come?" Sanji asked, pulling out a cigarette from his shirt pocket. He cocked one brow before offering Luffy a stick, to which she quickly declined his offer. Lighting it, he brought it to his lips to hang loosely from his mouth.

Leaning against one of the shack walls, Usopp explained, "Boss wants me to plant new flowers by next week, making sure it looks good enough to impress our upcoming guests." Usopp shrugged then, eyes growing tired. "He has no idea how much work it's going to be to dig up all of the plants in the garden only to then replant it."

Smirking, Sanji shook his head. "He wants everything new and flashy and extravagant just to outdo that big shot."

"Big shot?" Luffy asked out, confused as to what the two were talking about. She blinked when they drew their attentions her way, and then slowly, they shared a glance between each other.

"Uh," Usopp began, voice clearly unsure of himself. "I don't know how to explain this. Sanji?"

Quickly, the chef's eyes glanced about before he leaned in towards Luffy. "You didn't hear this from me, but let's just say the master gets involved with some…unsavory partnerships."

"Unsavory…?" Tilting her head to the side, Luffy frowned slightly, unsure as to what the blonde meant. "What do you mean by that?"

Tapping the side of his jaw, Sanji frowned. "I can't really go into too many details, but I'll just say to be careful around the people Sir Crocodile associates with."

"Very careful," Usopp stressed. "Some of them are really shady."

"Oh…" That isn't very reassuring, Luffy thought as she drew her hands together over her lap. I wonder…I wonder what type of work Crocodile does. "What exactly does he do for a living?"

Sanji's eyes grew slightly and she noticed a pinch of panic run across the gardener's face. "Best not to ask such questions," Usopp answered while shaking his hands dismissingly. "Especially to the boss."

The chef nodded in agreement, casting his gaze aside as he drew in another round of smoke from his cigarette.

Suddenly, the door swung open with heavy boots coming down the steps. Luffy glanced up towards the entrance and cocked a brow when another male stopped before them. "I need some birdseed," the new stranger announced before flicking a probing stare her way.

His eyes were dull and his face was blank of any emotion. Long blonde hair swung down to his waist and an extremely light tan took to his skin.

"Oi, what kind of bird did you bring in?" Sanji asked excitedly.

The man glanced his way before calmly answering, "Flamingos."

Sanji laughed then. "That cocky bastard is seriously going all out, ain't he?" Shaking his head, he got up and offered a hand to Luffy. "Let's head out; the head maid will tear us a new one if we're gone from our duties too long." He turned to place a hand on the man's shoulder. "Watch: all the master will accomplish when they visit is start a war with such insults."

"That would be quite unfortunate," the man answered back, shrugging Sanji's grip off his shoulder.

"See you later for a game of cards then, right?" he asked the man before leading Luffy out of the shack. His pace was fast as he headed towards the mansion, obviously nervous about being late.

"What does flamingos have to do with anything?" Luffy finally asked when she couldn't figure out their conversation. They're just a bird…why would that cause anybody to get angry?

Halting, Sanji cocked a brow before cracking a smile. "The master is expecting a very important guest next week, and as per usual, he'll probably go hunting with said guest outback. The past few visits have been…intense, and well, let's say the master and this guest don't particularly see eye to eye most of the time." He paused for a second, licking his lower lip. "This guest of his has an odd fascination with flamingos, so the master is going to stock the hunting grounds with those birds as a jab."

"Oh…" Frowning, Luffy tried to put together as to why that would upset this guest, but in the end, all she did was shrug it off.

Gently placing his hand atop her head, Sanji said, "Don't worry about it, alright? Focus on doing your chores and getting through next week."

Luffy smirked. "You act as if this guest of his is that bad."

The chef's eyes narrowed, lips dropping down into a small frown. "You have no idea."

With evening slowly rolling in, Luffy found herself quite tired by the time she got to the laundry room. After returning from her mid-afternoon break with Sanji, Tsuru had a long list of chores for her, starting off with the tiring task of mopping the dining room floor. But with determination, she managed to get through a majority of her tasks, coming down to the next one of cleaning the master's sheets.

Kneeling down before a tub of hot soapy water, Luffy slowly began to pick through a basket of sheets. Her fingers found a soft satin fabric, pulling it out gently before pushing it down into the water. This type of work wasn't new for her; back home she would help clean the family's sheets. But these are made out of much nicer material, so I must make sure to be as delicate as possible.

Luffy didn't want to anger her new employer by tearing up his bedding her first day.

Swooshing the fabric around, she brought it up gently against the wash board before bringing it back down. Soon, after a moment of doing such, she created a rhythm, tapping her feet as she went. Reaching her hand back, she drew out the next sheet, pushing it in deep into the water.

Bubbles formed and arose and danced about the small room. Luffy soon found herself lost in time, not realizing exactly how long she was taking to complete this particular chore. It wasn't until Tsuru came rushing in that she noticed her mistake.

"You're still at this?" Tsuru practically gasped, pushing her aside to grab the sopping wet sheets. "This should have been done earlier, when the sun was still up!" Her gaze narrowed as she tugged—with difficulty—a sheet up, water and suds dripping off of it. "How do you expect this to dry over night?"

Blinking, Luffy pulled her hands to her chest. "Oh no," she mumbled, glancing down at the sheets. She's right…I messed up!

"You should be preparing the dining hall by now," Tsuru continued as she bundled up the sheets to throw into the rinse water. "Go now and I'll take care of this. Do not make this mistake again!"

Bowing, Luffy quickly muttered an apology before rushing out. Wiping her wet hands down across the skit portion of her dress, she continued down the hallway towards the staircase, running up the stairs and heading straight for the kitchen. Out of breath, she stumbled inside and sent Sanji a panicked look.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," she gasped before rushing over to the platters of food. "Is this the food that is to be served tonight?"

Sanji nodded, too busy with a boiling pot of something—that smelt amazing to Luffy—to ask about her out-of-breath stance. "Start setting up the table, and be quick about it. Crocodile sent in orders for diner over an hour ago."

She could sense the tension in his voice and didn't bother to say anymore. You should have already had this done by now, her mind screamed at her. I hope…I hope he doesn't get mad at me. Biting down on her lower lip, she took one of the larger platters—a plate of steaming salmon with an arrange of leafy greens circling the fish.

Without hesitance, she placed the platter down once reaching the dining room, making sure to arrange the dining utensils in proper fashion afterwards. Nodding after that, she turned and stopped when Tsuru entered, carrying extra bowls and plates of food.

"And these," the old woman said as she sat the plates down, pushing half of them across the table for Luffy to set. "You need to learn to move faster," she huffed.

"Yes, ma'am," Luffy agreed as she took to setting her portion of the food. Her eyes bugged out at the site of the thick creams and glistening platters of appetizers. At that moment, it was very tempting to sneak a quick bite, but fear caused her to withhold such urges.

"Roll down your sleeves!" Tsuru sharply ordered before leaving back for the kitchen. "And go inform the young master of supper."

Nodding, Luffy rushed out once more, all the while tugging her damped sleeves down. Flattening down her skirt, she knocked on Crocodile's office doors messily, frowning and cursing under her breath afterwards. Keep your composure! "Sir," she muttered out, "supper is ready."

When there was no answer, she contemplated opening the door, fingers hovering over the handle. Another moment passed by and as her fingers began to clamp down, the door was pulled open, a heavy gaze hard on her. Taking a few steps back, she bowed her head and quickly repeated herself. "Supper is ready, sir."

"I heard you the first time," Crocodile responded as he moved past her, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. For the first time, she got a view of his stump, covered with a leather holster with straps that ended just at his elbow. There was a tired look in those eyes of his and the way he walked implied he was just about ready to finish the day.

Before he had a chance to order her, she quickly followed after, making sure to keep a good three feet behind him, matching his pace to boot. You can't risk making any more mistakes today.

Upon entering the dining room, he immediately took to the head chair, eyes glazing over the food before. After a moment, he gave an approving nod. "Tsuru," he called out calmly, to which the old woman appeared from an adjoining room.

"Yes, young master?" Tsuru asked while slightly bowing her head. Locks of her grey hair fell from out of place, sprawling down across her face.

"Go to the cellar and fetch a bottle of red wine—one of the older years, but not too old." He took to a fork then, slightly pushing it into the pink salmon. "Little thief, sit."

Tsuru sent Luffy a confused gaze, eyes narrowed yet curious. When she left, Crocodile spoke again. "Right here," he said, gesturing once to the empty chair occupying the right seating space near his, at the corner. Swallowing, she slowly went to it, fingers tracing the back frame before pulling it out for her to sit.

She kept her gaze casted aside, hands folded tightly upon her lap. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Sanji peering in, expression curious.

"You are dismissed for the rest of the day, boy" Crocodile called out without bothering to send one look to the chef.

"Yes…yes, sir," Sanji muttered out before quickly scurrying off.

Tsuru returned then, eyes instantly taking to Luffy. They shared a blank expression and before Luffy had time to formulate a proper one, the old woman was already pouring a glass for Crocodile.

"Leave the bottle," he ordered softly. "And you may retire for the night. She can clean this up once I'm finished, Tsuru." He offered the woman a slight smirk before reaching out for his glass, sniffing it first before sipping it.

"Yes, young master," Tsuru answered slowly, sending Luffy one last glance. When she left, Crocodile's stare traveled over to Luffy, glass still to his lips.

Luffy quickly glanced down at the food.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, placing his drink down. He proceeded to take another bite of the salmon and after swallowing, added, "The food is quite delicious."

Her eyes met his but she didn't answer.

Reaching out for the bottle, his hard eyes glanced over the label. "1883," he murmured softly, fingers slowly tracing the bottom rim of the bottle. He filled his glass back to the top, placing the bottle down gently before glancing back her way. "Have some," he ordered while picking up the glass to hand off to her.

Shaking her head, she quickly mumbled out, "No, that's alright, sir."

Annoyance crawled across his face. "It's older than you. Drink it."

Chewing on her lower lip, she reached out for the glass, fingertips just barely grazing against his own. Slowly—oh so slowly—she brought it to her lips, allowing just a sip of the dark red liquid to enter her mouth. His eyes never left hers.

It tasted like raspberry, but stronger. Forcing down the sip, she placed the glass down upon the table, eyes meeting his once more for further command.

Returning his attention to his meal, he proceeded to ask, "How was it?"

"Enjoyable," she simply answered.

A smirk tugged at the corner of his lip but it died down as fast as it came. "I would hope so; that is not cheap wine."

She nodded but remained silent.

"How was your first day?" he questioned then, moving onto the vegetables once finished with a half of the fish. "Have you contemplated running back to that rats nest yet?"

Her eyes—on instinct—snapped up to his face, her expression giving away her answer before she even had a chance to deny it. He smiled when he caught that look. "It seems you have. I can't fathom as to why—or, well," he paused as he sent her a sly glance, "I suppose you may be intimidated. Is that it?"

Her gaze slightly widened, her mouth opening barely. "No, sir," she quietly whispered, remembering her promise to protect Buggy, Shanks, and the rest from Crocodile's potential wrath. "Everything was alright today."

"You're a terrible liar," he stated then, reaching out for his drink again. "But answer me truthfully: is it not much better here than it was back in that little hole?"

In some parts, it was. Yes, the mansion was much warmer than that of Buggy's shack, and yes, it was nice to be amongst such beautiful items. But back home in that hole was Shanks and Buggy and everybody else, a simple yet happy lifestyle. Licking her lips, Luffy lied and told him, "Yes."

Leaning back in his chair, Crocodile tilted his head slighting, making the scar running across his face look as if it were smiling. "It must be overwhelming to change sceneries like you've have in a matter of a day. Is that what you're feeling? Overwhelmed?"

"No," she answered at first, pausing afterward and quickly adding, "well, a little…yes, a little, sir."

That smirk returned to him and he chuckled, as if he had just heard a joke. "But today is just the beginning," he explained coolly, those probing eyes searching her face. "Today was baby steps, really. I expect things to pick up quite fast starting tomorrow."

"Sir…?" Luffy muttered, confused.

His expression softened as he placed his drink down. "You don't really believe that I brought a little thief into my home solely on the basis that I felt bad about the other ultimatum, which was sending you into the arms of the local authority, do you?" He chuckled again, louder this time, and he had to take a deep breath to calm himself. "No," he informed her, "I have other plans for you, little thief. Such big plans."

Luffy's heart pounded when she felt something—someone—grab her knee. Her lips parted slightly, hot breath breaking free and cries of protest caught in her throat.

As his hand slipped up her skirt, he slowly said, "I will destroy you and everything precious in your life if you ever do runaway." His hand stopped just at the edge of her stocking, pointer finger stretching out to trace said edge, occasionally dipping into the area of soft flesh. Shivers erupted up and down her spine, legs closing tight on instinct, but that hand of his kept its place. Her wide eyes found his and he smiled softly. "You're mine now and I expect you to serve upon all my commands."

His fingers began to dig down, nails pushing hard against her flesh. It wasn't until she felt his hand climb higher that she pushed her hands down upon her skirt—upon his hand—stopping it from its attack. Even though she still did not speak, the fear on her face was clear enough.

Leaning in slightly, he said, "I was wondering when you would react."

Luffy threw her gaze down upon her lap, taking in as her hand held his in place, preventing it from going higher any further. With a pounding heart, she could feel her cheeks grow hot, blood rush down there. Her mind went blank.

"Do you want me to stop?"

She didn't answer.

"Hmm?"

Her stare slid up his frame, passing that deep scar of his, and landing straight into those eyes. She could feel his thumb begin to move again, prompting her to finally answer.

"Yes," she whispered, afraid.

"Yes, what?" He stressed, digging his nails back into her thigh.

"Sir," she muttered. "Please, stop, sir," she said again, slightly louder.

Finally, after it seemed things were going to head for the worse, he pulled his hand out and away from her shaky form. His hand then found its way to her cheek, cupping it gently before he patted it down twice, slightly rougher. "We're going to have a lot of fun from now on," he informed her before pushing himself up. "Now clean this mess up." He sent her one last smirk before grabbing the wine bottle, turning, and abandoning her alone in the dining hall.

With wide eyes, Luffy finally let out a breath of air.

To be continued…

Next time: Luffy helps her master dress for the day and he reveals to her just a tad bit of his intentions for her.

Thank you so much for reading!

BatmanSwim2016 & RavenRunning & cneriza & Guest: Thank you so much for the compliments! You all are making me blush. (o/3/o)

IMadeThisUp: Ohmygosh, I'm so happy you think that because Crocodile is my ultimate fav in OP and I just want to do his character justice and not mess this up. Thank you for the wonderful compliments!