Summary: Your pickiness frustrates Sanji.
(The reader is gender-neutral. The ethnicity/race is preferably Black/person of color.)
There he goes again, you thought, trying to not make it obvious that you could see what Sanji was doing. Turning another page in the book you were reading, you tried to ignore the mental itch you felt at knowing that he was watching you and that in 5...4...3...2. There it is. The sound of him writing something down on his little notepad. What is he doing?
You had noticed the strange behavior for at least a week now, and you couldn't find a reason as to why he was doing it.
It started on a Tuesday when you and the crew had woken up and you all made your way to the kitchen. Like usual, Sanji was already up and was making plates for everyone, happy to see everyone eager to try his food.
When he noticed you enter, he had a strange smile on his face that you noticed he only made to you. It wasn't the usual flirty smile that he made to whoever he found attractive and wasn't the usual friendly, brotherly one he made to Luffy or Ussopp. You found it strange. You would have probably preferred if he just scowled or frowned at you like he did Zoro, but no, it was that strange smile.
Politely you smiled back at him, before asking, "Do you have an apple?"
The smile he had quickly lessened at the question, but he tried to fix it before anyone else could see, and nodded his head, before passing a nice, red apple to you.
You had taken the apple with a grateful 'thanks' to him and left to sit down next to Nami. Right as you bit into the apple, you suddenly heard the sound of paper moving, and looking back to him, you saw him quickly scribbling something down. You were about to ask him what it was he was doing, but Luffy had already opened his mouth and began talking about what to do for the day.
It happened again at lunch time.
You all had ported at a small island, and you and Nami had left to go shopping for more supplies. You had gone to the market and had bought some food for you to eat, knowing that Sanji had probably made something that the others might like, but not so much you. You didn't know why or how, but even as a pirate, you still had a very picky appetite.
By the time you had returned to the ship, you were eating some grilled chicken covered in a rich, tangy sauce on a long stick that you had bought from the market. It had been pretty cheap and surprisingly tasted extremely good, so you didn't think it was a big deal and you knew that it would fill you up for a while.
When you arrived on deck and were talking to Nami, while eating, you could feel his gaze on your back. You were going to ignore it until you heard the sound of him turning a page in his notepad and you looked over your shoulder to see him scribbling something down again. When he saw you looking at him, he smiled that strange smile again, then left.
Then it happened again at dinner.
You were sitting at the table with Nami, joking and giggling, when he set down both of your plates down in front of you.
He winked at you both with his usual flirty smile. "Bon Appetite, wonderful beauties."
While Nami was used to his flirting and was able to say a 'thanks' to him, you were still new to it, and had to ignore the warmth in your cheeks, and say 'thanks.'
The dinner he made was delicious, and everyone loved it. You did too, but one of the sides that he included on the plate was some type of sausage, so you subtly separated it from the rest of the food. You didn't think it was a big deal, but you suddenly felt the itch again, and you looked up to see Sanji watching you from the kitchen counter. You quickly looked back down, and unsurprisingly, you heard a notepad be whipped out again.
You were the only one he did this too. Not Luffy, Ussopp, Nami, or even Zoro. You weren't sure if it was because you were the new one or something else, but you were weirded out by it. After that, he did not stop doing it. You were going to ask Nami about it, but changed your mind, deciding to go to him yourself.
Looking at him now, you felt a strange sensation come over you. He was sitting by himself at the kitchen table, smoking and looking as if there was something on his mind.
Is this a bad time, you wondered. You rarely ever saw the cook relaxing or by himself, and wondered if maybe you could talk to him some other time.
You were about to change your mind and go to bed until suddenly you saw him take out the notepad and place it on the table, looking down at it with frustration written on his face.
"Sanji," you said his name, walking over to the table.
He quickly pushed the notepad to the side and looked up at you, his smile normal again. "Yes, my lovely (Y/N). What can I do for you?"
The warmth came to your cheeks again, but you ignored it and sat down across from him. "What's that?" You nodded to his notepad.
"Oh," he said, blowing out some smoke. "I used it at the Baratie when Zeff used to make me wait tables."
Nodding your head, you were reminded of when Nami had told you how they all met the cook. "So, why have you been using it now?"
"What?" His eyes widened and he looked at you sheepishly.
"You write in it every time I'm eating. I've seen you."
A chuckle left him before he took another drag from the cigarette before answering. "You are hard to cook for, (Y/N). I never know what you like or don't like."
"Yeah, I'm picky as hell," you agreed with him, nodding. "But what are you writing down?"
"What you like and don't like," he answered, picking the notepad up and sliding it to you. "See. Let me know if I've gotten anything wrong."
Picking it up, you flipped the paper and found a T chart where your food likes and dislikes were written down. "Oh," was all you could say. No one had ever gone to this trouble to figure out your dislikes and likes with food. Even your own parent(s) used to force you to eat whatever they made whether you liked it or not. Sometimes you were made fun of for being so picky. The fact he did this made you feel a little special.
He really does care about this crew to go through all this trouble over what to feed one person, you realized.
Looking at all the food he wrote down, you noticed that the 'dislikes' side was quite long and the 'likes' side only had less than ten food choices. I must have really frustrated the poor guy.
"You know you could have just asked me. I would've told you all the stuff I liked."
A grin came to his face and blew more smoke out of his mouth before replying "I wanted to surprise you. Finally make you a dinner where you will not have to pick around the food or skip lunch or breakfast, or even pass some to Luffy."
You couldn't help the laugh that left you at the mention of Luffy. You remembered how eager he was to eat whatever you didn't like. Sometimes you didn't even have to say anything, just look in his direction, and he would quickly stretch his arm towards your plate. Now that you're thinking about it, you remember seeing slight frustration on the cook's face even then.
"Give me your pen," you told him, holding out your hand to him.
With furrowed brows, he pulled a pen out of his pocket and dropped it in your hand, before taking another drag from his cigarette.
Taking the cap off, you crossed out some of the choices on the 'dislikes' side of the chart, noticing that he had gotten some wrong, and added more food choices on the 'likes' side. When you were done, you put the cap back on, before passing it and the notepad back to him.
"Next time, just ask me. Okay?"
The smile he gave you was the normal flirty one that he usually gave you and Nami, and surprisingly, you were happy to see it again.
"Yes, my lovely (Y/N)," he replied, giving you a wink.
Ignoring the warmth coming to your face, you stood up from the table, and told him a quick "Goodnight" before leaving, hoping that you have soothed some of the cook's frustrations.
Before you stepped foot into the kitchen, you could smell the breakfast Sanji was making and a grin quickly came to your face. You recognized it immediately and hurried to the kitchen to see him bringing out plates for you all. You hadn't tasted it since you were a kid, and it was one of the few things that your parent(s) didn't have to force you to eat.
"Smells good, Sanji," Luffy said, taking a seat, his mouth practically watering at the sight. "What is it?"
Taking a seat next to Nami, you saw Sanji already preparing multiple plates for you all.
"Oh, it's (Favorite Breakfast)," He answered, glancing at you with that strange smile again, before bringing two plates to you and Nami.
With a polite smile in his direction, you picked up your fork and took a bite out of the breakfast, moaning at the burst of flavor in your mouth, memories of your childhood coming to you and making you smile. You suddenly felt the itch again and you glanced at him to see him grinning proudly as he brought a plate to Luffy.
"How do you like it, (Y/N)," he asked, eager to hear your compliments.
"It's amazing, Sanji," you told him. "Really good. Thanks."
"Your welcome, my picky angel," he told you and like last night, you tried to ignore the warmth you felt in not just your cheeks, but in your chest as well.
pixelskylines
prguitarman
baratheonpilled
discoholicmusic
