To say he was frustrated in every way possible was a tremendous understatement.
Sanji lay in his bunk, throwing the covers on and off, oscillating between his sides and back. Autumn had recently arrived in earnest so it was too cold not to cover up, but uncomfortable to stay that way. The combination of the pressure of his classes and lack of sleep was wearing on him. He usually would sleep on his stomach, but that was made impossible by one of the sources of frustration.
It had been two months since classes started and still his soul mate had managed to evade him. True to his own principles, he had dropped all casual dating to pursue her. Two months was a long time though, for him to go without any release of a sexual nature. Every so often, he wondered if it would be worth it. He would approach her door whenever he thought this, feeling his soul reaching out to hers and he would forget everything he had been complaining about as the ache he felt melted away. He wanted to sneak away like this now, but Usopp was still awake, pulling a late night to finish his last drawing assignment before Thanksgiving break started the next day.
Sanji on the other hand was in no hurry. He was staying on campus in order to take advantage of the professional kitchen he did not have to share with the other chefs at Baratie. The finals push started as soon as the vacation was over so he needed all the practice time he could get while it was not filled with his classmates.
He turned over again, staring down at his roommate still sketching another whimsical still life, this time of a scene he made from dolls, action and character figures borrowed from everyone in his drawing class. He had them arranged so it had an "Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman" feel to it. The doll in place of said enormous woman was, as Usopp informed him, a ball-jointed doll from the hooded woman in their aesthetics class. Usopp had caught him staring at it several times and had teased him mercilessly, as the doll was extremely well-endowed, like her owner. He couldn't deny both doll and woman had figures that matched his preferred type but he still tried to save face.
Sanji sat up and swung himself out of bed, grabbing a pack of cigarettes as he left. There was little else that would calm him down at this point, so he gave in. He regretted not grabbing his jacket as the crisp fall air rushed to meet him as he opened the door, but it served to calm his body down while the smoking eased his nerves. He leaned against a light pole that was the requisite fifty feet from the door, watching students from late-night classes shuffle to their dorm buildings, all drooping with exhaustion. Some had the distinct waddle of having come from the one buffet-style dining hall on campus.
He took a long drag from his cigarette and released the smoke into the cold night air, but his breath caught and he coughed. He felt her before he saw her, his aching muscles almost groaning in sweet relief. He could just barely make out the rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed, otherwise he would have believe the sight before him was a frustration-induced hallucination. She wore the long black jacket with the deep hood he knew so well.
"My god, it's you..."
The woman from Aesthetics was his soul mate.
She flinched when he spoke, turning her head in such a way, it looked like she was side-eying him from inside the hood. This close, he could see how small she was, almost a foot shorter than he was. Even with only a small patch of lamplight, he could confirm her size did not limit the impressive set of curves she sported. He tore his eyes away from everything below her neck and hoped he was sort of making eye contact.
"Please don't run this time..." He took a step forward, his heart sinking when she took two away from him. "...I just want to meet you...to know who you are..."
She shook her head, finally speaking in a surprisingly low tone for a woman. "I...I can't... I just can't..."
"But-"
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND!" A eerily animal growl laced her words as she spun around and ran for the dorms.
Sanji stood there, stunned into silent inaction. The cigarette fell from his hand, the glowing end guttering out as it hit the pavement. He shook his head and crushed it underfoot before walking back into the dorm.Her door was right next to the exit. He could not bring himself to pass it and return to his room. He leaned his forehead against her door, feeling his heart constrict painfully because he wanted so badly to knock and know she would answer.
Of course I can't understand you...you won't talk to me...you won't let me see you...dammit...you're right here...right here on the other side of this door...so close...yet out of my reach...I would hold you forever if you would let me...
He looked up when he heard her on the other side of the door. It sounded as if she was leaning against it as well. Only when he heard the soft sounds of crying did he dare say anything.
"I'm going back now...I don't know what I did...but I hope one day...you won't feel you have to run..."
He pushed away from the door, sighing deeply as the ache returned to his body the farther away he walked. It took considerable willpower not to slam the door open.
Usopp was clearing up his still life when he barged in, holding the doll he now knew belonged to his soul mate, about to put it back in it's carrying case.
"Sanji, you look like hell."
Silently, he took the doll from Usopp and set it in the case. He zipped it shut, and then rubbed his eyes.
"I'll return this...the owner is down the hall...not that she will talk to me..."
Usopp stared at him, slack jawed. "What? You mean..."
Sanji nodded, reverently setting the doll case on his desk and flopping down on his chair. "No mistaking it."
The artist leaned on the support of Sanji's bed, offering him a small smile. "She's in all my art classes. Her name is Lithium. No last name. I think its an art thing, like her professional name or something."
"Lithium..." He breathed her name, wondering why she chose it as it slipped off his tongue in a pleasant way. "Have you seen her face by any chance?"
Usopp sighed. "Not even a peek. She is really good at keeping it underwraps. But I can say she's a good artist. Doesn't like drawing realism but is still good at it. And she does some of the gentlest critiques I've ever heard."
Sanji perked up a little, despite her face still being a mystery. "What does she like to draw?"
"She said she is a comic artist, but she wants to write off-beat children's stories too. She loves kids."
Sanji's brow knit in confusion. "How do you know that?"
"Our drawing professor brought her two kids in so we could practice quick gesture drawings, since they don't stay still. They freaked out when their mom left the room to take a call."
Usopp chuckled a little. "A few people started to grumble, but Lithium sat down with them and started singing a song with their names in it. Got some pretty cute sketches from that."
Sanji let his head fall onto his desk. "Dammit Usopp...she sounds perfect...why won't she let me near her?"
Usopp shook his head. "She doesn't talk unless she has to, so I have no idea."
Sanji sighed. "She yelled at me..."
"I don't know what to tell you, dude." Usopp yawned as he turned to his bunk. "Sounds like she has some issue ya' just don't know about yet. Now I'm goin' to sleep. Gotta get to Kaya's before lunch tomorrow."
Sanji nodded. "Say hi to Kaya for me. In don't plan on being up before you leave."
Usopp made a confirming noise, thought due to fatigue, there were no actual words. Sanji chuckled as he headed for the bathroom. If there was one person he knew for sure worked harder than he did, his roommate was it.
Leaving Usopp to his slumber, Sanji took a tank-drainingly long shower, feeling no shame whatsoever in doing so.
Everyone is leaving so why would it matter anyway?
When he returned to the room, a grin spread across his previously strained face.
Usopp had hung a sketch of Lithium playing with the children on his armoire door. She and the children were holding their arms out wide. It looked like the song they were singing had motions. Both children wore bright smiles, even if it was just a quick sketch.
Sanij was able to fall asleep with a smile on his face for the first time since arriving on campus.
Lithium stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, examining the fine details of her inhuman face.
I have nice eyes and a small smattering of light freckles on the white parts of my face that are sorta' cute...but that's all I got...
She knew she was not beautiful like the other ladies who lived in the dorm. Robin was a classic beauty with a sharp style, while Nami had this energetic, unique style that complimented her looks. Her girlfriend, Vivi, who practically lived here as well, had a cute down-home feel to her. They were gorgeous, anyone with working eyes could not deny that.
And what was she compared to them? A short, gray and white weirdo, complete with fangs claws and animal ears. Not to mention actual fur down the length of her spine.
Well...I guess my ears can be cute sometimes...but really...that's it...
She threw her toothbrush in the general direction of the cup on the counter and stalked off to her bed. She was still mad at herself for letting Sanji pop up like that. She was so tired though, she did not realize the colors shifted, despite her perfect night vision. She flopped down face first on her bed, not even bothering to draw her legs up onto the mattress.
"Why does he have to be so insistent?" She slowly pushed herself back up and walked back to the bathroom. She picked up at a prescription bottle, grimacing at the word "Vicodin" on the label. She took one and sighed. "Maybe he's in pain too..."
Lithium heaved another sigh and threw herself into bed properly this time. "At least I'll be alone for the weekend."
Lithium woke up later than normal the next morning. With no classes to be at, she gave into her inner night owl and did not bother to get out of her bed until ten. She still felt the pull of responsibility though, and spent most of the day on homework, while eating her weight in beef jerky. On a break from her drawing homework, a still life of found objects, she dared a look at her laundry pile.
She figured not only was it a time for a break, but to wash the clothes overflowing from her hamper, because she swore she saw it move. She'd been staring at her found object still life for too long. She glanced at the clock, only to confirm it. She had sat down to work on the drawing at eleven and it was nine in the evening.
"Good job lady, way forget to eat more than partially dehydrated beef all day..."
When she hefted the hamper, the clothes over the top of it were over her head and she had to hold her detergent container on the pile with her nose. At least the smell of lavender filling her nose was pleasant. Much better than that corn chip smell of old socks that tended to waft from a couple of the guys' rooms on damp days.
"When did I do laundry last? I'm almost as bad as the corn chip sock club..."
She turned into the laundry room and immediately dropped the basket when color bloomed into view.
Sanji stood at the counter by the small stove, halting the arrangement of his ingredients the moment she dropped her laundry. He did not even look up at first as he moved toward her but when he did, she gasped.
His eyes, locked on hers with a heart-wrenching mix of sadness and awe, the softest ocean blue. They held her to the floor, even though her mind was screaming for her to run. Her body had other plans as the very essence of her being reached out to his.
She felt a blush sweep across her cheek as she realized she was not wearing her hood up.
He can see my face...oh god...
He paused a few feet from her, still gazing at her. He looked hesitant to move and she did not blame him. This was usually the part where she ran.
Instead, she took a small step toward him. She could not run any longer, not when he looked at her like that. His face seemed almost reverent, something she had never seen in person, let alone directed at her. The one step turned into two, then many as they both closed the gap between them.
Sanji held her face between his hands, his thumbs stroking her face so softly, she was close to forgetting how breathing worked. She flinched, her body expecting to feel sharp pain at the contact as she always had, but it was gone completely the moment his fingers brushed her skin. He leaned toward her and she swore if he kissed her she would probably hyperventilate right there. He paused though, his cautious smile growing as he let go of her face and swept her up into his arms, right off her feet.
"You're more beautiful than I imagined!"
She let out a surprised squeak as he spun around and threw her arms around his neck. Part of it was panic at no longer having her feet on solid ground, but most it was because she wanted to do that. She could not deny that she felt better, more right in Sanji's arms than she ever had. Even if he had not been spinning her, she would have felt dizzy, half-drunk even. The ever-increasing burn of the blush on her cheeks only compounded the intoxicated sensation he gave her.
Still his exclamation confused her. Her, more beautiful than he imagined? She worried about the capacity of his imagination. She did not have time to question that though as he spoke again as he sat her back on her feet. He leaned down so she did not have to move her arms from his neck, something she was glad of as she had no intention on letting go yet.
"You're...you're not going to run from me again, are you? Please say you won't! I don't understand why but I just...I just want to know you."
She smiled gently up at him, once again overcome by the deep blue of his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere."
