* 12 *
"San~ ji~ Chop~ pa~!"
They're not in the aft storage room. He even checks behind the boxes of gross unprocessed food, and the barrels of beer, too, just in case they really have fallen down and broken their necks.
He blows a gusty breath passed his lips.
They can't be below, either, because when he tugs on the hatch to the women's room, it's latched shut. Nami's probably down there hiding the other half of the drawing he's got tucked into the little pocket she sewed for that weird paper Ace gave him back in Alabasta.
He can hunt for that later - his stomach's plaintive cries are more pressing at the moment, so Luffy creeps back to the exit and crouches in the open doorway.
The deck outside glows with an inviting warmth under the late afternoon sun but there's no sign of Sanji or Chopper out there. They could be in the anchor room but what could either of them need from there?
Luffy sucks in a breath. "San~ ji!" he calls across the deck, "Where are~ you!"
No one answers.
He slumps against the doorframe and moans, "Sanji~ I'm... hungry..."
He sinks to the floor and purses his lips. If Nami was hungry, Sanji would appear in a second -
Luffy bolts upright and slaps his palm with a fist. He peeks out the door just to make sure she's not around, and a quick glance over his shoulder shows him the hatch to her room is still shut.
He clears his throat and cups his hands around his mouth.
"Sanji~ kun~!" he calls in his best impersonation of Nami's voice.
He holds his breath for a moment of silence - even Usopp's hammering pauses. Then Robin giggles from above, and the tap tap-tap tap resumes.
"Captain-san, what are you doing?" she asks, leaning over the balustrade.
"Shhh, trying to lure Sanji out," he whispers, not very quietly, scouring the deck for any sign of his cook's hiding place. "He always comes for you guys," he adds, pouting up at her.
Robin chuckles and settles back in her seat. "Perhaps he can't hear you," she says.
It sounds like a dare to Luffy, so he puffs out his chest and yells, "San~ ji~ kun~!" as loud as he can while still maintaining the higher pitch of Nami's voice.
"Luffy, what the hell are you doing?"
"Sh-shh, trying to - Nami!" he cries, nearly jumping out of his skin when he turns to pout and finds the very woman he's been impersonating standing behind him, her hands on her hips, tapping her foot.
She's changed into a sleeveless white blouse and a pair of short denim shorts, maybe because it's so warm today, but he suddenly misses the jeans she wore yesterday.
"Hey!" Nami snaps her fingers under his nose. "You really think Sanji-kun can't tell the difference between your voice, and a real Lady's?" She touches a hand to the soft ruffled neckline above her breast.
He sticks out his lower lip. "I thought it was pretty good."
She steps forward and Luffy ducks - but she walks right by him, out the door into the sunlight, her heels clicking on the planks.
"Have you even tried looking?" she calls over her shoulder. "This ship's not that big, Luffy."
"M'too hungry," he mumbles as he slides down the doorframe to the planks again.
Still, as he watches her saunter over to the stairs, he's not missing the jeans so much anymore and he laughs.
Because there's a scarlet handprint painted on each cheek of her backside, like someone snuck up behind her and grabbed two handfuls, and he's almost sorry he didn't think of it himself. He grins at the thought, because she would definitely deck him but her squeal would be so worth the abuse.
And yeah, it's kind of cute, and her hips sway with her confident stride, but most important is the handprints are his favorite color and he may be in the shade but he pulls at his collar because he's suddenly a little too warm under all his layers as he draws out the picture dial.
She reaches the stairs and lifts a smile to Robin overhead, and he snaps a shot while she's still distracted.
Then his stomach growls and cramps and he curls his knees up to his chest and moans.
"San… ji… where…"
Maybe if he sounds desperate enough, his cook will appear.
Sanji never can deny a starving mouth, and it's too easy for Luffy to sound like he's dying of hunger.