It was no secret from anyone that Luffy was a black hole when it came to food. He was sat at the table at Sanji's place with his head on the cool top and his right hand raised slightly above his head, his fingers twirling a dinner knife around as he waited. Ace had his boyfriend around tonight and usually he was allowed to stay in the house but tonight he'd been sent packing to Sanji's to crash there for the night. Sanji had set up the air bed in the living room of the apartment and was currently making dinner in the medium sized kitchen, the hissing of hot oil in the pan and the scent of cooking meat filling the room and making Luffy's mouth water.
Luffy watched Sanji sauté the stir fry and noodles he was cooking and whined, "Saaanjiiii, I'm huuungry…"
Sanji sighed but said nothing, having long since given up on trying to reassure his friend that the food was almost done and on its way. Instead he turned the gas off and began serving it onto the two plates on the side next to him. Still no contact from Mr. Ro- Zoro, and Sanji was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to call or message him at all. He felt a little stung at the rejection but he'd been prepared for it in all honesty, he hadn't gone head in thinking that anything would come out of this for certain.
Tony had been quiet today as he was teaching, more so than usual. Not that Tony was a loud child at all, but he spoke less during lessons and had barely interacted with any of his classmates. Sanji was concerned about that but it wasn't his business to pry in any further than a, "Are you okay?". He was sure he was probably to blame after last night's events; Tony had seemed really intent on getting what he wanted. He sighed again and carried the plates over to the table where a delighted cry from Luffy let Sanji know that he'd at least made one person happy.
They ate and the food was delicious, as per usual, but the sting of rejection and having upset one of his pupils made the taste not as enjoyable as it should have been to him. He didn't even put up much of a fight when Luffy, having cleared his own, began pinching food off Sanji's plate. Luffy, curious as to why he wasn't getting kicked in the head, sat back in his seat and took a long look at Sanji, pulling a face.
"Are you okay, Sanji?"
Sanji pushed a piece of chicken around with his fork until Luffy's hand reached over and stole it away- ah well, at least it wasn't being wasted. Sanji shrugged, "It's been a long week…"
"How come?" Luffy asked around a mouthful of noodles he'd just seized from Sanji's fork.
"There was this guy, I was interested, he wasn't, you know?" Sanji surrendered his whole plate to Luffy's grasp- he wasn't so hungry anymore, "And the kids have been… difficult. I'm just tired."
"What is it with everyone liking someone and them not liking them back?" Luffy mused aloud, a genuine frown on his face.
Sanji looked up from his plate, "What do you mean?"
Luffy shovelled another mouthful of food down his throat, "I dunno, I was talking to a friend today and he said the same thing." He shrugged, "Ehh, it's stupid really. If you like someone you should just tell them. Why play games with yourself and make yourself miserable? If you tell them you like them and they like you then that's great, but if they don't like you? Well, at least you tried and you don't have to play games anymore."
Sanji looked at Luffy with a startled kind of look on his face; no matter how used to it he should be, Sanji was always caught off guard by how perceptive the other was. He was torturing himself, he knew that now. He was only making himself miserable, waiting around for something that probably wouldn't happen. Perhaps he shouldn't let this whole thing with Mr. Roronoa be at the front of his mind so much, if something happened then it would happen, and if it didn't? Then at least he could get over it whilst he still could.
Sanji smiled a little, "Thanks, Luffy."
Luffy looked up from where he was licking the plate clean and grinned, "Okay! What's for dessert?"