If she was allowed to dream again? Smoker curled his nose. Just what the hell did that mean? He pinched his nose. Now was not the time to be occupied with this madness. "What's your name again?"

"Strauss." She gradually got to her feet, furiously wiping her face.

So she had actually cried. He almost felt bad for her. Almost. No one should associate themselves with pirates.

"So they already left…" She chuckled limply, eyes swollen and red. "And the boss fired me too. Dammit..."

Smoker stroked his chin. It was his duty as a marine to help civilians...but he wasn't sure what he should do here. The girl was empty. All the wind had been taken out of her sails, leaving her stranded in a strange place. It was a pity she had a connection to those damn Straw Hats-

An idea zipped into his head.

"How about we make a deal?"

~0O0~0O0~0O0~

"So," Zeff started, back in his office, "What do you think?"

"About Strauss?" Sanji replied, slightly confused.

Zeff had a pretty decent idea why. He hadn't inquired after a server on their first day before. It was odd for him to show this much interest.

"Yes. What do you think?"

Sanji hummed, leaning back in his chair, "He's a good worker. Great fighter too, which is nice. Pretty much exactly what we were looking for."

Grunting, Zeff nodded, "Yeah, that's what I thought. One of the damn best servers we've ever had. So do you like he...Strauss?" He'd play along with the eggplant's gendering for now. Even if it was blatantly wrong.

"As a person you mean?" Sanji blew out a line of smoke, "Polite, but sometimes a bit stubborn. You can tell when he's not comfortable with something. Very…" He tapped his chin for the right word, "refined. Not bad to look at either, which is better than those lousy excuses in the kitchen- Oi shitty geezer, are you alright?"

Zeff finished his impromptu coughing fit. Not bad to look at. Not bad to look at. Oh that eggplant was going to bite his words one day. He waved a hand, trying to dismiss it. "Oh you just wish I'd keel over already."

Sanji snorted.

"Well," He sat up, "Just as well you like...him, since you two are going to be sharing a room."

Sanji fiddled with his fingers, "I was...just about to ask you if we could."

Interesting. He raised a bushy eyebrow, "You were, were you?"

"Well yeah. Strauss is way too refined to share a room with those bumbling idiots. And it'd be pretty disorientating to spend the night alone your first day in a new place. Especially this far away from the mainland."

Zeff's reasoning had primarily been because a woman couldn't exactly share with the rest of the cooks, and that he didn't want to clear out a store room just so she had somewhere to sleep. As the eggplant had said, they were pretty far from any sort of land. Space was a luxury out here.

Besides, he smiled as Sanji's thumbs twiddled frantically around each other, he knew full well why the eggplant wanted it. He was lonely. It was clear as day by how little Sanji complained when they were short of servers. Any other chef wouldn't want to be submitted to the hell that was customer service. But Sanji never said a word.

Sure, the occasional fight broke out when a customer disrespected either him or the food -(Zeff frowned. He'd caused more than a few of those fights himself)- but the eggplant was always happy to keep going out and serving customers. On one of those rare quiet moments Zeff had caught him standing by the stairs with his eyes shut, just listening to their idle chatter with a soft smile on his face.

Not to mention that all the other chefs Zeff had brought in were much older than Sanji. Much more experienced. Much more violent. Most of them blew the eggplant off before he'd overwhelmed them with his cooking talent. And even then, many of them saw the brat as a rival or a coworker than as a friend. Of course the eggplant would leap at the chance of being able to keep talking to a person his own age.

It was pretty damn funny just how oblivious he was though. Actually this entire situation was turning out to be pretty damn hilarious. The eggplant was going to kick himself once he realised that he'd invited a girl into his room without batting an eye

No...he'd probably try and drown himself. Something dramatic with death involved. That'd be a nuisance to deal with. And Strauss wouldn't be much help either…

Zeff groaned, a migraine threatening to reappear.

The eggplant'd better thank him for this when he was older. And the other kid too for that matter. This was more of a hassle than he'd originally anticipated.

Strauss wiped her brow and marvelled at her handiwork. Who knew it'd take so long to mop an entire restaurant. Or that diners dropped so much food.

"You done already?"

She glanced up at Sanji as he descended, "Yeah, just finished."

He gave a low whistle, taking in the row upon row of chairs stacked on top of bare tables, "Damn, good job."

"So…" she raised an eyebrow, leaning on the mop, "Did I get the job?"

Sanji gaped, "You serious?"

Sighing, she swung the mop over her shoulder and started to head up the stairs, "Well that's that. On to the next place I guess…"

He almost inhaled his cigarette.

"Oh god, are you okay?"

"Just...fine…"

"Can I get you some water or anything?"

"I'm…" He coughed loudly, thumping himself on the back, "I'm good...just a shock…"

She cocked her head, "A shock?"

"Yeah." Finally recomposed, Sanji smoothed down any errant hair that had been disturbed, "Just...by how stupid you are sometimes."

The nerve of him! He shouldn't be the one calling her that when he was so oblivious about women's feelings. "Stupid?"

"Obviously. Since how could you have possibly misinterpreted me that badly?"

She turned, eyes wide, "I…I got the job?"

"Of course you did!"

Her entire body sagged, all the tension and stress melting away, "Oh thank God…" She wasn't sure what she would have done if she hadn't.

"Did you honestly think that you wouldn't?" Sanji puffed a plume of smoke out the corner of his lips,"I mean come on, I was complimenting you so often."

"You also yelled at me pretty often."

"That's because you were harassing the ladies."

She snorted. "Yeah, I harassed the ladies."

"Hm? What's that supposed to mean?"

Groaning, she resisted the very tempting urge to slam her face into the wall. Just how oblivious was he? Did he seriously not realise how uncomfortable he made women? Halfway up the stairs, she span to face Sanji.

He blinked, "What? You were the one who said something weird."

"It wasn't weird. I never did anything wrong." Her hands tightened on the mop.

"But..." his brow creased, "You were always spending so much time with them, what else could you have been doing?"

JUST! KICK! HIS! BRAINS! OUT! Strauss sucked in a breath, willing herself to calm down. Anger wouldn't get her anywhere. It never did. All she could do was distance herself from this...this...idiot! Before she could bubble over and do something she'd definitely regret.

So she squared her shoulders, and went to put the cleaning equipment back in its cupboard.

"O...oi!" Sanji reached out to grab her arm, which she inevitably dodged. "Seriously, what do you mean? I don't get it."

"What a hypocrite."

He frowned, "Uh...I didn't quite catch that…"

"It doesn't matter," she replied tersely. But before she could get far enough away, her stomach gave a deafening gurgle. She grimaced. The water had staved off the hunger for a but, but not long enough.

She heard a sigh behind her, but then to her shock she found herself danging in the air.

"Just as I thought." Sanji muttered, raising her higher into the air, "Malnourished."

She blinked.

He tsked, "Just as well I found out before dinner. If you ate anything too rich you'd throw it right up. And I don't like wasting good food."

A pause.

"Sanji."

"Yeah?"

"Are you...seriously holding me up by the armpits?"

She swore he blew smoke deliberately into her face, "Isn't it obvious?"

This guy… "You do realise that you can dislocate someone's shoulders that way, right?"

"H...huh?!" He abruptly let go, letting her bounce down, "Really?!"

"Unlike bags of flour or potatoes, humans can't be handled roughly however strong they are."

"Oh, well the only people I lift are ladies who deserve to be treated with care. You were an exception."

Well...what.. Just how was she supposed to interpret that? Did he mean that she didn't deserve to be treated with care? Or that she wasn't a lady? To be honest Strauss didn't really think of herself as a lady either, so that last point didn't really matter to her. But still… how disgusting. She pinched her nose and sighed, "Just...give me a fair warning next time you plan to lift me again, okay?"

"I think you'll find that I'll never lift you ever again," Sanji groaned, but eventually agreed. "Now-" He rolled up his sleeves, kicking open the door to the kitchen- "Let's make you something to eat."

She followed him in, cocking her head, "I thought you don't like wasting food."

"I don't, but someone wouldn't be able to eat the leftovers which would be their dinner."

She hadn't been able to see the kitchen during the chaos earlier. It was a larger than she'd realised, even if it was just two central counters with a row of ovens lining the walls. Although the only time she'd seen it was when it was filled with about 20 burly cooks. Anything would seem small compared to them. Even so the place was spotless, which was impressive considering how much it got used.

As Sanji made a beeline to the cupboards at the back, she hesitantly leant back against the noticeboard by the board. There was a lot of equipment here that she probably shouldn't touch. It was best she stayed well away from anything.

He turned, sweeping a quick glance over her figure as he snuffed out his cigarette in an ashtray that was obviously only used by him, "You said that you'd eaten this morning?"

She had a hunch that she shouldn't try to dodge the implied question. Not when Sanji was in his natural habitat among various knives. "A piece of bread."

"How big?"

"About…" she frowned, adjusting the space between her fingers until they were just over an inch apart- "That big. Ish. It was what I had left."

"Was it always bread, or did you try and vary your diet?"

She shrugged, "Hard to say. I was a scavenger after all. I ate what I could find. Some days were good, some...not so good. But I always managed to get by. I did my best to get some veg or meat, but it wasn't easy… I did manage to get my hands on some fruit occasionally though."

"So you at least tried to get a balanced diet…" He nodded slowly, and started rummaging through the cupboards, "That's a plus at least. Means it won't take you as long to get adjusted to normal food."

"You say that as if you know."

He froze, arm still outstretched. Wrong thing to say.

She backtracked fast, "Sorry. Shouldn't have pried. It's just that-"

"No. It's fine." He straightened, scooping some already cooked rice into a bowl. Pausing again, he hesitantly turned his head towards her, "How long?"

"Since I was 12. So…4 years."

4 long and painful years. That were ultimately for nothing.

The bowl got held out to her, "I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about." She took it with a dip of the head, "Others have gone through worse."

It always amazed her just how delicious rice could look, and Sanji seemed to have done something to it. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but whatever it was made the dish smell amazing.

"Follow me." He motioned, quickly gathering some leftovers into a dish for himself, "The other cooks eat together, but I find them a little patronising at times. Especially that shitty geezer. I know a better spot."

"Sure."

It wasn't that far to go. The Baratie wasn't large enough or confusing enough to get lost in after all. Climbing a floor, Sanji pushed open a door that led to the uppermost balcony. The sun had long since set. The restaurant closed at 10pm and it took a some time after that to clean up, which meant the moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the only objects up there. An iron table and two chairs.

"Wow...should I be flattered?"

"Shut up," Sanji snarled back, "It isn't as if we set this up for you. It's always here. Sometimes we get really haughty guests who insist on having a 'private room'. As if we have enough space for that!"

"So you stick them outside?"

"Basically. And then if they have the nerve to complain, we kick them out."

She snorted, "I take it it's never been used."

"Not once," he grinned back.

"Then why do you still have it here?"

"Did you hear what I said about space? There's nowhere else to put this thing. Besides-" Sanji hopped onto the tabletop, using one of the two windows that jutted out to hoist himself onto the roof- "it has its uses. You coming?"

"You bet!" Strauss mimicked his movements, stumbling slightly on a loose tile she didn't quite see.

"Careful."

"I'm good."

They sat down next to each other, side by side on the flat roof. It was peaceful up there. A land of blue and silver against the lull of the waves. The only slither of colour was from an open window down below, sending a path of golden boisterous laughter out over the ocean.

Strauss sighed, relishing the salty sea air in her face, "This is nice…"

"Yeah." He smiled, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, "This is my spot. Somewhere those idiots down below can't harass me."

They only spoke in murmurs. It felt appropriate. Speaking too loud would ruin the calm that they both sorely needed after a long day of serving customers.

"Eat up. Or it's going to get cold."

"Sure." The rice had barely entered her mouth before she squealed. She never squealed. Never. But this time, she just couldn't help it. "So...good!"

Sanji sniggered, "Hey, it's just rice. Just wait until I make a proper meal, then you'll know what good food is."

"I'll hold you to that." It took everything she had to not stuff her face like a hampster. If she ate too fast, this flavour would disappear forever. She wanted to savour this. To remember this taste for as long as she lived.

There was silence once more, pierced by the clinks of cutlery against chinaware and the occasional bellows of the cooks. But all good things must come to an end, and eventually Strauss had slurped up every grain of rice in her bowl. She would have felt sad, but the satisfied feeling of finally having a full belly contracted it completely. She couldn't have eaten another mouthful if she'd tried.

"I'm beat." Sanji groaned, setting aside his own empty plate and collapsing onto his back.

She flopped down alongside him, "Me too."

Now she was lying down, it finally hit just how tired she was. How long had it been since she'd properly slept. Days? Weeks? She had no idea. All she knew was how heavy her limbs felt as they sank into the tiling.

How...heavy…

Sanji chuckled as Strauss lightly snored next to him. He couldn't blame the guy. He'd had his first proper meal in 4 years. No wonder he shut down as soon as his back had touched the roof.

"So...good!"

4 years was a long time. Sanji wondered just what had happened for Strauss to be in that situation. It wasn't starvation, not like his circumstances. There was muscle on Strauss, even if there wasn't much else.

He wouldn't ask though. There was no knowing how long Strauss was going to be here. No point in getting too attached. But…

Sanji wished he would stay. It was nice to have someone who understood. Sure, there was the shitty geezer, but that was different. Strauss was different. Strauss was actually nice. Most of the time at least.

Strauss snored once more, head lolling back.

Sanji got to his feet. He should probably him inside before he caught a cold. It'd be pretty bad for the newbie to be sick on his first day of work. He stacked the kitchenware in one hand and lightly tossed his sleeping coworker over his shoulder.

So much for saying he'd never carry Strauss again. At least this shouldn't be a regular occurrence. And Strauss had better thank him for doing his dishes. Hell, Strauss should be washing his dishes, not the other way round.

He slid down the slanting part of the roof and back onto the table. Strauss didn't so much as stir, even with the jolt of Sanji bouncing off the table.

But he'd let him off. Just for today. Next time he wouldn't be so lenient.

Hopefully there would be a next time. And a next time after that.

Strauss woke up at the same time she always did. At the crack of dawn. It was a habit hammered into her from a very early age, and only solidified by a life of scavenging and working odd jobs.

The Baratie didn't do breakfasts, only opening its doors around midday for the lunchtime rush. After all, there were very few people who would wake up at the crack of dawn and hop on a ship just to get a special breakfast. Even if it probably would have been the best one they'd ever tasted.

Sitting up, she opened her mouth in a silent yawn before sliding out of her hammock. She must have fallen asleep last night.

Sanji stirred at the sound of her feet hitting the floor, but just rolled over and relaxed.

She'd apologise to him later. And thank Manager Zeff for preparing somewhere she could sleep so fast. Sharing a room with the flirt wasn't ideal, but it was definitely better than bunking with a bunch of middle aged men. Yes it meant that she didn't get a bed, but she preferred hammocks anyways. She'd tweak this one properly later.

The door creaked. She froze, waiting for Sanji to doze off once more before closing the door behind her.

The air outside was so refreshing in the mornings. Strauss smiled, stretching her arms above her head and relishing in the cool breeze. She'd have another long day ahead of her, better get her practice over fast.

She was just in relaxing into a vertical splits against the wall when the door burst open, "Stauss?"

"Oh," she straightened, "Manager Zeff."

He waved a hand dismissively, "None of that 'manager' bullshit, okay? I work in the kitchens here same as everyone else." Marching forwards, he leant on the railing opposite her, "I just came to discuss our plans. Since although we get odd ones working here, you're a bit of a special case."

She winced, "Yeah...sorry about that."

"Eh. I'm sure you'll repay us someday. Now…" His eyes narrowed, "I take it you didn't bring anything with you?"

"Only the clothes from yesterday. But don't worry about spending anything on me. I'm used to it."

"It's not you I'm worried about, it's this restaurant's reputation. We can't have you dressing shabbily or it'll scare off the customers. Damn kids never think these sorta things through...this is why I don't like them..."

Strauss curled her nose. She didn't own anything other than those clothes. It was a little rude to criticise her for that. However the wry smile on his face made her think that he didn't really mean it.

"Strauss can borrow my clothes."

The two turned towards the door, "Did we wake you, Sanji."

"Of course you did, you shitty old man, your voice is deafening." He raised a hand to stifle a yawn, "I was getting up anyway. Need to get some food prep in before the thundering idiots take over the kitchen."

"Would it really be alright for me to keep borrowing your clothes," Strauss asked. She wasn't stupid after all. Zeff had a point. Even this one set of clothes that Sanji had leant here were already creased from sleeping in them all night. But that still didn't make this all okay. "I'll wash them and iron them and everything, but is it really alright."

"Why not?" Sanji pinched at his shirt on her, tugging it to reveal just how baggy it was on her, "It isn't as if anyone else's will actually fit you. Besides, you can come with us when we stock up on Wednesday."

Strauss frowned. Wednesday… Why was that important again? She felt she should know…

"It's our one day off a week," Sanji chopped her on the head, "Keep up! You should've already memorised this by now."

Zeff snorted, "Yeah, since it took you months to do you damn eggplant."

"Oi! What was that you shitty geezer!?"

Wednesday huh? Well it was Friday now, so she had an entire week to get used to this place. Hopefully she'd get enough on tips to be able to pay for her own things, but it wasn't likely. Still, it surprised her by just how willing they were to get her, an employee who they weren't sure would stay longer than a month, new supplies.

It wasn't for the benefit of the restaurant. What good would it be to buy stuff for a random stranger. Then...was it out of sympathy?

Zeff's pegleg thumped repetitively into Sanji's head, their angry yells getting louder and louder.

Nope. Definitely not sympathy.

She decided to drop it. She shouldn't complain after all. She'd got a new job, and new clothes to boot. Hopefully, that meant they thought she could have a permanent position.

A loud yell exploded inside.

"Right then. Seems like the others are awake." Zeff straightened, going back to the door, "Let's get going, eggplant, twink...le toes."

Strauss and Sanji exchanged a look, the latter nursing a tender bump on his head, "Twinkle toes?"

He raised an eyebrow, "It's the newbie's nickname. Makes sense, doesn't it? Since Strauss's so acrobatic. Thought of it just now."

Twinkle toes. Really? Really?! She'd been called Granny a couple of times, having grey hair was tough, but never twinkle toes.

"I think it works perfectly." Sanji smiled in a way that would be pleasant if he wasn't trying to stifle giggles, "Right, twinkle toes?"

Oh he did not… Well two can play at that game. So Strauss glanced back to him, "Why thank you, pretty boy."

"Hey! I'm a man! I grew up from being a boy a long time ago."

"Eh… I'd say you spend too much time preening yourself to be a real man. That mirror in your room was pretty big after all..."

"THE EYEBROWS TAKE A LOT OF WORK!"

"Really?" Her lip curled, "So you need all that space to work on a tiny little eyebrow do you?"

"SHUT YOUR FACE!"

She let out a tiny giggle as she flipped over the railing to the balcony below, just avoiding Sanji's threat of kicking in her skull. Oh it was good to finally be able to press his buttons. So damn good. She'd been waiting, just waiting, to get him riled up. He was practically asking for it.

At least she knew she was going to get a good fight from the endeavour.

Zeff sweated profusely alone on the balcony. He'd almost called Strauss a twink. A twink! He'd been caught up in the eggplant's gendering for too long and got carried away. Thankfully he'd managed to cover it, and neither of those brats had noticed his slip up.

It didn't seem like they recognised the word though, or that would have been the first thing Sanji would have fired back at her. Was twink not used anymore? Dear God he felt old...

But what a mistake to make. It was completely inaccurate; Strauss wasn't gay or even male for that matter. As far as he knew at least… Actually he didn't really want to think about it.

Twinkle toes and pretty boy.

Zeff shuddered, turning his back to the temper tantrum Sanji was throwing. He really didn't want to think about it.

Oh god the reputation of the Baratie was going to go down the drain.

This plan was collapsing a lot faster than he'd ever anticipated.

A/N

So. If you don't know what a twink is, I recommend you give it a google. It's used as pure light hearted fun here, aside from Zeff being old, so please don't read too much into it.

I hope you liked the chapter! I'm really fond of this story already, so I'm not planning on giving it up just yet. Thank you all for reading!