Robin frowned as the sun's bright orange rays attempted to burn right through her staunchly closed eyelids. She was still in that merciful period in morning-after post-drunkenness: that wonderful few minutes one gets to enjoy upon first waking up, before you have to open your eyes and the hangover kicks in. She wasn't about to let it end just yet. She turned over, away from the shitty sun and it's rays. She was however, surprised to find yet another sleep-deterring sensation once she'd foiled the sun.

Her nose was touching someone else's.

Having little to no memory of the night before, she surmised it must have been Nami (they'd been sharing a bed long enough by now to have bumped into one another on more than one occasion), but something wasn't quite right. She wasn't getting Nami's signature scent of tangerines, instead it was something decidedly… masculine…

Before finishing the thought of who it could be, in her haze she thought it best to immediately go on the offensive. In seconds, she had slid out of bed and summoned arms from every corner of the room, and hundreds of fingers were mere centimeters away from this intruder before she realized…

"Sanji-san?" she called out as she slowly shrank her arms back.

Sanji happily grumbled something about "five more minutes" as he turned away from her, blissfully unaware of how close he'd just came to death.

This wouldn't do. Robin needed some answers. She got into her knees next to him in bed and squeezed his shoulder a few times. "Sanji-san." Squeeze. "I need to… ask you some questions."

Robin, in bed with Sanji, calling to him, could only have been a dream, he decided. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time he'd had a dream like that, so it checked out. And yet… something about her touch in this particular dream… it just felt a little too real… real enough to finally open his eyes to investigate. "Robin-chwan~" he said dreamily, her figure slowly coming into focus as she leaned over him. His bliss was interrupted with the realization that his eyes were in fact open and this was no dream. Robin was here, and she probably wouldn't be too pleased with her current predicament if she had no memory of the night before. "Eh… I can explain, Robin-chwan!" he exclaimed, scrambling out of bed.

"Please, do," she said calmly, not wanting to further alarm a clearly flustered Sanji. "I'm afraid I don't remember much."

"You drank quite a lot last night, Robin-chan. I brought you back to the Sunny since it seemed you were having a little trouble staying upright. I hope you don't mind! You know how I worry about you~" he added a little flourish to try and diffuse the situation.

"Yes, I thought that might have been the case," she began, "but why were we…" she looked down at the messy bed and her face began to flush, "did we…?"

Sanji emphatically shook his head, raising his hands in surrender, knowing exactly what she was getting at. "No, no, Robin-chwan! I promise, we just went to sleep. You asked me to stay, and I… I couldn't say no and leave you here."

Hearing this, the flush that had just risen in her face completely disappeared. She was mortified to have done such a thing. Never in a million sober years would she allow her weaknesses to be on such a full display.

Goddamn moonshine, she thought.

"It's quite late in the day," she said quietly, eyes on the floor. "The others will be wondering…"

Sanji instantly felt terrible. He shouldn't have told her quite so much. Wasn't he at least smart enough to think of some shitty excuse to spare Robin the embarrassment she was so obviously feeling right now? Seeing her even a little upset, knowing it was partially his fault… it tore him up. He wanted to stay and try to remedy the situation, to assure her she had nothing to worry about, that he was happy to stay the night with her, but he could tell she probably wouldn't be receptive to any of that right now.

"Of course," his smile was sheepish as he grabbed his suit jacket from the vanity chair. For a fraction of a second, he paused at the door, hand frozen before the doorknob. Leaving now felt completely contrary to his entire ethos when it came to women. He wanted to turn back, comfort her, help her. But he thought better of it. She didn't need that right now. "If you need me, for anything, you know where to find me." This time his smile was warmer, welcoming, trying to tell her she could let him in.

She forced a polite smile and nodded in response as she watched him leave.

After preparing a late breakfast for the crew, Sanji made her usual morning brew, hoping she would walk through that kitchen door any moment so he could serve it to her. But her coffee grew cold, and Robin never came.

.

.

Robin spent the next full week completely avoiding Sanji by any means necessary.

This was no small feat on a ship like the Sunny, and with a crew as boisterous as the Mugiwaras. To avoid eating with the crew, she had taken to sneaking into the pantry when Sanji was busy doting on Nami (or fighting with Zoro… or asleep…) sustaining herself on a diet of non-perishables and red wine (mostly red wine). She couldn't cook her way out of a paper bag, so it would have to do. All week, though, she kept getting these… flashes… of that night, just a quick glimpse every now and then: The warmth of his body as he supported hers. Golden hair falling over her fingers as she touched his cheek. Soft lips at the back of her hand. Rosemary. Wood smoke. Tobacco.

At first, she was more than happy to not remember much of the night. But strangely, as days went by, she found she was straining to hold on to these fleeting moments. For some reason, she wasn't too keen on letting them go.

She'd not had a chance to grab anything to eat for lunch, so by the time dinner came around she was famished. In her hunger, she miscalculated how long it would take for Sanji to wash up and leave the kitchen, so as she opened the door, she realized her mistake as she was met with his surprised, but happy face.

"Robin-chwan~" he said happily as he finished drying a dish.

Her smile was shy. "Evening."

"Let me make you something." Without waiting for an answer, he got to work on preparing her some of the yellowtail they'd had for dinner. "You've gotta be starving," he said, briefly looking up from his task to offer her a warm, knowing smile.

Robin expected judgment, maybe some lighthearted ribbing. Instead, she got only kindness, understanding and warmth. As she sat at the table, she was suddenly painfully aware of how silly it had been to avoid him all week.

"Hopefully this is a little nicer than what you've been able to scrape together from the pantry," he said with a wink as he presented her immaculate plate. As he slid the plate to her, their fingers brushed against each other, just for a moment.

It flooded them both with the memories and sensations of that night.

He was still wore a gentle smile, trying to keep things light to alleviate her palpable discomfort (while also trying not to let those sensations distract him anymore than they already had). "Sorry, I don't mean to tease, it's just... kinda my job to keep track of what's in the pantry, y'know? And you're the only other person on this ship who likes red wine as much as I d-"

"I feel terrible," she completely ignored his rhetorical question, eyes fixed to her plate, but unable to touch her food, feeling she didn't deserve it; she didn't deserve him. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have been avoiding you, I just–"

"Robin-chan," he interjected, completely unable and unwilling to let her utter a single negative word about herself. "Nothing to apologize for, you're golden." There was a pause, and he smiled, clearly noting her hesitance to start eating. "Robin-chan… you know you can't leave me hanging in suspense like this," he added, taking a seat across from her at the table.

She sighed, happily this time, finally bringing her gaze to his. "Yes, of course." She finally took a bite. She was so hungry, and it was so good, she nearly cried. "It's excellent, as always, Sanji-san." She managed to keep her elation relatively measured.

Few things on this earth made Sanji as happy as Robin complimenting his cooking. "Ah, Robin-chwan…" he sighed happily. "I'm glad you like it."

"If it makes you feel any better," he began after giving her some time to eat, deciding that perhaps now he had a green light to tease her. "I never would've sussed you out, if not for all the wine missing. You're pretty sneaky, Robin-chan~"

"Oh?" She was smiling again, the calm, reserved confidence that had so easily been stymied just moments ago suddenly returning. "Who could fathom that my many years experience as a covert assassin would culminate into this very important achievement... time well spent, clearly."

As sad as he'd been all week without Robin around, he had to admit that the events of that night, and the next morning, had brought the two of them together now, pleasantly chatting in the peace that only an empty, post-dinner kitchen could provide. Occasionally they would catch each other without any of the other Mugiwaras around, and he truly treasured those moments; she was wonderful to talk to. Usually, as their conversation would wind down, they'd simply part ways and he would be left thinking that their next encounter couldn't come fast enough.

For some reason, there was something different about this particular encounter. This time, he didn't want to just let it fizzle out and anxiously wait for another opportunity to get to know her more. There was something emboldening him, something new.

So, when it seemed that their conversation was coming to an end, rather than just let her go as he normally did, he said something. "Come feed the fish in the aquarium with me, Robin-chwan~"

The offer caught Robin by surprise. She, too, was accustomed to their routine whenever they had some time alone together, and this was new. Had he asked this before last week, her answer surely would have been something along the lines of 'thank you, but…'

Tonight, however… tonight, she felt differently. She couldn't help but briefly wonder if it was related to those flashes she'd been getting of that night, the week before, but she quickly pushed those thoughts aside. Before she knew it, she was agreeing. "I'd love to, Sanji-san."

He grinned, stabbing his cigarette out in the ashtray, suddenly aware of how nervous he'd been as he waited for her response. "Ah, Robin-chwan," he said as he stood, offering her a hand. "It'll be wonderful having your company."