A/N: the sanlu in this can be taken as either gen or romantic ! it's up to the reader's discretion :)
Luffy's expression is a study in stubbornness, and it really looks like it would take a small hurricane to move him from where he stands planted in front of Sanji, legs braced and arms akimbo.
Looking at him, Sanji can only shake his head.
"You're ridiculous," he says without ire.
"I don't care," Luffy tells him impatiently. "It's not fair that Pudding got a kiss and I didn't. I'm your captain!"
"I'm not sure what that has to do with it," Sanji drawls, rooting in his pocket for a pack of cigarettes. "And generally two people do kiss when they're engaged, Luffy."
Sanji would largely have preferred for Pudding's kiss to remain a secret, even to himself – but hardly an hour after the smoke had cleared and Big Mom was left somewhere far behind them, Nami had swiped her thumb across Sanji's lips and said, "Pudding's taste in lip gloss is tacky," and, well, she could really only have meant one thing by that.
It would be nice if Sanji could at least remember the kiss, considering all the trouble he's getting for it now.
His captain looks seconds away from stomping his foot. As it is, he scowls and says, "Who cares what other people do!"
Well, that's fair, Sanji concedes, chuckling a little to himself, considering Luffy has followed his own rules from day one.
"So I should kiss everyone else 'cause I kissed my former fiance?" he asks dryly, arching an eyebrow. "Get our nakama to line up, then."
That only riles Luffy up even more, and he shouts, "No, idiot!"
Sanji takes him in, the bruising that still hasn't cleared up, the bandages Chopper changes carefully three times a day. He's still a little too thin. Totto Land cost him a lot.
Sanji cost him a lot. And yet –
"I'm your captain," Luffy stresses, like it should be obvious, standing his ground. There's an impossible light in his eyes, something that puts the afternoon sun to shame. "You're my cook. I took you back from Big Mom fair and square. You don't belong to anyone else but me."
And it doesn't make a lot of sense, the way Sanji feels like someone pried open his chest and laid his heart bare. Vulnerable and impossibly warm and just the smallest, most secret part pleased.
It doesn't make sense, but the flag Sanji sails under follows a different set of values than most others do. What makes sense isn't what matters most at the end of the day.
He puts his cigarettes away without bothering to light one and stands up. Luffy tilts his head back to look at him, still frowning deeply. Sanji says, because he's curious, "The others are just as much yours as I am. Do you want kisses from them, too?"
Luffy looks as though he has no idea where Sanji's silly question could have sprung from. "No, of course not. Just Sanji."
Sanji shakes his head, and touches Luffy's cheek. Luffy leans into the touch, expectant.
"You're ridiculous," Sanji says again, aiming for exasperation and sounding nothing but fond even to his own ears. "I can't believe you sometimes."
"I'm your captain! You should believe me all the time," Luffy scolds him.
It finally teases a laugh out of Sanji, who gives in with good grace and leans down to kiss Luffy with all the softness he deserves.